[Marnie]

I'm new to this Disney thing. My sister and I are taking our 9 and 4 year old daughters Easter week. We will be there from March 29 (Good Friday) until April 3. We are staying at the All-Star Music.
I know it is going to be crowded this time of year, but it was our only option. I know this may be a dumb question, but does anyone have any good tips to share for that particular week.
Of the 4 going I'm the only one that has been, and that was just to MK and it was 12 years ago.
Our attitude is that it is DisneyWorld and we expect it to be crowded. I have read that early entry is out, which kind of distresses me because we were going to take advantage of it.
Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated.:)

[lopo]

As you know, the parks will be BUSY during your visit. Make sure you take advantage of the Fast Pass system. It is a great timesaver. Fortunately, because it is a busy time at WDW, the park hours are extended. For instance, I believe Magic Kingdom is open 9AM-11PM that week. I think the other parks (except Animal Kingdom) will also have longer operating hours. Have you made any reservations for priority seating at some of the popular spots (such as Chef Mickey's)? Have you utilized any of the great guide books? They have lots of helpful hints for particular times. I was thinking of The Unofficial Guide to WDW and/or WDW with Kids. I have found that early or late in the day is best. Midday is mobbed! Have a wonderful trip!

[Marnie]

Thank you so much for that information. I have both of those guide books. They have been very helpful. We have a Character Breakfast scheduled on our last morning at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and the gang.
I knew it would be crowded, but like you said the parks are open late.
Any more tips from anyone?

Marnie:)

[brumcg]

Marnie,

I'm sure most of this stuff is in the guides, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce! :)

If you can, go as early as possible, take a mid-day break, and go back in the evening. The 4 year old (and the adults!) will fade pretty quickly otherwise, and you'll avoid the hottest and most crowded part of the day. Also, don't be afraid to park hop (do 2 parks in one day) if the park you're in is crowded; sometimes cast members can direct you to the least crowded park.

On our previous trips, we were victims of the "we have to do everything" syndrome. It's just so much better to make a SMALL list of the must-do attractions and concentrate on those. Everything else is gravy...

Hopefully, the group has similar priorities. If you don't (the 9 year old wants to do Space Mountain 50 times, while the 4-year old wants to do Dumbo), don't be afraid to split up. We're going to try to use some FRS 2-way radios (basically walkie talkies) this year to keep in touch.

Have a plan, but be flexible. If Star Tours is #8 on your MGM list and there's a 90 minute wait when you get there...go to #9! :)

Probably the best thing to do will be to talk to the kids about the trip; set their expectations.

Have fun!!!

[Marnie]

I'm beginning to think that I'm more prepared than I realize. Those are things that I have already thought about. I have read two guide books, talked to friends who have been, and read stuff on the Internet.
My sister and I have talked to the girls about the trip fairly extensively. My sister is pretty much leaving the itinerary up to me. I do think that our priorities will be the same. It will be the first time for both girls and they like to do the same types of things despite the age difference. My daughter (4) has already told me that she wants to ride Space Mountain. We'll see when we get there. I have already told her that we are doing Fantasyland first and I have talked to both of them about the rides.
We will definitely park hop, our tickets allow us to do that. I know that can be an advantage. The best tips have been, go early, take a break, and stay late. We plan to do that.
We plan to do Animal Kingdom first. Both girls are animal lovers so I thought that would be good and I know that it doesn't take as long to tour AK.
Thanks so much.

:)

[mickey]

Marnie

The best tip that I have is to get to the parks first thing, go full speed through about 1 or 2, and head back to the hotel. Take a nap, swim or just watch TV. Then head back around 4 or 5, get a good dinner and enjoy the parks until close. I have always found that the parks are the most crowded during mid-day, and not as bad early in the morning and late at evening.

I know it was said before, but it is a tip worth repeating. Have a great trip!

[TK924]

We usually do the first half of the day, break, and then return. Works well for us.
We're going about that same time. I'm not looking forward to the crowds. We went this same time last year and the crowds were awful. I imagine that with the 50th celebration, the crowds will be even worse this year.

