You'll be visiting during a great time. You'll get to enjoy all of the holiday decorations, shows and events, but without the huge crowds that will be there later in the month. My husband and I will actually be there the same week and we're really looking forward to it!
You and your kids will enjoy the Pop Century Resort. Its great for kids and it will save you some money by staying there, as opposed to other more expensive Disney Resorts.
Be sure to purchase a drink mug at your Resort's food court area. You'll be able to get refills all throughout your trip. To save money and to be healthier, simply fill them with water and take them with you everywhere you go. Disney will allow them to be brought into the parks.
Groceries may be tough if you will not have a rental car. There is a grocery store located across the street from Downtown Disney called Goodings. It is a bit on the pricey side, however and you would have about a mile walk from the Disney Marketplace. You can always do what my family does when we travel. One of us packs 1 suitcase, and then packs 1 tupperware container with non-perishable foods. Snack items like nutri-grain bars, bottled waters, granola bars, etc... then we tape it up and check it as our 2nd bag. Then we have snacks for our hotel without having to worry about going shopping. I don't believe the Pop Century has any rooms with kitchennets, so you won't be able to cook meals anyway.
Take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. This is where you, a Disney resort guest, get to enter the Disney parks 1 hour in advance or stay an hour after closing. Here are the dates and parks listed for each day. Definitely plan your trip based on which Disney park has the early hours.
Sat Dec 2nd: Disney MGM
Sun Dec 3rd: Magic Kingdom
Mon Dec 4th: Animal Kingdom, Disney MGM
Tue Dec 5th: EPCOT
Wed Dec 6th: Animal Kingdom
Thur Dec. 7th: Magic Kingdom
Friday Dec. 8th: EPCOT
Make dining reservations now.... especially if you want to take your kids to a character buffet or to breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table inside the Magic Kingdom (extremely popular)! Make dining reservations at 407-WDW-DINE.
Take advantage of past passes and try to avoid the parks on weekends!
If you would like help planning your trip or if you would just like to read up on some fun tips and ideas that are updated monthly, visit my Disney Vacation Services Website, I'm All Ears at:
http://im-all-ears-disney-vacation-servi鈥?/a>
Have a great time!Best advice for disney world trip, two kids age 6 and 4, staying at pop century resort 12/1-12/8?
Disney's Value Resorts all have transportation via bus to all parks and Downtown Disney. This was very helpful to me with small children, because we came back to the room in the middle of the day for a nap, shower, and fresh change of clothes. It is also very convenient, because you are able to skip some long lines. You are taken directly to the entrance.
You should also bring plenty of snacks to save money. Without a car, it will be difficult to get groceries, so bring some with you. However, Disney will have some things you may need in its gift shop.
The food court has lots of variety but can get rather expensive. I suggest purchasing the souvenir cups, which can be refilled for free. The cups are expensive but worth it in the long run. And if you don't mind sharing....you don't need as many cups. The portions are rather large, so your kids, at 6 and 4, can probably split meals.
The food court does have some cheaper options (fresh fruit, individual cereal servings, bagels, whole pizzas, etc.). It has a sort of small convenience store.
Don't hop from park to park. Try one a day. You have plenty of time, so take things at a slow pace, so the kids (and you) don't get overtired.
The Pop Century resort has two types of rooms:
Preferred Location
Enjoy the close proximity to the pool and Guest facilities.
Standard Location
Enjoy rooms in other locations throughout this magically themed resort.
It really depends on your preference. For your travel dates that you listed, being near the pool may not be an important factor for you.
You will find food courts within the Pop Century but you may want to also consider adding on the meals with your vacation so that you will be able to dine at other Disney restaurants. Without a car, you pretty much have the Disney resort to stay at however, Universal Studios does offer a shuttle service. If you do decide to rent a car, the main strip of HWY 192 is full of things to do. There are dinner shows, putt putt golf, shopping etc. You can also visit the local Walmart which is on HWY 535 about 10 mins from Disney to purchase inexpensive souvenirs and food.
