When you’re on a Disney vacation, magical moments are bound to happen. You can’t force magical moments. You can’t achieve magical moments. You can’t make them happen. You can’t push your way or pay your way into magical moments. You can’t even predict when they’ll happen. But one thing’s for sure…Disney LOVES to create magic for its guests. One way, one day or another, you will experience the magic. Big ways and small ways, the magic will strike at just the right time, at just the right place, with just the right people. The only thing you need to do to experience the magic is to be fully present and engaged in your Disney vacation.

I could end this post with those simple words of wisdom. But I do have a small selection of secrets that will help you make magical moments on your Disney vacation. Here they are, friends.

Secret #1: Be as fully present as you can, wherever you are.

There’s nothing special about this secret. Be present right where you are. Forget the rushing. Forget the cramming it all in. Stop trying to make it all happen. Just be present. Wherever you are.

Secret #2: Stop and relax for a moment.

Sometimes, you’ll only find the magic you need if you stop, listen and take a look around. Perhaps it’s a slower-paced magical moment you need. Sit on a bench and listen to music. Perhaps you’re overstimulated and you really need to tuck yourself away in a corner of one of the Disney Parks. Watch people. Chat with Disney cast members. Meander through the Park with no agenda in mind. Magical moments happen when you’re actively engaged with your Disney surroundings, but they also happen when you’re quiet and fully in tune with your Disney surroundings.

Secret #3: Breathe. Be an observer.

On our most recent vacation to Disney World, I found myself breathing deeply much more often than normal. It’s almost like my body needed to reset to the new normal of our Disney daily routines. Let’s face it, our regular, everyday lives are much different than our days at Disney Parks. I honestly think some of us just need to breathe before anything else. Before any magical moments can happen, we need to posture our hearts, minds and souls properly so we’ll be ready to receive the magic when it happens.

Secret #4: Stay in the moment.

What I’ve discovered about making magical moments at Disney Parks, is that sometimes I just need to STAY right where I am. Had I not stopped and STAYED when I realized an engagement was going to happen in front of my eyes at Epcot, I would have never witnessed that magical moment. I wondered about all the people that passed by, all the people who stopped to check it out for a moment, but never STAYED still long enough to watch the magic unfold. They missed out. Big time. So stop and relax, for sure. But make sure you STAY for a while, too.

Secret #5: Get yourself in the middle of something and get fully engaged. 

This includes, but is not limited to parades, stage shows, character meet and greets, interactions with Disney cast members, interactions with servers at Disney restaurants, and engagement with Disney photographers. Don’t shy away from anything. Get in there, friends. Get right in there. If something captures your attention and draws you in even just a little bit, get in there. Get in the middle of it. Get in the thick of it. Who knows where magic might be waiting?!

Secret #6: Be willing to meet someone new.

Sometimes, in order to experience magical moments, you have to put yourself out there a little, more than you usually would. Had I not invited a mama and her baby to sit next to me on the shuttle one day from our Disney Resort to Magic Kingdom, I would’ve never experienced that magical moment. Later that same day, had I not taken a chance and reached out to Disney cast member, Christlove, at Be Our Guest check-in desk, we never would have enjoyed our magical sit-down dinner as a family of five.

The secrets to making magical moments on your Disney vacation are incredibly simple and incredibly interconnected.

Be present.

Stop.

Relax.

Breathe.

Observe.

Stay in the moment.

Get engaged.

Meet someone new.

That’s all, friends. If and when you go on a Disney vacation, I want all the love, all the magic for you. Do your part by following these six secrets to prepare yourself. And I promise, Disney will make its magic!

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

I also placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page, so click it anytime and it’ll bring you back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days. I’d also LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson and on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson. 

So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.

 

We’re nearing the end of my month-long series, 31 Days of Disney. It’s been a whirlwind of a magical month! With eight days left of the series, I feel myself winding down. As much as I ADORE all things Disney, I need a rest from all the Disney tips, tricks and favorites I’ve been sharing. So I thought today would be a perfect day to share this post, Best Places to Rest at Disney World!

Let’s get right to it. Because when you need a break, you need a break. Disney World is no exception.

