Disney Trip Tips

Tink522

We are taking the boys to Disney Sept 3-10. Anyone have any tips for taking a 1, 4, 7, and 9 year old? We are staying on property at Art of Animation and have our dining reservations set.

DeniseRN

So we will be at Disney then too! GTG??? The little guys can ride most of the fantasy land rides. My 4yo is tall enough to ride Soarin and Thunder Mountain. Pick out the rides you REAAAALLLLY want to ride and ride or fast pass first thing. Soarin and Test track at Epcot always fill up quick. Every park has a baby change center. The one at Animal Kingdom is really nice and there are BFing rooms with rocking chairs and AC. The staff doesn't go in there, so you can use the rockers and AC if you, I mean LO, needs a nap or an AC break. When you go in MK, go straight to the fantasy land do not get distracted lol. Ride those rides and get Fast Passes

DeniseRN

Oh yeah you can rent from Orlando strollers rentals and they deliver to your hotel and pick them up. They have single and double strollers, usually citi minis which are so simple to fold. It is usually cheaper and easier to rent than fly it or have it take up space in your vehicle

Tink522

Thanks guys. We did rent a double stroller from orlando stroller. Someone told me l would want a double because of the 4 year old. We are doing all the parks and 1 of the water parks. Not sure which one yet. @DeniseRN where are you staying?

DeniseRN

We are staying at the Polynesian 9/2-6. We take a staycation there every year the week of Labor Day. Last year, we rented the double and I bought one since then. My 4yo loves to ride when he gets tired. It's also good to have a big stroller to carry all the stuff that somehow accumulates

Tink522

We are flying and this will be the first time flying with any of the kids. Kind of nervous about that. Do you guys bring food with you to the hotel and/or parks? We have the dining plan and have our sit downs reserved but thinking it might be a good idea to bring stuff for breakfast/snacks as I saw a bottle of water counts for a snack! Any good places for the counter service meals in each of the parks.

Tink522

@DeniseRN is that week a good week typically in terms of crowds and weather? We should try GTG if we can figure it out.

DeniseRN

We did the DDP two years ago and it didn't work out well for US. We stay club level and hoard tons of food from the club room and use that as snacks. The club room also serves light meals all day, so we use that a lot. I think the DDP would have been better if we didn't have the club room.

I would recommend bringing snacks. I'm always paranoid about hungry kids. I bring individual baggies of gold fish, pretzels, apples, banana, oranges, etc. As far as water, just go anywhere that has a soda fountain and ask for iced water. It's free!

That week is awesome in terms of crowds. All the kids around here (and across the US really) go back to school around Labor Day or even before that. BUT 9/6,7 there is Night of Joy so all these teenage kids show up for the Christian Rock concerts. I believe Mickeys not so scary Halloween starts the Monday after Labor Day so the parks get busier then.

So, get all the big park days done the week of Labor Day and then maybe do the hotel pools and other stuff after that

DeniseRN

As far as weather, it's hot here until November bring your water misters, SUNSCREEN and tank tops. You don't want a sunburn with such a long trip

DeniseRN

Where are your dinner reservations?

zyas

Tink522 said:

Thanks guys. We did rent a double stroller from orlando stroller. Someone told me l would want a double because of the 4 year old. We are doing all the parks and 1 of the water parks. Not sure which one yet. @DeniseRN where are you staying?

I recommend Blizzard Beach for the water parks. We're hopefully going in December and I'm so excited! You guys are going to have so much fun

There are lots of Disney tips for families at this site: www.temporarytourist.com

DeniseRN

@zyas we should GTG when you come down! I want to visit animal kingdom w you lol. Oh BTW @tink522 do try to do the safari thing at animal kingdom as early as possible! Apparently lions roar over their kingdom once a day (like on Lion King, except there wasn't a monkey holding up a lion cub lol) and we got to hear the lion do the roar. It didn't sound how we thought it would but it was so cool!

zyas

@DeniseRN yes isn't it cool hearing the lions roar? They usually do it quite early in the morning. At the zoo I went to school at our lion and hyena used to do their morning roar/howl thing in tandem and it was the coolest thing ever. It was the best thing about being up so darn early in the morning

Oh and yes we should definitely get together when we come! Unfortunately it looks like we aren't going to be able to come in December after all now but we're hoping to maybe in February. Do you live close to the parks?

C&Csmommy

DH and I will be in Disney on September 6th!

I'm not sure what all has been suggested but these are my tips

They will let you bring any drinks and food you want to into the park so we always bring water, juice, snacks and a refillable bottle! They will give you ice for free so you don't have to worry about a cooler.

Look up the baby care centers because they will be a lifesaver! It is nice to just sit in the AC for a while. They have high chairs in there and always have a movie going so it allows you to relax for a minute too.

1 year old will be able to ride almost everything in Magic Kingdom, most things in Epcot and Animal Kingdom but I will warn you that there isn't a lot for younger ones in Hollywood studios. The older ones will probably like all the shows in Hollywood studios but they are usually about 30-40 minutes long so be prepared for younger ones to get antsy.

If you want to see parades then plan to find a place to sit about an hour to hour and a half in advance so you aren't stuck with crappy seats and holding LO above your head in order to see. In Magic Kingdom the best place we have found is in frontier land on the porches of the shops so you are in the shade and that is the tail end of the parade so there usually isn't as many people.

If you want to know anything else or anything specific feel free to PM me