Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

We are going to Disney VERY SOON!!

It is a surprise trip!

DD is 2 and a half...

what do I need to know!!!!!

HELP!!! I AM SOOO EXCITED!!

Few FYI- staying IN disney, not renting a car, going for 3 nights 4 days.

and will be traveling with my sister's family as well who has a 9 month old

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

DD will have so much fun. We just got back Dec 10th. DH and I took our 3yrs old and 21mnth old for 9 days.

Epcot wouild be great for the adults only. They didn't have anything for the toddler age. Unless you really want to visit Epcot I would skip it.

Make dining reservation if you plan on eating inside the parks. We only made a few and were scrambling the day of to eat somewhere. I would also suggest making reservation at buffets because kids under 3 can eat off your plate (all you can eat) so they'll be free.

Avoid the lines for taking character pictures by making reservations with a character breakfast. You'll be able to take pictures with characters and avoid these LONG waits.

Hollywood Studios has so much for the little ones. We went there twice and never got bored. Same with Magic Kingdom.

My boys weren't excited about Animal Kingdom but the safari was a huge hit.

The buses aren't all that bad if you need to take them. We stayed at the All Star Movies and have no complaints.

Have fun!

Message edited 12/27/2011 8:53:41 AM.

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

I have to respectfully disagree with the above two posters. This comes up a lot and has two very different opinions. I never suggest parks for that reason because people feel strongly one way or the other. Instead I think you should look at what all the parks offer before you make that decision. My DD#1 went on her first trip at 15 months and her second at almost 3. DD#2 went on her 1st trip when she turned 1.

For US - MK was our favorite park (as I think most agree). Followed by EPCOT, then AK and my girls really didn't enjoy HS. We always can take or leave this park. This is also the same order that all our friends IRL tend to agree with. The people I know who enjoy HS tend to have older children - or prefer just to do mostly shows. Which is why I say it is important to look at what parks offer before you decide.

My girls love EPCOT. I completely disagree that it is for adults only. In fact the only time I have heard anyone say they don't like this park is on LIFamilies. They love seeing all the characters (all the princesses, mickey, pooh etc). They enjoy finding nemo and the living seas, journey into your imagination and the interactive area after the ride. They loved the boat ride in Mexico. They also enjoyed walking around the various countries and doing some of the kidcot things. They loved the acrobats in china, etc. If it is warm enough there is a small interactive fountain to run in between world showcase and future world. They also liked some of the exhibits in innovations. You can see all the princesses (Mulan, belle, snow white, aurora, jasmine, and characters like Marie from Aristocats, and Mary poppins, and Alice in wonderland in EPCOT World Showcase). My girls loved the princess storybook dinner at Akershus (norway) most of the girls were dressed up in costumes.

AK there is a boneyard dig (play area) several rides, characters, several shows (finding nemo, lion king etc), hit the safari ride early that is when all the animals tend to be out. Later in the day when it gets really hot they often are sleeping. It's tough to be a bug was cute too. We don't do a lot with the animals because we have a membership to the bronx zoo. If you get to the park about 15-20 mins before rope drop you can see the preshow where Mickey and friends ride in and put on a short presentation.

For us we don't really care for HS. We do Toy story mania, meet and greet with Buzz and Woody, the playhouse disney (now disney jr show), honey I shrunk the kids play area, and we walk around a bit. Also the muppet 4D movie is great. There are several other shows but it depends on your children as to whether they are a hit or not. HS tends to be more of a favorite for adults and older children because it is more geared to older kids.

BTW if you DD likes to dress up feel free to bring princess dresses there are many little girls running around dressed up.

Message edited 12/27/2011 12:38:56 PM.

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

I agree more with Lillykat.

Any more details? When you are staying? Which resort? What tickets will you have? Park hoppers? For all of your days?

Do you have any ADRs yet? I would say esp with the free dining thing you need to make ADRs. I agree with the PP who said to avoic character lines and do a character breakfast. Suggestions: Ohana breakfast wth Mickey, Minnie, Lilo, Stitch, etc, Crystal palace with Winnie the Pooh, Akershus or CRT for Princesses.

I actually find most people complain about not enough kid stuff at DHS vs. EPCOT. Obviously MK is the best for kids, and I'd budget 2 days there, but the other parks do have a lot to offer.

