Last advices for first timers

kirari

Active Member
Hi everyone,

We're doing our first visit to disney world on november (which will probably be the unique before a long time). We are travelling from lyon and have decided to spend 13 days in disney world with 10 days of park.
We will stay 1-4 to art of animation in little mermaid room (no park ticket, room only), 4-14 to port orleans riverside, and 14-17 to Grand floridian (room only). We are also doing a DIsney cruise line from 9-13, and visiting Universal studios 17-18. We will be going to key largo 19-20 before taking off back to france. I am so excited, I'm planning that trip for almost 3 years now. I read lot of topics, and catched lot of advices, but I still need somes again.

We have booked AOA and POR allready, (waiting from a room only discount for the GF) with a free dining plan included with our reservation at POR.
We plan to do a Cinderella Royal table and ohana breakfast, eat dinner at california grill, lunch at teppan eddo and sanaa, do hoop dee doo review. Still having a table service credit, can you give us an advice? Actually we wanted to have dinner at La hacienda de san angel, but this same daywe schedule a lunch at teppan edo, and as we are not big eaters, I fear not to enjoy the dinner meal. I was thinking on adding instead a character breakfast (we have already plan crystal palac, but not on the dinin plan).

My boyfriend will turn 25 on november 7th and I want to do a "surprise day". That day is supposed to be a "relax day", with only an aquatic park planned. Actually, I'm planning to take the key to the kingdom tour instead, a horse carriage ride, and to order a cake at california grill. Do you think it is a good plan ?

I love christmas, so I really want to do a Mickey very merry christmas party, but I just don't know which one We should attend to:
- the one on the 13th is a friday so I guess it will be more crowded than those of other days. It is also the day we come back from our cruise, and our last night at POR.
- the one on the 15th will be on a sunday, and we will be at GF. For me it seems to be the best choice, but I also think that if I take the 13th one, we could enjoy the firework from our room (a magic kingdom view).
Any advices to help me?

We are big fan of characters too. As here at Disneyland Paris it is a real fight to have photos with them, could you give me advices to meet characters at wdw? I'm in love with Ariel (my favorite character) and princesses and My boyfriend loves villains (specially gaston and facilier).

Also, is there any attraction not to be missed in each park you would suggest for us. We are big lovers of Disneyland Paris so I can already say that we won't do Tower of Terror (just an horrible experience for me). My boyfriend is in love with coasters while I prefer soft attractions.


Thanks a lot.
 

Sudcaro- Sudcaro

Well-Known Member
Pour rencontrer les personnages, soit des "character meals" comme vous semblez deja le prevoir, soit reserver des fastpass (quand ils sont disponibles, ce qui est le cas actuellement pour Ariel) afin de ne pas faire trop la queue. ;)
 
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OneDNP

Active Member
Cali Grill is ALWAYS a good idea!

As far as an extra table service, how about doing Tusker House ? The food is deliciously African inspired and you would get to mix and mingle with characters.

If you want to see Arial, she has her own spot at MK you could stake out at rope drop. Your BF should be able to catch Gaston more easily than a princess!

I am not sure what you guys have at DLP (hope to make it there in 2019) but I think we share a number of the classics. Soarin is a must at Epcot. Toy Story Mania at HS is fun and Star Tours is probably a good thrill-compromise for you both. The Safari at AK is a must and I would suggest Dinosaur as a moderate thrill ride for you both.

Hope you have an amazing time!
 
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kirari

Active Member
Original Poster
Pour rencontrer les personnages, soit des "character meals" comme vous semblez deja le prevoir, soit reserver des fastpass (quand ils sont disponibles, ce qui est le cas actuellement pour Ariel) afin de ne pas faire trop la queue. ;)

Oh un français :), ça fait étrange ici. Oui on prévois au final 4 petits déjeuners avec personnages, donc je pense qu'on en verra pas mal. Je pensais éventuellement si il y en a encore des disponibles, prendre des fastpass pour les rencontres après avoir épuiser les 3 premiers.
L'attraction de la petite sirène est forcément un must do pour moi :p. j pense qu'on la fera une premiere fois en stand by et ensuite surement en Fastpass.

"Please apologize if I make any language mistakes as I am French" :oops:.

Your English is very good :)

Oh well, thank you :). I have to say that I always prefer tell that i'm french, just in case I use a fake-friend in my comment.

Cali Grill is ALWAYS a good idea!

As far as an extra table service, how about doing Tusker House ? The food is deliciously African inspired and you would get to mix and mingle with characters.

If you want to see Arial, she has her own spot at MK you could stake out at rope drop. Your BF should be able to catch Gaston more easily than a princess!

I am not sure what you guys have at DLP (hope to make it there in 2019) but I think we share a number of the classics. Soarin is a must at Epcot. Toy Story Mania at HS is fun and Star Tours is probably a good thrill-compromise for you both. The Safari at AK is a must and I would suggest Dinosaur as a moderate thrill ride for you both.

Hope you have an amazing time!

yes, for the california grill, I'm ready to fight to have my ADR for 8 p.m on that specific day. It's the only one (with CRT breakfast) I really want to do

Well, I just forgot to add that I'm african :D, I've lived there for 18 years, so All animal kingdom actually doesn't interest me AT ALL. Okay, I'm exagerating a little. The asian part and the Dino land seem to be interesting.
We won't skip the park, but I don't think we will spend lot of time there.

I Really hope we manage to catch Gaston! It will made my BF day. For my part, I would love to have a picture with each official princess, but I know it will be complicated.

