Happiest Place On Earth
January 10, 2018
It took me awhile to make this trip happen. I should have made it happen long ago. But I let a lot of things stop me. And truth be told, I wish we had gone many times over the years as the kids were growing up. That didn’t happen. I let the ages of my kids at the time stop me, along with the fact that the trip would cost a lot of money. My kids are very spread out, except for the last two. It always seemed when my older child or children were at a good age to go I would have a little one that wasn’t. Then as they got older my husband became more against going than he was at the beginning because of the money. He couldn’t see why we should spend that amount of money to go to a fancy theme park when we had one right here. There is really no comparison. At. All…
I heard so many families talk about how wonderful their trips were. Many families had gone multiple times and talked about going back again. I finally decided that I would plan it and make it happen. I would PROVE to my husband, who loves all of the vacations that I plan, that it was worth it. I’m pretty confident that I succeeded in doing it. He enjoyed himself very much.
My husband and I took our two grandchildren, ages 16 months and 3, we took our 16 year old daughter, our college freshman son and his girl friend. We decided to rent a van and drive instead of spending the money on airfare.
I learned a lot from this trip and experienced so much. I want to share it with others so they can use what I learned to make their trip even better. It may take me a few blog posts to get it all on here. I’m going to review the entire trip, rate the hotel we stayed at, tell you what I feel are MUST do’s at each park, give you tips that I learned to make things go more smoothly, suggestions on what you shouldn’t do in certain situations, and things you shouldn’t miss out on, plus a few more things.
I hope you will come back and read each post about our grand trip. Feel free to tell us about your trip and what you loved most at each park as I write about them.
It took me awhile to make this trip happen. I should have made it happen long ago. But I let a lot of things stop me. And truth be told, I wish we had gone many times over the years as the kids were growing up. That didn’t happen. I let the ages of my kids at the time stop me, along with the fact that the trip would cost a lot of money. My kids are very spread out, except for the last two. It always seemed when my older child or children were at a good age to go I would have a little one that wasn’t. Then as they got older my husband became more against going than he was at the beginning because of the money. He couldn’t see why we should spend that amount of money to go to a fancy theme park when we had one right here. There is really no comparison. At. All…
I heard so many families talk about how wonderful their trips were. Many families had gone multiple times and talked about going back again. I finally decided that I would plan it and make it happen. I would PROVE to my husband, who loves all of the vacations that I plan, that it was worth it. I’m pretty confident that I succeeded in doing it. He enjoyed himself very much.
My husband and I took our two grandchildren, ages 16 months and 3, we took our 16 year old daughter, our college freshman son and his girl friend. We decided to rent a van and drive instead of spending the money on airfare.
I learned a lot from this trip and experienced so much. I want to share it with others so they can use what I learned to make their trip even better. It may take me a few blog posts to get it all on here. I’m going to review the entire trip, rate the hotel we stayed at, tell you what I feel are MUST do’s at each park, give you tips that I learned to make things go more smoothly, suggestions on what you shouldn’t do in certain situations, and things you shouldn’t miss out on, plus a few more things.
I hope you will come back and read each post about our grand trip. Feel free to tell us about your trip and what you loved most at each park as I write about them.
Disney World Review Part One
We just experienced the BEST VACATION EVER and I wanted to make sure to share my experiences with others so their trip could be as great or even better than ours. I also wanted to preserve my memories of the trip so I could make my next trip there better, as well. I will be doing a series of reviews, about the resort, the different parks, the food and beyond. I hope you will enjoy and benefit from them.
Since this was such a BIG trip for us and we had never gone before I decided to get a friend of mine, who is a Disney Planner, to take care of a LOT of the details for me. She knows so much about this destination so she was a wealth of information. It didn’t cost me anything extra and it saved me a lot of time and energy. It is a great thing to delegate when you are able to. Us moms have so much on our plates already, wearing so many different hats and trying to make everyone happy all at once. I’m learning that I need to pick and chose my activities and delegate the rest so that things get done the very best they can and less things fall through the cracks. None of us can do EVERYTHING by ourselves.
