2014 trip with a first timer in the group, what things are a must and a must not!

We try and get a gage for the likes of new guests before we judge anything. See if you can get them to read a little about each experience before you add your feelings on it. Half the people we take with use wanna sleep in the 360 films then for others it's a highlight of the trip. 14 days is a lot of time to experience things so let the new person express what they are most interested in. When traveling with a group that size you can let everyone plan a day using a best of approach where the most experienced person leads to begin then the new people can lead once they get their bearings. It's Disney the experience is going to be as magical as you let it. In our house the MK means haunted mansion is a must, HS is Toy Story Mania, Epcot is Soarin, AK is the Festival of the Lion King. Only the Festival of the Lion Kng is a must for our normal travel companions. So we learned to share our Favorites and have fun watching our guests enjoy theirs.

I agree! Let them read through the ride descriptions and figure out what they think they may like. My philosophy is try everything once. They should do all the classics like Small World, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Dumbo, People Mover, Carousel of Progress, all three mountains and Jungle Cruise. Country Bear Jamboree I guess is a classic because that opened with the park. Since you will be there for two weeks, you can afford to just take a break at the resort for a day or two if you wanted to. But take your time and don't push them to do stuff they don't want to do.

I completely agree. When traveling with a first timer or someone who hasn't been for many years I try and design a touring strategy that will focus on things that speak to their passions first. Is he a foodie? Head to Epcot first. Is he a naturalist? Then make sure your first stop is Animal Kingdom. Does he love boating or fishing? You might want to schedule in some time at the marina. Make sure you start off with something that really speaks to him, then take a couple of days for the other folks, then toss in something else that is specifically for him. Rotate "his" activities throughout the trip so that he feels the excitement right away, but still feels like he's got stuff to look forward too. The mix is especially important since you'll be there for 14 days.

You also may want to think about putting a tour in mix, say Key to the Kingdom tour. Also don't forget the architectural and historical aspect of Disney.

My DW and I went to WDW for our honeymoon last year (one year ago from today we were soaking up the sun and fun) and it was my 5th or 6th trip, but her first. One big thing that I had to learn and remember to do when my DW and I went on our honeymoon was to make sure that I didn't focus on the things that my family and I had done on our trips, and make sure to do things differently along the way. Don't try to recreate your prior trips, and make sure his first doesn't go too fast. I'm sure you already know all this, but I wanted to throw that out there anyway.

Well my advise, I wouldn't let anyone else ruin my trip. We take our friends all the time and they were told from the get go, if they want to do something else, do it! If they want to tag along with us, get your arse in gear and keep up. You want to sleep in or go to bed early, have at it. I'm on my vacation too!

Now regarding the fiance not "getting it", hey he may not. Disney may not be his thing. But if he has agreed to go that a good sign. He may be one of those once and done people.

Good point, Corey!

I think that being okay with splitting up is really important. You all need to make it clear from the get go that everyone should be having fun and if that means splitting up for a few hours - or a day - it's okay. Disney has something for everyone, and people like to move at different paces.

Just PLEASE make sure the guy gets a Dole Whip. He must not leave the premises without one!

They are really good!

Well yes they are!

it's breakfast time... there's pineapple in dole whips... pineapple is a good breakfast item... mmmm wish i had a dole whip for breakfast.

For adults. in October. Food and Wine and Epcot for sure. Test Track is awesome but even in off peak times of the year jumps to over an hour even when everything else is less than 10 minutes.

We literally just got back on Saturday after a 5 day stay and we saw EVERYTHING and RODE everything MULTIPLE times.

We even got Universal and IOA done in 1 day with time to spare.
We will go back again at this time of year it was AWESOME.

Low crowds in the parks the Halloween party and food and wine = the time of year to go for sure!

My first visit was in October of last year with people who had all been multiple times. I think the best thing about that was that when I explained my general likes and dislikes it was easy to have them help me avoid things I wasn't going to enjoy. The not so great thing was that there were things I wanted to try that they just didn't want to wait for, having done them already many times. So I would agree with everyone else - make sure he knows he can separate from the group to do something he wants to do. It's awesome that you'll have so much time for a first visit. I think that would take the pressure off not wanting to miss anything and ending up doing too much!

The things I am sad I missed include the fireworks displays and parades at the parks. I'm sure they're not as much fun the fourth or fifth time but that first time is really magical! And I definitely concur about the Dole Whip!