WDW Questions
 

Welcome to flyertalk...

While I could start answering your questions, it would serve you far far better to go to a disney specific website and do your research there. You have many options to chose from and you will be able to make a far better decision using specific sites rather than FT. A search of this site may also offer you some very high level info.

I can offer:

www.wdwinfo.com
and
www.wdwig.com
and
www.mousesavers.com

You have selected the single busiest week of the entire year, and fastpass, or not, you will be waiting on long lines. You can also just about forget any of the Princess breakfasts... they're already sold out for your dates.

Sorry to be negative, but sometimes going to WDW can overwhelming, and the sites I've listed above will help you better get a picture of what to expect and what to have planned in advance to make the most of your trip.

Mary

Mary gives some excellent advice. The only thing I would disagree on is that even though it is the busiest week of the year, FastPass will really cut down on your line-waiting time. Use it every place it's offered! Now for your questions...

According to Disney, park passes are nontransferrable. They do not check ID except on annual passes, but going the eBay route is taking a risk. The passes you buy could be legitimate and work fine, or they could be stolen or bogus, leaving you stuck. My personal recommendation would be to buy real Disney passes when you get there (and I think 4-day is the shortest length of park-hoppers). The passes NEVER expire, meaning you can keep them indefinitely and use them on a future visit.

As for food, you've picked the two parks with the least choices for decent dining. A lot depends on what you're looking for: buffets or sit-down, inexpensive or one-of-a-kind, etc. Take a break from the parks to have a meal at a nearby resort can often be a great decision for many reasons. But if you're dead-set on eating in the parks then I would recommend the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom and either the Tusker House or the Flame Tree Barbecue in the Animal Kingdom. The only sit-down place at the Animal Kingdom is the Rainforest Cafe, which your 3 year-old may love but which I've always found overpriced and under-qualitied. Provide some guidance on what you're specifically looking for and I can give more detailed recommendations.

Right. And even if you were buying them from someone face-to-face, there's no way of telling by looking at them that they've been used or if they have any remaining days on them at all. You wouldn't know if you've been had or not until you got to the gate.

[QUOTE=DJ_Iceman]Mary gives some excellent advice. The only thing I would disagree on is that even though it is the busiest week of the year, FastPass will really cut down on your line-waiting time. Use it every place it's offered!

THANK YOU....We have changed our plans based on everyones comments and are going to stay on Disney, eat at one of the resorts and we did get a Reserved Seating dinner this late. Yes we know it will be busy but it is the Christmas Holidays. I cannot think of a more lovely time to see disney, crowds or not.

We will hopefully get to go in early at least one day now that we have adjusted our schedule and get in at least some popular rides. Any suggestions on which are always most the most busy and to use our fast pass at first while we go ride something else?

You're right that Christmas is perhaps the best time to see Disney, but I'd recommend the BEGINNING of December, not the end! ;)

Anyway, which resort did you choose? That will help with restaurant recommendations.

As for popular attractions, you can pretty much count on the fact that if Disney bothered to FastPass it, it's popular. At the Magic Kingdom, you'll want to get them for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, the Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. At the Animal Kingdom, get them for the Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, and the Kali River Rapids. I might even be forgetting a couple--just grab a FastPass when you see an attraction that offers it that has a long stand-by line, and then take some time doing something else.

And you should know that if you fastpass a ride, you cannot get another fastpass until after the first ride -- meaning plan carefully. At busy times, I have seen fast pass 4+ hours or more later.

Also, utilize the single rider line whenever possible -- it usually moves pretty quickly. If it's two adults and a three-year old, you will have to do the baby switch anyway, since the child will not be allowed on some of the rides.

Another suggestion is to get to the big-crowd rides during parade times, especially in the Magic Kingdom. Most people know this trick, but it is usually a little faster at those times.

Check for an e-ticket night while you are there -- these are special nights offered to Disney resort guests -- for usually $10, you can stay in the park a few hours later -- only the big-crowd rides are usually running. You could check with your hotel before you arrive, and plan accordingly -- take the 3-year-old back for a nap in the afternoon when lines are longest and stay later in the park.

Have a great time -- Christmas at Disney is beautiful.

All good suggestions. We took our (then) 2 1/2 yr. old (now 5+) daughter to WDW 3 years ago over new years. wdwinfo.com proved invaluable . Our daughter really liked Animal Kingdom. They close earlier than the other parks though and there is plenty to do there so get an early start that day.

The parks will be super busy during your visit so I suggest you get there as early as possible. If you are staying on Disney property, find out ahead of time which day the Magic Kingdom opens early for you. (It used to be Mon, Thurs and Sat but please check for current info.)

Plan to GET to the park well before the scheduled opening. When it's crowded the gates may open sooner. Walk straight through Main Street, to the back of the Castle (I won't say through the Castle as it is sometimes closed off early in the morning.) Resist any temptation to take more than one picture of your family with the castle in the background right now ;) and don't look in any shops.

