That's completely normal. I've been going to Universal and Disney for close to 20 years now, and it can still feel overwhelming.
I think the first thing to keep in mind is that you can't do everything. Unless you are going for 2 weeks, don't try. Pick out the things that interest you the most. Make a list of priorities. Let everything else go, or you will stress yourself out trying to run all around.
Second, don't forget to let kids have fun where they find it. You know what my kids' favorite thing was that we did on our 10 day trip? It was playing with a CM for hours in the Activity room at Kidani on a day we got rained in. Their second favorite, the Wildernesses Explorer's activity booths at AK. They also had favorite rides and shows and enjoyed meeting characters, but what stands out to them the most is the magical CM interaction they had. They ended up running into that same CM in the parks, and they continued to play and tease with him. They loved that he remembered them.
On that same note, I recommend having a list of non ride / non large attraction activities. There are lots of little things people pass up or don't know about that don't require waiting in a line, so when you need a bit of a break or if it gets crowded, you can fall back on these. A few ideas:
- Scavenger hunts in MK and Epcot
- Playgrounds & Splash-pads
- Lots of interactive and hands-on exhibits people skip over at Epcot
- Kid Cot stations and passport books for Epcot
- Wilderness Explorers booths at AK
- AK petting zoo
- AK animal trails
- AK art class
- resort activities
- just hanging by the pool
- fun themed meals
- character meets
- parades
- shows
Lastly, I remember when I went with my little sister on our very first trip, we had way too much planned. She was 11 and about half way into the trip, she just stopped walking and refused to move. Poor thing was exhausted. We scrapped the rest of the day's plans. I took her back to the hotel, and we took a 5 hour nap until dinner, so just make sure to plan in breaks and time to sleep. It is very easy to overdo it.
Over the years, I have gone with and without. I don't have a preference. I think these are the things to keep in mind when deciding:
Magic bands are great if you plan to take nothing else with you to the parks. You have it on your wrist, and you don't have to keep up with anything.
If you are taking a lanyard or bag anyway, I don't know that it offers any great benefit as you can easily keep up with a card in your wallet or in a lanyard.
Magic bands are great for swimming at the pool where you don't have to worry about keeping an eye on a wallet or room key and where it would be hard to swim with those items. I know you can buy water proof lanyards to wear while swimming, but they aren't that comfortable. I'd rather the band I can use at the pool bar and to get back into the room and not need to worry about my stuff sitting unattended.
Lanyards can sometimes be hard to reach a touch point or to be scanned without removing, a band or your arm is easier.
Magic bands may not fit all wrists well. I ordered a new one this trip because they had the Orange Bird, and I love him. Sadly, I wasn't thinking when I did it, and now I'm not sure I will even be able to wear it. I have very small wrists. I usually wear my original thin band that doesn't have a puck inside it as the new ones with pucks are larger and don't fit me as well.
You can remove the puck out of the band and place it in a lanyard. They sell some cute ones on Etsy that are made to hold the pucks, so if you are wanting the extra features of the new bands, but don't want to wear a band around your wrist, that's another option. We got Star Wars ones one trip.
Magic Bands have a few extra interactive features if you care about that.
New Magic Bands have to be charged.
Magic Bands are no longer free. You have to pay, and they aren't cheap from $34 to $60+ dollars.
Overall, I don't think having or not having a band is going to make any real difference to your enjoyment of the trip. It will just be a personal preference. You can also always buy one once you arrive if you are undecided and want to see how it goes without one first.
Yes, it is incredibly complicated. This is my first trip with it, and I'm just as confused and overwhelmed as you. I'll tell you what is helping me decide. I have a subscription to Touring Plans. I highly recommend doing this for a first trip. It's $25 and well worth it considering what you are paying for a trip.
You can create custom touring plans. These are amazing for figuring out how much you can fit in in a day. You can use the custom plans in two different ways. You can tell TP what you want to do in what order, and it will tell you exactly how long that will take, or you can just give it a list of things you want to do, and it will tell you the best order for the least amount of waiting. You can tell TP your walking speed. You can tell it to prioritze walking over waiting or vice versa. You can even schedule in meals and breaks as well. It even gives you everything plotted out on a map.
The other thing that it does is give you estimated LL return times. For example, it tells me that if you book a LL at 3:00 for ride A, it will mostly likely return you a time around 6:00. Whereas, if you book one for ride B at 3:00, it will return you one for around 3:30. It will also tell you if the LL are usually all gone by that time as well.
This is really helping me determine if I need Genie+ on each of my days or not. I thought I wanted it for our EPCOT day, but the way I have it currently planned, it looks like Remy is the only LL I could get that I would need, and there's no gauarentee I will get that one with it selling out in seconds. Most everything else is selling out too soon for me to use LL the way my day is planned, or they are attractions that don't need LL or ones I'm not interested in. So now I have to decide if it is worth it for one ride or not.
