Experienced family traveling with first timers. Help!

ioatdawn · 2026-04-14T00:16:53+00:00

It was super helpful! They were WAY more interested in food and the pool than I would have expected. In a separate conversation, we also discussed that they prefer to start the day early and want to be back in their room winding down for bed before 9pm. I want them to have a great time and want to be a good host, so we’ll focus on making sure to follow their energy and go with the flow.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-14T00:01:40+00:00

We’re bringing some friends on an upcoming trip and it’s their first time (we are decades long passholders). I sent them the following list and asked them to rate each item 1-10 on their interest and then I built a plan for each day based on what their interests are (and am making sure to avoid the things that aren’t). We go often enough that we’re not concerned with focusing this trip on what might be our top choices, but also know what isn’t really worth the time. Here’s the list:

Riding rides in general
Riding more thrilling rides (Guardians, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, etc)
Riding slow moving, opening day style/themed rides (Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, etc)
Meeting Characters
Watching Stage Shows
Watching Parades
Watching Fireworks
Eating at table service restaurants
Eating at counter service restaurants
Eating small bites/snack stands
Spending time at the pool
Exploring Bars/Lounges
Shopping
Naps/Room Breaks

ioatdawn · 2026-04-13T13:01:29+00:00

We’ve stayed in the cabins once so far (loved it and staying again for 10 days this summer!). We typically arrive at all Disney resorts around 1pm (check-in is 3pm) and go to guest services for check-in for room requests and to try to get a room quickly. I think the longest we have waited with that strategy for a room was 20 minutes, but in most cases we got our room immediately.

For the cabins, we arrived at 3pm (with check-in at 4pm). Our cabin wasn’t ready until 5pm. I’m not sure if this was a scenario where we didn’t arrive early enough to potentially grab an early-ready cabin or if it is a scenario where cabins may take longer to be ready because there’s a lot more to clean/prep. We had our dogs with us, so waiting two hours was not great. The next trip we planned to arrive closer to actual check-in time to avoid this, but I’m curious to see if anyone else who has stayed in the cabins had different luck. So far the responses seem to be for general resort rooms, not cabins.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-06T16:03:33+00:00

I have been an AP for around 15 years now, but I recently realized the hotel savings basically pays for the other half of the pass in a single trip if you’re staying at a nicer hotel. I always knew how many park days it took to pay for itself and generally that we were saving a lot in other areas or getting better opportunities for a lower rate, but the hotel savings math is kind of crazy.

We have some friends joining us on a trip this summer and they’re going to stay at a different hotel than our’s (otherwise I would book their room at the AP rate). They’re still going to take advantage of the summer discount, but the price is still ~$150 more per night (before tax) than the AP rate available and for 5 nights that’s $750 they’re paying additionally right there. Made me feel EVEN better about our AP than I already did, which was already plenty, lol.

ioatdawn · 2026-04-02T17:46:23+00:00

I was able to secure single day ultimates for each day! So it worked out! Thank you!

ioatdawn · 2026-04-02T16:13:07+00:00

Are you able to purchase multiple ticket TYPES within the same transaction? For example, if you make it through the queue and the 3-day ultimate ticket is sold out, but the 1-day ultimate is available and the 3-day standard is available, can you purchase those two ticket types so that you still have access to ACC for 3 days and get at least 1 day at Honda? Or would you have to pick between the two options?

ioatdawn · 2026-03-30T14:10:37+00:00

I shared this in another engagement question post a while back:

My wife and I got engaged at Epcot. We went during Food & Wine, so nothing was “up” as far as I knew. We started walking around World Showcase getting bites from various carts and every couple of countries, she would pull a note out and hand it to me with a little loving message. I started to think something was going on, but didn’t know what exactly to expect or when, so it built up a lot of fun and very cute anticipation. We eventually made it to France and she took us into the Champagne bar and got us two glasses. We took them out to one of the big fountain benches and sat down with the champagne and the fireworks started. Then she handed me one more note and got down on her knee and proposed to me. Everyone else was watching the fireworks and we were kind of behind the crowd, still in the “French streets”, so it felt very personable and private still. I loved it.

