Back from our trip with lots of little kids...

[disbyrd]

...and we had a great time! We stayed at Fort Wilderness in our pop up camper with a 4 yo, 3 yo, 19 mo, and 3 mo, and things went way better than I expected. We had a few meltdowns, it would have been weird if we didn't, but overall things went well and my DH kept commenting how well planned out the trip was. I figured I would share a few things that went well for us to help some others out...

1. We bought 2 new double strollers for this trip and I LOVED them for going to Disney. We got Graco Twin Ipo strollers that are double umbrella strollers. They folded and unfolded quick and easy and pretty compact, they even have a little carry handle on the side. I was nervous about doing so many bus/boat rides with jst my DH and I and 4 little ones, 2 strollers and 2 backpacks, but the strollers were so easy to work with we really had no problems. All 4 kids, even the 3 mo, rode in them great, they steered reasonably well and just worked out perfectly. I got a great deal on them from Kohls using 30% off codes, but I think they are normally in the $150 range. If you are thinking of renting I would definitely recommend this stroller if you want your own to take with you.

2. We took 2 backpacks with us every day and hooked them over the handles of the strollers. One was filled with diapers, wipes, other diapering/baby stuff, sunscreen, an extra outfit for every kid (definitely came in handy, we had a couple of small accidents and got pretty wet on Kali River Rapids at AK), rain ponchos (just in case), my hotsling, and a baby blanket. The other had all of our sippy cups and water bottles, a gallon ziploc bag full of snacks, and our lunches each day. I was glad that we had packed lunches each day, but because we had our camper we had that opportunity, it would be tough to do from a hotel room.

3. We were there for 10 days with a 2 day drive each way, so I only packed enough clothes for 1/2 the trip and did laundry in the middle. I also packed each kids outfits in gallon ziploc bags which made getting dressed in the mornings way easier. We were always rushed to make it to park opening, that saved us a few precious minutes each day.

4. We tried to take afternoon breaks, but the park schedules make that hard. We kind of let kids dictate the pace of our days and made sure that nobody got pushed too hard, and we took long lunches at indoor tables to give everyone a chance to relax and cool down (may not be a problem now)and take a "break" even of we didn't leave the park.

5. We used TGM to help plan our trip and that was a lifesaver. I would definitely recommend having a plan when you go into a park. Towards the end of the trip when we were revisiting parks we were much less organized and that made everyone crankier. At least for your first days at the parks I would go in with a pretty good idea of what you want to do and in what order so that you can spend less time standing around looking at a map and criss crossing across the park and more time enjoying rides. And, like every book you will ever read, I will HIGHLY recommend being at a park when it opens.

6. Days off are a must if your trip is more than 3-4 days. You will need the break if you are traveling with young kids at least as much as they will. And even my 4 yo said "enough with the Disney already" around day 4. Everyone just needed a break from the "atmosphere" and some time to lay around and hang out.


I'm sure that I will think of more to add here in the next couple of days. If anyone has any other questions I will try to answer them. I am most certainly not an expert, but I will give you my humle opinion if I can.

[indimom]

I'm not worthy!!!!

[okeydokey]

Kudos to you for handling the trip so well. We sleep 4 in a pop-up and that feels crowded to me. Ft. Wilderness is great though, isn't it.

[MrsAlly]

wow these are some great trips and your amazing for being able to handle 4 under 5 years old!!!