Back to the DP. Since she has been to WDW dozens of times, she was able to take the things about our group into consideration, our food likes and dislikes, the ages of our kids, and our time frame at the resort and gave us things to choose from. She found the resort and ticket prices that will fit our budget. She kept an eye out from any specials that came out and we took advantage of it. She set up our fast passes and booked our table service meals. The day before your trip she brought me a bag filled with all the printed info and her tips. In my bag of goodies she also gave my two grandkids a little Minnie and Mickey. My granddaughter carried that Minnie to every park and slept with it at night. My grandson plays with his all the time, we just didn’t trust him to take it with him out of the hotel since he tosses things all the time. It also had a beautiful Disney Christmas card with a gift card from her. We exchanged gift bags because I gave her a bag of goodies, too! Hers was filled with books for her students (she is a teacher) and a special book for her and her daughter.
The packet she gave me was so helpful. It had a schedule that had the suggestions, our fast pass times and our dinner plans. It also had sheets of suggestions for the different parks for snacks and other quick service meals. It was a wealth of knowledge, to be sure! I added or changed anything on each day’s sheet as I needed to as the days went by. Each night I would look at the next days suggestions and write in anything I wanted to add. I took that paper with me and left the rest in the room.
I booked my vacation at the beginning of the year and we went the week before Christmas. Another thing your planner can do is tell you the best times to go and the times to expect bigger crowds. We left right before the really crazy time of Christmas started. The crowds weren’t bad at all and our wait times were reasonable, sometimes much shorter than we expected. We are planning our second trip that same week, just a couple of years later. It was the perfect weather to enjoy everything.
I put a down payment on our vacation and then made monthly payments all year long. That helped make it easier since it wasn’t all at one time. I don’t know about you but for me coming up with the entire trip amount at one time is a total no-can-do. The longer you can make payments towards your vacation the less challenging it is. PLUS, it is a wonderful feeling knowing that it is paid for before you get there. We did have to put aside gas money and money for tips at the table service meals and any extras we wanted to buy. You have to have it paid in full one month before your check in date so that leaves you a month to save for all those extra things on your list.
One IMPORTANT bit of advice I would like to give you. IF you are traveling with young children and you don’t want to take your own stroller since you have to leave it outside at every ride and restaurant, call the local rental place either the day before or the day you will arrive but BEFORE you are supposed to go to a park. Don’t rent the ones at the park because they are only one day rentals and it will add up to be much more than if you use one of the rental companies that deliver it to your hotel. I forgot to call them the night we got there because it was late when we finally arrived. So I called from one of the parks the next day. They did not have anything for me that day but I picked it up at my hotel the next morning. We spent an entire day carrying around a 16 month old and a 3 year old. While we managed, it was wonderful getting that double stroller the next day. We had the double stroller for an entire four days and it averaged out to be about $20/day. It was at least $30/day at the parks and you had to return them each day. We had this one in the evenings and where ever we went and all the way back to our room at the end of the day. They put a sign with your last name on it that is easy to see in the ocean of strollers. It is well worth the investment to rent one.
We drove since our group was so large and we didn’t have the extra money to fly. We rented a van because ours wouldn’t make it that far. We had plenty of room and it was a nice ride. But it was a LONG trip. If you have the extra time, I suggest making a stop overnight, at least on the way home. We drove from Texas to Florida, with two children. Each potty break added at least 20 minutes on to our time. Our next trip we will leave a LOT sooner. We left at 11:30 at night and didn’t get to the hotel until around 9 p.m. There is also a time difference, keep that in mind. If you drive, make sure you give yourself a couple of hours to work with, just in case you have traffic or you have to stop too many times.
***Can you plan a trip without a DP? Of course! Could I have planned this whole trip without one? Sure! I plan TONS of our trips and we have some fabulous vacations. BUT it made things easier for me because there is so much to do and so much I didn’t know. I could have done lots of research, which we actually did when it comes to the rides, rooms, foods, etc, based on her suggestions and just on our own curiosity. I honestly just wanted to take advantage of her wealth of info to make this trip THE VERY BEST it could possible be for a first timer. The fact that it cost me nothing, they paid her for helping me and it saved me time and stress, it was a no-brainer. Even though I learned a lot and could plan our next trip all on my own, I’m still getting her to take care of the majority of the details so I can focus on the other areas of my life that need my attention.
I think that is enough info for one post! My next post will be about our resort and packing for the trip. I hope you will come back and read it. Thanks for stopping by and sharing our adventures!
