1st Trip with kids...need your best tips! **UPDATE, page 2**

[lakoda]

DH and I are taking our nephews, ages 7 & 9, for their first trip to WDW. We have been several times ourselves (no kids yet, have been trying for 5 years). We are driving from south Texas and will be staying at Pop from Friday, May 25 - Tuesday, May 29 (Memorial Day weekend).

I have been reading the boards and doing lots of searches! We are following the UG touring plans and will be breaking up most days to go to hotel for swimming and rest.

We could use your best tips for traveling and touring with kids to make sure we have everything covered! Also could use any info for discounts (for example, we found on mousesavers that kids eat free on Tuesdays at Roadhouse Grill )

Thanks for any help! We can't wait to experience the World with kids

 

[zoemurr]

my favorite things:

Buy a $3 fanny pack for each (tie knots in it if it is too big) they can carry their own autograph books, and snacks. Mine had 3-4 snacks that they could eat whenever they wanted so they didn't bug me for expensive food.

Free water at any CS. We did this 8-10x a day.

Remember fast passes can be used long after the time on the paper

If you're on the DDP (or even if you aren't) use your left over snack credits at Goofy's Candy Co in DTD for make your own treats. We had a blast!

Make your own robots in Innoventions East in Epcot. Fun!

I'm sure people have a lot more.. but there's a start

 

[ESN]

Best tip - get up early - and be there for opening

Don't push the kids beyond their limits - take breaks/naps - and accept that you won't be able to do and see everything

Pack snacks to save money on food - we never get the dining plan - not worth it for us - If we eat at the park - my kids will split an entree - or they share what my husband and I get - we are not huge eaters- esp in the heat.

Don't be afraid to split up - one adult with each kid - if the kids want to do different things -

Have fun!

 

[always_learning]

Take an ink pen and write (can be small) your cell phone number on the child's arm under their short sleeve or down under their sock on their ankle. If they get split from you they can go to a CM and show them your cell number. Also point out each day as you walk in the parks what the CM's wear.

My oldest son (9) is very impatient and we carried his small gameboy micro to keep him occupied if we were stuck in a long line somewhere.

For the drive you can rent/borrow books on tape.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

This maybe an unpopular statement but we don't stop and rest in the middle of the day. Takes to much time and travel. So we either went early and come back early. Or go a little later sleep in, then stay for fireworks. You know your nephews but we did this with our 2, 6, and 10 and worked out great.
Kids favorite resturants Chef Mickeys and Liberty Tree

Each child had a bag of goodies when they got in the car to leave for Disney 8 1/2 hr drive. Bag had cd, dvd, mad libs, stickers, pens, paper, snack. Kept them busy and happy on the trip.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

This maybe an unpopular statement but we don't stop and rest in the middle of the day. Takes to much time and travel. So we either went early and come back early. Or go a little later sleep in, then stay for fireworks.

We rarely stop for a break in the middle of the day too. My kids are always too excited to be in the parks and they want to be on the go. We kind of count on things clearing out a bit in the afternoon for all the folks that do head back to the resorts for the pool or naps. If you have have very small kids who may get cranky...well, I guess breaks are what you have to do. My kids stopped wanting the mid day breaks around 6-years-old. We get to the parks for opening so we can maximize the number of rides we get on for the day. We pretty much stay at the park until around dinner, then we head back to the resort to shower and change out of our sweaty clothes, then we hit dinner and then to MK or Epcot to walk around a bit and then watch fireworks.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

We rarely stopped for breaks in the day either. There are lots of places(shaded of course!) that are good to stop and rest. Get them some water and a snack, potty trip and they will be ready to go! I bring trail mixes, or pb and cheese crackers, or stuff like that in my bag for snacks each day. Go to the library and get them some books on cd for the trip, my kids love those, even on short trips. Kid sunglasses with a string! check out walmart or target they have some cute ones.Band-aids and such in case of blisters, maybe some Tylenol, for headaches.For you and the kids!! Label everything that you can.Also, you have to get a pop-up laundry hamper!! Such a relief to have all that dirty laundry in one place. If you don't do laundry there, pack it together in 1 suitcase so all the clean clothes don't have to be washed. Also, clothes pins to hang wet bathing suits in the bathtub.We also bring a hand pump of soap for the sink, and our own body wash, just bring all the hotel ones home as souvies!Makes the Magic last a little longer! Enjoy your trip!

