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!

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.

Today, my 12-year-old son is sharing 12 tips for visiting Disney World! Typically, he communicates the bare minimum. But when it came to this exercise, he gave me all the information I wanted and more. So here goes nothing! These are the 12 tips my son wanted to share with you after our most recent family vacation to Disney World.

Tip #1: Buy Mickey ears or a Mickey hat.

Tip #2: Get Disney trading pins. Trade pins.

Tip #3: Get a Disney dining plan.

Tip #4: Go on any ride you want. 

Tip #5: Go on the Expedition Everest ride in Animal Kingdom.

Tip #6: Go on the Mission: SPACE ride in Epcot.

Tip #7: Get Fast Passes for rides.

Tip #8: Get the most expensive thing on the menu and get a milkshake to go with it. (Please note, mom would like to add that the only reason he was ever allowed to get a milkshake AND the most expensive thing on the menu is because we purchased Disney dining plans!)

Tip #9: Go to every park. Stay until the parks close.

Tip #10: Stay at Disney World as long as you can.

Tip #11: Stay at a Disney hotel.

Tip #12: Don’t think about when you’re gonna go home.

That’s it, friends! Between my daughter’s 10 Tips for Visiting Disney World and my son’s 12 Tips for Visiting Disney World, all the bases should be covered! If you’re bringing tweens on a Disney vacation, all you need to do is follow their 22 tips for a successful visit. Your children are bound to be happy! You simply can’t go wrong.

If you have anything you’d like my son to clarify or want more detail about any of the tips he’s shared, please let me know! I’m sure he would be happy to answer any questions you have about Disney World from a 12-year-old’s perspective.

Thanks, everyone! Tomorrow and the day after that, I’ll be sharing “Tips for Doing Disney World with a Preschooler.” Oh, yes! After our first Disney World vacation with a three year old, we certainly have plenty of things to say about that!

 

 

 

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.

Today, my 10-year-old daughter is sharing 10 tips for visiting Disney World! Kids get straight to the point. There’s no fluff here. Just the good stuff! So here goes nothing! These are the 10 tips my daughter wanted to share with you after our most recent family vacation to Disney World.

Tip #1: Go to the parades.

Tip #2: Get Disney trading pins.

Tip #3: Eat at the Columbia Harbour House in Magic Kingdom and get fried shrimp.

Tip #4: Take photos.

Tip #5: Go to Hollywood Studios.

Tip #6: Go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and get your hair done. (Please note, my daughter has never done this, but has always wanted to!)

Tip #7: Go to the Be Our Guest restaurant in Magic Kingdom.

Tip #8: Go on the Mission: SPACE ride in Epcot.

Tip #9: Always sit in the back of the shuttle on your way to the parks.

Tip #10: Don’t think about the last day of your vacation.

That’s it, friends! That’s all you really need to know. If you’re bringing a 10 year old on vacation to Disney World, all you need to do is follow these 10 tips for a successful visit! Your 10 year old is bound to be happy! You simply can’t go wrong.

If you have anything you’d like my daughter to clarify or want more detail about any of the tips she’s shared, please let me know! I’m sure she would be happy to answer any questions you have about Disney World from a 10-year-old’s perspective.

Thanks, y’all! Tomorrow, we’ll be sharing 12 Tips for Visiting Disney World (From a 12 Year Old)!

 

 

 

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 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.

Today was our last day at Walt Disney World.

It was a lovely day.

A loving day.

A simple day.

A travel day, too.

We gifted ourselves five hours of sleep going into today. We got ready, got ourselves packed, and let the kids sleep in a little longer with hopes they’d make it through the long day of fun and travel back home.

Five suitcases were packed. Five carry ons, too.

Five of us lugged the luggage down the elevator, past the gigantic Crush from Finding Nemo, down the long sidewalk, and around the corner to baggage drop off. We kept a camera and one backpack for the day ahead. That’s it. That’s all we really needed.

It was time for breakfast. Nemo waffles for the little one. Breakfast platter for two. Breakfast sandwich for another. And french toast for the last. It was the first time we’d eaten a full breakfast all week. We were novices in our own Disney Resort, novices as to how this quick service thing worked at the breakfast table. (We’ve always chosen to use our dining plans for lunch, dinner and snacks, and creatively piece together breakfast each morning.)

After breakfast, I invited one to stroll and take a few photos around the resort. The other three stayed to finish their meals.

We met by the shuttle that would take us to Hollywood Studios one last time, one last time before who knows when we’ll be back – no sooner than two years from now, no later than five years from now. Six years from now, we’ll have one child in college.

The shuttle was loaded. Full. We were the last to fit on. All five of us stood near the front.

Thankfully, the drive to Hollywood Studios was quick, close to our Disney Resort.

