First Trip to WDW! Single parent with 5 year old.

[Kita79]

Hello. My name is Kita and I'm a single parent. I'm all booked for our first Disney World vacation neither of us has ever been to Disney. I'm taking my daughter to celebrate her 5th birthday. We are visiting from October 29-November 4, 2012 staying at Port Orleans Riverside with a 6 day park hopper. I'm completely freaking out because the planning for this trip is overwhelming. We are planning to go to BBB for her birthday which is November 2 and I want to take her to CRT but the reservations seems like it is so hard to get and she really wants to eat with Cinderella on her birthday. We arrive by noon on the 29th and I'm not sure what we should do that first day. Any suggestions, activities, restaurants, or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[callumnoad]

We went in October 2010 and its a great time to go! I hope you and your daughter have an amazing time, she's very lucky to have such a nice and dedicated mum! 4:30am?

 

[Kita79]

We went in October 2010 and its a great time to go! I hope you and your daughter have an amazing time, she's very lucky to have such a nice and dedicated mum! 4:30am?

Aww that is so sweet. Thank you. Yeah 4:30am was brutal and I had to be to work the same day at 7:00am. Needless to say, I went to bed early after work.

 

[Kita79]

Has anyone stayed at Port Orleans Riverside before and how is the bus transportation from there to Magic Kingdom?:shrug:

 

[Kita79]

The trip planning is going so well thanks to all of you. I'm getting more and more excited as we get closer to our vacation. We order a cinderella costume for my daughter for her BBB appointment. I got all of my ADRs done:sohappy:.
Monday-1900 Park Fare Cinderella Dinner
Tuesday- Crystal Place Lunch
Wednesday- Askershus Storybook Princess Lunch
Thursday-Chef Mickey Breakfast
Friday- Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Cinderella Royal Table Dinner, MNSSHP
Saturday- Cape May Dinner

Everytime she sees the commercial for disney world she goes crazy and says we are going there right mama. :ROFLOL:

 

[babsinspace]

Well done!

Psyched for you both! You got great reservations. Well done on the planning. Tricky part now is chilling out and waiting... always difficult! Having done my first trip this year, and gone planning-crazy, one thing I would say is spend some time learning the park maps before you go... I spent hours planning our packing list and ADRs but wish I'd spent more time getting to know the layout before I arrived. And if you know where everything is, you'll be in better shape when things don't go according to plan (inevitable at some point).
Have a great time, hope you can enjoy the rest of the waiting to get there!

 

[ml123_9]

Has anyone stayed at Port Orleans Riverside before and how is the bus transportation from there to Magic Kingdom?:shrug:

Bus transportation in the morning is a little slow. MK is the favorite park, so it always has the longest line. If you wait at the main depot, I think it's the south one, you may have to wait a bus or two to get on. Unless you get there early. There is always someone there from transportation keeping an eye on the waits.

In the evening leaving MK, I think I put on here before, take the French Quarter bus and walk or boat back to PORS. I believe you said you are staying in the Royal Rooms so it might be quicker to walk since there is a bridge right at or near the property line.

During midday, the busses are pretty much empty and that is usually when they might share with FQ. I think they share going to MK and not coming back.

Previous poster had a good idea about the maps. Did you know if you go to www.disneyworld.com that you can order customized park maps. I believe they are free. Just go to there website and scroll down to the bottom and click on maps.

RS is where we always stay and you will absolutely love it. The place is so big that it almost feels empty. Except breakfast time at the food court. But that's probably true at most resorts.

 

[Kita79]

My DW reminded me to suggest that you tell Guest Services it's your daughter's birthday. You might also want to say something when you check in. When it was my son's birthday, mousekeeping left a ballon and signed photo of Mickey in the room!

We are going to be there October 29- November 4. That's good to know. Thanks. My travel agent put it in our reservation when we booked our trip that we were celebrating my daughter's birthday. And I put it on all of our ADR reservations as well. I wanted to do a welcome gift from the disney florist but they are too expensive. So I'm making a basket for her myself. I made her a no-sew tye disney princess blanket, brought a disney princess autograph book, disney princess beach ball, sunglasses, and swim googles, and an Ariel barbie. Someone is getting spoiled this year lol.

 

[Redsky89]

I say take your time on your trip. If you try to do everything you'll find yourself and your kid exhausted and frustrated lol. One thing I've learned with over a decade of visits to Disney World is that you will not be able to see and do everything there is to offer there in a week it's just massive. What I do is spend most my times in the parks and Downtown Disney but I take my sweet time when I'm doing it. Go slow and absorb everything cause there is so much. Make your guys first trip a memorable one!