 

[Katy Belle]

What a great Aunt you are! Lucky, lucky boys!

My joke used to be "All kids want to do on vacation is swim in the hotel pool." It really seems to be true. Plan time to swim, schedule it and stick to the schedule. It will eliminate them begging to go swim while you are trying to show them something fabulous in the parks.

Spending money. Figure it all out before. Will you give them $? Will they bring their own? What are their styles? One of my sons NEEDS to spend his $ right away. Once its gone he's fine, maybe a bit disappointed when he realizes something better comes along. My other boys are pretty good at waiting until they see something special. Are you going to be willing to backtrack to go purchase something they saw one day 1? Think about it and talk about it ahead of time. Nothing is more irritating than listening to whining about every little souvenier.

Patience I can tell you are a patient person already! It will take patience!!!!

Have a great and magical trip!
Katy

 

[Hope73]

I think the boys are old enough to not have to go back to hotel and break. We go constantly. I would hope they would tell you if they need a break.

Granola bars, chex mix, goldfish etc for snacks. I think these guys are old enough to bring indiv bags of snacks.

If they wwant a game for line entertainment.

I would skip the autograph books. I found them a pain. If we like a character we take a pic

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

bring extra shoes for each child. We sometimes dress the kids in bathing suits under their clothes (mine are girls so they have to wear clothing over their suits) and then I bring underwear and a small towel in a ziplock bag in our backpack. This way the kids can get wet at the water stuff and be comfortable later.

 

[lakoda]

Wow! You guys are the greatest! These tips are awesome!

I bought them some kids' fanny packs at the dollar tree, I'm not sure if they will want to use them or not but since DH (their favorite uncle) will be using one they might. Great idea to have them carry their own snacks! Since we are driving we will be stocking up on lots of snacks. The night before I can let them pick their own snacks to carry. I don't think they will care for autographs which will make that easier, although we will want pics of them with the characters.

They are bringing their own spending money - I guess we will have to wing it because I'm not sure what they may want to spend $ on. Nathan is 7 and I recently introduced him to the POTC movies (which he now loves!) so I'm sure he will want many things. I would prefer that we wait til the end of the day for purchases - hate to carry a bunch of stuff! I believe that we can have purchases shipped to POP? But I know kids and don't know if they will want to wait for their stuff to be delivered!

Will definitely utilize the free water at CS - we live in south Texas so are familiar with HOT HOT HOT weather!

Hadn't heard about the robots at Innoventions so we will check that out. I discovered Goofy's Candy Co last trip and can't wait to go back their! I got so much stuff on my Mickey rice crispy treat that it took 3 days for me to eat it!

We will be their EARLY for park openings. We are avoiding EMH and following UG advice. I plan on making ID cards to place in their fanny packs, but I like the idea of also writing the cell # on the kids! We are loading up on sunblock, have asked the kids to bring caps. We purchased some POTC sunglasses for Nathan at Academy. He normally wears glasses though, so haven't decided if he should wear them or not. He sees okay without them so we'll decide on park by park basis.

I am very undecided about taking a break - maybe we can plan on definitely taking a break at MK since we want to see Spectromagic and playing it by ear at the other parks? It is such a long day, and with the heat I figured that I will want to shower and change in the late afternoon. I was thinking of leaving MK around 2 or 3 and returning around 6.

I have been working on goody bags for months so hopefully will have those covered. I also read on the Dis boards about taking pencil colors instead of crayons because they can melt. (This is the type of thing I am clueless about since we don't have kids yet.) I also learned about pop up hampers and over the door shoe holders here. I have purchased both. Love the idea about taking hand soap in a pump! Luckily thanks to the budget boards I have a small trial size pump of hand soap that I got free!

