Admittedly, I have some conflicted emotions about Disney, particularly given their significant role in the “princess-ization” of girls in our country juxtaposed against the many positive, fond memories of Disney’s influence in my own childhood. Given that I don’t think it’s wise (or reasonable) to completely restrict something that is so prevalent in our culture, James and I have been making an effort to expose our children to Disney in ways that feel “right” for our family. Which is to say that there is no one “right” way to do any of this. James and I are just trying to do things Cart-style (whatever the hell that means) while lots of other mamas and papas are rocking parenthood their way. And it’s all good. And let’s live and let live, eh? (Except when it comes to vaccinations – because this – the fact that measles are back? That is just straight up inexcusable. But that is a totally judgement-laden rant for another time – I’m cool living and letting live, except when you endanger the health and wellness of my children, which um, yeah, not vaccinating your kids does just that. Case in point.) Whew, back to the Happiest Place on Earth, shall we?
Anyway, generally we don’t buy (or encourage the purchase of) Disney branded, commercial “stuff” (whether that’s coloring books or juice boxes, stuffed animals or clothing), but we certainly aren’t going to reject gifts that our daughters may receive from well-intentioned friends or family that do. We’re selective in what Disney movies we screen in our house, and try to talk about any of the totally whack story lines that make us uncomfortable (Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Major for the win! Sure, it may sound annoying, but I am grateful for that lens and perspective especially in how it’s influenced my parenting) .
Sunny’s favorite princesses are Mulan, Tiana, Jasmine and Elsa. While not completely intentional, I am pleased that my blonde, blue-eyed daughter loves the princesses of color just as much as the princesses that may look more like her. Courtland’s favorite Disney movies are Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood. No princesses needed.
James and I both went to Disney World as kids a handful of times, and we agreed that at some stage in our children’s lives, we would likely take them there as well. We have happy memories of our own experiences, and it’s a place geared for families, so an easy family-vacation with guaranteed fun for all. Knowing how expensive it is, and how overwhelmingly commercial, we agreed that we’d foot the bill for such a trip when the girls were at an age where they’d remember the experience, but not too old where they’d be jaded, opinionated pre-teens.
But then I had a work trip in Florida, and my in-laws spend most of their winter in Florida, so we pitched the idea of a us all flying down for a visit simultaneously, and James’ parents suggested that we begin the trip at Disney, and then work our way further south. They were excited to share Disney World with their only grandchildren, and eager to treat our family to our inaugural Disney World experience. We couldn’t resist their kind and generous offer, especially knowing that we’d have two extra sets of hands to help wrangle in the park.
While James and I both were feeling a little uneasy about such an extravagant trip given our own financial restraints in the wake of Ursa’s illness and the joys of (older) homeownership, we agreed to put that discomfort aside and focus instead on the amazing gift and memories we’d get to create thanks to his parents’ generosity.
I was admittedly really really looking forward to the trip, knowing that we’d be in a place that was so geared toward families, and would pull together memories from each of our own childhoods. And while the girls may not explicitly remember the experience years from now, James, Ben, Sarah and I have some truly wonderful memories that we created as a family and will carry with us for a lifetime.
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Enough explaining the why – here’s the how! But first, some of my favorite stills from the trip.
^^It is so hard being two.^^
^^The Carousel was a huge huge hit and always had the fastest line.^^
^^Mama does not do the teacups. Nope. Never.^^
^^Parades and performances abound throughout the day. Courtland was always thrilled to stop and watch and dance.^^
^^We took a boat ride over to Fort Wilderness to see the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue one evening (complete with fried chicken, baked bean, sweet corn, strawberry shortcake laden feast). It was a nice break from the parks.^^
Lodgings: We stayed at The Grand Floridian which is one of the hotels right near The Magic Kingdom. We knew that we’d be spending most (and it turned out all) of our time at that park as it is best geared for toddlers and preschoolers. We were fortunate to stay in a first floor room on the concierge level. We had food and drink nearly ’round the clock, which made it easy for breakfast, snack time, lunch, and even packing food to bring into the park. The only food “plans” we made were for dinner. While it is definitely more expensive, given how costly (and time-consuming) buying food in the parks is, it seemed worthwhile. And most definitely was.
Transportation: We used Disney’s Magical Express to get from the Orlando airport to our hotel. I will say, the line, after traveling for most of the morning, was rather painful. The kids were hot and cranky, and a part of me wishes we’d just hopped in a cab.
To get to The Magic Kingdom from The Grand Floridian, we either took a quick boat ride from the hotel’s dock (the only downside being that we had to fold up the stroller for the boat) or hopped on the Monorail from the second floor of the main hotel building (where we could leave the stroller as is). The kids viewed either the boat or the Monorail as a thrilling adventure, so remember that even transportation at Disney is fun for kids!