Since this was such a BIG trip for us and we had never gone before I decided to get a friend of mine, who is a Disney Planner, to take care of a LOT of the details for me. She knows so much about this destination so she was a wealth of information. It didn’t cost me anything extra and it saved me a lot of time and energy. It is a great thing to delegate when you are able to. Us moms have so much on our plates already, wearing so many different hats and trying to make everyone happy all at once. I’m learning that I need to pick and chose my activities and delegate the rest so that things get done the very best they can and less things fall through the cracks. None of us can do EVERYTHING by ourselves.
Back to the DP. Since she has been to WDW dozens of times, she was able to take the things about our group into consideration, our food likes and dislikes, the ages of our kids, and our time frame at the resort and gave us things to choose from. She found the resort and ticket prices that will fit our budget. She kept an eye out from any specials that came out and we took advantage of it. She set up our fast passes and booked our table service meals. The day before your trip she brought me a bag filled with all the printed info and her tips. In my bag of goodies she also gave my two grandkids a little Minnie and Mickey. My granddaughter carried that Minnie to every park and slept with it at night. My grandson plays with his all the time, we just didn’t trust him to take it with him out of the hotel since he tosses things all the time. It also had a beautiful Disney Christmas card with a gift card from her. We exchanged gift bags because I gave her a bag of goodies, too! Hers was filled with books for her students (she is a teacher) and a special book for her and her daughter.
The packet she gave me was so helpful. It had a schedule that had the suggestions, our fast pass times and our dinner plans. It also had sheets of suggestions for the different parks for snacks and other quick service meals. It was a wealth of knowledge, to be sure! I added or changed anything on each day’s sheet as I needed to as the days went by. Each night I would look at the next days suggestions and write in anything I wanted to add. I took that paper with me and left the rest in the room.
I booked my vacation at the beginning of the year and we went the week before Christmas. Another thing your planner can do is tell you the best times to go and the times to expect bigger crowds. We left right before the really crazy time of Christmas started. The crowds weren’t bad at all and our wait times were reasonable, sometimes much shorter than we expected. We are planning our second trip that same week, just a couple of years later. It was the perfect weather to enjoy everything.
I put a down payment on our vacation and then made monthly payments all year long. That helped make it easier since it wasn’t all at one time. I don’t know about you but for me coming up with the entire trip amount at one time is a total no-can-do. The longer you can make payments towards your vacation the less challenging it is. PLUS, it is a wonderful feeling knowing that it is paid for before you get there. We did have to put aside gas money and money for tips at the table service meals and any extras we wanted to buy. You have to have it paid in full one month before your check in date so that leaves you a month to save for all those extra things on your list.
One IMPORTANT bit of advice I would like to give you. IF you are traveling with young children and you don’t want to take your own stroller since you have to leave it outside at every ride and restaurant, call the local rental place either the day before or the day you will arrive but BEFORE you are supposed to go to a park. Don’t rent the ones at the park because they are only one day rentals and it will add up to be much more than if you use one of the rental companies that deliver it to your hotel. I forgot to call them the night we got there because it was late when we finally arrived. So I called from one of the parks the next day. They did not have anything for me that day but I picked it up at my hotel the next morning. We spent an entire day carrying around a 16 month old and a 3 year old. While we managed, it was wonderful getting that double stroller the next day. We had the double stroller for an entire four days and it averaged out to be about $20/day. It was at least $30/day at the parks and you had to return them each day. We had this one in the evenings and where ever we went and all the way back to our room at the end of the day. They put a sign with your last name on it that is easy to see in the ocean of strollers. It is well worth the investment to rent one.
We drove since our group was so large and we didn’t have the extra money to fly. We rented a van because ours wouldn’t make it that far. We had plenty of room and it was a nice ride. But it was a LONG trip. If you have the extra time, I suggest making a stop overnight, at least on the way home. We drove from Texas to Florida, with two children. Each potty break added at least 20 minutes on to our time. Our next trip we will leave a LOT sooner. We left at 11:30 at night and didn’t get to the hotel until around 9 p.m. There is also a time difference, keep that in mind. If you drive, make sure you give yourself a couple of hours to work with, just in case you have traffic or you have to stop too many times.
