This past August marked our first family visit to Walt Disney World. I visited a very long time ago (15 years ago to be exact!), but this time around was even more special because I got to see my children take in all of the magic for the very first time.
Going for the first time can be extremely overwhelming. You want to see, do, and, eat everything you have heard about, but unfortunately, it is pretty unlikely to do if you are a family travelling with young children.
Here are some tips to get you started when planning your first Disney family vacation:
Work With a Travel Advisor
Nowadays, being able to book vacations and do destination research over the internet makes booking travel on your own very tempting. But have you been to Disney 20 times? Do you know the ins and outs of all the different packages? Do you have a definite and 100% accurate answer to every single question you need to ask? The answer for you is most likely no. The answer for my travel advisor, Sheila Gallant-Halloran, is yes.
I became familiar with Sheila through Twitter and as soon as we made the decision to go on this trip, I got in touch with her. From the get-go, she provided valuable advice about things I had not even thought about and was always quick to answer any questions I had. She made our planning experience stress-free by taking care of:
A good travel advisor will help you create the vacation you dream about. I will never book another vacation without Sheila!
Get Your Kids Involved In the Planning
The main reason why we chose Disney was for our kids. I’m guessing it’s the same reason you chose it too! Our children did not know that we were going until about 10-days before we left, (it was a big surprise!) so they were not involved right from the start. Once they were let in on the surprise, we showed them videos of some of the attractions, parades, and shows through the Disney website and the Disney blog.
Getting a good feel for what they are interested in doing will help you plan out your days and help you decide how to tackle the vast amount of things to do in the four different parks. It will also ensure that they feel included in the daily plans and that they get to experience the things that they think look fun.
Plan for Down Time
Leave some wiggle room in your daily plans, don't plan your days out from morning till night. It can be tempting to go, go, go, but remember, this is your vacation. Whichever resort you choose to stay at, whether it is on or off site, take the time to enjoy the amenities and take the break that you deserve. This is especially important if you are travelling with children. Dragging cranky, tired children around is not fun. Keep them rested and content so everyone remains happy.
Make Dining Reservations That Everyone Will Be Happy About
There are so many restaurants at Disney to ensure every palette (even the pickiest ones!) will be pleased. In fact, there are so many restaurants, when it comes time to pick the places you want to dine at, it may be a little bit daunting. However, to make it a bit easier for you, there are websites and blogs dedicated to everything related to Disney food and restaurants. My faves are The Disney Food Blog, which posts Disney restaurant reviews and food news and All Ears where you can find up-to-date menus for all of the Disney restaurants.
You can make your dining reservations 180-days in advance of your arrival and people take this seriously! Be sure to make to make your reservations as close to that 180-day window as you can so you get the restaurants, the times, and the dates that you want.
Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get to see it all
We didn’t get to see everything we wanted to see, and we aren’t disappointed about it at all. We feel that we did as much as we could have for the time that we were there and what we didn’t see, we will see next time! Disney changes so much from year to year, so even if you somehow were able to see it all, next year there will be something new. It’s how they get us to come back...and this family will be back!
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