Backstory: I am 34 and I have never been to DisneyWorld, DisneyLand or any other major attraction. Grew up dirt poor, then as an adult, just never have been able to take a proper vacation. This year, my daughter has the opportunity to march in the parade on Main Street at Disney, and since we can get excellent rates (through the school on the park passes and through military discounts since Mr. Litoris is Nat’l Guard), we decided to make it a family vacation and all 4 of us go down together.
So, here’s my question – we will have a 3-day/all-park pass what are the absolute must-see/must-do attractions to maximise our time there? We may stay an additional day and go to SeaWorld, since they are currently offering an unbelievable deal for military and their families. While my daughter (age 14) will most likely be hanging out with her band-mates for most of the trip, we will have our son (age 7) with us the whole time.
If it is important – our daughter (and the rest of the school band) will be staying at the All-Star Music resort on Disney property, while the rest of us stay at Shades of Green resort, also on Disney property.
Tell me your favorite rides, attractions and activities so I can plan ahead. Thanks!
Nothing tastes as good as thin feels, but my lasagna comes danged close!
Well, bring money. Yeah, I know the park and hotel is paid for, but bring money anyway. Disney is expensive. Especially if your one of those people who, you know: eat.
There’s so much more to the park than the last time I visited (1990?) that any advice I can give would be outdated. Except: bring money. 
If I had 3 days and I was only seeing Disney once I’d spend at least a full day at the Magic Kingdom. There’s enough big and little rides of all types that everyone will be fully occupied the whole day (and don’t forget the FastPass!) So do the Magic Kingdom first, and then if you don’t like it or have seen everything you can check out the other parks. If you want a secluded spot to eat with atmosphere, try Columbia Harbour House between Fantasyland and the Haunted Mansion: the food’s not that much better than the rest at Disney but it has amazing colonial-style fishing decor and it’s always roomy.
Rides I like at Disney: what ride DON’T I like? They’re all good enough to go on at least once, except for the total kiddie rides. My favorites though are Space Mountain, as much for the line as the ride itself, and Peter Pan’s Flight (too short to be worth waiting > 1/2 hr in line for but worth it if you get a FastPass for the psychedelic colors and scenery,) and Splash Mountain (same as Peter Pan, altho less trippy.)
Epcot is a must for one night, just to eat at the fabulous restaurants (some required signing up beforehand, though.) The rides aren’t as spectacular or as many as Disney, so it might not be a full-day activity but it might if you think the rides are interesting enough. My favorite restaurants there are the Mexican restaurant where you eat inside the pyramid (expensive and reservations required,) and the Japanese restaurant where you can eat outside amongst a water garden if you don’t mind holding your food 
Third day: You might want to go to the Magic Kingdom again rather than Epcot or the Animal Kingdom or Disney MGM studios depending on if you’ve had your fill. Animal Kingdom, for me, is basically a looking-at-animals-park despite Disney’s marketing otherwise: however, it is better than most zoos in that aspect due to the landscaping and architecture. A Bug’s Life 3-d theatre, though is very intense (maybe too much for a 7-yr-old?) and a must if you go there. Even if you see everything it won’t occupy the whole day.
I didn’t really like Disney MGM: I’m more of a ride guy, doesn’t matter the age level I like em all, but MGM doesn’t really have a lot of them. Tower of Terror is nice but goes on a bit too long for my stomach. I refuse to go on the Rock N Roll rollercoaster due to the Aerosmith music alone.
I’d recommend buying a Passporter - you can usually get them at the bookstore. www.passporter.com.
Is your seven year old a roller coaster kid or more timid? Are you educational folk or want to be entertained? Are you happy eating fast food for your vacation, or do you want to spend money and time to sit down? Do you want traditional Disney - Magic Kingdom, characters, Teacups - or do you want modern Disney - stunt shows and waterparks?
There are four parks - Magic Kingdom (traditional Disney), Epcot (Future World and World Showcase), MGM (Movie Stuff), and Animal Kingdom (Animals, duh). There are two waterparks. There is Downtown Disney (lots of shopping and restaurants), there are five (?) golfcourses, two mini-golfcourses, and a virtual reality arcade. There is horseback riding and fishing. You can’t do it all - but what do you want to do?
Brainiac4 and I could spend days in Epcot (ok, we have), the kids (7 and 8 now) like Animal Kingdom and MGM. We usually spend a lot more time than you are talking about and usually miss a few things we want to see.
