OK girls :)

Nikki Epperson

Nikki Epperson

New member
I know there have been recent threads about this -- but surely no one can tiring of talking about it!

We are going to DisneyWorld June 14-21!!!!!!!!!!

So -- hit me up --
what do we HAVE to do?

We are taking
**possibly** 1 16 year old (boy)
2 13 year olds (boy/girl)
1 9 year old (girl)
1 5 year old (boy)
1 4 year old (girl that likes only boy things!)

Plus my mom, my aunt, my brother and his wife, my hubby and ME :thumbup:

I've been on their website CONSTANTLY - but I'm terrified we will miss something.

We are not doing the water parks. They are not in our package :(
 
First of all it's going to be hot and sticky so be prepared!

Check out this website - it will tell you about all the different things to do and has recent vistor reviews on rides, restaurants, etc.

http://allears.net/index.html

If you are staying at a Disney resort there will be a pool and the mid-level resorts and up have waterslides. The budget resorts do not.
 
Yay! Thank you!! I'm not sure where we are staying -- on site, but my mom is paying so it's probably the budget one. We are planning to go a day early to spend some time at a beach somewhere. My kids and hubby and have never been to a beach :)
 
You can't miss Animal Kingdom. There is something there for everyone and its just such a magical place!! Jeff and I were there in November and I think we rode the Mt. Everest coaster five times! We also did the safari twice (lines were really short. they won't be when you go though lol).
Animal Kingdom can be done in one day, but I've heard other places are just too big to do in one day. Epcot and Magic Kingdom for sure take more than a day.
Oh, and if you're interested in doing something non-disney, we LOVED Universal Stuidos: Islands of Adventure. SO FUN!!
 
Ill recomend stuff you can do aside from Disney because there are so many sites on Disney and Im sure youll get plenty of recomendations on what to do there...depending on what you are looking for in beaches I can recomend some. My favorite is playlinda. It has no condos, hotels, store etc on the beach. It is natural Florida and does have life guards there. Daytona is touristy/tacky in my opinion and allows driving on the beach which I really hate. Cocoa is not as touristy and no driving on the beach but it is very crowded. There is a place in Kissimmee I tell everyone to go not far from Disney called Old Town. They have car shows and lots of fun rides and shops. Just a fun half day kinda place. Also in Old Town is Gatorland which is alot of fun. You can do all of Gatorland in half a day also. If you have enough time while here I would also say to go to Leu Gardens. It is absolutely gorgeous and I tell everyone who comes they should go there. St.Augustine is a really nice place to visit as a learning experience but more for older kids and adults. Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures is my favorite park here even more so then Disney. If you have any specific type questions Ive lived here for almost 30 years so feel free to PM me
 
alansrock said:
We are going in April! I must suggest you Read the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.
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I second, triple, quadruple that. It's the ultimate guide and gives you a TON of insight into the park(s), sights and rides. Make sure to get the 2009 version because things can change from year to year. :)
 
oh and you dont really need to do waterparks most of the parks have waterrides there that will cool you off. The time of year you are coming though make sure you bring/buy lots of sunscreen. The sun is awful and also you might want to plan for rainy activities because it usually rains sometime during the day usually afternoon in summer here
 
Thanks so much girls!

I totally told my mom about the book and she agrees it's a must have! One of us will be getting a copy within the next 2 weeks!
 
I'd make sure you get the multi-park day passes, so that way you can switch parks during the day if you want to. Also, I'd recommend the dining included in your tickets. I wasn't sure about getting it when we went, but I am soo glad we did. It will cover all 3 meals, plus snacks.
My teenaged girls loved Epcot, Mt.Everest was awesome, but I myself, and my 5 year old daughter loved everything about Magical Kingdom.
I agree about reading up on any and all books that you can find about it. I did research for months before we went, and even planned our daily agenda for the whole family.
But as soon as we got there, and saw just how HUGE it all was....I tossed the agenda and just winged it.
If you do stay at a resort, I'd definitely pick the Polynesian! Although it is one of the more expensive ones, OMG-it is by far the most beautiful one there!!! And worth every penny!!!
And it has a nice relaxing beach (but no swimming is allowed in lagoon) and the pool is awesome!!!!
I can't wait to go back!!!!!

web-CopyofDisneyWorldPictures219.jpg
 
If you get to stay in the park I recommend the Contemporary Resort. We stayed there on our honeymoon and it was soo nice and the monorail runs right through the hotel which was really convenient.

