Pre-Trip Mouse Ears 2020

Hello all!
This is my first WDW Magic post, my weirdo boss frequents these boards and so I can more effectively troll him in the workplace I figured I would integrate myself into his online community of comrades. And also enjoy all the board has to offer.

Our plan for our Disney trip is February of 2020. We have 3 girls who will be not quite 3 years old, 6.5 years old, and 8.5 years old at the time of the trip. It is a long way off so we can save big time for it and "do it right". For us, Disney World will be a once, maybe twice in a child hood trip.

We haven't decided on the specifics regarding the parks- obviously Magic Kingdom is #1, and I am really drawn to Animal Kingdom. Boss-Man told me that Epcot is actually one of the best places for princess meet-ups (yeah?), and Movie Studios has the Star Wars thing coming so that's a draw. As it gets closer we will be weighting how much we think the girls can handle 4 days at theme parks, to enjoy the trip and not just do it to do it, budget, and other attraction considerations.

Our youngest turns 3 on February 22nd so we will plan the trip that the last day or so will be her birthday, because budget.

Okay, thats it! I don't have any fancy doodle pictures or anything like that to show off right now, but eventually I will. We aren't telling our girls about the trip until at least the year of (maybe Christmas?) so we don't even say Disney World in our parts, but refer to the secret plan (budget and whatnot) as "Mouse Ears". I knowwwwww. We are so creative and original you're so impressed.

 

[George]

Really excited that your family is making a trip. I can help with the wee ones...I'm considered the most helping person on the boards.

 

[14cranberries]

Really excited that your family is making a trip. I can help with the wee ones...I'm considered the most helping person on the boards.

Thank you random internet stranger.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Welcome to the boards. Your youngest is the perfect age to bring to the parks. My son loved the characters at that age. And I'm guessing @George is your boss?

 

[14cranberries]

Welcome to the boards. Your youngest is the perfect age to bring to the parks. My son loved the characters at that age. And I'm guessing @George is your boss?

 

[Zipadeelady]

George said he was "the most helping person on the boards" and since I've never seen one of his posts I figured he was making a joke and that he was your boss that you said that frequents these boards. My mistake

 

[DryerLintFan]

George said he was "the most helping person on the boards" and since I've never seen one of his posts I figured he was making a joke and that he was your boss that you said that frequents these boards. My mistake

I definitely got the same impression I think the Minion was her humorous way of saying yes

@14cranberries I'm also planning a February birthday trip for my daughter, but haven't decided if we want to go in 2020 or 2021 yet. I'm also and throwing the idea around of a couple days at the parks and then a Disney cruise. All I know is I want it to be a mommy/daughter trip and that I want to be somewhere magical for her birthday. We've got so much time to sort out the details though

 

[12in12]

Have a great time planning! Be careful though, the Disney bug is very contagious.

 

[14cranberries]

@DisneyBound2017 - I can neither confirm nor deny!
@RedNoseMickey - Thank you! So I hear! For now, at least we are planning just one big one especially since our youngest is so young! I have my fingers crossed that my husband (who has never been to DW in his LIFE) will see the magic. As of now he is humoring me with this trip.

 

[14cranberries]

Yay! Things are getting more real. We have our Disney savings account rolling, as well as spreadsheets and Pinterest boards. Right now we are looking at 2 days of 2 parks (1 per day), 3 nights on property (Art of Animation, likely), and a 3-4 day beach excursion.

Question 1) What is everyone's opinion on Park Number Two for us?

Epcot Pros:

• Are there a lot of princesses here? I have all girls, so Anna and Elsa are a big deal.
• Mulan is equally, if not more of a big deal than Anna and Elsa. Its the older two's favorite movie.
• Boss Man says Soarin' is amazin'. It sounds pretty cool.
• Crowds. I know, I know, I can't avoid crowds with a Disney vacation. But this is least crowded?

Hollywood Studios Pros:

• Star Wars - For my spousal unit, and really we all love Star Wars. It will be open by then, right?
• Toy Story - Slink is my middle's favoritest character ever!
• Little Mermaid - My favorite growing up!