Oh! Be sure to go to the Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom, but don’t do it first thing because you’ll waste a perfectly good sit down. It’s all the Presidents animatronic-like, with the current one making a little speech. Obviously I liked it more when it was my boyf…um…President Clinton, but it’s still pretty cool. My husband enjoyed it very much when he and a friend went in the 80’s and they were stoned. I’m just saying.
Illuminations at Epcot is a MUST see. It’s a fireworks/light show that closes the park. Then you walk out feeling like you’re the credits of a movie because of the theme music playing over you. It’s so awesome.
You know what? Disneyworld is a little trippy.
BTW, there’s a nice little ride in the Norway Pavillion in Epcot. I’ve been to it when there’s a line, but more often I’ve been able to walk right on and it’s as good, if not better that Pirates of the Carribean in the Magic Kingdom.
MGM is blah. Epcot is definitely worth the afternoon on the countries side. The technology part is almost outdated enough to be quaint, but not really. The light show at the end of the day is a must-see. Magic Kingdom is magical (tacky, outdated and corny as it is). “It’s a small world” is a total trip (drink heavily before you ride).
Animal Kingdom is ok but make sure you get there as early as you can. The animals hide once it gets too hot. You can easily do AK in the morning and Epcot in the afternoon. MK another day and leave the third day for whatever it is that tickles your fancy (even MGM if so inclined).
Have fun! I had friends who worked there and got in for free. After a million trips, it never got old.
Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom, oh and I’ve always liked Peter Pan’s Flight.
IMHO, you can skip ‘It’s a Small World’ unless you need to sit down for a bit in air conditioning and need to have that song tattooed on your eardrums.
Use the ‘fastpass’ system. Talk to your hotel people when you check in so you fully understand it and use it for every ride you can. Some ride, rather unexpectedly, are nearly impossible to ride unless you use the fast pass. I’ve never ridden the Pooh ride because I didn’t get a fast pass for it.
Most of all, I would suggest just having fun. If you at a spot and you are digging it, do move on to keep on schedual to see everything. I hate that type of vacation.
The Carousel of Progress!
Nah, just kidding, that became sort of a joke between my wife and me after our vacation; we’d ducked into the CoP to get out of the midday heat. Actually, it wasn’t the worst thing there; that honor goes to the Country Bear Jamboree. Feel free to skip that one. Anyway, at the Magic Kingsom, the big must-do to me is the three “mountain” rides: Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. Ride them all. And do the Haunted Mansion at least twice.
I’m going to break away from the others in the thread and say that I really liked MGM (or are they going by “Disney Studios” now?). Get there early and run run run to the Tower of Terror. After that, there’s the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, the stunt show, MuppetVision 3D, Indiana Jones, Star Tours…and there’s loads of improv street theater going on all the time. We ran into three that stick out in my mind: some sewer workers who played a game of “plunger darts” in the street, a landscaping crew who gave a concert as “Grass Sweat & Shears” (Rake & Roll!), and four really odd characters who played a guessing game with my wife’s father. And at night there was Fantasmic, which was a heck of a show. Certain restaurants have dinner reservation times that will allow you to get preferred seating for Fantasmic, which is worth looking into.
If you can, try to set aside enough time to see La Nouba, the Cirque du Soleil show at Downtown Disney. Well worth the price.
Animal Kingdom was neat, but it really only had four things we were interested in (this was before Expedition Everest): the safari, Dinosaur!, “It’s Tough To Be A Bug”, and the Festival of the Lion King. We burned through those in a morning and went back to Epcot for the rest of the day.
Epcot is great for grownups, but I suspect kids will get bored there fast. Still, they do have the Test Track, Soarin’, Misson Space, Journey Into Imagination, and a few other things here and there; it’s a lot of walking, though, so be prepared.
One other thing I’d suggest you look into: a meal plan. For us, it was so great to just keep our park passes on us, sign for our meals (on our plan, we could eat at just about any restaurant on the property; every meal came with one non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert, and just sign the slip and go), and save our cash for souvenirs and frequent bottles of water (it was HOT when we went). I’ll never forget the woman at Pizzafari who was in tears because somewhere in line, she’d lost several hundred dollars that had fallen out of her pocket. You could just tell that was everything they had, and man, if that happens, your vacation is over, or at least pretty near ruined. Save yourself that kind of heartache, if you can.
