DisneyWorld In October 2009 - Madison,MS

Buy the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World...the investment is so worth it. There are guides for all different types of kids/tween/teens, lazy days, full days, reviews of hotels and resorts, info on the meal plans...I couldn't have made it such a good trip if I hadn't had it.

There's really too much to post. Check out allears.net, they have excellent advice and reviews for everything Disney. You are going to have a great time!

If shes a girly girl she would like the bippity boppity boutique but she might be a little too old. They style your hair, makeup and nails and take pictures. We ate at the Grand Floridian princess dinner and the 11 and 12 year olds with us loved it too.

www.mousesavers.com is great too...lots of ideas to save time and money. Have fun!

Buy the Express Pass for riding rides. Gets you thru alot faster on rides!!!

Do take your time and map out what you really want to do, the week days are not has crowed has weekends, try to avoid the Magic Kingdom on Saturday. Do a character meal, the princess one at Epcot is great and you must book early for all of those and we also like the Crystal Palace ( Pooh and friends)Also check out i think it's Deb's ? great site for info. You must see all the 3 d movies and the light parade and the Mickeys firwork show at MGM. October wheather can be pretty good gets cool at night. We have been to Disney world five times, three in October. To save money we bring along Granola bars and breakfast stuff for the mornings and use that savings to eat at some great resturants, set limits on souvenirs that can be overwhelming, my daughter does the pin trading and then one or two other special items, I could go on for a while but the others also gave good ideas. We went to the Library to get the Disney books.
You will have a great time

I am actually here now :). Dh and I brought our kids at the end of April and now dh has a conference here and I tagged along. There really is SO much to know and plan before you go to get the most out of your trip.

If you are going in early October, you will be here during Free Dining. If that's the case, I hope you've already made your dining reservations. Most all of the good restaurants and character meals will already be booked. If you're going later in October, you should be able to get some decent dining reservations, but you'll want to call ASAP and make reservations. Don't plan on being able to walk into restaurants and get seated, at least not the nicer restaurants or character meals. Will you be on a dining plan? Where will you be staying?

I highly recommend the DIS boards: www.disboards.com/
and www.allears.net to start learning about WDW and planning your vacation. Most important... HAVE FUN!

Feel free to send me any messages with specific questions. We've been every three years since my youngest (now 15 years old), was 8 months old. I would recommend one of the Disney websites also - my husband frequents Intercot.

Some info right now...

The FastPass is how you get to the front of the line. They are free, but you can only have one per person for a certain amount of time. I would definately get a Fast Pass for Rockin' Rollercoaster at Hollywood Studios, and one for Soarin' at Epcot. (There are passes at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure in Orlando that are for all rides that you have to pay for - might be what the other responders are thinking of. And if you have time, with your daughter being 11, I would highly recommend those parks also, but whatever you do, DON'T cram them all in. You will not enjoy yourself.)

My husband and I wouldn't go to the parks without a Park Hopper pass, letting you skip around the parks whenever you want. While I love Magic Kingdom (and I think it should always be the first stop for a newbie, as it is simply magical), many of the rides are geared for younger children, and the lines get very long and tiring (although going in October, you are basically going to skip terrible lines - great time to go!). We like to go to MK for half a day, then go to another park. We go for 2 weeks at a time, so we have lots of time to do that though! *grin*

If you stay in lodging in the parks, you can get in early and stay late in select parks on select days. This is called "extra magic hours".

Be sure you go to customer service when you first enter a park and get your daughter a "first time visitor" button - it is free.

Starting to write a novel, lol, so again - feel free to send me an e-mail if you have any questions! And have a wonderful time!

I have a couple ideas that have worked well for us in the past.

1. Go to the parks first thing in the morning. The crowds are lighter.

2. Leave the parks around 1 or 2 to go back to your hotel. Everyone can rest, go to the pool, clean up, etc. This gives everyone some down time and allows you to avoid the hotest part of the day.

3. Go back to the parks after a couple of hours. The crowds will be going to eat dinner, etc.

4. Get a spot early for the fireworks. There is usually some sort of show on the water for the parks with a lake.

5. If you can, buy the 'express pass'. (I think that is what they call it...) It is the pass that allows you to go to the front of the line regardless of the length of the line.

6. Make sure your daughter knows all about stranger danger. Yes, you are going to 'the happiest place on earth', but...The park in Orlando has a problem about 10 years ago with younger children being taken from their parents, taken to a restroom, having their clothes changed and/or hair cut, and then being taken from the park. Disney will not confirm this, but someone in my family works there and knows the whole story. Just be careful.

Sorry for the bummer last tip, I just wanted you to know.

You all will have a great time!!!!

You picked a great time to go! There will be a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party going on, but the tickets are expensive. Check with your hotel or Downtown Disney for events at night. The parks close earlier, so get there early! Have a great time!

Hi A.,

I just moved back to OK after living in FL for 5 years. There are several tips I can share with you:

1. Bring rain ponchos. October is at the end of the rainy season, but better safe than sorry. During the summer it rains almost every afternoon for a while and then more blue skies. The showers can really sneak up on you.

2. Magic Kingdom is the busiest park, so try to hit it on a weekday if you can. When you get to the park, use your park tickets to get fast passes. You can only get one at a time, but it will save you lots of time standing in line. So, pick a ride and get the fast passes, ride something else, got back and ride the ride you got fast passes for, and then get another fast pass somewhere else.

3. For an 11 year old, I think that Hollywood Studios might be the most fun for her. There are more big kid/adult rides than at MK.

4. Check the schedules for each park before you go. They all close at different times every day. Typically, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios close early. Because of this, you might invest in park hoppers. That way you can hang out in one park all day and then hop over to a different park when that park closes.

5. We brought in a lot of our own drinks and they didn't say anything. That might save some $. Food in the park is rather pricey.

That's all I can think of now. Hope this helps!

T.

Only do one park per day. There is so much to see at each park. On one of our trips we tried to cram three parks into one day and we were exhausted. Plus the time it takes to travel between parks is time consuming.

We went last October and it was a great time to go because most schools were in session and it wasn't as crowded. I highly recommend staying at the Contemporary resort, the tram goes right through the hotel and it is so convenient. Also call right away to book dinner with the characters. They say to get a spot you really need to call a few months early. Also if you stay at a Disney resort you get to stay longer in the evening after they make other non-resort customers leave, shorter lines. Also get the fast passes, you can get these at the entrance to certain rides and it gives you a time an "appt" if you will to ride that ride. then when your time comes around you get to bypass the line and go straight to the front. very cool. have a great time! And just so you know Space Moutain is a fun ride but you don't get to sit double, it is one per seat so if she is not adventerous enough to sit by herself dont wait in line.

Best advice I got and it worked was: If you get to the park when it opens - head to the back of the park and walk anticlockwise around. The reasoning being people enter the park and turn right - if you start at the back you can do some of the areas before they get to crowded and by the time you get back to the front the crowds have move on. You do however end the day at the back too.

Have fun!!!