Anyone do Disney’s Family Magic Tour

[ksoehrlein]

As serious MK veterans, I want to do something to make this trip w/o Daddy extra special for me AND the kids -- yet still manageable budget-wise and logistic-wise. In that regard, what do you think about this tour?

I know my 4-year-old DD will LOVE it, but what about 16-month-old DS? How many families are usually grouped together for this tour? Will they accomodate "potty emergencies" or will everyone just silently glare at me for taking such young children? Will bringing along my huge double jogging stroller be cause for concern?

I know this is not a babysitting service or anything remotely like that, but for our day at MK, I thought some extra adult company might help tremendously. Just to have someone in our group take a photo or two of me with the kids is all I ask. Some extra attention for DD so I'm not the only one keeping up with the running commentary that passes for 4-year-old "conversation" would also be nice. Are those in the Tour Guide's job description, or will they look at me like I have 3 heads for even asking?

I plan to call them tomorrow morning, but I'd like to hear from some of you with actual experience. There's no guarantee that the CM I speak with on the phone has ever done one of these tours, so I thought I'd ask you experts first. Thanks in advance!

 

[BevS97]

I don't know the answer to the questions, but we are planning on doing the tour in December with our 6 year old and a 14 month old. I am not expecting the 14 month old to get anything out of the tour, but I don't think she will be unhappy either.
We aren't going to take a stroller, I think the older kids need to walk, and crawl, and hop and skip etc, and for the baby I will be using a sling so that we can all participate more fully.

there's loads of info, and some reviews here

http://allearsnet.com/btp/tours.htm#fmt

which might help you make a decision

 

[mareed]

We did this tour last December with our DS's ages 4 & 7. I believe there were about 20 people in our group (probably 5-6 families). We took our stroller for our 4 year old and I think we were the only person in the group with one, and it wasn't really convenient to have it along. The kids are actively participating in the tour, looking at the map, and doing different activities like hopping, skipping, etc, and my 4 year old didn't ride in the stroller. I sort of got left behind bringing up the rear of our group with the stroller and my DH was up with the kids most of the time. I don't think it would work well with you alone with children 16 months and 4 years unless you could carry the 16 month old in order to be up where the 4 year old was. If the 16 month old is in the stroller, and your 4 year old wants to stay next to you and the stroller, they won't really be able to participate fully. And even if your 4 year old was OK with participating without you being right next to her, you'd miss the fun of seeing her enjoy it.

We had one bathroom break and a chance to get a quick drink or snack, but other than that there really wasn't a chance to stop without being left behind. I also don't think the tour would present good opportunities for someone to take a picture of you with your children except for at the end when you meet the character. The tour guide would be talking to the 4 year old as that is the main thing they did with the tour. There were different "steps" to following a mystery and the guide worked with the kids at each step to figure out the clue and get to the next step. The guide made sure to alternate through all the children in the group so that everyone got a chance to sort of lead things.

 

[Oh Kay!]

We did the tour this past May with DS's 3 and 5. We brought along an umbrella stroller for DS3, but DH was responsible for the stroller duty and he had a hard time keeping up. The tour will be hard to pull off by yourself; it runs on a very tight schedule. You might want to postone the tour for the next time when your DH or another adult can join you.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Thanks for your help. Sounds like the stroller is out of the question. From the tour reports I've read, it sounds like the tour usually ends up in Liberty Square. I might just park the stroller there first thing in the morning before we catch up with the tour group near City Hall. I think we will do this on our third day, when DS will want a break from the stroller anyway.

Thanks for the warning about the quick pace. I should do well even if I am carrying my son -- DH calls me the "Disney Nazi" because of the breakneck pace I usually insist on. I just call my powerwalking style my "Park Walk," which I think is much, much nicer.

Would a toddler harness work for the hopping, skipping, jumping parts or should I just plan on carrying him the whole time? (I'm going to come back from this trip "pumped up" from all the "weight lifting"!) We don't have a harness, but I am open to getting one for this trip -- even though I used to be one of those childless people who considered them cruel. What the heck did I know!

BevS97, what kind of sling do you use? I tried to use one with DD years ago when she was an infant, but I was too short and/or she was too tall for it to work right. DH was too tall, so he couldn't use it either. (Don't know why someone looked at my mismatched family and decided to buy us a Medium-sized sling!) We had a Snugli, but I have given that to an expectant mom friend. Oh well, the weight distribution on the Snugli isn't the best for a toddler anyway and I'm sure my back would hate me for it.

 

[BevS97]

I would use reins (harness) - they are great for toddlers- it would let him participate without getting in the way.

Look here for slings

http://store.yahoo.com/peppermintcom/baby-slings-by-name.html

I have an ERGO

http://store.yahoo.com/eu-peppermint/ergo-baby-carrier.html

I use it on the front, and my DH likes it as a back carrier - it's very comfortable. (I can only see it on the EU side of peppermint which is strange as you only used to be able to get it frm the US side)


I also have a pouch sling similiar to a maya wrap - this is really easy to use - it's not the most comfortable for long walks, but for picking up / putting down frequently it's brilliant.

MayaWraps are quite pricey, so mine is a different brand that was made by a work at home mum in the UK