DH and I are both patient with kids. I work in a children's hospital (almost 10 years now) and have a masters in child development. All of our nieces and nephews are accustomed to our fairly strict rules and know that we are consistent with them. We have a "no whining" rule which is likely to be strongly tested on vacation! We are both going to try to be very watchful for the kiddos getting tired or overstimulated or thirsty/hungry. My plan is try to keep them constantly fed and hydrated, but I know we will get distracted!

THANK YOU all for the help, we are getting to close to trip time and getting a bit nervous! Also very excited and I know we will have a blast

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

THANK YOU all for the help, we are getting to close to trip time and getting a bit nervous! Also very excited and I know we will have a blast

Hope you all have a fabulous trip! Sounds like you are well prepared!

 

[CampbellScot]

We rent a double stroller for my step daughter and step son, they are 8 and 5. It's great b/c when they get tired, they hop in a take ride. We have a clip on fan that makes it nice and breezy in the *ahem* kid transporter... Both kids have fallen asleep in it and had a little snooze mid afternoon. It's also great b/c I don't have to play "pack mule" like I usually do! A stroller keeps us from having to trek back to our resort in the middle of the day. We are Wilderness lodge people, so from MK it's not a huge ordeal, but any of the other parks it just seems like too much time lost in transit!!

Your nephews are SO lucky to have a wonderful auntie who wants to give them such a wonderful trip! They will remember it their whole lives!!

My auntie Kath took my sister and I to Disneyland when we were small. It imprinted on my soul and made me a Disney freak!!! It was a wonderful trip and one of my most cherished memories!!

hope you have a FANTASTIC trip!!!

ps-do you know how many stories I've heard about people going to disney un-pregnant and arriving home pregnant?! LOTS!!! Disney magic!!

 

[always_learning]

You sound so prepared! We tried to save our shopping until the end of the day so we weren't carrying things around but, quickly found the stores to be FULL. So then I found out we can purchase and have the item sent to our gift shop in our resort. We stayed at ASmovies so I am sure Pop does it as well!

 

[MoeFam]

I also agree with the idea of a stroller if you think they may get tired and need a ride- dont forget something to tie around the handle ( like a piece of fabric or scarf) that makes it SO much easier to spot.

If you think the kids might like pin trading- hit the Prime One Outlets Character Premiere store on International Drive. We recently got Buzz Lightyear laynards with 4 pins for 12.99! They have great T-s etc too...its good to get a few things there and a few in the parks.

Is it their first trip? Stop at City Hall in MK and get them their My First Trip button!

We had mini sized Nike water bottles that had a clip on them- great for when we were in line and then clipped to a waistband or pocket for the ride.

Have a great time- what a fabulous treat for your nephews!

 

[lakoda]

That is so funny about the stroller cause I keep bringing it up to DH and he thinks I'm crazy. So I told him that we will see how it goes. I think it would be helpful....this is the first visit for both boys, so we'll have to see.

We will definitely get the My First Trip buttons - thanks!!

Any idea how long it takes to get packages delivered to the resort?

I'm always an obsessive planner about our trips, but even more so this time around!

I'm so grateful to everyone for all the wonderful tips!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Any idea how long it takes to get packages delivered to the resort?

Usually they tell you that packages from the parks will be delivered by the next afternoon...very rarely will you get your purchases on the same day. That is why they will not deliver for you if you are leaving the same or the next day.

 

[lakoda]

Okay, one last question....we can't decide on what to do Memorial Day Monday. It seems that in general Epcot handles crowds best, but we'll have already gone there. I was originally planning for us to visit a water park and DisneyQuest but others suggested that since it is a holiday that both may be packed with locals.

Any suggestions?

We've also thought of combining either water park or DQ with going to see POTC 3.

 

[MoeFam]

I would do maybe a waterpark in the morning and then the movie in the afternoon. Might be crowded at the waterpark- but if you get there for opening you should still have some fun time before it gets too crowded. We can always spend at least a half day at Downtown Disney as well- the Lego store, World of Disney, Once Upon a Toy- so fun!

 

[3mickeymom]

Take a photo of the boys each day so that (God Forbid) anyone gets seperated from the group, you'll know what they were wearing.People do this too, so that they remember where they parked. With camera phones and small digital cameras, it only takes a second.