WDW First Timer Family going in June

Hi All,
We will be arriving in Florida ( first time) June 19th for a conference until June 23rd. Staying offsite. Resort has shuttle to all parks and we don’t mind using UBER. Available for fun starting June 23rd. Will be leaving July 5th. Here is the details
my wife and I and 3 boys ages 14,9,7. Youngest is 46 inches tall. All like fast rides, (have been to Disneyland before) looking at 7 or 8 day park tickets, no park hoppers. Would like to take one day for disneySprings and Oak trail golf course.
Would like to do some dining or desert packages with fireworks shows. only priority is BOG for lunch or dinner. We are ok with using the last few days as half day tickets as to not wear ourselves out! would like to see fireworks at each park and do sightseeing by monorail. I am a touring plan member but not sure where to start. The two youngest don’t eat much and my wife and I usually share a plate.

Thanks

I am sure many people will advise that you look at the crowd calendars and then plan your days that way but I always look at what night time events I want to day and then plan from that point. If you do not have park hoppers how many nights will you be in each park? Will you want to do both HS night time shows? I would book the garden view HEA dessert party. Remember- a sleep in/pool day is just as restful as a early morning/leave early day.

Enjoy your planning!

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Thanks for the real! . We figured at least two days in each park since it might be awhile before we get to go back and also some pool rest days in between.

To choose my park days, I start with the nighttime events (esp. fireworks or fantasmic when not every day) then review the crowd calendar and things that potentially could affect the park (e.g., we skipped MK and Epcot on marathon day, we don’t do EMH hours). We might have a rest day with mini golf and resort touring in the middle of our week.

Step one is to decide how many days you want to spend at each park. This will really come down to personal preference. You’ll definitely want at least 2 at the MK. I would also recommend 2 at EP (you’ll have more FPP choices, and if you want to see all of the shows in WS it really takes two days. Although personally I would much prefer to spend 2 days at AK vice 2 days at DHS, Toy Story Land will likely be just open when you go, so it may take 2 days of FPPs to hit all of the “headliner” rides.

In June, all of the PM shows should be running every night, so that should not be a factor. Off site means no EMH, so the first thing to do is NOT go to a park with EMH that day. After that, look at CLs, but in all honesty a one or two point difference will probably not be all that much of a factor - unless it’s the difference between a 9 and a 10; avoid 10 days if possible!

You’re going in June, which is typically a very crowded time to go. Realize that even with 7 or 8 days, you will NOT be able to do everything. I’m not sure where you’re coming from, but do not underestimate the power that FL summer weather may have over you. In my 20s I could handle it, but now in my 50s it would finish me.

These are just a few thoughts that come to mind. If you have more specific questions, I’ll be happy to help as much as I can.

Thanks for all the suggestions,we are coming from Idaho,first time to Florida, would like to stretch out the vacation to see as much as we can without wearing ourselves out

We don’t expect to do everything ;but would like to hit all the highlights if we can

bswan26. Thanks for the info. On EMH days at any of the parks, do you recommend avoiding them whether they are in the morning or evening?
thanks
Ed

It’s shocking how much you can get done in the morning EMH. It’s hard to get up so early, but it’s worth it, especially at MK.

Backing theFray

We are staying off site, isn’t that for resort guests only? We are thinking of booking the Early Morning Magic one of the days.

DEFINITELY avoid the AM EMHs. I’m honestly not certain how much PM EMHs affect things. The latter part of the day will probably be impacted as people with PHs hop to the parks with PM EMH, but I’m really not certain if PM EMH had a noticeable effect on the earlier part of the day. I virtually always stay on site, and always have PHs, so I’m one of the ones hopping to a park with PM EMH.

Not sure how important dining is to you, but I would figure out what restaurants you really want to eat at first. Availability might be an issue. This might sound backwards, but sometimes we plan which parks we want to visit on which days based on the availability of the dining reservations we want! We have been to WDW for the past few years in June. Here are a few suggestions: plan for afternoon unbearable heat and rain. We usually try to reserve dining and do indoor attractions in the mid to late afternoon hours to escape the heat and rain. It’s a nice break, and restaurants are less crowded at those times! Book restaurants now! You can always cancel later if your plans change. We also order plenty of disposable rain ponchos from Amazon. They are cheap, fold up into a small pouch, and are lightweight. We just throw them away after a day’s use. Pack spare shoes in case yours get soaked and you need to dry them out for a day. Good luck and have fun!

My ADRs are important to me, but I rarely am interested in the “really hard to get” ones (e.g. CMs and pre-RD). I have “first choices” and “second choices” for each day; I rarely schedule touring days around ADRs (the one exception was when I did the V&A Chef’s table; I was ready to plan my whole trip schedule around which day I was able to get it). But as @poohfanclub said, make your ADRs NOW. With the crowds you will have, the chances for a walk-up TS meal will be pretty slim.

Thanks for the info. Some dining is important. BOG is th only one that we want to go to and have already scored a reservation at for dinner. We have already ordered rain ponchos, plan on going back to hotel during lunch or touring a resort for lunch depending on energy levels, We are purchasing 7 day tickets with leaving room for an 8th day if needed, also considering the 7th and 8th day as half days, We have several restaurants booked and will cancel what we don’t need.

Can I be honest? I thought BOG sucked for dinner. I go every year to the parks and plan like Black Ops. There are some good restaurants at Epcot I would take over BOG anyday. As for breakfast, Crystal palace is nice and Akershus in Epcot for breakfast is great too. Don’t be worried about princesses there, we got some big guys in our family that love the Norwegian style breakfast there. We also enjoyed LeCellier, the Moroccan restaurant, and on the Boardwalk the Italian restaurant. It will be so humid and hot in June I would recommend in general to hit the pool at the hotel and enjoy the parks either early morning or evening.
Best of luck.

oh and p.s., your fast passes will more important than dining reservations.

I agree that FP’s are the most important, but since they are staying off property, they can’t select FP’s until their 30 day window. I was simply suggesting that one thing they can do now though is try to get some ADR’s before everything is booked up. The ADR’s can always be changed if FP availability dictates a change in plans.

Good advice all, Im booking ADR ahead of time, got that done, just waiting for the 30 day window for FP.
Thanks!

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