What should I make sure not to miss?

[freerangehuman]

We are a family of 5. 8 yo girl and 5 yo twin boys. I took my daughter on a girl's trip to Disneyland in 2011 and this is our first family vacation ever! We are headed to WDW in May! We are trying to do this as cheaply as humanly possible. I realize that it's going to be expensive no matter what, but we have done pretty well so far. We are staying at the Clarion and we booked 6 nights for $342 including taxes and everything booked through Groupon with 6.5% cash back on ebates. I just bought out WDW admission tickets yesterday on Orbitz (using ebates). We got 5 days for the price of 3. It came to $1430 without factoring in our cash back from ebates. We are driving down. It's about a 10 hour drive from Tennessee where we live. Obviously we will pack snacks and make our own breakfasts in our hotel room (no free breakfast at the Clarion). What are your suggestions for keeping our trip as budget friendly as possible? And what should we splurge on? We splurged on the Bippity Boppity Boutique at DL and DD doesn't seem as interested this time.

 

[wdwgoofydaddy]

I would suggest that you bring refillable water bottles. There are lots of area you can refill with water. Many people like to buy the bottles with the built in filters. I think they are pretty cheap at Walmart. You can also buy Disney gear and souvenirs at the outlets opposed the at actual parks. There are 2 Prime outlets in the Orlando area and each one has a official Disney Outlet store. I recall picking up some pretty nice shirts for my wife for about $7 each opposed to paying 24+ in the stores. Also visit guest services and they have free buttons which also make for a great souvenir. You can also pick up Sorcerer Mickey playing card for free at the firehall next to guest services. Even it you don't play the game, they make for a great free souvenir too. Hope this helps

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Don't forget autograph books and thick pens. You can pick them up before you go. Our kids still love getting autographs.

Enjoy!

 

[brie182]

We are doing "pirates league" this year. I have read good things about it. All your kids might enjoy being turned into pirates.

 

[DSNY4ever]

If this is your first trip, I would say skip all that extra fluff stuff (like the dress up, tea parties, fireworks cruises, special events) and just focus on the parks. There will be soooo much to see and do that you won't even need any extras, the trip will be magical enough without them.

I would say to splurge on one special meal table service meal (since it sounds like you plan to eat in your room and bring a lot of food? Is that correct?). There are so many restaurants that could be a big treat for all of you and a nice chance to sit down and relax.

If you are looking for a special free evening take the monorail over to the Grand or the Polynesian (take some time to wander the pretty hotel grounds) and watch the fireworks and the electrical water pageant afterwards. Fun, relaxing and free! Unless you only have one night to watch the fireworks, then watch them in the park for the *best* atmosphere.

Enjoy every moment, the first trip is truly the most magical- especially with kids

 

[MandiC]

My girls are 7 and 9 and on our trip last month they loved seeing the princesses, getting autographs and pin trading for their favorite characters (I bought pins for pretty inexpensive on amazon before our trip, doesn't matter if they don't care for the characters they start with). Honestly they loved it all. My artistic 9 year old loved Animation Academy in Hollywood Studios which is free. They liked all the character meals (if you aren't absolutely set on eating in the castle, Akershus Epcot/Norway is cheaper and has the same princesses. I liked the food better there too). Enchanted Tales with Belle was a complete hit, I highly recommend a FastPass for that for people with little girls.
There is so much to do, no need to break the bank
That said, I did splurge and got each of my girls the pearl from Japan in Epcot. It's $18 to pick a pearl and they got a necklace setting ($22 each). I figure it's our first trip and it will be a souvenir they won't outgrow to remember their first trip by.

 

[ajwolfe]

I think since it's your first trip you can skip a lot of the extras. I find that we only add on the extras each trip, because we want to try something new and add an element of excitement to each trip.
That being said my boys have done the Pirate Leaque once and are getting ready to do it again. It's a great souvenier in my opinion. They get the experience of it and several items to keep as well. A great value for $29.99 a child.

 

[freerangehuman]

Thanks for the tips! I think our splurge might be a character dining meal.

 

[baseballnut]

Thanks for the tips! I think our splurge might be a character dining meal.

We did a few character meals on our first trip, thanks to the free dining plan, and we all absolutely LOVED the Chef Mickey breakfast. We scheduled it for later, like 11, so more of a brunch. So fun, and a great, huge breakfast buffet.

FWIW, I'm a simple eater and didn't much like the food at Akershus, but it's a better princess meal than the Royal Table - which was simply magical. Crystal Palace was great, too. But we will definitely head back to Chef Mickey's.

 

[pad406]

We did a few character meals on our first trip, thanks to the free dining plan, and we all absolutely LOVED the Chef Mickey breakfast.

A vote for Character meals and Chef Mickeys is one of the most fun. Kids will love it.

Turtle Talk with Crush is a big hit with my 2.

There's the Kim Possible adventures in World Showcase in Epcot, a nice way to tour the world and keep the kids occupied. There is something similar in MK (more of a scavenger hunt I think) but we haven't done that yet, next time.

They might also like the Jedi Training in HS. As your offsite don't do this on a EMH morning, you need to sign them up first thing, unless it's really quiet.

If your 8 year old girl likes coasters, don't miss sum of all thrills in Epcot Innovations. You get to design a coaster or Jet plane flight and then ride it in a simulator. Boys might like it too, but it's a 2 person only ride so the adults might want to split them up the first time just in case they get a bit scared.

The only other 'splurging' I would do is get them a laynard and pins, better off to get in one of the outlet stores, and let them start pin trading. They'll love that too,

 

[Kristina4109]

If your kids like Winnie the Pooh and friends, the character meal at the Crystal Palace is super. If you're looking to save money, breakfast will be the least expensive. And if you make an early reservation, you can get into the Magic Kingdom early and experience walking down Main Street, U.S.A. with hardly anyone around. That is a pretty cool experience.

 

[sbozek123]

Following, this is our first family trip, and we're doing one character meal and the pirate league. I have 2 boys and didn't want to overwhelm them with planning, but 100% wanted some extra magic for them!

 

[mamawee]

We have done character meals at crystal palace for brekky (winnie the pooh and friends and a delicious breakfast buffet) and chef mickeys for dinner (mickey and friends)

We will be doing both again on our next trip as well