Preparing Yourself to Take Toddlers to Disney World

With our next Disney trip less than a month away, I'm busy making preparations.  These kinds of preparations are always my favorites.  Lists, lists, lists!  I wrote last week about how to prepare toddlers for Disney World, but equally important is preparing yourself for taking toddlers to Disney World!  It's an undertaking, but it's so worth it!

Safety

In the past I've had at least one baby on the hip, in a stroller or in my Moby for each trip.  Now that I'm taking an-almost-two-year-old and a 3 year old, I know my kids will be walking more and in strollers less.  I know when they're walking they'll want independence and will sometimes run ahead of us a bit. I know in the airport we're actually planning on taking no strollers.  While I'm confident my husband and I can keep up with our kids just fine and that they will obey us and come back if they start running off, you can never be too careful!  I've noticed in our past trips kids wearing bracelets with their parent's phone numbers or even tattoos with this kind of information.  This year I knew our kids needed something JUST IN CASE.  I doubt anything will happen but what if it does?  I want to know if they wonder off out of our line of site they have something to identify a way to get them back to us.  I knew they wouldn't wear bracelets or necklaces (which is a great, cheap idea I'd recommend for sure), so I took to the Disney Mom's Forum and found out about safetytats.com.  I just ordered their stick on tattoos that come with a marker for the first time.  I ordered 18 for our 2 boys.  They say they last up to 2 weeks, but I wanted to be sure to have one for each of them including our travel days.  I ordered the stick ons because they sounded like they were the most water proof, most easily (and quickly) applied, and easiest to take off.

In addition to plastering our phone numbers to their arms, I've also started talking with my 3 year old about "strangers."  I know there's a lot of suggestions now to talk about "bad guys" instead of "strangers" but I'm trying to keep it so simply with him.  We just talk about how he needs to always stick by Mommy and Daddy and if he ever gets lost from Mommy and Daddy he needs to tell another Mommy and Daddy he's lost.  We also have a lot of talks about not letting people touch him and yelling, "Hey! You're not my Mom/Dad!"  Who knows how much he retains, but I hope having this information in his head helps him.

Fitness

It sounds funny to say you need to prepare for your WDW trip by getting fit, but in my opinion you really do!  You'll be walking hours a day and can also end up carrying around a cranky toddler.  We also carry backpacks all day and our SLR camera.  Even in our before kid trips my husband and I would make sure we started walking every day before our trip to build up our stamina, but now with kids it's even more important especially when you think about safety and "what if they run off?"  This trip I'll be in the best shape of my life but I'm still trying to prepare.  Before we go I'll be trying to go to the zoo or a museum every week just so I get practice chasing them, wearing a backpack, pushing the stroller, carrying cranky tots, etc.  Even though I'm a runner and fairly fit, I still get sore after carrying a kid around for awhile because I'm working different muscles.  You might think, "I won't do that," but you never know.  Walking around a park for 6 hours effects everyone differently and your kids who love their stroller might get over stimulated and really want to be held.  It never hurts to practice!

Study

Sounds lame, right?  Well I LOVE studying up for our trip because I'm a nerd like that.  But really, it is exciting and fun to think it all through, get tips, and have a better knowledge of things!  Especially when you have tots and your brain often feels broken because you're tired or frazzled.

There are so many great bloggers who write tips like this and you can find so much on Pinterest now about Disney World.

You can also look up information and ask questions on the Disney Moms Forum.

We love the Birnbaum's Walt Disney World books, but they are "sponsored" by Disney.  If you want more cut and dry, non-biased information I can't recommend "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" enough!  It's a HUGE read but it's so informative and you can always look up what you need to!

Get familiar with the "fast pass" concept.  Fast passes and "rider swap" are your key to having a successful trip especially with little ones! (I should post about these things some time, for sure!)

Plan

Just like studying, it helps to make a plan!  You want to make any kind of reservations in advance, especially character dining reservations (the only sit down dining we do right now is the kind with characters).  Before we book dining we consult the Internet for what parks are and aren't recommended each day of our trip and any other kind of "perks" that are in that park that day (like extra magic hours for people staying on Disney property).

So, for example, on the Tuesday of our trip Epcot is the recommended park.  They also have early magic hours so they open at 8 instead of 9.  We are headed there for the 8am opening and will ride rides through lunch and then head back to Bay Lake Tower for naps.  That evening we have a very early reservation (4ish) for Garden Grille back in Epcot we'll head back up for after our kids nap.  Garden Grille is delicious and scenic.  The food is endless and family style and you meet farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale during this dining experience.  After dinner we'll have the evening to hang out of head back to the hotel if the kids are grumpy but it's nice knowing crowds will be low if they're up for sticking around long enough for fireworks!

It also helps to look at quick service menus before you go.  Most have menu items your kids will love but some might not.  When we went when J was 17 months we were in World Showcase when he woke up from a nap and he was hungry!  Our options nearby were Mexico, China, Norway & Germany quick service.  We didn't know what each had and ended up at Norway thinking he might eat an Uncrustable PB&J (their only kids option) but he didn't.  If we had known better what each place had we would have known to just pick him up and carry him to America and get him chicken nuggets and grapes which we knew he'd eat.  It was a waste of money and time trying to get him to eat that sandwich (which he'd gladly eat now!).

BATHROOMS!

Grab maps at your resort for each park so you know where bathrooms are the second you get to the park.  You never know... the second you get to the park you might have a little one begging to go!  This knowledge is something you will not regret memorizing!  ;)

So there you have it!  My tips for preparing yourself to take toddlers to Disney World!  Wondering what my check list looks like now that we're several weeks out?  Well, I'll show you!

Order safety tats
Start buying treats for backpacks for the plane ride (Disney pez, coloring books, small new toy...)
Assess clothing combos & ensure kiddos have enough clothes
Buy snacks for the parks
Buy Camelback water bottles for everyone
Buy Take n Toss cups (or bring your own, but I hate having to do dishes on vacation!)
Ensure E is a lap baby on our plane tickets
Get shot records from Pediatrician for flying

...And so much more! :)