1st time to Disney World, many questions

[Violiav]

So my trip is 7/8-7/12 with the 8th - 11th being park days. Staying at Art of Animation (4 kids ages 11,11,12,15), got the quick service dining plan. I'm super amped. I'm probably more excited than the kids at this point.
We -should- get to the resort around 3 if all goes right with the flight. My quandary is what do I do with that half day? We got park hopper and water park so I was thinking of getting lunch at the hotel then hitting up typhoon lagoon, then swinging by one of the 4 parks after the water park closes.
I'd also like to check out that arcade in downtown Disney at some point. It sounds neat, if anything the kids might get a kick out of it. I know it's a few months off, but I really want to be prepared. Not over scheduled, but having an idea of what to do.
Btw, I've already picked up The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. What I'd like is a hi res bus route map. OR any high res map that I can get printed out and hang in my kitchen. Yeah, I'm odd.

 

[norhel]

Have you considered to skip the parks for your arrival day, and for example do a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland and the head to Downtown Disney?
Just a suggestion.

 

[Violiav]

I've thought about it yes. Is it a pretty epic mini golf place? And I gather that that most of the nighttime fireworks are pretty visible?
And summer crowds- now I've been to Disneyland during both summer and winter break (right before christmas) and IMO Christmastime was more crowded (circa 1999)- what can I expect? Never been to Florida, but I've been living in Texas for 8 years so I'm accustomed to heat.

 

[jlsHouston]

At 3 in the afternoon in July it will be pretty hot for putt-putt...and the parks too. I would jump in the pool or hit Disney Quest at DtD. Then later, maybe 7 ish head to MK...
I live in Texas. Been going to WDW for the past 3 summers in July or Aug. We are never in the parks in the afternoon unless we are at Pirates League spending gobs of money.
Water park might be a good idea too.

 

[JillC LI]

I would check Park hours to see what's open late. By the time you check in and leave the resort, you might want to limit yourself to the one Park that is open late that night, or else just go to the waterpark and then a light round of mini golf. Doing both the waterpark and a Park after a full day of travel might be too much. Save yourself for an early wake-up call and rope drop at one of the Parks the next day.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

So my trip is 7/8-7/12 with the 8th - 11th being park days. Staying at Art of Animation (4 kids ages 11,11,12,15), got the quick service dining plan. I'm super amped. I'm probably more excited than the kids at this point.
We -should- get to the resort around 3 if all goes right with the flight. My quandary is what do I do with that half day? We got park hopper and water park so I was thinking of getting lunch at the hotel then hitting up typhoon lagoon, then swinging by one of the 4 parks after the water park closes.
I'd also like to check out that arcade in downtown Disney at some point. It sounds neat, if anything the kids might get a kick out of it. I know it's a few months off, but I really want to be prepared. Not over scheduled, but having an idea of what to do.
Btw, I've already picked up The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. What I'd like is a hi res bus route map. OR any high res map that I can get printed out and hang in my kitchen. Yeah, I'm odd.

Could you provide us with your current plans for 7/9 - 7/11? What parks are you trying to hit during those days?
Since you purchased the water park & more option, if you haven't made time to visit the water parks on other days then sure head to the water park for a few hours of late night fun!
But If you want to maximize park time, I would drop the water park option.

For example:
Day 1 (7/8)-

• Check In around 3 (do online check in! since you won't have much time to linger around if you want to have enough time to enjoy the water park. Depending on which one you hit, the bus ride could take a while)
• Hit the water park! Til close (which will probably be around 8)
• MK is the park open the latest, with closes at 10, so you may not have time to get from the water park to MK, if you do, you may be lucky to have an hour in the park. *Disclaimer: Disney does tend to extend hours, I have a feeling, MK will be extended to 11*

Day 2 (7/9)-

• Hit Animal Kingdom for early extra magic hours.
• Finish the day at Hollywood Studios (closes at 8:30)
• Downtown Disney afterwards if you aren't tired.

Day 3 (7/10)-

• MK for early extra magic hours!

Day 4 (7/11) -

• Epcot for evening extra magic hours!

Day 5 (7/12) -

• Downtown Disney if you can, otherwise head home.

I know you said you don't want to be too scheduled but that is hard to not do now with Fast pass+

 

[jlsHouston]

Yah on the arrival day, even when we fly, planning too much never really works out. If it's summer usually the pool works best and then we hit a park and have dinner. Or have dinner then hit a park. The park is almost always MK, since in summer it is open til midnite most nights and even later with EMH.

Alot of people do tour the parks all day in summer. We never do. If we aren't up late the night before we will get up early and hit a park when it opens and stay til about noon.

 

[MOUSEGIRL]

I would grab lunch at the airport and pack snacks in my carry on once i check in i can hit the park. We live in Houston and are use to the heat as well, however all the screaming, crying children and fighting parents in the afternoons is a lot. Not everybody can take the heat. We were not impressed with the amount of time the water parks take to get to and they are so crowded during peak season. I would suggest on your first day doing pool time at your resort and down town disney and call it a night. this way you will be ready for rope drop the next morning.

