Hellobee Boards

@SweetiePie: that’s exactly how we did it. I was pregnant and our kids were 4 and almost 2. Once we could get more fast passes I would look and see what was available and grab one. I wasn’t particular about which rides really, just trying to minimize wait time.

The longest wait time we had was maybe 20-25 mins for the race track thing. My husband and son did it while I took dd to Starbucks because she was too short. The rest of the ride times were so short.

We didn’t do space or splash mountain because of height, though.

@SweetiePie: If you have 3 fastpasses and are flexible and just use the app to go to whatever rides have the shortest lines, you will be FINE and have a blast.

1 tip: don't tell your kids about specific rides. We got lucky that we went at a low crowd time and basically rode everything we wanted, even without fastpasses. But I told my oldest about particular rides and she got really excited and set on THOSE RIDES, and I realized later that wasn't smart of me, in case we ran into the issue of a ride having a long line and us wanting to skip it.

Like I really, really talked up the Frozen ride, and my girls were 100% set on riding it, and duh--it's like one of the busiest rides. So that wasn't smart on my part. And I didn't get a fastpass at first, so we had to be there ate Rope Drop to ensure we could ride it without an hour+ wait. That worked--we barely waited at all, the girls loved it (it was probably their favorite ride of the entire trip), and later a miracle occured and a fastpass opened at like 7pm for it, so we got to go back. But all day long, the waits were over an hour so without that strategy, I would have had 2 girls begging for the Frozen ride and facing an hour long wait.

So don't do what I did. We last went when my kids were 2 and 4 and honestly, there wasn't a ride they didn't love--even the carousel--which is just a standard carousel like they have ridden dozens of times elsewhere--they were thrilled with, and wanted to go on multiple times. So if they don't know about certain rides, they won't know what they are missing out on.

My kids were thrilled with even the MEXICO ride in epcot, and literally begged to ride it again and again--they rode it 3 times because there was no wait at all and we could just get off and right back on. So kids are easily amused.

@SweetiePie: If your son is into characters, I think the best way to do that piece is character meals. We've gone a few times and while we did try the way where you line up and take your photo, that can be kind of startling for kids because of the size of the characters. The character meals are good because they come to your table and the kids get the opportunity to observe them from afar and by the time they come to your table, it's no big deal and they love it.

@skinnycow: oh that’s great to know! Thank you!
My sister and her kids are later to rise (which most days I’m jealous of, lol) but my 4yo is always up at 7am like clockwork. So maybe we’ll do the early magic morning while they’re getting ready for the day and we can squeeze a few more things in. We’ll have separate cars.

@looch: yes we are going to do at least one character meal I think. It’s hard to decide which one. Any recommendations? Since he was a baby he has LOVED Mickey and Minnie. Naturally he also loves everyone from MMC since he’s watched forever, but Mickey is his absolute fave.
He also really loves the princesses! (Oddly he’s never seen any of the princess movies besides frozen, but he has a fascination with princesses). So maybe we’ll do one of those too. My 4yo niece will also be there so the two of them would have a blast.

@SweetiePie: I don’t think it’ll be bad at all! Crowd calendars are never 100% accurate, but they’re a good general indication.

@SweetiePie: For Princesses, you can do breakfast before park opening at Akershus. That gets you into the park an hour early, and fed. And then you can leave and get directly in line for Frozen while other people are just getting through the opening gates.

For MK, you can do a similar trick and get a rez for Cinderella's Castle before park opening (like 8:00 am-8:15 am) and then you are in Fantasyland already when rides open. We did that for MK last time, and we rode Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Belle's house, and Ariel all before 9am. At 9 am, we had a fastpass for Mine train. So we really did a lot in 1 hour. Other in-park breakfast options are Be Our Guest, Crystal Palace (do they have characters? not sure), and I think they sell an Early Morning Magic breakfast package as well.

For Hollywood studios, I would just do the Early Morning Magic breafast/ride package.

