Another Disney World Tip (for Parents)

Disney days can be looooong. If you go for a week or at least more than one day, they can be really long. One way to shorten the day is to start late and go till the fireworks. But sometimes the parents need a little break in the middle of the day. One way to get some 'me' time is to break away from the kids and enjoy an adult beverage. Now, you can't just abandon the kids, you need to plan ahead and drag your sister along with you, like we did last time.

The Traveling Mamas, specifically, CajunMama, has some recommendations for finding adult drinks in Disney World. My favorite? Go to Mexico; I'm a sucker for Mexican food and Margaritas. In fact, Mexican joints are usually pretty kid-friendly with the chips and all...

Top Tips for Finding Adult Drinks in Disney World

Tommy's Magic Kingdom Blog

I thought Disney World was pretty good. Really, really, really, pretty good. We had ice cream and hot dogs, and I had a sloppy Joe for lunch, which I didn't think tasted that good. I saw Captain Hook there and I scared him with my pirate gear. I can't believe I was actually able to scare Captain Hook. He is the scariest, the coolest pirate in the world.

Here are the rides I went on along with scary scale and the fun scale ratings (1 is not very scary or fun, 10 is very scary or fun).

1. Space Mountain was absolutely terrifying! Here are some tips: scream, close your eyes, or don't go on.
Rating:
10 on the Scary Scale
5 on the Fun Scale

2. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was very cool. I got 2,080 points! Dad got 3, 600 points and Aunt Leigh got 12,860 points! Mom beat Dad with 3,800 points.
Rating:
0 on the Scary Scale
10 on the Fun Scale

3. Splash Mountain was wet... no, very wet. We sat in the front seat of the front log. Don't worry they have little hills first. The big drop is last, it's scary, but fun because you're used to it by then. I closed my eyes.
Rating:
2 on the Scary Scale
10 on the Fun Scale

4. Tom Sawyer’s Island had caves and a tree house and I went on both. The caves were scary, but there was gold in one of them and the tree house was made mostly of barrels. There was also a wobbly floating barrel bridge; water leaked into one of them.
Rating:
4 on the Scary Scale
9 on the Fun Scale














5. Jungle Safari boat trip had fake animals. We went under a waterfall and our boat driver was hilarious! Tip: if he offers to take a picture, don't give him your camera!
Rating: 1 on the Scary Scale, 9 on the Fun Scale

6. Haunted Mansion was terrifying also. DON'T GO IN!!!
Rating:
10 on the scary scale
2 on the Fun Scale.

7. Indy Speedway was fun but we didn't win either time. There's the girl that we almost beat in the picture.
Rating:
0 on the Scary Scale
10 on the Fun Scale

8. Pirates of the Caribbean was my favorite. One pirate called us beach rats! Here's some advice: you'll want to go again and again. The picture is of Captain Stinky Foot!
Rating:
1 on the Scary Scale
10 on the Fun Scale










9. The Astro-Orbiter had a forever lasting line. The orbiter leaned sideways -- the opposite way we were turning.
Rating:
8 on the Scary Scale
8 on the Fun Scale

10. Walking through the Castle was pretty fun. It was fancy.
Rating:
0 on the Scary Scale
6 on the Fun Scale

11. Fireworks were really cool; there were stars that shot up each side of the castle. Tinkerbell flew down from the castle and the rest of the fireworks were amazing.
Rating:
0 on the Scary Scale
15 on the Fun Scale!

Family Vacation to Disney World's Magic Kingdom

This time, it's about air travel.

The itinerary was pretty laid back: Fly to Orlando Monday evening (with Lilly in her jammies), arrive around 10:30pm. Spend Tuesday at Magic Kingdom, and the rest of the week at Grammy's playing in the pool. Fly home the following Tuesday, skip work Wednesday and roll back into the office Thursday for a two-day week. Here's how it shook out:

Day 1: Left Rainy Connecticut only 1/2 hour late at the tail end of the worst nor'easter in April in the history of nor’easters in April in the northeast. Whatever that means. Tommy killed time in the airport staring at a Magic Kingdom Map and plotting his strategy (see tip # 2 below). Lilly spent her time running ("I win!") and climbing over the endless rows of seats. We landed in Orlando a little after 11:00 and caught a cab to the hotel ($47 + tip). Too late to get a cold bottle of beer at the lounge (further support for tip #5 for traveling with kids).

