Visiting for first time, tips please.

[PaulaS79]

My daughter is going with her band to Disney in 2015 and my husband and I have decided to take our two younger daughters as well.

It'll be all of our first times.

I have a few questions..

1. For character dining, our main goal is to see the Princesses (esp. Snow White), where would be our best chance at that?
Also, what is the best meal time? Breakfast, lunch, dinner?

2. We'll be doing BBB for the two littles (7 and 5 at the time). Are there any benefits to the Castle package (that's the highest one, right?) other than the costume?

3. How does the Jedi training work? My 7 year old loves Star Wars (thanks to my DH, lol. ) and We'd (he mostly) would love to have her do that.

 

[wildernessfreak]

1) We always go to breakfast at Akershus in Norway at Epcot. Usually have Belle, Snow White, Ariel, etc. (usually 4-5 princesses). it's only 1 table service if you are using the dining plan.

2) We have purchased the entire pig at BBB and we've brought our own dress. It is obviously cheaper to bring your own. The dresses at BBB have been "itchy" to our DD. I don't believe we've missed out on other perks by doing this but others may know better than I

3) for Jedi training you will need to be at the park at least 15 min prior to opening. It is a mad dash to get to the sign-up location. The spots fill up quick even though there are several shows each day. Get there early and go quickly to sign up for a time later in the day. With that said my DS And DD love Jedi training

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[PaulaS79]

So Jedi training is just a daily sign up thing? No reservations ahead of time?

I was hoping to do the BBB before a lunch or dinner with the Princesses. Would
Akershus still be ok for this?

Thanks for your help! I'm already so excited and it's 9 months out!
Girls won't know until the day before either. We're going to tell them on Easter.

 

[GaBelle]

Congratulations on your first trip!
1. Akershus at Epcot or Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom. I have found the character interaction to be better at Akershus. But dining in the castle is just magical! I prefer the breakfast at Akershus over the lunch or dinner, but that's just my opinion. I have not had a bad meal at Cindy's.
2. There isn't a difference in treatment based on packages at BBB. We love to splurge while there and allow our girls to pick costumes, accessories, etc. We don't love getting the bill afterwards! LOL!
3. Cant offer much help with Jedi training except get there early. Lines build quickly.

 

[PaulaS79]

I read somewhere that if you have the castle package, you get a "royal treatment walk to Princesses and skip the line", is this not true?

 

[GaBelle]

So Jedi training is just a daily sign up thing? No reservations ahead of time?

I was hoping to do the BBB before a lunch or dinner with the Princesses. Would
Akershus still be ok for this?

Thanks for your help! I'm already so excited and it's 9 months out!
Girls won't know until the day before either. We're going to tell them on Easter.

The only issue with doing BBB before Akershus is you'll be doing a lot of running around. BBB at MK then Akershus will require park hoppers.
Ideally would be BBB at MK, then Cinderella's Royal Table.

 

[BMC423]

I can only help with Jedi Training question. As the pp mentioned it does fill up pretty fast so I would sign up first thing in the morning or once you arrive. Your daughter has to be with you when you sign her up. They will give a show time and tell you what time to return to the sign up location. One parent (I'm not sure if this is standard but the told me I could stay with my ds when we signed him up but he was quite small at the time) will stay with the child the rest of the family will go to the viewing area.
Once the kids come up on the stage they will be trained by a jedi master. The whole thing is no longer than 30 mins. It is a really fun show and the kids love it. I hope your daughter enjoys it.

 

[GaBelle]

I read somewhere that if you have the castle package, you get a "royal treatment walk to Princesses and skip the line", is this not true?

Unless this is something new, no.

 

[PaulaS79]

The only issue with doing BBB before Akershus is you'll be doing a lot of running around. BBB at MK then Akershus will require park hoppers.
Ideally would be BBB at MK, then Cinderella's Royal Table.

Ahh, so helpful! I hadn't even thought of that!
So would it be better to do BBB before and then the next day do Akershus in the dress or just do Cinderella's royal table?

 

[GaBelle]

Ahh, so helpful! I hadn't even thought of that!
So would it be better to do BBB before and then the next day do Akershus in the dress or just do Cinderella's royal table?

