I am so sorry I was MIA all week! I will try to share some videos from our trip to Disney World today when this post goes live! I literally had NO TIME to be on my phone at all!
My mom, sister, and I all went to Disney World last week with my nieces Emmy (2 1/2) and Eile (9 weeks). We have so many great tips and takeaways for those of you planning a trip as well.
Tips for Tackling Disney World with Kids
*These are in no particular order so make sure to read through all of them… and then print this out for you to keep and have for your trip!
1.Stay Cool & Hydrated. OMG it was so hot (when it wasn’t raining.) It was either burning hot or raining basically. You need to stay cool and hydrated as much as you can. How we did this:
-Bring portable fans. Bring one for each child to clip on the stroller and then a couple of handheld devices for yourself. My sister bought two of THESE for the girls. They don’t required batteries so you can just plug them in each night to re-charge. We also brought portable chargers in case any of them went out while we were at the park. The girls wouldn’t have been able to make it all day without these. Now for yourself- buy the fans with the spray bottles. Like these HERE. You will want to have these in line with you.
-Bring cooling towels. We put one of these under the baby at all times to keep her back cool and then we would hang the others around our neck and shoulders when we needed it. Lifesavers.
-Bring tumblers for water. They will give you free water and ice ANYWHERE that they serve drinks. You can walk right up to a kiosk and ask for more water and they will refill your cup. Water bottles are $3 a piece and don’t stay cold for long, so much sure to bring your own insulated tumblers. We also brought Crystal Light and Gatorade powder packets to put in the water to add some flavor. I brought three of my Lolë tumblers and completely believe they are some of the best in the world. We put ice in them int he morning and the ice was still in them at the end of the day. Insane.
-Wear clothes that will keep you cool. I wouldn’t even bother trying to look cute while you are at Disney. It pours at any given moment and when it isn’t raining you are a hot sweaty mess. If you do buy matching tee shirts or anything like that, keep them white. I wore a green top one day that was rather light in material and learned my lesson!
2.Don’t forget to pack sunscreen for everyone! You will need to re-apply a few times each day. We just bought some lotion sunscreen since my sister is adamant about not using spray sunscreen (bad for you and bad for environment!) Make sure to use something that doesn’t make you feel greasy all day. We just picked some up at the gas station in Orlando and my sister bought the kids sunscreen from home. My sister recommends putting the sunscreen on before you even leave the hotel!
3.Wear comfortable shoes. My mom found these gems at Walmart for $8! Bring a few pairs. I would say they will last you 2 days so buy as many pairs that you need for the amount of days you will be at the park. They are foam sandals and so insanely comfortable (until day three when they just become flat!) They are suuuuuuper light so they won’t take up any weight in your suitcase and they will keep your feet nice and cool (make sure to put sunscreen on your feet!) Oh and you can get them as wet as you want and they dry instantly!! Tennis shoes are just too hot on your feet and miserable when you get them wet. My sister put Emmy in THESE water shoes every day. They were also light and she could run around in the easily and splash in all the puddles.
4.Prepare for rain. It rains every single day in Orlando in the summer. You don’t want it to ruin your day by not being prepared. Bring ponchos. Disney World actually sells cute Disney ponchos for $10. If you rip them you can just bring it into any store and they will replace it for free! If you want to look different than everyone else in order to find your party easier, just buy some colored ponchos at Target or Walmart. Make sure to also bring one for each kid. Rain jackets are just too warm and heavy for them (especially if they are in their stroller with a stroller rain cover. It gets sooo hot in there!) Don’t forget rain covers for your strollers. Look online to find one that specifically is made for the stroller you have. You will leave your stroller outside for every ride and it can rain at any moment. You won’t want to come back and have everything soaked! You also want to have something clear so that you can walk around in the rain and the kids can still see. Lastly, bring clear sealed bags (vacuum storage bags) you can put all of your belongings in when it rains. We had bags big enough to fit our backpacks and diaper bags in.
5. Bring an extra change of clothes for each kid. You just never know!
6. Bring a carrier for the baby. You will need this for when you are waiting in line. Oh and of course a feeding cover! Adria had to stop and feed the baby every 2 1/2 hours!
7. *This depends on the child’s age. Emmy will be 3 in September and the rides were fun and all but she mostly remembers the shows, parades, fireworks, and characters. If you asked her what her favorite thing was about Disney World it would be meeting Mickey Mouse and giving him hugs and kisses. Just remember this when booking your fast passes as some of the wait times for the character meet and greets can get a little crazy.
