We have our reservations... now what?

[MK Rookie]

Hi,

Wew have made reservations for our family trip to WDW in October. We will be staying at The Wilderness Lodge and are wondering if we could getr some advise as to 1) what we shouldn't miss while were at WDW - Our children are 4 &6 and 2) what do we need to make advance reservations for.

Any opinions from the veterans on the board would be greatly appreciated:wave:

 

[antoinebusby]

Originally posted by MK Rookie
Hi,

Wew have made reservations for our family trip to WDW in October. We will be staying at The Wilderness Lodge and are wondering if we could getr some advise as to 1) what we shouldn't miss while were at WDW - Our children are 4 &6 and 2) what do we need to make advance reservations for.

Any opinions from the veterans on the board would be greatly appreciated:wave:

Well, I can't really say that I am a Disney World veteran...I have a long way to go before I get that title. However, I went to Disney for the first time in ten years this past June. If I may make a suggestion...I would invest in the 2003 Birnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World.

You see, buying that book was the smartest thing that I could have done. I didn't have a clue as to what Disney World had to offer today as compared to ten years ago. Heck, before I bought the book and found this website, I was getting all geared up to seeing FutureCorp in action again.

Oh darn, I digressed again. Anyways, that book does a really good job with listing all of the restaurants along with the types of foods that they served along with typical price ranges. I was able to call ahead to get Priority Seating for the sitdown meals that my wife and I wanted to pertake in.

In the book, at the beginning of the chapters pertaining to the parks, they list "must do" attractions. That helped me a lot with my planning. All in all, that book was a life saver for me. In fact, I was kinda shocked when I saw tons of folks walking around the parks with that book in their possession...not to mention the fact that you could actually buy the book while on Disney's property.

Anyways...that is just my opinion. Hopefully I made a little sense.

Take care!!!

 

[tigsmom]

I also reccomend Birnbaum's book and their book Disney For Kids By Kids is a must. It is geared towards the kids in language they can understand. Has hints, games ,tips, hidden mickey alerts and the rides are rated by the kids.
I've stayed at the WL 5 times (most recently in August). Its a great place for families. The Whispering Canyon Cafe is a must esp. for the skillet breakfast: all you can eat eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, waffles and biscuits and gravy. Beverages are included. The Roaring Forks snack bar is a great place for a quick meal or snack. The refillable mugs are a great $ saver. Check out this site:

http://www.wdwig.com/faq_wl.htm


Have a great time. :wave:

 

[UrsulaFan]

Great Hotel

You picked a great hotel especially for your children.

We went with 10 yr old, 5 yr old and 1 yr old. The pool was perfect size for them. Just enough adventure for the 5 year old !
The snack bar proved to be valuable to their munching needs especially the young one.

Catch the Electric Water Parade right from the hotel beach. They loved it and we were in the room in minutes.

Ask about kid activities in the hotel and utilize them. Stories, crafts, lady bug release etc.....

Magic Kingdom - only a great boat ride away - is going to be your children's favorite park!

If you go to EPCOT, check out the kids activity spot in each country. When we went they were working on masks. At each country they add something from that country - ie Japan was origami. The kids loved it and it inspired them to go to all the countries. The crafts are organized by students from those countries. We skipped the $10 passports. We gave the students our autograph books, they stamped with passport stamp and usually wrote a nice note to the kids with something in their native language. A treasured book for the kids.

CHARACTER visits are huge! As soon as you check in - go to gift shop and buy autograph books (take a pack of bic pens - they will get lost). In the front in big letters write your child's first name. Often the character will look and make their autograph personal. Also add your street address/hotel name and room number. If lost while there it will show up at hotel. If you are gone they usually will send to the child. Look on maps for character locations. They finally got smart and made these que lines - no more pushing. Our best MM/MM/DD/GF photos were in Animal Kingdom.

If you book a character breakfast - shoot for the latest you can get. We always do and find if you are one of the last, the characters usually come and gather with you as a group. At ours at the Wilderness Lodge we actually had Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale all sitting at our table.

Kid swap is great at Disney, wait in line together then take consecutive rides with one parent staying with child who can not ride. Then swap. Utilize FAST PASS!

Magic Kingdom - great to eat with kids - Columbia House by Hall of Presidents. Big, lots of space and kids love the chicken fingers. Good fish, sandwhichs, soup and salad. Very reasonable.

HAVE A SUPER TIME !!!!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Our 2 year old has become a Dinsey nut. She knows it all and can tell you all about it.

Consider getting the sing along videios (beach party at WDW and Disnyland fun.) there is a camping one too, it doesn't have as much footage of the parks, but is still good.

This really helps in getting the young ones ready for it and getting ready for meeting the characters (they are very big to a little kid).

With a group that size get some PS in places people want to eat the most.

If you don't have PS try going right when they open for lunch or dinner. In fact go a bit before they open and ask for PS. We got really lucky that way. Also at buffets the food is the best right when it opens and they are setting quickly.

We also liked having a sit down lunch becuase we got up early and didn't have big breakfest (that would slow us down.) but were hungry around 11:30 or 12 and ready for a break. Also it was good to make sure little PhD (2 years old) ate before lunch, or she would fall alseep and then want to eat around 4:00 when she woke up.

Since you are at WL eat at Whipsering Canon. We haven't yet, but plan to next trip and hear it is a blast for families.

Also there is a buffet at Fort Wilderness that I hear is good and a great deal. You can walk over to the camp fire and story time after (another thing we plan to do at our next trip when we stay at VWL.)