Just booked a trip to Disney in two weeks for my 5, soon to be 6, year old son’s first time. I haven’t been in 13 years.
Any tips, must do or see for his age?
Any tips, must do or see for his age?
OT- Disney
- Thread starter o_tacodawg
- Start date
I see a lot of cranky five year old moments on a disney shuttle bus in your near future
Oh I expect that already. Even more fun to add, I’m still recovering from knee surgery so I’ll still be in my brace at 70 degree rom.
Luckily more adults in the family will be there.
Rise of the Resistance is worth the hassle
We went before the new Genie+ and Lightning Lane was implemented, so we had to log on to the app at 7AM to get a boarding group. It lived up to the hype.
If you can somehow score a reservation, the new Space 220 restaurant at Epcot looks cool.
We went before the new Genie+ and Lightning Lane was implemented, so we had to log on to the app at 7AM to get a boarding group. It lived up to the hype.
If you can somehow score a reservation, the new Space 220 restaurant at Epcot looks cool.
Random, rambling notes:
Would probably expect some big crowds since it'll be Disney's 50th celebration starting Oct 1 and Fall Break for some.
Do go in with a tentative plan but not set by the second. Have an idea of two, three things you have/want to do that day, and plan around that.
Download the My Disney Experience App. That will be the only way you can get on Rise of the Resistance, Ratatouille. etc. Only have two chances—7 am outside of park, and 1 pm and have to be in park. Click here for directions.
I think Disney's paid "line skip" (Lightning Lane) will still start very soon. If it does while you're there, need to download Genie+ app to pay $10-$20. Given the amount of people, I'd do it on certain rides. YOLO.
Bring in water bottles, PBJ, Clif Bars, etc., and rent a locker.
Bring a portable cell charger and cords! Can't stress this enough.
Have an idea of what you'll do (indoor activity) when it rains, because it will rain. That said, go on Amazon now and buy cheap poncho, and take it to the park unopened.
Early in the day, go to guest relations and get a "First Visit" button for him. He'll enjoy the attention.
If you are going to eat a "sit down" restaurant in park, plan to eat lunch either 10:45ish or 1:15ish to avoid the crunch.
Not sure how long you're going to go, but PACE YOURSELF. I've seen so many families at each other's throats by 4 p.m. When there is down time, enjoy just walking around or sitting. If I think of anything else, I'll mention it. Y'all have fun.
Would probably expect some big crowds since it'll be Disney's 50th celebration starting Oct 1 and Fall Break for some.
Do go in with a tentative plan but not set by the second. Have an idea of two, three things you have/want to do that day, and plan around that.
Download the My Disney Experience App. That will be the only way you can get on Rise of the Resistance, Ratatouille. etc. Only have two chances—7 am outside of park, and 1 pm and have to be in park. Click here for directions.
I think Disney's paid "line skip" (Lightning Lane) will still start very soon. If it does while you're there, need to download Genie+ app to pay $10-$20. Given the amount of people, I'd do it on certain rides. YOLO.
Bring in water bottles, PBJ, Clif Bars, etc., and rent a locker.
Bring a portable cell charger and cords! Can't stress this enough.
Have an idea of what you'll do (indoor activity) when it rains, because it will rain. That said, go on Amazon now and buy cheap poncho, and take it to the park unopened.
Early in the day, go to guest relations and get a "First Visit" button for him. He'll enjoy the attention.
If you are going to eat a "sit down" restaurant in park, plan to eat lunch either 10:45ish or 1:15ish to avoid the crunch.
Not sure how long you're going to go, but PACE YOURSELF. I've seen so many families at each other's throats by 4 p.m. When there is down time, enjoy just walking around or sitting. If I think of anything else, I'll mention it. Y'all have fun.
We booked the resort from October 8th to the 12th- working on what parks and what not right now.
Invest in some high-quality walking shoes. Pay for that ****. You're gonna walk 25 miles a day. If you're not in shape, stop reading this and start exercising immediately.
Also, avoid the temptation to physically assault the blithe shitheads on those motorized scooters. Yes, they are handicapped, or they are pretending to be, but they will run over your feet and not give a 17. And they are everywhere.
Learn what a fastpass is and use it to hit all the high notes. Other than that, just try to enjoy it.
Also, avoid the temptation to physically assault the blithe shitheads on those motorized scooters. Yes, they are handicapped, or they are pretending to be, but they will run over your feet and not give a 17. And they are everywhere.
Learn what a fastpass is and use it to hit all the high notes. Other than that, just try to enjoy it.
Went for the first time back in late July/early August for the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival.
