This post is mainly for my friend’s who asked about our itinerary and details. It was flexible aside from the meals. I had a general idea of which parks to visit on certain days, and made dining reservations in advance. You know me, I like to plan. 🙂
We had the Disney dining plan which I recommend IF you plan on doing a lot of character meals. Actually, I just recommend it in general. The character meals are costly, and we felt it was well worth the $ for the dining plan.
My suggestions are listed below:
*Go online/call Disney Dining as soon as you book a vacation and make reservations. You can always cancel. Make your reservations a little earlier than you normally eat. We were successful in avoiding most meltdowns due to hunger by scheduling our meals a little early.
*Go in the winter! This is probably my #1 tip. I had only ever been to Florida in July or August and now I realize, I was crazy. Going in February/March is WONDERFUL. The crowds are not bad at all and it’s not too hot!
*Research which rides have Fast Pass and use it.
*Get a Photo Pass as soon as you arrive and get lots of pics taken.
*Definitely stay at Magic Kingdom late one night to see the Fireworks but make sure you see the light projection show onto Cinderella’s castle (it’s just before the fireworks). It was awesome (I think even better than the fireworks).
*Take advantage of the Baby Care Centers which are located in each park. They are clean, always staffed, and have baby changing tables that are huge, cold water/hot water, and baby products for purchase.
*Ship a box to yourself in advance of items you’ll need. I shipped a box a week before containing diapers, baby food, wipes, etc.
*Watch the parades. Every park has at least 1 or 2 per day.
*Each park rents strollers for a daily fee but they are terrible. If you think you may need to rent a stroller, use an outside rental company. I’ve listed the one we used below, and they were great.
*Do NOT let your husband buy your son a sword after riding Pirates of the Carribean. That thing is a weapon. 🙂
We had character meals at:
*Crystal Palace (Pooh and Friends) in Magic Kingdom
*Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale) in Epcot
*Chef Mickey’s (Mickey’s Clubhouse Pals) at the Contemporary Resort
*Cinderella’s Royal Table (Cinderella and her Princess friends) in the castle at Magic Kingdom
*Tusker House (Donald’s Safari) in Animal Kingdom
Jack’s favorite meals were at Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey’s.
Rental Info:
We chose to rent equipment rather than bring our double stroller through airport security. We rented a scooter for Grandma from Randy’s Scooters. They were awesome. I reserved online in advance. I called when we arrived in Florida and they met us in the lobby of the hotel as soon as we got there. Grandma got a little training session on how to avoid running over people which I think she found useful.
We rented a crib since we were staying a full week. I never had success getting Jack to sleep well in a pack and play so I didn’t even want to try with Allie. We rented a crib from Baby’s Best Friend. We also rented our double stroller. Booked everything online. They were awesome.
Lastly, I think it’s worth mentioning that kids under 3 are FREE. There is a significant savings if you plan to bring a little one around that age versus a year later when they are 4. Seriously, significant savings.
I can’t think of anything else to include, so email me if you have any specific questions. 🙂
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