Either one.
The plus to doing BBB then CRT is girls will be freshly decked out in their princess dresses and makeup. The experience is very special! Whichever you decide, be sure to pick up first visit buttons at your resort if staying on site, and have the girls wear their buttons! They'll get extra pixie dust!

 

[PaulaS79]

Oh, good tip! Thank you!

 

[PaulaS79]

I can only help with Jedi Training question. As the pp mentioned it does fill up pretty fast so I would sign up first thing in the morning or once you arrive. Your daughter has to be with you when you sign her up. They will give a show time and tell you what time to return to the sign up location. One parent (I'm not sure if this is standard but the told me I could stay with my ds when we signed him up but he was quite small at the time) will stay with the child the rest of the family will go to the viewing area.
Once the kids come up on the stage they will be trained by a jedi master. The whole thing is no longer than 30 mins. It is a really fun show and the kids love it. I hope your daughter enjoys it.

You just broke my hubby's heart! He thought he could do the training too!

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Sine you aren't going till next year, keep an eye out after halloween! We've scored many Disney princess costumes for 75% off at target after halloween! Perfect for BBB and will save you a ton on money!

 

[PaulaS79]

Thought of a couple more questions..

We haven't decided if we are going to fly or drive to Disney yet (we're in Ohio). If we do drive, I'm not worried about transportation on Disney but what about to Universal?
Do they offer some sort of service with Universal?

Also curious about child care. We'll be celebrating our 17 anniversary while there and though not mandatory, it'd be nice if hubby and I could go to dinner or something by ourselves. Does anywhere offer child care and if so how does it work? Rates, etc?
Or does anywhere do anything special for birthdays, anniversaries, etc..?

Oh, another one.. We'll be staying at Disney but my oldest will be staying off Disney with the band. I know we'll get magic bands but how do I get her one?

Also, if I choose to get the photo pass thingy (lol) can I link it to her band as well so any pictures she has taken will be with ours? I don't want to pay $300 for two!!

 

[GaBelle]

Thought of a couple more questions..

We haven't decided if we are going to fly or drive to Disney yet (we're in Ohio). If we do drive, I'm not worried about transportation on Disney but what about to Universal?
Do they offer some sort of service with Universal?

Also curious about child care. We'll be celebrating our 17 anniversary while there and though not mandatory, it'd be nice if hubby and I could go to dinner or something by ourselves. Does anywhere offer child care and if so how does it work? Rates, etc?
Or does anywhere do anything special for birthdays, anniversaries, etc..?

Oh, another one.. We'll be staying at Disney but my oldest will be staying off Disney with the band. I know we'll get magic bands but how do I get her one?

Also, if I choose to get the photo pass thingy (lol) can I link it to her band as well so any pictures she has taken will be with ours? I don't want to pay $300 for two!!

Disney does not offer transportation to Universal, but I would recommend Mears transportation. It's pretty reasonable.
Depending on which resort you're staying at, there are some kids clubs that kids can go to while you and hubby have a nice dinner. You can check the Disney website for a list of them and call for rates.

 

[lizard1]

Thought of a couple more questions..

We haven't decided if we are going to fly or drive to Disney yet (we're in Ohio). If we do drive, I'm not worried about transportation on Disney but what about to Universal?
Do they offer some sort of service with Universal?

Also curious about child care. We'll be celebrating our 17 anniversary while there and though not mandatory, it'd be nice if hubby and I could go to dinner or something by ourselves. Does anywhere offer child care and if so how does it work? Rates, etc?
Or does anywhere do anything special for birthdays, anniversaries, etc..?

Oh, another one.. We'll be staying at Disney but my oldest will be staying off Disney with the band. I know we'll get magic bands but how do I get her one?

Also, if I choose to get the photo pass thingy (lol) can I link it to her band as well so any pictures she has taken will be with ours? I don't want to pay $300 for two!!

Is your oldest onsite with the band? If so, she'll probably get one. If not, they are available for purchase for around $13. Also, if you get a room that could sleep 5 (would be more expensive, but maybe you want the extra room??) you could add her to your reservation and she would get one that way....the only problem with this is that she also would have to have the same package as you so if you have tickets and dining, she would also have to have those (even if she wouldn't be able to use them).

