Help with disney trip!

[DisneyBound]

I am new here and taking my family to disney this fall for the first time. I went to disney 20 years ago, but my husband and 3 kids have never been. Obviously, things have changed alot since I last went, and I had no kids last time. We have booked a package in mid september at the Port Orleans-Riverside resort. (They told me we are in alligator bayou)The hopper passes are included and we are staying 5 nights. (Sept 17-22) My kids are 15, 9 and 4. I have so many questions, I hope this is the right place to post. Any input on the resort, weather for mid september, things not to miss, do's and dont's or anything would be great. Because we dont have alot of money, this will probably be the only time I get to take my family and I want to make it the best experience I can. TIA for any help!

 

[tinkrbel]

port orleans is a really nice place .. all the disney resorts are great I think the best suggestion would be to watch this board ..and there are some great webpages that give all the updates for the parks and ways to save money


http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://www.intercot.com/
http://wdwig.com/



sept is a rainy month but also still pretty dern hot time of year down south. Its still usually in the 90's during the day.

personally .. disney transportation is the best way to go if your flying or driving .. we drive (use to fly) and we park our van at the resort and take disney buses, boats and monorails
the great thing about WDW is its for every age !!

 

[Tigggrl]

OOOHHHH! You are gonna have so much fun!
September is actually a good time to go, crowd wise...Most kids are in school, so you should have no problems with huge lines...
OK...
Utilize fastpass...Hit Magic Kingdom in the morning, first thing, and PLEASE do it during a weekday....Wednesdays and Thursdays are best! Hit the rides in Fantasyland early, grab a fastpass for Pooh, and head over to Peter Pan...getting park maps ahead of time can help you plan our day!
Are Characters or attractions a priority??? Yoou get to meet characters just about everywhere, but more in Tootown, and Ariel is in her grotto almost all day, her line can get really long....The pictures you take will last a lifetime, so figure out which characters are a must see, and you can always ask a CM for help
If you have the time, dont miss the new show in front of the castle, and see the parades...especially Spectromagic! This is the big celebration, and there is LOTS to do! There is sooo much more to it, and please dont forget that Epcot is a great park...as is Animal Kingdom too! If you have any questions, I am sure we can help
I goup almost once a week, until lately...I heard spring break was a zoo! I hope to get there before I move, the Flower and Garden festival is starting, and I NEVER miss that!
Oh! One more thing...
Take lots of water and LOTS of sunscreen...LOTS of breaks for resting too. You can get in big trouble if you dont stay hydrated, and the sun can fry you in an instant...hats and sunglasses too!
(I am getting over a realy bad sunburn, and I was in the SHADE! LOL!)
Have fun! I am sure you all will, there is something for everyone!
( and if you can get a sitter, I believe they offer it...Take a nice walk around with your honey)

 

[FatBoy976]

Just to clerify, fastpass is free. It's a system where you put your park ticket into a machine next to the ride you want a fastpass for. It prints out a ticket for you to return at a set time (a one hour period). When you come back at this time, you get to bypass most of the line. Cool huh? Also, go to www.disneyworld.com and request information from them. They can send you alot of useful stuff.

 

[Magic Maniacs]

My husband and I have been to Walt Disney World the past 4 years. We happened to stay in the Port Orleans Resort / Alligator Bayou this past December. The resort grounds were beautiful, and there is one pool open 24 hours a day which will come in handy in the heat of September. A word of advice, the food in the Food Court is :hurl: not very good to say the least. There is a really great grocery store next to Downtown Disney I think it's called Goodies but not sure. You can buy a styrofoam cooler for a couple of bucks and take advantage of the free ice at the resort to fill it for milk cheese etc. Disney offers a small refrigerator for $9.00 a day, but why spend the money if you don't have to. Another money saving piece of advice I can give you is regarding the Park Hopper Passes. If you are able, cancel your Park Hopper passes and purchase them at the resort when you arrive. You are paying for the passes the day you get there through the day you leave. We come from California and don't get to the resort until 8 or 9 at night (if we're lucky) We do not benefit by paying for ride tickets the day we arrive, or the day we leave. When you check in, ask the front desk person to give you a Park Hopper pass for the next morning through the day before you leave. For the 2 of us we saved over $200.00 by doing this. We spent our 1st night at Downtown Disney (which is free), and were ready to hit the parks bright and early the next morning. The day we left, we went back to Downtown Disney and had a great lunch before heading off to the airport.

 

[DisneyWorldGuru]

Originally posted by DisneyBound
I am new here and taking my family to disney this fall for the first time. I went to disney 20 years ago, but my husband and 3 kids have never been. Obviously, things have changed alot since I last went, and I had no kids last time. We have booked a package in mid september at the Port Orleans-Riverside resort. (They told me we are in alligator bayou)The hopper passes are included and we are staying 5 nights. (Sept 17-22) My kids are 15, 9 and 4. I have so many questions, I hope this is the right place to post. Any input on the resort, weather for mid september, things not to miss, do's and dont's or anything would be great. Because we dont have alot of money, this will probably be the only time I get to take my family and I want to make it the best experience I can. TIA for any help!

Disney World has changed alot in the past 20 years. Even though my web site is still not finished yet it does have some tips and hints. I know the insides and outsides of Walt Disney World so please feel free to visit my site at the link below. If you still have questions just click the link on my website to e-mail me. I love helping people on there first trip or in your case first trip in 20 years. But the tip I give anyone is go out and buy a copy of Birnbaum's Walt Disney World, The Offical Guide.

 

[Dwarful]

i would also recommend taking advantage of E-ride nights. That way you can save the fast passes for other rides during the day, and hit the kids big favorites several times over during e-ride nights. Its about $15 each but well worth it~ There are usually about 10 attractions on the e-ride nights and you can know to skip those attractions during the day if the lines are long since you will be able to do them over and over again at night.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I am so super excited for you!!!! I know you will have an awesome time. The Birnbaums guide to Disney is an awesome book and FULL of great info. In addition, go to WWW.WDWIG.com and click the Great Movie ride picture and that will bring you to her index, She has some great info on pretty much everything. Check out the Resort Faqs and Photos for Port Orleans- Riverside. In addition check out the menus from every place there is to eat in Disneyworld!! and I do mean EVERYPLACE to eat!!! I highly recommend a character dining experience. Good way to get pics with the characters without running all over the parks and have some good food too. Are you kids boys girls or mixed?? In any event I do recommed at least one meal at Cinderella's Royal Table. I think the atmosphere is AWESOME. Post any other questions and Ill try to help!!!