Disney Tips - Little One's and Baby Bumps

Disneyland and Disney World are great destinations for families in any stage. I know that now. When I was younger, without children, I took my first trip to Disney World, looked at all the families lugging huge diaper bags, cumbersome strollers, and screaming children and vowed to never bring my little tikes to the happiest place on earth, where it appeared to me would be hell on earth should I bring my little one. I changed my mind. Perspective changes once you have your own children. Those parents lugging the double stroller and picking up their 20 pound diaper bag and 15 pound screaming child getting off the resort bus were happy inside...I know it. They might have been tired, or rather exhausted. Everybody needed a nap. But prior to that, they had fun, and 4 month old Billy had a great time being with Mom and Dad and 3 year old Joanie laughed her ears off on Dumbo, and Mom and Dad enjoyed the sun, the smiles on their kids' faces, and the Disney cleanliness and friendliness.

Here are my tips for traveling to Disney parks with your little one.

• Invest in a quick fold, compact stroller that you can abuse. Our first trip with our little one, we took our only stroller. It was easy to manuever, but had no locking mechanism once it was folded, and didn't fold compactly. It suffered some dings, which at the time I was stressed out about because it was expensive. It was hard to fit on the bus sometimes without bumping legs, and took up a lot of space in our hotel room. After that I researched compact folding strollers and found one on craigslist. Our next trips were less stressful and gave us greater maneuverability. If you're headed to Florida, investing in a rain cover for your stroller is a great idea. When the rain comes, it really really comes. With our cover we splashed through puddles to the next attraction instead of hiding out under and awning.
• Pack light. Taking carry-on's will save you money, so if you must check a bag, try for just one. Not only will it save you money, but it limits the amount of items you have to carry. Taking bags, strollers, car seats, and children through an airport can be an ordeal. I bet I could start an airport Sherpa  business for families and be quiet successful. So, the less you take, the less you have trek to the gate and back. Most airlines allow for car seats to be checked at no cost to you, so if you aren't using it on the plane, check it. If you will be using it in a seat, try to put it in a bag with a strap, or devising your own strap around it so you can throw it over your shoulder, as they are quite cumbersome. Better yet, design your trip so you can avoid having to take them at all. Strollers can be gate checked, so use it strategically to ferry all your stuff and children to to the gate. I'll talk a little more about packing strategies in another post, but to give you a general idea, we try to keep our baggage for our family of four to 2 roller-bags, 1 backpack, and 1 child's backpack along with a stroller and car seats as necessary.
• Bring activities and snacks proven to keep your child engaged. But not too many, because remember, we're packing lightly. Once I decided to keep my kids entertained on a flight by packing an extra gift bag filled with wrapped snacks, toys, and books. Instead of giving them something to do each hour as I had planned, they exhausted the bags contents in a small amount of time till I was left with a heap of trash and discarded toys. They played with their old toys we had brought for the rest of the flight. I think this kind of strategy is better for a road trip, but for plane travel, I stick to small plastic figurine style toys, small pads of paper and crayons, tiny activity books, fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, and a portable DVD player.
• Tote your babe in a sling or other baby carrier. This was an indispensable item when our children were young (2 and under). Naps when they were babies were easier in a sling, and I didn't have to stop and hang out by the stroller. It also gives you a free hand in the airport (except at the security check where you will have to take your child out and run the carrier through the scanner.)
• Bring a thin receiving blanket. You can also use the tail of your sling should you have one. What you should know is that not all planes are equiped with diaper changing tables in the bathrooms. You may be changing on your seat, when having that blanket might save it from a poo smear, or it might shield your babe for a little diaper changing privacy should you want it. If the bathroom does have a changing table, you might want to lay the blanket down to cushion your child's head from the hard plastic and jolting of the plane through turbulence. The blanket can also help shield sun from a sleeping child in a stroller.
• Ziploc bags are your friend. You probably already knew this...but I will just remind you of all the uses you might find for this compact bag of wonder. Keep a handful of wipes in it, use it as a snack bag, use it as a trash bag, pack home wet or smelly clothes, use it for toys, sit on it, keep your souveniers in it...the list goes on. Ziplocs work well with my light packing strategy, I usually pack a couple gallon and quart sized bags inside one gallon sized bag and use them for wipes, snacks, toys and souveniers.
