Sure thing.

The best times to ride the rides with the really long lines are when the park first opens and when it's about to close.  I would say the absolute worst wait time is Soarin! at Epcot.  In fact if you don't get a fast pass you might not even want to bother.   At your income, you probably should get Fast Passes for everybody.  You've got more money than time--make the most of your time. 

When you're at Epcot, I like Germany the best to eat dinner.  There's a nice reservations-only restaurant that does Oktoberfest year round.  Magic Kingdom has a couple really nice dinners with live characters like Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh, etc. walking around hugging the kids, posing for pictures, etc..  Do go to the reservations-only restaurants.  You'll probably be paying like $200 for 5 people. 

If you go to the Disney castle--you know, the one on all the Disney movies, but it looks sooo much smaller in real life--there is a salon.  You can take your little girl there and they will dress her up like a princess.  I mean literally.  Then she will get to walk around the park in her gown and tiara all day.  Total photo opp.

Go to Animal Kingdom on a day when you don't have all day.  It closes the earliest of all the parks.  If you have all day, go to Epcot or Magic Kingdom.  If you've got half a day, that's your Animal Kingdom day.  I wouldn't bother with the Park Hopper passes--the time it takes to hop parks makes it not worth it.  You would be spending all your time hopping parks instead of riding the rides.

At MGM/Hollywood Studios, absolutely go to Toy Story first thing.   That line fills up VERY fast.   And American Idol.  If one of you wants to try out, that is.   The lines at Aerosmith and Twilight Zone also get long very quickly, but those are very intense rides--certainly not for a 4-year-old.  I'm older, though, and I love those two rides.  Hang a right when you first enter the park, and you'll find those two.

If you're staying at a hotel "on" the Disney campus, they will have special mornings/nights where the park remains open only to those people staying in those hotels.  I would plan your park visits around those days if I were you.  My favorite hotel is the one the monorail goes through.    (corollary:   if you can NOT go the extra hour, do NOT go to that park on that day.  Because guess why:  all the hotel guests are, and for the same reason.  That means longer lines. )

Magic Kingdom is best for your little kids.  Your 14-year-old would probably be happier at Universal Studios than Disney.  The rest of the parks are somewhere in between.   There's some cool Star Wars stuff at Hollywood Studios.  And a cool stunt show.  

*YOU* will like the city-of-tomorrow half of EPCOT.  There are lots of interactive games.  There is a ride that takes you to Jupiter or Mars.  But after that, there is this awesome team game involving like 25 people to a team (2 teams).  The 25 of you are Mission Control, and you're in charge of getting your spaceship to its destination.   Spaceship Earth also has a bunch of interactive games at the end.

I recommend NOT doing Spaceship Earth first when going into Epcot.  Absolutely do Soarin! first.  It's tempting to do Spaceship Earth first, because it's the first ride you run across in the park.  But you end up spending your first hour playing all the interactive games, and by then the lines at all the other rides are long and you missed your opportunity. 

Is this another rub your nose in it moment?
I can barely afford food let alone a vacation. Oh, and if I could afford a vacation, one of the stardock forums would be the first place I'd look....

There's not too much you can do. Your kids will either like it or not. Just go ahead and make the most of it either way.

And not a good message about class privilege to teach the kids.

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 It's been decades since I've been so I don't have any specific this or thats to offer.  As a 9 year old kid, it was the imaginarioums that interested me most.  The rides like Space Mountain were exciting and fun.  But it was the immersion into adventure that was most memorable for me.   It was imagination come to life.  I really was on a frigate attacked by pirates.  But we got away and sailed past their grand fort siege. We escaped into a dark and musty cavern.  Only to find ourselves deep in the underground lair of the pirates.  All the sights, smells and sounds were there.  As was a sense of real adventure.  We were immersed in imagination.  Surrounded by it's detail.  When it was sadly all over and time to return home; I took home with me a wealth of experiences which provided fodder for my play, and material for which to dream about.

 The rides were fun but were over in a flash.  The adventures I took home and relived over and over again.  With the help of a Disney souvenir shop musket (real wood and metal which fired caps!), treasue map, and pouch of faux gold coins, I was a pirate adventuring my neighborhood in search of treasure and danger.  I made treeforts with the Swiss Family Robinson, and I explored the universe with the Tomorrow Land crew. That one day at the park provided years of enjoyment.  Now 31 years later, I find enjoyment in the memories of the play which that day inspired.     