Be sure to pack Gold Bond and apply it LIBERALLY. Chafing at Disney is no fun, and it starts very early in the day.
Also: most quick-service food stands offer cups of ice water and it's FREE. So no need to constantly spend $4 on a 20 oz bottle of Dasani.
Rise of the Resistance is totally worth the wait. Crowds will be bigger than they are now since it's the 50th anniversary, but still won't be summertime crowds most likely.
At EPCOT, the Finding Nemo ride is really cool for all ages, especially kids, also Journey Into Imagination with Figment. My personal favorite there was Soarin' Around The World and Living With The Land (which is a good cool-off and rest break). Food & Wine Fest should still be going on as well so there will be different foods and whatnot to sample.
Animal Kingdom: It's Tough To Be A Bug and the Safari ride are neat. Plus there's the Avatar stuff. The only rollercoaster there is Expedition Everest, and it's awesome. Good food here too.
Hollywood Studios: Star Wars and Toy Story stuff is usually where the big crowds are. Toy Story Mania is a nice cool-off and it's competitive. I had a blast with that.
And of course, Magic Kingdom has all the classics
Be sure to pack Gold Bond and apply it LIBERALLY. Chafing at Disney is no fun, and it starts very early in the day.
Also: most quick-service food stands offer cups of ice water and it's FREE. So no need to constantly spend $4 on a 20 oz bottle of Dasani.
Rise of the Resistance is totally worth the wait. Crowds will be bigger than they are now since it's the 50th anniversary, but still won't be summertime crowds most likely.
At EPCOT, the Finding Nemo ride is really cool for all ages, especially kids, also Journey Into Imagination with Figment. My personal favorite there was Soarin' Around The World and Living With The Land (which is a good cool-off and rest break). Food & Wine Fest should still be going on as well so there will be different foods and whatnot to sample.
Animal Kingdom: It's Tough To Be A Bug and the Safari ride are neat. Plus there's the Avatar stuff. The only rollercoaster there is Expedition Everest, and it's awesome. Good food here too.
Hollywood Studios: Star Wars and Toy Story stuff is usually where the big crowds are. Toy Story Mania is a nice cool-off and it's competitive. I had a blast with that.
And of course, Magic Kingdom has all the classics
The underground princess strip club, in the caves on Tom Sawyer Island, is legit! Leave the kids with your wife or hire a nanny! Well worth it!
Look for the lever above the large rock when you go in.
Look for the lever above the large rock when you go in.
Rent. A. Stroller. Rent one of the fold up jogging strollers and you can use it to carry all your **** and when he crashes he can take a nap.
My 4 & 6yo found It's Tough To Be a Bug absolutely terrifying, ftr. Tread lightly.
Try to ride the safari first thing in the morning before it's too hot so the animals will be more active.
Now, I owe it to myself to tell you that if you're taking the whole tribe cross-country, this is the automobile you should be using, the Wagon Queen Family Truckster... You think you hate it now, wait 'til you drive it.
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Not sure if there are any tickets left, but...
..If you can get some, try to get into the Boo Bash at Magic Kingdom one night.
It's not cheap, but you'll be able to get on any rides you want with hardly any wait - which is huge right now, since fast passes aren't a thing.
Also your kid can dress up and trick-or-treat through the park. And it's quality candy too, since it's sponsored by Mars.
If you must do a sit-down restaurant in the park, go ahead and figure out what day you want to be in which park and reserve one now if you can find one - otherwise, save your time and do mobile order quick service - or, as someone else said, bring your own.
It's Food and Wine Festival right now at Epcot. Worth heading over there for a day and trying different things. Plenty of stuff for the kid to do there plus you can get tanked at the same time.
At Animal Kingdom it's worth the wait to get into Flight of Passage.
At Hollywood, they just did away with the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance, but if you're even kind of a Star Wars fan, get in line for that one early. It was up to about 150 minute wait yesterday, but got down to about 50 at one point. It's probably the coolest ride at Disney right now, especially if you like any of the movies.
If the grandparents are coming, make them watch the youngster one night and try to get in to Trader Sam's bar at the Poly.
Other than that... just have patience, because next week starts the 50th anniversary celebration and the new nighttime fireworks shows at MK and Epcot... so it's going to be crowded.
..If you can get some, try to get into the Boo Bash at Magic Kingdom one night.
It's not cheap, but you'll be able to get on any rides you want with hardly any wait - which is huge right now, since fast passes aren't a thing.
Also your kid can dress up and trick-or-treat through the park. And it's quality candy too, since it's sponsored by Mars.
If you must do a sit-down restaurant in the park, go ahead and figure out what day you want to be in which park and reserve one now if you can find one - otherwise, save your time and do mobile order quick service - or, as someone else said, bring your own.