On our most recent vacation to Disney World, I took notes as we went about our day. I noted the best places to rest around Disney Parks. Places that are accessible and realistic to sit down and take a break when you’re in need of a little rest and rejuvenation.

By the time we get to the end of this post, I’ll have shared best resting spots in Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Get your Mickey gear on and head on over. It’s time to rest, friends. It’s time to rest.

MAGIC KINGDOM: Frontier Trading Post’s Porch in Frontierland

This is a LOVELY place to rest, one of my favorites of all Disney World. In front of the Frontier Trading Store in Frontierland, there’s a wrap-around porch with rocking chairs. Friends, this is so good. THE most relaxing place in all of Magic Kingdom for sure. Rock your afternoon away by yourself, with a tired toddler, with your dear teenage daughter who just needs a little rest, or with your elderly father who’s out of breath. It’s a marvelous resting spot. And did I mention they play the most relaxing instrumental music EVER?! LOVE this place. A must see. A must do when it comes to rest.

MAGIC KINGDOM: In front of Crystal Palace and Casey’s Corner Famous Hot Dogs just off Main Street. 

This resting place is a little tricky to describe. Go to Main Street. Find Casey’s Corner Famous Hot Dogs (obviously, on the corner). Then find Crystal Palace. Stand outside between those two restaurants, and look back towards Cinderella’s Castle. There, you’ll find several benches and wide-open walking paths and spaces where you can REST, friends! This is another LOVELY rest area. GREAT photo opportunities, and not too bad as far as traffic passing by. Head right there, friends. I think you’ll be pleased.

MAGIC KINGDOM: Benches on walkway between Sleepy Hollow and Cinderella’s Castle

In Liberty Square, there’s a quaint little quick-service restaurant called Sleepy Hollow that serves yummy waffles and such. If you make your way behind Sleepy Hollow, there’s a walkway that takes you back behind the castle. Along the way to the castle, there are a handful of little inlets with benches to sit and rest. We passed this rest spot around 3:00 p.m., and lighting options were great. Some full sun benches, as well as some full shade benches. Great, quaint and hidden little resting spot. There is light traffic passing through, but not much. Great for a few photos as well.

MAGIC KINGDOM: Benches at Entrance to Liberty Square

There are some cute little benches as you pass through the entrance to Liberty Square. It’s easy to miss this resting spot, but don’t! It would be a lovely place to stop and take a breather on a hot day. Plus, it’d be a great spot to people watch as they pass by. Check it out!

ANIMAL KINGDOM: Benches at Research Centre in Pangani Forest

Next to Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom, you’ll find Pangani Forest, a place you can walk through and see various birds, gorillas, fish and other cool creatures. The entire trail is restful in itself. It’s nice and shaded, and people tend to have a relaxed demeanor in there. So if you need some peace, quiet and shade, definitely go through the Pangani Forest. It’s a perfect stop after your safari. About half way through the trail, you’ll run into the Research Centre. Before you enter the building, you’ll see a porch with several benches. This is a GREAT place to stop and rest. It’s quiet. It’s shaded. And I’m pretty sure nobody even notices when you’re in there. Voila! Perfect resting spot, friends.

ANIMAL KINGDOM: Line/path going into “It’s a Bug’s Life” attraction.

If you get in line for “It’s a Bug’s Life” attraction, which is close to The Tree of Life, you’ll go through a very LONG walkway. I’ve visited this attraction many times in the past, but didn’t realize what a GREAT resting place it is until our most recent vacation! Did I mention that the path to get into the main waiting area for the attraction is LONG? It’s also fairly scenic. So scenic in one area that it’s PERFECT for pictures of The Tree of Life. And such an easy place to stop and take a rest. You could stand, lean against railings, or even sit on the ground and I’m sure you wouldn’t bother a soul! Try it! There aren’t benches or anything, but it’s still quite relaxing. At the very least, this is a great place to take it slow.

