Disney Recommendations

Going with our friends and their son next year- DD will be almost 3 and our friend's son will be 4. I've been multiple times, but never with a child. We want make sure we reserve the best character-themed meals/shows for them and organize it well! We are thinking 4-5 days and will have the meal-plan and everything.

1. For hotels, we're thinking of keeping it affordable, but not too cheap. Is Port Orleans nice (riverside or french quarter)? What other hotels would you recommend? It will be hot when we go, so a hotel with a good pool is important :)

2. Besides Chef Mickey and the crystal palace, what else is important to book for the kids? I've done the one in cinderella's castle before and i've been to the Ohana dinner at the Polynesian, just not sure if that's good for a 3 and 4 year old?

3. Any other tips would be appreciated!!

Disney Recommendations

We like French Quarter, it's small, doesn't share buses, and the food court is good. The rooms are nice.

Ohana breakfast is great! We like 1900 Park Fare breakfast also. We don't do a lot of sit down character meals though since they take forever, and are $$$$$

Disney Recommendations

We just got back from French Quarter. We loved the pool area. They had a slide, different pool sections, pool parties every day, a bar, kid activities and a playground.

Re: Disney Recommendations

We LOVE PO Riverside!! It has beautiful grounds but it is quite large. I've stayed in both the bayou area and the mansions. If you do a Royal Room (which is SO worth it IMO) you will be in the mansions right by the main lobby, restaurant and bus stop. It's just a quick walk over the bridge. In the bayou you could have a hike and a half.

POR has 4 internal stops and sometimes stops at POFQ too so you could be on the bus a while. I also found that POR had the LONGEST bus lines of any other resort at the park, even POFQ was A LOT shorter. I think the pool area at POR is far better than the one at POFQ however, POFQ is VERY nice as well. It has more of a New Orleans/Mardi Gras feel to it whereas POR is like being in the deep south of Louisiana. You really cannot go wrong with either, it's just personal preference.

We LOVE the breakfast at both O'hana and Crystal Palace at MK. The food is the BEST and although not our most favorite characters, my kids loved meeting Pooh and friends as well as Lilo and Stitch. Opt for the breakfast or lunches when you can, it'll save you a considerable amount of money. Another great character meal is Garden Grill inside of The Land at Epcot. The food is all you can eat, family style and you get to meet Mickey and friends. We loved it, very enjoyable experience. 1900 Park Fare is also nice for character meals! And do NOT miss a meal at Be Our Guest!!!! Hands down the BEST experience. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

A "must-do" meal for us EVERY trip is 50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios. It's so much fun, cute theme, and the food is good home cookin'. My kids really enjoyed it. If you plan on heading into Disney Springs, my kids LOVE the T-Rex restaurant. It's a lot of fun and if for some reason you cannot get a reservation though Disney Dining, just call the restaurant direct. They only give Disney a certain amount of reservations for their dining site but there is usually PLENTY more available. I've never had a problem getting whatever time I wanted when I called them direct.

Do NOT miss the fireworks at the castle, they are jaw dropping. The new show is absolutely amazing, you'll want to see it at least once if not twice!! Don't forget to eat a Dole Whip available at the Poly, Pop Century and in Adventureland at MK. It's my most FAVORITE dessert in the world, I've been a hardcore fan since the 80's!! LOL

You MUST Fast Pass either ride in Pandora at AK. If you don't, you will wait for HOURS. I know you have little ones so the River Ride might be perfect for you guys. Also, FP the safari. It's a lot of fun and we always get to see a ton of great animals. At MK, FP Peter Pan because the line is ALWAYS insane. If your kid are a little daring, you MUST also FP The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Another good one for the little kids is Dumbo, worth a FP. If you're looking for adult fun too, FP all the mountains.................Space, Splash, and Big Thunder.

At Epcot, you HAVE to FP the Frozen ride in Norway. It's SOOOOO cute, your kids will love it. My kids also love Soarin' but because Epcot FP's are tiered, you won't be able to FP both in the same day. If you're doing two days at Epcot, FP one for each of your days there. At Hollywood Studios, FP Toy Story Mania for sure. The BEST!!!! For the adults, FP Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror too. Again, Hollywood Studios is also tiered so you'll need to plan out how you want to FP there.

My biggest piece of advice would be to take FULL advantage of the Rider Swap. It's AWESOME and we were able to get on everything even though there were rides my little DS didn't want to ride. Annnnnnd my DD got to ride everything twice, once with me and once with my DH. Just let the person running the line at the beginning know that you want to Rider Swap and they will give you a tag and just before boarding the ride, a ticket for the second rider and guest to ride. It's great!! It made our trip so much more enjoyable and we didn't have to miss out on any rides because of my DS.

Also, the Memory Maker is SO worth it!! You'll get EVERY pic (plus videos sometimes) of you and your family on rides AND there are photographers ALL over the parks ready and willing to take pics. We got so many great shots!! And ask for "Magic Shots" too, they are super cute. They will add all kinds of cute "magic" and detail to some of your photos. We were in the Dumbo area one visit and a photographer who had nothing much to do asked if we wanted some pics of the kids so of course, we said yes. He ended up hanging out with us for about 10 minutes taking all kinds of awesome candid shots of our kids playing and having fun in the water sprinkle park. It was such a treat! I think it's worth every penny!!

Have a super magical and totally awesome trip!!!!!!!!!

Message edited 1/24/2018 5:41:08 PM.

Re: Disney Recommendations

For kids that age, I would recommend the breakfast at Hollywood & Vine @ Hollywood Studios because it features the Disney Jr. characters.

Crystal Palace & Chef Mickey's are excellent choices for kids that age. The only other place I would consider is the Garden Grill in Epcot. It rotates (always fun) and features Chip & Dale, Mickey & Pluto.

I love POFQ. If I could only stay at one resort that wasn't a deluxe - that would be my choice. If however, you are looking for Disney theming at the resort itself, consider sharing a suite with your friends at Art of Animation.

Re: Disney Recommendations

Re: Disney Recommendations