Enjoy your trip
check out http://allearsnet.com
its a great website with all sorts of info, from menus to how to save money at the mouse. it will answer all your questions better than i could. i use it whenever im planning a trip there.
i think the 70s building is the closest to transportation.
also, with kids 6 and 4 concentrate most of your time at the magic kingdom, thats where they will want to be
oh, youll be there at xmas time. be sure to go to mgm one evening to watch the osborne spectacle of lights. its a must do, more xmas lights than youve ever seen, always gets me in the holiday mood
i actually still have my map of pop century from when i stayed there. if you want me to scan and send it to you, i can. from a birds-sye view of the map i'd say the very closest you can get to the shuttle buses would be in the 90's building rooms 9101-9472.
are you flying in? we did and worried about not having a stroller for our weak-in-the-legs 7 year old. we bought one there for 40.00 it was a really good stroller. lightweight and easy to maneuver also high handles so you're not bending over. you park it outside of buildings, bring in your valuables (we actually left backpacks and jackets on the stroller) everyone did. this was way better over the long term instead of stroller rental. the rental strollers are large and not that easy to maneuver through crowds. even if you only get one stroller and have the kids take turns you'll be rewarded. lets face it, it costs alot of money to go on one of these trips, you can't keep up a pace that will get you through the whole park dragging a 4 and 6 year old along on their own steam. alot of people ';pay it forward'; at the end of their trip, and try to hand off the stroller to newcomers. if you go to the disney boards that someone else directed you to, you'll find tons of great advice. p.s. don't buy a pal mickey, they are a complete waste of time. it only buzzes you once in a while with not very illuminating information. the very best meal we had at disney was at ';le cellier'; in the canadian pavilion at epcot. reserve ahead for a fabulous dinner or lunch. we did the meal plan and would never go without it. what an amazing cost savings. we figure we saved 50.00 a day at least. p.s. don't forget to leave a tip for your mousekeepers, they will make animals out of your face cloths!!best food court was cosmic ray's starlight cafe, one chicken and rib meal could feed your entire family. at epcot, the morrocan pavilion had an amazing flavourful lunch as opposed to most of the basic burger stuff. don't go to the us pavilion for food, my kids still talk about how bad it was! last advice, get to the parks EARLY- bring grab bags of cereal for the kids to munch on while they are on the shuttle, it takes about 1/2 hour to get anywhere. we sent whichever adult was ready first to get in the shuttle line, and then we caught up with them, that always got us a seat.
have a blast!
Disney World my favorite subject to talk about!!!! I've been about 12 times...I am now 25 and have a son and can't wait until he gets older so we can take him.....ANYWHO!
The All Star resorts are awesome for small kids and the food court is good too. Since this is the kid's first visit I would focus on Magic Kingdom for most of your time. It has the best rides and attractions for kids and Animal Kingdom is great too if your kids like animals. You can buy groceries at the hotels or you can even call the front desk and tell them what you need....they will get it for you. Disney is a great place to visit I hope you have a great time!!
Also you might want to get a book called Birnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World...they have a special edition for kids.
Good luck and have fun!
There is a great unnoficial website that has tons of advice for your Disney vacation, including photos and links to other helpful sites. Go to http://www.wdwinfo.com/ and see if you can find some good advice!
there's so much to do but i want to give you just a few of what we almost missed out on and didn't realize it until almost the end:
1. go to a dollar store and get a notebook with no lines in it to use as an autograph book for the characters to sign. if you get an actual autograph book there, it will be at minumum 7.00 each book
2. go on ebay and buy disney trading pins for cheap, otherwise, you will spend 25.00 on just 6!m then you get a lanyard to hang around your neck to display them on, they are 10.00 at disney without pins! the characters will trade pins with the children and it's a great pass of time while you are standing in line or doing whatever. our kids loved it! seriously, get as much as you can on ebay because the pins will just be traded anyway so get some and get them cheap.
3. get the dining plan if you haven't it will come in handy and you will save a fortune
4. take some groceries with you like boxes of cereal and crackers, etc. if you get the dining plan, most places have fresh fruit that you can carry out with you to munch on after your meal.
5. for kids so young, i dn't suggest a park hopper, it will be enough for you to just deal with one park a day.
need anymore help or for me to clarify things, PLEASE CONTACT ME, i love disney. we went last august and are going again june 26, 07. our kids are now 5 and 6, she'll be seven when we go.
please contact me and i'd love to help!!!
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