***Can you plan a trip without a DP? Of course! Could I have planned this whole trip without one? Sure! I plan TONS of our trips and we have some fabulous vacations. BUT it made things easier for me because there is so much to do and so much I didn’t know. I could have done lots of research, which we actually did when it comes to the rides, rooms, foods, etc, based on her suggestions and just on our own curiosity. I honestly just wanted to take advantage of her wealth of info to make this trip THE VERY BEST it could possible be for a first timer. The fact that it cost me nothing, they paid her for helping me and it saved me time and stress, it was a no-brainer. Even though I learned a lot and could plan our next trip all on my own, I’m still getting her to take care of the majority of the details so I can focus on the other areas of my life that need my attention.
I think that is enough info for one post! My next post will be about our resort and packing for the trip. I hope you will come back and read it. Thanks for stopping by and sharing our adventures!
Disney World Review Part Two
We just experienced the BEST VACATION EVER and I am sharing it in a series of posts. There is just so much information that I can’t share it all at one time and do it justice.
I LOVE to plan vacations. Each year I plan really fun vacations for my family and I go all out. I look up everything I can in the area we are going. I plan out the days and what we will do and how much we will spend on food…everything. I even put money in envelopes for each thing. I get VERY organized! It just takes the stress out of it for me to have everything in order and thought out. We chose to go the week leading up to Christmas. Everything everywhere was decorated for the holidays, even the entrance to our resort.
This time around was a little different. This was too big to not take advantage of a Disney planner’s expertise. I wanted this trip to be THE BEST it could be. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do my “homework” and plan some things out. This trip took so long to make it happen, I wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. So my NUMBER ONE on my list of advice for ANYONE taking a Disney trip, call my planner and let her help you get it all figured out. I personally plan on having her help me with every Disney trip I take. And I am planning many more. You change your mind, she changes it. If you really want to do something, she works as hard as she can to get it for you, even right up to the last minute and beyond. She actually kept working on things for me while we were there! That is dedication and loving what you do. Make sure your planner really loves what she does. It makes a difference. They will go above and beyond to make sure you enjoy your trip.
After deciding the dates we wanted to be there, the next step was to decide WHERE we would stay. Being a large family meant we needed a room that held as many as we could at the most affordable price available. We had our grands with us so we decided the Art of Animation Resort would be really fun and cost effective for our family. The atmosphere at the resort was great. There are several different themes, Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Cars and Lion King. Outside each one is giant characters and inside are these great panels along with halls. Our granddaughter loved this one that is right outside the elevator doors. On our first night after we got there our granddaughter got dressed in her Nemo and Dory pjs and her Minnie Mouse house shoes and we went down to find dinner and check out the rest of the hotel. There are fun little surprises all around the hotel. One of them was at the end of the building was a bunch of seagulls on the roof. At different times during the day and evening they start saying “mine, mine, mine” like in the movie. It is so funny!
I LOVE to plan vacations. Each year I plan really fun vacations for my family and I go all out. I look up everything I can in the area we are going. I plan out the days and what we will do and how much we will spend on food…everything. I even put money in envelopes for each thing. I get VERY organized! It just takes the stress out of it for me to have everything in order and thought out. We chose to go the week leading up to Christmas. Everything everywhere was decorated for the holidays, even the entrance to our resort.
This time around was a little different. This was too big to not take advantage of a Disney planner’s expertise. I wanted this trip to be THE BEST it could be. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do my “homework” and plan some things out. This trip took so long to make it happen, I wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. So my NUMBER ONE on my list of advice for ANYONE taking a Disney trip, call my planner and let her help you get it all figured out. I personally plan on having her help me with every Disney trip I take. And I am planning many more. You change your mind, she changes it. If you really want to do something, she works as hard as she can to get it for you, even right up to the last minute and beyond. She actually kept working on things for me while we were there! That is dedication and loving what you do. Make sure your planner really loves what she does. It makes a difference. They will go above and beyond to make sure you enjoy your trip.
After deciding the dates we wanted to be there, the next step was to decide WHERE we would stay. Being a large family meant we needed a room that held as many as we could at the most affordable price available. We had our grands with us so we decided the Art of Animation Resort would be really fun and cost effective for our family. The atmosphere at the resort was great. There are several different themes, Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Cars and Lion King. Outside each one is giant characters and inside are these great panels along with halls. Our granddaughter loved this one that is right outside the elevator doors. On our first night after we got there our granddaughter got dressed in her Nemo and Dory pjs and her Minnie Mouse house shoes and we went down to find dinner and check out the rest of the hotel. There are fun little surprises all around the hotel. One of them was at the end of the building was a bunch of seagulls on the roof. At different times during the day and evening they start saying “mine, mine, mine” like in the movie. It is so funny!
