PP again. The Contemporary has a character meal. Chef Mickey I think? Book 6 months in advance or more. Check out www.disboards.com. The website has an answer to any question you could ever have!

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone please explain the allure of "character meals" that I hear you have to book months in advance and are pricey.

You get to sit down, in air conditioning, and your kids are distracted enough by the characters that they stay put for a while. Plus, you get cute pictures with a bunch of the most famous characters, so you don't have to run around the park looking for them and then stand in lines. Finally, since it's a buffet, your kids will likely find something they'll eat.

All the food at Disney is expensive. Character meals don't cost significantly more than other meals, and they're a nice way to break up the day. For me, my ideal Magic Kingdom day is to get to the park at opening, do about 2 hours, and then eat the last breakfast of the day at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. Then ride a few more things, maybe see a show, and be back at the hotel pool by 1 or 2.

All of the bolded, yes. Also, my kids are young and didn't want anything to do with characters at the park. But the second morning, we headed to a character bfast, and they watched for a bit and slowly warmed to the idea of pictures. Would never have happened otherwise.

We did it at Disneyland, so no experience at Disneyworld. Disneyland is so busy these days, that it was nice to not think about photo ops during our day at the park and schedule the bfast on a non-park day

Anonymous wrote:Someone please explain the allure of "character meals" that I hear you have to book months in advance and are pricey.

You get to sit down, in air conditioning, and your kids are distracted enough by the characters that they stay put for a while. Plus, you get cute pictures with a bunch of the most famous characters, so you don't have to run around the park looking for them and then stand in lines. Finally, since it's a buffet, your kids will likely find something they'll eat.

All the food at Disney is expensive. Character meals don't cost significantly more than other meals, and they're a nice way to break up the day. For me, my ideal Magic Kingdom day is to get to the park at opening, do about 2 hours, and then eat the last breakfast of the day at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. Then ride a few more things, maybe see a show, and be back at the hotel pool by 1 or 2.

Someone please explain the allure of "character meals" that I hear you have to book months in advance and are pricey.

thank you! these are great suggestions. My DC is really into the MK stuff, we might venture into Epcot, not sure yet. Def will look into reservations, and etc.

I'm the pp who suggested the boardwalk area. The busses weren't a pita (as suggested by a pp). We loved walking into Epcot for dinner or dessert after a day at MK. And the boat ride to HS (which has some great restaurants IMHO) was fun. My suggestion is to do hopper passes and at least check out the other parks.

What's your budget? While the hotels on the monorail are very nice, they're also incredibly expensive. You could save a lot of money or extend your trip if you do a cheaper hotel. The less expensive hotels are perfectly nice, and while it's a few minutes to wait for the bus it's not bad.

At six, some of my kid's favorite things were at Epcot and the Studios. Like Test Track, Mission Space and the Star Wars stuff. I'd try and fit them in. A day and a half at MK, a day at Epcot and a half day ah the Studios would be my agenda if I had 3 days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:thinking of taking our 6 yr old in early June. DH has never been, I was there when I was 18. Kid will love it, so there it is, we need to go. Concentrating on the MK only as we will need to get moving to Lego land, I am afraid. Thinking 3 nights at a hotel within Disney, what do you recommend that is family friendly and most convenient to the park? We will not have a park while we are at the MK.

TIA!

Do you mean that you will not have a car? MK really isn't very convenient for cars anyway--you have to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center and then take monorail or a boat to the MK. The other 3 parks all have a parking lot closer by.

If you want the most convenient, stay at the Contemporary. You can walk from the Contemporary to MK. The Polynesian and Grand Floridian require you to take a monorail; I don't know if I just have bad luck or what, but every time I ride the monorail there is some type of delay. Also, the polynesian is going under MAJOR renovations right now, that I hear really impacts the quality of the stay.
You can also stay at the Wilderness Lodge and take a boat to MK.

Is your 6 year old a big Star Wars fan? If so, you should know that in June, there are "Star Wars Weekends" at Hollywood Studios...

A friend of mine just got back from a stay at the Polynesian. She's loved it in the past, but was really unhappy with how the renovation affected their stay (pool areas closed and stuff). I wouldn't book the Polynesian until after they're done with the renovation.

If your concentrating on MK--better to stay on the monorail line (contemporary, poly, grand Floridian)--the buses are a PITA and take forever to get anywhere.

Book early and make your dining reservations (necessary for any sit down meal you are planning) right when they open at 180 days in advance. You can also make fast pass reservations 90 days in advance.

All the disney hotels have transportation to the parks. We stayed at the boardwalk. Bus to MK and AK, walk to Epcot and boat to HS. Loved it!

The Bay Lake Villas by the Contemporary is very nice and you have a kitchen and a bedroom. They also have family suites at some of the value resorts which are not as close to the MK but are a good value. Have a wonderful trip. Pack plenty of sunscreen.

Anonymous wrote:thinking of taking our 6 yr old in early June. DH has never been, I was there when I was 18. Kid will love it, so there it is, we need to go. Concentrating on the MK only as we will need to get moving to Lego land, I am afraid. Thinking 3 nights at a hotel within Disney, what do you recommend that is family friendly and most convenient to the park? We will not have a park while we are at the MK.

TIA!

Do you mean that you will not have a car? MK really isn't very convenient for cars anyway--you have to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center and then take monorail or a boat to the MK. The other 3 parks all have a parking lot closer by.

If you want the most convenient, stay at the Contemporary. You can walk from the Contemporary to MK. The Polynesian and Grand Floridian require you to take a monorail; I don't know if I just have bad luck or what, but every time I ride the monorail there is some type of delay. Also, the polynesian is going under MAJOR renovations right now, that I hear really impacts the quality of the stay.
You can also stay at the Wilderness Lodge and take a boat to MK.

Is your 6 year old a big Star Wars fan? If so, you should know that in June, there are "Star Wars Weekends" at Hollywood Studios...

there are entire websites devoted to this

thinking of taking our 6 yr old in early June. DH has never been, I was there when I was 18. Kid will love it, so there it is, we need to go. Concentrating on the MK only as we will need to get moving to Lego land, I am afraid. Thinking 3 nights at a hotel within Disney, what do you recommend that is family friendly and most convenient to the park? We will not have a park while we are at the MK.

TIA!