Disney Vacations
 

I'm looking for feedback on any of the resorts in Disney World in Orlando. We're planning a trip there next summer, for my me, my wife, and our two kids ages 6 and 4. I'm thinking of either of a deluxe resort, or the new animation resort they are opening up. Dining plan? Not sure what to do.

We did Disney last year, my daughter was nearly 6 and son 3 1/2.

We stayed at one of the All-Star resorts. You are still pretty close to everything, and have dedicated buses available. I can't think of any time we waited more than 20 minutes for a bus.

The deluxe resorts, I believe, you'll have access to the monorail, meaning even less of a wait.

We did get a dining plan, but whichever one included 2 meals + 2 "snacks" per day. We used the meals mainly for breakfast and dinner. The snacks can be used for bottled water, which is helpful. We'd have smaller meals in the parks for lunch.

We also bought our flights separate from booking through Disney, and found better deals that way.

Depends. If you're willing to spend, I highly recommend the Polynesian or Contemporary, as being on the monorail is super-convenient, and the kids will want to spend lots of time at the Magic Kingdom. Plus monorail access to Epcot. You only have to take buses to Disney Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, or Downtown Disney.

The All-Star resorts are just fine if you want to save money.

Go with the Dining Plan, it's generally worth it. They have several different versions now. The Table Service meals are great to use on the Character Dining experiences, do as many as possible with the kids.

Make sure you bring swimsuits. If you are going in the summer it will be very warm and humid, and you'll want to take the kids back to the hotel and let them loose in the pool for the afternoon. Do the parks in the morning and evenings.

And whatever you do, don't PLAN the trip out. Go with the flow, do what's fun and not completely packed. If you decide "okay, we'll hit Magic Kingdom on day one, doing rides X, Y, and Z, then Epcot Day 2..." etc up front you'll ruin the trip. Just get there and do what seems fun while you're there, let the kids check some stuff out, but don't push them too hard.

17 trips to WDW (and hopefully another one pending soon), so as you might expect I've got a few thoughts here ;)


+1 on the Contemporary. Never stayed at Poly so can't comment. Among the next tier down, I recommend Wilderness Lodge from a kid's perspective & French Quarter from an adult's perspective.


Not a fan of the AS properties, at least not during busy season. The bus service is generally atrocious for them because of the ratio of guests:buses is the worst of all properties. "You get what you pay for" may very well apply to transportation moreso than any other aspect of the resorts. Unless of course you enjoy waiting more than an hour (and as much as 2.5 hr) while you're exhausted while carrying even more wiped out kids plus all of the stuff you've accumulated.

Incidentally, for the first few days of the trip (until about 48 hours before departure) having purchases delivered back to the resort instead of lugging them around is a helpful tip. If it's something the kid just has to have in their hands the minute you get back to the hotel fine, otherwise, have 'em delivered (no extra charge) to your resort gift shop & pick them up at your leisure usually about 24 hours later.


Big +1. At those ages character dining is almost certain to be a hit & the photos you'll take are likely to be among your most favorite. Reservations are a must at most of these, with Cinderella's Royal Table (inside the castle) being the toughest. AFAIK those reservations still become available 365 days out, and if you don't book that one about a year out then your odds of getting in are not good.


Another +1 here, the midafternoon break is a near must in summer, otherwise you end up exhausted & miserable pretty easily. It also lets you avoid the typical mid-afternoon downpour.


I largely disagree here. We found that the dining reservations were usually the best way to organize things, otherwise you're having fun at Park X only to realize you have to leave & frantically try to make it to wherever you're eating. Likewise having a general plan focused on your top priorities at Park X upon arrival is important, organizing your first few rides in a logical sequence will have you on more rides/attractions and spending less time trekking across the parks. (i.e. if Fantasyland at MK is your top priority then go directly to it when the gates open, don't dawdle & gawk en route. If you do, you're going to be facing 2x-4x the wait times. Our first trip featured a 3 hr wait in record heat just get my kid on Pooh.)

It's possible to overplan (did that on a couple of trips) but having plans built around your priorities is something I'd call a must ... at least if you want to accommodate those things with the least amount of wasted time & energy. With most WDW visits, time & energy become more precious commodities than cash (and at Disney, time is always money ;) ).

Yes, I'll agree here. Plan the dining ahead of time. Just don't come up with a down-to-the-minute itinerary with the parks, and be willing to change some plans based on what the kids want to do.

The minute-by-minute version is always spoiled by the arrival of Mr. Murphy & his law ;)

What I really meant to add to my comments but failed to actually do was my belief that ultimately every family kind of has to find the level of organization/planning/etc that works best for them. I've got friends whose WDW style would make me insane, mine would do the same to them. The "right" way to do it is whatever fits your family best, definitely not a one-size-fits-all kind of place.

Some of the stuff - like having an initial attack plan - strikes me as common sense based on waytoomany days of park experience. Other things - like dining reservations - are just practical realities, you either plan ahead or find yourself with limited options at best.

