mike

hi all from down under, my wife and i and two boys 8 and 10 arrive in orlando on january 4 for 6 nights. it will be our first trip to usa. we are staying at sheraton vistana resort. does anyone know this place?. i would appreciate any advice on what would be a good itineray. we will probaly spend 2-3 days at wdw and the rest ?

Beth2

Greetings! You have picked an excellent time to visit, since this is the least busy time of year.
But it may be quite cool, so bring layers to keep warm. That time of year we often start out in a t-shirt with sweatshirt covered by windbreaker, and as the day wears on, take off the top two layers!
I have never stayed at the Vistana, but believe it is near the Disney Village, and that would be a great location near shopping and restaurants. I believe it is across the street from the Grosvenor Hotel, which has a fun dinner theatre every Saturday night. It's called MurderWatch Mystery Theatre and it's a family-oriented musical-comedy audience-participation show, amidst a superb buffet!
You could spend all your days at WDW, and I suggest you purchase the shortest Park-Hopper pass available - I think it's 4 days. That way you are not restricted to 1 park for a whole day, as you would be with individual tickets, but can do a morning one place, and an evening another.
Also be sure to use the new ticket system for busy times (mid-afternoon)and popular rides. You will be allowed to reserve a place in queue one ride at a time, so you can reserve your time, and do another ride while waiting!
I will suggest specific attractions in a second post.
You and your family will have a wonderful time!

Beth2

These are the things I think two boys would like best:
Magic Kingdom: Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain RR, Haunted Mainsion, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear. (Do them in that order, as the lines build quickly as the morning goes on! You can get a FastPass for Space Mountain, and then go on Buzz Lightyear while waiting.)
MGM: RocknRollercoaster, Tower of Terror(Get FastPass for one while you go on the other), Star Wars, the Great Movie Ride.
Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur, Bugs Life, Kali River Rapids, Safari.
Epcot: Test Track, Body Wars, Honey I Shrunk the Audience and Spaceship Earth.
Walking around the countries is very pleasant, and I think your wife will enjoy the shopping/browsing. You may want to accompany the boys to the daily parade to give her that opportunity!
These restaurants worked great for my kids:
Magic Kingdom: Aunt Polly's on Tom Sawyers Island for peanut butter and jelly or cold fried chicken. OR Diamond Horseshoe Saloon during show times.
MGM: Sci-Fi Diner. Sit in old convertibles, have a burger, watch old clips at the "drive in."
Animal Kingdom: The "fast-food" by the Safari departure
Epcot: The Living Seas restaurant with the huge aquarium as a backdrop. Or the Moroccan restaurant with live music and belly dancing!
Hope this helps! Just one person's opinion, but we've done it a few times with our kids, and figured I'd share what worked for us. Have a great time!

love that

We visited Orlando in January and loved it. The weather was quite temperate (mid to upper 70s) but a couple nights were very cool. Layers are good advice. If it gets really chilly you can fork over a small fortune for WDW or Hardrock sweatshirts. Pricey...but great souvenirs!

Regarding itinerary, I'd estimate one day per park. You didn't say what else you all were interested in seeing during your visit, but you'll find it a stretch to cover all of WDW in 2-3 days. There is SO much to see and do there and IMHO WDW is superior to the other Orlando theme parks. I'd modify that if you and your family are major fans of thrill rides.

The best advice we got for pacing ourselves was to take an afternoon break at the hotel

I don't know about the Vistana but I just did a search here and founds tons of entries. Check it out. Also wdwig.com is an excellent resource for all things WDW.

Have a fantastic trip!

Nikki

My family stayed at the Vistana several years ago, had a good time, several swimming pools on the property.

I strongly suggest you go to Universal on your off-WDW days. If you like thrill rides, Islands of Adventure is unbelievable. It is a beautiful park, and while I didn't go on the thrill rides I enjoyed wandering around while my family went on them. Universal Studios is also a great park. On our last trip, we all thought both Universal parks seemed fresher than the Disney ones.

