[Discussion] Best way to start off newbies?

[ZephyrJG]

Let's imagine a scenario where you're bringing your best friend(s) to WDW for a week, and they've never been there before.

They know how much you like it there, so they have asked YOU to guide them through the magic.

Which park do you take them to first??

What is the first attraction you take them to at each park?

Discuss!

 

[KittyKitty]

This is exactly how my next trip is starting! I started asking them questions like when is their big meal, when do they get up, how long it takes to get out the door, what food is needed to get out that door in the morning. I let them know to bring well worn walking shoes,start walking before trip, bring poncho, how much food costs per day.
They only know Disneyland, so they mentioned they want to do the classic rides at MK, like 3D shows, not into characters, not into StarWars(??), that's about it. Since we don't arrive till 4:30, I decided to have dinner the 1st night, and tour the resort (WL). If MK is open late, the 1st attraction will be MK, just seeing it at night will amaze them. Maybe ride Pooh, and Pan. Next day will probably be AK or MK, haven't decided yet since they may not want to get up early as we live 3 time zones from WDW.

Plan is 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day AK. I'm skipping Studios. I am keeping it simple, no parties nor tours since they are only staying 6 nights. Last day tour the Bay lake resorts, eat lunch at one of them, then they leave at 2 pm for the airport.

I'm staying another week..

 

[ZephyrJG]

This is exactly how my next trip is starting! I started asking them questions like when is their big meal, when do they get up, how long it takes to get out the door, what food is needed to get out that door in the morning. I let them know to bring well worn walking shoes,start walking before trip, bring poncho, how much food costs per day.
They only know Disneyland, so they mentioned they want to do the classic rides at MK, like 3D shows, that's about it. Since we don't arrive till 4:30, I decided to have dinner the 1st night, and tour the resort (WL). If MK is open late, the 1st attraction will be MK, just seeing it at night will amaze them. Maybe ride Pooh, and Pan. Next day will probably be AK or MK, haven't decided yet since they may not want to get up early as we live 3 time zones from WDW.

Plan is 2 days MK, 2 days, Epcot, 1 day AK. I'm skipping Studios. I am keeping it simple, no parties nor tours since they are only staying 6 nights. Last day tour the Bay lake resorts, eat lunch at one of them, then they leave at 2 pm for the airport.

I'm staying another week..

Sounds fun! Any specific plans for your extra week??

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We actually did this with my sister two years ago. It wasn't her first time, but she hadn't been in over 25 years. First park? Magic Kingdom! It's quintessential Disney. First ride? I think it depends on the age of your traveling party. If there are smaller children with you, I would gauge interest - princesses, pirates, winnie the pooh? - and go from there. With my sister, if memory recalls, we did small world first and went from there. We also did all the parks and did the more "must-do" attractions than we would on our now frequent trips. We also kept it "princessy" - CRT, Akershus, stayed at GF and did TH to meet most of the fab 5.

 

[robndani]

Adults? Kids?

 

[Klayfish]

I'm not including meal planning in this, I'm just talking about seeing the parks and attractions....

First, I'd probably want to know their style. Are they early birds by nature? High energy? More low key? Etc.. I'd build from there. However, in general, without a doubt the first park for me is MK. It's the heart of WDW. First attraction there? Honestly, I don't really know it would matter to me. I probably wouldn't do Swiss treehouse, but beyond that, pretty much anything is fair game. I'm not a big planner myself, so I probably wouldn't go nuts for a first timer. If they aren't super early birds by nature, I wouldn't do any rope drops. Wouldn't have any tight timelines, spreadsheets, etc...none of it. Since it's only a one week trip, there's no way they're going to see even 1/3 of what WDW has to offer, so I'm not even going to try to cram it in. I'd pick three daily FP+ rides based on what I know they like (roller coasters, etc...), and from there, I'd let them just soak it all in. If I'm not with them on the trip, certainly encourage them to have maps so that they don't crisscross the parks too much. Encourage them to spend at least one day in every park (though if I'm planning FP+ at 60 or 30 days out, I'd be able to do that for them).

I just think a newbie should "stop and smell the roses" instead of trying to do it all, and wind up overdoing it.

 

[quandrea]

I'm planning for this right now too. We only have five days though and they want to his Universal for Harry Potter.

