Kids first disney trip. What am I missing

[bethwc101]

I have been to Disney plenty of times, but I am going with my DH and his two kids for the first time this summer. DS8 DD6. Since these kids have never done rides before, we have no idea what their thrill level will be. We don't even know what height rides they will match up for. So we are starting with the smallest rides. Anticipating a medium thrill. So probably no space, rockin, tot, ETC.
He gets them for the summer so we will know it will be hot.
4 days no park hopping.
MK, EPCTO, HS, MK
Staying at All Stars. Will be doing early entry, afternoon break either at our hotel/pool or just an afternoon lunch at a nearby hotel to get out of the heat (contemporary).
Day 1 will be riding transportation and telling them about the trip showing them the parks. They've never been to even a carnival so disney is their first ever theme park/ride experience
Day 2. MK. This might be controversial, but we are thinking of early entrying Barnstormer, then dumbo, then tea party because they're more mild than 7dmt. Then queuing up for mansion, unless they're not a big fan of a haunted house, then either getting in line for peter pan or shooting across for pirates. Magic Kingdom isn't a big rush day since we will be coming back. Filling in with some rides maybe meet and greets and enchanted tales. Leave for break. Come back a few rides, fireworks, end day.
Day 3. EPCOT. DD6 is a Frozen fanatic. We were thinking of early entry frozen then going to remy. But I know frozen is such a popular ride if it might not be worth it? We will be doing it 100% unless technical issues. Plus meet and greet with the duo. Would it be better to do test track, soarin, nemo and just face that frozen and remy will be out two lines of the day?
Day 4 Rest/pool
Day 5 Hollywood Studios. Early entry thinking of heading to MMRR first. I know we wont beat the rush to ROTR or Slinky. So thinking MMRR, star tours, MFSR? Then ROTR? Anticipating ROTR and Slinky to be the long lines of the day? Can split them on either side of the noon break. return for fantasmic
Day 6. Magic Kingdom. Early entry. Depending on how the rest of the week went and their coaster thrill level, will probably either do 7DMT or peter pan if they didn't end up liking coasters. Go from there.

What do you guys think for a first trip for kids? We're kinda shooting in the dark but are trying to get a baseline.

 

[sponica]

I think that looks ok.
I'm not sure if you're planning on Genie+ or ILLs. My sister did a trip last summer with no Genie+ but she did buy the ILL for ROTR. It's very unreliable, and you don't get an anytime lightning lane (formerly known as anytime FP) unless you're ON the ride, so I think you have to make it into the first pre-show. If there are two fantasmic shows, go to the first one and ride slinky dog during the second one.

 

[Shellyred8]

I would keep an eye on how they are feeling after the first two rides at MK. If they are questionable, I would skip the teacups. No need to make them sick and ruin the rest of the day.
If DD6 is a frozen fanatic, I would make that ride a priority, even if it is a longer wait.

Sounds like a great trip!

 

[tetera]

Overall this looks great- that being said, I probably wouldn't do Test Track with these kiddos if they have never been on a ride before - for that age at EPCOT I would look at Journey into Imagination with Figment, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth before even considering Test Track.

If you are able to swing it, a meal at Cinderella's Royal Table would be pretty magical - eating in the castle! If not there, maybe Akershus at EPCOT as a backup? If not doing princess/castle meals, there is Garden Grill at EPCOT (which overlooks Living with the Land) - how can you beat a character meal in a rotating restaurant that overlooks an attraction, serving food that you have just seen being grown in that attraction?

Really great to hear that you aren't planning on rushing Magic Kingdom- leave room for the magic! Try a treat they can't get anywhere else - the Citrus Swirl at Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland. Frozen orange juice and vanilla soft serve ice cream - it's the perfect treat for a hot day.

Also, since you can't avoid going in summer, maybe think about getting some Frogg Togg mini cooling neck towels before the trip. They are only a few dollars each and can be reused over and over - just wet them in the bathroom sink (or even at a water fountain) and it makes a big difference in the summer heat.

We also like to get Disney "magic washcloths" from dollar tree and keep those to hand out for bath time (since our kids don't love to waste time on bathing on vacation)- they get to use one of the magic washcloths, find out who the character is, then we take them home and work them into our regular towel/washcloth rotation.

 

[Genie+]

Sounds good! I think they might really enjoy Toy Story Midway Mania at HS and keep that in mind either to add with Slinky Dog or replace if the choice becomes something like: SDD 100 minutes, TSMM 40 minutes.

Also I’ve seen posts about WDW 3 and 4 day ticket deal not having ability to repeat parks, and some people planning to buy them didn’t realize that detail. The 4 day ticket deal saves as much as $180 per ticket over the summer (like for a ticket starting July 9th). Using Aug 21 as a start date saves $64 per ticket.

