Disney in a week - tips, feedback, etc needed

[lizzyann]

Hi there, we are heading to Orlando with my almost 3 year old DS next week. We are there for 4 nights and plan on doing Magic Kingdom for a day, and Sea World for a day. The last full day there we are going to have some r & r at the hotel (Hyatt Grand Cypress) and enjoy the pool and other offerings there. We also plan on heading out to Downtown Disney one or two nights for dinner, walking, and shopping. Any tips on navigating Magic Kingdom with a three year old? I've heard to get there early and head to Fantasyland right away to avoid the long lines later in the day. I just want him to get to go on as many rides as he can before he loses steam! Or I lose steam - 21 weeks prego here! We also booked a lunch with the characters while there. So anyways, any tips on anything Disney are welcomed. I just want to make the most out of our day at Magic Kingdom without overdoing it.

Also, any dinner recommendations at downtown disney or near our hotel? So far I booked us at Wolfgang puck's cafe. I tried to get into T-Rex but it is already booked! Thanks!

 

[megumic]

To eat, we love Boma at animal kingdom hotel. It is buffet, but it is soooooo yummy if you like to try new types of food and a variety of favors. We have had both dinner and brunch there and love both. Worth it to make the trip for a decent meal that is also kid friendly.

Hope you have a great time....it is such a perfect time of year to go to Disney!

 

[amc80]

We were just there in December. There is a free app that has real-time wait times for all of the rides. We found it to be really useful. I don't think we waited more than 15 minutes for any ride. Preggo brain doesn't allow me to remember where we ate, so I'm no help there.

 

[partgypsy]

I don't know if you can do disneyworld in a day. We went to the 3 kingdoms (magic kingdom, animal kingdom, epcot) and I think combined as a family we enjoyed Animal kingdom the most. It is a little more spread out and there is a great play area the kids had a blast with. And the ride where you are on "Safari", I wanted to take that again!. We also did the breakfast with the Winnie the Pooh characters (Magic Kingdom), and it blew my 2 year old's mind. So that is something to consider. - Oh I see you are doing a character lunch. I think that is a must do for your kid! We also did the princess dinner at Askerhaus (Epcot) and everyone loved it.

We did Disney downtown, but I wasn't that impressed. We saw Cirque de Soliel but unless you like shopping there wasn't that much to do (especially if you are with kids).

I guess if you just do Magic kingdom, try not to hit everything or you will just get exhausted. One of the favorite rides of my 2 year old was the monorail or little train in the future section; good down time. Haunted house WAY too scary for even my 5 year old. Swiss Family Robinson play area prob a little too advanced for a 3 year old. My little one loved its a small world and winnie the pooh rides, really all the rides for the little ones as well as seeing the characters on the street.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi there, we are heading to Orlando with my almost 3 year old DS next week. We are there for 4 nights and plan on doing Magic Kingdom for a day, and Sea World for a day. The last full day there we are going to have some r & r at the hotel (Hyatt Grand Cypress) and enjoy the pool and other offerings there. We also plan on heading out to Downtown Disney one or two nights for dinner, walking, and shopping. Any tips on navigating Magic Kingdom with a three year old? I've heard to get there early and head to Fantasyland right away to avoid the long lines later in the day. I just want him to get to go on as many rides as he can before he loses steam! Or I lose steam - 21 weeks prego here! We also booked a lunch with the characters while there. So anyways, any tips on anything Disney are welcomed. I just want to make the most out of our day at Magic Kingdom without overdoing it.

Also, any dinner recommendations at downtown disney or near our hotel? So far I booked us at Wolfgang puck's cafe. I tried to get into T-Rex but it is already booked! Thanks!

The best advice I can give you is rent a stroller when there. My kids were older when we took them and we managed to stay for 8+ hours b/c we rented two strollers even though my older son was technically too old for one. We went their early in the morning to avoid lines, plus were there on a weekday so people didn't start showing up until the afternoon. Also, you CAN bring food in there. We brought A LOT of water with us!

 

[amc80]

I don't know if you can do disneyworld in a day.