We're only going because the DD is out of school and my wife's business is closed, so I'm the only one that is effected by going during this time.
But, the one good thing is that I get to plan our next WDW trip and I'm picking the least busiest time of year to go. We're missing school, work...whatever it takes!

[Erin]

You can also take advantage of Extra Magic Hour, right? You're staying at a Disney resort. So, even though it will be busy, you can still take advantage of the most time in the parks. If your little ones are flexible, that is.

[disneygrandma]

I recommend that you try to choose one or two of the most important things to see every day and make sure you can accomplish those things. Then just go and enjoy. MAGIC KINGDOM If your daughters like characters I might suggest that you go back to the Toontown area about 9:45am. and wait for it to open about 10:00. Usually the characters meet you at the gate and walk in a parade up the street with the kids. My grandson's have even been able to ride on Goofy's Barnstormer with Goofy and his nephew Max. They have opened a new section back in Toontown at the Judges Tent were you can meet and have pictures taken with princesses as well as Pooh & Friends and Mickey and friends - If you can't find the place just ask a cast member.

Also if your four year old hasn't been on many rides, she may only enjoy ones that are not so scary. Snow White is dark and kindof scary. Pooh's ride is great, Peter Pan is real fun, but usually busy. - Don't miss It's a Small World - it should have reopened by then. Mickey's Philharmagic is great I would recommend that you don't miss it.

The parades will be a real treat. I recommend that you head back to frontierland about 2:00pm and try to find a spot to wait for the MK parade. The ropes will go up about then or around 2:30 and I would suggest that you just find a spot and rest until the parade begins. - Try to find a shady spot. Everyone seems to want to be on Main Street and I find that frontierland is much easier to find a spot. Also that is a great time to get some popcorn and something to drink while you wait.

Also when you go on the Monorail - ask a cast member if you can ride up front. Ask right away if there aren't many people there. They let people do it on a first come first serve basis.

At EPCOT the acts around the World Showcase are a lot of fun. Each country usually has characters at different times of the day. I have seen Peter Pan and friends & Pooh & friends at United Kingdom, Snow White & 7 dwarfs at Germany, Aladdin, Jasmine & Genie at Morocco and Princess Aurora - Sleeping Beauty and Belle and Beast at France. Also I have meet Mulan and the Mushoo on my way in to see the show at China. I would say that one of the most fun things for little girls at that age would be to meet a lot of characters. Also have them get and decorate a mask at each world. Ask where the kidcots are for each country and when you find the first one they can explain the mask and what you are to do. ALSO - the characters come in the double decker bus at EPCOT right up front by the Leave a Legacy stones at about 10:00 - 10:15 each day. It is another great place to get autographs and pictures.

Times for a lot of the character meets are given on the daily handouts at each park. Be sure to get one each day and review as soon as possible.

Animal Kingdom - Most little kids really love Dinoland and the play area. There is a McDonalds restaurant back there also if you have picky eaters. I would say that you must go on the KSafari ride and be sure to catch the Lion King Show - they may also enjoy the Pocohantas show. The Animal Kingdom parade is great - last time we went by the Pizzafari about 3:00pm and grabbed a drink and the kids sat on one of the kids tables right out by the parade route. We adults sat on the stone wall right beside them. Since no one could stand inf ront of the stone wall the characters came right over to the kids. We just turned their chairs around right next to the tape line and we got great pictures and the kids just loved having the characters and puppets coming up to them.

MGM has Muppets 3D and they may enjoy the play area "Honey I shrunk the kids" It has a great Little Mermaid show, Bear in the Big Blue house show and a Beauty and the Beast show. - Also I feel that the Fantasmic show is one of the best - but can be kind of scary for some little ones - See how your four year old does with some other scary things.

Also - many of the Toy Story characters including Jessie used to be back by Al's Toy Barn but I am not sure if they are still there - I do know that you can see them inside at Woody's show back in Frontierland at MK.

These are just a few of the things we find that help us enjoy our time at WDW, I hope some of them help you.

I would also recommend that you rent or take a stroller at least for the four year old. A double stroller is great and both can sit on them for the parades if you can get right up to the ropes or tape.