8.RIDER SWAPS. We didn’t know about this until the very last day! Basically, if you want to bring one kid on a ride but the other kid isn’t tall enough you can ask for a rider swap when you get to the front of the line. They will give you A FAST PASS FOR THREE PEOPLE that you can then use on that same ride any time for the rest of the day. That means you can ride the ride again or you can swap with someone else in your party and they can go on the ride later. We did this for the SOARIN’ ride because Emmy and Eile weren’t tall enough but all three adults wanted to ride it. Adria and I went through and asked for a riders swap and then my mom and I used the swap a couple hours later so that she could go on the ride as well without having to get in the back of the line! Amazing!
9.Buy the Magic Bands. If you stay on campus you will get these bands for free, but if you stay off campus like we did you will only get a card. The bands are $12.99 and they were so easy to use and keep track of since they stay on your wrist. You can buy them at will call when you get to the park. Kids over 3 will need one as well. You will use them to get into the parks, for your fast passes, and you can link your credit card to them and make all of your purchases on them!
10. Pack Lunch/Snacks. We saved so much money by bringing our own sandwiches every day and packing lots of snacks for us and for Emmy!
11. Download the DisneyWorld app asap and book your fastpasses now. You get to book three ahead of time. You have to use all three before you can book any more that day (so try to book them all in the morning and then you can book three more while you are at the park after you have used the first three!) They fill up fast so book the rides you want to go on as soon as you can.
12. You have to take a trolly from the parking lot to and back from the park each day. Just be prepared to have to break everything down (including the strollers) to get everything on. Make sure to have everything in bags so that you can break it all down easier.
13. You need to gave 1.5 people for every 1 child haha. So if you have 2 kids bring a third adult (your mom would be a good one!) You will need as many hands as you can get or you will exhaust yourself and won’t be able to do as much as you would like. Adria and I both agreed we would not have been able to do it without our mom!
14. My sis recommends bringing a light jacket. If it rains it can get pretty cool inside and she wishes she had something light to throw on for the rides.
I think that’s it! If I remember something I will add it, but if YOU can think of something please leave a comment below for other people to see! I am sure everyone would really appreciate it!
CLOTHING:
Yall, my sister bought the CUTESTTTTTTT matching sets for the girls every day from Cam and Clover on Etsy. She takes adult clothes and makes them into bubbles, rompers, dresses, etc. SOOOOOO STINKING CUTE!!!
The adults got their disney clothes from Amazon. We especially liked the Disney Junior options. They aren’t in junior sizing though so don’t get that confused!
My sister also bought tons of nursing tanks from Amazon so she could easily feed the baby wherever she was!
I wore a romper the first day from SHOPBOP and the other days I wore my disney tees and running shorts. The running shorts were key because they were comfortable and dried to fast.
Hope this helped! Again, make sure to leave a comment to add anything additional!
xox Amanda
Comments
Hi Amanda, I just want to say thank you so much for this post. I am not going to Disney World, but I am from Indianapolis and this post came out the week before the Indianapolis 500 which we went to. I knew it was supposed to be super hot that day and after reading this, I decided to order 2 of the fans and I am not kidding when I tell you that they totally saved us. It was in the 90’s and we were just sitting still with the sun beating down on us. I love the Indy 500, but it was MISERABLE. I should have ordered the cooling towels too, but at least we had the fans. Again, thank you so much! On another note, I think you mentioned in another post that you are worried about motion sickness because you can’t use any medication. I recently tried sea bands while traveling in the car and they really helped. I was able to read for a little while in the car and I’ve never been able to do that before without getting sick.
So glad it helped! Yes Sea Bands have definitely helped me as well! They were a miracle worker in my first trimester!
xox Amanda
Thank you for this post!!! I’m still trying to convince my husband to take our daughter there for her Birthday. She’ll be turning 2 and he doesn’t think she’s old enough to enjoy it. How did your niece like it? Would you recommend waiting until they’re older
Love this post!!! I’m still trying to convince my husband to take or daughter to Disney for her Birhday this September. She’ll be turning 2 and he doesn’t think she’s old enough to enjoy it. How did your niece like it? Would you recommend taking them when they’re older?
Emma,
I would wait until she is about to turn 3. 2 is probably too young (too much stimulation!) Plus if you take her right before she turns 3 she can still get in free. These are memories you will want her to hold onto forever. She won’t remember much at all at the age of 2 :/. xox Amanda
Hi! I don’t have kids but this is still sooo helpful! I passed the link along to my sister-in-law as she is planning on going in September and she has 2 girls (3 and 2), I know she will definitely be able to get lots of help from your post. Thanks so much!!
Love this post! The my experience app allows you to order food from a quick service restaurant and pick it up at the window and skip waiting in line. It’s an awesome new feature. Also paying for premier parking with strollers makes it easier to unload at the car and walk to the monorail or boat.