I worked for Disney Cruise Line for quite a few years and the parks are great..........but If you really want to give the kids a treat..........take them away from the Parks for a few days.........Take them down the coast for a few days and combine a visit to the Cape Canaveral Space Center and then go a few miles down the road to Port Canaveral to the Disney Cruise Line terminal and take a cruise to the Bahamas for 3/4 days........Stopping off at Nassau and Disney's private island of Castaway Cay............Don't tell them.......Make it a surprise..........You'll blow them away...........Watch their faces!............You've got the money, Brad...........Do it. You won't be disappointed.   

What Leo the Lion said in post #9 is a great idea! While the park is great for the kids, the cruise is great for both kids and adults.  It let's you relax while the kids play and when you get to the islands there is lot's to do.  Make sure to visit the Atlantic Resort and Casino in the Bahamas if you can, the walls are huge aquarium's, kids will love it (and adults too)!  Hope you can get cruise tickets on late notice though!  Been on 9 different Disney cruises in the past myself (back when they were affordable), but only 3 trips to the park.  The kids loved the cruise far better.

Unless your child is set on it, I say skip it all together and go to Seaworld! I have not been to DL, and no one in my family has wanted to go. Seaworld was a huge hit though, they even have a behind the scenes where you can interact with the whales, for a high fee of course We never did that though. The best thing about it IMO was the animals shows and the bird aviary where you could feed them by hand. They had something similar for seals and whatnot but you cant touch the seals, unlike the birds.

My advice for going to such a large and busy place as DL or Seaworld is this:

1. Make sure everyone is well rested. This is important to ensure the younger ones have a good time.

2. Dont hesitate to put off going there for a day if someone is not feeling their best. No one will enjoy it if they are not at 100%

3. If you can go more than once. There is a lot to see and sometimes you have to go back to see it all, and thats always fun!

4. Stay close getting seperatted in a large place is scary, make a plan as to where you will meet incase someone gets lost.

Well good luck! And bring lots of money! And keep an eye on your wallet! And tell us how it went!

I haven't been to Disney in quite a while, but we are regular visitors to Universal and Islands of Adventure.  It's much more fun, and lots more to do.  Personally, Sea World is one of my favorite parks.

And if you're lucky, you can see a trainer get eaten by a killer whale.  

hey frogboy,

congrats on taking the family to disney they will all love it. it will mean alot to your kids believe me. anycase some highlights for your kids as follows.

for your 4 year old girl a must would be to do the bibidi bobidy boo boutique. i think its in downtown disney where they basically will turn her into a princess with a hairdoo and outfit to boot. definitely good for little girls.

a fun activity with the boys you can take them for a dinner show @ arabian nights where they have a jousting show.

typhoon lagon is fun for all and or blizzard beach especially if its hot accually i live in florida so yea its hot lately.

the fireworks in magic kingdom at night is really worth it and the park in general is really great for all the family. shows parades and rides magic kingdom is great.

epcot has alot of science theme rides which is cool for all who like to learn. the nice thing about epcot is the nations section. the poeple who work in the different nations are accually from there. also the different foods from each nation is good too. the japanese section is real nice. morrocan japanese and chinese all were really good food wise.

em lets see mgm has alot of movie theme shows i always see the indiana jones one and also the stunt car show is good. if you go to mgm need to see the fantasia show/fireworks display quite nice.

i havent been to universal/islands of adventures for a while so i cant comment on that tho my wife likes that for halloween horror nights which is in october you could take your boys for that another time. 

hmmm downtown disney dont forget to get some chocolate shakes or hot chocolate or icecream at ghiraldeli's  its like the best. theres a lego store too thats cool for the kids. my wife jsut told me theres a lego land in orlando thats worth chcking out if your boys like legos. 

anyways have a nice trip.

That's good information to know about Disneyland.  I'm thinking maybe a trip to SoCal is in order for us.   I visited downtown Disney in Anaheim before, and my impression is that park may not singlehandedly justify a full-blown vacation from out-of-state, but there are plenty of other things in SoCal to do as well.   The FastPasses for everybody is nice (and frankly, I tend to agree, that's the way it ought to be for everybody).

That's a water ride.

I remember this neat thing that they did for kids who got lost at Disney World when I was a kid.  I got lost and this nice Mickey took care of me.  He took me into a bathroom and checked my prostate.  I don't remember what else happened, but later on when I woke up in a hospital, my mom was crying.  I then got Ice cream and mommy said to never talk about that day again.