As a free bonus, one of the many little things we learned over the years was that the best last-minute dining trick was to call their WDW-DINE number the minute it reopens in the morning (7AM IIRC), you can sometimes catch a surprisingly decent same-day reservation as they've cleared out cancellations & what-not. Wait 'til 9am & you're probably s.o.l. in peak season.

I'm really debating a deluxe resort, or the new Animation Studios that is opening up next year.

I might suggest that the opening date be a big part of your decision. As with anything new, even Disney has to deal with working out bugs/kinks. If your trip is 60-90 days after at least the "soft" opening of the new one, you'd probably be okay. Less than 30 days, I'd advise dodging it, no point spending that kind of coin just to beta test the property.

Good point. Now I'm thinking Polynesian based on the monorail availability, and getting the dining plan with one sit down, and one quick service meal.

To piggyback on tis thread, what is the youngest age that you would consider taking a child?

We have some time off in January and are considering it with our (what will then be) 2 1/2ish year old. I know he won't remember much, if anything, but just curious if it would be worth it, if anyone has gone with such a young child.

We are a Disney family with over 20 trips. Now my daughter is an architect in the Imagineering Dept and my son-in-law is in Guest Relations, giving VIP tours and often in charge of the Castle suite on weekends. So I tend to know what is going on.

Dining reservations are a must, the advice to get reservations and plan your days around them is sound advice. Meal plans are terrific and the folks at Disney will do what they can to accommodate you when you have choices to make. One important point I'll add is that top-of-the-line eating often takes TWO sit down meal points. They will point this out to you, but you need to be aware of this since you said you want the premium resorts. Ohana's at the Polynesian, California Grill at the Contemporary and several at the Grand Floridian all cost two table service meals. So be prepared.

With 6 and 4 year olds, EPCOT will be a long day with the kids getting tired and a bit bored. Hollywood Studios go early and directly to the Toy Story Fast Pass lines. The Fast Passes for Toy Story are gone by 11 AM which means an hour+ wait for what is a must-do ride.

I'd avoid the new Animation hotel until it goes through its shakedown phase successfully. We stayed at Coronado Springs when it first opened, and little things went wrong.

We took our first visit to DisneyLand when our daughter was 3 1/2 and she did well and does remember it--aided by photos, of course. There's lots of strollers in the Magic Kingdom, and lots to do and see for the young ones. There are always parades and characters roaming.

However, little kids need naps. Unless you are staying in a close by premium resort, getting back and forth to the parks is time-consuming, although the resort buses are convenient, they are slow and stop a lot.

We just took our 10th trip last month. As somebody else said, you are really just going to have to figure out through experience what works for your family, but I'll share some things that work for us.

Don't do the all-star resorts. Fewer buses, longer walks to the bus, and no shelter at the bus stop at the hotel. Not having to stand in the hot sun or rain waiting for the bus makes the cost difference of the better hotels worth it.

We prefer the moderate resorts for the cost, since we really aren't there much anyway. From Caribbean Beach you can see the skyrockets from the Epcot fireworks. From Port Orleans you can take a boat ride to Downtown Disney.

Our experience with the regular meal plan was that you almost have to plan your day around the meals to make sure you used all your table services because of waits/reservations. We were much happier with the two counter service meals/day plan. The counter service meals are large enough for two if you aren't a big eater, and it's easier to just eat when you get hungry.

We took our daughter at just short of 5 yoa. When we went this last time (3 years later) I was amazed at the things she remembered.

This site has tons of good information:
www.disboards.com

Since there are so many vets of trips on here, are the bus lines at the moderate resorts ok?

Probably depends upon your tolerance for lines & buses, but for me (intolerant impatient SOB that I generally am) they're generally tolerable. I don't love 'em & I'll use things like the water taxi from Orleans to Epcot to avoid them when I can but I can live with them if I have to. There's definitely a noticeable difference in buses for moderates vs all-stars for sure. YMMV of course.

It's a perfect age for the first trip. We're taking our 4 1/2 year old out for her second trip and our 2 year old out for her first trip this September. The 4 1/2 year old first went to Disney world at 22 months. She remembers more of that trip than her mom and I do. One of the biggest misconceptions by most parents is that they can't take kids from 2-4 years of age. I'd argue that there's not a better time to take kids given that they can ride so many rides and attractions even at that small age. They soak it up. Also, make sure to do character meals and get autographs. The pictures and autographs in those books are things that my older daughter still looks at regularly.

Make sure to go in the latter half of January after school gets back into session. You'll rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes for a ride and will walk directly on to most rides with no wait.

I've done it at around 18-20 months (been a long time, can't remember his age exactly). Truthfully, fun as it was & memorable as it was, that was a trip that turned out to be entirely for me & my wife, my son (a complete Disneyphile even now) has zero recollection of it. It's akin to baby's first Christmas.

I'd say 3 is the earliest they're going to have memory of it & along the lines of what MBBF said, 3-4 seems like a really good sweet spot.

We stayed at Caribbean Beach from June 6-12. We had two waits over 20 minutes: one was an obvious busing screwup where an Epcot bus didn't come for almost an hour; the other was Friday night leaving Downtown Disney, so not unexpected. Other than those, I don't think we had a wait over 15 minutes, at the hotel or the parks. This (minus the screwup; that was a first) was consistent with our other stays at the moderates.