EPCOT: Benches just outside the China Pavilion

If you’re walking through the World Showcase in Epcot, you’ll eventually walk through China. You can’t miss the China Pavilion. It’s beautiful. If you walk deeper in, you’ll find what I believe is called the House of Good Fortune. It’s a gift store that looks like a large Chinese house. Outside of that, you’ll find a good handful of benches you can rest on for as long as you’d like. The area is quiet, secluded and beautiful. On our most recent visit to Epcot, our family stopped here to regroup for quite a while.

EPCOT: Promenade and gardens in United Kingdom

When you’re walking through the World Showcase in Epcot, you can’t miss United Kingdom. It’s one of my favorites, filled with beautiful stores, buildings, gardens and landscapes. You can’t miss it. Behind the stores, you’ll find beautiful gardens, benches and a promenade at which you can rest. It’s a lovely, delightful, and very quiet area. We found Marry Poppins greeting guests there, but otherwise it was completely hidden from sight. Another great place to rest and enjoy the quiet sights of Disney.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: Streets of America

The Streets of America are Hollywood Studio’s place to REST! If you’ve had a long day, if you’re fatigued, if you have a crying baby or a crabby child, if your feet are tired, and if you just want to sit and people watch for a while, find the Streets of America. They’re scenic, easy to walk, and quiet. They’re near the back of the park. Look on the map and find your way there. Once you arrive, you must walk through. Just because. And you’ll have to take a seat on one of the benches lining the streets. Because there are SO many and its SO tempting to rest. Why not?

That’s it for today, my friends! If you’re heading to Disney World for vacation, remember to tuck these places in the back of your mind. They’re my favorite places to rest. And now? I’m heading to bed myself. For a little late night rest. Good night, friends. Happy resting.

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

I also placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page, so click it anytime and it’ll bring you back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days. I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson, and on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson. 

So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.

 

I love taking photographs. Photographing our Disney vacations is no exception. With all the Disney characters and beautiful sights to see at Disney Parks & Resorts, Disney vacations are a goldmine for amateur and professional photographers alike! Rest assured – whether you’re using an iPhone, a $100 camera, $500 camera, or a $2,000 camera – you WILL get great photos when you’re on a Disney vacation. Those photos will provide memories for a lifetime and are SO worth taking. Today, I’d like to share a few tips that will take your photography to the next level. So sit back, relax and enjoy. This is an easy read post. Nothing big, nothing earth shattering here. Just a few helpful hints to consider when photographing your Disney vacation!

Tip #1: Take photos of magical moments.

There’s definitely an art to capturing magical moments through photography. In order to experience or witness those magical moments, you need to be fully open, fully present, fully in the moment, fully aware of what’s going on around you. With that in mind, don’t be obsessed about taking photographs of every single moment all day long. You might miss magical moments. You might miss your vacation! However, when you DO see or experience magical moments, enjoy them in real time as they unfold, then capture the magic with a photograph or two to mark the memory.

When we visited Magic Kingdom on our most recent vacation to Disney World, I knew my youngest daughter would be seeing Cinderella’s castle for the first time. In order to prepare for the moment, I got my camera out after we entered the gates. When we turned the corner into Magic Kingdom where I knew she’d see the castle for the first time, I watched and waited expectantly for her reaction. I was fully present for that special magical moment, but I also took some time to snap a few photos of her smiling and pointing to the castle while in her daddy’s loving arms. It was a special moment. I’m incredibly thankful that I captured it with photographs. She’ll never have a first look at that castle again. Now, we can remember that magical moment for a lifetime.

Tip #2: Take photographs in obvious and not-so-obvious places around the Disney Parks.

You’ll definitely want to take photographs by Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom, Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios, Spaceship Earth at Epcot, and The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom. Take several photos by those classic, key landmarks. But may I suggest that there are other, less obvious places to photograph around Disney Parks? Photograph your teens waiting in line for a roller coaster, photograph your parents enjoying dessert together at a Disney sit-down restaurant, photograph your child asleep in his stroller with his Mickey ears on, photograph your tweens eating character waffles for breakfast, photograph your children watching parades. Big moments and little moments, they’re all worthy of capturing at Disney Parks. You never know what’ll turn out to be your favorite photograph from your Disney vacation. Shoot up a storm, friends! When it comes to photographs, it’s my philosophy that more is better. More photographs mean more photos to choose from when you get home. More photographs mean more memories of your Disney vacation. Big and small moments, obvious and less-obvious locations, all Disney moments are worth remembering.