For tons of information and a very active discussion board, try www.disboards.com

donald

Since you're going to be there 6 days, you may want to get away from the theme park area for at least a day. If so, I suggets you visit the Kennedy Space Center. I'm not sure if 9/11 has had any effect on the tours there, but I'm pretty sure your boys would enjoy it. There's really no place like it in the world.

monica

Hi Mike-I have stayed at the Vistana - it's great - tons of stuff to do. There are 7 pools, a miniture golf area, playgrounds, scheduled activities. You will get a newsletter when you checkin advising you want classes/activities are scheduled for the time you're there. They have a shuttle to the Disney parks (don't know about times - I drove my car). What size unit are you getting? I can let you know what the 2 bedroom is like. Let me know if you have any questions.
Monica

Joy in Virginia

You will have such a good time! Go to wdwig.com RIGHT NOW and sign up for Deb's free email newsletter, which will give you lots of trip reports and info! One suggestion your boys may like a lot: DisneyQuest at Downtown Disney complex. It is five stories of virtual fun, complete with a "design your own roller coaster" attraction - then you get in the simulator and RIDE your ride you just designed. They should both be tall enough to do all the attractions. A few years ago we went and my 5 year old was a bit too short to do some of the activities. Disney Quest does have a separate admission, but your ticket is good for all day and they are open until midnight many days! Check and see if they have a discount for the late attendees. Be warned - it is loud in there! Another of my favorites - The Adventurer's Club in Pleasure Island complex, part of Downtown Disney. Pleasure Island also has admission in the evenings when the clubs have different shows going on. The shows at the Adventurer's club are kinda corny, but I find them very funny, and if kids are present the cast members will talk to them and try to get them involved in the action. I also recommend wdwig.com to read lots of details about all these attractions. Definitely get a park-hopper pass, so for example you can start out early at Animal Kingdom, and when it closes move on to another park that closes later. Once you have your ticket, you can use Disney Transport to get around from park to park - but check for tips on wdwig as to most efficient routes, which busses come more often, etc. I recommend get a WDW guide book that has MAPS of the whole WDW property and detail maps of each park and the Downtown Disney area to plan exactly what your "Don't Miss" attractions are. If you take a day off from WDW, your kids are the age where Universal's Islands of Adventure would be the most interesting and fun for them. Universal is two parks: Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. When my kids werw same age they really weren't that interested in many of the Studios attractions, but IOA's killer roller coasters, Spiderman ride, Toon Lagoon rides, the the Dr. Seuss area were big hits! You can easily do IOA in one day if you start early. Another expensive but good option is Discovery Cove, where you have to have a reservation to attend. If you were staying two weeks I would definitely say take time to go to Discovery Cove. It is expensive, but you get your money's worth, and 3 years later my youngest daughter still talks about our visit there the most of anything we did our last visit to Orlando. www.discoverycove.com Here are some other tips: Animal Kingdom, try to go to the first performance of the Lion King show and sit up front, your kids may be picked to participate! Take the train to Conservation Station where the cast members have short programs about animals, geared to kids, and the kids have opportunity to interact with the animals up close. Do walk thru the trails to see the different animals throughout the park. Magic Kingdom: Don't miss Mickey and Minnie's houses, and go thru the "Country Fair" tent to meet Mickey and have your child pose for a photo with him. The Enchanted Tiki Room is one of my favorites, original attraction designed by Walt Disney, updated to be really funny but still charming. MGM: Tower of Terror is GREAT! Rocking Roller Coaster - LOVE IT! Don't miss Beauty & the Beast show. Spend some time interacting with the street performers. Epcot: don't miss a thing, I love it there! Friends have stayed at Vistana and loved it. Before you come, you can check on local events by going to www.orlandosentinel.com, the lcoal newspaper. Have a great time!

Mike

A few other recommendations:
1. Sea World - you don't have to do the high-priced Discovery Cove option. Sea World is a great way to break up the WDW days - easy to walk the park with children, and the showtimes are coordinated so you flow from one venue to another - it's a nice change of pace from the rides at WDW and Universal
2. If the weather cooperates try Blizzard Beach (on the Disney property)- a water park unlike any you've seen - not certain what the hours would be in January
3. You might consider a ride to the East Coast and check out the Atlantic ocean - possibly even the Space Center if that interests the kids .... or go the other way and dip your toes in the Gulf Coast in the Tampa/St Pete area .... either way your central lcoation makes either coast an easy trip

Enjoy!