I'm just here to say hello to my wife, who has probably setup shop in this thread. I'm fairly sure she visits the Front Office more often than I do these days.

Oh and yes, we're planning our trip as well. So thanks for posting this, and all of the advice.

I would recommend one of the All-Star or Pop Century value resorts. It's never made sense to me to pay for the premium hotels, as my family spends the overwhelming majority of our time in the parks themselves.

I also think it is an absolute necessity to pre-plan the trip as much as possible. You have to go to MGM knowing to hit the Toy Story line as soon as the park opens, or that Soarin's FastPasses run out very quickly, if you want to avoid waiting in line for over an hour. My wife uses a couple of the Disney websites like TourGuide Mike (which is not free, but totally worth it) and has our day planned down to who and when is getting a FastPass for a specific ride. Yes it seems like a pain, but it is absolutely worth it to minimize waiting in lines. Going with the flow just seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

Our first couple of times we didn't do the Dining Plan, but after doing it a couple of times, I really think it's the way to go. Also, Disney has been offering the Dining Plan for free a good bit recently, so be on the lookout for it.

Disboards is a very good resource as well, and my wife has another one that she likes a lot but the name escapes me at the moment. Those larger fan run & fan focused sites are great for a lot of things including Hidden Mickeys (the popular & the obscure), daily on-site updates about ride closures/crowding/etc, emerging issues (or good stuff) at resorts, etc. While there's a lot of stuff that's from/for hardcore Disney freaks, I've always thought they were friendly enough for newbies & to this day I still learn new tricks almost every time I read them.

Also, since this thread has got some 1st timers (or 1st time with young kids) viewing, make sure you know about the "baby swap" (the official name eludes me). Basically you ride Everest or whatever while the wife holds the baby then you get off & hold the baby while she goes to ride w/out going back through the line.

When these trips get closer make sure you necromance the thread or start a new one, there's a lot of little stuff (like getting to wake Tinkerbell at MK or riding with the conductor up front on the monorail) that ought to be tipped off as well.

Heartily agree with all of this. On the Dining Plan being included, as well as other hotel specials, these get announced about 90 days ahead of the start date and run about 90 days. So as much as I agree with the 'plan ahead' talk, great deals at the resort hotels (including the 'free' dining plan) get announced a relatively short time ahead. Check the fan websites. They will instantly post the deal details as soon as they are available.

If your kids are Pirate fans, check out the new Pirate theme rooms at Caribean Beach. My daughter got us one of them last Novemeber. Cannons built into the beds, as well as pirate baseboards. Fixtures all pirate-y. I loved it, hard to imagine a kid not thinking it is the greatest room they ever saw.

Hello all. As Glen posted above, his wife(currently posting under his name) has been lurking for sometime now.

We are planning a trip to WDW sometime the first half of next year. I would love to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge with the safari view, but the lodge seems a bit out of the way. Does anyone have any experience with this particular resort?

Also, as we are from the west coast, and this will likely be a once in a lifetime trip, I am curious about staying on Disney property, but getting to Universal Studios or possibly the beach. Is it possible? is there public transportation to get us there and back? taxi? or will we have to rent a car?

Animal Kingdom Lodge is fantastic but definitely out of the way. If this will be a once in a lifetime trip, I would say stay more centrally located. Animal Kingdom Lodge is best for folks who want to live with the animals for a few days.

You will need a car to get to Universal or SeaWorld. There's also a dinosaur park that is better than you'd think off towards Tampa. My daughter likes it. Forget the beach, it is around an hour away--but so is Cape Canaveral if there is a launch. Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are better than a day at the shore, so Disney takes care of that. Plus there are pools with big slides at all the resorts.

I don't know much about the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but if you are doing a once in a lifetime trip and want to get to Universal Studios, I'd consider staying onsite at WDW for however many days you want to visit their parks and then renting a car and staying somewhere closer to Universal.

We stayed 8-days a pretty nice Extended Stay, that was within walking distance to Universal, for what we paid for 2 days in a mid-range Disney hotel. And, by staying off site and in an Extended Stay, you can sneak in meals and a few daytrips (Drive to the Beach, although it is far/Sea World/Shopping/Go to a Movie/etc.) without feeling like you are blowing money at the resort by not going to a park.

Has anyone stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort (the pirate themed one)? I'd be curious to hear about experiences there.

There are some special offers for free dining from time to time, but lately it has been available every year from late August to early October (aka "hurricane season"). If you don't have school age kids (or don't care about missing school), this makes early Oct doubly attractive. Hurricane season is pretty well over by then and our experience with that time of year has always been good (low crowds, less hot).


We stayed in one of these our most recent trip (we booked last minute and it was all that was available). The room was cool, my daughter loved it, but it added over $100 for 6 days so YMMV.

Edit: somebody asked for specifics, so I'll give more detail.

Pros: Daughter loved the room, a smaller pool with no crowd was close, you can see the Epcot skyrockets from the "beach" nearby, slightly higher cost means quieter area and fewer people at bus stop.

