Disney World
 

Any suggestions for grandparents trying to survive taking their 6 year old grandson to DW in July.

Oh my, oh my..do you have a lot of planning to do! :) I would suggest that you spend some time at the following websites<BR>wdwig.com<BR>wdwinfo.com<BR><BR>Also, please check out disboards.com. You will find a bunch of Disney fanatics who will be THRILLED to help you with your trip. (I should know since I am a DISer,too.) Have a great trip and if I can be of any help, just email me.

1. Take lots of money! <BR>2. Take lots of money!<BR>3. Take.........

I hope the grandparents are in good shape for walking because they will average about 5 miles per day. If they aren't they need to consider another time after training for a few months. I went with my family which included my 65 year old father in law who was in average shape. He wore a pedometer on his waist and averaged the above 5 miles walking per day and we didn't do anymore than normal. He got through it but was quite tired at the end of the day. If they are in good shape, then go for it and have a ball. The 6 year old will.

Have a wonderful time! This will be a memory your grandchild will cherish for the rest of his life. Do visit the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I also think that Epcot is a wonderful cultural experience to share with your grandson. MGM is a little adult-oriented and may get boring after a few hours.

I hope they're not claustrophobic because I've live in Orlando all 15 years of my life and everytime I go there it's like RUSH HOUR! Anyway, be prepared to walk alot and to keep the kid busy, there is so much to do...just bring the dough...

I am a family travel specialist and also an elementary educator. I tell families to go early in the a.m. while your grandson is full of energy. Come back around 2 p.m. to your hotel and play by the poolside, down time, etc. Then around 6 p.m. return to the park for the evening. Avoid eating at parks. <BR>If you rent a car you have more options for quality food and better prices. Always go to the busiest parts of the park first and the areas furthest away from the gate first thing when the park opens. You will be making wonderful memories. www.gosmartravel.com

Sounds like you really know thee things.<BR>I'm a diabetic and NEED to know if there will be a "store" anywhere near All Star Sports Resort to purchase things like sugarfree Dr. Pepper, etc. for me and milk, etc. for my grandson. We will have a frig in our room. Do I need to plan to take snacks, etc. from home?

All Stars does have a store that you can buy things at BUT you will pay dearly for them. If you are driving, bring your own cooler & snacks with you.<BR><BR>Grandparents ~ there will be plenty to keep your grandchild occupied, what you will need to watch out for is that neither your grandchild or yourselves get too tired & cranky. Go early in the morning & take a break by going back to your hotel at 1 or so. This is easier done if you stay on property. Take a nap or swim in the hotel pool & go back after relaxing. Remember, your grandchild is 6, they don't know how big the park is so you can keep them in a managable area (only Fantasyland & Frontierland) & that way you won't have to trudge all over the park. <BR><BR>Use the FastPass system. Get a FP for say Winnie the Pooh's ride then go ride another one while your waiting for your FP time or go & get lunch. Then you won't be standing in the long, long, long lines.<BR><BR>Heres a link that should help a lot with the planning.<BR><BR>http://www.ReadersClubhouse.com/link/utilidor.html

My mother just returned from WDW with our daughter (age 11). She is in good health, but had sore feet and knees from all the walking. Keep in mind that the idea is to spend some fun time with your grandson - not to see everything. If that means you concentrate on things in front of park, or with the shortest lines to avoid standing, walking and waiting, it will not diminish the memories one bit. You may even choose to leave park at lunchtime and NOT return - sit by the pool and watch or play with him. <BR><BR>Make sure you all drink enough water - it is so easy for kids and older people to get dehydrated. Planning is fine - get WDW with Kids book - but leave some time for spontaneous fun.<BR><BR>You can more than survive this - actually have fun - if you try to think like a 6 year old and remember that less may be more. (Just get a look at families dragging over-exhausted kids around to see "just one more thing" when it is obvious no one is having fun.)

Since it will be so hot in July, go to Wet n' Wild. It's a big water park on International Drive in Kissimee (sp?). I remember going there when I was 16 and I really enjoyed myself. Nice break from Disney. There is a U pick em (unsure about title) orchard where you can pick your own oranges.

There aren't oranges here anymore. I do not know how long ago Stephanie was here but we had freezes in the 1980's that put all Orange farmers in Orange County out of business and they are now sprawling subdivisions. It will be hot. Just drink alot of water and move at a slow place.

We have always used the Unofficial Guide to DisneyWorld to get us through our visits. I loved it the first time we used it. It helps you to figure out ahead of time what is appropriate for your grandkids to ride and what is a waste. It helps you to figure out what to see first and elimiates frantically running from ride to ride or getting discouraged if there is a 20 minute wait. Be mostly it got all of us (we went with another family) to all agree AHEAD of time what rides were a priority and which ones were not. Also we all agreed ahead of time on basically where to eat (fast food, sit down etc). We did the Character Lunch in the Crystal Palace the first day and loved it. It was so nice and airconditioned and Pooh and the gang came by lots of times. Great pictures and the food was much better than I thought. Depending on the age of the children, they like the event of being there, meeting the characters and just being dipped in Disney for a day. Have fun. Please email me directly for an endless list of things we did and enjoyed.

They will have a 'frig' in their room? I really didn't want to know about their sex lives.

What nice grandparents you are. I recently returned from a trip to WDW with 2 teenaged sons and husband. We all had a great time. We got lots of info from this website-www.mousesavers.com. there is a link within that site to other Disney websites. We also stopped at a grocery store on our way from the airport and stocked up with bottled water to take into the parks (which we also refilled in the plentiful drinking fountains. We found the earlier you got to the parks, the more you could do. by 11 am, the parks were crowded. the advice from other posters to take an afternoon siesta, swim, etc, is good. All of the parks willhave things your grandson will enjoy (even MGM, but that is more adult oriented). If you are very limited with time, Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom are the best for a 6 year old. If you are able to upgrade your accomodations at all, you may find the moderate value resorts a bit nicer (larger rooms at the Caribbean, very fun pool in the central area, plus pools near each building, and a reasonable food court). disney transportation is very easy to use. Enjoy.