I agree. We did Magic Kingdom one day and went to Hollywood studios that night (They had extended hours for D-World hotel guests). The next morning we went to Animal Kingdom with the intention of leaving around noon to head to Epcot...but we were having so much fun we never made it to Epcot. I really think 3 days is the minimum to really see D-World.

 

[lizzyann]

Thanks everyone! We are really excited! Just to clarify, we don't plan on doing Walt Disney World in a day. Just Magic Kingdom in a day. We only plan on spending one day at Disney period. My little guy is three and it is his first trip so I figure we would do Magic Kingdom one day, Sea World one day, then a day at the hotel to go in the pools and relax. When he's older I plan on coming back and doing more parks, but I think he'll be over-stimulated enough with Magic Kingdom!!!

MC, thanks for the tips. I was going to bring our stroller, but are the Disney ones a better way to go? We will be going to Magic Kingdom on a Tuesday so I'm hoping it won't be too packed. We are going to get there when it opens and try to make it as long as we can! Did you kind of jump around the park or did you have a game plan when entering the park?

Part gypsy, we are doing the Winnie the Pooh lunch! Glad to hear your two year old enjoyed it. How is the food at those things? Did you find that most of the kiddie rides are in fantasyland? I'm thinking we might start our day there.

Meg, do you know if I need to have a ticket to the park to go to one of the Disney hotels for a meal? Because we only plan on spending Tuesday at Magic Kingdom, I was wondering if we could go for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants on Wed or Thurs even though we don't have a ticket for that day.

AMC, my DH did get that app and I can't think of the name of it for the life of me either. I also plan on trying to use their Fastpass system when I can.

 

[partgypsy]

Thanks everyone! We are really excited! Just to clarify, we don't plan on doing Walt Disney World in a day. Just Magic Kingdom in a day. We only plan on spending one day at Disney period. My little guy is three and it is his first trip so I figure we would do Magic Kingdom one day, Sea World one day, then a day at the hotel to go in the pools and relax. When he's older I plan on coming back and doing more parks, but I think he'll be over-stimulated enough with Magic Kingdom!!!

MC, thanks for the tips. I was going to bring our stroller, but are the Disney ones a better way to go? We will be going to Magic Kingdom on a Tuesday so I'm hoping it won't be too packed. We are going to get there when it opens and try to make it as long as we can! Did you kind of jump around the park or did you have a game plan when entering the park?

Part gypsy, we are doing the Winnie the Pooh lunch! Glad to hear your two year old enjoyed it. How is the food at those things? Did you find that most of the kiddie rides are in fantasyland? I'm thinking we might start our day there.

Meg, do you know if I need to have a ticket to the park to go to one of the Disney hotels for a meal? Because we only plan on spending Tuesday at Magic Kingdom, I was wondering if we could go for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants on Wed or Thurs even though we don't have a ticket for that day.

AMC, my DH did get that app and I can't think of the name of it for the life of me either. I also plan on trying to use their Fastpass system when I can.

A warning about the strollers, if your kid is at all picky about their stroller, bring your own. My dd was extra picky because she had a cold and refused to ride in the big disney stroller so my husband had to carry her 8 hours every day!
Most of the rides are in fantasy land so it is totally ok to head there first if you want to avoid lines. Personally I like just walking around and soaking in everything so I wasn't concerned about time. There are kid rides scattered in other areas as well (tomorrow land and adventure land). for example Splash Mountain was great as well as the car ride, but think a 2 year old is too small. Just take downtime breaks either eating or play areas, or "ride" rides (on train or a boat) and you will be able to get through an 8 hour day.
We had the breakfast buffet at the Crystal place and it was very good. It was a buffet and so much on offer I would be suprised there wasn't something for everyone. Haven't tried the lunch. Overall I give high marks for the Disney food (compared to other theme parks). my only complaint was my 5 year old wanted to order off the adult menu but she had to stick to the kids menu, which is pretty limited. To give you an idea, some of her favorite foods are seafood. So I often ordered something she was interested in and I would share my meal with her.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

MC, thanks for the tips. I was going to bring our stroller, but are the Disney ones a better way to go? We will be going to Magic Kingdom on a Tuesday so I'm hoping it won't be too packed. We are going to get there when it opens and try to make it as long as we can! Did you kind of jump around the park or did you have a game plan when entering the park?

