First Timer to WDW requesting help

[PinkLavaLamp]

In November 2010 my family will be taking our first trip to WDW. We already have a few things planned out, were we are staying, dates, transportation, and which parks we are going to so that part’s mostly over.
We will be staying at the Port Orleans Resort from Nov. 1st to Nov. 8th though we really haven’t decided between the French Quarter and Riverside yet. We’re flying down then getting a rental car (yes we looked at Disney Magical Express), and we are only going to MK, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT (not rally interested in AK).
I keep reading/hearing that there is so much to see and so that it can be overwhelming so start planning a year in advance. I’ve bought two guidebooks and been checking tips in general on WDW sites. But being a first timer I really want to make sure we can walk away and really say we had a great time. So my questions start:
I’ve read it’s rainy in the fall, how bad is it usually during the early part of November?
For the sheer sake of my own sanity (or lack there of) I wont go into MK one day to see smiling pumpkins then walk in the next day x-mass music and décor will I? (‘tis an issue with me).
Is an average wait time around 45 minutes for a popular attraction?
I know you can take in bottled water but are little snacks like gummies okay?
Will I get in trouble if I’m taking in powdered drink mix to put in my water? (ie. KoolAid)
My mom needs to sit down for a break a lot, are there places of easy access around MK, EPCOT, and the Studios for her?
Since it’s ‘kinda’ the off-season, do you think making a lunch reservation is a must at the restaurants?
We will be making the grocery stop, if we don’t get a room with a fridge will mousekeeping move the food if we set it out of the way?
To add to the question above, are there grocery stops fairly close to the world?
We are not really interested in going to Pleasure Island, so say we are thinking of going to Downtown Disney near nightfall, how soon do the crowds start pouring in for PI?
How bad are the misquotes/bugs during the fall?
That’s really all I can think up right now that I haven’t found yet. If there are other things you think I should know about please let me know.

Thank you.

[TimmyII]

You should go see the Animal Kingdom....the Safari Ride is AWESOME, the theming is fantastic, the Tree of Life is great and it's very relaxing, plus how could you possibly pass up Expedition Everest?? It wasn't built when I went in 2001, but I want to go again just for that attraction!

[kairamoon]

First off you should definitely go to AK. Kiliminjaro Safaris is awesome and so is Expedition Everest. Finding Nemo the musical is a must see and the Lion King musical is awesome.

Okay I just moved here a couple of months ago and so I can’t answer all your questions but I’ll try. Question 3 I’d say the average wait time for a popular attraction is 30-45 minutes depending on the day and the time of day. Use fast passes. Questions 4 & 5 I would say little snacks are fine and the drink mix should be fine as well. Question 6 there are tons of places to sit. A couple of good ones are the Exposition Hall in MK in the back to the right there’s a little movie theater that shows old Disney cartoons. Epcot and DHS have a lot of shows so that shouldn’t be a problem but AK is the most difficult but there’s plenty of benches all over all of the parks. As for question 7 you should be fine not making them but I would anyway. And definitely do for dinner. It’s nice not having to wait long and knowing you have a guaranteed seat where you want. We went for dinner at Epcot last week and we couldn’t get in at any of the first 4 places we wanted to go. Question 9 no they don’t touch food until you’re out for good and question 10 how far are you willing to drive and what are you looking for to eat? Finally question 11 I work in Downtown Disney and depending on the day it will determine how busy it is. Also it depends on what you want to do. I work at the movie theater and for us it depends on what movies are playing. It also depends on what you want to do. All the nightclubs are closed now so PI doesn’t really have much impact on crowds but the crowds start coming at nightfall because they want to have dinner at the restaurants there. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me or post here I’ll keep checking it.