Behind the castle you will find Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh ride, Peter Pan and Snow White. I would do them in that order. The Carousel is there as well, if that interests your child. Dumbo is invariably the longest line and, as of July of this year, did not offer FastPass. Both Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan offer FastPass so only get those if you want a second ride.

If Mickey's PhilharMagic interests you, head there next. It's a cute show but will take time and when you come out, ride waits will be longer.

Now, if the park is still somewhat tame, head to the Teacup ride. Usually not a long wait here in the mornings. From here, you have a decision to make. Do you want to head to Mickey's ToonTown? If so, check if your child is too small for the barnstormer (I think 3 is too small.) ToonTown may excite a 3 year old and may not.

Obviously, the child is too small for Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, so my advice would be to head towards Frontierland. Only you know if your child will tolerate the Haunted Mansion well. It's dark and can be intense if you are 3, so I'd bypass that and go right to Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride (much like Dumbo but shorter lines). Then head to Pirates of the Caribbean. If you've done the Park early and in the order I've outlined, this will probably be your first place to encounter a real wait.

The one ride that your 3 year old will probably love and hasn't been covered is the Buzz Lightyear ride. It's near Space Mountain and does have FastPass so you may want to split, send you or your spouse with the 3 admission passes to get a Buzz FastPass while you head to another ride line.

The new Stitch's Great Escape ride just opened but I am not sure of the intensity so check before you travel to see if it's appropriate for a 3 year old. It is near Buzz Lightyear.

For meals, if your child likes the Winnie the Pooh characters, make breakfast (optimally, if not, get dinner) reservations at the Crystal Palace for the day you plan to do the Magic Kingdom. Best character meal in the Park (well, Cinderella's Castle is great but you are too late to reserve that.) I usually reserve for the latest breakfast (1030a?), that way you can knock out a bunch of rides before eating. If your child can do without Winnie the Pooh, pass on character dining while in the Magic Kingdom and concentrate on rides.

On days when you don't go to the Park, you can eat with the characters at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. Make a reservation (we like dinner, as they have Prime Rib and a kids buffet). You can also get character dining at the Polynesian (Minnie's breakfast in O'Hana was nice) as well as fun breakfast dining (non-character) at Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge.

A pointer.....our kids always love Downtown Disney. There is no admission fee (though admittedly parking stinks). If you have a "down" day with no parks planned, head there early (10a)....it's empty. There is a great Legoland Store with tons of outdoor interactive areas and your child will be entertained for hours. There are also several large Disney souvenir shops to browse through, as well as a McDonalds, Ghirardelli and Rainforest Cafe amongst others, to catch a bite to eat.

As fasr as the Animal Kingdom, again, arrive early. Plan well and go straight to what you really want to see first (safari?). The lines at the Animal Kingdom get long fast so you'll want to work at a good pace. Your child might enjoy down time at the Boneyard play area. The AK is usually not an all day thing, so if you have the park hopper pass you can use it to spend the evening at another park, possibly watch the fireworks at Epcot or Fantasmic at MGM.

Have a great time....remember to get to the parks EARLY!

EXCELLENT SUGGESTIONS !!! Thank You :) :) :)

We had not considered the height limits or scare factors of splash & space mountains and big thunder mountain RR. We had planned to go to those and will now just do a baby swap while one of us rides them. Since Buzzlight year is his favorite, we will go there first and then over to fantasyland and ride the rides there.

We have reservations now at the Crystal Palace for one night (5:25p) and Chef Mickeys (6:10P) for the next night. We think having a breakfast at the all star hotel is the way to go and will just use quick and easy passes for lunch and sit down at places like Tom Sawyers, the boneyard, ect while the little one plays.

We also hear that being near the rose garden or main train station is a great place to watch the fireworks though I know they can be seen from everywhere well.

The 2nd evening I think we will stroll over to MGM to watch Fantasmic so I would appreciate suggestions for that.

How about the parade floats at the 7 seas lagoon. Is that worth seeing? Also, what is things we need to avoid considering we have a 3 year old with us. (I have heard mickey philharmagic and Its a bugs life are a bit much for kids)

Flyerwife gave you some excellent suggestions! You'll do well following them.

The parade floats in the lagoon are nice, but you have to leave the MK to see them or be staying at a MK hotel. I enjoyed them from the Polynesian when I happened to be in my room, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see them. They reallly are geared toward the hotel guests and they get the best view, even though they pass the MK.

As for Philharmagic... I don't know WHO told you that it might be much for a 3 year old, but I think it's one of the absolute best 3D shows they have created. We discovered it in May and managed to get in to see it twice. We've been back to WDW twice since (& about to go again in a few weeks) and have seen it ANOTHER 4 or 5 times. Fastpass is a must for this, particularly with young children, if you don't want to wait in the standby line or go during parades & firework times (which we favor).

What child wouldn't love seeing their favorite character in 3D come right up to them as they sit in their seat? Heck, I love it. But, if your 3 year old is afraid of cartoons and or periodic loud music, there may be some cause for concern, but I have never heard a single child cry out during the show.