Definitely make use of the "fast pass" tickets in the park. They really cut down on the amount of time you spend waiting in lines.

I'd also take advantage of the meal plans as well. It was really convenient. We had 2 meals a day plus snacks and it was just right. I think if we'd done the 3 meal a day plan it would have been too much...we usually did breakfast and dinner and then just snacked for lunch in the parks.

Downtown Disney is fun at night but probably more for the teens than younger kids. Try to see Cirque de Soleil if you can b/c it is fantastic..in fact all the shows they have at night are totally worth it.

PLAN your day. The first day we were there we just kind of wandered around lost and confused lol. That night we set out a plan for when, what and where we would be at what times and that helped A LOT for the rest of our trip.

Have fun!! I'm so jealous..I want to go back SO bad lol :)
 
nikkiepperson said:
I know there have been recent threads about this -- but surely no one can tiring of talking about it!

We are going to DisneyWorld June 14-21!!!!!!!!!!

So -- hit me up --
what do we HAVE to do?

We are taking
**possibly** 1 16 year old (boy)
2 13 year olds (boy/girl)
1 9 year old (girl)
1 5 year old (boy)
1 4 year old (girl that likes only boy things!)

Plus my mom, my aunt, my brother and his wife, my hubby and ME :thumbup:

I've been on their website CONSTANTLY - but I'm terrified we will miss something.

We are not doing the water parks. They are not in our package :(
Click to expand...

We might be there those dates too. Well, not the whole week, we'll be flying in on June 18th and going back on the 23rd. If that's when we have our Class reunion.
 
Go to this site.
https://www.disneyvacations.com/dv/en_US/VacationPlanningDVD/index

And request the free DVD. I got one last year just because I was curious and I just ordered a new one since we're actually going this year.



nikkiepperson said:
I know there have been recent threads about this -- but surely no one can tiring of talking about it!

We are going to DisneyWorld June 14-21!!!!!!!!!!

So -- hit me up --
what do we HAVE to do?

We are taking
**possibly** 1 16 year old (boy)
2 13 year olds (boy/girl)
1 9 year old (girl)
1 5 year old (boy)
1 4 year old (girl that likes only boy things!)

Plus my mom, my aunt, my brother and his wife, my hubby and ME :thumbup:

I've been on their website CONSTANTLY - but I'm terrified we will miss something.

We are not doing the water parks. They are not in our package :(
Click to expand...
 
Please please please...
as a former Reservationist at DisneyLAND...
if you want to eat at ANY restaurants... please please please
make reservations...
if I remember right, DisneyWORLD still does them 3 months out... you're really going to need them.

Disney Dining on their website.
 
Wow! Girls - I knew this would be the place to get the info! I'm requesting the DVD, lol, getting the book, planning my day (thanks Nikki -- I said this to my mom and she tried to argue!)!!!
We've made reservations for what they told us we needed them for. We get to take the girls (lol, and boys too) to eat lunch with Cinderella. :thumbup:
And we have the meal plan. So I'm just hoping no one in my family wants to argue with me.
 
Seriously, make sure everyone knows that you're planning the day. I went with KINDOF a plan, but nobody actually believed me that I'd read 3 guide books and knew what I was doing, so everyone argued and wanted to go in 178952 different directions at any given time. It was SO frustrating!! We missed a lot of the rides and stuff because we wandered around too much, deciding what EVERYONE wanted to do next...
 
Yes, I see this as being one of two things -- absolutely the best vacation EVER or completely ruining family relationships. My mom and my aunt will follow my lead -- but my brother and his wife -- eeeeeekkkk! :unsure:
 
The one thing I learned is that if you need to, split up. It'll be hard to find eachother because of lines and such, but if you have cell phones it won't be TOO hard. It'll save relationships, for sure, lol.