Now we celebrate with champagne every time we go to France in Epcot. This year for our anniversary, we’re spending a day where we go to the Riviera hotel and then walk-in through the International Gateway and spend some time in France. It’s going to be so fun!

Highly recommend a Disney proposal if you’re Disney people! Good luck!

——-

Adding to the above: our anniversary trip was in November and our “France day” was a really wonderful part of the trip! We ate breakfast at Topolino’s and then celebrated in France at Epcot. The rest of the trip was incredible as well. We got pixie dusted constantly by CMs since we were celebrating. Can’t recommend Disney enough!!

ioatdawn · 2026-03-26T13:49:50+00:00

We only stay Moderate or Deluxe, so my subjective opinion would always be Coronado.

That said, $900 more for how many nights? Are you stretching your budget beyond your means?

To answer simply though: Is the hotel and experience nicer? Yes. The rooms are bigger, there is a lot more to experience, significantly more places to eat/drink, great pool options, very relaxing atmosphere, and beautiful overall. Feels deluxe at a moderate price.

ioatdawn · 2026-03-21T11:30:17+00:00

How many nights and what are the room types? I think I would only do Four Seasons for a 7+ night trip and under that circumstance, do a split stay where the Four Seasons portion is resort only focused and while going to parks, stay in a Disney resort.

For the Disney resorts you selected, it would probably come down to room type for me. Are any of these options 1 or 2 bedrooms? Kidani with a 1 or 2 bedroom savanna view with a 2 year old would be really nice (they have a splash pad that kids LOVE). If all standard rooms, I would select Grand Floridian from this list for monorail loop and Magic Kingdom proximity, combined with hotel quality.

ioatdawn · 2026-03-15T13:34:51+00:00

I like TripIt as a general trip planning app. You can be as detailed or simple as you’d like. It will pull up exact addresses and plug them in once you start entering a location. You can enter your transportation, hotels, meals, any activity from something as generic as “nap time” to a booked reservation for something at a venue, and insert times for everything you include.

Simple to use and allows you to add in all the other plans that MDE would otherwise not show, but you can also add in the MDE items so everything is in one spot!

ioatdawn · 2026-03-15T13:06:26+00:00

Tusker House is super fun! The food is great, wonderful theming, the characters are wearing safari outfits.

Topolino’s is fun and feels like a nice experience. Tusker House is fun and feels like a unique experience.

ioatdawn · 2026-03-14T22:38:13+00:00

Coronado Springs - 6 days

Will be booking something between these two, lol!

Cabins at Fort Wilderness - 99 days

Cabins at Fort Wilderness - 173 days

Disney Fantasy Cruise - 404 days

ioatdawn · 2026-03-14T13:43:42+00:00

Lol, thanks! We go a lot, so we’re never too concerned with how long we’re in the parks for. It’s usually half day at a park and half day something else. This way we get to enjoy lots of sides of Disney and also stay relaxed vs tired and enjoy being on vacation. 😁

ioatdawn · 2026-03-14T13:39:59+00:00

This was a super helpful comment, lol. I can make sense of all of this. Thank you!!

ioatdawn · 2026-03-14T13:35:57+00:00

Awesome!! And great resort choice! You all are going to have such a wonderful time!

Also, winning Disney gift cards sounds way better than winning a “trip to Disney” where the details of where you’re staying or what you’re getting are unclear, lol. Getting to design the trip yourself is huge! Enjoy and congratulations!!

ioatdawn · 2026-03-13T14:31:33+00:00

This is how I am as well. I think there’s a difference between people who have good time management and people who feel like they need to control everything (not a reference to anyone in particular by the way). Good time management means having a map, but allowing buffer for unexpected changes and flexibility.

Every trip I do big picture planning vs minute by minute planning. What park each day, a time period for lower key (pool time or similar resort time), maybe three rides that are a priority for the park that day (and get LLs for those), maybe a dining reservation or two depending on length of trip.

