I came across a post on a discussion board asking if a 2 year old would have fun at Disney World. It's hard for me to realize that a lot of people have never been to Disney World and just have no idea what to expect. Most of my life I had gone to Disney without kids, so once I became a parent I realized I was entering uncharted waters. I decided to do some research and found a book that I've ended up using on return trips and recommending over and over.
Walt Disney World with Kids by Kim Wright Wiley has a wealth of up-to-date and insightful information that is spot on. She gives advice about which rides are likely to scare kids and which are not rather than just which ones they can get on based on height.
In addition to that book, the biggest thing I've learned is to take Disney at your kids pace. We always treat our Disney vacation with the thought that we will be coming back again. That removes the "this is a once in a lifetime trip so we we have to see everything" pressure. Although we are NOT morning people we took Kim's advice to heart and we get to the parks early. We usually leave in the early afternoon and retreat back to our accommodations to relax. We return in the evening. This does a number of things for us. First we avoid the worst of the crowds and heat. Second, it gives the kids (and us) a chance to rest both physically and mentally. Disney is exhausting mentally because of the sensory overload that is thrown at you constantly. Finally, it saves us money because we can eat outside the parks. The other thing we do is we break up our days at the park. If we are spending a week at Disney, then we'll probably only go to the parks for 4 days and spend 3 days at the resort or house. Better yet, we'll do like we did a couple of years ago and go for 2 weeks and just go to the parks every other day.
We've found that giving the kids time to enjoy things along the way is more fun that the death-march of trying to get in as many rides as possible. The kids enjoy the playgrounds at the parks as much or more than most of the rides. When the lines get long, let the kids play.
Another thing we have found is to find something they enjoy doing throughout the week. For our girls, this was getting autographs. However, our son wasn't the least bit interested in autographs when he was the same age. For him it was "squishing pennies." To be honest, getting autographs was cheaper, but it takes more time. We had to limit him to one or two penny squishes a day, but it really gave him something to look forward to and was a useful tool when he started to get bored during a long wait.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Meal plan - To eat or not to eat?
Our last trip was the first time we opted for the meal plan. Up until this trip I had left over tickets from when I worked for Disney so I never opted for purchasing tickets which you have to do in order to get the meal plan. This year we didn't really have any plan to return to Disney, but when I ran across the free meal deal that Disney was offering, it was too good to pass up. Basically, the deal was that you got the deluxe meal package for free if you came during peak hurricane season (i.e., late July - early September) Incidentally, most families can't go during this time because of school so it's also low attendance because of that, too. We home school our kids, so we have the luxury of vacationing whenever we want.
I kept track of what actual our meal expenses would have been had we been paying for them out of pocket. Granted, we probably wouldn't haven't eaten nearly as much, but even so the food at Disney is expensive. Even a basic breakfast at the resort counter service will run you $10 or so for an adult. You can get by for about the same at lunch if you are careful. Table service meals are another matter. We tended to hit the more popular places like O'hana, Boma, Whispering Canyon, and California Grill ($$$) for our table services and those easily were more than the cost of the meal plan by themselves. So from a purely financial perspective, if you are staying at the resort the meal plan is a no brainer.
There are a number of cons to the plan, though. First was the planning. I have to admit that I love planning my Disney trips. However, because of the meal plan I soon discovered that I had to plan this trip in way more detail than I like many months in advance. Because the meal plan has become so popular, you have to make reservations months in advance. That meant I had to essentially make decisions about which days I would be in what parks at what times (it wouldn't make sense to eat at Le' Cellier in EPCOT on Tuesday evening if we weren't planning on going to EPCOT Tuesday night, would it?) To make things more complicated we were traveling with family members so were trying to co-ordinate schedules. It was crazy.
Second, we discovered that this trip was about eating. We saw a lot less of the parks because we spent a lot more time getting to dinner. We didn't see Fantasmic (my favorite closing show) because it was choice between getting into the restaurant we wanted or getting to the show (which we've seen before). We ended up staying up later than the kids could handle because that's the only reservations available (and I started calling 4 months before our trip).
Finally, we ate too much. Even though our meal plan included 2 meals a day, we found that splitting breakfasts and lunches still left us with too much food. Part of the reason for that is that our oldest daughter just turned 10 and was considered and adult. She certainly doesn't eat like an adult yet. I think once we have 3 teenagers we would do better at taking advantage of the amount of food offered. As it was, we were basically sick of food by the middle of the week.
So, while we loved hitting all the fancy restaurants, the next time we go we are planning on going back to our strategy of staying close to, but not on, Disney, where we can prepare some of our own meals and take some time off from the sensory overload. We can still hit our favorite eating places and enjoy them rather than feeling like we have to focus on food in order to get our money's worth.
I kept track of what actual our meal expenses would have been had we been paying for them out of pocket. Granted, we probably wouldn't haven't eaten nearly as much, but even so the food at Disney is expensive. Even a basic breakfast at the resort counter service will run you $10 or so for an adult. You can get by for about the same at lunch if you are careful. Table service meals are another matter. We tended to hit the more popular places like O'hana, Boma, Whispering Canyon, and California Grill ($$$) for our table services and those easily were more than the cost of the meal plan by themselves. So from a purely financial perspective, if you are staying at the resort the meal plan is a no brainer.