 

[Kita79]

Thanks Redsky89. I plan on taking it pretty easy and let my daughter decide the pace we will go. But are there any "must see" things that we should not miss out on while we are there? Definitely going to Wishes, Illuminations, and try to catch a few parades. We are going to all four parks at least once during the week. Wanted to do the Hoopee Do Dinner show but it is being refurbished while we are there

 

[SuprDav]

Good for you & your daughter! Enjoy!

 

[Redsky89]

Thanks Redsky89. I plan on taking it pretty easy and let my daughter decide the pace we will go. But are there any "must see" things that we should not miss out on while we are there? Definitely going to Wishes, Illuminations, and try to catch a few parades. We are going to all four parks at least once during the week. Wanted to do the Hoopee Do Dinner show but it is being refurbished while we are there

For sure. The fireworks shows at Epcot and Magic Kingdom are always a must. I'm usually not a parade person but I love the Main Street Electrical Parade that they have in Magic Kingdom. Check to see when that one is! Your daughter I think will mainly enjoy the Magic Kingdom attractions since they have a lot of kid friendly rides that aren't "scary" by any means. Unless she does enjoy roller coasters haha. If she loves animals like I do then they have trails in Animal Kingdom where you can walk and see different animals like a zoo basically as well. That or the safari ride she'd love.

 

[shuflemstr]

Thanks Redsky89. I plan on taking it pretty easy and let my daughter decide the pace we will go. But are there any "must see" things that we should not miss out on while we are there? Definitely going to Wishes, Illuminations, and try to catch a few parades. We are going to all four parks at least once during the week. Wanted to do the Hoopee Do Dinner show but it is being refurbished while we are there

The Hoop Dee Doo has reservations available for everyday of you vacation for the 4 and 615 shows

 

[graphite1326]

What a wonderful experience lies before you!!!! As a first timer, I would recommend a visit to Allears.net... if you have not already found the website. Allears does an outstanding job of providing a wealth of information pertaining to all things Disney. I hope you and your daughter have a magical visit!!! :sohappy:

it's allearsnet.com

 

[graphite1326]

I remember when I first took my children. My youngest was 6. We have been going every other year since. He is now 21. All I had was a Birnbaums (spelling) book to plan with. And even though I did plan we were still overwelmed when we got there. It's bigger than you think. We deccided right then that we had to go back again. I have never stayed at Riverside but have stayed at French Quarter a few times. Riverside is a very large but beautiful resort. (They make a great sub sandwich there). It's a short walk from French Quarter, so as suggested and depending on where your room is you could use the FQ bus if you need to. There are at least 3 if not 4 bus stops at Riverside and sometimes shares a bus with FQ. What impressed me the most about WDW is how they go out of their way to make sure you have a wonderful time. It's hard to expalin until you experience it. It's the little things they do.

 

[Kita79]

The Hoop Dee Doo has reservations available for everyday of you vacation for the 4 and 615 shows

OMG thank you for letting me know. I'm going to see if I can book it right now. Thanks.

 

[Kita79]

Yeah I got Hoop Dee Doo Review for saturday November 3 at 6:15pm. This is going to be a magical trip for my little one. Here are the final ADRs:
Monday-1900 Park Fare Cinderella Dinner
Tuesday- Crystal Place Lunch
Wednesday- Askershus Storybook Princess Lunch
Thursday-Chef Mickey Breakfast
Friday- Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Cinderella Royal Table Dinner, MNSSHP
Saturday- Hoop Dee Doo Review Dinner

 

[sgtmgd]

Thanks Redsky89. I plan on taking it pretty easy and let my daughter decide the pace we will go. But are there any "must see" things that we should not miss out on while we are there? Definitely going to Wishes, Illuminations, and try to catch a few parades. We are going to all four parks at least once during the week. Wanted to do the Hoopee Do Dinner show but it is being refurbished while we are there

I hope Fantasmic is on the list....its a great show!

 

[Kita79]

I hope Fantasmic is on the list....its a great show!

What is Fantasmic and which park is it in?

 

[journ116]

Fantasmic! is an over-the-top-outdoor-theatre show at Hollywood Studios. I've never seen it, despite all my visits to WDW, but really want to. I've heard good and bad things about the show (i.e. certain effects not working, characters malfunctioning). I have also heard that it's best to arrive 30-60 min. early, and if you don't want to get wet, avoid the first few rows. I'm sure someone else on here can give you first-hand experience expertise.

I, too, am hoping to get this show in during my trip, depending on when the shows are!

 

[Kita79]

Ok that sounds interesting. We went to the Mall of America this weekend and I stopped at the disney store picked up the classic Ariel doll and an Ariel tote bag. I'm going to put all the stuff I brought for her "Welcome to Disney" basket in the tote bag. I'm loving planning for this vacation and having little surprises for her along the way. I made her a countdown calendar yesterday.