[ryguy222]

Here's a piece of advice:

If you have been to Disneyland more than 5 times in your life, I would say skip MK, not AK. Well I mean go there for half a day. I usually go to Disneyland Once every two years, so I've been maybe 10-15 times. And I went to Disneyworld this march. While at Magic Kingdom I felt that everything had just be downgraded, and the quality wasn't as close to the level at Disneyland. Me and my friends left that day, upset that we didn't get to spend that valuable day somewhere else (we only had two days though). It depends on how many days you have at the parks. If you have 7 days at the park, I would say go to MK once, AK once, and Hollywood Studios twice, and Epcot twice, or vice versa.
In 7 days you will probably see and do everything depending on crowds (it shouldn't be too busy around that time)
And six days you may make it, five days and you may miss a few things.
Now if you haven't been to Disneyland go to Magic Kingdom. My cousins have never been to Disneyland, only Disneyworld, and they really like Magic Kingdom. However my family has been to Disneyland many times, and Magic Kingdom just feels weird, and not as authentic.

As for snacks they don't really like to have people bring in too much, but a few snacks should be fine. Powdered drinks should be fine too.

You'll probably have a 10-15 minute drive (more with traffic) to get to a grocery store. When I was there I stayed at the orange lake resort (its a time share, we borrowed from our aunt and uncle) and it was a 5 minute drive to Disneyworld, and a 5-10 minute drive to a grocery store.

I think all the hotel rooms have refrigerators full of all the junk they want you to buy. You can request that they are empty when you arrive. My mother has celiac disease (allergic to wheat) and she couldn't eat much so she needed to have pre-prepared meals and keep them in a fridge. We told them we needed it cleared out, didn't mention about the wheat allergy and they said they would. That was back in 2003.
When I was there in march they did not clean out our fridge so we called up the front desk and said we wanted it cleaned out and they dealt with it.

Crowds at Down Town Disney aren't too bad at all. Much better then at any parks. There isn't too many people going to pleasure island. If you can I would suggest going to DTD on a weekday. (middle of the week would be best) but if you can't do it in the middle of the week don't worry crowds aren't too bad.

[alyx92]

I’ve read it’s rainy in the fall, how bad is it usually during the early part of November?
-It can be rainy but its usually not that bad.
Is an average wait time around 45 minutes for a popular attraction?
-About...you can expect about a 50 minute wait for Soarin', a 35-40 minute wait for Splash Mountain, a 45 minute wait for ToT, and a 50 minute wait for Rockin' Rollercoaster. Then again, it all depends if the crowds decide to fluxuate this year twords the off season. Depending on crowds, your times could drastically change for the better, or worse.
I know you can take in bottled water but are little snacks like gummies okay?
-I don't think it would be a problem...
Will I get in trouble if I’m taking in powdered drink mix to put in my water? (ie. KoolAid)
-Once again, i dont think so...as long as its in a Kool-aid package. If you just have a bag of powdered white stuff i dont think that'll fly, but if its brand stuff, i don't think it should be a problem.
My mom needs to sit down for a break a lot, are there places of easy access around MK, EPCOT, and the Studios for her?
-You don't need to worry about that. There are benches everywhere and alot of other places to sit and relax...indoors and out.
Since it’s ‘kinda’ the off-season, do you think making a lunch reservation is a must at the restaurants?
-It can't hurt. I would always make dinner reservations for any time of the year, but lunch is ify. Where do you want to go? Once you answer that, i can tell you if you need to make lunch reservations.
We will be making the grocery stop, if we don’t get a room with a fridge will mousekeeping move the food if we set it out of the way?
-They wont touch any of your stuff unless they have to move it around to clean somthing else.
We are not really interested in going to Pleasure Island, so say we are thinking of going to Downtown Disney near nightfall, how soon do the crowds start pouring in for PI?
-DTD an PI are sort of seperate so if your in DTD, you really wont see that much of the PI crowds. Just dont leave DTD while they are coming in!
How bad are the misquotes/bugs during the fall?
-Two words: Bug Spray
That’s really all I can think up right now that I haven’t found yet. If there are other things you think I should know about please let me know.
- Here is a really good WDW podcast. I've listened to them since their very first episode. Here it is: WDW Today Podcast

Thank you.
-Your welcome

[PinkLavaLamp]