There are a number of cons to the plan, though. First was the planning. I have to admit that I love planning my Disney trips. However, because of the meal plan I soon discovered that I had to plan this trip in way more detail than I like many months in advance. Because the meal plan has become so popular, you have to make reservations months in advance. That meant I had to essentially make decisions about which days I would be in what parks at what times (it wouldn't make sense to eat at Le' Cellier in EPCOT on Tuesday evening if we weren't planning on going to EPCOT Tuesday night, would it?) To make things more complicated we were traveling with family members so were trying to co-ordinate schedules. It was crazy.
Second, we discovered that this trip was about eating. We saw a lot less of the parks because we spent a lot more time getting to dinner. We didn't see Fantasmic (my favorite closing show) because it was choice between getting into the restaurant we wanted or getting to the show (which we've seen before). We ended up staying up later than the kids could handle because that's the only reservations available (and I started calling 4 months before our trip).
Finally, we ate too much. Even though our meal plan included 2 meals a day, we found that splitting breakfasts and lunches still left us with too much food. Part of the reason for that is that our oldest daughter just turned 10 and was considered and adult. She certainly doesn't eat like an adult yet. I think once we have 3 teenagers we would do better at taking advantage of the amount of food offered. As it was, we were basically sick of food by the middle of the week.
So, while we loved hitting all the fancy restaurants, the next time we go we are planning on going back to our strategy of staying close to, but not on, Disney, where we can prepare some of our own meals and take some time off from the sensory overload. We can still hit our favorite eating places and enjoy them rather than feeling like we have to focus on food in order to get our money's worth.
Port Orleans, Riverside
This is a Disney resort?
Our last trip down to WDW was in September, 2007. We took advantage of the free dining plan Disney was offering. We don't normally stay in the resorts since we have 3 kids which means we can't stay in any of the "cheap" rooms. However, I discovered while looking this time that the Port Orleans Riverside resort has rooms with a trundle bed which allows for a family of 5 without upgrading to a suite.
Another tip I discovered while trying to decide where to stay is that Disney has added a few suites to its value resorts. These suites are still more expensive than staying at the moderate priced Port Orleans Riverside, though, but they do have the added benefit of separate rooms. In the end, we decided that we would rather save the extra money and stay in the nicer resort than to have the separate rooms that the suite provides.
We had the liberty of checking in on a Friday and thus avoided the mad (and I do mean MAD rush of guests checking in on Saturday. I ventured into the check-in area on Saturday to find a long line of travel weary families waiting a line that extended out into the parking lot. The lesson I learned was don't arrive on Saturday if you can help it.
Port Orleans, Riverside has a very non-"resorty" feel to it once you get past the check-in area. The main building has a working water wheel, which we all enjoyed. We always tried to find a table near the gears when we ate at the restaurant that was
(compared to the other resorts) and spread out. The landscaping is very nice and gives you the feeling next to the water wheel. The hotel buildings themselves are fairly smallll that you are more isolated than you really are. The downside is that you end up doing a lot of walking. I ended up carrying our 4 year old more times than not between meals and the bus stop unless we had a lot of time.
The swimming pools at the resort were wonderful. One of our regrets was that we didn't spend more time at the resort. We spent one whole day just at the resort, but we easily could have spent more. The kids loved the Ol' Man River swimming pool. It has a slide and numerous waterfalls. Because there are 5 other pools it wasn't extremely crowded at the main swimming pool, either. We also went to the main pool at the French Quarter, but the kids didn't enjoy that pool as much because the slide was much smaller.
The room was very nice and well thought out. Granted it was small and I would not have wanted to spend vast quantities of time there. We had 2 full size beds, which I would have preferred to have been queen sized, but we were generally tired enough that it didn't seem to matter. The trundle bed worked out well. The kids took turns sleeping on it. We thought our 4 year old would sleep in it all the time, but our 8 and 9 year old wanted to have a turn sleeping in it, too. It's basically a twin sized bed. I think the trundle bed would be fine even for a teenager or an adult as long as they didn't mind being down at floor level.
The room had a small refrigerator in it, which we used for water bottles which we purchased ahead of time. It also had a small safe, which was a nice extra feature. Another nice touch was that the bathroom sink area had a curtain that could be pulled for privacy while dressing.
More information...
For more information on Port Orleans, Riverside you can check out the official Disney page,
but the best page I found was at Kingdom Magic Travel. I found the page at AllEarsNet to be informative, too. The official Disney web site tends to be pretty, but not very informative, in my opinion. AllEarsNet also has a page with a lot of pictures, which helped to give me a better feel for the resort when I was trying to decide. Also, here's a link to a map of the resort.
Conclusion
After viewing quite a few of the resorts, I think we made the right decision. Without upgrading to one of the upscale resorts like the Wilderness Lodge or the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I don't think we could have done any better. All-in-all, I would have to give Port Orleans, Riverside top ratings. For a family with 3 kids it has to be the most economical choice due the trundle bed vs. getting a suite at any of the other resorts. However, I have to say that we probably still enjoy staying off-site more. The rush of eating out at every meal is more hassle than we like. Also, we do not enjoy going to the park on consecutive days, so being away from the parks is nice.