Animal Kingdom

• Oh Nelly. That Pandora stuff looks amazing.
• The Nemo Muscial looks like a must see!
• The Jungle Book gang has a special place in my heart
• Dinosaur!

So all of this keeping in mind that this really is for my kiddos. Who will be (almost) 3, 6.5, and 8.5. Is there a dining experience in a park I cannot miss? What do you think? My husband's favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast, so fingers crossed for a res at Be Our Guest!

Question 2) If we are doing 3 nights, 2 parks how does that work out?

Do we arrive, sleep, park 1, sleep, rest day, sleep, park 2? We would get there on a Monday, I think. Or what do you recommend?

Question 3) How much do you budget for souvenirs?

My initial thought is everyone gets mouse ears + $100? Is that a crazy amount for a kiddo? Would you separate that to $50/day? Mouse ears are non-negotiable! Ha! When I was younger we went every year but my grandparents never let me get mouse ears. I always wanted some!

Question 4) Is Bippidi Boppity Boutique "worth it"?
Is it worth the money and time spent? My girls love makeup and dresses and getting fancy, but I am hesitant to spend precious Disney time in a salon! Also, my youngest will be *nearly* 3, yes, we are doing that for the free ticket I am not ashamed. She cannot do BBB, then. This may cause some issues? Or my spousal unit and I can split but then we're missing experiences on either end.

Question 5) What do I *need* to do with 3 young girls that I am not thinking of?

Self-explanatory!

Thanks guys!

 

[14cranberries]

OOOPS! I realized my above questions may be more appropriately placed in planning. Doh. So it’s there. But I will also keep it here for posterity.

 

[DryerLintFan]

Question one: definitely Epcot!! Akershus is a completely affordable dining with princesses experience and they do a cute little princess parade around the tables. Then in the world showcase there's Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, Alice, Anna and Elsa, Snow White, Mary Poppins, and sometimes Aurora but that's pretty rare these days.

Then in the front of the park is Minnie mouse and Daisy

 

[DryerLintFan]

Question 3: this is mainly personal preference, but I found that most souvenirs cost $30-50. So $100 would be 2-3 souvenirs. We only let my daughter get one (Tinkerbell shoes) but we didn't do by Dollar amount. The princess dresses there cost $60-100 though. So just think in terms of what they are most likely to buy, imo

 

[Sillysidewalker]

I agree with @dryerlintfan Epcot. I have 3 girls and a little guy. On our last trip my girls were 7,4,4. Magic Kingdom and Epcot reined supreme. I would also include character meals to cut down on waiting in princess lines.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

My thought on BBB. It is something you only do once. If you don’t do it on your trip in 2020 your oldest may not be interested or too old on her next trip. We did it when my girls were 3,3 &5. They loved it and talk about it daily. It is however very expensive!

Edit: we viewed this as a souvenir and didn’t get the girls anything else.

 

[TheMouseFan]

We did BBB in Disney Springs on a non-park day, so as not to waste park time. Something to think about since it looks like you will have a rest day!

 

[George]

@Laura - any good advice you want to impart? Her daughters will be 3, 6, and 8 at the time of the trip.

 

[melodonnell]

Yay! Things are getting more real. We have our Disney savings account rolling, as well as spreadsheets and Pinterest boards. Right now we are looking at 2 days of 2 parks (1 per day), 3 nights on property (Art of Animation, likely), and a 3-4 day beach excursion.

Question 1) What is everyone's opinion on Park Number Two for us?

Epcot Pros:

• Are there a lot of princesses here? I have all girls, so Anna and Elsa are a big deal.
• Mulan is equally, if not more of a big deal than Anna and Elsa. Its the older two's favorite movie.
• Boss Man says Soarin' is amazin'. It sounds pretty cool.
• Crowds. I know, I know, I can't avoid crowds with a Disney vacation. But this is least crowded?

