[rmammav]

My husband and I are taking my four year old daughter to WDW for 6 days (May 5-10). We are going to be visiting MK and AK as well as Sea World. My daughter is absolutely adores Cinderella and Ariel and I just want to be sure that we get to meet those characters. We will be visiting MK 2 days. Any advice? Do any of you have any advice for some first timers? i.e. info on crowds, weather, dress, etc.. We will be staying off property in Kissimmee...thanks in advance. We are so very excited - -
Angela

[mickey]

rmammav, welcome to Disneycentral. Arial is an easy on in that she has her own meeting place in the Magic Kingdom. It is called Ariel's Gratto and is located right behing the Dumbo ride. The lines are usually a bit long, but noting over 10 or 15 minutes. The other suggestion is that Ariel has her own show at Disney-MGM studios that is really fun for younger kids. There are also some great stage shows at MGM including Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Bear in the Big Blue House. You may want to consider spending some time there as well.

Cinderella is a little more difficult. There is Cinderella's Royal Table, but I am affraid you are too late for that. It is a character breakfast featuring all of the princesses, including Cinderella. You eat in Cinderella's castle and everything. You might be able to get in if you show up your first day at MK and ask there if they have any openings in a couple of days. They usually release a bunch two days in advance. The only other place Cinderella is ever seen anywhere is the Toontown Hall of Fame. I would ask a cast member in the general vicinity of the Hall of Fame and they should have a schedule of when she is to appear.

My advice would be to take a break from the kiddie rides and use the baby swap system. You can ride a big person ride and then your husband can. They let the second person right on so they don't have to wait again. Also, take some time off in the middle of the day and explore other things besides the parks. Go back to your hotel and go swimming, go to the boardwalk, do something other than the parks. Get rested up and go back, you will be glad you did. Oh, and don't sleep in. Be at the parks at the rope drop. The crowds pick up about two hours after opening. You will miss the majority of the big crowds by taking some time off in the afternoon.

Have a great trip. Let us know if you have any more questions.

[brumcg]

Angela,

Welcome to DC!

Mickey wrote:

It is called Ariel's Gratto and is located right behing the Dumbo ride. The lines are usually a bit long, but noting over 10 or 15 minutes.

Be careful of the line; it can be very deceptive. Since Ariel is a "face" character, she's allowed to talk so visits with her can take much longer than, say, a visit with Mickey. We normally go at busier times than Mickey does, and I've seen Ariel's line over an hour long. I know that when my daughter was younger and a big Ariel fan, we waited over a half-hour.

If it is really a huge priority, you could try hitting Ariel (figuratively) at rope drop; you should be able to have a non-rushed, leisurely visit with her. That really shouldn't be necessary though.

You'll be there in early May, though, so I think that should be a relatively uncrowded time to be there. According to the resource I have in front of me (Passporter), the Average High Temp looks to be about 88 degrees, and it's typically not that wet. For dress, I'd say definitely shorts! IMO, MK and AK are the 2 hottest parks; it should get quite hot in the afternoon. You can go anywhere at WDW in extremely casual clothes except for a couple of "Fancy Shmancy" restaurants. Before you leave, check the weather forecasts on Yahoo or whatever. That should give you a really good feel for the weather on your trip.

I'm not sure how old your kids are, but I'd recommend Crystal Palace for a lunch or dinner. It's a character buffet (Pooh & friends); the food is good, the characters are great, and you don't have to wait for your food (relatively quick in & out - great with the really young ones). Animal Kingdom has a great character breakfast at Restrauntasaurus with Mickey & friends. If you are interested, you should probably make Priority Seatings for the character meals before you leave.

Have a great trip!

Bruce

[wdwjeff]

Hi, Angela, and welcome to the boards. As far as Ariel goes, I agree with the above posts. Separate from Cindy's breakfast, I remember when my daughters were 2 and 5, we ran into Cindy by dumb luck at the Boardwalk entrance to Epcot. A lot of the characters enter the park near there, and sometimes Disney will put a schedule of when they appear on the daily program as you enter the park. Good luck, and hope this helps.:D :D :) :)

[Tammy]

We just got back from 10 days of glorious fun (14th). My dd is 4 and it was our 1st trip as a family as well.

