So this post is a couple months late- but better late than never right?! :) The last part of our trip in March, we went to Disney…with four kids. I was a little nervous because when we went last year it was SO crowded, as in, one of the most crowded days of the year. I was nervous that was going to happen again, and wasn’t sure how that was going to work with Audra only being a few months old. Thankfully, the two days we went to the Magic Kingdom it wasn’t super crowded! We had so much fun, bringing Audra was a piece of cake honestly and we all took turns and can’t wait to go again whenever we get the chance. There are a few things I learned this trip that hopefully can help someone out who has a large family (with a baby) going to Disney :)
1. Staying at a Disney Hotel. Last year we stayed in a hotel off of the Disney property and, while it was cheaper, it was such a pain traveling to and from the park. Especially when it is so late at night and you’ve left the park, tired, and hungry, and babies are crying…having to take all of the transportation back to your car is so not fun. Staying at a Disney resort (we stayed at the Old Key West resort) was so worth it! Being able to take the bus to and from the park was so worth it! Especially with kids. We loved it.
2. Using Fastpass Early…then over and over. One thing we did this trip was planned all of the Fastpasses as early as possible- that was after 2pm or so, as all of our Fastpasses were gone, we were able to fill them up again as rides opened up. The boys and Jay got to ride roller coaster after rollercoaster because we scheduled the Fastpass accordingly and used them up quickly so we could schedule something else right after. Jay usually took the boys and I stayed back with the girls. Audra did get to go on a couple rides with us though ;)
3. Renting two strollers. Even though 3 out of 4 kids were 3 and up, we still rented two strollers and I’m SO glad we did! Audra could only fit in an infant stroller, so we rented that along with a double stroller. They all took turns through out the day instead of walking and it was worth the price. We did this both days.
4. Take a ride on the train. I had no idea that the Magic Kingdom has a train…maybe this is common knowledge but I did not know this! It was late afternoon and we were in between rides and the kids needed a break (so did we) so we found the train (at the front of the park) and took a nice, long ride. It takes you around the entire park and it is also relaxing- win win!
5. You don’t have to do all the things. Last year, when we took 3 kids to Disney I think 1. it was just too crowded and 2. we tried to cram so much into one day. By the end of the day, we were utterly exhausted. This year was different. We didn’t try to do all things- we didn’t meet all of the characters- but we did meet a lot! We didn’t want to wear the kids out, we wanted them to have fun! So we let the boys ride the roller coasters they wanted to multiple times, etc. I’m sure there are areas we didn’t see or check out, characters we didn’t meet… but we didn’t really care. We had fun-no strict schedule…there was no pressure and the kids were in better moods.
We had a lot of fun and can’t wait to go again soon! I thought bringing Audra might be a little tricky but I truthfully think bringing a younger baby may be easier than one that is mobile. Audra napped a lot and just wanted to look around at everything which made it easy on us! Maybe next time when we go she’ll be able to actually enjoy something and not just ride around in a stroller ;) We really did have a great time!
lvr1m8