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Showing posts with label Disney World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney World. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Doing Disney World With Multiple Kids (tips and faves)

Hey guys! So I just got back from Disney this week. We had a blast. We spent 5 total days at Disney World. And I thought I'd givea few tips for parents about to embark on the whole Disney Experience with multiple kids. It can be a bit of a challenge if you have some kids that can and want to go on certain rides (and so do you) and one that can not go on a lot of them, so you...(and the other older kids) have to work with it.
First off, there is SO much to do at Disney World. I have been there several times. So I know the place pretty well. I know what to expect. I've been there as a single person, as a married person....
 I've been there once with a baby....once with a 2 and 4 year old....and this time we had a 4, 7 and 9 year old... Or the better way to say this is a 37 inch, a 45 inch and a 54 inch child. Obviously this is what matters when going on rides. And the personality and daredevil level of your kids (and you allowing your kids) to go on the big thrill rides.


 The great thing about Disney is that the vast majority of their attractions are "visual" rides, meaning any size person can go on them,because the excitement of the ride is in what you see. As opposed to the motion of the ride...So if you have a little one like we did (under 40 inches) there is still plenty to do for your family.


And I think there was only ONE ride that Jada could not go on, and that was the Aerosmith Rockin Rollercoaster. I think you had to be 48 inches for that one....but other than that, every other ride that we went on, she was able to go on. In that case, (or in the situation that you /and your older kids want to go on a ride that a smaller kid can not) a good idea to do is go get a fast past right away for that ride, that way you don't have to wait in a long line while that ONE kid waits around with you in a long line and they aren't even able to go on. Get a fast pass EVEN for the kid that is not able to go on.
Each Disney ticket you hold will allow you to get one fast past per ticket at a time. Once you use that fast past you can go get another fast past at another ride. It's free. It saves alot of time waiting for the "longer line" rides and in the meantime go hit up some of the rides with the shorter lines.... and if you get a fast past for the extra kid who can't even go on the ride, then the older kid will be double happy, because they can go ononce with mom, make the switch and go on again with dad.
If that makes any sense...
The unfortunate thing for us is that my son, Wesley had studied up on every single ride at Disney World. So he already had set in his mind what he wanted to do and he would not let up until he got his way. Which obviously meant all the faster thrill rides. So every time we went on a family ride, he would moan and complain...and then every time we waited in line for a thrill ride, he would try to back out because he got scared. After waiting in lines and using our fast pass opportunities on certain rides, that did not make me happy. He ended up only officially backing out of one ride. And that was the best ride on the planet: The Hollywood Tower Of Terror. Jada is smaller and younger...and she loved it. She went on that one twice... (thanks to our extra fast past we picked up for Leila)...Wesleys fast past just went to waste as he waited on the other side of the line until Jada & I got off... But the rest of the rides both our older kids LOVED, even if they were a little nervous at first, they got off laughing...
We didn't do any of the water parks because it was a lot of extra money to get a hopper and pay for water parks...plus it was actually a little chilly in the mornings and evenings for us so it worked out good. The days were in the 70's & 80's so it wasn't too hot! Yay. Jeff gets super grumpy when its too hot.
Day one we did Magic Kingdom. Day two was Epcot because it was supposed to rain and we knew there was alot to do indoors. Day three was Animal Kingdom. Day four was Hollywood Studios. Day five we went back to Magic Kingdom and spent the entire day there doing rides we missed the first day. It was absolutely magical... Haha. It really was. Magic Kingdom is probably the best and definitely has the most to do for a family.


My top 5 thrill rides (not for the littles under 40 inches) I say YOU MUST ride are:
1) Hollywood Tower of Terror-Hollywood Studios (Twilight zone Elevator drop-Jada was cracking up so hard!!)
2) Aerosmiths Rockin Roller Coaster-Hollywood Studios (coaster)
3) Soarin-Epcot Center (simulated flying over the earth) AMAZING!
4) Dinosaur-Animal Kingdom (fast pace ride while you are stuck with Dinosaurs coming after you)
4) Expedition Everest -Animal Kingdom (coaster with a Yeti chasing you)

All these tend to have LONG wait times, so these are the rides that you'd want to get fast passes for.

My top 5 family rides I say YOU MUST RIDE  with the littles are:
1) Pirates of the Carribean -Magic Kingdom (just because Pirates  **and johnny depp** are so cool)
2) Kilimanjaro Safaro -Animal Kingdom (an actual safari ride through the the territories of  live safari animals)
3) Toy Story-Hollywood Studios (its like you are in an arcade game! so so much fun)
4) The Little Mermaid-Magic Kingdom ( a slow paced musical  journey through the movie. So cute)
5) Peter Pan-Magic Kingdom (Flying through and above the sets of Peter Pan scenes)

All these tend to have REALLY long lines too, so fast passes might be good. However if you have to choose between fast passes
for the thrill rides and fast passes for the family rides (because really you are only able to get maybe 4-5 per day), I'd get them for the thrill rides. Only because, you can wait in a family ride line all together and all go on together....but if you make a little kid wait in a line with you for a thrill ride they can't go on, they probably won't be happy)


 My top 5 extras I say  you should do with kids:
1) A Bugs Life 4d show-Animal Kingdom (hilarious)
2) The Little Mermaid Stage Show -Hollywood Studios (magical)
3) Monsters Inc Comedy Show-Magic Kingdom (characters interact with audience)
4) Dance Party with Disney Characters in Tomorrowland -Magic Kingdom (kids have so much fun and are in awe, as they dance with random Disney characters to pop and club songs-haha)
5) Talking Turtle-Epcot Center (Crush from Nemo interacts with the kids and audience-super funny)


And of course standing in line to meet characters and watching various parades are fun too and great photo ops.
We also played a couple games that the kids have to go to the different lands and find clues and beat villians. 
Wesley LOVED that!!
So that's about all I got for you. Hope that helped a little if you are planning on making a Disney trip with kids soon! You're gonna have a blast!!

Oh one more thing. about the price of food and meals. You can plan on probably at least $35-$40 per meal. For us it was a family of five. The girl shared a kids meal. Wesley and I shared an adult meal. Jeff had his own. That was $40 right there. There is pretty much NO WAY to go out to your car and eat so don't even think about it. The parks are pretty far from the parking lot. And you have to take trams and monorails to get in. It would take too long anyways. It's not like Six Flags.Plus, think of any extras...ice cream, cotton candy, drinks, etc... You're at Disney World. So it's pretty hard to deny your kids all the fun extras! We probably spent about $75 a day on food. Then at our dinner late night outside of the park.




 
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