Cons: extra cost, these rooms are farthest from the main area (i.e.the food) (but still less than 10 min walk), full size beds not queens so may be uncomfortable if you are tall/big.

Ultimately, I would say if the extra cost is justified to you for the cool decor, these rooms are as good as any. Simply for being able to see the higher fireworks without fighting the crowd I would probably pick Carribean Beach from among the moderate resorts.

I'm staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in September. We've got a 10-person room on the safari side. We've heard from others that it's well worth it. I've stayed at a room at the lodge before. Bus service is very good. We've found that the extra few minutes on the bus are more than offset by the frequency of buses that they send to the resort.

As a sidenote, anyone who doesn't use MouseSavers (http://www.mousesavers.com/) to plan trips is missing out. We use Undercover Tourist (referenced on MouseSavers) to purchase our tickets. I also have saved hundreds on nearly every trip just by watching the deals on MouseSavers and getting them matched once I see them. Disney allows you to book early and then call them back and get a price match if they drop the price on what you booked. The only catch is that the deals often are out within days, so watching a site like MouseSavers on a regular basis is key to getting that price match.

This thread is making me really want to go back for another trip.

On the age thing, we nearly lost our 2-year-old on her first trip to Disney (on her birthday, so at 24-months) when she broke away from my hand and took off to go see Pooh. Luckily there was a fence in the way. We got in line and she gave Pooh the biggest hug I think I've ever seen her give anyone. She had a GREAT time. Just remember that at that age it's all about the characters, it really wasn't until age 6 or so that our kids started caring about the rides at all.

I'm having a hard time deciding. Seems like all the deluxe resorts are great, but pricey (with the ones on the monorail being my choice option), and all the moderates have pros and cons. Due to all the bad stuff I've read on the bus service (both here and on other sites), I've kind of ruled out the value resorts.

A couple of x-factors (that you've probably already considered)

1) How much room/resort time do you anticipate doing? If it's as little as possible, the price jump may not be worth it. If, on the other hand, you figure to include some non-park chill out time then the deluxe resorts are pretty cool. Grand Floridian (which isn't first choice for 99.9% of kids) is pretty swank stuff for adults, maybe the most relaxing of all the Dis resorts IMO.

2) There's character dining at some resorts (Contemporary has Chef Mickey's breakfast for example) as well as shows like Hoop De Doo (at/near Wilderness) and the Luau thing (at Poly, name escapes me). If any of those are on your agenda then that would be a point in their favor. After several days of running around like crazy, it's kind of nice to casually make your way down to something that only involves an elevator as transportation.

3) If your family includes a water bug or two, check out the various theme pools at the hotels you're considering. A matter of taste really but there are some differences (do the kids think any of the specific pools look like the greatest thing ever? If so, that's worth consideration IMO).

4) Do you plan/expect to be centered more on one park than the others (i.e. mostly MK or fairly balanced across them all?). If MK is a major focal point then it's hard to be any more convenient than Contemporary. If you're going to be everywhere about equally then a resort that's more centrally located might get an extra point or two (I can't recall which are which off the top of my head, you should be able to find an overall map that shows everything pretty easily thought)

5) Themes are typically pretty well executed across a specific property. I found that there really is a different feel to one place vs another after a few days there, and there is a tendency to kind of have the resort start to feel like "home", so be somewhere you're comfortable/happy even if it's just psychological. Is there something that's really got a strong appeal to your family; i.e. futurisitic, rustic, exotic, etc? It's little stuff but when giving Disney the kind of coin they're getting, I'm a believer in wringing as much as possible out of the experience.

Just some stuff I figured worth throwing out there. I'm the grumpiest SOB a lot of FOFC'ers know but WDW will always be special to me because of how much my son has loved it for so long. It's been too long since we've been able to go (although there's faint glimmer of hope for us within the next year) so it's fun for me to think about the good times.

That's because you're going during peak season. Try for an offseason trip and you can save a fair chunk. My preference is late January.

If the Polynesian is too much for you, stay at Port Orleans and you'll be fine.

Late January
Early February
Late September
Early October
Weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas

All are fantastic times with minimal crowds. MouseSavers.com has a full listing of prices based on season at the following link.

http://www.mousesavers.com/roomrates2011.html

I wish I could, but as a teacher, that's pretty impossible for me.

We've found the best time to go is after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. The cheaper rates are still in effect up to around Dec 22 or so and the Christmas special parades and such have started. For us, going as soon as school ends (my wife is a teacher) and going home on the 23rd has worked very well at least twice.

In the Fall, don't forget the Food and Wine festival at Epcot. Lots of food and drink stands as you wander around.

Port Orleans is our favorite spot. Good mix of price and convenience. Evenings we take the boat to Downtown Disney and eat/roam around. Not every hotel has a boat.

Take the Magical Express from the airport. It is part of your package and handles you and your baggage coming and going. The best thing Disney has done to make it painless to get there.

For those who can do those dates, I'll second that opinion.


Best adult-oriented time I've been at WDW.