Also: plan. Plan, plan, plan. Disney is an amazingly busy place, and the more you plan, the less time you spend standing around wondering what to do next while everyone else gets in line ahead of you. Figure out where you want to go, at what times, and where and when you plan to eat. And use the time you save to have fun actually doing stuff.
I’d definitely do Epcot and The Magic Kingdom. Son may be too young to enjoy the Tower of Terror and the Rockin’ Rollercoaster, which are the must dos at MGM.
When we went 5 years ago, the best part of the vacation was the day we spent at Discovery Cove, a subsidiary of Sea World. You spend the whole day there and get to swim with dolphins. The great thing about it is that it’s crowd controlled so that it’s an enormous relief from the heat and crowds of Disney. It’s expensive ($200+/pp) but it was worth it. They also give you a 7 day pass to Sea World.
The other thing that we quite enjoyed was taking a firework cruise on a pontoon. You have to reserve it quite early via the Disney reservation system, or you can check out Pete Werner’s site to see if other people are looking for people to split the cost on a specific date, but we really enjoyed it.
Doesn’t sound like you would do this, but I enjoyed Busch Gardens more than Disney. That was a dozen years back, so things might be different.
I did too, but Busch Gardens is in Tampa Bay, which is about 100 miles away from Orlando.
I would recommend a day at Magic Kingdom, a day at Epcot, and then maybe see if you can do MGM for the last day. Animal Kingdom is okay, but not great to me.
I also strongly recommend that you become well-acquainted with the Fastpass system. Without Fastpass, you’ll want to pretty much skip all of Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom and likely Pirates of the Caribbean. Judging by the popularity of that these days, when you get in the Magic Kingdom, make a beeline to Pirates. The lines WILL get long.
Also, same goes for Soarin’ in Epcot. It’s my current favorite ride and apparently it’s everyone else’s, too. I’ve heard of Fastpasses actually being gone by 10:30 for Soarin’, so when you get there, go straight to the Land Pavillion. If possible, get a Fastpass for the ride, then get in the stand-by line. Once you get through the line and ride it, it will almost be time for you to get in with your Fastpass - that way you can ride it twice almost right in a row.
My favorite park by a long shot is Epcot. I absolutely love World Showcase and feel it’s worth seeing all the movies and riding all the rides there. I’m not sure how much it would interest a 7 year old, though, so you may want to give serious thought to what he would like.
My favorite rides in Disney are: Pirates, Space Mt, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (definitely hit this, your son will love it), and Peter Pan in Magic Kingdom. Soarin’, Mission:Space, Spaceship Earth, the Mexico ride, and the France movie (Impressions de France) in Epcot. Rock’n’Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and the Great Movie Ride in MGM. Expedition:Everest, the Kilamanjaro Safaris, and It’s Tough to be a Bug in Animal Kingdom.
I also second the recommendation that you see Illuminations in Epcot. It’s absolutely fantastic and it blows my mind that they do it every night.
Have fun!
Ludovic You are dead to me.
As for the recommendations of him-whose-name-I-cannot-speak, I would agree. I would alos highly recommend you plan you time/staying power to see the fireworks at (IIRC) 9:00 pm. They are amazing. The Haunted Mansion is also a must see. Too much to take in on one go through though.
There is a really good restaurant with good food, portions and good prices. It’s over behind Tomorrow Land. I cant’ think of the name off hand but when I do, I’ll come back with it.
Since you have a place to stay on campus, you may consider going early in the morning and running till you’re beat and go to the room for a short break in mid-afternoon. If it’s warm, and it may still be, hit the pool and then start again later for the rest and the fireworks. We did and enjoyed it much more not being exhausted and burnt out.
I totally agree about Animal Kingdom. Skip it. I would do magic kingdom the first day, epcot for half the second day than back to magic kingdom (the 7 year old will enjoy that the most) I personally love MGM so I would see that the third day. My daughter is also 7 and she positively adores MGM. If you have a complete 4th day I would recommend Universal studios instead of Sea world. Seaworld is interesting but your 7 year old may get bored with it depending how much he likes shows with animals. Feeding the dolphins are fun though 
I wouldn’t recommend eating any breakfast or lunch at the parks. You will get robbed. There are enough chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Fridays that stay opened until 10 and you’ll get more for you money.
