advice for first timing it with kids in tow

We finally did Disney World with our kids (plus both sets of grandparents)! My husband and I both have not been to Disney World in about 20 years, so we were basically visiting for the first time….in forever. I am going to preface with I am in no way an expert, or claim to be an expert on Disney World, I’m just sharing my experience as a rookie planner and what we really enjoyed. Ok, so, going into the planning, I was extremely overwhelmed. I didn’t know what the tiers of Lightening Lanes were or how to work it exactly, how riding rides was going to work within our schedule, if we should get tickets to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, eating dinners at restaurants how do we do that whole thing – it was consuming any and all of my remaining brains cells. 

I will tell you, we had the most wonderfully, amazing trip with our kids and family, and we cannot wait to take them back! Watching them enjoy everyday was one of my favorite highlights as a parent so far. So, if you are on the fence, or hesitant at all, I’m telling you take them when they are little! 

The first thing I did was hire a professional travel agent. The one we used specializes in Disney as well as international travel, so I will be a repeat customer. There are many people who are specifically Disney vacation planners, and they are super knowledgeable and helpful when planning. With either of these options, you will tell them a little bit about how you want to experience Disney, your family, a budget, any preference on restaurants or dining plan, and any additional experiences you may want to do (Park Hopper Tickets, Bibbidi, Bobbidi Boutique, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, VIP Private Tours, etc.). They should come up with a few options for you to choose and that part seems to be the easiest for me. 

We didn’t choose a dining plan, so the next thing for us was choosing which restaurants we want to enjoy. This was difficult for me, because of a few reasons: 1. we all enjoy a good meal, 2. I didn’t understand how the logistics would work (leaving the parks, possible changing, getting to the restaurant), and 3. I did NOT want to choose for everyone! We ended up choosing something for every night, but didn’t eat everywhere depending on our day. At most places, you have to cancel at least 2 hours prior to your reservation time, so we ended up doing that a few times and just grabbing something at Epcot. 

We did stay in the Epcot resort area, and I cannot recommend this area enough, although I think my children would love staying in the Animal Kingdom resort area with a view of the Savanna! 

Staying in the Epcot area allowed us easy access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios using the Skyliner transportation system. We ended up eating at Epcot a fair amount of times, and at night we were able to ride Frozen again without waiting in line! If you can stay at Beach Club or Boardwalk, those are great because you can walk to and from Epcot very easily, which makes for an easy trip back to your hotel after dinner and fireworks, or with a stroller and sleepy kids! 

For food options, we did do Cinderella’s Royal Table which was great for our kids and the food was a pre-paid, prix fixe meal. If you are wanting a princess character dining experience, this is definitely one you need to try to book. We also did Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom for breakfast one day – mainly because it’s a nostalgic classic for us and we wanted our kids to experience it as well! Winnie the Pooh and friends are here to meet and take photos, so a fun one for all ages! We ate dinner the first night at Topolino’s Terrace and it was delicious! We could also watch the firework show from Epcot from the terrace, which was a magical ending to dinner! We also ate our farewell breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace and that is a character breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy. 

I will leave a list below of things that we loved and items I brought/needed on the trip.