From One Mom to Another: Tips on Disney, Races and Kids

So you wake up and look out your resort window and it is a torrential downpour.  You have two options, curl back up in bed and wait out the storm or throw together your park bag with a couple extras and head out.  We always chose a park day.  Rain days are less crowded because many locals don't drive in and there are plenty of people who chose the wait it out option.  If you are going to do a rain day here are a couple advantages and a couple pieces of advice.  Do note that some rides, shops and shows will not run if it is raining hard or there is lightning in the area, but this isn't the majority.  On our last trip during Spring Break it poured in the morning and early afternoon on our Animal Kingdom day.  Let's start with what to wear and pack to make sure this doesn't go sideways: 1.  You'll need a rain coat or poncho.  I bring a rain coat for rainy days and save my $.99 poncho for the water rides.  My mom brings an u...

 Sydnee is 6 in this photo. I have been traveling with my family to Disney for more than a decade. My first trip as a parent was in 2003 when my eldest daughter was 4 and my son was 2.  I took my mom, my best friend and my sister with us to Disneyland.   At the time I was on active duty stationed in Washington, DC and my mom and sister lived in Montana so I didn't see them that often.  We had an amazing time and the Disney trips soon became a tradition.  Many of my friends ask me when is the best time to take the trip and who should go. Is Nana too old for Disney?  Should we wait until the baby is older?  Are my teens going to be bored? The short answer is MAYBE but probably not.  In today's blog I will give you pros and cons on these and some other frequently asked questions. Lets start with some basic questions you should ask yourself.  Is this going to be a once in a lifetime trip?  What is the goal of this...

  Going to Walt Disney World with small children is delightful and magical but can also be trying.  If your kids are anything like mine there is a point in time where they just won't stand in line any more.  Most people will tell you it's time to head back to our resort for a nap or an afternoon at the pool but what if your hotel is a long drive or maybe you have older kids that don't want to go back the resort? When I travel with my full family I have kids from 3-19 and we occasionally stay off property so we don't want to spend 2 hours of our day driving back and forth.   Here are a couple thing we like to do instead of heading back to the resort.  Each park has an area where kids can just run around and burn off some energy and you can just sit, relax and post those cute character photos on Instagram.  This is a the toddler slide.  This the excavation area where the kids play in the 'sand' This is water f...

This is the first year I have purchased Annual Passes in the many years we have visited Walt Disney World.  When you decide if you want to purchase a standard pass or an annual pass ask yourself a couple questions: 1. Are you a Florida resident?   (there are significantly more options if this is the case, none of which I am going to cover here so go here to see what you qualify for https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passes/ )   2.  How many days are you planning to visit in a one year period?   This is the most important question, annual passes when first purchased are valid from your activation date (first day in the parks) for one full year.   (Example, I purchased my annual pass in March but don't activate until my vacation on July 10; my pass is good from July 10, 2018-July 9, 2019.) 2018 Pricing for the current Annual Pass (Platinum/Plus) is $849/$949 for ages 3+.  The difference is that the Platinum Plus includes unlimited access to...

This is likely going to be a long blog because I want to review a bunch of different tours that we personally experienced this June during our visit to Disney World in Florida.  As a friendly reminder, I am in NO way affiliated with Disney and receive nothing to in return for my reviews.  Tour Dates June 10-15 Participants :  5 year old active girl, she's going into 1st grade and 44.5" tall Myself and my husband, My mother who was in a wheelchair most of the days because she can't walk over 6-7,000 steps per day without injuring herself. We scheduled 3 events that were kids only for Sydnee.   The first was The Pirate Adventure Cruise. Price: $39-49.00 Ages: 4-12 year old Time: 9:30-11:30am Photo: Nana Link: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/pirate-adventure-cruises/ Summary: Sydnee ranked this as her favorite tour.  We dropped her off before the tour and my mom hung out at the hotel while she was on ...