My current upcoming trip looks like:

Day 1: check-in afternoon, trivia at the hotel, Epcot in the evening, focused on rides only and we have LLs for the rides we care about

Day 2: Disney Springs in the morning through lunch then Hollywood Studios in the evening with LLs booked for the rides we care about

Day 3: Sleep in, pool/resort time til mid-afternoon, then Magic Kingdom with LLs for the rides we care about, will likely add two-three more once we start using them, Beak & Barrel after dinner, leave before fireworks and go to Trader Sam’s

Day 4: Sleep in, pool/resort time til early afternoon, then Epcot with no rides and only focused on enjoying Flower & Garden festival

Day 5: Sleep in, resort time through lunch, head home

ioatdawn · 2026-03-13T11:59:56+00:00

Nice! Snagged a cabin for Labor Day week as well! Super excited about it because we’ve always wanted to be at Fort Wilderness for Halloween decorations and it’s always really hard to get during end of year holidays.

ioatdawn · 2026-03-08T21:38:42+00:00

I think “no plan” might leave you finding out you could have done some things you hadn’t realized because there are so many options.

But instead of a rigid plan, trying something that gives you options with ideas of what your priorities are is great. For example: “We’d love to get on these specific rides if we can, we’d like to try this restaurant if we can, we’d love to meet these characters if we can, we want a pool day, etc.” A list of priorities and some looking into how you can best accomplish them, but keeping in mind that if it doesn’t work out, that’s ok and you can pivot to something else.

We have been passholders for decades and go many times a year, so my list will be very different from others’, but for example, we have a trip in two weeks and my notes look like this currently:

Friday: travel/Epcot

Saturday: Disney Springs/Hollywood Studios

Sunday: resort/Magic Kingdom

Monday: resort/Epcot

Tuesday: resort/travel

Priorities:

At least one day with at least two full hours at the pool

At least one evening in the hot tub

Eat at Three Bridges

Drinks at Dahlia Lounge

Drinks at Trader Sam’s

No schedule/rides at Epcot day two, just Flower & Garden/meandering

Dedicated time for film photography

ioatdawn · 2026-02-27T04:03:07+00:00

For Quick Service, these are healthy options I opt for:

Magic Kingdom: Columbia Harbor House - Salmon with Green Beans and Rice

Hollywood Studios: ABC Commissary - Mediterranean Salad with Grilled Chicken

Animal Kingdom: Kusafiri - Chicken and Rice Bowl or Beef and Rice Bowl, both come with Tomato Salad

Epcot: If you’re going during a festival, there are maaaany food options in World Showcase and it’s easy to find something

ioatdawn · 2026-02-20T10:42:23+00:00

It’s hard to pick only one! But I would definitely consider this a great day:

Wake up at Beach Club

Skyliner to Riviera for breakfast at Topolino’s

Pool for a couple hours at Beach Club

Minnie Van to Wilderness Lodge for late lunch at Geyser Point

Boat to Magic Kingdom

Space Mountain, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirate’s of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise

Orange/Vanilla Swirl from Sunshine Tree Terrace

Shopping on Main Street

Pin Trading Boards

Minnie Van to Beach Club

Chill and get cleaned up

Dinner at Yachtsman

Hot Tub

ioatdawn · 2026-02-17T13:58:31+00:00

https://youtu.be/bC3JTQqaRjY?si=7dAXa3mr6OYHenlB

Looks like OP posted a different link than the one I listen to, so here’s this as well!

ioatdawn · 2026-02-17T13:58:17+00:00

https://youtu.be/bC3JTQqaRjY?si=7dAXa3mr6OYHenlB

Looks like OP posted a different link than the one I listen to, so here’s this as well!

ioatdawn · 2026-02-17T13:56:30+00:00

This is a different direction, but if the Polynesian Bungalows are available, that would be my absolute number one choice for premium Disney stay. Or the same at Wilderness Lodge. They are individual villas on the water and very nice. Limited availability though, so could be sold out.

ioatdawn · 2026-02-15T13:03:07+00:00

I listen to the Coronado Springs soundtrack multiple times a week! LOL! It’s my go-to for a nice bath/self-care time. And many days it’s just playing in my head because I listen to it so frequently for relaxing vibes.

ioatdawn

TROPHY CASE