Apr 24 2014

Disney World Tips & Tricks – Best Disney World Rides For Babies And Toddlers

Traveling to Disney World with a baby or toddler can be such a rewarding experience. Some of my best Disney World memories are watching my boys enjoy the amazing Disney attractions for the first time. With well over 100 rides and attractions spread among four theme parks, it might be hard to know what is appropriate for young children or what might be too much. Here are my recommendations for best Disney World rides and attractions for babies and toddlers divided into three categories: Fun For All – these rides are universally liked by small children, Great For Most – these rides will work for most kids in the age group and Proceed with Caution – a lot of these rides will be fine depending on the temperament of your child.

Magic Kingdom

Fun For All

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Country Bear Jamboree
Enchanted Tales with Belle
it’s a Small World
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Walt Disney World Railroad

Great For Most

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (goes up and down under your control)
Jungle Cruise (fake use of a gun by boat driver and one dark tunnel)
Mad Tea Party (spins a lot!)
Mickey’s Philharmagic (loud at times and water sprinkles on you a little once)
Peter Pan’s Flight (dark in spots and there is a scene with the crocodile about to eat Hook)
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin (goes up and down and tilts under your control, may get a little wet from a spitting camel)
Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover (dark in spots – often a favorite ride for kids to nap)
Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid (large Ursula audio-animatronic)
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress (this is a 21 minute show in a rotating theatre – nothing scary and has a cute audio-animatronic dog)
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room (show includes a simulated thunderstorm)

Proceed With Caution

Pirates of the Caribbean (dark most of the ride, one small drop, lots of pirates and skeletons)
Haunted Mansion (dark most of the ride, images of ghosts, caskets and a graveyard)

For both of these Proceed With Caution attractions, my boys were fine as babies. Later, they went through a short phase of being scared of the dark and images in these rides.

Epcot

Fun For All

Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros
Turtle Talk With Crush

Great For Most

Journey Into Imagination with Figment (big blast of air in one place and a loud noise in another spot)
Living with The Land (simulated thunderstorm in one section)
Spaceship Earth (dark in spots)
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (dark in spots and audio-animatronic sharks)

Proceed With Caution

Ellen’s Energy Adventure (dark in spots, large audio-animatronic dinosaurs, loud noise associated with “The Big Bang”, 35 minutes long)

Hollywood Studios

Fun For All

Disney Junior – Live on Stage!
Toy Story Mania

Great For Most

Muppet Vision 3D (a little water sprinkles on you once)
Voyage of the Little Mermaid (large Ursula character)

Proceed With Caution

Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage (some kids may be scared by the Beast character or the story itself)

Animal Kingdom

Fun For All

Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo – The Musical (does begin with the death of Nemo’s mother just like the movie)
Kilimanjaro Safaris

Great For Most

TriceraTop Spin (moves up and down under your control)

Proceed With Caution

It’s Tough to be a Bug! (dark, lots of bugs, loud noises, simulates bug touching you, a little water sprinkles on you – really just for true bug lovers, I’ve seen many kids completely terrified and screaming during this attraction)

For a complete list of all of the Disney World attractions and their descriptions, please check out these links for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

What about you? Do you have any favorite rides for babies and toddlers? Please leave a comment!

Apr 11 2014

Friday Favorites – Best Disney World Character Meals

For today’s Friday Favorites, I’m going to share with you my picks for best Disney World character meals. Personally, I love character meals! Even though they are more expensive than a regular table service meal, they are such a fun experience and are well worth the additional cost in my opinion. What I love most about them is that you get great one-on-one interaction with the characters while you are enjoying your meal. You can take photos, get autographs and have a little quality time with your favorites. I feel like the time spent with the characters in this setting is so much more special and personal than at the character greeting spots. And this way you don’t have to spend additional time during your day waiting in line or using one of your Fastpass+ reservations to see the characters. So here are my choices for best Disney World character meals!

