Feeling overwhelmed - 52 days to go and I know almost *nothing* about WDW!

Walt Disney World
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So tricky to know how kids are going to be - we have a 9-hour flight to get there from the UK, so with that and the time difference, they are likely to be all over the place! Will try to plan regular breaks, using touringplans.com day planners tools :smile:

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Breathing better, thanks! Literally … (I slipped and hurt back the other day, damaged rib - breathing in has been quite painful) and figuratively :smile:

Thinking of doing a few days on (planned activities), one day off (at/around hotel or go to park but with no plans) - we have almost two weeks in which to do this, thankfully.

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Thanks - will do my best to read the unofficial guide, or as much as I can :smile:

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Thanks :slight_smile: All good advice

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Loads of good stuff here. Yeah, you’re right, getting to the parks may take time - you must have seen me trying to get the kids jackets and shoes on. Always a rigmarole!

The kids can/will stay up later when there are exciting things for them to see, so hopefully they’ll enjoy themselves.

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Thank you :smile:

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When you need to leave will depend a lot on when rope drop is. On my most recent trip, for an 8 AM RD at Magic Kingdom, I left my resort at about 7 AM. I arrived at the park with plenty of time to spare, and I was able to get to the attractions I wanted before things got too crowded.

It sounds like you have a nice long visit planned, which is wonderful. That should take some of the pressure off. I always tell people that, no matter what might go wrong, you’re still at Disney World. And a lousy day at Disney World is usually better than an awesome day at home.

For quick service dining, you will have lots of options! Menus are available on the touringplans.com website, as well as in the Lines app. The Disney Food Blog (http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/) is also a great resource for restaurant information. I have purchased one of their guidebooks in the past and found it very helpful. They might be useful for you, too.

Welcome to the Liner family!!

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I keep thinking of more things I need to know. I wonder if anyone can help me with some of these?

  • Although we do not have advanced dining reservations, what places are good to eat so we don’t end up eating burger and chips for two weeks straight using our quick service plan?

  • Do we need to reserve transport from airport to hotel/resort (Magical Express)? Same goes for the return. Out is it like a shuttle service that is always available?

  • Any useful apps that we can get hold of other than the Disney one and touring plans’ Lines app?

  • And on that front … a phone app is only any good if we have data plan. I’m coming from the UK, and I have never used data abroad because it is ridiculously expensive. But it seems that it will be invaluable while in the parks. I’m wondering if there is there an economical way that we could get a data plan/SIM for my iPhone while on hols? What would be a good way of doing this? Of course, I need to make sure that my phone is not locked to my current provider - best do that now!

  • How can I find what rides are suitable for 4-year olds (they are just under 1m high, but will double check height). Does touring plans or any other site/app have a way of filtering out rides that are not going to be suitable?

Thanks all :slight_smile:

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I really like the quick service in The Land pavilion at Epcot. Lots of great choices that are not burgers and fries. At Magic Kingdom, Sleepy Hollow is popular because of their delicious waffle sandwiches. Casey’s has some unconventional hot dogs, which are not my thing but might be yours. Columbia Harbor House has some great options including good salads, a hummus sandwich, and a salmon entree during dinner. At Animal Kingdom, you can’t go wrong with Flame Tree BBQ. I have also heard good things about Yak and Yeti, but I can’t speak from experience there. At Hollywood Studios, Starring Rolls has cupcakes about the size of one’s face that could be a meal in and of themselves! I always enjoy Fairfax Fare, which has good BBQ and a phenomenal salad. I have heard good things about Backlot Express lately. If you feel like dining at another resort, the counter service option at the Polynesian is particularly good. Landscape of Flavors at Art of Animation also has some great options.

Or wifi! The parks all have wifi. It isn’t always the best, but it usually meets my needs. In addition, you can make changes to your Fastpasses at kiosks in each park. One tip I read is to screenshot your FPs for the day and make that your lock screen. It will save you the trouble of opening My Disney Experience 10,000x/day.

Kenny The Pirate’s character locator app, if you want to do a lot of character meet-and-greets. There is also a Hidden Mickey app that is fun.

On the touringplans.com site, you can find a section about attractions in each park (this is the one for Magic Kingdom: Magic Kingdom Attractions). You will notice that it provides a star rating from each age group. 4 year olds would fall into the “preschool” category, in case terminology is different in the UK ;). If you click on the “preschool” heading, it will sort the attractions from most to least popular for that age group. Many people also recommend watching youtube videos of some rides with your children, to help them get an idea of what to expect.

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[quote=“lloydi, post:28, topic:18766”]
Although we do not have advanced dining reservations, what places are good to eat so we don’t end up eating burger and chips for two weeks straight using our quick service plan?[/quote]
Epcot and Animal Kingdom have a number of good quick service locations. Any of the countries around World Showcase that sound appealing to your family are good choices. My current favorite is Katsura Grill in the Japan pavilion, but it really depends on what suits your tastes. Sunshine Seasons in The Land pavilion offers a variety of choices and relatively high quality meals. In Animal Kingdom, I enjoy Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafes, Flame Tree Barbecue, and just had a good meal at the new Harambe Market.

Magic Kingdom quick service is a step down in quality, except for Be Our Guest. BoG is quick service for breakfast any lunch, though both require making reservations through Disney’s website (you can sometimes walk up, but not always). Cosmic Rays has some good food, some mediocre food, strange ordering “pods”, uncomfortable seating, and more noise than most places (though it has indoor seating, which means I eat there often to escape the rain or when I want air conditioning). Pecos Bill’s just changed their menu, though I wasn’t impressed with my first meal there. Pinocchio Village Haus has nice flatbreads, but not much else. Friar’s Nook is a small stand near Seven Dwarfs Mine Train that offers a tasty pot roast macaroni and cheese, but not much else, and they’re not equipped to handle even moderate crowds (or have places for those crowds to sit after they’ve ordered). Some folks are fans of the chicken and waffles at Sleepy Hollow, though that area also gets pretty crowded and has limited seating (and no restrooms nearby).

