Disney for Dumbos
Disney is the most magical place on earth! I gee up going to Disney so for me, it’s full of all of the nostalgia and takes me back to childhood instantly.
Going with three kids though was a whole new experience! From all the planning and organizing, to packing and scrambling, coordinating kids schedules, naps, and making sure you savor all of the moments, I’ve gathered some of my tips and thoughts from the trip.
For Rowan’s birthday this year, my husband and I decided to brave Disney World. We wanted to make it as easy, magical, and as straightforward as possible. To start that off, we decided to stay at our time-share at the Beach/ Yacht Club. We love this place and highly recommend it! It is a beautiful, relaxing place to stay, and it has a sand bottom pool that the kids loved so much I’m not even sure we needed to go to the parks! Obviously though, we still had to hit Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, the kids voted for Animal Kingdom, and Patrick and I thought Epcot might be a fun little excursion for us. We tried the best we could to have park days and relaxing days- our trip was a total of 7 days, so we wanted to leave room for plenty of rest to keep our little ones from tapping out early. We started out slowly: Saturday we settled in, Sunday set out to Magic Kingdom, Monday lounged around, then took off running hitting Animal Kingdom on Tuesday, Epcot on Wednesday, and Hollywood Studios on Thursday. Friday we of course recuperated from the 3 day frenzy, and I enjoyed plenty of much deserved wine. There were so many special moments throughout our time watching the kids really witness some magic. In order to optimize time enjoying your kids, I’ve cultivated some pro tips that I live by in Disney.
Pro-Tips for Disney Survival:
Keep it cool: it gets HOT during the day if you’re visiting between May-September. Make sure to grab wet cooling towels and always stay stocked up on water.
The rain seems to come around every night around happy hour, so if you’re smart, you will bring ponchos along instead of buying them for 10x market price at the park.
Order ahead some groceries. Cases of water, snacks on snacks on snacks, and maybe 1-2 meals so you don’t have to eat every meal at a park.
The Disney app = life. Genie + is absolutely worth purchasing if you’re spending a full day at the park and for whatever reason don’t get in early.
Book all your restaurant and meal reservations for everything 60 days in advance, and cancel 24 hours before if you change your mind. The absolute last thing you want to be stuck without is somewhere to eat. Our go-to favorite restaurant in Disney World is Chef Mickey. It is too cute!
Take advantage of the parks after dinner. The crowds tend to thin out by then, the weather cools off, and if the kids are still moving and groovin, it’s the perfect time to get last minute activities in!
Along with the tips, I have also picked my kids brains and thrown together a must-hit list for the necessities when creating the most magical trips.
Must hit-list:
Star Wars land in Hollywood Studios
You can never go wrong taking your little Princess to anything Frozen, but the best was the sing along in Hollywood Studios (Pro-Tip: you can only meet Anna and Elsa in Epcot and occasionally in Magic Kingdom)
Ratatouille in Epcot
The Magic Kingdom parade at both noon and 3pm
Dumbo in Magic Kingdom to appeal to your littlest ones
Everest in Animal Kingdom
Safari in Animal Kingdom
I know, I know, Disney might still seem scary. My suggestion? Put the kids to bed, open a bottle of wine, and just start planning. It’s supposed to be fun! The key is to try to schedule as much as you can ahead of time, so during your trip all you have to worry about is enjoying the Magic around you.
Cheers,
E