Cinderella’s Royal Table If you have someone in your group that likes princesses, this is the place to go! You will be treated to an elegant meal inside Cinderella’s castle in the Magic Kingdom. You will begin by getting your photo taken with Cinderella herself (this is included in the price of your meal and will be brought to you at your table) and then you are off to the dining room. Throughout your meal various princesses will visit you at your table for photos and autographs. This is a plated meal that you can choose from a small menu. The food itself is usually rated as average, but this meal is really about the experience of dining in the castle. They can even arrange a special celebration for your own “princess” for a birthday or engagement! A reservation here is difficult to come by and needs to be booked as soon as your 180 day window opens up.
Crystal Palace This location serves a buffet style breakfast, lunch or dinner and is located in the Magic Kingdom. The restaurant itself is a beautiful combination of greenery, white woodwork and glass. It makes you feel like you are dining in an elegant greenhouse. Here you will get the pleasure of visiting with Winnie the Pooh and some of his friends (usually Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore). They will come by your table for photos and autographs and about once an hour everyone can participate with the characters in a Friendship Parade around the restaurant. The food here is traditional American fare and there is even a kid’s buffet. To make a visit here more special, book a reservation as early as possible in the morning. You will be allowed into the Magic Kingdom before it opens and you can get some amazing pictures on Main Street and of Cinderella’s Castle with no crowds. Also, if you are finished eating early enough, you will be one of the first ones to the attractions as soon as they open.
Chef Mickey’s Located at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, this is one of the most popular character meals in all of Disney World. This restaurant serves up a buffet style breakfast or dinner filled with American cuisine. As with most of the character meals, the food is tasty and plentiful, but it is much more about the experience. The location offers beautiful views of Bay Lake and the exciting sight of the monorail speeding along just above you! Here you will get to hang out with the Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy) when they come by your table for photos and autographs. Every so often the song “Celebrate with Mickey Mouse” starts playing and the entire restaurant erupts in celebration complete with napkin twirling and dancing! This place is loud and full of excitement. Definitely book this reservation at 180 days out!
Garden Grill This restaurant is located in the Land Pavilion in Future World at Epcot. Not only is this a character meal featuring Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale, it is also served up in a rotating restaurant! That’s right…this place spins while you are eating offering magnificent views of the Living with the Land ride. I love that attraction, so that makes this restaurant even more special to me. The meal here is all-you-can-eat served family style right at your table. This choice was especially attractive to me when my kids were really small, because it was so nice to have everything come to me, characters and food included! It was so much more relaxing, because I didn’t have to juggle two little ones through buffet lines with plates, cameras and autograph books all at once. The menu here is simple with rolls, salad, beef, turkey, fish, veggies and cobbler for dessert. Be sure to request a booth for the best views of Living with the Land and put your kids on the ends so that they will have easy access to the characters as they come by.
‘Ohana Located at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, this restaurant offers a unique dining and character experience. ‘Ohana meaning family is a great place to bring your whole gang to hang out with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. The atmosphere here has a Polynesian flare while offering spectacular views of the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom. The characters come by your table for photos and autographs and about every 45 minutes there is a fun-filled parade to join in. The food here is yummy and served all-you-can-eat family style right to your table. While this restaurant serves both breakfast and dinner, the characters are only present at breakfast time. The food includes breakfast breads, fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, biscuits and Mickey waffles. Being a huge fan of Hawaii, I love this place!

There you have it…my picks for best Disney World character meals! Be sure to click on the restaurant name to be taken to each place’s official website for more information and to make reservations. I hope you enjoy your meal and time with the characters as much as my family!

What about you? Do you have a favorite character meal? Please leave a comment!

Apr 10 2014

Disney World Tips & Tricks – Visiting Disney World With Babies And Toddlers

Taking a baby or toddler on a family outing like the zoo can be very challenging and rewarding at the same time, but taking them to Disney World is a fun family excursion on a grand scale! It is so amazing watching their little faces light up when they experience the magic of Disney World for the first time. But the face that is all smiles one minute can quickly turn to tears and tantrums even at the “happiest place on earth.” I have been taking my boys to Disney World since my oldest son was three years old and my youngest son was just six months old. Here are some of the tips and tricks that I have learned along the way!