At Hollywood Studios, there’s really nothing I really look forward to. I dine most frequently at ABC Commissary, because it’s air conditioned. Grabbing a sandwich from Starring Rolls (adjacent to the Brown Derby) or a hot dog in a pretzel roll from Min and Bill’s can be reasonable choices, too.

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ADR means advanced dining reservations.

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I would keep an eye out for Skipper Canteen ( is that the name?) in the Magic Kingdom. There are rumors that it may be quick service for lunch like Be our Guest. You should log onto My Disney Experience and see if you can get a breakfast or lunch reservation at Be our Guest since it is quick service. If you go to Disney Spring Wolfgang Puck Express is very good food and a great value on the dining plan for a quick service meal.

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You have the UG. Read it- cover to cover. There is some info you will be able to skip depending on where you are staying and where you plan to eat- and whether or not you are going to Universal. Took me about a week of committing to a long block of reading time each day to get through the 2016 version. Every single basic question you are asking is covered in the book- read it.

My 28th trip starts in 9 days. It isn’t personal- but I rely very little on what others suggest, as opinions are always all over the place- my own included. They are well meant, but they are only opinions (which usually reflect a person’s own preferences)- and I do take them into consideration- but if I was a newbie I would only rely on one thing- the UG. Have been using it since it came out in the mid 80s, and it has never steered me wrong. If you want to get up to speed, that is the ONLY way to do it effectively IMHO. Read the book. After you have a handle on everything in the book, which is what I would consider the ‘basics’- THEN is the time to ask questions about issues you are unsure of or don’t understand. Until you have the information in the book under your belt- the rest really doesn’t matter. Baby steps first- then focus on the smaller details.

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A few of your questions that I don’t think have been answered yet:

  • If you want to eat at Rose & Crown (in the UK Pavilion at Epcot), you’ll need a dining reservation (ADR) as it’s a table service restaurant. You’ll also have to pay out of pocket for it, as the quick service dining plan won’t cover it

  • Here’s a chart of the minimum heights on all the rides that have the min requirements. If a ride isn’t on this list, your kids should have no issues riding it http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw/images2003/languagespecific/eng/nontheme/experience/preschool/heightChart.pdf

  • The Magical Express airport transport does need to be reserved. If you booked a package through a travel agent, they may have reserved it for you already, but if they haven’t, you can do it yourself through this link https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/airport-transportation-reservation/

  • I’m also international to the US (I’m in Canada) and therefore had no data for my phone. The wifi through the parks and resorts is pretty good. Of course you won’t have any while on the buses to/from the parks, and it will drop out if you’re deep inside some rides (Under the Sea in MK comes to mind). But otherwise the coverage is great. Be aware you might need to reconnect a couple of times until all of the different wireless networks are saved in your phone.

  • Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom is such a cool restaurant! For lunch, it’s considered a quick service meal, but unlike most other QS, it accepts reservations. I highly recommend getting a reservation if you can, the theming is amazing and the food is fantastic. The turkey sandwich and potato leek soup are some of my favourite things to eat throughout all of the parks

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I will read the Unofficial Guide, but the main thing to point out is that we are just 50 days away, so I have little time and between now and when we leave we have:

A 50th birthday party to go to
Our twins’ 4th birthday
Christmas
Selling a car
Selling a house

So, you can imagine that it’s a real struggle to find time! I gather that some of the questions I am asking may well be answered in the book … when I get to them. The thing that worried me was how the book said to make reservations 6 months in advance and we’re so close to leaving. Hence, needed to start asking some questions now rather than wait until I get to that point in the book :wink:

28th trip? Wow … I’m looking at this first trip as something of a ‘trip of a lifetime’, no idea how people manage to go so frequently. But then again, we are coming from England for this, so it’s always going to work out pricey.

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Thanks for that. Yeah, Rose & Crown is important for us to visit as it’s where my Disney-mad cousin works. If we don’t get to have a meal, just paying a visit would be great :smile:

Height chart is superb, thanks - stored that to take with us.

I didn’t book the holiday through an agent; I did book tickets and hotel through Disney’s web site, but the flights I sorted myself, which suggests that I would need to book the Magical Express myself - I’m on it :slight_smile:

As for phones/data etc … I had no idea that WiFi would be available in the park. I never thought for one minute that would be an option due to the size of the venue. Heck, I might expect a coffee outlet to provide WiFi, but not a park. Live and learn! So if that’s the case, I probably don’t need to worry about getting a SIM with data on then :slight_smile:

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Well, with a schedule like that, you should be able to do about 100 pages a day, right? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

The book helps, and reading it is highly recommended. But we’re a friendly lot, and happy to answer all questions we can! Some things are definitely subjective, but that doesn’t make the info useless. As for “once in a lifetime”, well…we’ll see how you feel after this trip. I’ve known more than one person on their “first and only” trip who booked a return visit before even leaving!

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Last minute trips (under 60 days) can be challenging but so much fun to plan! If you cannot get an ADR for Rose and the pub is attached and no ADR required!

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“100 pages a day”

I’m thinking 200 a day. Easy.

As long as the type is set

REALLY REALLY BIG

, no problem! :smiley:

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Also, have you gone into my Disney experience and customized your magic bands?