So… I think I need you all to help me out here. How many of you have been to Disney World? On the Disney Cruise? BOTH? Can ya help me out? Because we’re going on one of these fantabulous Land/Sea Vacations later this summer and I’m, quite frankly, freaked out about it. Partially because I have become a hermit and am uncomfortable leaving the confines of my own cozy abode and partially because it’s Disney and everything is SO. VERY. MAGICAL. You will have fun or you WILL DIE, damnit!
That’s a lot of pressure.
Firstly, I’m worried about the plane trip. I still don’t know which airline we’re taking, though I’m leaning towards Southwest. But I do know that I will have to get myself, my husband and three kids through security and on a cross country trip that will take the better part of a day AND our sanity. Oh, and we’re planning to come in the day before and spend the night at the timeshare my parents are staying at so we’re there for the park the next day from the word go.
Any tips for flying with children? One who is nine (going on TEN, so help me God), one who will be a newly minted THREE (again with the help) and a 16 month old. We’re planning on bringing on car seats for the two little ones. Good plan? What do I need to bring, entertainment wise? How much alcohol do you think it will take to dull the pain?
The next issue is strollers. I think I’ve narrowed it down to two choices. We will either a) bring something with us which means we’ll have to BUY something as our double stroller is definitely not the sort you want to travel with, but bringing it would mean we’d have it in the airport or b) rent one from an Orlando stroller rental company that delivers to your hotel for you so it’s there when you arrive. While it would be nice to have a stroller in the airport, we would also have to deal with it on the cruise and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Is having a stroller on a Disney Cruise a pain in the arse? Plus, you know, we’d have to buy something. The stroller I’d really like to have (coincidentally, the same one the stroller rental company provides) is muy expensive and way out of our league. We’ve talked about a fold up wagon with umbrella but that would be neither comfortable for the kids if they wanted to nap in the park(s) or easy to get on and off transportation. A cheapo side-by-side double? Are there any cheapos that recline? OY.
You can see why it’s an issue.
Also: Dining. What to do? Do we get the Disney Dining Plan which allows us to eat pretty much at will for the duration of our stay in the park? CAN we get it, since our room is already booked and it seems to be tied to your room rate? Or do we just save up our clams and expect to pay out the arse for food? My mom thinks we should buy peanut butter and jelly and make sandwiches in our room. Not a bad idea but I am not going to subsist on peanut butter and jelly for THREE DAYS. I don’t care what it costs. This IS a vacation, after all. I need information about this. What have other people done? What has worked? What hasn’t?
If that weren’t enough: the heat. Who planned this thing for AUGUST, for pity’s sake? I will surely melt. What is central Florida like in August? Give it to me with both barrels, folks. I can take it. What do I need to do to ensure we don’t all die of heat stroke?
I find I’m less concerned about the cruise (though that has its own set of issues including the fact that Liam cannot go to the children’s activities because while he will be three, he will not be potty trained and therefore is stuck with us which means we are stuck with HIM and that severely limits our fun quotient). At least there will be air conditioning on the cruise. And the food will be included. So there’s that.
What do I need to know? I need your help, oh wise internets! Give me your experiences and tell me what I should (and should NOT) do/bring/think/say/expect, etc.
I’m scared.
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10 Responses to “Disney is stressing me out”
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Okay, first of all, Orlando in August… it’s hot and humid. If *I* think it’s hot and humid, you’re screwed. Sorry. My suggestion is light colored and light weight fabrics. Denim + sweat = BAD. Yes, the cruise is air conditioned but alot of the fun stuff to do will be outside. Where it will be warm.
See what you can find out about the dining plan. I’d say if at all possible, that’s the best way to go. If not, the PB&J plan can be expanded to include other tasty things. That way you can check out the places to eat in the park and the prices once you get there, and pick a day to splurge and eat out, and then also maybe one day a tasty snack. Although, my personal favorite, the churro may not be had. Angela couldn’t find the churro guy last time she was at Disney World.
I’d say bring a single stroller with you. You have a single stroller still, yes? I know it would be a pain in the butt in the airport,but woman, dealing with 2 small kids, your carry-ons, AND the car seats without a stroller? Then you can stash Liam or Evie in it as necessary. Plus, if the kids are out of it, you can stash YOUR stuff in it. Rent a double in Orlando.
As for entertainment on a plane…. This is one of the reasons Elizabeth hasn’t been to CA yet. Bring your lap top, some of their movies and headphones for them. That is, if they’ll wear the head phones anyway. Let Harry bring your old & busted lap top if it’ll play movies – that way he won’t be able complain about having to watch baby shows. Most likely you’ll need to bring something for them to eat on the plane and in the airports too (I think food at the airport is more $$ than food at Disney), but I don’t know how that works with security. Is there a website you can check for TSA or for the Reno Airport that will tell you what you need to know? And you might also want to check if car seats will fit in coach airplane seats. Cuz those airplane seats are SMALL. Unless you were planning on checking those into the bottom of the airplane.