Disney World is a huge place so when you are planning your trip, keep your expectations realistic. Don’t expect that you and your kids can do 15 attractions in a single day or everything in one trip. This will only lead to stress and frustration. Do your research and choose the top things your family wants to see, then try to visit about 6 attractions per day. If you see more great and if you don’t, you and your family won’t be disappointed.
Start small with attractions and work your way up. I have a friend who took her young daughter on Pirates of the Caribbean and she ended up being scared to death of the skeletons, pirates and dark. After that, her little girl didn’t want to ride anything inside a building for the rest of the trip! Think about your child’s temperament and check out ride ratings to pick out attractions that you think your kids would enjoy. A great one to start with is It’s a Small World.
If you have your baby or toddler on a schedule at home, try to keep to it as much as possible on vacation. No one can enjoy themselves if you have a little one that is cranky, because they are tired or hungry. You may have to make some minor adjustments to the schedule depending on your kids. Even though my boys would nap at home, they were way too excited to go back to the hotel room and take a nap in the afternoon. So we changed things up a little bit. We would get to the parks as soon as they opened and stay until about 3:30pm. Then we would leave, have an early dinner, give them their baths and have them in bed by 7pm. They just made up for missing naps by having extra sleep at night.
If you have a child under one, bring your own stroller. The Disney World strollers are made of hard plastic and only have a lap belt (no 5-point harness) that is easily unhooked by a child. If you have more than one adult in your party to help you push, consider bringing or renting individual strollers for each of your kids. The rentable double strollers are not that large and are pretty close quarters to expect two tired kids to share without fighting. We often rented a single stroller for one of my sons and then a double stroller for my other son and all of our stuff like jackets and backpack. This was really helpful! Also, it rains a lot in Florida, so be sure to bring a stroller rain cover or purchase a large rain poncho to put over it. You don’t want your little one to have to sit in a soggy stroller all day. Lastly about strollers, don’t leave snacks open and out on your stroller tray. Those Disney squirrels and birds are very resourceful!
Bring your own kid-friendly snacks to the parks. While Disney World has what seems to be endless dining options, sometimes there just isn’t a quick, convenient kid’s snack available. It was so much easier having five or six non-perishable snacks (goldfish crackers, Cheerios, etc.) in little baggies that I could grab and have them munch on while waiting in line.
Bring a backpack to the park with everything you would need for an entire day. Be sure to pack extra diapers, wipes, bottles, snacks, clothes and empty gallon size zip lock bags. You just never know what will happen. On more than one occasion my boys have gotten sick at Disney World and I’ve needed those zip lock bags, that change of clothes and lots of extra wipes. I always put a luggage tag on my backpack and made sure I never put anything of value in it; just kid’s supplies. That way I felt comfortable leaving it in my stroller and if something happened to it, it wasn’t the end of the world. In all of the years I’ve been visiting there, I have never had anything taken from my stroller.
There are Baby Care Centers in each of the four theme parks. While you can feed your baby anywhere and change them in any restroom, these specially designed centers are very nice and there is no charge to use them. They include a place for nursing moms, changing tables, high chairs, a place to prep food and they have baby items available for purchase. Click here for more details.
If your toddler has started potty training, remember that most of the toilets in the parks have automatic flushers. My kids hated those, so you can bring post-it notes with you and just cover the sensor while they are going, that way the toilet doesn’t flush on them and scare them.
Wearing your baby in a front carrier at the parks is a great way for them to have a wonderful view of everything and for you to have your hands free to help your other little ones or to carry things.
Consider renting a car instead of using Disney transportation. The plus side to having your own car is that you are on your own schedule, you don’t have to wait in line for transportation, there is no pressure to get your stroller folded up and onto the crowded bus, you can stop at a store for baby supplies and your kids might nap a little on the car rides. The downside, you will need to bring and install car seats. We did this for years and always felt like it was worth it in the long run.
If you have a toddler that no longer sleeps in a portable crib, be sure to request bedrails from housekeeping for your hotel room bed.
Bring simple childproofing stuff with you for your hotel room. I have always brought outlet covers with me, but then on one trip my youngest son locked the hotel bathroom door and pulled it closed with no one inside while the tub was filling! After an urgent call to maintenance, we found out that the stirrer in the coffee packet supplied with the maker can work as the emergency bathroom key. But to avoid that problem in the future, I always bring one of those foam things that keeps the door from being closed.
Bring a nightlight to use in your hotel room. With the room darkening curtains, the rooms can get very dark.
If your child has a treasured stuffed animal that they want to bring on the trip, consider buying a new one that is similar to it, but that is smaller in size. My boys both love Snoopy and have pretty good-sized ones that they always wanted to bring with us. I was able to find mini Snoopys that I purchased and gave them to take on trips. “Travel Snoopy” went on lots of vacations and we knew if he got lost, it wouldn’t be as devastating as losing the beloved big Snoopy that we left at home.

