first timers to Disney

Anonymous wrote:If you want photos of your kids with the characters, the character meals are the best ways to go. If you have the money, OP, stay at the Contemporary. It's the closest hotel to the MK and an easy escape from the park. If you get tired, you can leave the MK and even walk to the Contemporary and rest. The pools are nice too. You can return to the MK later in the day as some of the crowds disperse.

Enh. We went Mother's Day week this year and we entered at opening ceremonies and immediately went to the character spot right inside the gate (in the middle of the first circle inside the gate). Pluto was there and my kids were really excited. Getting there when the park opened, there were maybe 8 families in front of us, so about 10 minutes wait. Then we used one of our fast passes to get pictures with Mickey Mouse. The wait when we go there was 75 minutes, but with the Fast Pass+ we were were in line inside 3rd in line about 15 minutes after we arrived. Those pictures were great for our kids and we didn't spend a fortune or a long meal for the pictures. If your children are young and you don't have to see specific characters this will probably work well. It did for us.