We’ve been home for a week and there are so many things I would like to share with you about our trip. I am going to try and keep it as simple as possible! Here goes…
Planning a Disney Trip:
- Ask your friends to share their pros and cons of their Disney Trips
- Pinterest has some great information but it can also be overwhelming. When I started to feel like I was on information overload, I stopped reading information!
- There are Disney Consultants, like Sarah, who can help you plan a trip. I bet there are also Travel Agents too.
- Disney is expensive but there are many different options for several different budgets.
- The Disney App lists out your entire itinerary for the parks. I also used this free download.
- Get the family excited with a countdown. I made one like this.
- We bought a meal plan and it truly did make things smooth but I know you can get by without it.
Some of my favorite meals:
- Dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe
- The Luau Show at The Polynesian
- Whispering Canyon Cafe at The Wilderness Lodge
- Lunch at Belle’s Castle, Be Our Guest (in the Magic Kingdom)
- Breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle (in the Magic Kingdom) with the princesses (the food wasn’t super but the restaurant was sooooooo cool and the experience was unforgettable!)
- Lunch at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. This was a character meal which meant Mickey and some others walked around the restaurant for the kids to meet them. The food was super ethnic”Indian dishes, etc.
Fun Tips:
- Try not to worry about the money. It’s expensive but it’s also Disney. Remember there are budgets for everyone!
- Do not pack flip flops for your kids to wear at the parks. Think comfort, not fashion. It’s a lot of walking and I saw some very sad kids trying to keep up with their families falling out of their flip flops.
- Using the boat for transportation was the quickest if you have the chance to use this form of transportation from your hotel.
- Use your fast passes—and sign up before you get to the park.
- Every moment doesn’t need to be planned. We worked around meal reservations and were laid back at the parks. We would hang around the section of the park where our fast passes were around the time and get all the events, parades and rides in that section.
- Communicate with the family about emergency plans. What if someone gets lost? What is the plan between you and your husband as to when to call it quits (Dave and I kept checking in to see what the other parent thought about how much longer we could keep them out without a meltdown happening.)
- There are a ton of shops and we kept telling the girls to keep their eyes out for the ONE souvinier they would choose on our last day. That worked!!!! They weren’t demanding toys and requests which was nice.
- If I did it again or I could go back and do it again, I wouldn’t have purchased the Memory Maker Photo Pass. I always had my cell phone and camera and there are hundreds of people to ask to get a family picture for you. The quality wasn’t professional.
- Make reservations for all your dinners. It is extremely hard to eat at a nice place without a reservation.
- We used a grocery service to have some staples for our room. It was https://www.strollersandgroceries.com
- Matching shirts are big in Disney. Go for it! It was actually easy for me to keep track of my girls with their matching outfits.
- Bring a change of clothes if your daughter is dressed in a princess costume. Chances are they are going to want to change or it will be really hot and you don’t want her in a polyestor costume!
- Consider bringing a stroller for all children under 7. You can rent them there too. It wasn’t a pain for us to bring ours, it helped transport the children in the airport.
- We wore mickey ears in the airport to Disney and it was very festive. So many people commented about our trip and it made it even more exciting for everyone (especially me!)
- You can wear a button if you are celebrating something. Each time you eat a big meal and they see the button you get a huge cupcake. After a few days, my girls buttons were lost Umm¦. Yes, I tossed them. I couldn’t handle the treats.
- If you have someone going with you, go out to one of the parks for date night. We had fun going on big kid rides at night.
- I wish I would have known that it would all make sense once I got there—I had a lot of worry and anxiety about the trip especially because I planned it all. I felt like everyone’s happiness depended on me. Do some planning and show up. Within 20 minutes there you will get how it all goes.
- The quick service meals in the park are not super healthy or good. Beware. We loved our meals at The Polynesian Luau, The Grand Floridian Cafe, and Whispering Canyon Cafe (The Wilderness Lodge)