Or you could get your brother and his wife to read the book and they'll quickly understand that a plan is necessary.

I tried before we left to discuss with the people going with us what rides, etc...I never got very far, so I planned it for ME...that may have been my mistake, lol.
 
Thank goodness every adult going, the 16 year old, (and my son if he has good grades on his final report card) will all have AT&T phones. So completely nationwide (hopefully) and mobile to mobile. That's what I told my mom tonight too because she is footing the large chunk of the bill and she wants to stay all together but it's just hard to do that with like 11 people. kwim? And the kid's ages play a HUGE factor too.
 
If you are going on a budget for the lodging, then you will probably be staying at either the All Stars resorts or Pop Century. We have stayed at both and prefer All Stars Sports simply because there is a large "field" in the middle that is great for letting the kids run around, etc. That said, Pop Century has a great food court and even has a ping pong table near the pool. The theming for Music and Movies is just plain fun!! Look at the floor plans on line and fax a request for your room to the hotel 3 days early- otherwise, you can end up with a several minute ride to the bus stop.

As far as meals go, we have found, especially when it is hot out (and it will be hot and humid), that it is best to schedule one sit down meal. We usually do this for a late lunch when everyone is getting hot and grumpy. With the meal plans, do the math. For some families, it is a cost saver but not for all. However, it is always convenient to have them so that you know how much it is going to cost. There are several plans: new this year is the 3 quick service meals plus two snacks. We usually get the regular plan- one table service, one quick meal, and one snack. Think about your family's eating habits because desserts are included in the meals, but not appetizers with these plans.

When we are taking big groups (we have had 17 in a group before), I have everybody prioritize what they think they want to do and try to plan the day around that. Talk to your mom about splitting up at different times during the day- with the range of ages you have, the kids are going to be interested in different things.

Always get to the park early (no ifs, ands, or buts- you will miss rides, be too hot, etc. if you don't- trust me, we did that one day when my husband was convinced I couldn't be right- never again), take a small cooler with cold water (we freeze it in the hotel fridge the night before) and snacks- even with the meal plan, you could go broke on snacks.

I have to head out now, but if you have any questions, feel free to PM me- we go at least once a year- and sometimes 4 times a year.
 
Wow - I didn't know we could take snacks in -- lol, we were going to take a "diaper bag" even though we have no children in diapers!
 
Oh yeah, definitely take food in with you. We didn't, but paid incredibly high prices for it, lol. The first day at Disneyland was 102* and I swear we spent $150 on water for just our family of 4. They made a killing on water that day, lol...by the afternoon it was hard to find water at any of the stands and if you DID get some, it was still warm because it didn't have time to cool after they got stocked up.

Personally, I liked being all together (there was 10 in my group) for the most part but it just was hard because everyone wanted to go in different directions. As long as you have a plan, you should be able to stay all together. Some will end up standing off to the side of rides while others go on (that's OK, cause there's always bags and stuff that you don't want to take on) if they don't want to do that particular ride, but then you plan one that they DO want to do next.
 
ditzyscrap said:
Some will end up standing off to the side of rides while others go on (that's OK, cause there's always bags and stuff that you don't want to take on) if they don't want to do that particular ride, but then you plan one that they DO want to do next.
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this cracks me up -- as my husband is the "official purse holder" -- he's a sissy and won't ride rides!!!!!
 
Just a couple more thoughts-

For snacks, we have always had the kids- and adults- pick a protein (cheese or beefy jerky), something salty (chips, nuts, etc.), something sweet (no chocolate or anything that could melt), and gum/ lifesavers for the day. Then we use our snack credits for Mickey ice cream bars or Dole whips, etc.

For resources:
www.disboards.com -has a wealth of information- great for restaurants, hotels, parks, etc.
www.tourguidemike.com -about $20 to subscribe, he has the best information about days of the week, etc.; great touring plans, although he might not have added some of the newest rides to his quick plans
www.touringplans.com -this is put out by the authors of the Unofficial Guide and has some great touring plans put together- the subscription is about $13 but you can customize your touring plans

I second www.allearsnet.com for basic information, especially restaurants, special events, etc.
 
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