I hope these tips and tricks for visiting Disney World with a baby or toddler help you to have a magical and less stressful vacation with your family!

How about you? Have you visited Disney World with a baby or toddler? Do you have any helpful hints? Please leave a comment!

Mar 12 2014

Disney World Tips & Tricks – Occupying Kids While Waiting In Line

One thing that is for certain about your time in Disney World; you will spend a fair amount of it waiting in lines. If you visit during a busy time of year, you will wait in line for everything…check in, check out, transportation, getting in the park, getting out of the park, bathrooms, meals, shows, characters, parades, fireworks and of course, rides! If you are a parent like me, you may be stressing out at the thought of having to wait in line with your (wild) kids. How much whining will there be? Or complaining? And what about your kids, how will they handle it?! Here are some tips and tricks that I have used throughout the years with my boys!

Managing Expectations Before you even leave for Disney World, sit down with your kids and explain to them that in Disney World, they will be waiting in line, but it will be worth it to get to see lots of amazing things. Reinforce this conversation at home, when you are waiting in line to buy a new toy, to see a movie or to play laser tag. Remind them that this is what it will be like on your trip. That way when you arrive, they won’t get an unpleasant surprise when they have to wait in line.
Planning Your Day One of the best tips is to plan your day so that you can avoid the longest lines if possible. Get to the park at least 15 minutes before rope drop to make sure you are one of the first families in the park. Head straight for the most popular and slowest loading rides first (like Dumbo the Flying Elephant). Save your Fastpass+ reservations, the larger capacity rides (like the Walt Disney World Railroad) and shows for the busiest afternoon hours. By doing this you are already ahead of the game and hopefully won’t find yourself in a line more than about 30 minutes even during the busiest times of year.
Make Sure They Are Prepared Before you get in a long line with your kids, make sure they are ready. It is especially tough waiting with a child that is hungry or desperate for a bathroom!
Interactive Queues Disney must have heard pleas of parents, because they are helping us out by redesigning some of their queues to make them interactive. Dumbo the Flying Elephant has an entire play area that you wait in and you will have a pager that goes off when it’s your turn to ride. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh has lots of fun things for kids to touch and play with while they wait. The Haunted Mansion has an elaborate interactive cemetery to walk through to pass the time while you and your kids wait. There are several queues like this scattered throughout all four parks.
Food This one is my boys’ favorite! Pick up a snack and spend the time while waiting in line sharing it. My kids have even eaten their breakfast (granola bar, banana, juice box) while waiting in line for the park to open. This can be both a time saver as well as a way to keep them busy.
Electronics Some people might frown on this. You are on vacation after all, isn’t this supposed to be family time? But after several hours in a hot, crowded theme park, some times kids just need a few minutes to zone out on their own thing. Now I like to travel light while I’m in the parks so I don’t carry anything large like an iPad or a Nintendo DS, but a few apps on my phone works perfectly.
Games Another great way to pass the time while you are waiting is to play a game. They can be simple like who can name the most rides or most Disney characters, who can stand on one foot the longest, or who can be quiet the longest (love this one!). Or they can be more complex like Disney trivia questions or finding hidden Mickeys.
Rewards (aka bribery!) When my kids were younger, I would carry tiny stickers with me and when I “caught” them being good in line, I would give them a sticker. At the end of each day, they could trade their stickers in for money towards souvenirs. You can set the value of the stickers to whatever you like. I usually paid $1 per sticker.

Hopefully using a few of these tips and tricks will help keep your kids occupied and happy while waiting in line! They sure worked for me and my boys!

What about you? Do you have any great tips and tricks for keeping your kids occupied while waiting in line? If so, please share them in the comments section!