Day 2: Arrive Magic Kingdom around 11:00. Most advice we had read said to arrive before the gates open. This just doesn't sound realistic for younsters. The next thing they tell you is to take a nap in the afternoon. That's maybe a good idea if your hotel is inside the park, but ours wasn't. And a fourteen-hour day anywhere sort of sounds too long. Twelve hours seemed realistic. Our whole objective in this excursion was to give Tommy a fantastic day, so we took the same approach as we would for a kid-friendly city visit: Don't try to do too much, do be flexible, and don't forget the snacks.

We knew that we wanted to end the day with fireworks, (starting at 10:00 pm) so we worked back from then. Why drag the family out of bed early, rush through breakfast, and get worked up into the rush, rush, rush mentality if the point is to be flexible and have fun? And here's another point: if the kids are tired after twelve hours of stimulation and you arrived early, isn't it going to be difficult to convince then around 8 or 8:30 pm that it's time to go? Isn't that one of those critical times in a family excursion where meltdowns occur? Why create haste in the morning when you can end the day with fireworks and Tinkerbelle? It's a pretty magical ending, and when the fireworks are over, everyone starts walking out of the park. "Sorry buddy, the park's closed. Sure was fun though huh"?

Rather than rush, we ate a big, leisurely breakfast in the hotel lobby, goofed around in the playground in the hotel courtyard. Around 10:30 we left Lilly with Grammy and caught the shuttle to the monorail at Epcot Center and then caught the boat over to the Magic Kingdom.

Disney World Tips and Observations:
Observation #1: People with young kids (under 6) weren't having much fun. And the youngsters weren't having fun either. It was a good idea to leave Lilly with Grammy, and to let Tommy explore, because if Lilly ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Besides, all they can go on are the kiddy rides, and you can ride the kiddy rides for a lot less the $70 at most amusement parks. Save the $70 for making magic with. Six years old is a great starting age because the Haunted mansion scares the hell out of them, as does Space Mountain.

Tip #1: Bring bottled water. Refill the bottles at the drinking fountains and flavor them with flavor crystals (Gatorade, lemonade, whatever). This is a good idea because the drinking water at the fountains doesn't taste so good. Single serve crystal pouches are really, really convenient. Good fountains: the lower one by Jungle Safari River Ride in Adventure Land and the one near the steamboat ride in Liberty Village. I wish I took better notes on which ones dribble, but I was a little busy having a blast. But I do remember that the fountain near Pirates of the Carribbean was a dribbler.

Observation #2: The boat ride seemed quicker than the monorail. You get to and from the Magic kingdom either by boat or monorail. Getting in isn't such a mob scene (at least at some times of the year), but escaping after the fireworks can get crowded. Most of the herd seemed to flock to the monorail; we went to the boat. It was less crowded and quick.

Tip #2: Print a map. Have the kids study the park beforehand, and list the rides they want to go on. It'll keep them busy planning their strategy in the days leading up. If you print the map real small, it'll take them twice as long to figure it out.

Tip#3: Don't go during the summer. It's too hot! New England has school breaks in Feb and April, where the rest of the country seems to have spring break in March (that may explain why there were so many Red Sox hats roaming around). Mid to late April is an excellent time to visit because the weather is fantastic and the crowds are manageable.

Days 3-7: Goof around by the pool. Tommy and Lilly were wanting to be in the pool at Grammy's house by 10 each morning, and they didn't get out until suppertime. We visited Homosassa Wildlife Park one day (tip: stay away from the hippo's butt), but other than that it was swimming with the kids or reading the paper. And it was quite nice. We flew home without a hitch: the car wasn't stolen, and the house hadn't burned down. Best of all though there had been a springtime transformation when we got home. Daffodills, crab apple, and dogwoods were flowering, and the grass was actually green and growing.

What are your tips and observations about visiting Disney World?