Pre-Trip First Family Trip (March 3-10 2016)

Hello everyone! Brand new to the board and love it already! My wife and I will be taking our son (19 months old for trip) to Disney in March! My Father in Law will also be going to help with the baby ( and because he is a closet Disney fan as well). We last traveled to WDW in Jan of 2012 for our honeymoon and it was the best vacation I've ever had. I would love input on how to make this trip to the world even better!

A bit about us before I get started. I am originally from North Mississippi but moved to Memphis after getting married in January of 2012. Met my wife at Freed Hardeman University and we've been together about 9 years. Our son, Knox, is already the life of the party and loves ALL things Disney JR! My wife, Lindsey, teaches, so we are a bit limited in the times we can travel to WDW, thus why we are going during Spring Break.

My wife and I love to GO GO GO! I've seen many posts recommending stays of 2 weeks, but this would not work for us. If we are at WDW, we are in the parks running, so our trip of 7 days is more than suffice. I know things may be a little different with a toddler, but we plan on letting him rest in the stroller instead of returning to the resort. Would appreciate tips on this (quiet places in the parks, etc).

We have never had anything but a QS dining plan on previous stays and have opted for the regular dining plan this go around. I've already made our ADR's but still thinking of maybe changing a few of them.

Here is our tentative schedule.

Thursday, March 3- Arrive at Disney late Thursday night. We are staying at All Star Movies to save some money. As I said above, we are never in the room or at the resort, so this is the best place to save for our family.

Friday, March 4 - Magic Kingdom!! Starting the trip off right in the MK. Taking advantage of the EMH in the morning and plan on staying all day long. We have an ADR for Crystal Palace at 12:50.

Saturday, March 5 - Animal Kingdom all day. ADR at Le Cellier in Epcot at 7:00

Sunday, March 6- Hollywood Studios. ADR at Sci Fi Drive at 12:40.

Monday, March 7 - Universal Studios. We are huge Harry Potter fans so at least one day here was a must. We are planning on purchasing the Express Pass and trying to see both parks in 1 day. We do not have to ride everything, but I think we can hit most of the good stuff.

Tuesday, March 8 - Magic Kingdom Round 2. Another full day in the MK! ADR for Chef Mickey's at Breakfast!

Wednesday, March 9- Undecided. We may hop around and catch our favorites. ADR for Biergarten at Epcot for 6:00 pm

Thursday, March 10- Plane leaves at 6 pm so we have time this day to explore some. Undecided on what we will do. Will probably be a game time decision.

I have a couple of specific questions for the board that will impact some plans:

1) We will obviously have to utilize the child swap on the big rides at WDW. We have 3 adults and 1 baby, so 2 will ride first then a second group will board the ride. Here is my question (hope it is clear). Does the person sitting with the baby have to have a FP+ reservation to get a child swap pass? I've read mixed reviews on this. If they do not, wouldn't it make sense to book 3 separate FP for this person? This would technically give us 6 FP+ for the day.

2) What will the crowds be like during the trip? Hoping that we are going early enough to avoid the major Spring Break crowd. I've read where the local school systems have Spring Breaks later in March so maybe this will lower the expected crowds?

3) Am I totally crazy for thinking we can handle this schedule with a baby? I'm thinking we can make it, but would love to hear your experiences!

Thanks for reading! Look forward to your help!

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

I can't say much for questions #1 and #3, but as far as spring break goes, its from Mar 7-13 ( at least here in south fl), which is when I plan to visit since I also work for the school system. I usually go around this time, although my last visit was March 2010 , and the crowds were...well, crowds. LOL but they're manageable. Granted, I didn't have a child in 2010, and I do now, so my trip will be a different experience...maybe the crowds will be more annoying with a 4 yr old to keep a hold of. At least you'll have your Father-in-law to help out.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Tinkerbell397]

I cannot give you any advise for questions 1 and 2 since I have never needed the "kid swap" and I have never been to Disney during March. We will however be there March 5-10 next year. So I will be watching to see what answers you get about the crowd question.
We did bring our granddaughter last November when she was 21 months. She never naps so napping was not an issue but the parks can be very overwhelming for a toddler. They have a sixth sense about the stress and hustle and bustle. We arrived at the parks at about 9 every day and only stayed until about 2 or 3. By then, our granddaughter was ready to leave. Even though she did not need a nap, she started to show signs of "overload" like general crankiness. And although her parents thought that she would enjoy riding in the stroller, she insisted on pushing the stroller and walking for I would say 90% of the time so it was very slow going. Because we let her set the pace, we saw the parks through her eyes and enjoyed every minutes of it. We saw things that we had never seen before. We spent 2.5 days at the MK, 1 day at Epcot and 2 at the AK. We did not go to HS since we didn't think that there was anything there for her.
As we went through the parks, I do remember some toddlers and children having what I would consider "melt downs". They had just had "enough" but parents insisted on pushing through to the next FP. You know your child better than anyone else so watch for his cues for when he is in overload. Good Luck and Have a Magical Trip!