Read here for a more detailed narrative of our trip and my review of our hotel here. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed DL. Of course, a trip to The Happiest Place on Earth can be painstakingly expensive. However, I feel we did a fairly good job of balancing having fun and not going overboard on purchases and activities. With that in mind, I scoured the internet for helpful tips on managing our experience. After all, when you see DL through the eyes of a 2 and 4-year old, you can't help but want to buy everything too.
There is no shortage of websites that are dedicated to all things Disney. These Disney fanatics offer insightful and resourceful advice on where to dine, the best spots to watch fireworks/parades, what ticket lines move the fastest, to how to entertain the kids when they get bored in line. Some good, well-thought out, and resourceful sites I found are as follows: Mousesavers.com, Allears.net, and DisneyTouristblog.com, to name just a few. Of course, for you Disney pros, please let me know of other sites you like. Going to a big amusement park with young ones can be stressful. The heat, the long lines, the desire to want to buy all these beautiful toys, tchotchkes, apparel, the exorbitant prices of food--your amusement park experience can go downhill quickly.
My approach with my kids was to do my best to prepare them for what to expect, without giving too much of the magic away. A few years ago, I brought Micro to a smaller amusement park nearby to see how he would handle some small rides and learn the art of patience. It went well, and we did it a few more times with Micron in tow, too. A month prior to our trip, I introduced a little bit of what rides they might do via YouTube. I know some parents may disagree with me "giving away," or taking away from my kids' experience upon first seeing it, but I know my kids do better if they know what to expect. So I showed them some rides--not a lot, but just enough to tempt their taste buds, which provided enough anticipation. I ordered these light sticks to keep them entertained and to bring on "darker rides." Though I packed some small "bubbles" to entertain them while we waited in line, I never needed to use them-being with other kids, people watching, and PLENTY of snacks, kept them fairly preoccupied.
Granted, we went to DL on a weekday and right before most kids were out for summer break. Lines were manageable (our longest wait was for one ride and it was about an hour) and the park wasn't crazy crowded. This provided a good first experience for all of us.
I also made a point several times in the weeks leading up to our trip, that we would forgo buying any additional toys, so as to save $$ for DL. Both Micro and Micron had a piggy-banks saved with money (which grew even more last minute thanks to Lolo's generosity) that they each could spend as they pleased. However, they couldn't buy anything on the first day--that day was used to scour a few stores and figure out what toys/things they wanted to buy with their money. I didn't want them going crazy spending all their money, only to hear later, "Oh, I want this now, instead of what I got." I explained to my kids that DL is full of things they'll love, and least of it will be found in the stores. This approach worked fairly well and Micro did an ok job of learning to value what toys he really wanted. Micron hasn't developed any attachment to one particular character(s), for her, DL was all about the rides. Though, she did see plenty of girls decked out in Disney princess attire, thankfully, Micron didn't ask for any of those outfits.
We chose a hotel with close proximity to the entrance to DL. Our kids are still fairly young to be able to handle walking all over the park for hours on end. Having a home base that was close by made our experience more enjoyable, knowing we could go back and rest for a few hours before heading back out til the wee hours of the night and not worrying about having to park or take a shuttle to the hotel. Perhaps when our kids are older and able to handle long distances on foot, we can opt for hotels further out. I bought our passes from AAA which allowed for free parking if you're thinking of driving.
Do note that fast pass tickets are not available for all rides. For a time, we used the free app, Mousewait, which gave information on wait times for rides, but sometimes it wasn't accurate. These apps are only as good as the users.
Stay tuned for another DL post.
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