I suggest forgetting about Sea World. It took us 2 1/2 days to do MK alone. We did everything we wanted to, and a couple of things twice. I love Sea World and want to go back, but I will do it with US. AK took us 1 1/2 days. MGM took us 2 days. The shows are to die for!! Just a suggestion...

I agree, get up early and get to the park. You'll be glad you did. We were lucky enough to have B-fast with Cindy, and it was early enough that we were the first ones in the park. It was wonderful. Literally no wait for anything. That lasted about 30-40 mins, and then it was back to the normal waits.

Do fast passes. They are wonderful!! We would get a FP, go to a show, then go ride. It worked out well.

We rented a stroller every day for $8.00. We had no clue she would want one everyday. It worked out great because she is a slow walker and when she gets hot, she's even worse!(spoiled). We put her in it and zoomed in and out of the crowds! Next time we will take a stroller and save the money!!

Just my 2 cents worth!! HTH!
Tammy

[Michael Darling]

If you want some "inside" info on where to find characters in the parks check out Rob's character clearinghouse. He's got character locations, and even a bunch of pics. If you have a PDA you can even download the stuff to it.

[Cinderellafifi]

Welcome to Disney Central! Don't give up hope on breakfast with the princesses - we called the night before and got a Priority Seating for the very next morning at 8:45. It was perfect. Now, we were staying on property at the time so that may have been a factor. It was also the peak season - July - so try, try, try! It is well worth it and the food is very good.

:) :)

[wdwjeff]

Hey, Fifi,
How was it in July? We've always gone in January before, but are going 6/28-7/7 this year. I've heard the crowds and heat are tough, but bearable if you take an early afternoon break. What do you think? :) :)

[rmammav]

Do I just call the 407-WDW-DINE number to see about openings the day/two days before?
Just trying to keep up hope! (remember all we have is faith, trust and pixie dust!
:-)

Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice!
angela

[brumcg]

Angela,

Sure, that'll work... Or you can stop at the restaurant when you're there. Stop in regardless; once we met Cinderella in the restaurant waiting area!

Bruce

[jgriff2388]

wdwjeff

How was it in July? We've always gone in January before, but are going 6/28-7/7 this year. I've heard the crowds and heat are tough, but bearable if you take an early afternoon break. What do you think?

We went to WDW at the end for the June for 7 days several years back. Yes its hot, but the beauty of going in the summer is that you can take a mid day break and go back to the resort. We would go to the park in the AM, go back to the resort in the afternoon, and then back to the park at dinner time. I think you'll actually get to enjoy your resort more going this time of year.

[Michael Darling]

Originally posted by rmammav
Do I just call the 407-WDW-DINE number to see about openings the day/two days before?

I'd call much sooner than that. As you already know often times a breakfast is totally booked within minutes of the priority seating becoming availiable. I beleive 120 (???) days before the breakfast is when they become available.

If you're really lucky somebody will have cancelled their seating when you call the day before, but I wouldn't count on that. :(

In other words since you're leaving soon, call right now. If nothing's available, call tomorrow... and the next day until you either get a seating, or give up. Good luck!

[BusyMom5x]

I always take bubbles to occupy my 4yo while we're waiting in line! :)

[tinkerbell]

rmammav welcome to DC
I just got back from WDW and the girls got to see Ariel and Cindy at Toon Town fair ( ariel's grotto was closed guys I dont know for how long it will be looked like they were doing alot of work)
and we saw charactors we had never seen before at MGM ..like the wicked queen from snow white .. Meg from Hurcules and even Hurcules him self. and hubby had his pic took with Cruela !!!!! One thing about this years trip ..they had charactors every where ..more then we had ever seen !!!

[DisneyHog6]

I've never had any trouble getting to see Cindy in the Toontown Fair character meet. tinkerbell is right though, when I was in WDW in January, there were characters all over the place. I saw Queen of Hearts, and I had never seen her except for parades before. I also saw Meg, and Herc, and Cruella, and lots of others. Good luck on your Character Quest. :D