+2 on that. We went to the Food and Wine Festival a few years ago. Let's just say the monorail and bus service came in very handy that week.

I've settled on Wilderness Loge Resort
7/15-7/20 of next year
Quick Service Dining
Park Hopper Option

Any sit down, I'll pay out of pocket if need be.

Stayed there several times, I'd call it a good split of kid & adult attractiveness. Breakfast in the little restaurant right by the front door (Whispering Canyon Cafe) of the resort is one of the more filling meals I've had, underrated IMO & extremely kid friendly. Other meal times are fine there as well. Nothing fancy about the food but sticks to the ribs nicely & is a welcome break from the hamburger or chicken strip fare of the quick service.

I'd recommend shooting for a room assignment (if possible) in the main lodge, not because it's any nicer than the other rooms but rather because some of the outlying buildings are a little bit of a trudge back to the bus stops. Not nearly as bad as, say, Coronado Springs but every little bit helps. Can't always get it but it doesn't hurt to ask (IIRC you can't get the assignment more than 24 hours before check-in, but once you're booked it's worth a call to clarify/request).

The atmosphere of the resort in general (and especially the main lobby area) is pleasant & relaxing, and even if you aren't a smoker, the little balconies that are the designated smoking areas (hardly used in my experience) in each building provide a great escape if you need a few minutes of genuine quiet (doors are basically air tight so the only sounds you hear are ambient noise from the property which is minimal except very close to the pool in the daytime).

FWIW, there were plenty of good options for your situation but I don't think you'll regret your choice for a minute, it's a solid pick.

Ah yes, the Epcot version of a pub crawl as you try to drink your way around the world ;)

How's the boat service to the magic kingdom from the resort? I'd really like a resort that was on the monorail, but I can't justify paying an extra $500 for it. I picked that week, it's the first of the value weeks after their peak in June/early July, it saved me about $300 bucks.

So, as a first time parent considering going back, what do you guys do for sleeping arrangements?

I absolutely hate sleeping in the same hotel room as my son, as I am a light sleeper and anytime he stirs I wake up. Plus, I'm am naturally a night owl and am usually good to go on 6 or so hours of sleep, while he obvioiusly needs 10-12 per night.

Are there any affordable suite-type or two bedrooms that are on-property? Do you guys get an extra adjacent room? Just suck it up and have ten or twelve hours of "lights out?" :)

The new animation resort had a two room option, it would be the most affordable from the ones I was looking at.

Doublechecked my recollections with my wife's & got a nice tip from her in the bargain.

The boat service Wilderness to MK is fine, sometimes have to allow a few extra minutes for the trip but the relaxing atmosphere vs the bus insanity is more than worth it.

What I had forgotten that she brought up immediately was that you can take the boat over to Contemporary (there's one that goes straight there) and then take the monorail to Epcot. That way you get some easy to use monorail time even without paying the upcharge for it. The boat rides are pleasant enough that they almost become like a small attraction in & of themselves.

She also advised checking the discounts that are usually released in January to see if your same configuration is cheaper. You should be able to get them to do a price adjustment if that happens, could either pocket the savings or use them to upgrade somehow if that strikes your fancy after a few months of anticipation.

Exhaustion usually made sleeping a non-factor. In terms of arrangements I still prefer horizontal but after a couple of days in the parks I can live with vertical if I need to ;)


I'm not gonna be much help on this one I'm afraid,by three my kid was closing down the parks at 2am & was back up ready to go back 8 the next morning.

As mentioned above, Mousesavers is a great site. They sent out the latest newsletter this AM, so check it out. It is too long to post all the content here.

Wilderness Lodge is outstanding. Be sure to have lunch in Whispering Canyon Cafe. All you can eat BBQ and they do great stuff for kids, too, like a race with stick horses around the room.

We took the boat from Wilderness Lodge to MK last month on our stay, and it is fun and quick. The boat to Contemporary is a solid choice, too. I think there is another boat that goes to Downtown Disney, too. Important note: they don't run in heavy rain and lightening and there will be heavy rain and lightening during your trip.

My son-in-law gets the daily attendance figures in the MK as part of his job, and he says attendance is up over last summer and growing, so be aware. In late June, the crowds were there, but not overwhelming.

Really fun resort for the kids. Lots to look at. Definitely will use the all-you-can-eat BBQ quite a bit. It's very good.

Don't forget to jump on Character Dining reservations right away. They should be just opening up for those dates.

+1. My 2 1/2 year old last trip was in the Magic Kingdom with me until 1:00 AM on the two nights where it was open late. Kids can sleep in the stroller during the day. You'll be very surprised how well they adapt to the whacky hours. You'll want to squeeze every last ounce of energy from them before heading back to the room.

I'm booking through mousesavers, they automatically record the trip, and if any discounts come up between now and then for the week I'm going in July, they send me a notice and it gets applied. No charge for the service either. Great resource.

Speaking of those, and since this thread seems to have caught the attention of several upcoming visitors, might as well throw some character dining preferences out there.

