A few pics first..... and the parades and character greetings are by far worth your time!
The electrical parade at Magic Kingdom. It is not shown every night, so be mindful of that when planning out your vacation.
A different parade that was shown at 5pm at Magic Kingdom. So fun and the characters actually interacted with the guests. The kids LOVED this!
And the final few pics are from the daily 3pm parade at Magic Kingdom. These were taken just minutes after entering Disney for the very first time!
My list:
- Don't have expectations
- Be flexible
- It takes a long time to do ANYTHING
- You have to be patient with your children as well as other kids around you
- Make reservations for ALL your sit-down meals. Can do this 6 mths out.
- Learn about the newest attractions as their lines fill up the quickest
- And get your fast passes for those newest attractions first thing when you enter the park
- There are limited fast passes given for a particular ride/attraction
- Bring baby wipes with you into the parks
- Have an agenda, even if you don't follow it fully
- Go in off season (no matter how cold it is)
- The high was in the 40's one day we were there. Cold.
- Dining plan is plenty of food and easy to do. It's one less thing to worry about during your chaotic trip.
- Always a long wait to return back to our resort at night. And this is when you are most tired.
- We were a minority. And I mean US citizens.
- Umbrella stroller was PERFECT. It's a must for small children.
- Lots of walking. Wear comfortable kicks.
- Bring your own water bottle.
- Epcot and MGM had less to do for preschoolers, but I can see where school age kids would love it
- Epcot and MGM also had tons of character greetings that MK did not have
- Encourage you to stay in a resort where the main transportation is the monorail to and from parks.
- Avoid the shuttle buses. Nothing but a headache.
- Pools are heated :)
- My children were content staying in the hotel and playing with their new toys
- Do character dining each night. Totally worth it.
- Buffets were the main entree though. Some were good, some were not.
- Avoid going during any type of holidays. Even MLK weekend. Go Mon-Fri too.
- Remember this is a working "vacation" that takes a lot out of an adult
- Completely worth it for your children to meet their idols that they sleep with every night
- Jason, when are we going again???