The day was unique. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Sure, we were at Hollywood Studios. But the pressure was off to have a blast, to make use of every hour, every minute, every moment. We knew it was our last day. We knew this was it. We knew we had less than six hours to enjoy this one last time, at this one last Disney Park, before the plane flew us back home. Yet, we didn’t rush around the park like wild people trying to fit in every last ride and attraction we could. 

We let the kids play at the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” playground for a while.

We visited the Walt Disney sculpture.

We went to a Disney Junior stage show and saw a performance with Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. Our youngest daughter was enthralled. She sat quietly, sang the songs, and loved the bubbles, snow, and gold coins that fell from the ceiling at highlight points throughout the show.

I went on a Muppets 3D attraction with our youngest. The other three went on the Star Wars ride.

Three of us ate chicken and burgers. Two of us ate pizza and salad. We all had Halloween-themed carrot cupcakes for dessert.

My husband and son went on the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster,” their favorite ride of all Disney World. And we watched a kooky live performance on one of Hollywood Studio’s main streets.

That was it. Six hours passed in a flash. It was almost time to go back to our hotel to pick up our luggage, grab the last snacks from our dining plan, and catch the shuttle to the airport.

So we returned the stroller one last time, and took a few photos by an old-fashioned truck near the stroller station.

It was time to go.

Tears were shed by three.

My husband huddled everyone together in a tight circle and spoke a word of encouragement. The vacation hadn’t been trouble-free, but we had an amazing time, didn’t we? We have a lot of great memories. We’ll be back.

We had some hugs.

Then it was time to disperse.

Time to make our way to the shuttle back to the Disney resort.

More tears were shed on the shuttle. Then a few more when we sat down for our final snack, and a few more when we sat on the bench to wait for the airport shuttle.

We had more hugs.

Our seventh Disney vacation in 17 1/2 years of marriage went down in the record books today. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fabulous!

Signing off vacation mode for now, friends. Thanks for joining us on our Disney adventure! Be sure to catch the next 13 days of posts for a TON of Disney tips, tricks and favorites.

 

 

 

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, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson. You can also find me on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson, and I might even do a few scopes live from Disney World, so follow me on Periscope at @AmyBPederson to see if I get brave!

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

I didn’t feel comfortable in the navy blue shorts with white polka dots and white halter top I paid way too much for 14 months ago for my 20th high school class reunion. So I took it all off and put on the dress my parents bought me for my 39th birthday.

I was already “DONE” with our three-year-old daughter when we left our room at the Disney resort. She’d already been on time out twice and the day had barely begun.

Her girls got on the shuttle first. They were gorgeous. Stunning little girls. Fair skin and dark hair. Off white dresses and sandals from somewhere much more fancy than Target. Modern day Snow Whites. I imagined photographing them, sun highlighting their hair, their blue eyes piercing straight through the screen. Then came mama. No wonder they were so gorgeous. Her hair was dark, skin fair. She was holding her baby boy. I smiled and invited her to sit in the one open seat next to me. Conversation was easy. A cinch. We talked for 20, maybe 30 minutes all the way to Magic Kingdom. She was rare best friend material, which reminded me of the article I’d read first thing this morning about how difficult it is to make true friends in your 30s and 40s, which reminded me how I’ve been feeling a significant pull to do something more to foster friendship and community. Through conversation and recognition of accents, we realized we lived about 40 minutes from one another. She attended high school at a private school with which I was incredibly familiar. This was their first TRIP to Disney World, the first DAY of their vacation, and their first VISIT to Magic Kingdom. Everyone was incredibly excited. The girls loved my sparkly, silver Mickey Ears. It was a joy and a delight to meet that mama.  

It wasn’t about me. It was about her…and us.

I was blessed to get a front row view of autumn morning dancers in front of Cinderella’s castle.

I was relieved when we only had to wait 25 minutes to get into The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. I was relieved when I remembered that they had lots of activities to keep our three year old occupied during the wait so I didn’t have to hear her whine and complain.

I was SUPER annoyed when our family split up to use two sets of Fast Passes, and then the three year old didn’t want to go on the Dumbo ride. You don’t want to go on the Dumbo ride? What?! You don’t want to go up and down? I was annoyed beyond belief. I took a lot of photos of her crabbiness to remind myself I wasn’t going crazy or making memories up, that she was actually overtired, over-hungry and overstimulated 1/4 of this vacation.

I looked at beautiful Mickey caramel apples, marshmallow Olafs, and Mickey Sprinkled brownies to distract myself and appease my senses.

I changed our Fast Pass, took a deep breath, and enjoyed a ride on It’s a Small World (instead of Dumbo).

I made today’s lunch reservation for  12:45 p.m. way back in August, but failed to realize it was pretty much the same time as our three-year-old’s usual nap time. She was super crabs. Nearly losing it. She had her third bathroom meltdown for the week. And my husband discovered that the “Be Our Guest” lunch wasn’t a sit-down meal like we thought. It was quick service, which meant our day’s meal plan schedule was going to be messed up. This statue resonated with my insides.