Sadly, it's been a few years since my last visit so some of these may have changed a bit (and always research, the fan sites like disboards & others are great for this sort of updated info) but among those that stand out in my mind are

Cinderella's Royal Table - in the castle at MK. Probably the pinnacle of c. dining because of the location. Cindy, of course, and an assortment of prince/princess style characters.

Chef Mickey - character breakfast at Contemporary. I'm a breakfast guy so unlimited bacon certainly put this one near the top of my list. Includes Mickey and a variety of main characters (i.e. Donald, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, etc. Chip & Dale were also mainstays IIRC)

Crystal Palace - MK ... buffet style (as most c. dining seems to be) featuring Pooh & friends. I'd probably recommend this as one of the best for younger kids, the characters work beautifully & since they're all oversized fluff, they're perhaps the most charming.

Another favorite of ours was Liberty Tree Tavern (ham/turkey with traditional sides served family style was a great relief vs counter fare & buffet) but I think it may not be doing c.dining at the moment, I'm not seeing it on some of the more current lists online.

Maybe some FOFC'ers with more recent experiences can add/revise this list.

I'd add a couple of other ones we've been to on a regular basis.

There's a princess-themed breakfast at Epcot in the Norway restaurant that's fantastic. It's a bit more intimate than other locations, allowing for close-up viewing of your favorite princesses (the dads like this part as much as the kids). Really good food with some nice Norwegian options like smoked salmon.

We've also been to the dinner at Chef Mickey's. The kids have their own buffet section filled with things like spaghetti, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, etc. My kid loved that she had her own area. It's even a lower counter so they can serve themselves.

Is park hopper worth it on like a 4 or 5 day vacation?

Akershus rocks !

I didn't mention it mostly because I was thinking that my wife mentioned something about some changes to it (no clue about the details) and wasn't sure if most people would like the menu as much as I did.

Oddly enough, that princess driven c.dining experience provided us with single most memorable moment of all of them. To this day we still tease my son (at around age 4) about being so taken with Belle that he quickly ducked his head to avoid having her see him blush at her approach ... and efficiently plopped his hair straight into his orange juice. Maybe you had to be there, but it was comedy gold that still embarrasses him to this day :)

Absolutely IMO.

I wouldn't even consider a trip of more than 1-2 days w/out using PH. Feels too restricting otherwise, no PH limits your ability to mix & match dining with park attractions, and there are simply some parks that don't warrant a full 2nd day but could easily be enjoyable for a 2nd trip of a half-day.

FWIW my kids HATED Cinderella's Royal Table, mostly because the food was a bit more upscale, not really a kid's menu. My daughter loved meeting the princesses but hated the dinner.

Crystal Palace is great. We also like the Hollywood & Vine diner over at Disney Hollywood Studios, if your kids like the Playhouse Disney stuff: Little Einsteins, JoJo, etc.

I appreciate all of the comments here regarding young children because it's a topic I have been pondering. I have a 5 month old and am a fan of going to Disney World, as it's always a relaxing and fun vacation. My thought on taking the little on way about 2.5 years old and some of the comments here may have sold me. Keep those comments coming...

May not be a factor for you, but for the indefinite future the monorails are stopping one hour after regular park closing for both MK and Epcot. Something to keep in mind if you are staying at a monorail resort and attending the evening Extra Magic Hours at either of those parks (taking the monorail back may not be an option).

I saw that earlier this week too, can't quite put my finger on the logic behind it though.

Monorail Carmageddon.

Lots of speculation out there, but I'm leaning towards the maintenance angle. The only thing confirmed so far is that there is definitely a hard stop for them 1 hour after regular park closing time. If there is maintenance going on, that will come out soon enough. No doubt some local fanatics will drive up and down the roads looking for evidence of track maintenance in the middle of the night.

It's an absolute must. Wouldn't even consider going that many days without it.

I highly recommend getting a pass to one of the DW tour guide websites (I use and can vouch for Walt Disney World Vacation Planner for Orlando, Florida Vacation TourGuideMiKE). The last two trips I've taken I've used the predicted crowd levels on his site to plan which days I'll be in which parks (usually morning in one park and evening in another) and it makes a HUGE difference. Also, he has simple plans of attack (broken down by the ages in your group in some cases) as to how to tour each park to get the most bang for your buck. Totally worth the $22 investment IMHO.

I'm going to be contrarian here. The parkhopper option is nice for some things, yes. But, it is simply not possible to do everything you might want to do in a given park in one day, particularly if you have never been before and want to try everything. So, there is no real need to be able to hit 2 or more parks in a day. In my opinion you can easily get by without this and save $100-200.

Another thing to consider: by the time you walk out, wait for the bus, ride the bus to your hotel, wait for a bus to the other park, ride that bus, and walk into another park, you've lost an hour or more out of your day. (There are no direct park-to-park buses). The only part of this that is restful is the bus ride, if you get a bus that isn't crowded and you can sit, so you can't really count this as taking a break, either.

We've tried it both ways and neither is bad. You can just get by fine without paying the extra money IMO.

Character dining impressions? I think I'm going to go for the Cinderella's Castle one for my six year old daughter, and the Chef Mickey one for my 4 year old son.

