My husband and I are contemplating taking our triplets to Disney World. They are 7 years old now and travel fairly well, but in all honesty we have only gone on a few day excursions within Canada and our home province. What is a good age to go (i.e. will they have the patience waiting for rides, etc.) and what time of year is a good time to go ( i.e. not too crowded); any suggestions for hotels, etc. This would be the first time they have flown, so that in itself would be exciting. Thank-you for any suggestion

LCMM

We just got back and I'm a huge advocate of staying on property. The budge hotels (All-Star Movies/Music/Sports and Pop Century start at like $77 a night) the moderate hotels, which I prefer (Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans, Coronado Springs) are a little closer to everything and I think start at $139. 7 is great - NO STROLLERS. We went the first week of December and had almost NO lines, we've also been in late January and October and both of those were good too. It's most crowded June-September, Christmas week, New Year's week, President's week and spring break.

We've used Birnbaum's Walt Disney World and PassPorter to plan our trips. Birnbaum's has more color pictures, but I really liked the additional information found in the PassPorter.

Maybe I'm biased since I got engaged there but Disney World is an AWESOME vacation.

Feel free to e-mail me at tripletmom1999@sbcglobal.net if you have any specific questions I can help with.

Laura
Mom to Meghan, Nichol & Christopher (5/8/99)

Laura
Mom to M, N & C (5/8/99)

We took our boys when the triplets were 6yrs.10 months old and our oldest son was 8. We had the time of our lives. I remember saying that sometimes I felt like my head needed to spin all the way around to keep track of them but they all did really great.

We got those boys up by 6 am each day and brought them back and put them to bed when the parks closed at midnight. We ran their little legs off and they loved it. I had to hold on to the boys almost the whole time because my dh felt compelled to video tape the ENTIRE vacation. He taped everything inside and out. We went to the Hoop de do review and the kids loved it. One of my sons was chosen to go up on stage and be part of the act.

I can't give you any other advice because it's been about 9 years now since we were there the last time. I hope you have a blast. We were there the first time around the 20th of June when the parks were open later and we loved it. It did rain a lot at that time of year though.

mom to:
Ryan 32 The Lawyer
Jason 30 The Chief Meteorologist
Chris 30 The College Student
Tim 30 The college grad

I love hearing their versions of their childhood memories!!

I would say 7 is such a great age! Of course, my b/b/b are only 3 1/2 yrs. and we have been twice in the last year! (Disneyland fanatic here! ) We had an incredible time both times! If it was so much fun at this age, I cannot even imagine how much fun it will be when they are 7 yrs! I say "go for it and have a blast!"

Renee
mom to Dalton, Griffin, and Zach 6-1-00


(By the way, the first time we went was in March and the second time was on Thanksgiving day. March was perfect; Thanksgiving day was fun, but insanely crowded!)

We went to DisneyWorld this last summer when my girls had just turned 7 and my sone was 8. It was fabulous.

We stayed at Buena Vista suites, not ON Disney property but a 5 minute ride. The nice thing about being so close and being at a suite is we came home for lunch and a swim each day. Our rooms had a bedroom with 2 full beds and a living room with fridge, microwave and a pull out couch. Since you are flying you would need to rent a car if you don't stay on Disney property. The hotels all have shuttles but I don't know if I would want to depend on them.
Friends of mine stayed at the AllStars resorts but the rooms are small and they only allow 4 to a room so you'd need to get 2 rooms (not quite the savings wished for)

My best advice is to plan to get to the parks at least 1/2 hour before they open, leave around 1p when it gets hot, and return at 5p for the rest of the evening. We went in August which is notorious for the heat and crowds. By leaving in the middle of the day we avoided both. We NEVER had to wait more than 20 mins for any ride!!!
Make use of the FastPasses. I would stand in line with the kids at one ride while my husband got a FastPass for a nearby one. We all rode the first and by then it was time to get on the other.
Also if you have girls you MUST get reservations for teh breakfast in Cinderella's castle. It is expensive but we met Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Mary Poppins and Aurora without waiting in lines. They all come to the tables.

good luck. there are some good websites for tips on touring the parks. Try www.mousesavers.com

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96