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

[Anonymous]

So, the age-old question- how old is too old to do a stroller at DW?

We're going when my kids will be 4.5 and 6.5. The older one can do much more walking, but having just one stroller can cause problems between kids. Would it be completely rediculous to rent a double stroller or even a single stroller for "older" kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, the age-old question- how old is too old to do a stroller at DW?

We're going when my kids will be 4.5 and 6.5. The older one can do much more walking, but having just one stroller can cause problems between kids. Would it be completely rediculous to rent a double stroller or even a single stroller for "older" kids?

I totally think you should do the double stroller. Our youngest when we went was 4 (my nephew). I asked if he needed a stroller so I could plan ahead but was assured he would be fine. That was definitely not the case so we ended up renting a stroller. I was going to get the single but then thought we could use the double to carry stuff. Instead of stuff, the other side of the stroller more often than not held either the 7 year old or the 8 year old (she is small). We actually had to keep track and give them turns. Disney is a lot of walking and even the older kids appreciated the break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We usually got a late start. It depends on when you go. We will only go to magic kingdom during the week. Weekends are crazy but it is slower when kids are in school.

But why aren't your kids in school? I would never sacrifice my children's education for princesses and roller coasters. Real travel, sure maybe, as informal education is as important as formal. But for Disney? Hell no. The lesson that would teach is not within our value system.

If your child's education can be sacrificed based on missing a few days of school, you are doing it wrong. I took DD out of K for two days to go to Disney. The "informal education" she received about our "value system" was that time together with the family was fun. You might want to try it sometime.

[Anonymous]

When we went this past summer, I brought a pop up hamper and one of those over the door plastic shoe holders. It's was great to have a proper place to put our dirty clothes and we filled all the shoe pockets with toiletries, knick knacks, and shoes. It reduced a lot of the clutter that can accumulate in a small hotel room. That tip came from the DISboards.

[Anonymous]

I used the My Disney World App constantly 2 summers ago. I can only imagine it's more useful now.

I took lunchables into the park for kids, they loved it because they don't get them at home.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn which is a Disney area resort so we had free bus transport daily. We also had free breakfast buffet so took a couple pieces of fruit with us into park. They also had movie night and characters around so we felt Disney all the time.

We split up the day so our food costs were very nominal. My kids didn't know having a meal with a character was an option and didn't miss it.

Figure out if you want a "don't say no" trip or one where you can contain costs and then enjoy. I took wine with us for the hotel and snacks so we really limited our food/beverage costs.

We had a blast so it really boils down to what you make of it.

[Anonymous]

We just returned from Disneyworld last week. Ponchos are a must this time of year. Book fast passes before you go and install the Disney app on your phone. I was able to make fast pass changes using the app. Get to the parks early. You can get through a lot of rides early in the day. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

We usually got a late start. It depends on when you go. We will only go to magic kingdom during the week. Weekends are crazy but it is slower when kids are in school.

But why aren't your kids in school? I would never sacrifice my children's education for princesses and roller coasters. Real travel, sure maybe, as informal education is as important as formal. But for Disney? Hell no. The lesson that would teach is not within our value system.

If your child's education can be sacrificed based on missing a few days of school, you are doing it wrong. I took DD out of K for two days to go to Disney. The "informal education" she received about our "value system" was that time together with the family was fun. You might want to try it sometime.

Yep. Also, school is way behind where my kid is, so nothing lost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, the age-old question- how old is too old to do a stroller at DW?

We're going when my kids will be 4.5 and 6.5. The older one can do much more walking, but having just one stroller can cause problems between kids. Would it be completely rediculous to rent a double stroller or even a single stroller for "older" kids?

We just got back and many older kids were in strollers. Mine has not used ours for two years and insisted on it. It was good for all the gear too. I would just get a single. It allowed us to do more and stay longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get to the park early, do a lot, but then after lunch go back to your hotel and relax at the swimming pool or rest for a few hours, then head out again for evening activities.