• ID tags for your little ones that wander. You can get a dog tag made fairly inexpensively that will list a name and phone number for your peace of mind should your child find themselves lost within the swarms of people in the parks. We did this once because our youngest had fits where they didn't want to hold your hand, and were oblivious to whether we were close by or not. She never went missing, but I felt more secure knowing it was there just in case. we attached it to a strap on her shoe and it never bothered her.
• Snacks and water bottles. These two things can help you save some money on park snacks and drinks. The parks have plenty of drinking fountains for refills, and any counter service restaurant will give you a cup of ice water for free, just walk on up and ask for one. We usually pack some granola bars and nuts from home to get us started, and pick up a few more snack items for breakfast and the parks once we arrive. Most hotels have a shop with some snacks, or you can find a convenience store within walking distance if you don't have a car. If you do have a car, then you'll have more options. You can ask your shuttle service if they will make a stop at a grocery store as well, since this is something that some of them do for no extra charge. If you don't like city water, you can bring along some single pouch drink mixes, they pack light and will make sure you keep hydrated, which is very important for every family member. You can bring bag lunches into the parks, just no coolers.
• Bring a comfortable backpack that both parents will wear. Backpacks are ideal in the parks because you will have snacks, water bottles, wipes, diapers, a camera, phone, sunglasses, and perhaps a few other things to manage. It's nice to keep it all in one place. Your stroller might be well equipped to handle all this gear, but remember you'll have to leave your stroller to get on an attraction, or fold up your stroller to get it on a bus. We use a black backpack, not a pink one, so we both feel comfortable wearing it and can trade off. Two sweaty backs are better than one.
• Take a nap! Everyone in the family will need some downtown in the middle of the day. Get to the parks early to take advantage of lesser crowds and fresh kids, then find your way back to your hotel in the afternoon when the crowds and temps are higher. Let the kids nap or watch some TV or read a book, then take a dip in the pool. You'll feel refreshed and ready to hit the parks again around 3 or 4, when crowds are starting to take a dip again. Staying till fireworks or an evening parade won't be an affair full of tears now.
• Find the Baby Care Centers. These are amazing places of refuge within the Disney parks. They are listed on the maps. You'll usually find a cast member there to help you if you are in need of baby food, formula or diapering needs. There is a room for changing diapers, a place for tots to play or watch a cartoon and a place to feed your little one. If you're feeling overwhelmed or you just need a quiet cool place to change or feed a child or settle down from a tantrum, and nothing around you looks like a good option, go here.
• Make an attraction itinerary. It's easier to take everything in that Disney has to offer if you have a plan. It can easily become overwhelming for you and your children. Educate yourself on the rides, what the height limits are, and then make a plan. It's wise to know crowd patterns, so you can utilize fastpass, or avoid non-fastpass rides with long lines. I recommend The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland or The Unofficial Guide to Disney World for this purpose, or www.touringplans.com. 
• Use the child swap. When traveling with little ones, there are bound to be some rides that one or more of your children are not tall enough to ride (or perhaps are too afraid to ride). In this case, approach the cast member at the line entrance and say you'd like a child swap ticket. Now one parent can stay behind with the non-rider(s) and once the other(s) is through you may use your child swap ticket to get through the fastpass line instead of waiting in the regular line. While parent #1 is riding, take the time waiting to enjoy another attraction, or plan that ride during nap time. Some attractions have child play areas at the exit of the ride, such as in the case of splash mountain.
• See the parades. As a couple with no children, we avoided the parades so we could ride attractions with lesser lines. But the expression on our kids' faces during a parade is priceless. See at least one. You'll see what I mean.
• If you have the extra cash, make reservations for a character meal. Again, expressions are priceless. But as an added benefit, eating a meal and seeing characters kills two birds with one stone, and allows you more time to see attractions. Waiting in line to see characters in the park can take up a considerable amount of time...so eating a meal while the characters come to you is a nice luxury. Kids under 3 are free too!
• Prepare young children by telling them what it will be like. It's possible that you want to surprise your child with your Disney trip, and that sounds like a great idea too! But if you aren't planning on it being a surprise, I recommend giving your child information about what it will be like at Disneyland or Disney World. Some children are frightened by the characters, which is normal, but I have found that telling my child every day what we will be doing and what will be there leading up to the trip, it takes away their anxiety once we are there. My children usually take a day to warm up to the full costumed characters.