Tip #3: Take advantage of the “Nikon Picture Spot” signs Disney has strategically placed around the Parks.

As you walk through Disney Parks, you’ll see small signs here and there labeled “Nikon Picture Spot.” These are spots that Disney has determined to be IDEAL spots for taking pictures. If you see one of these signs, there’s a good chance that if you take a photo there, it’s going to turn out great! So why not?! Stop. Take a photo. Take the leg work out of photographing your Disney vacation. Make it easy on yourself. Get your party to stand near or in front of that sign, and voila! You’ll have yourself a beautiful photograph and Disney memory!

Tip #4: Have Disney photographers take your picture! Use Disney’s PhotoPass or purchase a Memory Maker.

Disney has professional photographers located all over the parks at key locations. Their job is to take photographs of Disney guests, so take advantage of this great opportunity to get beautiful, high quality photos of your entire family. Disney photographers are pretty obvious. You can’t miss them. They’re usually in a Disney vest and hat of some sort, and have a big camera around their neck. They’re almost always taking photographs, and they almost always have some sort of line waiting to take advantage of their service. If you want them to take your photograph, just get in line and they’ll take it for you! You’ll receive a Disney PhotoPass card which you can use to find your photos online, or they’ll scan your Magic Band; all the photos you take around the parks will be connected to a unique account number so they can be stored and viewed in one place online. During or at the end of your Disney vacation, you can look through your photos and purchase them individually, or as a full collection. When you purchase the “Memory Maker,” you pay a set price and get access to ALL the photographs Disney photographers took of you during your vacation. If you purchase the Memory Maker in advance of your vacation, they give you a $30 discount. We purchased the Memory Maker on our recent Disney vacation because we knew we were going to use Disney photos for our Christmas card and wanted them to be nice. They scanned our Magic Band every time we took photos, and now we have access to all the photos in one place online. All we have to do is click “Download” and voila, the photo is on our desktop and we have full rights to use it as we please.

Tip #5: When you’re at the Disney Parks, wait to photograph key landmarks until you’re CLOSER to the landmark. 

When you’re at Disney Parks, you’ll notice people taking photographs at various locations in front of major landmarks. For example, when you walk down Main Street towards Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom, you’ll notice photographers taking pictures at numerous locations all the way down Main Street. It’s totally fine and good to take your photograph by the castle when you first enter Main Street, but the photo is likely to be BETTER if you wait and walk further down Main Street so you’re closer to the castle. This is just my humble opinion, and perhaps some photographers would disagree. I suppose it depends on which Park you’re at and which landmark you’re photographing. But generally speaking, wait to take your photograph until you’re closer to the landmark rather than further away. The landmark will be more prominent in the photograph, which will make the photograph and memory more impactful.

Tip #6: Have a variety of family members (and friends) help photograph your Disney vacation.

Because I love taking pictures and hold the camera most of the time, I tend to be the one who photographs 90% of our Disney vacations. However, I must admit that it is nice when my husband offers to take some pictures, not only of me, but of our children. It takes the photography burden off me for a bit, and allows me to be in the photos as well. May I suggest having your older children and teens take a few photographs, too? Their perspective is unique, and might get you some cool photos you might not have gotten otherwise. As long as you trust them with the camera, and teach them how to take a photo with it, you should be good to go for a few minutes at least! Having a variety of family members and friends take pictures is an easy and inexpensive way to diversify photographs from your Disney vacation!

That’s it, friends! Those are all the notes I took about photography during our most recent vacation to Disney World. I hope this post has provided a few extra hints that’ll help as you photograph your next Disney vacation. Whatever you do, make sure to capture the magical moments! Photographs mark the memories for a lifetime and beyond.

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

I also placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page, so click it anytime and it’ll bring you back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days. I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson and Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson.

So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.