Hollywood Studios Pros:

• Star Wars - For my spousal unit, and really we all love Star Wars. It will be open by then, right?
• Toy Story - Slink is my middle's favoritest character ever!
• Little Mermaid - My favorite growing up!

Animal Kingdom

• Oh Nelly. That Pandora stuff looks amazing.
• The Nemo Muscial looks like a must see!
• The Jungle Book gang has a special place in my heart
• Dinosaur!

So all of this keeping in mind that this really is for my kiddos. Who will be (almost) 3, 6.5, and 8.5. Is there a dining experience in a park I cannot miss? What do you think? My husband's favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast, so fingers crossed for a res at Be Our Guest!

Question 2) If we are doing 3 nights, 2 parks how does that work out?

Do we arrive, sleep, park 1, sleep, rest day, sleep, park 2? We would get there on a Monday, I think. Or what do you recommend?

Question 3) How much do you budget for souvenirs?

My initial thought is everyone gets mouse ears + $100? Is that a crazy amount for a kiddo? Would you separate that to $50/day? Mouse ears are non-negotiable! Ha! When I was younger we went every year but my grandparents never let me get mouse ears. I always wanted some!

Question 4) Is Bippidi Boppity Boutique "worth it"?
Is it worth the money and time spent? My girls love makeup and dresses and getting fancy, but I am hesitant to spend precious Disney time in a salon! Also, my youngest will be *nearly* 3, yes, we are doing that for the free ticket I am not ashamed. She cannot do BBB, then. This may cause some issues? Or my spousal unit and I can split but then we're missing experiences on either end.

Question 5) What do I *need* to do with 3 young girls that I am not thinking of?

Self-explanatory!

Thanks guys!

I just wanted to make sure that you saw the price difference in admission once you hit 4 days - it is next to nothing! I would rather add on days and not get the park hopper because switching parks can take a lot of time - getting to the bus area, waiting on a bus, travel time, bag check line, admission line..... it is just easier to plan on spending the day or part of it at one park and enjoying ourselves, no pressure to make it here or there. If you are only taking your kids once or twice in their childhood, enjoy and do it all!

My favorite meals/restaurants are Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (5 princesses) - but only for breakfast, for lunch and dinner they serve authentic Norwegian fare, which your girls may or may not like - we also love 1900 Park Fare for dinner, it includes Cinderella, Prince Charming, Anastasia, Drusilla, Lady Tremaine and sometimes the Fairy Godmother. This is only for the dinner meal, breakfast and lunch are other characters. Also, you don't need park admission for this one since it is in the Grand Floridian.

We love Be Our Guest, although you only get to meet one character, the Beast, and only at dinner.

Our favorite restaurant for the food is Ohana's at the Polynesian, which also doesn't require any park admission.
There are so many other options, I could go on and on.....

We tried a new one this past year - the Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno, which features Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder and Ariel and Prince Eric. My daughter is a teen now, but she absolutely loved meeting the "princes", and they were a hoot in their interactions with us.

One thing we did when our kids were little, was to send them a "box from Mickey" about a week before the vacation. I would include things in it that I was going to buy for the trip anyway, sunglasses, sunscreen, maybe a t'shirt, things for the car ride down, etc. They absolutely loved this - I just filled a box and addressed it like it came from Disney World and let them open it.

We always drive, so I also have surprises for them to help pass the time in the car - every so often, I will give them a gift for the trip - trading pins (very cheap on ebay, less than $1 each), autograph books, lanyards for their trading pins, crowns or other costume accessories for their meet and greets. You could put all this in the box from Mickey though, since your kids are younger, that is how I started, and moved some things to the drive down when they got older.

 

[Dave B]

My thought on BBB. It is something you only do once. If you don’t do it on your trip in 2020 your oldest may not be interested or too old on her next trip. We did it when my girls were 3,3 &5. They loved it and talk about it daily. It is however very expensive!

Edit: we viewed this as a souvenir and didn’t get the girls anything else.

Just a different opinion, my daughter just turned 12 and she is disappointed that this will be her last year to do it, she has done it the last 3 years and this would be year number four in November