[disneygrandma]

Oh yes, I forgot be sure to take advantage of Camp Minnie Mickey to have the girls meet and get autographs/pictures of Safari Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. When you get out of the Lion King show look around and you should be able to see where the meet and greet is for all these characters. Last time we even got to meet some of the Brother Bear characters.

[jk8]

Don't know if this has been mentioned but rent or take a stroller even though your 4yr old may not ride in one much any more. Mine ds was almost 5 at the time and we got a cheap umbrella stroller from Walmart to take down. If not that then rent a single or better yet a double as the 9yr old can sqeeze in too for a rest. The best thing for us about that stroller was we could really make good time between the rides we wanted to ride, especially in the am when we knew we could get on more rides the faster we went. There is no way my ds could have kept up the walking pace.

We did as others suggested (July) got there first thing for opening and hightailed it in the park. We went to Buzz, Peterpan, Pooh, Mickeys Phil (my fav) and got on a couple of these twice. Then we went to HM and then slowed down a bit since we knew we had not only that day but others during the week. After that we used FP almost exclusively using the time in between rides to gaze at our surroundings, get pressed pennies, eat and go back to main street to enjoy that. I really took great joy that first day in zooming past all the main street lookers to get what I wanted accomplished. I know this approach is not for everyone but it worked for us.

Another thing was ds was not keen at first on getting autographs so we did not encourage it. We did 2 character meals so he got them then. If we happened upon a character that did not have a line we went after that. This suited all of us as we did not want to wait in lines. Luckily my son was after the rides as we were. I have a friend with 2 daughters that did not want to ride hardly anything. They spend most of there time with characters and watching Cinderellas Surprise Celebration at the castle every time it was on.

As someone else sugguested if you have a few things you set out to do and get them done you don't worry so much about the crowds but just enjoy
being there.

Have a great time!

[TK924]

Just found this over at MousePlanet.

Hour extensions

It's well-known that the weeks before and after Easter are two of the busiest weeks of the year at Walt Disney World, and park hours are lengthened in response. This year is no exception, as Disney is instituting what may the the longest regular hours since opening, if you include Extra Magic Hours.

From March 20 through April 1, the regular hours for the Magic Kingdom park are 8 a.m. until midnight, for a 16-hour regular day. However, the park is holding Morning Extra Magic Hours every day during that period, lengthening the day to 17 hours.

And just in case the overnight custodial staff didn't have enough problems resetting the park in less than seven hours every day, on March 23 and March 30, the evening Extra Magic Hours have the park hours for resort guests run from 7 a.m. until 3 a.m., for a whopping 20-hour day! If you are in the park first thing in the morning on March 24 or March 31 and the custodial staff is still busy making the park nice and fresh, give them a nice big thank-you for making it all happen in four hours.

In addition, during that stretch from March 20 to April 1, the Magic Kingdom's Share a Dream Come True parade makes its way through the crowded park twice a day, at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Also, Disney's Animal Kingdom operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from March 20 to April 1. Morning Extra Magic Hours open the park at 7 a.m. on March 26. Evening Extra Magic Hours make for very late nights at that park, running until 11 p.m. on March 22 and 29.

Hopefully with these extra hours, it won't be too bad. But I wouldn't bank on it.

[KarenT]

We were at WDW last year , Easter week. My advice would be the same as others. Get up early and go to the parks early. We picked three or four attractions that we wanted to to at each park. We did those first and then enjoyed the rest of the day. By noon - 1:00 the parks are packed. Take a break go back to your hotel and relax!
Most fastpasses are gone by night time. So anything you want a fastpass for, do early. We were able to go on almost every ride we really wanted to. Have fun!

[goofygoff]

TIP on the stroller if you rent one (I would suggest renting. It's a pain carrying your own). When you get out of an attraction, they look like a sea of strollers. Find the loudest ugliest scarf you can get and tie it around the handle. It will save you LOTS of time hunting for your stroller.

[Tinkerbelle67]

Originally Posted by goofygoff

TIP on the stroller if you rent one (I would suggest renting. It's a pain carrying your own). When you get out of an attraction, they look like a sea of strollers. Find the loudest ugliest scarf you can get and tie it around the handle. It will save you LOTS of time hunting for your stroller.

We tie a balloon to ours, it makes the stroller really easy to find.