I'm really hesitant about giving you too much advice. Why? Because, as you can see, we go alot (4 times this year), have annual passes, and quite honestly, don't think twice about saying "I don't feel like waiting for this, we'll do it next time." I'm afraid of telling you the wrong thing to do.

The way we do WDW is far different than the way a first timer should do it, which is why I pointed you toward the boards specifically geared for disney travel.

As for the best spot to see the fireworks... for a first timer, anywhere along main street is excellent. It doesn't matter if you're close to the castle or not, the view is essentially the same. Also, you don't have to stand there to save a spot. Anywhere in the street is just fine. The rose garden area is also nice. Where do we watch them from? Depends on several factors for us - how crowded is it? What rides to we want to catch? and How fast do we want to get out of the park?

For you, I definitely recommend anywhere along Main Street & forget about any other considerations. The Wishes show is one of their nicest.

Mary

Since your little one loves Buzz Lightyear, remember to get a FastPass while you are there, so that you can go back and enjoy the ride a second time. It is the type of ride that you'll want to do twice (it has a laser-shooting game in it, and you all may want to try and beat your original scores).

I checked, and Stitch's Great Escape is NOT for a 3 year old, so don't bother there.

You've made great choices on the meal plans.

As far as the MK fireworks, we watched the Wishes show from the bridge spanning from Tomorrowland to the center court/castle area, and that was a great spot. If your little one still has stamina by the time the fireworks appear at 9 (occasionally 10p), I'd plan to see them from Fantasyland.....the view there is very good, and I've always found that, by that time of night, many of the little guys have petered out, or the parents want to head towards the park exit. That can work in your favor, because around 9, Fantasyland is empty, and you will once again be able to go on Dumbo/Pooh/Carousel/Teacups with no wait.

There is a spot where you can see the Lagoon light parade from the MK....head out of the park towards the Monorail entrance, and the light parade will be in front of you (you can hear the synthesizer music). The parade is a lot of fun. If you have extra nights, you can also view the lagoon light parade from the Polynesian or Grand Floridian.....go to the hotel as a guest (tell the parking attendant you are either going for dinner without a reservation, or just going to look the place over for future visits) and head out to the lagoon, and you'll have a great view without having to enter the parks. Check ahead of time to be sure of the viewing times for the parade, no matter where you plan to view it from. It moves in the water so the viewing time changes depending on your location.

If you are considering heading towards MGM, you might want to eat a meal at Pizza Planet. It's a replica of the restaurant from the Buzz Lightyear movie....it has good quality pizza and salads, and a game room complete with giant claw machine and other fun things to tire a 3 year old out.

There are also character greetings with Buzz and Woody in MGM so you may want to find the times for that, since your son is such a Buzz fan.

For Fantasmic, I suggest being at the gate one hour before the show starts. By 45 minutes before, the only seats left are at the far ends. Be prepared with soda and snacks as you will be in long, bleacher type seating (=backless) and you won't want to have to get up, as you will lose your spot. There are vendors walking through the stands, but I bought 2 sodas from them and paid $20, so come prepared (ok, the sodas had light-up ice cubes....did we really HAVE to have that???) You can get up and get refreshments in the stadium, as long as one of you stays behind in the seats. One Fantasmic starts, you will love it, and will forget about the long wait. And remember to hit the bathrooms before you get into your seats.

Will let you know if I can think of any more tips. Have fun!

A couple more ideas
 

If you really want to do Fantasmic, consider reserving a Fantasmic dinner package. You'd have dinner at one of the MGM restaurants and then have seating in a reserved area at Fantasmic.

You'll have to do a bag check before you go into the parks if you're carrying a backpack, fanny pack or purse. Plan on adding that bit of time to your morning.

The Animal Kingdom park has some areas with cobblestone like walkways. If you're thinking that your three year old might want a stroller, then you might want to either bring a bigger wheeled stroller or rent one of Disney's.

One thing which I would remind you to do is enjoy yourselves! Make sure that everyone has enough to drink, eat and rest.

techlady

I am exhausted even reading this! :D Isn't vacation time supposed to be relaxing? Does Disney cater to those who want to relax? All I hear is rush, rush, rush. It sounds like you need a vacation after spending your vacation at WDW.

My husband loves WDW so whenever we go there, we rush like crazy people to keep on pace with the rides. Personally, I'd rather go skiing if I want to do anything other than relax during vacations! :D

Actually, Disney can be relaxing...the Beach Club offers a great babysitting center if the parents want a night alone. They watch videos, bring in dinner for them, and sometimes characters come in to read bedtime stories. My kids are older now (13 and 18) but they used to give parents beepers just in case there was a problem. Not sure if they still have it, but we once signed up for a behind-the-scenes program at EPCOT where the kids slept overnight in the Living Seas attraction, right next to the tanks. They got a tour of EPCOT after it was closed, and a special viewing area for Illuminations. My kids still talk about it!