Do you have a leash for the kids? I never thought I’d suggest one, but I got one for Elizabeth. It’s just a plain harness with a tether – no silly animals or anything on her model. She LOVES it. She can run around to her heart’s content and still can’t get away. I’d say that for a cross country, land of Disney adventure, you might want to consider a leash a must. Cuz the stroller has become her enemy.
Did I help at all, or just make everything worse? you’ll have a great time. The kids will be awed at Disney and their fun will be infectious. Don’t worry too much about all the details. Everything will be fine.
I only have input on the park food aspect. When we went to Disney as a family (5 kids in my family), we were lucky to get an ice cream treat at the end of the day. Everything else came out of our trusty backpacks. Without a fridge, you can pack some great snacks and lunches (think granola bars, chips, dried fruit, fresh fruit, crackers). If the hotel has a fridge, your options expand to include sandwiches with lunch meat, cheese, pudding, and frozen juice boxes to keep everything chilled.
I’m sure you’ll have a great time!
We have yet to take the kids to Disney but we have traveled other places. We always bring strollers with us. It makes the airport easier. Last time we brought 2 strollers and used a clip thingy from Babies R Us to make them a double stroller. That way I could push the kids and my husband could drag the luggage around. It was a pain getting through security with the strollers but I’d do it again.
We also have been on a cruise with our daughter when she was not quite 2. Having a stroller helped. We could walk around without worrying about her getting tired. The basket underneath was also a good place to stash stuff we may need. It saved a few trips back to the room.
The plane? I’ll admit we use Benedryl. We did not bring car seats last time (had a 23 month old and 3 year old). We knew we did not need it when where we were going so it was easier to leave them home. I brought a bag of little toys that the kids had not seen yet (nothing with lots of pieces) and a few movies. We also had a bunch of snacks. Make sure you have a change of clothes for the kids on the plane. My daughter had an accident last time. It was a mess.
Wow you guys are taking on a lot! I’m sure it will be fun – once you’ve gotten past the stressful parts!
Can you ship some of your stuff Fed Ex before you go? If you’re going to the time share, maybe you can ship a good deal of stuff that you’ll need when you’re there – this doesn’t help you to get through security, but maybe it’ll help you in getting everything to the airport.
As for traveling ON the plane – snacks. One trick? I did this for a friend who was traveling to Japan with her almost 2 year old – get a bag and fill it full of cheap, dollar-store wrapped items – crayons, small notebooks, ect. Wrap every since one of them up and tell the kids that they can only open 1 every 1/2 hr, ect. You can find lots of stuff that they can play with that can go through security right at the dollar store – wrapping it up only makes it more enjoyable for the kids to open the items up!
Snacks is a must and again, movies is a good idea. And you can always play little games, such as cards (which could be wrapped up and put in the bag for the kids) or other games. There’s even this little pouchy type thing where you can have children look for items – it’s called a peek-a-boo pack – http://www.parentingtoddlers.net/peek-a-boo-bags/ that’s the website I saw them on, anyway. You can even make your own if you can sew well enough (I, personally, can’t).
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The only thing I can comment on is the weather since I don’t have any children. I went to Disney World the end of Sept. Michelle is correct-hot and humid. She had pretty good suggestions.
It’s really fun though. You will enjoy it.
My kids are grown and I’ve never flown with them, so I’m not going to offer you advice I haven’t taken myself. However, the airline… you might want to rethink Southwest.
Let me say that I absolutely LOVE Southwest and they are almost always my choice (unless I’m going somewhere they don’t serve). But flying them with three kids in tow seems to have STRESS written all over it. There’s no assigned seating. There’s also no more pre-boarding for families. If you have children under four, you’ll be permitted to board after the group holding “A” boarding passes and before the group holding “B” boarding passes. If you manage to get an “A” pass, you’ll board with the rest of the “A” group. You can check-in online 24 hours before your flight departs to try to get into that coveted “A” group. I gotta tell ya though, when I flew to Birmingham, AL last October, I hit the button the moment the clock hit the right time and I just barely made it into the “A” group.
I would just worry that the extra stress of having to deal with no assigned seating and no pre-boarding would push me over the edge. With Orlando being a popular destination, I would be checking Priceline and the other travel sites for flight deals. If you do go the route of Southwest, definitely be ready to hit that “check-in” button the day before.
Good luck and have a great time!!!
Ditto Valerie. I flew Southwest one time, and haven’t flown them since. Don’t plan to either. That no assigned seats is for the birds in my opinion. If you get a weather delay somewhere (which is what happened to me) it is a circus! JMHO.