This, unless you are going in the winter then it doesn't work if it is too cold to swim. Sometimes it is nice to take a break and get lunch at resort on the monorail instead.

But no matter what, go at rope drop, especially at Epcot (Soarin and Test Track) and DHS (run to Toy Story Mania) DHS tends to open up at 8:40am because so many people get there ahead of time.

I agree with the kid-led option but only in the afternoon. Have a game-plan in the morning for the must-hits so you can chill out.

Do not miss the electric light parade and castle fireworks. Best place for both is towards the end of Main Street (near Casey's.) Get a good spot and get some ice cream and talk about your day while waiting for parade to start.

Be Our Guest for lunch. Make sure you meet Gaston. He is hilarious.

The countries are more interesting than you think. The kids can get passports and learn how to say hi in each language.

My favorite restaurant is Raglan Road in Downtown Disney.

[Anonymous]

Question for 14:21 (and others). We have Fast Passes reserved for Toy Story Mania and Test track. Do we still need to run to those? If you have a Fast Pass, do you still wait in a long line or is it speedy?

[Anonymous]

We haven't been yet I have one planning tip - I didn't realize that the Extra Magic Hours are for one specific park for each specific day. So I planned our whole trip and reserved meals and fast passes at specific parks on each day only to realize I got every single day wrong on the extra magic hours. It's too late to re-reserve everything - it's all booked up now and there's nothing left - but I wish I had looked into that in advance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, the age-old question- how old is too old to do a stroller at DW?

We're going when my kids will be 4.5 and 6.5. The older one can do much more walking, but having just one stroller can cause problems between kids. Would it be completely rediculous to rent a double stroller or even a single stroller for "older" kids?

My daughter stopped using a stroller at Disney by 4yrs old. We brought it and barely used it. Last year we went at 5 and didn't bring it and never had to rent one. As long as your aren't rushing from one place to the next, they would be fine. And really, no kid wants to go at a parent's crazy pace. I think the norm for people is to get a ton of gear and haul everyone around. We are the opposite. I have a small REI backpack with wipes, hand santitizer, wallet, phone, li gloss, sunscreen, sunglasses, camera, band aides (for any blisters) and travel size advil. The kids wore hats and if they didn't want them at any certain time, I would attach them to the backpack. That is it. We walk around, talk, take breaks, have the kids look at the map and decide what is next. If someone is tired, we take a small break or go an easy ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for 14:21 (and others). We have Fast Passes reserved for Toy Story Mania and Test track. Do we still need to run to those? If you have a Fast Pass, do you still wait in a long line or is it speedy?

Yes because your kids will want to go on both of them multiple times so you might as well hit the stand-by line first thing in the morning. If we get the DHS by 8:30am, we have usually ridden Toy Story twice before 9am. Once the line gets over 30min, we head off to the next ride.

If you have a fast pass for Test Track, I would go to Soarin first and then head over to Test Track. If the line is less than 30min, go on stand-by too.

Hopefully you made your fast passes for afternoon or later when lines tend to be longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question for 14:21 (and others). We have Fast Passes reserved for Toy Story Mania and Test track. Do we still need to run to those? If you have a Fast Pass, do you still wait in a long line or is it speedy?

Yes because your kids will want to go on both of them multiple times so you might as well hit the stand-by line first thing in the morning. If we get the DHS by 8:30am, we have usually ridden Toy Story twice before 9am. Once the line gets over 30min, we head off to the next ride.

If you have a fast pass for Test Track, I would go to Soarin first and then head over to Test Track. If the line is less than 30min, go on stand-by too.

Hopefully you made your fast passes for afternoon or later when lines tend to be longer.

Aha. No, of course I made Fast Passes for the am bc I figured we'd ride all the rides in the morning and then take a break at the hotel after lunch. We are rookies.
Oh well, we'll do what we can do and be happy with that!

[Anonymous]

OK - one last question. What about the Jedi Training Academy at DHS? Anyone every (successfully) done that? I have some SERIOUS Star Wars fans in my crew. Is there any chance of the kids getting picked to participate? How can I increase the odds?!?!