First trip to Disney- Recommendations?

This is all so helpful. Great point about going before he turns 3! His birthday is 2/11 so maybe we will try to go that first week in Feb and hope the weather is in our favor. Do they eat free as well most places if they are under 3?
 
Last edited:
This is all so helpful. Great point about going before he turns 3! His birthday is 2/11 so maybe we will try to go that first week in Feb and hope the weather is in our favor. Do they eat free as well most places if they are under 3?

At places that are buffets or family style. Other places they can eat off your plate.
 
Currently at SSR resort. First part of our trip was great swimming weather. The cooler weather in the 60s is nice for the parks. Not meltdowns in the heat. However MK yesterday was a zoo. Dd age 7 only made it to 1. Lines were 40 minute long at least by 10 at all rides. The paddock pool has zero entry and shallow with great splash pad. However if I could afford it and was doing more parks I would stay at contemporary so DD could take a rest then return to the park in the early evening to get your money's worth. We are doing sea world for rest of trip. Dd loves DS and we walk there every night for dinner. Tons of excellent restaurants..little train and splash area for small.kids.
 
I can't stress enough to avoid Mardi Gras! It overlapped President's Day weekend one year. I wish I had I known!

As far as rooms, my son was 7 the first time we went, we did a Cars Suite at AoA. He LOVED everything about it. He also wore out the Cars DVD, so I expected he would love it. He is now 11 and we went back to visit AoA in January (we were staying at CBR), he just wanted to see all the cars again.

We love the moderate resorts. Great pools, they have slides, which my son loves. POFQ is great, it is a small moderate resort. Single bus stop, you aren't walking forever inside your resort. We've stayed there twice. We just stayed at CBR - the Skyliner was a game changer. But HS was our priority so it made sense for us. Worst part, the buses. Believe everything you read about the horrible buses at CBR. If MK and AK are park priorities, look at a different resort. If EPCOT and HS are a priority, then CBR is the way to go because of the Skyliner.

Weather, we've been lucky the last five years in January (MLK Weekend), and one February trip (President's Day Weekend), my son was able to swim on every trip. You will have more consistent warm weather in September or October, or early May. (in May watch out for a huge cheer competition, i think it is usually the second weekend!)

Have fun planning!
 
Everyone is different and has different expectations for their vacations. For us, we liked Ft Wilderness when our kids were smaller. I could make them Mac n cheese and hot dogs, and keep milk and juice in the fridge!! You also have the bunk beds in the bedroom and a huge deck you and DH can use after the kids go to bed. There is no splash pad but the pool has a slide and is nice.

Actually, there is a very nice splash pad at the main pool at FW.
But, most years there would be few swim temps early Feb.
 
I agree with a PP of the POR food court. It was worse than a park for breakfast. We went once and couldn't believe how crowded it was - we got something to drink and went back to the room to eat yogurt we had in the refrigerator. We were there towards the end of August and didn't expect it to be that bad. We waited about 30 minutes and couldn't get a table to seat all 6 of us because there were so many people waiting. It could have been an off day but we were not going back to find out. We went elsewhere for breakfast or ate in the room.

If you are doing a lot of resort time and because you have small kids, I would pick:
AK for the animals, for the activities with the kids and we love watching the animals from the Savannah view.
BWI for the boardwalk area and being able to walk to EPCOT.
WL for pool area; lobby and for the boat to MK.

Enjoy the planning!
 


Having now stayed at AKL twice with a young kid, I would vote against it. We had really long waits for buses on both trips, adding up to an hour to our travel time some days. We also found mousekeeping lacking there.

Of your choices, I would vote Wilderness Lodge for proximity to parks.

If your kids like animals, then definitely plan an AK day. My son loved that park.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top