We almost went with the Lion King family suite but when our granddaughter started loving Finding Nemo, we changed our mind and went with that one. What a fun room that was. All seven of us fit easily. There is plenty of space. We loved the fact that it has TWO BATHROOMS! There is a mini kitchen with fridge, microwave, sink and coffee maker. The couch pulls out into a bed. The table also turned into a bed. Move the chairs then pull the handle and the mattress comes down. Super easy to fold back up. We brought a portacrib and put it right outside the bedroom door for my grandson to sleep in. Even with that up and all the beds pulled out there was plenty of room and it didn’t feel crowded at all.
The bathroom had a sink area and a separate tub/toilet area with a door that closed. It was great that the sink was usable even if someone was taking a shower or going to the bathroom. Most nights it had two teenage girls and a 3 year old. Some nights the 3 year old slept on her little pull out Minnie Mouse couch that I bought for the trip so that the girls didn’t have her taking up all the room in the bed. Also, plenty of drawer space and places to sit while in the room. I really enjoyed having the bedroom and bathroom away from the rest of the area. Just a little more private.
The bedroom had a big bed and a TV. The other bathroom was in that room. It was just a shower/no tub. But it was a nice room. The only part of the suite that didn’t have the Nemo theme. It was great to have the room cleaned each day since with little ones (and teenagers) can make a mess. At the end of each day we came back to the room with everything clean and fresh, plus towels when we ran out. We never had to contact the hotel about needing anything since it was always there. The beds were comfortable and there were plenty of pillows and a few light weight blankets.
I did prepare bathroom roll-up bags for each bathroom to make sure we had the things we needed. There was never a need to go buy toiletries or basic meds because I brought them. I wanted to make sure no time was wasted trying to find a store or paying too much for something at the hotel. I used the shampoo they supplied and it was great. Hairdryer in both bathroom, too. I packed bottles of things like mouthwash or anything larger size in gallon size ziplock bags to travel. Anything that could spill was in a bag of some sort to keep other things safe. I also brought two bathroom air fresheners so a stinky room was never a problem. I spent a little extra getting some travel sized items if I didn’t think we would need a bigger size, just to save room.
The bedroom had a big bed and a TV. The other bathroom was in that room. It was just a shower/no tub. But it was a nice room. The only part of the suite that didn’t have the Nemo theme. It was great to have the room cleaned each day since with little ones (and teenagers) can make a mess. At the end of each day we came back to the room with everything clean and fresh, plus towels when we ran out. We never had to contact the hotel about needing anything since it was always there. The beds were comfortable and there were plenty of pillows and a few light weight blankets.
I did prepare bathroom roll-up bags for each bathroom to make sure we had the things we needed. There was never a need to go buy toiletries or basic meds because I brought them. I wanted to make sure no time was wasted trying to find a store or paying too much for something at the hotel. I used the shampoo they supplied and it was great. Hairdryer in both bathroom, too. I packed bottles of things like mouthwash or anything larger size in gallon size ziplock bags to travel. Anything that could spill was in a bag of some sort to keep other things safe. I also brought two bathroom air fresheners so a stinky room was never a problem. I spent a little extra getting some travel sized items if I didn’t think we would need a bigger size, just to save room.
Since we went the week before Christmas, I wrapped up a gift for each grand to open before they went to bed. We usually did it right after a bath. They were books, dry erase books, coloring books, really anything they could use the next day at the parks or even just at the end of the day.
I brought snack items and things we could put in our bags to eat during the day, if needed. We ended up taking a bunch of it back home. I will know next time what to bring and not to bring based on what we had left over. We had an abundance of food with our meal plan. I will go into that more in a different post. With the meal plan you will never be hungry! Even sharing food with two littles we had more than enough.
The food at this resort was great! There is a variety of foods to chose from that should fit everyone in your group. We got to the resort late that first night so we decided to grab a few fast service meals. We had so much food that there was a lot left over. These refillable cups were given to us at check-in as part of our resort package. We were able to refill them at the resort any time, or any resort. When it came to meals there we got to use the drink credit towards a dessert or snack in it’s place. You could put soda, coffee, hot chocolate or something along those lines in it. Each morning, we took our cups and water bottles down and filled them up while grabbing some “snack” items like muffins or pastry and milk for the kids. We took water bottles to the parks and filled them up with water during the day. It’s important to stay hydrated. Plus, we got water along with another drink during our table service meals to make sure we drank more water. The kids got milk with those meals.