I'm having trouble in that they are having a hard time conceiving the massive scope of WDW. My friend is also tech adverse and does not like the idea of Magic bands or using a phone to make reservations, fast passes, etc.

We are meeting in a week or so to go over dining and an itinerary. I know she wants to be up early and to bed early. They plan only to do the Star Wars fireworks. We will go our separate ways for lunch as I want table service and she wants counter service. We will also separate midday. She will continue touring, ill head back to the hotel.

Truth be told, I'm a bit worried. I think she underestimates the planning and the crowds as well as how long it will take to get things done.

 

[ZephyrJG]

Adults? Kids?

Whichever you want to plan for! This is just for fun

 

[HydroGuy]

I am not so much into which park first (ore last) or which ride first (or last). I am more into deciding on the time frame and picking parks that work with our travel plans, the EMH schedule, the show schedule and making sure we get time to rest and do not overdo it.

I will be going on a guys trip with my wife's DS26 in May. His first time to WDW. So it is similar to what you are asking about.

I will be sensitive to overloading him with info, so I will ask him how much he wants to hear. And monitor that. Does he want the detailed background and historical info? Or just to cruise and take it all in. I will ask him to let me know if I am telling him too much or too little on the details and plans.

I have been sending him blogs and articles over the last month so he can read whatever interests him.

 

[ZephyrJG]

I'm planning for this right now too. We only have five days though and they want to his Universal for Harry Potter.

I'm having trouble in that they are having a hard time conceiving the massive scope of WDW. My friend is also tech adverse and does not like the idea of Magic bands or using a phone to make reservations, fast passes, etc.

We are meeting in a week or so to go over dining and an itinerary. I know she wants to be up early and to bed early. They plan only to do the Star Wars fireworks. We will go our separate ways for lunch as I want table service and she wants counter service. We will also separate midday. She will continue touring, ill head back to the hotel.

Truth be told, I'm a bit worried. I think she underestimates the planning and the crowds as well as how long it will take to get things done.

I understand how that is. I know many people that think WDW is just a typical theme park just with Mickey Mouse added. It's impossible to get them to understand without actually being there. Good luck! lol

 

[quandrea]

I understand how that is. I know many people that think WDW is just a typical theme park just with Mickey Mouse added. It's impossible to get them to understand without actually being there. Good luck! lol

Thanks. I'm pretty sure I need it. We are going with dd's best friend and her mom (also my friend). Mom is very nervous, doesn't travel. I'm doing it for the girls. I've gotten to the point where I'm just going to let them do their own thing. She'll get it and hopefully adjust expectations once there. The dining is a shame. I think she is thinking theme park food, whereas dining can be a really fun aspect of the trip with a few carefully chosen meals. Ah well. My dd has allergies and ts just works better for us.

 

[KittyKitty]

Adults? Kids?

We are adults who turn into kids at WDW!

Sounds fun! Any specific plans for your extra week??

Changing resorts to Pop. 1st park will be Studios. I just love it! Then meeting up with old time Disney friends who will set the schedule for rest of the week. Probably a sit down dinner or two, fireworks or two.

 

[KittyKitty]

Truth be told, I'm a bit worried. I think she underestimates the planning and the crowds as well as how long it will take to get things done.

Do the planning for your friend, then print it out for her. Give her maps for the park, so she knows where rides and food are. Maybe even tour the park 1st to show where she goes. If she doesn't want to use MB, have her take the ticket with her(maybe a lanyard?) to use.
The size really amazes friends who I have gone with. They think the parks are just right next to each other. WDW is 40 square miles, walking 6-10 miles a day.

 

[danikoski]

My husband's first WDW trip was our honeymoon. He's a Star Wars fan, so our first park was DHS. We did Star Tours first, then Tower of Terror, the Toy Story, then finished with Star Tours. We had park hoppers, so we hopped over to Epcot WS and wandered a bit and ate a bit. We then did Spaceship Earth and took the monorail back to TTC then MK for the boat back to WL. Come to find out, he had always wanted to ride the monorail. We then did HDDR that night for dinner. The next day we went to the beach and then did two days at Universal, which gave a good contrast to Disney. I knew I had him hooked to Disney when he commented that Universal really didn't have the detail that Disney had. Then we did the other three parks over the next three days.

I focused on what he enjoyed the most, Star Wars. I also tried to not overwhelm him with Disney in the first few days. I also specifically chose not to go to MK the first day. It worked out pretty great