Disney, etc....
 

Dear Fellow Travelers,

My wife, me and her cousin will be visiting Disney World this April w/ a 10 yr. old boy, 8 yr. old boy, 5 yr. old boy and 3 yr. old girl. We will be there for 5 nights and will have 4 full days to see attractions.

I know this question is vague, but what advice can be given re: best type of ticket to buy (i.e. hopper tickets) and what attraction will be better for what age group. My guess is that other than a few rides, etc... at the Magic Kingdom the 8 and 10 yr. old will get bored there due to their age range and conversely the 3 and 5 yr. old could spend a day or two in the Magic Kingdom?

Is Epcot an option for an 8 and 10 yr. old? Is Universal, other attractions worth seeing to?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Welcome to Central Florida mrap!

I'm going to start you off with several good online references:
http://allears.net/index.html
http://www.disboards.com/
http://tourguidemike.com/

I know you'll get a lot of good specific ideas and suggestions here. But, you may also wish to do some very basic research on these and other web sites and even books.

Universal and SeaWorld are also worthwhile attractions. Don't just spend all your time at WDW.

Thanks! I know there are several resources, but was hoping to find a reader w/ similar children age grouping and has visited WDW and could simply give me some direction based on their exp., but again, I kknow there are a lot of variables(sp?).

Sincerely,

mrap

The first bit of advice I will give you is to check out disboards.com and allearsnet.com and mousesavers.com. Mousesavers is about discounts, allearsnet.com has great descriptions and photos of rides, hotels, and restaurants (including menus).

The older children are not likely to be bored at MK as there are rides there for everyone - Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. Epcot has great rides for kids this age too - Mission Mars, Soarin, Test Track.

Be careful with the little ones, they easily get overwhelmed. They may not like the characters as much as you would think - especially the 3yo will think the characters are a bit big and scary - not cute and cuddly.

Personally I would not try to go to Universal too - save it for another trip. There's plenty to do at WDW.

I agree. We took our 6 and 9 year old grandchildren in December. First -- neither got bored in any of the Disney "worlds". There's something wonderful for everyone in each place. Second -- you don't have near enough time, so skip Universal. Third -- don't pay extra for the "Park Hopper" feature. You'll do <i>one park-one day</i> and then be exhausted. If you want, you can add the Park Hopper to your tickets at any time while at Disney, so don't pay for it in advance.

Disney in April will be insanely crowded. Just be warned. As OCD as it sounds, it really does make sense to have some sort of touring plan. Get there early at Rope Drop, leave in the middle of the day for rests/naps and then head back for dinner and nightime rides/parades/fireworks. If you plan on eating anything other than counter service, try to make reservations now. Most places will already be booked solid but keep trying....especially if you are thinking of doing any character meals.

disboards has more information about Disney than you ever thought you could possibly need or want. Spend some time on those boards.

It is hard to give you specific advice regarding what rides to do as we don't know your kids and their likes and dislikes. Are they princessy? Easily scared? Love animals? etc.

Have fun.
taitai

Thanks to all for the valuable advice so far.

Taitai, out of the 4 kids there is only 1 girl (she's the 3 yr. old and I don't think she's "princessy"). The other 3 kids are boys ranging from 5, 8 and 10 yrs. old who all like rides except "crazy" ones where one can get nauseous I believe animals are definitely an interest, which I'm assuming you would be suggesting Disney's safari attraction? Also, we are actually going in late April and taking the kids out of school (at least the 8 and 10 are missing school as the little ones are still in pre-school) so we are hoping that we will have missed other school's spring breaks.

Here is my reply for another post. They were asking about a nicer place to stay and eat:

We are just back from Disney with a 4 and 2 year old.

Get a "parkhopper" pass added to your ticket. The food at Magic Kingdom is just regular food. But Epcot actually has very good food. We would do a park in the morning (most days Magic Kingdom, one day Animal Kingdom) and then head over to Epcot for dinner. Most of the countries have restaurants and they have really improved them. They bring workers from the actual country to help with the ambiance. They are usually students hoping to earn some money and improve their English. But the important thing is TO MAKE RESERVATIONS IN ADVANCE. I mean several days in advance if not several weeks. They book up very fast.

Epcot has an area in the front that will appeal to a four year old. There is a Nemo ride and my 4 year old really enjoyed the ride through the Disney green houses.

And then in each country, there is a kid station where you add little country tags to a mask that they give you. The kids really get into collecting these tags. Plus there are some attractions that are fun in the countries such as the boat ride through Mexico.

The other good thing about Epcot is since it is sort of a grown up place, the characters are easier to get to. If you get the Disney Visa before you go, you can wait in line for a special photo session with two of the top characters.

We tried the MGM Studio park a couple of years ago, but it is really for teenagers. I would suggest one day at Animal Kingdom, evenings at Epcot, and several days at Magic Kingdom.

Buy a book about Disney before you go. It will have all the restaurant info and phone numbers you will need. It will explain the fastpass system which will save you many hours in line. Especially with a 4 year old, we would send an adult ahead to wait in a line while we did something else and they would call us when it was almost our turn. It is good to have a plan each morning of how you will attack the parks.

If you do stay off property, I would just rent a car. Then the world is open to you. If you do rent a car, buy your Disney tickets from AAA and have them include a parking pass. This little piece of paper was invaluable to us. It allows you to park in a special lot right by the gates of all the parks. It made park hopping so much easier as well as exiting at night. We didn't have to deal with shuttles out to our car. I used autoeurope.com to rent our minivan and got a great deal. It was $278 for the week with all taxes and airport fees included. Parking at Disney is $12 a day, but if you switch parks, your parking is covered.

