So far we've got flights and a place to stay, The Disney Swan and Dolphin. Other than that...nada. So I'm calling upon you, friends o' the Internet, to bless me with your vast knowlege and experience when it comes to the House of the Mouse. Or in our case, Where the Princesses Live.
I beg you...please tell me where should we go? Where should we eat? I know they have Character meals...which ones are worth it? Do I need a stroller for my almost thirty-plus pound 2-year-old? Should we do the Disney park all three days? Any other hints, tips and tricks?
We've started training A with a new party trick in honor of Disney. Right now, if you ask her how old she is she says, "Fo years old!" Which she's not. And I'm terrified the Disney Police will believe her and make us pay for a ticket for her. So Operation: You're Two! is in full-effect.
14 comments:
Oh yeah, girl. You knocked on the right door for advice. Did you post about this another time? Or did I write this for somebody else? blog deja vue- anyway.
Yes, take a stroller. Everybody else has one, and its a good place to stash your stuff. I would suggest, however, marking it with ribbons, balloons or soemthign to make it stand out so it is easy to spot. They have stroller "attendents" who constantly move them around so we thought our was stollen a few times only to discover it was moved.
Staying on property- a good deal if for nothing else than you get shuttled to and from the parks.
My top 5 tips:
1. Get there whne the gates open. Slackers, it's worth it. The gates opened at 9:00 and by 9:45 we were on our 5th ride!!
2. Go back to your room that afternoon, nap and go back to the park that evening.
3. Use fast passes (free) for the biggies like Dumbo and Space Mountain
4. Have a plan of attack. Look at a map and know what you really want to do and get an idea or what's where.
5. Take your own water/snacks. Food there was reasonable but it's so much easir to have your own when the princess HAS to have something and you don't have to go stand in line.
I could go on....
You need a stroller- the rental ones there work great. I agree with Shannon, get there early. My kids never napped while we were there, too excited! We loved the restaurant in Germany, and the one in the aquarium was cool as well- watching the fish swim while we ate, and the divers wave! The light parade was a favorite, and Hollywood studios was a bust for us since we don't watch much tv, kids only knew lightning. We'll chat more at dinner on Monday!
Absolutely take a stroller. When Rachel went as a 4 year old my parents took a stroller. Take snacks into the park. Lots and lots of snacks. Pack them in the suitcase. Get there as early as you can. Do not under any circumstance go on "Snow White's Scary Ride" - it's scary, really really scary. Any Princess breakfast, lunch, or tea will be worth it. You can stay with just the Magic Kindgom, I think. My parents did all three so they could do the different themed events - Turtle Talk with Crush (really good) at EPCOT, Playhouse Disney (not so good) not sure where and Beauty & the Beast (good) at MGM Studios. The Princess breakfast was the biggest hit. Bring their Princess dresses. Every other little girl will be wearing them and they will want theirs. The ones they sell there are $80 a pop.
Good luck. So excited for you 4!
yes bring a lightweight double stroller that you don't mind if it gets trashed OR 2 cheapo umbrella ones. try to eat one night at the liberty tavern in magic kingdom, they have characters and the food is simple, you don't order, they just hand out turkey and good home cooked food. YUM, love it there. i think the bfast with pooh at the crystal palace is worth it. again magic kingdom, with your kids ages i would say the magic kingdom ALL the days is the best bet. if you want to do another park, i would suggest animal kingdom or epcot or universal (you can see disney shows here but everything is inside and you guys will only need a half day here)
you need dinner and bfast reservations CALL NOW. if you can get the princess bfast at the palace, do that, but it might be booked already. also the hair salon at the castle was pretty cute, sass loved it. and i would most likely take them both when we go back.
i love and adore disney. any other specific qq'qs email me feener44ATGMAILDOTCOM
Which Disney?
Call & book any & any character meals you can. It's the very best way to see characters. The food is good, except the Princess Storybook in Norway at Epcot unless you like Norwegian food! Yes on the stroller, double if you have it or rent. Your older one will want to ride too!
I'd do all 3 days at Disney or maybe 2 1/2 days at Epcot & Animal Kingdom. Skip MGM.
Take advance of fast passes, get there early, take snacks or lots of $$$, take lots of pics, have fun!
zero disney tips as we have been too cheap, err, busy to go yet.
but operation IM TWO cracked me the hell up.
No clue about Disney. We plan to do it soon, but not too soon, as we want to leave in one piece.
Have fun!
Don't bother taking your own stroller. It is easier to rent there and you don't have to mess with taking yours on/off the bus.
Get there early.
If your little one likes princesses the princess breakfast at Epcot (in Norway) was great. They come to your table. Cinderella is not there, but pretty much everyone else. If you book the first one you get to go into Epcot before the park opens and it is beautiful to see all clean and open.
If you MUST see Cinderella - go to Magic Kingdom on a day where you can go early if you are staying on the grounds. Take the train to the area where Mikey/Minnies house is. There is a spot there where you can see characters. There are three lines and one is princess. There is no guarantee Cinderella will be there, but the odds are good. Get in line FAST. You will be AMAZED how fast it fills up. We went during the slow time and there was still a line.
If you are more into show than rides - go to MGM (I think they call it something else now) Lots of great shows and you can relax a little more.
Go to DISBOARDS.com - this is a great site with Disney fanatics.
You will find tips/suggestions for just about anything you can and won't think of.
It really helped up plan for our trip.
Obviously, we are going in Jan of '10...can't wait! Let me know how it goes and I'll get my tips from you. Have fun! We went twice when I was little and I loved it both times...
Just echoing the stroller thing...We used a rental one. it was cheap, easy, provided a place for all the crap, AND she napped in it both days in the park.
We did two character meals that were pretty fantastic. Breakfast was with the assortment of classic Disney characters, and then dinner with the Princesses. Food was great, and it was the only chance we would have had for Character interactions. My (then) 2 year old wouldn't have waited in the lines. And really, we didn't see very many Princesses running around anyway.
Yea! Have fun!
thank you for this post, we are going in mid February and I needed all these tips!
We take two single (light weight) strollers for our kids. Both kids napped in the strollers in Sept. My oldest was 3 1/4 and my youngest was 19 months (we also took them when they were 2 1/4 and 7 months). We did stay at the parks from 9AM to 8PM several days since they napped in their strollers. We tried going back to the room to nap but that didn't work as well for us.
I also agree that it is best to be there early. We actually get there a little before the opening. You can do a lot before the park gets crowded.
We like Chef Mickey's character meal. We also loved Liberty Tree's character dinner but I think they stopped the character meals there. We haven't yet done a Princess meal but I know that is in our future.
We love Ohana's for dinner and that is now on our must-eat-at list.
Since we love Disney, I did a blog post for every day we were there in September. We have already booked for Sept. 2009. It is really all because my husband is such a Disney fan. He was just saying yesterday that he is ready to go back.
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