 

[bethwc101]

Overall this looks great- that being said, I probably wouldn't do Test Track with these kiddos if they have never been on a ride before - for that age at EPCOT I would look at Journey into Imagination with Figment, Turtle Talk with Crush, Living with the Land, and Spaceship Earth before even considering Test Track.

If you are able to swing it, a meal at Cinderella's Royal Table would be pretty magical - eating in the castle! If not there, maybe Akershus at EPCOT as a backup? If not doing princess/castle meals, there is Garden Grill at EPCOT (which overlooks Living with the Land) - how can you beat a character meal in a rotating restaurant that overlooks an attraction, serving food that you have just seen being grown in that attraction?

Really great to hear that you aren't planning on rushing Magic Kingdom- leave room for the magic! Try a treat they can't get anywhere else - the Citrus Swirl at Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland. Frozen orange juice and vanilla soft serve ice cream - it's the perfect treat for a hot day.

Also, since you can't avoid going in summer, maybe think about getting some Frogg Togg mini cooling neck towels before the trip. They are only a few dollars each and can be reused over and over - just wet them in the bathroom sink (or even at a water fountain) and it makes a big difference in the summer heat.

We also like to get Disney "magic washcloths" from dollar tree and keep those to hand out for bath time (since our kids don't love to waste time on bathing on vacation)- they get to use one of the magic washcloths, find out who the character is, then we take them home and work them into our regular towel/washcloth rotation.

Sounds good! I think they might really enjoy Toy Story Midway Mania at HS and keep that in mind either to add with Slinky Dog or replace if the choice becomes something like: SDD 100 minutes, TSMM 40 minutes.

Also I’ve seen posts about WDW 3 and 4 day ticket deal not having ability to repeat parks, and some people planning to buy them didn’t realize that detail. The 4 day ticket deal saves as much as $180 per ticket over the summer (like for a ticket starting July 9th). Using Aug 21 as a start date saves $64 per ticket.

I totally forgot about tsmm thank you.
We talking about akershurs but are also did a package of free dining plan for kids and did the quick service package so we'd lose some value if we do a table meal. But maybe we'll do it anyway.

 

[Genie+]

I totally forgot about tsmm thank you.
We talking about akershurs but are also did a package of free dining plan for kids and did the quick service package so we'd lose some value if we do a table meal. But maybe we'll do it anyway.

Adding in one table service meal to QSDDP will give you a little more wiggle room. 5 nights of QS credits gives 10 meals, but that’s over 6 days. So in likelihood you’d probably end up having no trouble using all of your credits even if you added the out-of-pocket meal.

 

[ThisIsMyName]

Besides the thrill level of the rides you also want to be aware of if either of them are at all afraid of the dark / or scarry themes. I'd avoid the Haunted Mansion and maybe even Pirates early in trip unless you know for sure they are into that sort of thing. My DD is 16 and still won't go anywhere near the HM but loves thrill rides.

I would Rope Drop Frozen and then do the Akershurs breakfast for the princess lover. It's the easiest way to see / get pics with the Princesses. You could also split up and just have one adult and DD go to breakfast if budget is an issue and the boy would prefer a different activity.

Test Track is a little intense but most kids love it. My DS loves being able to build the car rendering and the whole experience.

The one ride both of my kids will never do again is Mission Space. . .my DD loves thrill rides/spinning and my DS loves space so last year they did the "Orange" level and I didn't think anything of it. . They both HATED it and were like "Why did you let us go on that?" I did the Green and was also not a fan.

 

[umalum99]

Barnstormer is great to get a sense of thrill level. It ended up being my 3yo's favorite ride. I know you said you don't plan to rush magic kingdom but are you at all going the genie plus route? I only ask because Peter Pan will easily hit 85 minutes plus for a wait within the first hour. The park is open and if you don't do lightning lane you could be waiting there a long time. Similar for Ratatouille in Epcot. We were super lucky to lightning lane it using genie plus, but I've read more than one story if folks having to wait three plus hours and I know that it hit at least a 2 hour wait while we were there. Just something to keep in mind, even as you're thinking about some of the milder rides for your kids. The app was our best friend to help us know which rides to try when based on the wait times because that's also super important with the kids.

 

[bethwc101]

Barnstormer is great to get a sense of thrill level. It ended up being my 3yo's favorite ride. I know you said you don't plan to rush magic kingdom but are you at all going the genie plus route? I only ask because Peter Pan will easily hit 85 minutes plus for a wait within the first hour. The park is open and if you don't do lightning lane you could be waiting there a long time. Similar for Ratatouille in Epcot. We were super lucky to lightning lane it using genie plus, but I've read more than one story if folks having to wait three plus hours and I know that it hit at least a 2 hour wait while we were there. Just something to keep in mind, even as you're thinking about some of the milder rides for your kids. The app was our best friend to help us know which rides to try when based on the wait times because that's also super important with the kids.

no genie plus