Now, what do you need to know if you're pregnant? Disneyland and Disney World have a wide variety of very creative and mild attractions. Tell your doctor where you are going and ask what there ride recommendation is. You'll find that you'll be able to do most everything but the big roller coaster type rides, and each doctor might have differing ideas as to what is okay or not. Do your research and then do what you're comfortable with. Those rides with restrictions are Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, Indy Speedway (because of possible rear-ending), Indiana Jones (in Disneyland), Matterhorn, Barnstormer California Screamin', Big River Rapids, Tower of Terror, Rockin'Roller Coaster,  Star Tours, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safari,  Everest, Test Track, and Mission Space. From personal experience I stayed away from all of those rides except the safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

If you're expecting, just take it easy. Disney parks can be hard on the feet, so take it easy, and plan your attractions accordingly so you can sit in between walking. Keep yourself well hydrated, remember that you can ask for a cup of ice water from any counter service restaurant. The fruit stands can offer a great healthy snack for less than 2 dollars. Make sure you're resting during the afternoons, maybe with your feet up, and then take a dip in the pool to refresh yourself. If you're finding that walking is painful, rent a wheelchair at the gate. I went to Disney World each time I was pregnant and enjoyed the more relaxed pace of touring, they were both great vacation experiences.

Disney Tips - Ticket Choices

Disney gives you some options on your tickets when purchasing for Disneyland or Disney World. I'll cover how many days you should purchase, the park hopper feature, other add-on's and season pass options.

 To fully understand your options you need to know what you need a ticket for and what happens when you go through the turnstile. Each separate park within Disney property requires your ticket to be swiped at the turnstile. If you have a one-park-per-day ticket, you may swipe your ticket at any of the parks and have entry to that park, and that park only, all day long. You may exit and enter as you will, but you may not enter a separate park on that day. Example : You have a 3 day pass at Disneyland without the park hopper option and you swipe your ticket at the Disneyland turnstile. You may not go to California Adventure at 7pm to see the World of Color Show. So, to see both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure Parks, you need the park hopper pass, or at least a 2 day pass. In Disney World there are 4 separate parks. It's important to note that a 1-park per day pass cannot take off 2 days on the same day, that is why you will gain entry to one park and cannot gain entry to a different one. Your pass simply won't let you through the turnstile if you try. Downtown Disney is a fun shopping area and does not require a ticket.

 First we'll cover the Disneyland options. Disneyland tickets expire 13 days after first use. So, plan accordingly if you want to break up your touring. Options are 1-park per day or park-hopper passes. You can buy from 1 to 6 days. Gate prices can be found here. There is usually some sort of discount available for advance purchase. Disneyland has 2 parks, and you could see a lot of each park in just 2 days, but 3 days is optimal. As you increase the days on your pass, you'll notice that the per day cost goes down, so another 25 dollars to go from 3 to 4 days might be worth it, especially if you don't plan to come back soon. Or you could add on 15 dollars for the park hopper pass, save 10 dollars a head, and save one night's stay, to make your vacation more budget friendly. For Disneyland, I recommend the 3 day park hopper pass. The flexibility is worth the price on a 3 day ticket. If your budget is more gracious and/or you have little kids, 4 or 5 days will allow you to relax your touring pace giving you plenty of nap and pool time.

You may purchase your tickets from Disney, AAA, or a ticket broker. Sometimes there is availability to purchase from big box stores in Southern California, or from Costco. Check the forums or mousesavers for up-to-date information. There is also a Southern California Citypass and if you are planning to do more than just Disneyland, this offers good savings if you do Universal and Seaworld. There are discounts available for students, youth groups, teachers, military and more should you qualify. Check mousesavers for more details.