Thanks guys for clearing some of this up for me.
The reason we aren't going to AK is because we'd like to save that for a second trip. It's not that we don't ever want to go, we just want to save it. Also while we are in Orlando for a week I think only five of those days will be at the park.
ryguy222 - We don't want to skip MK because we want to compare the two. I think I've been to DL about five times but four of them I was like 5, last time we went to DL was in 2007. Also since the HM is my favorite I'd really like to compare those two with my own eyes and not YouTube.
-alyx92- We haven't really talked were we walk to go for lunch but I'm thinking of suggesting Liberty Tree Tavern at MK. And I sadly do not have an ipod so I don't think podcast will work for me, but thanks.

Two new questions:
1) We will be making dinner reservations, but should we check back to make sure we have a table? I haven't made dinner reservations at any of the parks before so I'm not 100% sure how all that works.
2) Since we are staying on property can we go see what the other resort hotels look like?

[alyx92]

Ok. Liberty Tree you might want to make an ADR for, just because its one of the three real table service restraunts in MK.

After you make your dinner reservations, they are pretty much locked in for you. You should confirm them a week out and a day out, just to make sure. Also, tell the agent about any special dietary needs.

Yes, anyone can go visit, eat, and shop at any disney resort. The only thing you can't reall do is go into the rooms, and use the pool. But anyone, including non-WDW resort guests, can take a look around the resorts.

Hope that helps!!!!!
P.S. I love port orleans riverside!

[tomserwin]

Is an average wait time around 45 minutes for a popular attraction? Depends on the attraction and how you use the Fastpass system.

I know you can take in bottled water but are little snacks like gummies okay? Yes, by all means do it. It's a good idea.

Will I get in trouble if I’m taking in powdered drink mix to put in my water? (ie. KoolAid) Nope, should have no problem. My dad does this with various stuff.

My mom needs to sit down for a break a lot, are there places of easy access around MK, EPCOT, and the Studios for her? Yeah, seating is available everywhere.

Since it’s ‘kinda’ the off-season, do you think making a lunch reservation is a must at the restaurants? Do it regardless of the season. I'd highly recommend making reservations simply for the easy of mind.

1) We will be making dinner reservations, but should we check back to make sure we have a table? I haven't made dinner reservations at any of the parks before so I'm not 100% sure how all that works. No, just make your reservations beforehand like normal. Just make sure you arrive a little early before your reservation to check in. As long as you have reservation you'll be seated.

2) Since we are staying on property can we go see what the other resort hotels look like? Aboslutely! There is no restrictions on things like that. In fact Disney encourages people to visit the hotels and use the resort restaurants.

[jessiestudio]

I would say no matter where your eating make a reservation as said before, there are so many other things on your mind when at the Disney Parks and waiting in line for food takes up valuable ride time.

Also always check most of your reservations the month, and week before. Also try to arrive around 15 minutes earlier then the reservation time if possible because Disney's reservation Program is not your typical reservation program. It seats you at the next available table for your party seating you above those waiting in line but will not be sitting there waiting for you which eliminates the problems caused by no shows and last minute cancelations.

As far as ride lines go i would try Ridemax its a great program and although i haven't tried the WDW version i absolutely love the DLR version and just wont go without it. It costs around 20 a year if i remember correctly or 15 for a couple months membership. With ridemax you just plug in which park you plan to go to on that day, when you want to take breaks ( for lunch, dinner, an extended snack ect.) and when you plan to arrive/ leave the park. It then calculates when each ride will have the shortest waits and puts them in a schedule for you with some added breaks for your sanity. During my last trip i was able to get almost the entire DCA park "done" in 4 hours including a stop for lunch. Again im not sure how well the WDW one plays out but i will be heading there next month to try it out and i'll let ya know.

Also as said before Pleasure Island is closed, and has been for quite some time, so a year out from now (you said ur going 2010 correct?) it should still be closed although it is possible that something will ocupy the space by then.

But if your not going until Nov 2010 your gona have to wait sometime before reservations of any kind can be made...