It's Food and Wine Festival right now at Epcot. Worth heading over there for a day and trying different things. Plenty of stuff for the kid to do there plus you can get tanked at the same time.
At Animal Kingdom it's worth the wait to get into Flight of Passage.
At Hollywood, they just did away with the virtual queue for Rise of the Resistance, but if you're even kind of a Star Wars fan, get in line for that one early. It was up to about 150 minute wait yesterday, but got down to about 50 at one point. It's probably the coolest ride at Disney right now, especially if you like any of the movies.
If the grandparents are coming, make them watch the youngster one night and try to get in to Trader Sam's bar at the Poly.
Other than that... just have patience, because next week starts the 50th anniversary celebration and the new nighttime fireworks shows at MK and Epcot... so it's going to be crowded.
Almost forgot, there's an elevator in the phone booth over by the English pub in Epcot. You have to dial *17. I'm not telling you where it takes you. Let's just say Joe Lee would like it.
Might’ve went missed but I’m gonna be the one almost 28 year old in a rented scooter scootin around with a beer in hand with my bum knee. 7 weeks post op and still recovering.
His aunt and uncle will be with us though so he will be able to have plenty of fun I’m certain.
ETA I’m a single dad with full time custody so no wifey will be accompanying us. Huge for me to see him have this type of experience for the first time.
His aunt and uncle will be with us though so he will be able to have plenty of fun I’m certain.
ETA I’m a single dad with full time custody so no wifey will be accompanying us. Huge for me to see him have this type of experience for the first time.
At that age he'll love the character meet & greets... but not sure they are doing those again yet. Best way to see a few characters may be to get one of the reserved dining experiences where characters come around (if they're doing that again). Not sure you'll be able to get a reservation this close to the trip date but it's worth a shot. There are one or two at each park, and some in the Disney resorts.
Normally you'd give them a book & pen to sign, get your pic with them. But not sure what they do now.
At his age, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood will probably be his favorites. You'll be able to spend a full day at each and never get bored.
If you're on reddit check out the disneyworld subs there. You'll find the latest info from people taking recent trips.
Normally you'd give them a book & pen to sign, get your pic with them. But not sure what they do now.
At his age, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood will probably be his favorites. You'll be able to spend a full day at each and never get bored.
If you're on reddit check out the disneyworld subs there. You'll find the latest info from people taking recent trips.
Plan, plan, plan. You want a definitive plan for each park or you’ll waste a ton of time wandering aimlessly.
A big question is if he’s the epicenter of the trip or if you are trying to do some adult stuff as well. Also are you hitting every park or just a few of them?
A big question is if he’s the epicenter of the trip or if you are trying to do some adult stuff as well. Also are you hitting every park or just a few of them?
The trip is more for my son and my two nieces. But we as adults are gonna try to have one night to have fun.
Oh, serious response. A friend of mine screwed this up one time. Be cognizant of where your dinner reservations are with respect to what park you are in. They had reservations at Animal Kingdom but went to Epcot that day. They had to leave at something like 4PM to make a 6PM reservation because it takes that long to get from the back of Epcot to the middle of Animal Kingdom.
Second this. Try a non Disney stroller place, like Kingdom Strollers or Magic Strollers. You can book online, and they’ll deliver and pickup from your resort. They’re high quality strollers - much better than the crummy plastic ones at Disney.
Download that app and see what dining reservations are available, but this close to the trip it’ll be tough to get the good ones.
Get to the parks early, and ride the high demand rides first for shortest wait times.
Stroller is a must. Also figure out if your child likes mascots. Some kids are really scared of them and you don’t want to book a ton of character dinners if it’s gonna scare your child the whole time.
I haven't looked to see if this is going on due to covid but one thing my kids absolutely loved was collecting Disney pins.
All the staff and characters wear a lanyard full of pins. You can approach any of them (pre-covid so better double check) and trade any ****** pin you have for whatever awesome pin they have.
We went on eBay and bought all the kids a lanyard and a set of pins for like$20 each. Every time they traded they felt like they were getting a new souvenir so it was absolutely worth the money on eBay.
All the staff and characters wear a lanyard full of pins. You can approach any of them (pre-covid so better double check) and trade any ****** pin you have for whatever awesome pin they have.
We went on eBay and bought all the kids a lanyard and a set of pins for like$20 each. Every time they traded they felt like they were getting a new souvenir so it was absolutely worth the money on eBay.
Strollers? Naps? This sounds like a kid too young to be going to The Most Expensive Place I mean the Happiest Place On Earth