Enjoying an Adult Beverage in the UK at Epcot

We just walked in the door from five days at Walt Disney World! No running this time – just fun with my twin 13 year old’s.

At Hollywood Studios!

Scott and Jack stayed home so this was just a mom and twins trip to get out of the heat! Because even if it’s hot there, too, it’s better to be hot at Disney then hot at home:).We had crazy good weather – always seemed to be heading inside whenever the heat got unbearable or a sudden Florida storm hit. Many times there was a lovely breeze and it was incredibly pleasant to be outside. We’ve now done five trips in the summer and it’s consistently been cooler in Florida than at home in TX!

Yes, I have a “Disney Problem” but  we bought Annual Passes back in March and this was just a great way for us to get the most use out of them. I’ll be back several times this year for races, and we’ll be back as a family in November before heading to Vero Beach for Thanksgiving, so it’s all good, and it’s AMAZING time with my kids. Seriously, nobody can deliver on the promise of a great family vacation like Disney can. IF you plan appropriately and put in some effort before you go. Otherwise? Well, here we go. The subject of today’s post:

1. Don’t do any research before you go
2. Sleep in and get to the parks during the hottest part of the day
3. Stay off-site because it’s way cheaper
4. Don’t make any dining reservations (because after all, how hard could it be to dine with Cinderella? Surely we can just walk in at 6pm and have dinner, right?)
5. Don’t use Fastpass or plan your day at all – just “wing it”
6. Don’t take a break ever  – spend every waking moment in Theme Parks and return to your resort so exhausted you can’t see straight and then repeat step 2
7. Push yourself and your kids even when it’s clear that everyone is exhausted. Because that’s the only way to get your money’s worth.
8. Wait in lines over 20 minutes long (because that’s just the way it has to be, right?)
9. Rush from ride to ride, never stopping to hear a band, smell the roses, notice a fun detail, or chat with a cast member. Because Disney spends tens of millions on those details and we don’t want them to distract us from waiting in line for 45 minutes.
10. Don’t use a Disney travel agent

Yup, follow these 10 steps and I will promise you and your family will never want to return and you will not be at all enticed by all those manipulative Disney commercials that promise “memories that will last a life time”. Oh, and you will also be grumpy towards anyone who suggests that Disney is a magical vacation destination where you can not only spend great time with your family, but re-charge your batteries and come back not exhausted but refreshed and ready to get back into your real life.

I spent hours planning our first trip and didn’t regret a minute of it! You will be spending thousands of dollars and to not plan and just show up is painful for you and painful for me to watch when I run into you when I’m there (although I help when I can as I did this trip with a family that asked for help – I literally wrote their touring plan on a napkin). Here are the websites I use and the ones I recommend you use to get started:

• Mousesavers– Mary has great planning info, discounts, and insights
• All Ears – great pics of all the resorts, menus and prices for all the restaurants and reviews
• Touring Plans– great site but I like Josh’s recommendations better for which park which day. He uses a different matrix (or magic voodoo I’m not sure) and we find he’s usually spot on. But Touring Plans has great daily touring plans as well as an iphone app that we use all the time when we’re there for park hours and show times. Disney’s app “My Disney Experience” has had so many technical difficulties that I can’t recommend it.
• WDW PrepSchool – I honestly just started looking around Shannon’s site and it’s GREAT. Tons of great resources and tips and tricks. Go check it out!

There is more info on those sites than I could possibly go into and why go and re-do what others have done better than I have? I also love the book Mousejunkies because he’s a hilarious writer and it’s just fun reading. And if you have young kids, pick up any great guide-book at your local bookstore with lots of pictures so they can get an idea of what they want to do.

And on the travel agent thing, I’m not one, but I have one and she’s invaluable for helping us get discounts and sitting on hold with Disney for hours so I don’t have to. And she’s free.

I hope that you’ll consider NOT making your Disney World vacation the worst family trip of your life. I hope you’ll plan, consider, make reservations and do your homework. But be forewarned, doing Disney like this . . . .

Enjoying the beach at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

. . means it’s hard to not start planning your next trip the minute you get home! So I guess I’ll see you there!!

Happy Running!

Jen