Plan Often

This next tip should be a no brainer, but far too often, once the Advance Dining Reservations or ADR’s are made, people sit back and forget that there is still much planning to do!  Start planning those touring plans, which will vary wildly depending on the make-up of your traveling party.  Have a toddler who loves Disney Junior, be thyself at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a hurry.  Have a teen/tween that is fascinated with exotic international locales?  Get yourself over to EPCOT and tour those countries!  This idea of plan often also ties into the countdown app on my phone, it allows us the chance to talk with Rylee about what she wants to do, versus what we can skip (Everest is still not her style.)  Overall, you want to be checking in with the Walt  Disney World website, for any ride closures, refurbs or other things that may impact your visit.  Going in the summer?  It’s gonna be hot, and it will rain every day.  Trust us…it will rain on your parade.  You have two choices you can hide out or head out.  If you need to hide out, we’ll post another blog later about the best places to do that.  If you’re more adventurous, head out into that rain if it’s safe.  Get your ponchos on and get wet heading to your next adventure.  If the weather is so bad that they close rides, head indoors to those shows, but get there fast, everyone else has that same idea!  At around 80 days, start deciding which rides you MUST do and check to see if they have a Fastpass.  Fastpass is Disney’s way of getting you out of the lines (and into the stores) faster.  It is a free service, lumped nicely in with the ticket prices.  Right now, you get three per day at any ONE park you choose.  Look at those park maps often.  You get to make Fastpass choices at 60 days.  Do this.  I promise you, it will make your break your trip.  During this time, you can also begin to customize your Magic Bands.  Don’t forget to get this done at least 40 days prior to your trip, so they can get them sent out to you.  There are few things harder than trying to decide in a sea of grey bands, which one is yours.  We usually color code ours, I am usually red, Rissy is green or blue and the Princess is almost always pink.   You’re almost ready to go! 

This is the time when parents often start to get a clearer picture of how your child is going to be while you travel.  About 60 days out, make the decision about whether or not your Littles are going to need a stroller.  The Princess can keep up with us, pretty well now and we go all day.  When she was 6, we got a stroller (Orlando Stroller Rentals is our fave) but ended up just pushing the bags around.  When my niece went at the same age, she needed the stroller, and would have really not enjoyed most of the trip if she’d been forced to walk.  Keep in mind, you’re going to walk—a lot!  Our friends who travel with us had a pedometer on the last trip.  We’d gone 7 miles by 5 PM, and we were headed back to the park for more fun.  SEVEN MILES.  It’s Walt Disney WORLD, and you’ll sometimes feel like you’ve walked from Maine to Mount St. Helen’s once the day is done.  Remember though, how we tour may just not be right for your family.  Don’t push it.  “When in doubt, head on out” is a common motto I tell people going to the World.  Yes, you’ve paid a fortune to be here, YES, it is the trip of a lifetime, but NO ONE wants to be that family who has just had a member go down due to meltdown.  It happens more often than we care to count, and I’ve seen just as many adults lose it as toddlers.  It isn’t pretty, and it isn’t fun.

You can head off the Hangry Harry’s by providing plenty of rest times, as many snack breaks as you need.  We often try to do our “big” table service as a late lunch because it gives us a nice, cool place to sit for a while and just not be in the heat.  You can schedule your ADR’s any way you’d like, but remember that when you dine at Disney, you’re not at the local Sonic, it’s going to cost you more than you think.   But that is another whole blog post in itself.  See y’all next week.  If you have any questions, head over to our Facebook page, Mrs. Mrs. And Our Little Princess and post them up, we’d love to hear from you!