Guys, for somebody like me who loves planning, this trip to Disney is AMAZING. I have so many lists! Multiple spreadsheets! I have maps and touring plans and character visits! Whenever I need a five minute break from work I can read check a menu or tweak a touring plan! I'm in heaven.

@erinbaderin: I highly recommend the croque Madame if you’re doing breakfast... with a mimosa because vacation

@erinbaderin: yep! We did that last year when Dd2 was 2.5 and not on the dining plan.

@erinbaderin: we are going next week and it’s going to be in the 80s! Which is actually annoying because we have no summer clothes that fit haha. It seems like there’s a big range in these winter months.

Good to know! I was planning to pack mostly jeans, but looks like I should actually be paying more attention to whether the boys have any shorts that fit! I guess I'm going to have to find the bin of summer clothes and find my capri pants and sandals. Woohoo!

@charm55: We are indeed, it's -28 out with the windchill right now. Actually this morning I pulled up my weather app and was like "What the....it's 13 degrees?!?!" and then realized I'd set my weather to Orlando and instead, I had to deal with the reality of trying to find a flat spot in the giant snowbank all along my street to put my recycling bin for pickup. Canadian winters! Nothing like it!

I got the same crowd level email - after that brutal morning where everything jumped to 8s and 9s I've kind of talked myself out of believing in crowd levels, but it was nice to see them come down a bit. I've been spending a fair amount of time on the touring plans boards and it seems like for the most part, all the big crowds they predicted have not actually come to pass.

Has anyone done the Memory Maker photo thing before? It’s so pricey but friends of mine did it and got so many awesome pics of their whole family.

@HappyBaker: We haven’t been yet, but I’ve already ordered it - I’d love to have pictures that have me in them! I’m just worried that my boys are going to refuse to do any and I’m going to come home with 300 pictures of my husband and I restraining two pouting boys in front of Cinderella’s castle. Maybe with Tinkerbelle in them.

Well - looks like I'm joining you all for official planning instead of lurking and daydreaming

We're headed back in mid-October 2019. A 2-night stay with a single day at Epcot. Timed to enjoy the Food and Wine festival of course.

DD1 will be a few weeks shy of turning 7, DD2 will be about 10 months old. We're staying at the All Star Music resort (our second time there). This will be DD1's 4th time at Disney with us since she was just turning 3.

I haven't gone with a baby so young so that will be very new to us! We wanted to prioritize going sooner than later because I feel like we're at the end of the magical time for DD1 to want to meet characters and princesses and be into Disney in a way that changes once they start to grow up (which I don't want to think about!).

We are FL residents so I will be looking for deals that come up between then and now. Since we're driving only a couple hours we always bring lots of food and can pack all the supplies we might want.

Our usual routine is to drive down to check in early and play at the pool before going to one of the nice resorts to explore, play, and have dinner. Then the next day hit the park/s, and stay overnight again to have a relaxed morning swimming some more or enjoying the resort before returning home.

Any tips for an almost 1-yr old at the park? What about sharing a single hotel room?

@lindseykaye: What fun! We haven't done Disney with a baby but we did take W at about that age to St Lucia, and it was pretty easy, especially if they'll nap in a stroller. I think it will be easier because the baby isn't going to be disappointed to not be able to ride rides.

Tips for staying in one hotel room - try to find a way to hide the baby, at least if yours is anything like mine - in his own room West would stir but then go back to sleep. Sleeping right next to me he'd stir, see me, and WANT MOMMY NOW! We put the pack and play next to the window and pulled the curtains around it to make a kind of little room, and it helped. Although we also saw a lot of St Lucian sun rises as one of us pushed him around the empty lobby at 5am so he didn't wake everybody else up.

We just got back and had an AWESOME trip! My kids are 6, 4 and 10 months and they were great the whole time and loved it. Having a TouringPlan definitely helped us see more because it felt super crowded even though it was supposed to be mid level crowds. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted to but did most of it, and overall it went much better than I thought it would. It was also super hot, I can’t imagine going in the summer!

@HappyBaker: Details please! What were your favorite rides! What were your favorite places to eat! What did you get FastPasses for!