Dear mrap:

Good move taking the kids out of school. We went in early May and seeing the parks was pretty easy. Our kids were young teens.

I would also stick to WDW and do one park each day. You can always leave and come back later to the same park. Plus you only pay for parking one time for the day.

We passed on the Park Hopper option, since it added another almost $50/ticket. Ouch!!

I picked up the Unofficial Guide to WDW. This helped with planning while at the parks.

Good luck,

MY

Mrap

It might be worth your while (and money) to plop down $20 and join the TourGuideMike site. It is a wonderful site for helping navigate Disney and well worth the money, in my opinion, to join. Check it out.

Are you staying on site? Are you getting the meal plan? If so, make reservations asap otherwise you won't get in to any table service restaurants and it won't be worth the money.

Do you understand that WDW encompasses several large theme parks? The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom.

Disney is a fun vacation but can be overwhelming...especially if you are not prepared going in. Your entire trip will be so much more fun if you do a bit of research first. For instance, do you understand Fast Passes? Do you know which parks open at which time on which day? Who is having fireworks at what time?

Once you do a bit of research, why don't you check back with more detailed questions. Have fun planning.

taitai

I was in Disney with...a 3, 4, 5,6,6,7,8,10,11, 13, 14, 16,16,17,17, and 18 year old for a few days this summer; they were down there for a full two weeks. The under-10's actually enjoyed all of the parks equally, with the boys particularly into the wilder rides which are scattered throughout the parks. Epcot has a lot more for children now, it seems to me, although it is kind of a "world's fair" for grownups environment; the new "Soarin'" ride is a definite must.

Hollywood Studios is very popular with the kids, especially for the shows that are available. I'd personally find out which day tends to be least busy at each (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and the Studios) and do a day at each; Magic Kingdom is unique in some ways, but really has a lot that is very similar to other amusement parks and some rides that take far too long in line for the final result. (Dumbo, anyone?)

Definitely go for the Fast Pass tickets whenever you can get them, and plan, plan, plan. My sister reminded me of D-Day minus one most mornings, but it was a blast and we got to see and do quite a lot.

Enjoy!

I totally disagree with eating at Epcot. IMHO none of the food at Epcot is worth the time it takes to get it. We ate breakfast at home (we rented a wonderful 4 bedroom house only a mile from the park), grabbed a late lunch on the run (many sandwich places in the parks that have fast lines and a seat for resting a bit) and then road rides until we couldn't take it any longer. At that point we left the park for somewhere nice to sit, have a drink, and get good food at a reasonable price. Disney isn't about food -- its about rides.

Best advise --- learn everything about the FASTPASS and use them to the maximum potential. Its your only hope for getting on some of the more popular rides -- like the AMAZING "Soarin".

8 and 10 year olds will NOT be bored at Magic Kingdom. It's tru there are a few rides just for littler kids (flying tea cups) but many activities (Pirates of the Carib, Haunted House etc) are good for kids of all ages. The younger kids will be bored at Epcot and the other two might or might not - depending on their interests.

Suggest you:

1) go to Disney web site and have a look at the activities in each section
2) go to disboards to get info on best ticket options

The Unofficial Guide to Disney is the single best tool you can use to plan your trip. Actually, it takes the work out of planning. We've been to WDW many times and buy a new one each time. One of the commonly overlooked but invaluable parts of the book is in the back - a pack of tour guides. You simply follow the guides to get the shortest wait times. It's simple and can cut your wait times in half or more because the tour is based on line length predictions throughout the day.

It's really important to take a break in the afternoons, especially with the ages of your children. You'll be able to stay in the parks much later and enjoy them a lot more simply by taking a few hours off in the heat of the afternoon. The less you try to pack into a day, the more you'll get out of it.

Have a magical trip.

Thanks to all that took the time to reply. Your advice is very much appreciated!

If you buy the Unofficial Guide, you also get access to this website that has day by day WDW crowd level predictions and best park recommendations.

http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14

I would agree that your children a at a prime age for all of the parks. I have been to WDW and all of the Orlando Parks with my kids from age 3 to 14. Unless they don't like theme parks, all of your children should enjoy all of the parks.
The other parks, (Universal, Sea World, etc) are fun as well, but there is more than enough to do at WDW for 4 days.

I agree with the advise of NOT going to Universal on this trip. For one thing, the Disney tickets get substantially cheaper on a per-day basis the longer you stay at Disney. That fourth day on your passes will cost less than $10 apiece.

It's true that the parkhopper option is $50/ticket, but I'd highly recommend it if you can swing it, because it gives you the most flexibility to make the most out of your visit. For example, Animal Kingdom closes at 5 p.m. most days in late April. If you have a parkhopper you can go to Animal Kingdom early, take a break in the early afternoon, then go to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom (open at least until 9) later.

As recommended above, (1) if you can get your family up and arrive at opening time, do it, you'll cover lots of ground in the first couple of hours, and (2) learn how Fastpass works and use it! Also, check with the Extra Magic Hours are at which parks. If you are staying on-property, you can take advantage of those (and do!); if you are staying off-property, you can avoid those parks--for example, if Magic Kingdom has an early Extra Magic Hour and you are staying off-property, if you go to MK at the "regular" opening time, there will already be lots of folks in the park--so chose another park for those mornings.

Links to park hours and Fastpass demo:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/cal...tDate=20090426

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw6sLASpn-8