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[harry]

Hi,

Any tips for a newbie. Im taking my 4 and 2 year kids.
Weve never been to anything more than LEGOLAND in London!
We are staying in a Disney hotel. So used this website to research tips and plans.
But anything else? Using fast passes? Rides for beginners!? etc

Thanks

[JMB]

Hi Harry,

Welcome to the forum. I'm quite new myself and have found the forum and it's members extremely useful.

Legoland Windsor is nothing compared to DLP. I expect you will be blown away.  It would be good to know if you are going alone with your children or with another adult and also when and how long for,  as the advice may vary depending on the season.

[grovesie]

As said before let us know when your going too as there as seasons such as season of the force, princesses and pirates. There are many members that will give you loads of advice.  Such an exciting time to be had.

[harry]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. There will be 2 adults and 2 children, 5 and 3 years old.
We are going in the middle of Feb for 3 days.

Thanks for the help and any advice.

[bad-pink-tink]

Make sure to get up early and use the early morning special entry time for the Disney hotel guests. It is the only time to get a really good photo of The Castle with no random people in the background. Only some of the park is open during early entry, but the wait times are very low.

Book restaurants in advance. Not only does it add structure to your day but it helps with your food budget and makes sure that when you are hungry you can get food, even if it is crazy busy.

DONT bother with the meal plan vouchers. Its just a money grab from Disney as you pay upfront before you go. You dont get money back if you dont use all the vouchers. Also the vouchers are only valid in Disney owned restaurants, some people may not realise this and want to eat in Rainforest Cafe but cant as they only have the Disney meal vouchers.

Research Fastpass, which is a FREE service which gets you on the rides faster, its kinda like a skip the queue system. However only some rides have this service available. You get the Fastpass ticket by using your park ticket at the special kiosk beside the ride.

You dont have to carry your shopping around with you all day. If you shop before 3pm and are staying at any Disney hotel, you can ask them in the shop to send your shopping back to your hotel. This is a free service and you just have to fill in a form when you are paying.

[JMB]

If you like 'big' rides then make sure you use child swap (unless your children are very tall).  One of you goes on the usual queue (or Fastpass if you have it) and asks the Cast Member for a child swap, they will give you another ticket for your partner to go on without queueing.

When you go you will have Legends of the Force happening in the Studios and Pirates and Princesses in DLP.  Sadly I haven't seen either but have heard very good things, especially regarding P&P.  I understand the parade changes direction or something each time so maybe someone that's seen could explain what to watch out for.

With regards to rides, I have a 3 year old and our favourite ride (that isn't currently being refurbished) it's Pirates of the Caribbean, can be a little scary (very dark boat ride) but she loves it.  Casey Jr at the back of Fantasyland is great for young children and, if they are over 1.02m then Big Thunder Mountain is a perfect first 'big girl' roller-coaster, as my daughter refers to it.

The Studios may be a bit sparse due to refurbishment and, if you don't like Star Wars, you may struggle to find much to do.  However, I personally love the Studios and would still go in for the rides on the right (Toy Story Playland, Ratatouille and Carpets) and the stunt show at the back left.  There are also meet and greets at Toon Studios but make sure you download the Lineberty app to book your character meets.

And Mickey and The Magician is not to be missed, also in the Studios.

After you've knackered yourself out, head for Rainforest Cafe in Disney Village.  It does have mixed reviews but is another favourite of my daughters, and when in Disney, she's the boss.

[stevemc]

Harry,

Welcome and I hope you enjoy your trip.

Download the DLP app on your phone, it'll show wait times for all the rides in both parks and tells you what attractions are on each day. Identify what rides you want to go on each day and try to hit them first. When the queues build up later in the day you can use those times for shopping etc.

Also last year we were camping 20 minutes up the road, we found rather than having breakfast in the mornings in the campsite before we left that it was quicker to get everyone in the car and head down to Disney village and go to McDonalds. I think we fed ourselves for about €16 each morning for a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids). We'd bring our own drinks a few rolls/sandwiches and a few snacks for later in a bag but the breakfast for myself, my wife and my eldest was 2 bacon and egg mcmuffins each (€2 each from what I remember) and the youngest two shared 3 portions of pancakes between them.

[harry]

Hi all,

That's some great info and tips.

Thanks very much for all your time and help