I also found the informational blogs and examples on TP super helpful in finally understanding how it all works. There are a number of different articles that break everything down and give great examples of different ways to use LL to your advantage.
I highly recommend checking it out becuase exactly what you plan to do when is going to dictate if Genie+ is a good idea or not. There's no other way to determine it. It would be aweful to buy Genie+ and see that everything you want to ride is unavailable.
Here's the thing. There's no way to know anymore. Septemember is traditionally less crowded, but there's simply no gauarentee. I just came back from an awful trip to Universal in Febraury that should have had the parks empty, and they were packed. More crowded than I have seen them in the summer, so you just never know. The way I look at it is it may be less crowded or it may not be, but at least you have the chance that it might be less.
Now for weather, it will be hot and humid. I'm from the south. It was hot and humid at my house this Friday, horribly so. I opened the door and about got knocked over from the humidity; it was so thick. I said, nope, shut the door and stayed inside. That's how it will be. If you are prepared for it, you'll be fine. It doesn't phase us becuase we are used to it. If you are hot-natured, and struggle with temps in the high 70s and 80s, this might not be the best time to go. Temps can easily be in the high 90s with 100% humidity.
You're also going to have rain. That can actually be a good thing, though. It rains and people run away. If you are willing to wear a poncho and stick it out, you can find shorter waits. Plus, getting a little wet can feel nice if it has been hot enough out. It's the being soaked and then going into the airconditioning that kills you, so keep that in mind and bring rain gear.
The main risk is tropical storms and hurricains. I mentioned we got rained-in on our trip. It was in September. Rain storms usually roll in and out quite quickly each afternoon, but if there is a big storm, it can hit hard which is what happened to us. It poured non-stop. Everything was flooded. There was very bad lightning, rain you couldn't see through, and a transformer blew up when lightning struck it. It simply wasn't safe to go to the parks, so we ended up having 1.5 days where we were just stuck inside at the resort. I guess we could have waided through floood water. It was only about ankle high, but I would never suggest that. People don't realize how contaminated flood water is. Plus, the lightning. Still, we had a great time at the resort, and like I mentoined earlier, this is my kids' favorite memory, so it didn't ruin the trip or anything.
You should just be mentally prepared for the possibility of weather related interruptions. Have indoor back-up plans.
I would go when the time works best for your family and when Disney has something going on that interests you over trying to hit a low crowd time which just doesn't exist anymore like it used to. Is there a certain holiday or festival your family would enjoy? We did May for Star Wars days once years ago, and that was great. Seeing the parks decorated for Halloween or Christmas is also great. I love mid December trips when the weather is cooler and everything is decorated, and there are special Christmas events going on. Some people are interested in the different festivals at EPCOT throughout the year. I would pick a date that features something that interests you and just try to avoid major holidays as far as crowds, so if September works, go for it, but don't feel like you hvae to pick September to have a good time or lowers crowds. TP has a great crowd calender you can look at to see forcasted crowds and past dates.
Honestly, all Dinsey resorts are incredibly spread out, so I'm not sure you will find much closer. The Little Mermaid rooms are not that much farther away from the lobby than rooms at other resorts.
Google says it's only a 6 minute walk from the Little Mermaid central pool area to the Skyliner, and 9 minutes from farthest room at the back to the skyliner. 10 minutes from pool area to the lobby and bus. For Disney, that's pretty standard, maybe even on the shorter side. Only a few of the deluxe resorts are going to have shorter walks.
We stay at Universal all the time and have a 15 to 20 minute walk to the parks, and it isn't bad at all. At AK, we had a 15 to 20 minute walk to the room from the bus and lobby, so 6 minutes is nothing. I wouldn't stress over that. I feel like a 15 minute walk from my room to the bus stop has been pretty standard on most of my trips at different Disney resorts.
But if 10 minutes to bus / lobby is too long, I will offer an alternative. On my upcoming trip, we are staying in the Royal (princess) rooms at Port Orleans Riverside. Google says it is about a 6 minute walk from those rooms to the lobby and bus stop, and at least for my dates, they were priced about the same as AoA. I actually think AoA might hvae been a tiny more expensive. They aren't Ariel themeed, but they have touches from all the princesses, and the headboards have animated light up fireworks you can turn on. Might convince your daughter to switch.
This is also another area where TP might help you. They have a room finder section that helps you figure out the best buildings and sections to request to be closest to your preferences.
One last thing to keep in mind is that it is only about a minute longer to walk to the Pop Century bus stop as it is to the Art of Animation bus stop if you are in the back rooms. This means you can use either bus to return at the end of the night without a longer walk which is great becuase it gives you more options for catching a bus back quicker. There also aren't multiple bus stops which is nice. The larger resorts have more stops, but they aren't any closer to the rooms, and you have to wait to stop at each which makes the trip take longer.
