First time visitors

[Ariel854]

We will be staying at POR on Oct 22-29th. First time visitors to Disney world!! We are SOO excited. It will be my boyfriend and I going. I was just looking for some advice to make sure we have the best trip possible. Here are some details of the trip we have so far:

-We have already checked in online to the resort, we requested early check in as well as a room closer to the main building
-We have 8 days worth of park tickets (with park hopper). We did 8 days because our flight gets to Orlando at 9am and we leave Orlando at 7pm.
-We bought the dining plan. 1 sit down meal, 1 quick service and 1 snack.
-We have made 4 reservations for restaurants, Sci-Fi Dine In, Coral Reef, Tusker House and Tappen Edo.
-We have only planned what parks/fast passes we are doing for the first 5 days. We have left the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with no current plans, thinking we will go back to the parks we liked the most.
-We have printed out and laminated maps of each park and have our reservations/fast pass times on the back.
-We are coming from Canada.


Any advice you have for us would be great!!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Any advise you have for us would be great!!

You seem to have it all covered - Have a great trip

 

[stevehousse]

You have a total of 7 sit down dining credits and only 4 ADRs so far. I would look at trying to fill in those empty slots otherwise that's a lot of money to go to waste...maybe even a nice 2 credit dinner somewhere one night!

 

[Ariel854]

You have a total of 7 sit down dining credits and only 4 ADRs so far. I would look at trying to fill in those empty slots otherwise that's a lot of money to go to waste...maybe even a nice 2 credit dinner somewhere one night!

Do you have any suggestions? We will end up using them, but we don't know what parks we will be at the last few days and don't want to base the park around the reservation. We tried some of the popular restaurants but have been unable to get a reservation ie Le Cellier, Be Our Guest etc...

 

[Bocko57]

That was the 1st thing (@stevehousse) that came to mind was ADRs. You are paying for the meals upfront so you might as well use them. Let me find my thinking cap and I will be back to give you more input.

 

[SAV]

Keep in mind that with the hopper, you don't have to plan anything around the meal. Go to where you want, leave that park to go to your meal, then go back to doing whatever you wanted to do.

ADR's are hard to get the closer you get to the trip, so I would just book what you are interested in trying.

I don't do much sit down dining, but we loved Sci-Fi drive in and 50's Prime Time Cafe. Mama Melrose's is also good for an Italian meal.

Also, I wouldn't wait until the day of to book the rest of your FP+'s. What I mean is if you decide on your first day that you want to go back to (insert park) on the unplanned Monday, then book them that day/night. A better chance at getting the earlier times than waiting for the day of. The earlier times are better because you can then start using your "rolling" 4th, 5th, 6th, etc FP's.

 

[BransonJ]

Me and my wife will be there october 22-28 as well at the wilderness lodge. Crazy how close it is huh? But as the others have said yes book more ADRs ASAP. Glancing over those dates you should still be able to snag a few great places. Don't forget the resort restaurants, those are usually the best.

 

[stevehousse]

Definitely look at the dining at resorts. All 4 MK resorts have excellent dinin options that should still be available. Kona Cafe at Poly(highly recommend breakfast), Grand Floridian cafe or Citricos at Grand Floridian should have availability. Citricos is 2 credits. The Wave at Contemporary too is suppos to b good.

At Yacht Club resort they have a 2 credit Yachtmans Steakhouse too.

Also Boma at Aninal Kingdom Lodge is really good!

 

[Rodb]

hopefully; your request for rooms will get you into the oak or magnolia manors unless you get a preferred room in the alligator bayou. Otherwise; you will have a lot of walking to get around the resort. Even though there are other bus stops around the resort; the main one (out front) is your best bet to get on before it gets filled up. You will will really enjoy this resort as we have on two past trips. (favorite moderate!!!!)

 

[Figaro928]

If you decide to stay unplanned and end up in Epcot, Morocco's Marrakesh is a great place to use a table credit. You get a a great value and can usually can get same day seating. Plus the ambiance is amazing!

All in all, if you don't want to make ADR's for your extra days, at least plan on eating at odd hours - late or early dinners. YOu'll hae a much better chance of getting walk up seating if you decide to not eat at peak times.

 

[MickeyMomV]

I would plan a couple of late dinners, maybe at World Showcase. It seems like the later dinners have less little kids and less noise. Also think about a late dinner at resort, you can go for a stroll afterward and check out the grounds. Tons of things to do at night when you don't have kids.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

My biggest recommendation is to take a day off.

I know it sounds crazy but sometimes hitting the parks everyday can be tiring.
We always take a break in the middle of our trip to relax at our resort (since your paying for it, might as well enjoy it plus POR has so many extra activities like the pools, bike rentals, yeeha bob, horse drawn carriages.)
Spend the day at DTD, dont forget you get free mini golf & disney quest passes when you book a package or we spend a day at the water parks. We always do that then finish the evening with a nice meal at one of the signature restaurants.