Thank for the idea of attraction. I watched videos of Toy story Mania and It is kind of attraction I don't really like (because I'm really really bad at shooting and I'm a very sore loser) but I'll give it a try. Star tours, as Star wars lovers is a must do of course, even if we have one here (must do for us at each visit), and I'll put Soarin on the list too.

Finally, we've decided to take Chef mickey breakfast, on the 7th (BF wanted to do Kona Café, but hard to manage with the key to the kingdom tour at 9 a.m, so I made him change is mind :p).
 
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Sudcaro- Sudcaro

Well-Known Member
You should go to France in EPCOT and tell us how similar (or not) it is to the real thing. :)

We'll be there in two weeks and are planning to do just that - it will be fun to compare opinions! (mind you, I haven't been to my home land for 3 years, my palate may have forgotten a thing or two, lol)
 
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Gaston's gal

Well-Known Member
Wow! First of all, I wish I was you and could spend that much time at WDW and also take a Disney Cruise. Very impressive! You have a great plan. You are going to some really nice places to eat. I do agree with OneDNP that eating breakfast at Akerhaus will be a better princess experience. We have done it & love that we met several princesses that we didn't find anywhere else! It's a perfect opportunity for those character photos. If you aren't big eaters, then don't schedule a dinner at Epcot. There is so much good food there, you will be fine snacking in each country. I would recommend you go to MVMCP on that Sunday because the crowds will be less than Friday and you will be a GF, which is closer to MK. If your boyfriend really likes Gaston, make sure you take him to Gaston's tavern and have his pic with Gaston, plus posing by his fountain. It's a fun pic to take! You will have an amazing time! So jealous!!!
 
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kirari

Active Member
Original Poster
You should go to France in EPCOT and tell us how similar (or not) it is to the real thing. :)

We will, It is, with Japan and China, one of the pavillon i want to visit most, just to see how people see us (I am at the moment in scotland, and it is so funny to hear people talking about how lovely are french people... not the way I seen it living in France :p)

A better princess experience would be Akerhaus in the Norway pavilion at Epcot. You would get a photo with several of them!

Well we hesitate a long time between akershus and CRT, but as we want to do MK as first park, we finally chose CRT. My boyfriend told me to add Akershus somewhere else, but I think that if I attend to the princess Gathering during our Cruise line, I'll add lot of photos.
But I will follow your advice, and add a breakfast at Akershus.

Wow! First of all, I wish I was you and could spend that much time at WDW and also take a Disney Cruise. Very impressive! You have a great plan. You are going to some really nice places to eat. I do agree with OneDNP that eating breakfast at Akerhaus will be a better princess experience. We have done it & love that we met several princesses that we didn't find anywhere else! It's a perfect opportunity for those character photos. If you aren't big eaters, then don't schedule a dinner at Epcot. There is so much good food there, you will be fine snacking in each country. I would recommend you go to MVMCP on that Sunday because the crowds will be less than Friday and you will be a GF, which is closer to MK. If your boyfriend really likes Gaston, make sure you take him to Gaston's tavern and have his pic with Gaston, plus posing by his fountain. It's a fun pic to take! You will have an amazing time! So jealous!!!

We were not supposed to do a Disney cruise :joyfull:. But at the end I went on the site, saw the price, my BF said "that's so affordable (compare to european cruise)", and then we booked about a month ago. And my BF is planning something big for this cruise, but I just don't know what, he doesn't want to tell me. So now I am even more exciting about the cruise than about WDW.
We are very lucky because it will be the only time we could afford so much time on holidays, and because we met in Disneyland Paris, we really wanted to spend the maximum time in WDW.
My boyfriend loves Gaston, already met it at dlp, but like me with Ariel, he is always looking forward to see him. And he loves to say to him that they share the same name (Mickaël Louis Gaston), so we will definitively go to the tavern :D.

And finally yes, we decided to take the sunday MVMCP, thinking that it will be easier to take the monorail to go back to our room that take the monorail to TTC and then drive to POR (and less people at the party is a big plus for characters greeting).
 
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Gaston's gal

Well-Known Member
That's so interesting about your boyfriend's name. My husband is a Michael Gaston. When you go to the tavern, get the "Lefou's Brew" so you can keep the souvenir mug.
 
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hanwill

Well-Known Member
Have a great trip! You have some wonderful plans, with wonderful hotels and meals... It is an amazing place (all of Walt Disney World). Truly, you will have a wonderful vacation! Character lines here are heavy, but orderly... and there are a lot of characters to see in all parks. If there is one particular you are wanting to see, ask in guest relations at each park, and they can give you approximate times and places for certain characters.
Bring comfortable shoes, more than one pair, because you will walk miles every day. We average 7-9 miles per day during most trips.
 
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kirari

Active Member
Original Poster
That's so interesting about your boyfriend's name. My husband is a Michael Gaston. When you go to the tavern, get the "Lefou's Brew" so you can keep the souvenir mug.

What a coincidence :).
The souvenir mug is on my boyfriend's list since 2 years now I think :p.

Have a great trip! You have some wonderful plans, with wonderful hotels and meals... It is an amazing place (all of Walt Disney World). Truly, you will have a wonderful vacation! Character lines here are heavy, but orderly... and there are a lot of characters to see in all parks. If there is one particular you are wanting to see, ask in guest relations at each park, and they can give you approximate times and places for certain characters.
Bring comfortable shoes, more than one pair, because you will walk miles every day. We average 7-9 miles per day during most trips.

I was hoping that in november the lines wouldn't be heavy. But thank, i didn't know that in guest relations I could have approximate times.
I know for the walk. I've experiment a trip to disneyland paris without good shoes, I still remember how horrible it was. :confused:
 
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