When I outlined the posts for my month-long series 31 Days of Disney, I included one post titled Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler. That was BEFORE our family of five vacation to Disney World! Once we arrived on the ground, began our first Disney vacation with a three year old (and two older children, ages 10 & 12), and began taking notes, I realized there was no way I was going to fit ALL the tips in one post. There’s just SO much to say about taking a week-long Disney World vacation with a preschooler. So I decided to do a two-part preschool series. Yesterday’s post, Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler. And today’s post, Tips for Feeding Your Preschooler at Disney World. If you’ve landed on this post and plan to take a Disney vacation with a preschooler, I highly recommend reading BOTH posts. My greatest hope for these posts is that they will help families plan and execute a Disney vacation that’s as smooth and successful as possible when traveling with preschoolers!

Let’s get to it! Today, I‘m sharing all the love, all the lessons learned about feeding your preschooler at Disney World.

Tip #1: Make sure your preschooler is fed.

Feeding your preschooler at Disney World sounds pretty easy, right? Self explanatory? The obvious piece of advice for any human being? Not necessarily. For us, keeping our preschooler fed was not as simple as it seemed. Preschoolers operate differently than older children, teens and adults. They need to eat more regularly. They haven’t learned to “get over” or “move past” their hunger a little while longer. When they need to eat or drink, they need to eat and drink. Period. We learned this the hard way. If you do not feed your preschooler on a regular schedule at Disney World, you will end up with a crabby child. If you keep your preschooler on a VERY regular eating schedule (pretty much just like home), you will end up with a content, satisfied, happy, much more well-behaved child. This basic need for REGULAR food and beverage is a fact that’s good to keep at the forefront of your mind from day one of your Disney World vacation.

Tip #2: If you have a Disney dining plan with 2 meals and 1 snack per person per day, plan on getting in a THIRD meal, even if it’s small.

We’ve purchased the Disney dining plan for our last four Disney vacations. Typically, we purchase the standard plan which comes with 1 quick service meal, 1 sit down meal, and 1 snack per person, per day. This meal plan worked perfectly for us in the past! For the third meal of the day, we just foraged and made do with breakfast bars in the hotel room, eating heavier at our first meal of the day, etc. But on our most recent vacation to Disney World with a preschooler, mealtimes became a little trickier. The standard 2 meals and 1 snack per day wasn’t enough sustenance for our preschooler. She was getting hungry and crabby without her daily 3 meals, 2 snacks and regular access to beverages. We made accommodations early on in the week by using the previous day’s unused snack vouchers to buy her a fruit platter and/or a pastry for breakfast. A few times, we purchased something small at the parks for her third meal. And often, we purchased extra beverages to help refresh her throughout the day.

Tip #3: If you have a Disney dining plan, try to schedule as many character dining experiences as you can.

We’ve always loved to do character dining with our children. It’s one of the MOST SIGNIFICANT perks of having the Disney dining plan for families. But on this vacation, we appreciated the character dining even more so because we had our three year old along! Not only was it amazing to get our preschooler fed and happy again, but the characters provided great engagement and fun. In an odd sort of way, the characters provide positive distraction during mealtime. While your preschooler eats, they can watch the characters mingle around the room and eagerly await that magical moment when the characters visit your table for a one-on-one visit. I dined with our preschooler at Hollywood & Vine for a sit-down lunch buffet with Disney Junior characters one day on our recent vacation. Sophia the First, Jake & The Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, and Handy Manny were all there! The music was a little obnoxious and there was a fair amount of noise with all the characters and kids, but the food was EXCELLENT for both kids and adults and the kids clearly loved it. Highly recommend character dining for preschoolers (and older children as well).

Tip #4: It’s great to make sure your child is exposed to and eating a variety of food, but sometimes you just need to surrender to “kid food.”