 

[Violiav]

Hi Houston! I'm in college Station.
We haven't formulated any set plans yet, but even if/when we do cobble together a plan I fully expect it it fly out the window upon arrival (best laid plans and all that).
Realistically I know I won't be able to see everything. . There's just so much stuff to do!
That finding nemo pool looks fantastic!

 

[jlsHouston]

Y'all flying or driving ?

 

[Violiav]

Flying. No way we're hauling 4 kids in a Kia Soul to Florida lol. Via southwest, it's only about a two and a half hour flight.

 

[jlsHouston]

And free bags! We drive in the summer because we make it a road trip and hit the beach on the way too. I've been once right around when you are going 4th of July. It was pretty crowded. We did nothing but MK but the kiddos were pretty young and it was our first trip. Your kids will love the water parks I bet since it is summer and they are big kids.
Well welcome to the boards this place has been educating me for a while about the parks and key resort features

 

[Violiav]

Thanks! Since booking the trip I've become enamored with the whole Disney subculture. Podcasts, travel websites, etc.
One of the big pushes for me to shoot for Disney this summer was our trip to Galveston last summer. Moody Gardens was fun (that was actually the first time my boyfriend and the kids had been on one of those roller coaster sims) but boyfriend and I grew up in San Diego, so everything paled in comparison to our childhood memories of the Zoo,Seaworld, and Disneyland (though he hadn't been since his gradnight in 1990).

 

[gooftroop5]

We are not huge planners either, but I like to have an idea of park hours, EMHs, etc before heading into my vacation. Also with FP+ I know we will have to be a little more planned (which I'm ok with).

As for arriving at your resort by 3pm, don't forget to allow time to check-in, get to your room, and freshen up before you head out. Even by checking in online things can go wrong and cause a little extra time. On the safe side, especially since you are traveling with 4 kids, I would plan for 2 hours to check-in, get to your room, and such. The kids will want to look at things in the resort on the way to the room, etc so your time will fly by.

We don't typically get the water parks option, but I think if we did we would use it on a hot afternoon when we needed a break from the other parks.

On our arrival day we always visit the park with the evening EMH. The weather is a little cooler at night and the crowds aren't terrible (however, it is still summer so it will still be too crowded for some people).

Good luck and have fun!

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

I've thought about it yes. Is it a pretty epic mini golf place? And I gather that that most of the nighttime fireworks are pretty visible?
And summer crowds- now I've been to Disneyland during both summer and winter break (right before christmas) and IMO Christmastime was more crowded (circa 1999)- what can I expect? Never been to Florida, but I've been living in Texas for 8 years so I'm accustomed to heat.

The parks are a totally different kind of heat. The concrete reflects and absorbs the heat making it seem much hotter than the actual temp. Even with good sunblock and putting on the correct amount and reapplying, I still get burned a little sometimes. I wear a huge hat, but the reflection off the concrete still gets me.
It is amazing how much better my feet feel when the sun goes down and the concrete cools a little.
The pools at AoA are lots of fun. Unless your children really want thrills, I wouldn't bother with the water parks.
It does take lots of time. We are opening to closing people, but in the summer, even we might have to go back the resort for a while to cool off before heading back at night. Early hours are your friend. It will be the coolest part of the day and the least crowded. There is no fastpass during early hours, so it's easy to get on rides even when there's a line. Well, before fastpass plus there wasn't. I'm not sure if that still holds true. I believe it does. It's particularly important to use early hours for MK if you have small/young children. By lunchtime, the lines for many of the rides in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are crazy long in the summer. We always take rainsuits with us during those months, so that we can continue to ride and walk around while others are huddled under shelter. The parks used to clear out during these times, but the last few visits, that didn't hold true. People were so tired of waiting in long lines, they started staying and taking their chances. It's still will get much less crowded if it rains very long.

 

[MOUSEGIRL]

Yes flying is the only way to go. Like i said we go every year and one year we drove and never again. Not only does it take a day each way of your vacation but you are trapped in the car with one another only to be trapped together for a week. Then knowing you will have to drive back home at the end. As the previous poster said you need to leave two hours from the time your plane leaves till the time you are ready to go to the park. Also remember to pack as your carry on your park back your luggage will not be in your room when you arrive. I usually pack our swim suits in the carry on as well. you have already made a great choice in knowing you will not get everything done. Disney World is much bigger than Disney Land. Something that will help you is deciding what you want to do the next day the night before ( ie what park and most important rides that you dont have FP for) if you hit the parks before rope drop you will be able to do more in the first hour than others do all day. You will be surprised or at least I was when you see all the people just standing in the middle of main street trying to decide what they wanted to do looking at a map. The first time we took my son he was 5 and we got everything done in our 5 day trip but we were tired. He is now 15 and we have been every year at least once. We have stayed in all level of resorts and most of the moderates and all of the deluxe resorts. My best advice is to plan and unless you want to pay big bucks for a hotel never bump up. Our first trip we stayed at a moderate, the next a value then we got an awesome deal and said we will stay at a deluxe just this one time, yes ever from that time forward no mater where else we have stayed I always wish we would have stayed in a deluxe no we have decided to only stay in the deluxe after last springs trip we stayed at saratoga springs and I was not happy. Christmas we stayed at the contemporary and this june we will be at the contemporary again. Its not the rooms are that much bigger or that the hotel is nicer its the quickness of getting to the parks. However the first two trips we thought the bus service was great until we stayed at a monorail resort. That was our biggest mistake, no we always want to stay at the monorail resorts. Enjoy your trip so for rambling but I think the more informed you are the better time you will have.