Now for Disney World options. Disney World tickets have a couple more bells and whistles to add on. You may purchase from 1-10 days (unless you're from UK and then you can purchase up to 14 days). Disney World tickets start with a "base" ticket, which is a 1-park per day ticket and expires in 14 days from first use. Disney World has 4 parks - Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Each park deserves at least 1 full day to tour, with Magic Kingdom and Epcot easily taking 2. Animal Kingdom always closes earlier than the rest of the parks, and is the smallest park, so a half day in this park is possible. When choosing our park tickets for Disney World, we like to buy as many days as possible. You can purchase a 4 day ticket and see each park, but again you will notice here that the per day cost goes down the more days you add.


After you choose how many days your ticket will be, you can choose to add on the park-hopper feature, water park fun and more, and no expiration. 

• The park hopper option lets you visit as many parks as you like in one day. You could potentially go to all of them on a single day (though I do not advice this for a family trip). To add on to a single day ticket it's 35 dollars. To add on to a multi-day ticket it's 55 dollars. Our family really utilizes the park hopper option, and we love the flexibility. We like to get into one park early before the crowds and hop over to another park later in the day where we know the crowds are less. We also like the flexibility to eat where we like. We love Epcot restaurants and eat a lot of our meals at Epcot, it's also really easy to get to Epcot from Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios via boat, monorail, or a walking path making park hopper option quite convenient, but you can easily get by without it. It really depends on which parks you will spend your time in and your eating habits.

• The water park fun and more option gives you admission to the water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach), wide world of sports, DisneyQuest, and a round of golf at Oak Trail golf course. The number of admissions you have is based on the number of days your ticket is. Again you may find that information here. In 6 trips to Disney World, we've visited a water park twice. I would recommend a water park for couples and families with older children, or extended stays at Disney World. It's 55 dollars to add this option to your ticket and it does not extend your expiration. To make it worth it you need to gain admission to these places at least twice. Unless you are a golfer more than a theme-parker, or you are staying more than 7 days, it's probably not worth it. You can pay 50 dollars for the water park at the gate.

• The no expiration option could save you some money should you plan to visit Disney World again. No expiration is simply that - you could come back 2 years later and use your pass again...or 10 years. This option has a variable rate based on the number of days your base ticket is. As a West Coaster who really enjoys the park atmosphere, I've never considered this option much because the maximum days I can purchase is 10. This means I could spend  5 days in the parks on one trip and 5 on my next trip, but to get the no expiration on a 10 day pass is 225 dollars. This is no savings when compared to two 5 day base tickets. Not one penny. Nada. And I really like my time in the parks, so 5 days is a couple days too few. However, if you add on the park hopper option and the water park option, it will save you from paying these fees twice. I recommend a full week to see just the parks at Disney World for first time guests. With all there is to do, one day in each park just isn't enough. But, now that I'm a veteran, I can see that purchasing a 10 day pass with all the options could help save me money, and not miss out on much. With a 10 day pass with park hopper and water park option with no expiration, I would get to see all the parks for 5 days, hop to my favorite restaurants, visit a water park, and stroll around at Downtown Disney for a cost of 332 dollars per trip. This is about the same as purchasing two 5-day park hoppers and getting 2 free water park days (or more). Also, I would save on ticket price increases, which happen almost every  year. Not substantial savings, but a little. You can save even more by purchasing a ticket through a broker. Purchase the ticket with the greatest percentage of savings, and then you can upgrade your ticket once you arrive. If I remember correctly, I purchased my last 10 day hopper pass for 299 from a broker 18 months ago. I could have then paid 225 dollars plus 55 dollars for the water park and no expiration options, yielding 2 5-day hopper and waterpark pass trips for  579 dollars, or 289 per trip.

I just mentioned that you can upgrade your ticket once you've arrived. You can also upgrade your ticket after you've used it. As long as you still have days left on your ticket (and it hasn't expired), you may upgrade it by adding on any of the options. The one thing to note is that your ticket will still expire 14 days from your first use, and the no expiration option is based on your base ticket days, not the days left. But being able to upgrade your ticket once you've arrived gives you the option to purchase a base ticket first to see if 1-park per day will be sufficient. If you find once you've entered the parks that you'd really like the flexibility of park hopping just visit a ticket counter or guest services counter. If the base ticket works for your family, you've saved yourself almost 60 dollars per person, if not, at least you tried. 