Love Sci Fi & Coral Reef.
Definitely give Splitsville/Raglan Road in DTD a try.
Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch is great or Crystal Palace for breakfast.
Since you have about 4 unused credits I would recommend trying at least on Signature meal... Yachtsman, California Grill, or Narcoossees are great... Citricos & Flying Fish too. Take the time to explore the deluxe resorts, you will love it! Maybe for your first night, eat dinner at the MK resorts then hit the park since its open til 11pm on the 22nd

I would recommend getting a lunch fp for BOG: https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

Check out food and wine festival booths. you can use your snack credits to explore.

We will be there Oct 18th to 25th at POFQ.

 

[ginadee]

Sounds like you are doing great. I agree with meals at the hotels. Also agree with maybe a 7 day pass and take a break in the middle. I only spend one day in each park and still have to take a day off. Disney will slap wear you out. Lol..Holy cow, I remember going to bed with numb legs wondering how the heck am I going to do this again tomorrow but always woke up ready. lol..Have a great time and write us a trip report.

 

[DonaldDude23]

I think you've done an excellent job planning for first timers!! One tip you MUST follow is to not micro-manage the parks. Don't think that at 9:03 you have to be on Space Mountain and then at 9:23 you have to be on Splash Mountain. On the days that you don't have a FastPass+ scheduled just roam about the parks with spontaneity in mind. If you have a spare 90 minutes head on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, if you walk by an interesting attraction with a 5 minute wait then DO IT. I would also recommend a visit to the Downtown Disney Area, and possibly a water park. These are great options, with the former being free, for free days or evenings. Downtown Disney offers a vast array of food options and the best store on property, World of Disney. Try to swing by for a couple of hours if possible. Again, you have done an excellent job planning and I wish you an outstanding first experience at the Walt Disney World Resort!!

 

[BigRedDad]

First, don't rush around. Take it all in. There is SO much more to WDW than the attractions on the map. Second, you CANNOT do everything at WDW with the length of time you are going. It would take another month or more to do that. Third, enjoy your resort. Watching Bob in the bar playing the piano is an excellent show and draws people from other resorts. Forth, some people do not use all of their credits on the dining plan. You can convert those remaining meals to snacks and load up on them. I think we took home 20 Rice Crispy Mickey Ears last time.

I won't say anything about the buses because some people think that a 20 minute ride taking over an hour is perfectly acceptable.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Good planning so far for first timers. My first suggestion is... I hope you both will be hungry! But as BigRedDad mentioned, you can convert to snacks.

As others have said... take a break at some point and enjoy something other than the parks. There is so much else to do and you can not not do it all...so save something for the next 10 visits. But most of all...Have a great time.

 

[PAW PAW 70]

Ohana breakfast and dinner.

 

[Baldy]

Sounds like you have done a great job planning things out so far. On the days when you're not sure where you'll be, you could book your meals at a resort or better yet downtown Disney. There is a boat to and from POR that you can take. It takes a little longer, but you can relax and enjoy the view.

 

[JillC LI]

Do you have any suggestions? We will end up using them, but we don't know what parks we will be at the last few days and don't want to base the park around the reservation. We tried some of the popular restaurants but have been unable to get a reservation ie Le Cellier, Be Our Guest etc...

I recommend a late breakfast at Kona Cafe that you can consider brunch. You can get there relatively easily from either the MK or EPCOT. And the tonga toast and pineapple macadamia nut pancakes are a WDW cult classic.
And, make sure to try a Dole Whip float in the MK

 

[Disnee4Me]

We will be staying at POR on Oct 22-29th. First time visitors to Disney world!! We are SOO excited. It will be my boyfriend and I going. I was just looking for some advice to make sure we have the best trip possible. Here are some details of the trip we have so far:

-We have already checked in online to the resort, we requested early check in as well as a room closer to the main building
-We have 8 days worth of park tickets (with park hopper). We did 8 days because our flight gets to Orlando at 9am and we leave Orlando at 7pm.
-We bought the dining plan. 1 sit down meal, 1 quick service and 1 snack.
-We have made 4 reservations for restaurants, Sci-Fi Dine In, Coral Reef, Tusker House and Tappen Edo.
-We have only planned what parks/fast passes we are doing for the first 5 days. We have left the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with no current plans, thinking we will go back to the parks we liked the most.
-We have printed out and laminated maps of each park and have our reservations/fast pass times on the back.
-We are coming from Canada.


Any advice you have for us would be great!!

I like the idea of printing out and laminating maps. With the new Fantasyland for someone like me who hasn't been in 5 years, this would be an awesome idea. And while I'm quoting you, I might as well through in my vote for Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch or dinner -- which is served family style.