Both solid choices. Crystal Palace at MK makes a good 3rd choice if needed since you get entirely different characters (Pooh) than either of the other two.

Yeah, that's great. You'll have a great time.

I am also looking to do our first family trip with our kids in the near future 2012/2013. On the opposite side I have a 4 year old boy and 8 year old girl . Next year would seem to be the perfect time to take them but next year is also our 10 year anniversary so probably can't afford that in a trip to Disney all in one season. I am wondering from others experience is waiting till my daughter 10 a mistake? I am thinking more for the 10 year old?

Why not do them both at Disney? Most of the hotels have a place you can drop the kids off for a day of fun, or take the grandparents with you and let them watch the kids one night. My wife and I have a great time at Disney, both with and without the kids.

I'm kinda w/gstelmack on this one ... at least as long as you don't have something else planned for the anniversary of course.

The dining experience at Victoria & Albert's seems almost tailor-made for such an occasion.

+1. There's some fantastic adult-only options at Disney and the kids will hardly miss you if you put them in a program for an evening or two. Tons of great fine dining options and a night out at Downtown Disney with dancing, concerts, and adult drinks.

An excellent one is the California Grill at night. They let all the diners walk out on an observation deck on top of the Contemporary and watch the fireworks in the MK. Quite a different perspective and fun way to see something that is now familiar to most.

Jelly Roll's or Atlantic Dance, both on the Boardwalk, are choices my daughter and son-in-law go when they want to dance. Younger crowd, too. I've only stuck my head in, so I don't know more.

Cinderella's Castle used to be (likely still is) hard to get in at certain times of day/year. IIRC they start taking reservations six months ahead, and you may very well need to call as soon as reservations are available for the day you want.

That said, the one time we ate there we were walkups. It was off season, mid-afternoon, and it was long ago (10-15 years). Don't know if you could still pull that off without being really lucky.

Yes, it's a mistake. Largely because adult prices start at age 10. If you go at age 9, she'll be less than half of your cost now than she will be a year later.

Yes, the walk-up at the Castle still happens almost every day because people simply don't show up for reservations. That said, don't count on it, certainly not for more than four people.

Not true. Park Hopper is now $85 for 10+ and $79 for U-9. So $6 per day savings.

On tickets, we used to buy an annual pass that started, say Aug 23 and ran to August 22 of the next year. Then we would plan for the next trip to END on Aug 22 of the following year. That way we got two trips on one annual pass. Actually, we'd went down at Christmas, too, so we got three trips on the annuals, but that's excessive for most of you.

Looking at the Disney site, Annual pass is now $553 and 10 day No Expiration (I"ll let y'all look up the rules on that) is $571. If you plan on two 6-7 day stays (like we use to), the annual pass is a good deal over a ten day No Expiration. Used to be more, but things change.

I think OldGiants is the same way I am since his family loves Disney World too. Our family looks forward to annual or bi-annual trips to Disney. It's a part of what we do to spend time together. Reading regular posts on this thread is getting me more and more excited about our trip in September.

I know that big kids aren't supposed to be this excited about Disney World, but I'm all fired up to head down. My 4 year old is now over 40", meaning she can now ride most of the rides at the parks with us. My 2 year old will get her first experience and she'll talk nonstop about it with her sister over the following months. It's going to be a blast.

For those who have a trip coming up, I'll mention that the official WDW page on Facebook is a pretty good way to help build & maintain excitement while you countdown the days.

They actually have an iPhone app where you can enter the date and time when your flight to Orlando departs. Every time you get on your phone, you get a countdown until your Disney vacation.

Thanks guys for feedback. Good info on the 10 year old price jump. I was planning a trip for a week somewhere between Thanksgiving and Xmas which would be a month before the girl turns 10. I am not going to worru to much on the anniversary as the wife wanted a new diamond as the one she got a decade earlier was fairly small and she also wants a boob job. Don't think they do those at the Magic Castle;)

You're right. There are savings, but not a lot of savings. Not sure why I thought it was so much. But the kids meals if you eat inside Disney World are a fair bit cheaper for kids 9 and under.

This deserves its own thread.

Pics plz k thx.

:)

My girls got really excited last night. We're now exactly one month from our departure to Disney World. Mickey Mouse was nice enough to send us our baggage tags for the Magical Express along with a promotional pamphlet that included a 'Getting Ready for Your Trip' DVD! My four year old was thrilled that Mickey sent her a DVD to watch. We immediately threw it into the DVD player and watched the entire DVD from start to finish.

I was impressed by how many of the rides and attractions she remembered from our last trip when she was two years old. She spit out random comments about what we talked about while riding certain rides. She also started bouncing up and down when they showed the princesses and recommended getting an autograph book. She gave me specific instructions on which autograph book and pen was required for her visit.

My two year old just kept screaming 'Mickey!' and 'Minnie!' every time they popped on the screen. She gets to start making those same memories this year. We're really excited to get down there.

On the autograph book, remember which signatures she gets. If by chance it gets lost, head over to City Hall and check with lost and found. Tell them which book and the characters who signed it. It will take awhile, but they will find the book with the signatures you tell them. The Guest Relations people take classes in the character signatures (with the character actors) so they know how to do them. My daughter told me signing/replacing autograph books was among her favorite duties. Putting a smile on a crying, tear-filled face always makes the day.