I got behind the slowest people in the lunch line. They took forever to order. Then their order didn’t go through the way it was supposed to. They had to call special help, management maybe, to start over with the order from square one. Oh, let me tell you. There were five STUPENDOUS crabby girl photos taken during our wait to get into lunch. We’ll save one of those for the “Tips for Doing Disney with a Preschooler” post.

I was going to get the ham and gruyere cheese sandwich. I decided to get what I really wanted, slow-roasted pork with green beans and mashed potatoes. I decided to get what I really wanted, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate mousse and chocolate frosting.

I wanted to sit in the main “Be Our Guest” ballroom. That’s what I’d envisioned for this meal. My husband chose the dark rose room that had a lot more character and ambiance. He felt bad when he realized I liked the ballroom. I told him it was no big deal, that it was totally fine and good in the dark rose room. I knew we’d be back again another time.

I was incredibly glad I ordered the pork and chocolate cake. It was amazing.

I was blessed to have a husband who offered to take our three year old back to the resort for nap time so I could stay and play with our two older children. He’d go back early for nap time. I’d go back early for bedtime.

I called Disney dining reservations. We needed to make a new reservation for dinner. The Disney cast member was incredibly helpful, but there weren’t any sit-down reservations left for Magic Kingdom this evening. No such luck. In the meantime, I wasn’t fully present for the castle show and missed half of it because I was on the phone trying to make reservations so we could make use of our last sit-down meal for the week.

I finally gave up and decided we’d use our sit-down meal for quick service food. It didn’t really matter anyway. And I didn’t want to miss anymore of my afternoon with the big kids.

Maleficent came to steal and destroy our joy, our dreams, our lives.

Mickey asked us to repeat after him…”Dreams Come True. Dreams Come True. Dreams Come True.” BAM! Kapow! Wowza! Maleficent was gone. The good guys won.

I thought we’d turned a corner into a fun, positive, light-hearted and enjoyable afternoon. I wanted that castle show to be our day’s reset button.

I was caught off guard when one of the big kids had a momentary meltdown as the afternoon parade passed by. I made a pointed threat. “I will not tolerate this behavior. We are at Disney World and there is a very special parade going past us and we are going to stand here and watch it.”

I was pleased when they decided and admitted out loud that they were going to be well behaved and have a good time from here on out.

I started to feel the day shift a bit.

I checked the Disney app for another try at dinner reservations, but still couldn’t find dinner options for FIVE at Magic Kingdom. On a whim, I tried again for THREE and found an opening at “Be Our Guest.” I found a separate reservation for TWO at “Be Our Guest,” but the app wouldn’t allow me to book it. So I headed for the “Be Our Guest” check-in desk and was served by a sweet Disney cast member named Christlove. She made a couple calls and verified, if we come back later for our reservation, tell them we need to ADD TWO to our party, we should get our whole family in without a hitch!

I enjoyed the Carousel of Progress. “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow.”

I enjoyed the People Mover. The big kids were beginning to enjoy simple, old things. This, I liked.

I realized I’d forgotten something big, something important. I’d forgotten to keep working on a project for my Compassion sponsored child, Meranyelis.

When I visited Meranyelis in the Dominican Republic nine months ago, she made and gave me a bracelet. I brought the bracelet on this vacation and have worn it every day. I’ve photographed the bracelet at all four Disney Parks, kind of like a Flat Stanley, and plan to send her the photos for a virtual visit to Disney World. Magic Kingdom was the last photo I needed to complete the collection. I needed that photo. So I took a few myself and promptly found myself a Disney photographer to do the job right. No need to mess up the main attraction for my Meranyelis. Cinderella’s castle had to be right.

I felt the afternoon take a significant turn after those photos in front of Cinderella’s castle.

The day wasn’t about me. Our Disney World vacation isn’t about me. Heck, life isn’t about me. It’s about serving and loving OTHERS as much as I serve and love myself.

The big kids and I window shopped at a few stores on Main Street.

My husband came back with our three year old who was MUCH HAPPIER after a two-hour nap.

We used our Fast Passes to see Elsa and Anna.

We used our Fast Passes to go on the new Ariel ride in Fantasyland.

We enjoyed a beautiful sit-down dinner for FIVE at the “Be Our Guest” restaurant. We ate chicken and pork, steak and green beans, mashed cauliflower and warm baguettes. I saw Christlove across the dining room. A couple swooned over one another at the table next to us. An older woman celebrated her birthday at another nearby table. The Beast greeted guests in the library next door. It was more than I imagined. Better than I imagined. Totally NOT about me. Totally all about OTHERS. Totally all about US.

 

 

 

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, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson. You can also find me on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson, and I might even do a few scopes live from Disney World, so follow me on Periscope at @AmyBPederson to see if I get brave!

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