For the MM, it may be a little more complicated because I don't know how these group things work. The short answer would be that you shouldn't need 2 MM as you can invite anyone to plan and share and then authorize them to view your photos. In this way, if she has friends, they could also be linked to you so you can purchase their photos. If she is on your MDE, this should be automatic. HOWEVER, if she is in the system separately from your MDE (like if her group added her) then she may have more than one her in the system (and the system really does NOT like that). For this, I would suggest you call Disney and find out what you need from her group in order to have her information linked to your account as well.

 

[Jenn55]

Thought of a couple more questions.. We haven't decided if we are going to fly or drive to Disney yet (we're in Ohio). If we do drive, I'm not worried about transportation on Disney but what about to Universal? Do they offer some sort of service with Universal? Also curious about child care. We'll be celebrating our 17 anniversary while there and though not mandatory, it'd be nice if hubby and I could go to dinner or something by ourselves. Does anywhere offer child care and if so how does it work? Rates, etc? Or does anywhere do anything special for birthdays, anniversaries, etc..? Oh, another one.. We'll be staying at Disney but my oldest will be staying off Disney with the band. I know we'll get magic bands but how do I get her one? Also, if I choose to get the photo pass thingy (lol) can I link it to her band as well so any pictures she has taken will be with ours? I don't want to pay $300 for two!!

We spent 2 days at universal in January 2014 while staying on disney property. When we left the resort in the morning, we asked the cast members outside the resort front entrance and they called over a cab that took maybe 3-4 min to show up and grab us. We took it to universal from all star movies and it cost us about 38$ one way if I remember correctly correctly, on the way back it was actually cheaper because when we returned we drove to AOA (as we were doing a split stay and that was our resort change day) and it cost us about 32ish $ to drive back. The great thing about leaving universal is they ask u where to go and write it down on a sheet at the podium so they can keep track of where ppl are going. I looked at it as an added safety feature, especially late at night. I did notice that the family in front of us had a child the same age as my son, 7 and they were asked to wait while a taxi with a car seat was called (coming back from universal to disney) so I specifically told them my son was 8 when asked (then had to gently nudge my son when he tried to say he was only 7.. Turned 8 in march and we went in January lol) so so etching to keep in mind. We had never been asked or offered a car seat before while we were there tho and he's been in cars without them so I didn't want to wait around for one.

 

[BMC423]

You just broke my hubby's heart! He thought he could do the training too!

Maybe hubby can take a trip during Star Wars Weekends next year. So much fun even for me and I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. When in 2015 are you going? If it's in May you might be there for Star Wars weekends already.

Thought of a couple more questions..

Also curious about child care. We'll be celebrating our 17 anniversary while there and though not mandatory, it'd be nice if hubby and I could go to dinner or something by ourselves. Does anywhere offer child care and if so how does it work? Rates, etc?
Or does anywhere do anything special for birthdays, anniversaries, etc..?

What resort are you staying in? Some of the deluxe have a kids club where you can drop off your child. We haven't used them but I have been looking into them for our next trip. From what I've read they even offer some dinner choices for your child. If you are not staying at a deluxe Disney does recommend 2 different babysitting services.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

You don't have to be staying at the deluxe to use the kids clubs

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I can only provide advice for your older DD's situation.

It is very likely her band will have their own agenda and that her band directors may not be too happy with her going off with you guys while she is under the care of the band directors. They are responsible for her and they are more than likely going to want her to stick with their group.

There is also the fact that she is probably performing at Disney at that will require practices while she is with the band that will take away from her time from you, and also the possibility that she may just want to hang with her friends for a while.

When my choir went in 2013, parents were on the trip but they were chaperons and stayed with us in our hotel and were on our schedule. Some family members of friends did come down to see us perform, and they were allowed to spend some time with my friends however my friends still had to stick with 2-3 other choir students as those were our rules for the trip.

It's definitely something to keep in mind. She may not be able to attend all these dining reservations and FP reservations with you because she is with the band and on the band's schedule.