One of the things I’ve been most proud of as a parent is that my two oldest children are NOT picky eaters at all. They’ll pretty much eat anything, anywhere. Sure, they have a few select things they don’t want to eat, but for the most part, they’ll eat everything without complaint. My youngest, on the other hand, is much more fickle and picky with her eating. She eats a variety of foods, but nothing’s a guarantee. And the amount of food she’ll eat at any given meal is really hard to predict. All of that to say, I understand both ends of the spectrum as far as having children who are picky eaters, and children who are NOT picky eaters at all. Even though my preschooler tends to be a pickier, more fickle eater, I continue to serve her a variety of foods just like I do my other two children. We don’t prepare special “kid food” for meals at home. They get what they get. They get the meal I’ve prepared for our family. This rule applies to our Disney World vacations as well. I’m not about to serve my children chicken nuggets, fries, corn dogs and mac ‘n cheese when they could have salmon, sauteed green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and all the other delicious food options. But I must say, sometimes we just needed to allow our preschooler to have the “kid food.” On our most recent vacation to Disney World, there came a time when we just needed our preschooler to eat something, anything, everything she’d put her hands on. A full tummy meant a happy preschooler. And that meant a much better day for all of us! Lesson learned? Let them eat all the “kid food” they want when you’re at Disney World, as long as it’s well balanced. Maybe, like my preschooler, “kid food” means eating chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli, mac ‘n cheese and a huge serving of pineapple for lunch. Good, right?

Tip #5: If you’re making reservations for sit-down dinner and have any choice at all, try to make reservations for times you’d normally eat at home (or as close to normal as possible).

I have to admit, we had a few major meltdowns because our lunch or dinner reservations were simply too late. For example, lunch at 12:45 p.m. instead of 12:00, or dinner at 6:45 p.m. instead of 6:00. For preschoolers, eating an hour later than they normally do can cause major disruptions. You might run into a “hangry” (hungry + angry) preschooler! If your reservations are later than your normal mealtimes, just be sure to get your preschooler a hearty snack and beverage an hour or two before the reservation. A good general rule of thumb is to stick to normal mealtimes as much as you can. Your child will be a lot happier that way!

Tip #6: After snacks and quick service meals, make sure to take your child’s cup and straw, refill the cup with ice and a beverage of your choice, and bring it with you into the Disney Parks.

This is a key learning I didn’t really start implementing until the last two days of our most recent Disney World vacation. Time and time again, we’d finish a meal and a half hour later, our preschooler would be complaining that she was thirsty. I kept wishing that I’d brought her cup from lunch, filled it up with ice and beverage, and brought it out to the stroller so we didn’t have to PAY for another beverage (at $2.75 for a bottle of water). Finally, I became proactive about the situation and started refilling her cup right before we left the quick service restaurant. That way, she was fresh and ready to go with beverages for another hour or two. This tip is small, but pretty amazing and makes a big difference. We do this all the time at fast food restaurants at home. Why not do it at Disney World? It makes a HUGE difference in your child’s thirst and satisfaction, and saves on beverage costs.

Tip #7: Just get a popsicle.

Need I say more? If all else fails and your preschooler is continually hungry, thirsty, crabby and tired at Disney World, just get a popsicle. It will fix everything, at least for a while. Watch out for melting, though. You may need to help with a few licks or bites here and there. That Florida sun makes those popsicles melt fast!

That’s all, friends! If you have any questions about feeding your preschooler at Disney World, please feel free to ask. I’m happy to answer anything! Also, if you’re going to be traveling to Disney World and haven’t read my post Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler, make sure to read that as well. Here’s to successful travels with preschoolers!

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

I also placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page, so click it anytime and it’ll bring you back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days. I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson and you can find me on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson.

So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.

When I outlined the posts for my month-long series 31 Days of Disney, I included one post titled “Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler.” That was BEFORE our family of five vacation to Disney World! Once we arrived on the ground, began our first Disney vacation with a three year old (and two older children, ages 10 & 12), and began taking notes, I realized there was no way I was going to fit ALL the tips in one post. There’s just SO much to say about taking a week-long Disney World vacation with a preschooler. So I’ve decided to do a two-part preschool series. Today’s post, Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler. And tomorrow’s post, Tips for Feeding Your Preschooler at Disney World. If you’ve landed on this post and plan to take a Disney vacation with a preschooler, I highly recommend reading BOTH posts. My greatest hope for these posts is that they will help families plan and execute a Disney vacation that’s as smooth and successful as possible when traveling with preschoolers!

