Walt Disney World With Kids (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [16]
Strollers. Most Orlando hotels are huge, so if you have an infant or toddler, you’ll need your own stroller just to get around your hotel.
Your iPhone. This can have many in-park uses other than the obvious advantage of relocating each other when someone gets lost. In the MK, you can download a wait-time app, Mobile Magic, that gives you real-time info on the length of lines at key attractions. And one enterprising father from Montreal reported that he used his iPhone every morning to take a picture of the family’s parking spot du jour. “Otherwise,” he said, “by day four we couldn’t have possibly remembered where we’d left the car.”
Helpful Hint
One thing you probably don’t want to bring with you is the family pet. If you do, board it at the kennel on Disney property, which is called Best Friends Pet Care (877/493–9738, www.wdw.bestfriendspetcare.com). They take excellent care of the animals there, with multiple walks per day; and our readers have been impressed with the cleanliness of the facility and professionalism of the staff. Prices vary according to the breed, time of year, and length of stay. Never, repeat, never leave an animal locked in a car, no matter what time of year you’re visiting. The Florida heat and humidity are far too dangerous.
The Frantic Factor
Although I rate rides throughout this book according to their “scare factor,” I’ve often thought that I should include ratings on the “frantic factor” as well, measuring how hysterical the average parent is apt to become in any given situation.
I’m often asked to speak to parent groups on the topic of family travel. Almost inevitably, someone wants tips on how to make a Disney vacation relaxing. These people are very earnest, but they might as well be asking me to recommend a nice ski lodge for their upcoming trip to Hawaii. The only honest response is, “If you want to relax, you’re going to the wrong place.” Disney World is a high-stimulation environment, a total assault on all five senses mixed in with a constant and mind-boggling array of choices. This is not the week to take your kids off Ritalin or discuss marital issues with your spouse. It helps to keep a sense of humor and to go in with a full understanding that, vacation or not, this is unlikely to be the most relaxing week of your life. As one French mother of three sagely points out, “You can sleep later, when Mickey is done with you.”
Actually, high stimulation and a lively pace may be the reason most people go to Disney World in the first place. Families who slip over the line from happily stimulated to unhappily frantic often do so because:
they forget to build in adequate rest breaks
they’ve planned their trips for the busiest times of the year
they’re confused about the logistics of touring
they’re hell-bent on taking it all in because “We’re paying through the nose for this!” and “Who knows when we’ll get back?”
This book is full of tips to help you avoid the first three mistakes, but your attitude is pretty much up to you. Just remember that doing it all is not synonymous with having the most fun, and if time is tight, limit your touring to those attractions that have the most appeal for your particular group. As for when you’ll get back, who knows? But using this as a rationale for pushing everyone in the family past his personal exhaustion limit only guarantees that you’ll never want to come back. The way for parents to really relax at Disney (besides spending time in hotel hot tubs with adjacent bars) is to do a little less, and enjoy it a little more.
One wise-beyond-his-years 14-year-old admits, “I was really obsessive-compulsive about getting everything done, seeing every ride, parade, and show. This led to a couple of breakdowns halfway through the trip, but we pulled it together and the last few days focused more on having fun in the moment than planning what we would do next.”
List of Maps
On-Site Hotels
9 All-Star Movies Resort | 8 All-Star Music Resort | 7 All-Star Sports Resort | 6 Animal Kingdom Lodge and Villas | 15 Art of Animation