 

[jlsHouston]

Thanks! Since booking the trip I've become enamored with the whole Disney subculture. Podcasts, travel websites, etc.
One of the big pushes for me to shoot for Disney this summer was our trip to Galveston last summer. Moody Gardens was fun (that was actually the first time my boyfriend and the kids had been on one of those roller coaster sims) but boyfriend and I grew up in San Diego, so everything paled in comparison to our childhood memories of the Zoo,Seaworld, and Disneyland (though he hadn't been since his gradnight in 1990).

Ahhh Moody has become my go to place for Easter and Mother's Day Brunch. I'm not big on Schlitterbahn but grandkids love it and we just really enjoy the sandy beach and the pool and the exhibits..
My kids were born in CA, so we went to DL a couple of times when they were young. But that first trip to WDW in 2011 really sold me on the Disney brand. I keep going back. Summer is really hot and like the other poster said, combine heat, humidity, bodies and concrete and it can be really miserable. We will do parks from open til noon but after that we do the pool or DisneyQuest at DtD until the sun starts going down.

Everyone is correct about it taking about 2 hours from when you land to get checked in to your resort.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

If I were you, I would check in and go to my room. I would let the kids unpack and organize as much as possible. Then I would grab a QS at the hotel and if there are EMH at the MK, I would head to the park. Sometimes in the summer, the MK is opened until 2AM. But take it easy.....if you hit the ground running, you never totally recover. You kids are at an age where they should all be interested in the same things so planning should not be very difficult. You have an awful lot to fit into 4 full days including water parks. I would hit the water parks one day at opening.....stay until after lunch, go back to the hotel and after a quick change, head to whatever park in opened the latest that evening. Remember....it is going to be HOT.....HOT...HOT ....and HUMID....HUMID....HUMID.... and that is more exhausting than the crowds...and there will be crowds in July. Listen to your kids....when they want to go back to the hotel for a swim or rest, do it. There is nothing worse than a cranky teen . Also.....you will not be able to do all and see all in 4 days.....you will be back someday so do what you can and enjoy!

 

[jlsHouston]

Yah..my grandkids were 4 and 6 on our first visit to WDW, which was over the 4th of July for 4 days/3 nights. We did nothing but MK and character dining the entire time. Pretty much flipped our days and nights and we actually SLEPT in the afternoon! Oh lord I am laughing to myself with a memory of that trip. Absolutely the funniest thing, we stayed in the 60's building right next to that pool I think it was shaped like a bowling pin? Every time we left our room and every time we returned those kids would cry to get into that pool and we kept saying later, later. Well we packed it up finally the last day and started driving away from WDW, and the grandson yells out WAIT WAIT , nana we never swam in the pool!
It was the only trip I acted like a park commando....I keeping pace with DD who does the parks ninja style.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

So my trip is 7/8-7/12 with the 8th - 11th being park days. Staying at Art of Animation (4 kids ages 11,11,12,15), got the quick service dining plan. I'm super amped. I'm probably more excited than the kids at this point.
We -should- get to the resort around 3 if all goes right with the flight. My quandary is what do I do with that half day? We got park hopper and water park so I was thinking of getting lunch at the hotel then hitting up typhoon lagoon, then swinging by one of the 4 parks after the water park closes.
I'd also like to check out that arcade in downtown Disney at some point. It sounds neat, if anything the kids might get a kick out of it. I know it's a few months off, but I really want to be prepared. Not over scheduled, but having an idea of what to do.
Btw, I've already picked up The Unofficial Guide to Disney World. What I'd like is a hi res bus route map. OR any high res map that I can get printed out and hang in my kitchen. Yeah, I'm odd.

Oh, no no no no no! Do NOT do that! This is Florida. 3 pm is when it starts to rain. Aim for a water park in the morning if you want to do that. For your first day, I would say either Epcot or MK, since they are open until 9 and 10 respectively. But here's something to think about...if you get to the resort at 3, then it should take you at least 30 minutes, probably more like an hour, to check in and see your room. Then it should take you 15-30 minutes to get to the park, at least. So you might get to the park at 4, probably more like 5 or 6. Is it worth a day on your pass, or would you rather use it on your last day and get up early before catching a later flight out? Just something to think about. If you want to do a water park 1. Be willing to watch the weather and change your plans accordingly and 2. If you can, do it on the Friday that you're there and pair it with Epcot. Go for the morning, head over to Epcot, and you should be able to use FP+ to do Soarin'. It's EMH that night, so you can stay, watch fireworks, and then hit TT before you leave, as well as some other stuff you may have missed on the way in. MK is best done on a Wednesday. Were you planning on doing both DHS and AK? If you decide to do a park on your last day, AK might work as it's usually considered a half day park and is less crowded on the weekends. Have fun!