I brought snack items and things we could put in our bags to eat during the day, if needed. We ended up taking a bunch of it back home. I will know next time what to bring and not to bring based on what we had left over. We had an abundance of food with our meal plan. I will go into that more in a different post. With the meal plan you will never be hungry! Even sharing food with two littles we had more than enough.
The food at this resort was great! There is a variety of foods to chose from that should fit everyone in your group. We got to the resort late that first night so we decided to grab a few fast service meals. We had so much food that there was a lot left over. These refillable cups were given to us at check-in as part of our resort package. We were able to refill them at the resort any time, or any resort. When it came to meals there we got to use the drink credit towards a dessert or snack in it’s place. You could put soda, coffee, hot chocolate or something along those lines in it. Each morning, we took our cups and water bottles down and filled them up while grabbing some “snack” items like muffins or pastry and milk for the kids. We took water bottles to the parks and filled them up with water during the day. It’s important to stay hydrated. Plus, we got water along with another drink during our table service meals to make sure we drank more water. The kids got milk with those meals.
While we rented a van to drive there, we never once got in it until we drove home. The “Disney Bus” was great. Our grandgirl kept calling them a school bus so we got her to say Disney bus instead. We never had to wait too long for one to show up and the lines usually weren’t long enough to have to wait for a second bus. Only happened twice in the seven days were were at the resort and that was because the bus filled up quickly with more than one wheelchair. The wait for the next bus was minimal. From what I understand, it was because it was a slower time before the busy Christmas guests arrived just a day or two after we left.
If you have kids, this is a great resort to pick. You should bring your swim suits because they have a super fun kid friendly pool area. You never know when the weather will be perfect for it. The temps were actually quite high when we were there. Many people enjoyed the pool. They have family movie nights in the pool and other activities around the resort for kids to do. Those are some things on our to-do list for the next trip.
I give Art of Animation Resort two thumbs up and five stars. Highly recommend it. In fact, we will probably stay here again when we have the grands while they are small. I do want to try other resorts and I know my planner will help me decide which ones to try each time. While we didn’t spend an over amount of time IN the room we did have time to enjoy it. After a long day of fun it still took time to shower and wind down.
If you have kids, this is a great resort to pick. You should bring your swim suits because they have a super fun kid friendly pool area. You never know when the weather will be perfect for it. The temps were actually quite high when we were there. Many people enjoyed the pool. They have family movie nights in the pool and other activities around the resort for kids to do. Those are some things on our to-do list for the next trip.
I give Art of Animation Resort two thumbs up and five stars. Highly recommend it. In fact, we will probably stay here again when we have the grands while they are small. I do want to try other resorts and I know my planner will help me decide which ones to try each time. While we didn’t spend an over amount of time IN the room we did have time to enjoy it. After a long day of fun it still took time to shower and wind down.
Disney World Review Part Three
I love sharing about our trip. We had so much fun and there was so many things we learned that it is taking me more than one post. I would like to share some things about the things we did that worked for us and having small children with us in this one.
I recommend getting the park hopper passes, no matter how many days you stay. The park hopper pass is great because you can go to a different park for a table meal, like we did a few times or just do some things at one park and then some at another on the same day. We actually enjoyed going to Magic Kingdom two different times and went to Epcot twice, we had a meal at Epcot on our Hollywood Studios day so we finished up and jumped on a bus to Epcot a couple of hours before our dinner reservation. We got to enjoy a few things we didn’t do the first day while we waited.
We got Magic Bands with our resort package. Those are amazing, water proof and you get one for each guest in your party. They are your room key, they are connected to your fast passes, your meal plan and you can have it set up with your credit card. For things that cost money you have a pass code for it. For rides and your room, you just scan it. I didn’t have to worry about carrying money everywhere I went. You can set up different codes for each band or the same for all.
We got the PhotoPass. Anywhere they are taking photos they will scan your band after they take the pictures and it will show up on your phone in the app. On rides that take pictures, at the character meetings and more. The Disney World app is wonderful because you can keep track of your fast passes and your dinner reservations, change things, check wait times on rides, even follow directions on how to get to a certain attraction plus more. We still took pictures on our phones but it was great to get the ones they took, too.
