fisrt day question?

[jojessalu]

This is my first post and my first trip to WDW.

I am trying to plan what to do the first day of arrival (by plane @1:00pm). We are staying at condos (orbit one) off site and renting a car. We have a 4 and 7 year old. What can we do at WDW without using one of days of our passes (buying 5 day hopper PLUS).

* Can downtown disney be visited without park admission?
* Are any of characrter meals avaliable without park admission (but with PS arrangements made)?
* Can Fireworks in the Sky be enjoyed somehow without park admission?
* Same question about Spectromagic...what is it? I kinda of assume that needs park admission

thanks so much!

 

[PhotobearSam]

Welcome to the DIS!

First let me try to answer a few of your questions,

Downtown Disney can be done without park admission and there are a lot of restaurants and toy stores. I suggest that you get everyone in your group guest of honor badges. They cost $5 each and have your name on it. Your family will get a kick out of being called by name at the parks. You can stop by the LEGo store and the kids can play with the legos outside.

There are Character meals available without admission into the parks. They are at the resorts. You could try Chef Mickey's but I know that there are others but I have not done them yet. Some places have characters for breakfast and not after. I'm sure someone else will answer this one for you better than I.

FIreworks in the sky are not on everynight but if they are on the night you get there you can see them from outside the parks. We did just that on our first night. We went to the Contemporary and told the guard at the gate that we were going to the California Grill and he gave us a parking pass for 2-3 hours. We then took the Monorail to the TTC and then the one to Epcot to give us a sneak peak at it. But we took the Monorail right back. If you have a party of 4 or less...ask the CM at the tracks to see if you can sit up front in the monorail. It is the coolest thing. Once back at the Cont. resort we went up to the California grill and grabbed a drink and then outside to their viewing area and watched the fireworks over the Castle from there. It makes a special night.

As for Spectro...It is a parade at night in MK and can only be seen in the park.

I hope this helps,

 

[crisi]

Chef Mickey's is really the only character meal you will be able to do. Most of them are breakfasts.

If you are leaving Chef Mickey's at fireworks time, you will be able to see the fireworks. You can also see the Water Pagent from the MK resorts.

If you are landing at 1:00, checking bags, and renting a car, then checking into your hotel room - don't expect to be able to do anything before 4:00 (you could get lucky, but probably not).

I had great plans to see Spectromagic (we were on site last trip with a LOS pass) the night we arrived - our flight landed at 1:00, but by the time we got to the resort, all I really wanted to do was eat a decent meal without hassle and watch TV. Moral of story: be flexible - if everyone is worn out from the flight, no one will have fun.

Has your four year old been exposed to "characters" before? A character meal can be pretty intense at this age. Some kids just love them immediately (my daughter). Others (my son) are much more wary. Then there are the screamers. One of the best pieces of advice I got on traveling with kids is to do the character meal late in the trip - you can cancel it if your child is afraid of the five foot tall Mickey, and the wary may warm up to the idea after a couple days.

You might want to consider one of the other resort restaurants. The resorts are tourist attractions in themselves.

 

[WDWKim]

Hi, going in September, can you tell me where I can get the guest of honor badges..........I'd like to surprise my DD and DS with them because if I buy them there they will think I'm being stupid........you guessed it they are 12 and 14! So I'm sure these wouldn't be cool, but think they would like them a lot if they actually had their name being used.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

Hello, Welcome!
You can also have dinner at 1900 Park Fare at tha Grand Floridian with Pooh & friend (Tigger, Eyeore or Piglet) and sometimes Alice & MadHAtter & Mary Poppins or Chef Mickey's with Mickey, Goofy Chip & Dale. You can see the menus here: http://wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm#res Also, OHana at the Polynesian is a wonderful dinner (without characters). All three meals are at resorts on the monorail, so you could take a roundtrip after dinner. Then watch the fireworks & maybe Electric Water Pagent, between 9:00-9:30, depending on which resort you are at. I have only seen it from the Polynesian beach at 9:00pm.
Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[karensi]

Same question as WDWKim, where can you buy the guest of honor badges,preferably before the trip?