Our First Trip to Disney World May 31-June 10 About This Page:

[jmjj]

I finally talked my dh into taking the family, ds-8, dd-5 to Disney World just after the kids got out of school. The deciding factor was the Ft. Wilderness campground. I showed him the price difference between the hotel costs vs. the campground. A no-brainer. We stayed in loop 1400. Very nice campground, although it was very tight manuvering our 31 ft. trailer into our space.

We saved money by making our own meals in our trailer. We took snacks and water bottles in a backpack to the parks each day.

Before arriving at DW, we stopped in Ocala at the Disney Info Center. We made a character breakfast reservation for later that week in MK at the Crystal Palace. Of course, there was a gift shop...spent almost $100 before we even got to DW.

The campground is very pretty. The only thing I thought Disney fell behind in is the swimming pool at The Meadows. A big "cement pond". Everything else was lovely. We were very close to the evening sing along and movie area. It did get rained out a few nights because of the famous Florida thundershowers. Transportation inside the campground is a must. Once you learn the bus system getting around was easy.

I did take the advice of others and went to Disney-MGM Studios and Epcot first before going to Magic Kingdom.

Our first full day was spent at Disney-MGM Studios. We went right for fast pass for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. While waiting for that, we met Donald, Minnie, Eyeore and Tigger.

I could have done without going on the Great Movie Ride - boring..everyone thought so.

Who Wants to Be a Millionare-Play It, was also cool! My kids were put on the big screen and the host kidded with them. Although not chosen for the hot seat, we all had a great time. Yes, we did fast pass for that also.

The Tower of Terror - yep, fast pass again. My 5 yr old enjoyed it so much, we had to come back to the park later in our stay so she could ride it again.

I had heard that every ride ends in a gift shop, and it's true! We laughed everytime we got off a ride and lo and behold, a gift shop.

Did I mention the pins and lanyards that we all had to have? What an addictive thing that was. I don't think we passed a pin kiosk without perusing all of the pins. My kids did trade pins with CMs.

My dd loves to draw so she and I went through the Disney Animation Studio. I think they go too fast for the little kids. My dd was in tears at the end because she couldn't keep up with the instructor.

The second day we went to Epcot. We went right to Mission:Space for a fast pass and then went exploring the different Future World exhibit areas until our time came up. What an awesome ride. Boy, they really do warn you about the motion sickness. I'm just glad I had not recently eaten before getting on that ride. The CM at the ride said they (CMs)had been used as guinea pigs before the ride opened last year. Many people got sick so they had to tone down the ride for park guests.

After Mission:Space, we got a fast pass for Test Track. What a disappointment that was. Our car kept stopping during the ride. At one point, we were suppose to be going fast, but we were barely inching along. Once we got off, I complained to the CM about the ride. She said they had to stop the ride so a handicapped individual could get on. I asked if we could immediately get back on but she said no. That's probably the only rude CM we ran across the entire trip. Test Track is probably a great ride, we tried to get on later in our trip but there were no more fast passes that day and the stand by line was almost 2 hours long.

We cooled off by heading over to the aquarium. It's a nice break in the heat of the day. Very interesting and the kids loved the tank with all of the fish from Finding Nemo.

Epcot was beautiful with the International Flower Festival going on. I was somewhat disappointed when we finally got to see some of the different nations. There's only shops and restaurants and food kiosks around. No rides for the kids. We did stop in China and watched the acrobats. Very talented. We stayed for Illuminations. We secured our spot along the railing in Canada and had an unobstructed view of the lagoon. We had to get our spot by 7:45pm or so and defended it as it got later and later. A beautiful show and well worth the long wait. At precisley 9:20 pm as the show was ending, the sky opened up. We had forgotten our rain gear and got soaked.

Never go out without water is lesson #1. I guess lesson #2 is never go out without rain gear. We were there 10 days and it rained 7 days (mostly afternoons and evenings).

