Basic Tips For Travel to Disney World

Tips to Travel to Disney World

When you travel to Disney World it can be exciting.  And stressful.  And overwhelming.  As a mom who’s survived a few trips with littles and bigs, I’ve got a few tips to share to make it easier for you. Hopefully this list will save you some drama while on vacation.

We went the night before to a hotel closer to the airport because it is Winter in Michigan. The weather is unpredictable sometimes. (we did have Spring last week, and it’s back to snow ya know).

• When traveling to Disney, we don’t talk about Disney.  Not until you are boarding the plane.  We told the kids in November, we were going in February.  These have been some of the longest months of my life.  We had to count down when we were leaving on the calendar. For months my son put sad faces on each day he crossed of, because it was not Disney yet, so hold off telling the kids if you can.

• If you drive, stop often.  Little kids hate to be trapped in a car seat for hours.  My little guy kept taking his seat belt off while we were going down the highway.  We drove down to Disney in two days and took 3 days coming home.  It was still a lot of driving, I probably would take 2 extra days driving, but lesson definitely learned.

• Decide Disney World of Disneyland.  We are going to Disney World in Florida. Maybe this should be rule 1, but in order of  priority for me, its 3.

• Lots of snacks are a must.  Who thought only 4 snacks for 5 hour flight would not have been enough! We ran out. You may need to pick some up at the airport.

• Take all gadgets and things to keep your kids occupied.  Honestly they needed one thing, we took all the gadgets  (you really only need something to keep the kids occupied in the car or on the plane).

• Pack light.  You can do laundry most likely at the hotel. This will hopefully keep you from going over the weight limit on your luggage (if you are flying) and make room for souvenirs.

• Pack for cold and warm weather.  We brought jackets, but the temp dipped into the 30s and we spent $160 for 3 sweatshirts from Disney. Had we packed a sweatshirt, we’d not had that expense.

• If you need new shoes, get them a few months before you leave.  This will allow you to break them in before your trip, not during your trip, saving your feet.

• Pack band aids because you bought new shoes the day before your trip and ended up getting blisters from said shoes.

• Write your phone number on the hand of your younger kids, in case you are separated, or buy those temporary tattoos to put on them with your phone number.

• Split up.  If you have more than one adult divide the kids and conquer the parks.  You might get to do more things and spend some quality time.  This works best if you have littles and bigger kids since littles can’t go on bigger kid rides. (and bigger kids might not want to go on little kids rides)

• Bring your own autograph books or purchase ones with LOTS of pages.  Then you don’t have to buy multiple books for autographs of characters.

• Buy bigger round pens for the characters to use to do autographs (regular pens work for the people to autograph with, the characters need something bigger and easier to use with their costume.)

• Doing character breakfasts at the parks, gets you into the park before it opens (if you have early reservations).  You do not get to roam freely, but you get to see the park empty and it’s pretty neat).  There is a SPECIAL line for character dining to get in, so look for it!

• Stay for the fireworks!  Even if you have to go back to your hotel and come back.  They are worth it.  At the Magic Kingdom, be sure to be on the look out for Tinkerbell to fly from the castle down too! (it’s a real person doing that!)

• If you are staying at a Disney hotel, the shampoo and conditioner and soaps make great gifts for those back at home!

• When you are at a Disney property, sometimes it is easier to go to another park to get to the Magic Kingdom.  We found going to Epcot and then taking the monorail from there to Magic Kingdom was quicker).

• Remember you are on vacation and it’s not a race to get everything done.  Consider park hopper to go multiple parks a day and hit up the rides you missed the first day.

• Buy your tickets to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon when you GET to Disney World. What if it is too cold to go swimming your entire trip?  You’ll be out money.

Enjoy your trip and enjoy the magic!

Top 11 things I wish someone would have told me before going to Disney.