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Old 14 Oct 19, 06:44 PM  
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#1
Petty
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Join Date: Mar 18
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Just trying to make a (for now) very basic plan of which park to visit and when for our 2 week trip next July.
We’re first timers with a 4 year old daughter who are staying onsite with the DDP.
What are your top tips for attempting to plan days in the parks and booking restaurants?
Eg book some character breakfasts for the first week when we are more than likely to be up earlier or space them out throughout the fortnight? Take advantage of EMH or use touring plans? Is Magic Kingdom a must do on Day 1?
Struggling to know where to start! Thanks everyone in advance.
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Old 15 Oct 19, 10:17 AM  
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FlorayG
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Where are you staying? I always think the best first ever view of MK for a child is from the ferry that runs from the Ticket and Transportation Centre because you see it approaching over the horizon and you can see all the people outside. But going via the ferry depends on your resort.
Definitely do a character meal at 08:00 early on as you will certainly be up at a stupidly early hour at least the first two days. Because of this make your first days easy and not too busy or you will all feel like cranky four year olds by 8pm! I always save fireworks and other evening things for the second week.
Let us know which resort you are staying at and people will be able to give you good transport tips
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Old 15 Oct 19, 10:31 AM  
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Th1nkT1nk
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Originally Posted by Petty View Post
Just trying to make a (for now) very basic plan of which park to visit and when for our 2 week trip next July.
We’re first timers with a 4 year old daughter who are staying onsite with the DDP.
What are your top tips for attempting to plan days in the parks and booking restaurants?
Eg book some character breakfasts for the first week when we are more than likely to be up earlier or space them out throughout the fortnight? Take advantage of EMH or use touring plans? Is Magic Kingdom a must do on Day 1?
Struggling to know where to start! Thanks everyone in advance.
Eek exciting for you! Enjoy the planning I agree with previous poster... for us, early mornings are easier in the first week. With a 4 year old, a character meal will be wonderful but I personally wouldn’t book too many as a breakfast because morning is a great time to get around the parks. It depends on your priorities as a family really. But for us, dd wanted to experience lots of rides and mornings are cooler and less busy if you can get there early, so we often grabbed a quick breakfast and then had a character lunch / dinner. It will be super hot in July in the middle of the day so anything that involves air con will be a good thing lol! Personally we ‘have’ to do MK as our first day... it’s just so magical and special. However, it’s worth preparing dd that the other parks have a different ‘vibe’. My dd was 6 when we took her and she loved each park for what it is though... as a family we love Animal Kingdom. I hope this has helped a little... pls ask if there’s anything specific you’d like to know about

ETA magic hours are great if you can get there properly early (ie in time for it starting) but be aware that that park will then be very busy. I’ve read some guides saying that it can be a good idea to do Morning EMH then go back to resort for a few hours for R &R the hop to another park for late afternoon/ evening.

Edited at 10:34 AM.
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Old 15 Oct 19, 03:40 PM  
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JimmyCricket
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For the 1st day for us we always do chef mickeys at around 7am the walk over to the magic kingdom for opening. As everyone says morning first week are the best options and afternoon breaks by the pool
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Old 15 Oct 19, 09:38 PM  
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Petty
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Originally Posted by FlorayG View Post
Where are you staying? I always think the best first ever view of MK for a child is from the ferry that runs from the Ticket and Transportation Centre because you see it approaching over the horizon and you can see all the people outside. But going via the ferry depends on your resort.
Definitely do a character meal at 08:00 early on as you will certainly be up at a stupidly early hour at least the first two days. Because of this make your first days easy and not too busy or you will all feel like cranky four year olds by 8pm! I always save fireworks and other evening things for the second week.
Let us know which resort you are staying at and people will be able to give you good transport tips
Thank you. We’re staying at POFQ.
Saving the fireworks etc for the second week definitely sounds like a plan. I also think with the early mornings, we may head back to the hotel for a swim and nap.
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Old 15 Oct 19, 09:43 PM  
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Petty
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Originally Posted by Th1nkT1nk View Post
Eek exciting for you! Enjoy the planning I agree with previous poster... for us, early mornings are easier in the first week. With a 4 year old, a character meal will be wonderful but I personally wouldn’t book too many as a breakfast because morning is a great time to get around the parks. It depends on your priorities as a family really. But for us, dd wanted to experience lots of rides and mornings are cooler and less busy if you can get there early, so we often grabbed a quick breakfast and then had a character lunch / dinner. It will be super hot in July in the middle of the day so anything that involves air con will be a good thing lol! Personally we ‘have’ to do MK as our first day... it’s just so magical and special. However, it’s worth preparing dd that the other parks have a different ‘vibe’. My dd was 6 when we took her and she loved each park for what it is though... as a family we love Animal Kingdom. I hope this has helped a little... pls ask if there’s anything specific you’d like to know about

ETA magic hours are great if you can get there properly early (ie in time for it starting) but be aware that that park will then be very busy. I’ve read some guides saying that it can be a good idea to do Morning EMH then go back to resort for a few hours for R &R the hop to another park for late afternoon/ evening.
Very helpful thank you, just the kind of tips I need.
Grabbing a quick breakfast sounds a good idea as I’m sure we will all be ready for air con and a sit down by lunchtime.
Have you been to Be Our Guest? I’m wondering which meal is best to do there?
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Old 15 Oct 19, 09:44 PM  
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Petty
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Originally Posted by JimmyCricket View Post
For the 1st day for us we always do chef mickeys at around 7am the walk over to the magic kingdom for opening. As everyone says morning first week are the best options and afternoon breaks by the pool
Yes I’m realising that busy mornings and a rest in the afternoon seem to be the way to go. I’ll definitely take a look at chef mickeys, thanks!
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Old 16 Oct 19, 06:55 AM  
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Th1nkT1nk
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Originally Posted by Petty View Post
Very helpful thank you, just the kind of tips I need.
Grabbing a quick breakfast sounds a good idea as I’m sure we will all be ready for air con and a sit down by lunchtime.
Have you been to Be Our Guest? I’m wondering which meal is best to do there?
Yes we did BOG on our last evening (about 5pm) and we absolutely loved it. The theming is fantastic and I wasn’t prepared for the sheer size of it! The atmosphere was great too and dd loved meeting beast... (I think evening meal is the only time you can meet him? ) there was a little toddler in line to meet him, she was dressed as Belle and he got on his knees and danced with her 😍.
However, we went when it was still 1TS meal on ddp and I believe that has changed now? My friends did a QS breakfast there and they weren’t impressed, but they were paying OOP and I think they felt for that kind of money they would have preferred a bit more formality. Someone else on here may be able to give you a better idea of what it’s like at QS meals.

Edited at 08:06 AM.
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Old 16 Oct 19, 10:16 AM  
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Just thought I'd jump in with my thoughts on BOG. We like to book an early slot for this on our first day prepark opening if we can! We are always up super early anyway and then when we are done eating we can head straight into fantasyland for rides! ...we have only ever done BOG on the dining plan as it would work out expensive OOP but we enjoy the breakfast there and it is beautiful inside so is a good way to see it if you dont want to spend 2ts credits on dinner! (Although I would love to meet the beast!)
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Old 16 Oct 19, 12:01 PM  
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We went with our daughter for her first trip when she was 3, then again when she was 5 (and her brother was 2). For the first morning of the first day we went to the Magic Kingdom and had a character meal in Cinderella's Castle (Cinderella's Royal Table). It was so worth it as she met her favourite Disney princesses (she wore a Cinderella outfit) and because we went early, we still had time to do rides before it got busy. Admittedly we went in September so it was generally less busy, being after the main summer rush.
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