My kids were a bit big for a stroller so we didn't need it for any of our other activities so it made sense to rent one for each of them while there.... We didn't have a game plan. We spent 8 days in CA and flew in to LA, rented a car and visited a bunch of destinations as we worked our way down to San Diego, and then we flew out from SD airport, so we had an overall itinerary. Also, if you rent a car, you can rent a car seat from the car rental so you don't have to lug that on the plane. Other places have strollers to rent, as well! Sea World has them, etc., but if you plan to go hope around local shops, etc., then you'd probably want to bring your stroller, and bring a good one, then...something comfortable for sitting in for long periods of time.

 

[fieryred33143]

We go to Disney often as it is free for us.

At Magic Kingdom, you can visit the Disney characters and Princesses right by the entrance/exit. I would suggest doing that first thing as he'll be alert and you can get really good pictures.

Whether you rent a stroller or not, stop in as they have maps for children under 5 years old with tips on rides/shows that they may enjoy. Get that early as they often run out.

There are a number of things you can do and some you might want to skip. For example, small world is a good one as is Pooh and Peter Pan. Pirates of the Caribbean will depend on whether you think he would be afraid or not (Sophia was). She was also afraid of the haunted mansion.

There's an awesome street parade that he will love. It's a short parade but the characters get down from the floats and dance in the streets with the kids. My daughter LOVED this. It was her most favorite part of the day!

If you're not planning on going back to the hotel and you're kid still naps, keep in mind you'll want a comfortable stroller. We had rented a stroller when she was 18m and we turned it into a little bed for her to nap in. This last time we took our city mini as she was too tall to lay comfortably in the rental stroller and we were grateful for it as she slept comfortably.

We are kind of crazy when we do Disney. We are there all day and typically do 2-3 parks depending on whether she sleeps or not. But we skip a lot of things. You will definitely have a lot of time doing MK in a day, not to mention a lot of fun!!

Typical tips: take a change of clothes and try stopping by Walmart for some cheap ponchos. It doesn't say it's going to rain but this is around the time when we get random sprinkles here and there. It should be gorgeous though! No dinner tips as we usually pack lunch and eat at my mom's.
Have fun!

 

[lizzyann]

Fiery, thanks so much for all the info and tips. Right now I am trying to work out a game plan while we are at magic Kingdom. We are going to get there when it opens and have a character lunch planned at 2:15. After that lunch, we are going to make a determination on when we will head back to the hotel. Hopefully, he won't run out of steam. He doesn't nap everyday anymore and I know he won't nap there, but he tends to get fussy around 4 or so, so we'll see.

So you think we'll be able to hit all of the 3 year old friendly rides in one day? I'm hoping so. I have gone thru all of the rides and made a list of the ones that I think will be appropriate for him. Right now the game plan is to go right to Fantasyland when we get there followed by Adventureland, and then Tomorrowland. If time permits before lunch, we'll try to get to Liberty Square and Frontierland. If we ended up having to skip Liberty Square and Frontierland, would we be missing much? According to my research Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland look like they have the most he can do. Hopefully we'll make it to all of the areas though. Let me know your thoughts.

I also agree that Evan will be afraid of the Pirates of the Carribean and Haunted Mansion ride, so they are not on my list. I was unsure about the Peter Pan one but it looks like you were able to take Sophia so I will add that to my list!

So there are characters when you first walk in? I will keep my eye out for them. I'd rather get some good pics before I'm a hot sweaty mess later in the day! ha ha!!!

 

[fieryred33143]

I'm headed to see a show but here's a list of what we did that she was tall enough to get on:

Haunted mansion-already mentioned she was afraid of it. The ride itself is just too dark from the moment you walk in. It was our parenting fail for the day :p

Mickey's philharmagic-a show and Sophia LOVED it!! I thought she wouldn't keep the 3D glasses on but once she realized what she was seeing she stood still and laughed the whole time.

