Parenting tips for a good trip?

[mikymouse]

 

[MomofCKJ]

This is a great thread!

We are going in December, first time for the kids, they have no idea. So we talk about "someday when we go to Disney" all the time. It is the little guy I most worry about. He is almost 4, need I say more? Anyway when he acts up in a store or restaurant I will whisper to him "That is not Disney behaviour is it" and he immediately whips into shape "No Mom but I can do Disney behaviour". I have talked to him about how you can't whine or scream or cry at Disney, especially in the restaurants. If we keep talking about this for the next 6 months I am hoping we'll be okay!

I am going with a plan to rest in the afternoons, have a souvenir plan layed out in advance with giving them a set amount to spend as they wish but that is it and a flexible attitude!

Allyson

 

[sunshine2blue]

But what do you do with teenagers that think anything involving being with their parents is so boring and embarrassing!! DS is well behaved but can be a bit on the mouthy side.

 

[DVCLiz]

Our family rule, made on the spot after we witnessed it once too often, is "There's no crying at Disney World." Even when the girls were smaller, they would watch someone go off and whisper to me or to each other, "Remember, there's no crying at Disney World!" I think being aware of their limits and making time for rest and the pool are biggies, too.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I love this thread! I'm not a parent yet, but I'm always taking notice of things I see at WDW and thinking either "Ooh, that's a great idea!" or "I hope I don't do that when I have kids!"

I think the single best thing I've seen/heard there was a grandpa sitting with his grandson on the bus on the way to the parks, and he leaned over and said "I am so excited about getting to spend this day with you!" I thought it was really touching, and summed up a lot about what is important about family vacations!

One thing I've learned from my huge family of nieces and nephews is that sometimes with very young kids, you can be sitting in the middle of Fantasyland with Mickey and Minnie just across the way, and rides with no lines, but the child would honestly rather sit there and play with the box their juice came in. Sometimes just stopping to watch the ducks in the pond is a much bigger thrill for them than riding Dumbo!

 

[Skroops]

Kindness is the best parenting tip I can think of!

Everyone makes parenting decisions and sometimes others give glares when they don't know you or know the situation. As the parent of a toddler, I sometimes let things slide (I pick my battles) and I'll let the kiddo reign (in a safe way, of course). When I put my foot down, occasionally we'll have a tantrum. This happens at home too. What hurts me, (and I know I shouldn't let it get to me) is when I get glares from other WDW guests because of the behavior of my toddler.

Sometimes I get the guest who gives me a knowing smile. That silly little gesture totally makes my day when I am trying to control a tantrum.

Of course we try to maintain the regular schedule, eat well, take afternoon naps and keep hydrated. There are just times when the unpredictable occurs.
Kindness from other guests is just the best feeling in the world.

 

[BuzzPrincessMom]

I LOVED the marble idea...we do something similar but you pull it together nicely. I copied from the thread and put it in a document to work on it later.

 

[Kath2003]

Our family rules are very simple:

1. What Mum & Dad say goes. NO questions (actually, this isn't vacation specific...)
2. If you want to buy anything, it must be done with your own money, saved prior to the trip. This includes ice creams and drinks unless everyone's getting them as a treat.
3. Three warnings. On the third warning, Dad sits outside the park with you for half an hour. If this happens more than once, you go back to the hotel room/villa room with Dad whilst the rest of the family stay in the parks.

Worked OK for us: my sister sat outside the park once for half an hour and never again. We've had so many brilliant trips!

Oh: our last trip we were aged 20, 18 and 15. These rules still applied. My Dad would happily have dragged any of us back to the villa if we'd broken any of the above rules.

 

[snickerboo]

My most important parenting tip is this:

Remember that they can't help it. It's Disney, every child's dream come true. They're excited worse than at Christmas and they're probably not going to be on their best behaviour. Relax and have fun-it's a vacation! Dh and I actually heard one man, taking his son out of the park as we were leaving for naptime saying, "we're not going to Ocean City this year like we always do because you're just going to ruin it like you've ruined this. You have ruined this whole vacation for everyone." Unless the kid killed someone or did something bad enough to be banned from the park, nothing is worth those kind of comments. When you start to get grouchy, it's time to go back to the hotel for a Pina Colada, a swim, and some relaxation!

When you decide to go to Disney you're choosing a vacation that will be mosty for the kids and often a lot of exercise and effort for you. If that's not your idea of a vacation, don't go.

Secondly, don't be overzealous in attempts to get your kid ahead of all the other kids. It is so obnoxious and it sets a very poor example for the kids. I had parents pushing my kids out of the way so that they coudn't get their turn to have their pic taken in the shark's mouth at Epcot (I was taking the pic and dh in the bathroom). When dh came out, he made sure they got their turn but it was totally ridiculous.

I was lucky with the 'gimme's. I told my dd, "I will buy you some things while we're here, I promise, but they must be reasonably priced and things you will use or enjoy once we leave here and not just junky souvenirs or toys. If I say no, it's no and if you conitnually ask it will make it hard for me to want to buy you things." She was great adn only asked for mouse ears and a balloon (the balloon I declined because I thought it was wasteful). Because she was so good and because I ended up spending way less than I had budgeted, I bought her a bunch of stuff right at the end of the trip and surprised her with it, thus keeping my promise to buy her some things before the trip was over.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

I disagree slightly that the only way to guarantee un-cranky kids is to take it slow. We found on our last trip that if we followed a sensible touring plan, even though we were hustling a bit from one ride to the other, the resulting lack of lines made our day SOOO much more relaxed. When you're dealing with little kids, never waiting longer than 15 minutes is a BIG deal in preserving family happiness. But then, we don't ride the coasters. So our touring plans are more laid back than the average, I think.