Let’s get right to it! Today, I‘m sharing all the love, all the lessons learned.

Tip #1: Be prepared to split your family for the sake of everyone’s sanity.

We’re experienced Disney travelers. However, our most recent vacation to Disney World was the first time we’d taken a three year old. She was the youngest we’ve ever brought a child to Disney World. It was also our first trip to Disney World with three kids, so it’s possible that was a new challenge as well. Anyway…on this most recent visit to Disney World, we ended up splitting up our family nearly every day, every case because of our preschooler. We started most days together. But most days, we split our family at some point in the afternoon or evening. To give you hope, in ALL cases, we reunited after the split. It was the mid-afternoon, early-evening break that was needed for our preschooler.

In split family #1 scenario, we sent one parent with the big kids to do “big kid rides” while the other parent visited characters and did “little kid rides” and attractions. This works well because everyone’s needs are met and it’s not a long-term commitment. The split might be as short as an hour, or as long as a few hours. Please note, in this type of split, EVERYONE stays at the Disney Park, you’re just doing different activities for a short period of time.

In split family #2 scenario, we sent one parent back to the Disney Resort with our preschooler so she could get some much needed rest and rejuvenation while the other parent stayed at the Disney Park with the big kids. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re going to Disney World on a week-long vacation, you should expect that you might need to split up your family for part of the day in order for everyone to have a positive experience. We resisted this at first, as we wanted to be together as a family. By day two of our seven-day vacation, we realized we might as well surrender, split and bring her back for a NAP every day. We took turns accompanying our preschooler to our Disney Resort, which helped relieve the parental burden.

Tip #2: Even if your preschooler is older, don’t go on a “scary” ride early on in the vacation.

We brought our three-year-old daughter on “The Barnstormer” ride at Magic Kingdom on our first day of vacation. Our daughter was tall enough to go on the ride. Before we got in line, I asked the Disney cast member if kids her age go on the ride and the cast member said yes, so we went ahead and got in line! The roller coaster looked slow enough from the ground, so we figured it’d be fun. But she screamed the WHOLE. WAY. THROUGH! Then she was afraid to go on rides for a while because she was worried they were going to be “scary.” My suggestion? Save the “scary” kid rides for later in your vacation. P.S. Kid rides are never that scary, but still. Better be safe than sorry.

Tip #3: Find and visit as many characters as you can.

Your preschooler may or may not engage with the characters, but they’ll love seeing them! Later in the series, I’ll be writing a post titled “10 Tips for Meeting and Greeting Disney Characters.” I highly recommend checking out that post for tips on where and how to meet your preschooler’s favorite characters!

Tip #4: Buy an autograph book!

Your preschooler will love seeing and greeting Disney characters, and that means they’ll want some sort of autograph book. An autograph book gives you more time with characters, great photo opportunities, and great memories to bring home and show friends at preschool! You can purchase autograph books at Disney Parks and Resorts, but you can also bring something from home. I saw kids with Disney notebooks from the Target $1 section, big pieces of rolled up cardboard, picture frame mats, and hats. There are many creative ways to get autographs. Just have something ready and be consistent in its use so your preschooler knows what to expect! Super fun!

Tip #5: Surrender to the Stroller.

This tip is incredibly, incredibly important! If you’re traveling with a preschooler, surrender to the stroller. There are seas of strollers everywhere. Your life will be SO much better with a stroller. Believe me. On our recent 7-day Disney World vacation, we didn’t rent a stroller the first day, but broke down and rented one the last six days. Strollers are a lifesaver for parents of preschoolers at Disney World. You can bring your own stroller, or you can rent one from Disney Parks. Rental cost for a single stroller is $15/day. You can purchase “Length of Stay” passes which are discounted for multi-day use. For example, renting a single stroller for 7 days at the regular rate would have cost our family $105; renting a single stroller for 7 days with the “Length of Stay” pass would have been $91.00. When you purchase “Length of Stay” passes for stroller rental, you’re given a set of tickets that they stamp when you pick up your stroller at the Disney Park every day. They will reimburse unused tickets at the end of your stay, but expect to use all your stroller tickets.

Tip #6: Get in some swim time.