Same thing goes for those propeller driven personal coolers. They have dozens in Lost and Found and really do want you to take one. Even if you've never actually bought one.

Good info. Always good to find ways to keep the kids happy. :)

Heading out for Disney at the end of the week. I've got a free countdown clock on my iPhone that counts down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until we leave. My four year old has been checking it 2-3 times a day. She's pretty fired up about it all. Her cousin (who is going as well) came by today to play and they talked non-stop about all the rides they wanted to go on.

Happiest Place on Earth, here we come! :)

Silly as it may sound, it really can be. I hope it is for you & your family the way it has been for mine.

Not sure if this was mentioned/you're already aware but just in case ... with a girl that young, "waking up Tinkerbell" could be an extra magical moment. Not sure if this still works the same way (it stopped while the shop was being refurbished, no idea if it's reopened yet/resumed the tradition) but this link explains it pretty well. Do some discreet checking on the status if you've got an early morning at MK.

DisneyDaddy: Tip Tuesday: Waking up Tinkerbell

Also, don't forget to learn everything you can about Hidden Mickeys. Great way to pass the time for young & old alike.

I saw that there's actually an iPhone app that tells you where every single Hidden Mickey is located. Might be a fun way to help the kids look for extra Mickeys. Thankfully, we're going to Disney at a time when lines should be very short. We went the same week a couple of years ago and rarely had to wait more than 5-10 minutes on the rides.

I hope everyone had fun. We went down in mid-November and attended Party for the Senses, a great (but expensive) dinner event in EPCOT. While down there, our Imagineer daughter showed us the 'Secret Project' she has been working on.

It's "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom" and the fixtures (her small part) are visible throughout MK. Here are recent links to the testing by cast members and such.

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom play testing reveals map, cards, and more interactive Walt Disney World game details | Inside the Magic

UPDATED: First Full Look at Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom – Photos & VIDEO | Disney Projects

Add this to the expansion/renovation of Fantasyland coming in February, and there is every reason to get down there this year.

We'll be there week after next for a few days, courtesy of several years worth of cash-back on our Disney Rewards Visa.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes after so many trips but not having been in several years.

Mrs. SpeechCoach and I have been to Disneyland each of the last two years. We didn't get to go this year, but my sister and her husband decided to take their 2 year old daughter, and I got to be the Uncle. We stayed at the Disneyland Resort, but we found that the niece was too young. She freaked out while waiting at the entrance to California Adventure, and nearly made us cancel the character breakfast when she threw a huge tantrum before going into Ariel's Grotto. She then hid under the table from the princesses, until Belle stroked her hair and gave her a big kiss. We had fun, but it really depends on the child.

I've begun planning a Disney World trip for next October. Thanks to everyone who has posted in this thread, as it was one of my early starting points in doing some research. I'm sure I'll post a few times in here over the next month or so as I get closer to nailing down my plans.

Yeah, if a kid doesn't like characters, that age won't work. Some kids are scared of them, but I know my 2-year-old gave Pooh a bigger hug than I get when she got to meet him. So 2 years old isn't too young, taking a kid that is scared of people in costumes is going to be a problem.

Yeah, my 20 month old was passing out hugs to anything in a costume, so you definitely have to know your kid to know whether it will work for you or not.

The character thing is why we haven't gone to Disney before now. My 4 1/2 year old daughter was scared of Santa the last two years, as well as pretty much any "characters" that were life-sized rather than TV-sized.

This year, I've spent some time talking to her about Disney World (the castle at the start of the movie!) and how we want to make sure she has fun there with the princesses rather than being scared like she has in the past with Santa. She aced Santa last weekend, so either she is growing out of the fear or she is motivated by Disney. I'm not sure I care all that much which one it is, just happy that this is no longer an impediment for me booking the trip.

Just to be safe, though, we won't be going for another 10 months. So hopefully she continues to get more comfortable and confident in those kind of situations.

Leaving for WDW early in the morning, back late Friday. Staying at French Qtr, which was paid for (along with parkhopper passes & meal plans) entirely with reward points from our Disney Visa. Yeah, took about five years to pull that off and even then it was using the personal card for some company bills that actually did the trick.

Very uneasy about the trip tbh, our finances bear little to no resemblance to what they were 4-5 years ago when we were there last & that vivid reminder has me incredibly depressed. Never dealt with the meal plan thing before either, so from a purely Disney standpoint I'm not entirely confident that it will be as straightforward as it seems to sounds. Then there's the highly anticipated return for my son, but what differences will there be for him going at 13 rather than 8-9 as he was last time? His pre-trip excitement level is about the same as any of the other numerous visits, but how will it be after three days on site?

We shall see.

When I went to WDW at 13, I was really loving it. It was summer then, though, so some of the reasons I had a blast aren't going to be there in the winter (even in central Florida). Back then there were only two parks (and 1 water park), so it was easy to run into the same people (girls) many times during a vacation.