For more on staying off-site, click here
Our last trip down to WDW was in September, 2007. We took advantage of the free dining plan Disney was offering. We don't normally stay in the resorts since we have 3 kids which means we can't stay in any of the "cheap" rooms. However, I discovered while looking this time that the Port Orleans Riverside resort has rooms with a trundle bed which allows for a family of 5 without upgrading to a suite.Another tip I discovered while trying to decide where to stay is that Disney has added a few suites to its value resorts. These suites are still more expensive than staying at the moderate priced Port Orleans Riverside, though, but they do have the added benefit of separate rooms. In the end, we decided that we would rather save the extra money and stay in the nicer resort than to have the separate rooms that the suite provides.
We had the liberty of checking in on a Friday and thus avoided the mad (and I do mean MAD rush of guests checking in on Saturday. I ventured into the check-in area on Saturday to find a long line of travel weary families waiting a line that extended out into the parking lot. The lesson I learned was don't arrive on Saturday if you can help it.
Port Orleans, Riverside has a very non-"resorty" feel to it once you get past the check-in area. The main building has a working water wheel, which we all enjoyed. We always tried to find a table near the gears when we ate at the restaurant that was
(compared to the other resorts) and spread out. The landscaping is very nice and gives you the feeling next to the water wheel. The hotel buildings themselves are fairly smallll that you are more isolated than you really are. The downside is that you end up doing a lot of walking. I ended up carrying our 4 year old more times than not between meals and the bus stop unless we had a lot of time.The swimming pools at the resort were wonderful. One of our regrets was that we didn't spend more time at the resort. We spent one whole day just at the resort, but we easily could have spent more. The kids loved the Ol' Man River swimming pool. It has a slide and numerous waterfalls. Because there are 5 other pools it wasn't extremely crowded at the main swimming pool, either. We also went to the main pool at the French Quarter, but the kids didn't enjoy that pool as much because the slide was much smaller.
The room was very nice and well thought out. Granted it was small and I would not have wanted to spend vast quantities of time there. We had 2 full size beds, which I would have preferred to have been queen sized, but we were generally tired enough that it didn't seem to matter. The trundle bed worked out well. The kids took turns sleeping on it. We thought our 4 year old would sleep in it all the time, but our 8 and 9 year old wanted to have a turn sleeping in it, too. It's basically a twin sized bed. I think the trundle bed would be fine even for a teenager or an adult as long as they didn't mind being down at floor level.
The room had a small refrigerator in it, which we used for water bottles which we purchased ahead of time. It also had a small safe, which was a nice extra feature. Another nice touch was that the bathroom sink area had a curtain that could be pulled for privacy while dressing.
More information...
For more information on Port Orleans, Riverside you can check out the official Disney page,
but the best page I found was at Kingdom Magic Travel. I found the page at AllEarsNet to be informative, too. The official Disney web site tends to be pretty, but not very informative, in my opinion. AllEarsNet also has a page with a lot of pictures, which helped to give me a better feel for the resort when I was trying to decide. Also, here's a link to a map of the resort.
Conclusion
After viewing quite a few of the resorts, I think we made the right decision. Without upgrading to one of the upscale resorts like the Wilderness Lodge or the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I don't think we could have done any better. All-in-all, I would have to give Port Orleans, Riverside top ratings. For a family with 3 kids it has to be the most economical choice due the trundle bed vs. getting a suite at any of the other resorts. However, I have to say that we probably still enjoy staying off-site more. The rush of eating out at every meal is more hassle than we like. Also, we do not enjoy going to the park on consecutive days, so being away from the parks is nice.
For more on staying off-site, click here
Walt Disney World Advice
I've vacationed at Walt Disney World many times starting in 1974. I now have three kids of my own who are 10, 9 and 4 years old. My vacationing at Disney, therefore, is from the perspective of a family man. I usually start getting the itch to go back about an hour or two after we leave. There's just something about WDW that I love.
I often get asked by friends, family members, co-workers, and church members for advice about vacationing at Disney World. So, I decided to start this blog to share my advice. This isn't intended to be an all encompassing web site of detailed information about the parks. There are plenty of web site for that. (I'll add links to those web sites that I've found useful in planning my trips.) Rather, I'd like to try to provide general advice about how I go about enjoying the parks such as which resort I like, whether it's better to stay on site or off, what time of year is best to go, etc.
If you have questions, just leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer based on my experiences.
I often get asked by friends, family members, co-workers, and church members for advice about vacationing at Disney World. So, I decided to start this blog to share my advice. This isn't intended to be an all encompassing web site of detailed information about the parks. There are plenty of web site for that. (I'll add links to those web sites that I've found useful in planning my trips.) Rather, I'd like to try to provide general advice about how I go about enjoying the parks such as which resort I like, whether it's better to stay on site or off, what time of year is best to go, etc.
If you have questions, just leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer based on my experiences.
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