One evening, we hired a babysitter (we used Kid’s Nite Out) so that the adults could go see Cirque du Soleil – La Nouba. We only budgeted 45 minutes to get from the hotel to Downtown Disney via the Disney bus and it was definitely not enough time. Who knew Disney was so trafficky! While we only missed the first few minutes of the show, it was a stressful 45 minutes of travel and racing through Downtown Disney to get to the performance space. It was well well WELL worth it, though. I have never seen a show with so much talent and creepiness and weird, wonderful, inspired, beautiful, bizarre performances. I loved everything about it. I am so glad we made the effort to go.
Dinners: We decided to stay close to home and eat at the restaurants at the Grand Floridian (with the exception of our last evening) so we wouldn’t have to be rushing from place to place at mealtime. Our first night, we had dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe, which was definitely our most delicious meal of the entire trip. I highly recommend it. We also wanted to give the girls a “character” experience, and The Grand Floridian had a nightly dinner with the cast from Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare. Food was abundant and very kid-friendly, however, I found the whole experience rather cheesy. Also, my girls just weren’t that into meeting the characters. They liked to see them from afar, but would much rather have spent their time swimming in the hotel pool eating hot dogs than standing with Prince Charming.
An important note, you must must MUST book your meal reservations (and all entertainment reservations) in advance of your trip. We pulled this trip together in less than a month, and I was lucky that I was able to find availability at these locations. We definitely used the concierge service and James’ parents and me and James all made accounts over at the My Disney Experience site and put together daily itineraries that not only included meals, but what rides we wanted to try to tackle (and around what time). It made our time actually AT Disney World that much more relaxing, as we already had an outline of our day. Of course it was flexible, but it helped us make the most of our time without overextending ourselves and over doing it with the kids.
Entertainment:
– Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for Cirque du Soleil – La Nouba in Downtown Disney
– Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue was really fun and family-friendly. And a nice break from all the ride, character, park Disney-ness. It included dinner and a boat ride (we took a boat from the Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom, then changed boats from The Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness).
The Magic Kingdom: We spent all of our “park” time at The Magic Kingdom. It was convenient to our hotel and had the best rides and experiences for our 2 and 4 year old companions. The greatest hits with our group were The Carousel, Dumbo, Aladdin’s Magic Carpet, The Barnstormer, Teacups, and It’s a Small World. We also did Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, People Mover, Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea, Toy Story ride, and Mickey’s Philharmagic. The only one I think we missed that would have been good for the kids was the Peter Pan ride. And the evening fire works and various parades and performances throughout the day were always a nice chance to take a break while ensuring the kids were still entertained.
To make life easier:
– CHILDCARE: Kid’s Nite Out provided easy, safe, qualified in-room childcare for the girls one evening while we had a grown-up adventure.
– STROLLER: We rented a double stroller from Kingdom Stroller. It was dropped off to our hotel room before we’d even arrived, and we left it for pick up when we checked out. It made navigating the parks in the evening (and in the crowds) so much easier, as I knew the kids were safe and contained inside. And it made carrying snacks, water, sweatshirts, cameras, etc. a breeze while inside the park.
– FAST PASSES: We signed up for our three-daily allotted Fast Passes before we even arrived in Florida. We all had the Disney World apps on our phone, so we could adapt, but the Fast Passes helped structure our day and made sure that we got the girls on rides that would be enjoyable for them without the hassle of a long line.
Disney now sends you “Magic Bands” that you wear while on your vacation. The girls loved wearing their bands (completely personalized with Sunny and Courtland in the colors of their choosing). They scan to get you into your hotel room, your park access, your Fast Passes, your reservations, your PhotoPass, and they’re even linked to your credit card so you can easily make purchases wherever you are. I liked knowing that if one of the girls *ahemCOURTLANDahem* ever wandered off, they could scan her band and quickly track down me or James (we had our cell phones, our hotel room, etc. loaded into the account so it’d be easy to track us). Also a little creepy, I suppose. But I mostly found it convenient and reassuring.
My biggest piece of advice to anyone planning a Disney World trip, especially with kids 5 and under, is to take the time to do some planning ahead with the adults on the trip, and then to not push yourself or try to pack too much into one day. Pack plenty of snacks and water. Take a break each day and nap so that the kids aren’t completely fried If your baby can’t sleep baby sleep miracle review will help. Besides one truly epic tantrum on our last night (which was undoubtedly because we had pushed Kaki past the breaking point), we had only the usual bouts of kid frustration and whininess. We have many happy memories, and honestly, the image of Kaki writhing around the center of the hotel lobby, screaming and kicking while the concierge sat at her pounding feet, offering up stickers and sweetly serenading her with “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” is a rather priceless and comical image now that we are no longer in the fire of the tantrum. Only at Disney will an adult throw themselves into the fray to help calm another person’s child with song and stickers. Disney wins in the Family-Friendly department.
