Disney $#*!

[tkuehn5410]

If you and your kids are wanting to get autographs, Goofy's kitchen is a great place to go and you can knock out a lot of them in a single setting.

[Palmetto]

We went the second week of November this year. Family of four, kids are 8 & 4. We loved it. I went as a kid, and didn't like it. At first I was not wanting to go back, but I decided to go with the flow, and ended up having a good time. We flew out on a Sunday, and came back the next Friday. Four full days, and 2 half days (+/-$4500, airfare not included). We spent the first half of Sunday at Magic Kingdom, and went back the next day, for the whole day. When we got walked in Monday, the whole place was decorated for Christmas. How in the world they did that overnight is beyond my comprehension.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, and had a basic meal plan. One sit down meal per day worked perfect for us, and we used it for dinner. We are not night owls, so we would eat dinner around 6pm, and go back to our rooms. The lodge has a full on resturaunt, and a smaller diner to use your snack credits. We ate breakfast every morning at the diner. Quick & easy. Buy your food, grab your drinks & go sit down outside. By the time you get situated a waiter was bringing your food. Breakfast usually took us about 20 minutes tops, then we hopped on a shuttle to our park for the day. We would stay at that park all day, and eat a sit down dinner at that park. There is also a bar at the lodge, so you can grab a drink at the end of the day if you need to.

We didn't do any character meals. That didn't interest our boys, and we really didn't think it was worth the $$. Also, if you do one for Bfast, you have to get there early. My wife's sister was having to get going real early to make their character breakfasts, while we just took our time in the mornings. When I saw we took our time, we were done with breakfast, and getting on a shuttle around 8:30 am.

We just so happened to be there when the Food & Wine Festival @ Epcot was going on. This was pretty cool.

My Disney APP is a must. All your info is on it (fast passes & reservations), and all the pictures you take (memory maker) will show up in a matter of minutes. Also, you can reschedule fastpasses & meals right from the app. That was a huge help. The interactive map is worth its weight in gold. You always know where you are, and can find restrooms quick. Those dang RR are hiding in plain sight!! I was the navigator in my group, and everyone just followed me. LOL.

Strollers........If you have small kids, take one or rent one. You can "door check" them on the plane. Push it all the way to the door of the plane, and they will have it waiting for you right there by the door when you get off. My 4yr old was asleep one time, and never knew we got off the plane. LOL. Easy peasy. Also, we had some Yeti type canteens that we would fill up each day prior to leaving the Lodge. Ice cold water all day, right there in the stroller. We bought a Joovy double stroller just for this trip. It was a good stroller, but it took me a few days of cussing to figure out how to fold it up correctly. You have to collapse them in order to ride on a shuttle. Other than that, the stroller saved us. Both boys rode all the time, and we knew they were safe & didn't have to drag them around everywhere. We want to sell this stroller, so if anyone is going and wants it, let me know.

Im sure there is more....but that is all I can think of right now.

[Low Fence]

As for strollers: I had a 20 month old in tow so it was a must and really was awesome to have anyway for storage alone. You can rent there but have to recheck every day.

We rented from a private company that dropped off at our resort early that morning and left at front desk and we kept it the entire trip and left it with them at front desk when we left. Insurance and all was around $60 for 4 days. If something happened it would be replaced asap. Theft was never even a remote concern there for us

Just another option

[covedogs]

Like these guys said above, the first time we went, I was dreading it. I didn't want to go. Too hot, too much money, lines too long, every excuse I could think of. By the end of the first day, I was already planning my next trip. Have been three times now, and can't wait to go back. It is expensive, but well worth it. Stay on property and get the meal plans. Set up your reservations as far out as you can, I think it is six months out. Trust me, you will have a blast.