I recommend getting the park hopper passes, no matter how many days you stay. The park hopper pass is great because you can go to a different park for a table meal, like we did a few times or just do some things at one park and then some at another on the same day. We actually enjoyed going to Magic Kingdom two different times and went to Epcot twice, we had a meal at Epcot on our Hollywood Studios day so we finished up and jumped on a bus to Epcot a couple of hours before our dinner reservation. We got to enjoy a few things we didn’t do the first day while we waited.
We got Magic Bands with our resort package. Those are amazing, water proof and you get one for each guest in your party. They are your room key, they are connected to your fast passes, your meal plan and you can have it set up with your credit card. For things that cost money you have a pass code for it. For rides and your room, you just scan it. I didn’t have to worry about carrying money everywhere I went. You can set up different codes for each band or the same for all.
We got the PhotoPass. Anywhere they are taking photos they will scan your band after they take the pictures and it will show up on your phone in the app. On rides that take pictures, at the character meetings and more. The Disney World app is wonderful because you can keep track of your fast passes and your dinner reservations, change things, check wait times on rides, even follow directions on how to get to a certain attraction plus more. We still took pictures on our phones but it was great to get the ones they took, too.
We purchased a Bubble Wand, which to some may seem silly or a waste of money. BUT, it was a LIFE SAVER many times. It is hard for a one and a three year old to stay happy sitting in a stroller or waiting in line or waiting for food, etc, day after day. It made a huge difference. She didn’t get to have it all the time, but when we needed her to find a bit of joy in her day, out it came. Other kids in the park loved it, too. They would get excited as her bubbles went everywhere. We let her pick which of the two she wanted. She picked Mickey Mouse over Little Mermaid. Go figure.
Another thing we did was carry around a couple of snack cups that we put cereal in for them to snack on. He needed it more than she did. He had it in his hand most of the day, even when he wasn’t actively eating anything out of it. We took dry erase books and color wonder markers and books for her. That helped so much when we were in a long line or when we were waiting for the big kids to get on and off of a ride and we had nothing to do. Each night after a bath, the two little ones got to open a gift. The one year old got a book each night. The three year old got sticker books, dry erase books, color wonder markers and coloring pages, etc. Some of those things she was able to take with her to the parks. It was something different and new for a new day. She still had the option of going back to one of the other things she brought. Options are important, just not all at once. Spread them out, they work much better that way.
Another thing we did was carry around a couple of snack cups that we put cereal in for them to snack on. He needed it more than she did. He had it in his hand most of the day, even when he wasn’t actively eating anything out of it. We took dry erase books and color wonder markers and books for her. That helped so much when we were in a long line or when we were waiting for the big kids to get on and off of a ride and we had nothing to do. Each night after a bath, the two little ones got to open a gift. The one year old got a book each night. The three year old got sticker books, dry erase books, color wonder markers and coloring pages, etc. Some of those things she was able to take with her to the parks. It was something different and new for a new day. She still had the option of going back to one of the other things she brought. Options are important, just not all at once. Spread them out, they work much better that way.
Bring small snacks but not big things. Enjoy some of the snacks AT Disney. If you have the meal plan then you get two snacks a day. Make sure you use those on REAL items and not just a bottle of Coke. I’ll talk more about the food in a different blog post. Make sure to bring the kids a change of clothes, just in case. If not, you may find yourself trying to purchase an outfit within a budget for clothing, which you didn’t actually create a budget for. Yes, that happened to us. Our sweet girl had an accident when she was taking a VERY long nap. We quickly found an outfit that we could just use the pants only and then save the whole outfit for another time. I need to have her picture made in it, or something. I got it a little big so she can wear it at least a few times.
If you can, on the day of check in, just relax and enjoy the pool. Walk around and take pictures of the resort. Check out Disney Springs. Take a nap. Don’t worry about going to one of the parks unless you get there super early in the morning and check your bags at the hotel for a later in the day check in. On the day of check out, pack up all your bags, put them in your car and make sure you haven’t left anything IN your room you want/need. Then jump on a bus to Disney Springs and enjoy some time there. Use up some of your snack and/or quick service meals. Finish up your shopping. Then take the bus back to your resort and cash in any left over food credits for items you can take back with you on your return trip home.
That’s it for this post. I hope it helps you plan for little ones!
That’s it for this post. I hope it helps you plan for little ones!