Also, character dinners are MUCH nicer than waiting in line to see characters!

Basically, our family behaviour/happiness strategy is: avoid lines!!

 

[princesspiglet]

It seems I have the complete oposite of everyone else! My DD long wears me out before she is pooped! I am usually the one who wants to stop and take a break or take it slow, she wants to go full speed ahead on everything. She is usually up at 6:00 am and goes non-stop till 8-8:30 pm without any naps or without any grumpiness! I don't know how she does it. I, on the other hand, get very grumpy around 3pm if I don't get to rest! Do they make grown-ip strollers?

 

[revelstoke]

This is the best tip I wish I would have known but didn't...

If you have small children and you are going to stay to watch the Wishes fire works spectacular...stand near the mainstreet railway station so you can be one of the first ones to exit the park

We stood near the castle last year (in October - low season) and our 2 yea rold absolutely had a meltdown waiting for the Ferry (the line to the monorail was wayyyy to long) It took an eternity to get back to the parking lot with the hordes of people exiting...an unperfect way to end a perfect day...and that memory is burned into my mind its what I remember about the Fireworks! How sad is that?

 

[TastefullyChris]

We just got back from our first family trip with me, DH (with a bad back), DS10 and DS12. Here's what we learned:

While I had everything planned to "perfection" so we could see it all, it was very apparant after the first day that plan was NOT going to happen! I did not count on everyone running out of steam so fast each day. DH was in a ECV most days, which slowed us down considerably. I had figured the boys would not need "break time" in the middle of the day to go back to the room and rest...WRONG!!!

I learned that the "weakest link" theory is right on the money. Your family "chain" is only as strong as the weakest link. When someone has hit the wall, give it up and do what is necessary to get the chain strong again. Most days, that was going back to the room for a rest. We ended up cancelling 2 dinner ADR's due to this, but it was okay...we weren't that hungry and ended up saving some money!

I agree with the OP who said that avoiding lines was what helped improve the kids' behavior...we used FP's whenever possible, as well as morning EMH a couple of times. Never waited more than 20 min. for anything.

Letting the kids know that this was not "all about them" and that we would all make compromises for the enjoyment of the family as a whole was key in getting the best behavior out of them.

The other thing I learned? Not to deny my kids something just "because". Our first park was AK and my DS10 wanted to mix a bag of jelly beans from the first gift shop we were in. I told him no, thinking that was not a good choice for lunch (!) and he shouldn't spend his $$$ on the first thing he wanted. I told him maybe later after lunch and there would be lots of stores with the same thing. Well, he moped all day and kept asking when he could get the jelly beans. He is not a "Gimmie" kind of kid and all he asked for all day was these stupid jelly beans! By the time I said okay, we couldn't find any other shop that sold them and couldn't find the original store either!!! Sooo...I learned a lesson and we got the jellybeans the next day at Epcot as soon as we saw them. He did not ask for one single thing the rest of the trip!

I also agree you shouldn't force kids to ride things they are scared of...however, my kids did say lot's of times, "I don't want to go on that...it looks stupid!" We told them, too bad, WE want to ride it. 9 times out of 10 they would say "That was GREAT!" So, sometimes, you should make them do something they don't want to (as long as it is not due to true fear).

Overall, I think let kids know what you expect and they will live up to your expectations.

 

[pooch]

I have at least one "sourpuss" photo of DD from every vacation we've ever taken!!! Sad to say the WDW vaca when she was 4 was probably the worst. I was so excited and wanted her to be too. But she was 4! I was frustrated and she was miserable. I should have let her interests and abilities dictate more of the day. And, although she didn't like strollers, we rented one a couple of times esp in MK and the break for her was good.

As for diciplining kids at the parks, I grew up thinking that's what the Ladies Room was for!!! I tended to "act up" a little when I was young. Mom would have none of it. At the first sign, I was whisked off to the nearest LR. When I emerged I had perhaps tears in my eyes but a smile on my face, behavior modified. Don't want to start anything here. PLEASE NO FLAMES!!!! But I got one good swat on my well-padded backside if just being dragged to the LR wasn't enough humiliation, which most of the time it was. I have no emotional scars and my brother and I became model citizens. My point being that Mom didn't tolerate temper tantrums and nipped them in the bud immediately and in private. Of course, this may not work for everyone and in every situation but I've found with my own kids that they will live up to your expectations if you are firm and consistent. My kids knew I would put up with a lot of @#$@#@ at home, but in public they'd better be angels!! JMHO

 

[minnie61650]

My children are grown now.
When they were young and we took our Disney vacations our children were well behaved. They were not perfect but we had plans in place to try to prevent meltdowns before they happened.

1. Keep the children well fed and well hydrated.

2. Take a mid day break. Go back to your hotel for a swim and little downtime.

3. Slow down. Take time to watch the birds, smell the flowers, or find a hidden Mickey or two.

4. If you are in the park and your child is acting tried or seems hot head for an AC show. one of our favs for relaxing the children was Hall of Pres. It was cool and quiet and just boring enough for the little ones they might even take a short nap, but at the very least it gave them a chance to relax a little
before we continued on.

5. Remember this is a family trip. Just enjoy spending time together and making memories at the "happiest place on Earth."

6.. Do not let the little things bother you.
Even if you think you have everything planned carefully,things can go wrong.
Fix the problem if you can then go on and enjoy your time at Disney.
------------------------------------------------------

Tip for car travels.

When my children were old enough to enjoy video games.
I would bring 2 rolls of quarters for each child.
They knew if they misbehaved they had to give me one their quarters.
(Sometimes I would let them earn back.)
However many quarters they had left at the end of the trip they could use for the video games.

Have fun at Disney!