The BEST and MOST IMPORTANT (literally trip changing if not life changing..lool) piece of advice I can give you is to be there for rope drop every day, or for as many days as you can swing it. You want to arrive 30 min before the park opens. Even in the busiest times, this will let you ride the most popular attractions with little to no wait. And the most popular kids' rides often have the longest lines, such as Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh. People don't start entering the park in droves until 11am so you'll have at least 2 hours of an empty park. I have been following peoples' trips online who are there now, literally the busiest week of the year when there are capacity closures, and they were still walking on rides from park open through noon.
Generally the best course of action is to be there for rope drop, get on all of the headliners, and get fastpasses to use later. Leave the park for a nap/swim/lunch when the park gets crowded (from about 12-4 is the most crowded time) and come back after 4 to use the fastpasses obtained earlier in the day and for the nightitme fireworks/parade. If you're hopping toa different park, just make sure to use the fastpasses you obtained in the morning before you leave. If you're a commando and wll stay all day, you can get in a lot of rdes during that crowded time using fastpasses acquired in the morning. This is because 1) fastpasses can be used any time after their window, so a fastpass with a 9:30-10:30 window can actually be used at 7pm if you'd like, or any time untl close. 2) you can acquire a new fastpass either 2 hours after you received the first one OR when the window for the prior FP opens. Because the windows are so close early in the day, you can collect a lot of fastpasses in those first few hours.

For example - at MK, you take the kiddos to ride Dumbo, while someone else takes all of your park tickets to get fastpasses for one of the mountains (not for the toddlers), or right in Fantasyland, peter pan or Winnie the Pooh. have that person then get back in the Dumbo line, and hand the kids off to them when they get off the line. 2 Dumbos and 1 fastpass all obtained in the first 10 min of park opening.


Other advice: get the Unofficial Guide (so extensive..info about everything including height restrictions and relative appeal of each ride to different age groups) and its companion app - Lines. We found their wait times to be much more accurate than disney's wait times, and you can follow the touring plans right from your phone. We're very experienced at touring and only go in the off season, so we don't follow a prescribed touring plan per-se, but they are a godsend, especially since you have so few days in the parks.

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

I have been traveling with my two children to disney since the older one was 5 months. He is now 7 and his sister is 4. We love Epcot and so do they...there is actually quite a lot for them to do there.

Of course our fav is MK, and DHS is pretty good. We don't do AK because we enjoy he bronx zoo way too much.

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

Posted by dpli

Posted by Lillykat

My girls love EPCOT. I completely disagree that it is for adults only. In fact the only time I have heard anyone say they don't like this park is on LIFamilies. They love seeing all the characters (all the princesses, mickey, pooh etc). They enjoy finding nemo and the living seas, journey into your imagination and the interactive area after the ride. They loved the boat ride in Mexico. They also enjoyed walking around the various countries and doing some of the kidcot things. They loved the acrobats in china, etc. If it is warm enough there is a small interactive fountain to run in between world showcase and future world. They also liked some of the exhibits in innovations. You can see all the princesses (Mulan, belle, snow white, aurora, jasmine, and characters like Marie from Aristocats, and Mary poppins, and Alice in wonderland in EPCOT World Showcase). My girls loved the princess storybook dinner at Akershus (norway) most of the girls were dressed up in costumes.

I think maybe I should stowaway on your next trip. I travel with 2 boys - the adult one hates Epcot and the little one doesn't have a lot of interest in Princesses.

Re: Disney Experts- COME IN- Last minute trip!

AK is NOTHING like the Bronx Zoo. We've been members at the Bronx Zoo some years and we love all of the NYC zoos, but AK is a whole different experience. First of all, the trails are set up so you are SUPERCLOSE to the animals. Even when you're just walking to rides, you're surrounded in the amazing theming. I really feel most people don't really recognize how amazing AK is. It's the most well-themed park there is. You can thank Joe Rodhe for that, and you can see all of the details. It's best taken at a slow pace to just enjoy. If you don't keep your eyes open, you'll miss it.DeVine is SO cool. You can spend hours identifying animals on the Tree of Life, The Finding Nemo and especially Lion King shows are full fledged theatre experiences and worth the trip and ticket price alone. Festival of the Lion King is SO SO SO amazing. I don't have a huge interest in birds, but Flights of Wonder was really great. Expedition Everest is one of my favorite rides. It's so incredibly well-themed and full of surprises. I can't get over how much I love that ride. We've been known to ride it 5 or 6 x in a row (this is for the adults).

The Safari is amazing. it's so vast and as I said before the animals are SOOO close to you. It's a much more immersive experience than Six Flags. Kali River Rapids is a short ride, but it is also really beautiful. Rafiki's planet watch is a hidden gem with all kinds of fun educational activities.

I am a full on Animal Kingdom lover. We spent two full days there (morning and afternoon) this past trp. I want to go during busy season to get to be there at night. I miss the evening EMH. They are awesome!