As much as it’s tempting to want to stay at the Disney Parks day and night, it’s also a good idea to try to get in some swim time. We admittedly didn’t get in enough swim time on this most recent vacation; we had one child who wasn’t able to go swimming until the end of our trip because of an injury to his face. But when we did get in swim time, our daughter loved it. She ran around the zero depth splash pools as happy as lark! Highly recommend swim time. You can even catch a quick swim before or after your preschooler’s daily nap.

Tip #7: Reinforce normal bedtime a couple nights during your vacation.

A few days during our week-long vacation, it was clear that the only thing our preschooler needed was a regular bedtime and a full-night’s sleep. I’m pretty sure we got close-to-normal bedtime at least two nights of seven, maybe three, and it helped a TON! If there’s any way to send one parent back and get that kiddo to bed while the other members of your family stay at the Disney Parks, I highly recommend doing so. Our philosophy was this…there’s no reason for the WHOLE family to revolve our vacation around the preschooler’s needs. Part of the family can stay late and have fun at the Disney Parks. One parent and the preschooler in need of sleep can go back to the Resort and catch an early night!

Tip #8: Make sure you visit rides and attractions that are designed specifically with preschoolers in mind. 

I highly recommend the following rides and attractions for preschoolers and their families. I promise these are enjoyable for preschoolers, older children, parents and extended family of any age. Enchanted Tales with Belle at Magic Kingdom. Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at Magic Kingdom. Turtle Talk at Epcot.

Tip #9: Carefully manage trips to the bathroom with your preschooler!

I experienced three major meltdowns with our toddler in bathroom stalls during our week-long vacation to Disney World. I’m not sure why. Perhaps the confined space and pressure to “perform” highlighted the chronic fatigue she was experiencing by being out of routine all week. It wasn’t until meltdown #3 that I realized I could probably have prevented some of the trouble, or made it a little easier on myself, at least. First of all, if you can help it at all, do not go into the bathroom with ANYTHING. If your preschooler is potty trained, do NOT bring in a bag, do not bring in a purse, do not bring in a camera or wear a camera around your neck. Just go into the stall, you and your toddler. That’s it. Keep it simple. You’re in there to use the bathroom, you don’t need anything hindering or complicating the experience!

Tip #10: If you have the opportunity to travel with grandparents or extended family, take it! If you have the option to bring a nanny, go for it!

On this trip to Disney World, more than any other, we realized how amazing it would be to travel with grandparents or have a nanny to utilize in the evenings when our preschooler was overly fatigued. I realize both of these suggestions are complete luxuries that 95% of people don’t have access to. But I’m just saying…if you have the opportunity or can afford it. Do it! An extra set of hands when doing Disney World with a preschooler would be absolutely amazing!

Tip #11: Expect crying, disastrous children.

On day five of our most recent 7-day vacation to Disney World, I engaged in conversation with another mom in a restaurant waiting area. This was their first visit to Disney World, and they had four children. (It appeared the oldest was around 7, the youngest was an infant.) I asked how it was to travel with a baby, a toddler, a preschooler and a young school-aged child. She gave me the BEST piece of advice that you MUST know! She said that they came into this trip “expecting crying and disastrous children, so anything better than that was great!” Hmmm…what amazing advice is that?! That mom didn’t seem stressed out or disappointed or frazzled at all! She was just rolling with the punches because she didn’t set sky-high expectations for their Disney vacation. She’d set low, perhaps realistic expectations, and guess what? Her children were doing much better than she expected! So there’s the key, parents! Set realistic expectations, implement the tips from this post and the next about feeding your preschooler at Disney World, and you should have a successful and positive experience!

This has been a tremendous amount of information, so I’ll end the post abruptly here! This is one of the most valuable and content-rich posts I’ve written for the 31 Days of Disney series so far. I’m hoping and praying it lands in the hands of parents of preschoolers traveling to Disney World for vacation! Don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s post, Tips for Feeding Your Preschooler at Disney World. It’s a MUST READ for parents doing Disney World with preschoolers!

Thanks, y’all. And please leave questions for me if you have any. Happy to answer.

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

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So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.