Have a great time!!!
I love Disney, my favorites:
-The Muppet 3D movie at MGM.
-The Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom.
-The end of day fireworks and lightshow over the lake at EPCOT. Try to get there a little early to get as close to the water as you can.
Don’t stress, get a set of ears for everybody and have fun. It’s all good.
I did Disney World for the first time as a 24yo solo-traveler cast member, so maybe my experiences won’t be as useful to you as some of the Doper families! I got over my fear of roller coasters just in time - in fact, it happened a few seconds after I joined the queue for Space Mountain!
My favourite park was Epcot, but mostly because of the unashamed science nerdy faux-futuristic kitsch of the place. And Soarin’ and Misson Space. GREAT rides. I was also fortunate enough to be there during the Food & Wine festival, where outside each pavillion in the Showcase, all around the lagoon, there were stands selling little snacks of each country’s “national dish.” I was a bit surprised to see some lovely lambchops and delicious shiraz in the Australian kiosk, expecting some cliche along the lines of “shrimp” (which we call prawns!) on the barbie… Needless to say, I ate a lot, including escargot, some Moroccan thingy, sushi… mmm.
Since I was travelling alone, I didn’t find the queues too prohibitive - many rides have a separate line for ‘solo riders’ which is used to fill in the one or two left over spaces after family groups are seated. Maybe you and your SO can take turns doing this, with the other looking after your kid?
There are a couple of good rides at Animal Kingdom - I quite enjoyed Dinosaur and the Kali River Rapids, even though the weather was pretty cold, and I was soaked! The Safari was a bit like a zoo in fast forward - quite artificial feeling, and the animatronics really didn’t help!
I didn’t really like Magic Kingdom, but I’m just not its demographic! Fun for half a day, and funny to watch the scary Disney obsessive fans, but I was out of there early, and off back to Epcot.
MGM was okay, the Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster were great - but, again, maybe not if I was 7…
I also saw the Cirque show La Nouba, and really enjoyed it. The huge, purpose built stadium is very impressive, but it is very far from an intimate circus/theatre performance, and it was kind of depressingly half-full. Downtown Disney was great for me, and super cheap for cast members on Thursdays, I think. I had the best night out drinking in the silly theme bars, meeting some ex-colleagues and some new friends, and felt really safe the whole time. I LOVE the tounge-in-cheekiness of calling the precinct Pleasure Island!
Enjoy the whole Disney experience - you can get as involved as you want, and there’s so much to do. Don’t feel like you have to fit EVERYTHING in, especially into three days - enjoy what you DO do, and don’t stress out over what you miss.
I know I said earlier that the kids like MGM, typo, MK. We don’t like MGM at all. But we LOVE Animal Kingdom.
My own touring plan would have them at MK for a full day (the day their daughter’s band plays), then mornings at AK, afternoon evening at Epcot. Morning at MGM, afternoon evening at Epcot.
And I wouldn’t leave property to eat. Takes an extra hour from what is a really short trip. If you are worried about getting robbed, pack in lunch, Disney doesn’t care.
Cosmic Ray’s, perhaps? That’s where I usually end up eating in MK.
I was just there last month. When are you going?
I hear Shades of Green is a beautiful resort. I don’t think they offer it, but if they do, the Dining Plan is a great value.
Along with the Passporter, I recommend the Unofficial Guide. I’ll second allears.net and throw in the DisBoards.
If you plan eating in Disney restaurants, you should make reservations ASAP. I recommend Boma.
If you add a day, I’d spend it at Disney. There’s a lot to do.
My least favorite park is MGM. After Tower of Terror & Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, there’s not much there. But Epcot is probably the worst one for kids (it is my favorite though).
Learn and use Fastpass!
My must-dos:
IllumiNations (Epcot)
Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom)
World Showcase/Drink Around the World (Epcot)
Nemo show (Animal Kingdom)
Tower of Terror (MGM)
Haunted Mansion (Magic Kingdom)
Pirates (Magic Kingdom)
Rock ‘N’ Rollercoaster (MGM)
Spaceship Earth (Epcot)
My park rankings:
Epcot
Animal Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Islands of Adventure (Universal)
MGM
Universal Studios
Huh, I don’t remember it being that far away, but we did the Everglades too, so my memory may be faulty.