DisneyWorld -- What you wish you had known (not rides, etc., but parenting tips)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being water bottles with filters do you can refill at the park.
If your kids don't know your cell number well, write it in duck tape and tape to the inside of a hem , or get dog tags with the number on it. If they get separated, tell them to ask a park employee or a mom with kids to call your cell.

The mouse bands have trackers which are not activated but could be to find someone lost. If you are on property and have them, use them. Luckily we never needed to test ours. I got labels for the shoes and clothing but we never needed them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The double strollers you can rent there are worth it! I think its $20 a day. We had 2 6 year olds with us and they were in it all of the time. Make sit down dinner reservations. Places get filled fast and the character reservations are great and very over priced. We have Disney shirts and light up toys that we brought with us so the kids didn't want to buy the toys and Disney clothes there. Get there early and do the rides that get crowded first while there are no lines or use your fast pass for these rides.

Next time we go back we are getting the 4 day hopper, but taking a day off at the pool between each day at the park. Last time we were extremely exhausted at the end of the days. It's good to hear we weren't the only ones!

We got the 4 day hopper plus with water parks military tickets. You really have to stay 9-10+ days to use it all. It was the best option for us but we did 4 days of parks (wish we had more days at the park), one outlet day, 3 water park days, and one disney quest (which was lame but the kids liked it). The pool day was a necessity (or something else at a resort like fishing). One day we were going to use the hopper but kids fell asleep in the car so we skipped it. Otherwise we never used the hopper portion. We did go till we dropped some days as we'd go, be exhausted, get a second wind and everyone wanted to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bring pbj to eat while in line or waiting for shows. Get up early!

Or, the lines for the food. Some of the food lines were longer than the ride lines.

[Anonymous]

Get one of those portable rechargers for your phone. Especially if you use any disney related apps (they are good to check show times, ride waits) your battery will be drained.

If driving, write the name of the parking lot down in your phone. It is easy to forget where you parked.

Get a space early for fireworks/evening parade. We always sit at the patio above the train station to watch electric parade/wishes. I would save spaces (and there are a couple tables/chairs there). DH and kids would ride a couple rides then pick up food to go. They would bring food back and we would eat at our table.

[Anonymous]

Diapers. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Walt-Disney-World-234/f/kids-wearing-diapers-Disney.htm

[Anonymous]

My best tip... the Disney discussion forum www.disboards.com

These guys are Disney fanatics, and they will have advice & tips for anything you could possibly ask. I learned a ton just reading through the threads on the Disney For Families section and the trip reports.

[Anonymous]

Stay in a hotel that's within easy walking distance of a park. We stayed in a hotel that required driving the first year and stayed in the Beach club (easy walk to Epcot) the second time we went and it was tons better. You can easily just head back to the hotel if you get tired and staying late is easier since there's no long walk to the car and fight to get out of the parking lot. Very expensive but worth it IMO.

[Anonymous]

Lower your expectations. Then lower them again.

I agree also with PP who said nly every other day at the park, with pool days in between. We just got back from 6 days at the parks and it was truly awful. And we are "Disney people."

[Anonymous]

Get there early. It is imperative that you get to the parks at rope drop.

Make sure you make time to rest. I think we, the parents, needed rest equally as much as the kids.

We did not skimp on treats. I think we paid $7 for lemonade so our kids could have a buzz light year light up thing on the straw. I even bought 2 so my 2 kids would not fight over the stupid buzz light year.

I let them pick out one souvenir that was overpriced. I also kept an eye on what they also wanted and bought similar items for xmas. Some merchandise is only sold at the parks but you can find very very similar items online. Don't think the kids knew the difference or they certainly did not mind.

I would not make my kids wait in ridiculously long lines. My younger child started whining after 1 hour waiting for jungle cruise. That ride and any other ride is not worth a 1+ hour wait. I would not go during busy season. Personally don't think it is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay in a hotel that's within easy walking distance of a park. We stayed in a hotel that required driving the first year and stayed in the Beach club (easy walk to Epcot) the second time we went and it was tons better. You can easily just head back to the hotel if you get tired and staying late is easier since there's no long walk to the car and fight to get out of the parking lot. Very expensive but worth it IMO.

Go off season. We rarely had a long walk to the park driving. There is free parking if you stay onsite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The double strollers you can rent there are worth it! I think its $20 a day. We had 2 6 year olds with us and they were in it all of the time. Make sit down dinner reservations. Places get filled fast and the character reservations are great and very over priced. We have Disney shirts and light up toys that we brought with us so the kids didn't want to buy the toys and Disney clothes there. Get there early and do the rides that get crowded first while there are no lines or use your fast pass for these rides.

Next time we go back we are getting the 4 day hopper, but taking a day off at the pool between each day at the park. Last time we were extremely exhausted at the end of the days. It's good to hear we weren't the only ones!

We got the 4 day hopper plus with water parks military tickets. You really have to stay 9-10+ days to use it all. It was the best option for us but we did 4 days of parks (wish we had more days at the park), one outlet day, 3 water park days, and one disney quest (which was lame but the kids liked it). The pool day was a necessity (or something else at a resort like fishing). One day we were going to use the hopper but kids fell asleep in the car so we skipped it. Otherwise we never used the hopper portion. We did go till we dropped some days as we'd go, be exhausted, get a second wind and everyone wanted to stay.

We have gone every year for the past 4 years. Every trip we have done has been 4 nights/5 days. We usually do a half day in the morning and go back to our hotel to rest and hang out at the pool. We only go back to a park once each trip. Our Disney trips are low key and we always do everything we want. I make itineraries including about 10 must do's and we always do them. We know we can't do everything but we do everything we want to do most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lower your expectations. Then lower them again.

I agree also with PP who said nly every other day at the park, with pool days in between. We just got back from 6 days at the parks and it was truly awful. And we are "Disney people."

We can't figure out if the parks have changed or we have but when we went years ago (been three times), they were much cleaner, better maintained and staff had a very different attitude. This time, you are right. Next time we got with no expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The double strollers you can rent there are worth it! I think its $20 a day. We had 2 6 year olds with us and they were in it all of the time. Make sit down dinner reservations. Places get filled fast and the character reservations are great and very over priced. We have Disney shirts and light up toys that we brought with us so the kids didn't want to buy the toys and Disney clothes there. Get there early and do the rides that get crowded first while there are no lines or use your fast pass for these rides.

I just got back from Disney yesterday--the double strollers are $31 per day. Single strollers were $15. I didn't rent one, I just remember noticing that because it seemed strange to me that the double was more than 2 singles.

OP, where are you staying? Are you flying or driving down? Have you already made dining reservations?

[Anonymous]

I've never done Disney and to be honest I have a hard time fathoming why people would. Is it like kings dominion on crack? I say this purely out of curiosity--what's so great about it? How would you describe it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never done Disney and to be honest I have a hard time fathoming why people would. Is it like kings dominion on crack? I say this purely out of curiosity--what's so great about it? How would you describe it?

I thought I would hate it. I hate kings dominion. I love real traveling. And I got kinda tricked into going. But I have to admit, it was fun and a great week, other than the one day we ignored all advice and showed up at magic kingdom at 11am. That was hell on earth.