You may purchase your ticket straight from Disney, but discounts are not often given for just a ticket purchase through Disney World. Ticket brokers and AAA are a better option. Ticket brokers often have a slightly higher discount than AAA. Purchasing tickets once in Florida is also an option at many Wal-marts. I would check in at disboards to see what is current. There are also discounts offered for residents, military, students, and Canadians. Check mousesavers for what is current.

Annual passes for either Disneyland or Disney World are an option should you be planning to visit the parks twice in one year. Disneyland has 2 options for non-residents. The best option would be for the non-peak days pass which gives you admission 315 days of the year and costs 379 dollars, offering you a savings of approximately 75 dollars off two 3-day passes (at full price - with current discounts, you might only save about 25 dollars). The premium annual pass gives 365 days of admission and free parking, it is 499 dollars. If you decide before you've used all the days on your ticket that you like Disneyland SO much that you must come back before the end of the year, you may upgrade your ticket to an annual pass and just pay the difference.


Disney World annual pass options include a pass that gives you 365 days of admission and parking for 552/509 dollars or a premium pass that also give admission to the water parks and DisneyQuest for 691/636 dollars. To make the premium pass worthwhile you'd need to visit the water parks or DisneyQuest a minimum of 3 times. Again, if you decide while vacationing that you MUST come back soon to Disney World, you may upgrade your ticket to an annual pass before you've used the last day on your ticket and pay the difference.


There is one other annual pass option, it's price tag is 773 dollars and it offers premium annual pass features of both Disneyland and Disney World. I see no savings in this option unless you can go more than 3 times within the year, or perhaps some extended stays.

Overall, the best ticket options that I've found in the past are tickets bought through brokers that have been mentioned at mousesavers. Sometimes the best deal is to create a hotel and ticket package with Disney World when they are offering a low season discount, usually this includes free dining, which is a very good savings.

Up next I'll be giving my tips on Disney travel with little ones, and what to expect when you're expecting.

Disneyland Tips - Information Central

My family loves Disney parks. We started traveling there as a couple without children (and vowing never to go with kids under 7...never say never...), then pregnant, then pregnant with a toddler, then with 2 toddlers, then with 2 preschoolers. Sometimes we travel to Disneyworld a couple years in a row, sometimes we skip a year, sometimes we go to Disneyland twice  year! Did I say we love Disney parks?!

I have a lot to say about doing Disney. So, to avoid information overload, I'm going to try and stick to a particular aspect in each post. Currently I'll be talking about gaining information for your trip. 

One of the best resources for discounts and general information that I know is www.mousesavers.com. Her information is up to date, and well organized. There are often added discounts for readers from certain hotels or ticket brokers. I recommend signing up for her newsletter, and you'll be kept in the know with the most up to date information via your in-box each month. 

After I've checked mousesavers for discount information when planning a Disney trip, I then check general prices with Expedia and on Disney's website.
I then like to check airline prices, usually via Alaska, Southwest and American. I like to use Alaska and Southwest's fare calendar search since I'm usually flexible about my travel days. I also might check Hotwire or Expedia for a general idea on minimum hotel prices. This is just to give me a general idea of costs.


When tallying up my costs to decide if and when I can afford my Disney trip I use a general weekly food figure that has proved successful for my family. Remember this is my family, and your mileage may vary.

Help! My kids are begging for Disney...

…how do we make the trip affordable? What are your tips?

Here goes. Remember - your mileage may vary. My family has been travelling to Disney destinations for over a decade, in all stages of our lives. We like to go for as inexpensive as possible to maximize how long we can stay, and saving for the next Disney vacation or vacations to non-Disney locations. (*Gasp* there is more to the world than Disney?!) But that doesn't mean it's always "cheap" and "cheap" has a different meaning for everyone.

Travel to Anaheim from Washington takes about 18 hours. To save the most money, break the trip up into 2 long travel days, and you’ll only need 1 overnight on the way there and back. Stopping in Redding is the best middle point. 2 rooms or 1 suite will probably be 100-150 dollars if you look for the best bargain. You can also search for another stopping location that might offer greater savings on a room, Sacramento perhaps.


Once in Anaheim there are some options for places to stay, but it is recommended to stay within walking distance.