As I mentioned last week, Tim and I took the kids to Disney World for a day while we were in Florida. I learned a few things that day …
- Never, ever go to Disney World during the Christmas break. It was so crowded that it seriously impaired our enjoyment of the trip. Just … don’t.
- Don’t assume that your big kid won’t want to ride in a stroller. (And don’t assume that you won’t want a stroller for him!)
- If you really like rides, Disney World may not be the park for you. We didn’t go on many (see the first item about crowds) and the ones we did go on were short and had long lines.
- That mom yelling at her kid in the middle of the walkway? Yeah, that could very well be you.
- You’re not going to leave just because you have blisters on both feet.
- If your son wants to go up in the Swiss Family Treehouse, you’ll go, despite said blisters. Twice. Right in a row.
- The image you have of Disney characters roaming the park meeting kids is wrong. The character greetings are on a very strict schedule, and lines are long.
- Your kids will probably be scared of the characters anyway.
- You may be at “the happiest place on earth,” but your kid’s still gonna cry if he can’t have the bag of chips he thinks you promised him.
- You’ll stay later than you want to because the kids are actually having fun.
- Despite any crying, the lines, the crowd, etc. your kids will remember it only as a great day, the one when they saw Cinderella’s castle and met Buzz Lightyear.
I love this post! I can imagine it all! Especially since your recollections so echo my best friend’s experiences. One of his daughters lost some precious (and easily replaceable) souvenir on a bench and cried forever, soon followed by his other daughter crying over her sudden (yet fleeting) stomach ache. Once they got back to the hotel and the girls napped and changed clothes, they talked excitedly about how great the day had been and they couldn’t wait to go back tomorrow. I believe your last two points are the most universal of all.
At some stage I totally want to take the kids to one of the Disney Parks, it’ll probably be Paris, but i would love to go to Florida.
I can only imagine what the queues are like, but based on the theme parks over here, I can see why you only managed a few rides.
I still have memories like that from when I was a child, where I can vaguely recall being a pain for my parents, yet the only lasting memories are the good things. As for the boy that is too big for the stroller … that’s what Daddy’s shoulders are for
“That mom yelling at her kid in the middle of the walkway? Yeah, that could very well be you.” – Loves it
That would be me, for sure.
We were actually thinking of going in February, but winter recess is probably as bad or worse than Christmas.
Someday…
Chips… $10
Pop…… $8
Souvineer tshirts….. $20
Tickets…. $80
Mom yelling at kid in middle of walkway and then realizing its a reflection of you and BB in the glass… and that your lips have disappeared just like Rickbos used to? PRICELESS!!
oh man.. I could keep going. But I wont. That will be me someday and then I will feel empathy towards you.
My friends daughter is a character at Disney. Jojo/ Quincy from Lil Einsteins, etc. I had heard about the character schedule thing. I should have forewarned you. That friend went there last April with a 4 yr old and got the inside tip where to go. They spent most of the time in “its a small world” area. I will be fully warned when we go. Im also trying to get a set of free tix from her. That wuold make it sooo much more priceless
Same daughter also works at Universal. Im crossing my fingers 
[...] Disney World, and I love the honesty of her post-Disney assessment. You can check it out here: Things I Learned at Disney World. It’s the best Disney post I’ve seen in a long time. addthis_url = [...]
The last bullet point is the most important — the kids will remember only the good stuff (good thing!) and it’s really all about them, anyway.
And if you avoid the Christmas/February/April vacation periods, you can GREATLY lessen the stress. Best times to go, if your kids are young enough to pull out of school for a week? October or the first week in December.
I love it! My 3 year old son fell asleep on the WAY to Disney. After a long week we arrived in Anaheim from San Diego (a few hour trip) with an asleep preschooler and an awake baby. We did breakfast and waited for him to “wake up!” – 2 hours later he joined us- geesh!
We found the best time to enjoy the series of Snow White Ride, Peter Pan Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean ride, was during dinner time. We ate off schedule from everyone else. Dinner was a walk-up window in Downtown Disney.
So true. So very, very true
We just did a Disney trip between Christmas and New Years, and you are so right about the lines. But since we knew that going in and had sort of prepared ourselves for it, we still had a wonderful time. We tried not to do too much, and ended up actually doing more than we intended to. You’re right, in the end the kids will have wonderful lasting memories and will never think of the crowds!
We went to Disney World in early October and it was great. The trick was that I was prepared for what it’s really like. I knew it was absolutely enormous and we were going to walk a lot (you do mention the blisters–sorry, to hear it.). There is a great article on wejustgotback.com called “Disney Reality Check” that really nails it. I read it before we went and it got me thinking realistically about what was ahead. The article is here:
http://www.wejustgotback.com/default.aspx?mod=wdwgetreal