We finally got to MK on our 4th day. Wow! What a magical place. The kids had a blast. They met characters from the 100 acre wood during our character breakfast, they got to ride some great rides and my dd got to meet Cinderella. She was a little star-struck when she met Cindy...

We did fast pass for Space Mountain. While waiting for our time to come back, we rode the teacups and then did the Indy race track. We did meet Mickey in Toontown Fair. If we never met another character, I was happy we finally got to meet the mouse.

We left in the heat of the day and then returned in time to ride more rides and see Wishes fireworks show. Wow! Got rained on during that too!

We had to come back another night so we could see SpectroMagic parade. My camera just didn't do it justice. Just sit back and enjoy it.

We did manage to go to one water park - Blizzard Beach. Got fried...I was so worried about getting sunscreen on the kids that I forgot about my arms, chest, shoulders and neck. After I got back to our trailer, I told everyone I could pass for Sebastian. Be sure to take sunscreen and go as soon as the park opens! Grab your chair, dump your towels, and head for the wave pool. That kept our kids entertained for all of 20 minutes...then it was on to the slides! My daughter wore my husband out because she kept wanting to go on the toboggan ride over, and over. All those stairs! Whew. They did order everyone out of the water when the daily thunderstorm arrived. We left shortly before it started raining so we beat everyone to the buses!

We went to Animal Kingdom on the day it had an EMH. We immediately headed over to do the safari. We got a fast pass for It's a Bugs Life. Great movie and a must-see for the kids. We actually didn't do much the first time we visited because it was immensely crowded. Between all of the stollers, scooters and the walking guests, it just became too frustrating to move around. We left and came back another day to do the Dino Whirl, and the Kali River Rafting ride. You also should see the Lion King Festival. The costumes were very colorful...and not a bad seat in the house!

We went to Downtown Disney on our last day there so we could go to Disney Quest and to the World of Disney Store. The kids had a blast in DQ. Lots of interactive games and it seemed like one big arcade. We did manage to locate the computers and checked our email. World of Disney is the most marvelous place, if you like Disney souveiners. We loaded up (we had restrained from buying stuff in the parks so we could have more money at the end of our trip for this store). We didn't make it back to our vehicle and got got in...yes, another thunderstorm. We dashed under cover near Planet Hollywood and waited out the downpour.

We'd gotten 7-day Park Hopper Plus tickets, and at the end of 10 days, we hadn't used all 7 days. We'll go back, maybe I can talk my dh into a trip for spring break. Hmm...
I'll start working on him now....

Oh, one last thing, wear a hat and take a misting fan and a water bottle with you. It was hot when we went, I can't imagine what it will be like in July and August. Ugh!

I hope you found my trip report informative.

Will we go again? You bet!

[desiab]

Welcome to the boards jmjj!

Thanks for letting us know how your first trip went. Your report made me remember my very first trip with my then 5 year old daughter. She was just awestruck by the characters and the princesses.

We had something similar happen to us on Test Track our last visit. The good thing though was they let us ride again. I'm just glad that was the only rude CM you encountered.

Here's to planning your second trip!

[luvnwdwgal]

Welcome to the PassPorter boards and thanks for sharing your trip with us!!

[Colexis Mom]

Welcome to the boards Thanks for sharing your report with us! You certainly did quite a lot, and it sounds like you all had a wonderful time Thanks again

[Mel & Richard]

Hi and Welcome to the boards! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I am glad you all had such a good time.

Mel

[buckysmom]

and thanks for your TR! Very informative tips,

[imagineerwannabe]

Great first post! I always like to hear how someone has saved money, and shares lessons learned. Thanks for posting!

[catsaway]

Thanks for posting I enjoyed reading your adventures at WDWD.

[dsnytina]

Great tips!
Even in late September, the heat was OPPRESSIVE! We wilted and my poor DD (3 yo at the time) was drenched in sweat everyday!
Tina