1. My biggest mistake would be changing laundry detergents from our regular one. My youngest child broke out in a horrible rash mid trip after doing laundry with Tide pods. I got them for the convenience but stick with what you know. This leads to mistake 2.
2. Not bringing all possible medication needed. I needed Benadryl and didn’t have it.
3. Booking meals off the characters available and cost trying to get a good deal for the dining plan. I have 1 extremely fussy eater, 1 okay eater and 1 that will try anything. First trip with lunches and dinners they hardly ate the food. Last trip I did all most all pre-park opening breakfast reservations and they ate a huge meal! Another PLUS side was being on the first ride of SOARIN and near front of the line for FROZEN… (2 separate days)
4. Not eating enough snacks on the meal plan where we had lots left over. Our new goal is to get snacks anytime the kids want them. We do split every thing and this way we don’t have to shop for so many snacks at the end (and bring home 20 bags of candy and trail mix!)
5. One trip we tried to do parks every day. Big mistake! My family got super tired and cranky in the September heat. I might be like a drill Sergeant doing early mornings and late evenings. We did take a break during mid day, but more sleeping in or early to beds would have helped greatly.
6. The need to all stay together. Split up if needed and let some go back to the room if they want a break. We did this towards the end. I stayed in AK with my girls while my husband and son went back to our resort. Using Disney transportation, it is very simple to split and meet back up.
7. Not planning for afternoon showers. We went into Be Out Guest for lunch with all blue skies. We came out to a huge thunder and lightning storm. Our stroller was soaked. Plan for afternoon showers and something to cover your stroller.
8. Keep track of your phone… Oops.. I lost mine in Epcot. I was alone with 3 kids and now no communication and not able to use all the wonderful apps for Disney on my phone! Thankfully I realized it quickly and was able to backtrack and find it near Finding Nemo. Don’t put things in shallow pockets or just set small things beside you on rides as your app to get up and leave them behind.
Some things I did right.
1. Have a plan but be able to adjust when things go wrong. Things will go wrong and how you deal with it is a huge thing. Roll with the hiccups- like rides being shut down, your magic bands not working to pay for your meal requiring a stop at customer service and then getting stuck on the monorail for an extra long time when you are suppose to be dining at 1900 Park Fare and made us 1/2 hour late (talk about ugh!) Take a deep breath and roll with bumps. Speak up if needed. Disney has always been great to us, helping make things right even when it wasn’t their fault.
2. Slow down and enjoy the small things like cast members with music or bubbles. Take a moment to just dance with the kids and let loose. These are great memories that happened for us in Blizzard Beach, but magical moments happen all over. There was also a security officer at MK who joked with my son a few different times on our way into MK. The security officer actually remembered my son and how he fell for the same joke each time!!
3. Have fun with the characters. This last trip we asked characters to do silly photos with us. They seemed to get right into it and my kids enjoyed doing something more than pose and smile (normally I never get all 3 to smile at the same time anyways).
4. Ask for Magic Shots from the Disney Photopass photographers. We have had Lumiere, Sebastian, Tinkerbell, Olaf, Monsters, Pascal, butterflies, balloons and more appear in our photos.
5. Don’t be afraid to take your kids alone if your spouse/partner/friend can’t come or they aren’t a Disney fanatic like you. I took my 3 kids 9,7, & 5 last September alone!! It was amazing!! While he was missed, it was a different dynamic and we had blast. I am actually planning our next trip just the 3 kids and I again and cannot wait!!!
(Thanks, Kristin L!)
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