It's a small world-she was ok with this one. She wasn't amazed but would point at things here and there.

Dumbo-loved it.

jungle cruise-loved it.

Pooh-she liked the ride enough. This one is cool because they have a bunch of games while you're waiting in line.

Peter pan-this one is touch and go. Sometimes she's ok and sometime's she covers her face. She loves the movie so enjoys the ride but sometimes the dark parts scare her.

Snow white-A little scary. She's only gone on it once.

People mover & Carousel of progress-these are kind of boring but when she's about ready to take a nap and IF we're around it then I'll take her on it. It goes slow but is a bit longer than regular rides.

Pirates of the caribbean-she didn't like this one. We did it twice and both times she covered her face.

She's younger, 2.5, and right now she's more into seeing the characters and shows more than anything else. The last time we went to MK, we got there at 10:30 and finished around 5. She took a 1.5 hour nap in the rental stroller.

Honestly, if you get there early and leave late you can do a lot or all of the kid friendly stuff. So much fun!!

 

[lizzyann]

Fiery, first off thank you so much for taking the time to type all of that out. I have a pretty good handle now on what I think Evan can ride. We leave this afternoon and are very excited! And very overpacked - 3 suitcases!!! ha ha!! Thanks again! I"ll post how it went when we get back home!

 

[amc80]

Mickey's philharmagic-a show and Sophia LOVED it!! I thought she wouldn't keep the 3D glasses on but once she realized what she was seeing she stood still and laughed the whole time.

I'll second this. We only went because there was no wait at all, and it was one of our favorites. It's especially fun if you know all of the songs!

 

[partgypsy]

This is so funny! My FIL treated us all to a WDW trip about 4 years ago, and is now talking about doing it again! So who knows, may be going back before the year it out! Did not see this coming!

 

[lizzyann]

Just wanted to thank everyone for your help and advice! We had a fabulous trip! Magic Kingdom for one day was plenty for my 3 year old. We got there right when the doors opened and had a game plan on the rides and we eliminated many of the wait lines. We did do Mickey's Philarmagic show as well as Fiery's list of rides. The only things we missed that were on our list was the Jungle Cruise and It's a Small World due to wait times. The second day we went to Sea World and it was a nice change of pace - no lines, more relaxing. Evan loved it, especially the shark tunnel! Third day we hung out at the hotel - went swimming, for a bike ride, and played in the sand at the beach near the lake. Wonderful trip! Can't wait to do it again as a family of 4!

 

[Missy0483]

Lizzy! Glad you have a great trip! I have been thinking about you. So jealous that you went to Disney World! I went for the first time in 2010 and it was AMAZING. I can't wait to go again with our child!! How was it while pregnant, did the walking get to you?

 

[partgypsy]

Sorry if I'm being a buttinski, but as we will be heading to Disney in the fall, hoping other pricescopers could give me feedback, specifically about dining options. The dining plan we will be on will be the 1 snack, 1 counter, 1 sit down meal plan.

What were some of people's favorite places to dine at the different parks, and what character dining experiences did people feel were worth it or not?

For example last time we did the princesses Askerkus (sp) dinner everyone (including the guys!) really enjoyed the food and experience. As my husband, oldest DD and I like seafood, the cold buffet with shrimp and different kinds of herring were a hit. We also did the Winnie the Pooh breakfast at the Crystal palace which was also very good (good character interactions and good breakfast buffet). All the kids are older now so not sure if doing that again.

Has anyone done the Cinderella's castle meal, what did you think? Is it worth 2 sit down meal tickets or cash equivelant? I am leaning towards it simply because the photo is with Cinderella which is what my youngest DD wants. However my oldest DD is over princesses, doesn't care, and I could totally do the Asherkus again.

Also, any other restaurants due to food, ambience that are recommended?
I really don't know if we will ever make it back to WDW after this, so don't want to miss something that is not to be missed.