I totally should have responded to this earlier – sorry! As you know, I’ve done the big extended family Disney World/cruise trip before, but I don’t have kids so unfortunately I can’t help you out very much on that front. My best advice for you is to come up with a “plan of attack” ahead of time for the parks. Decide what rides and attractions are your “musts” and how much time you want to spend at each park (unlike in SoCal, Disney World is so ridiculously spread out that it takes half an hour to get from park to park, making “hopping” tedious). We did no more than 2 parks per day. Do you have a Disney World guide book? There are several good ones (official and unofficial) with all kinds of information about attractions, food choices, show schedules, etc. to help you plan ahead. I highly recommend getting one.
I know you’re going with a large group, but it’s sooooo much easier to break up into smaller groups for the day. I spent a lot of time exploring the parks on my own because waiting for my 14-person entourage was driving me nuts. It took half an hour just for everyone to use the restroom! If possible, plan some time for just the 5 of you. From my experience, trying to coordinate with more people will just lead to more headaches and less Disney fun. My aunt had the brilliant idea (heavy sarcasm) to make lunch and dinner reservations for everyone every day – fine for eating purposes, horrible for enjoyment purposes. Having that “be at this restaurant at noon” thing hanging over my head kept me from doing and seeing a lot because I was worried about being late, getting stuck in a ride line, getting lost, etc. Eat when you’re hungry, not when someone tells you to be somewhere! Don’t do what everyone else wants to do when you have other priorities. You’ll miss half the cool stuff that way.
Speaking of cool stuff, I recommend hitting the Animal Kingdom first thing in the morning and heading straight for the safari ride (can’t think of the official name of it). That’s when the animals are supposed to be the most visible; later in the day they’re hiding from the sun. The “lands” of Epcot are really interesting, though the kids might not think so. They have activity stations in each “country” for kids to do art projects that they can take home, which is a cool way to get them involved. Keep in mind that that part of Epcot closes fairly early (9 pm?) so if you want to do it justice, don’t wait til the end of the day. Also, while DW pales in comparision to Disneyland IMO, the Peter Pan ride at the Magic Kingdom is a must. It felt much longer than the one in SoCal. However, the teacups, Pirates, and Small World are definitely subpar to what we grew up with.
As for weather, Florida is always hot and wet. Every time I’ve been there, no matter the time of year, it rains. It won’t last very long – an hour or two maybe – but it WILL rain, usually in the afternoon. They sell ponchos at the parks, but you might want to think of getting some ahead of time (probably cheaper than the Disney prices). They’re easy to pack and will definitely come in handy. If you’re a trooper, just throw on the poncho when it starts to rain and go about your business as usual. Don’t let it stop you from seeing what there is to be seen. When I was there the Animal Kingdom was practically deserted during/after a downpour; I felt like I had the park to myself! Also, bring at least 2 pairs of shoes per person because one will always be drying. I like open toe shoes/sandals because they won’t absorb water like tennis shoes & socks might. They can still cause blisters though. Several days of plastic shoes + wet feet = discomfort. Also, even though FL is hot, the restaurants might not be. I remember wearing my rain poncho inside during one meal because the place was so freakin air conditioned I was freezing. Nights on the ship can get chilly/windy too. Make sure you have sweatshirts for everyone just in case. I’m adding to your list of things to pack, aren’t I? lol
Most of all, just have fun! Try not to let the inconveniences get you down. You’ll be in Disney heaven and nothing should interfere with that.
I don’t really know much about cross-country travel with children, but from my limited experience, I have to say that I think taking your car seats on the plane is a great idea. We checked ours when we flew about a year and a half ago, and we had to wait nearly two hours at both airports to get it back. Car seats don’t go onto the plane with the regular luggage. Thy go with all the weird stuff like caged roosters and skis.
I’ve only traveled with my 4 month old, and he isn’t mobile, so I’m sure it’s a lot easier. I would think that having them in their car seats would help tremendously because they won’t have the option of wanting to run around. I recommend Southwest because with all of the baby gear (strollers, car seats, etc.), they don’t charge extra. I won’t fly with anyone BUT Southwest though. I think they are great.
As for Disney, I live in Orlando, and my family goes to the parks about every weekend. The greatest thing is they have a “Baby Care Center” in every park. They are so wonderful to moms with little ones. They have nice changing tables, high chairs, rooms to nurse, kitchens, etc. With my son, we are in the Baby Care Centers numerous times on each visit! I would recommend bringing food in to the parks unless you aren’t concerned with the amount of money spent in food. If we were coming on vacation, I think I would bring lunch foods and go out for dinner. Email me if you have any questions about the parks because, like I said, we are there all of the time!
You’ll have a wonderful time regardless though.
The weather is going to be hot and humid. Your kids will probably get wet at the parks. They have little fountains they can run through. So it is a good idea to have a change of clothes for them. But yes, expect the weather to be pretty miserable that time of year!
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