Strategies for a happy family?

blackwo1

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
We leave for our trip in a few days and while I've researched and planned and packed, one thing I am starting to have anxiety about is the EMOTIONS and BEHAVIORS that are bound to crop up during our trip. I'm traveling with my husband and DDs (4 & 8) and believe it or not, the 4 year old is the most easy going of the group. I'd like to be prepared when DH goes from zero to frustrated in 6 seconds (as he tends to do) or my strong-willed 8 year old has a meltdown.

Some thoughts:
Talk beforehand about expectations/behavior
Food when they're hungry & sleep when they're tired (Obviously food will be easier but we'll do what we can to take mid-day breaks, not make every night a late night)
Set amount of souvenir money that they can spend how they like- when it's gone it's gone
Beer breaks for hubby when possible :)
Try to go with the flow- (Fast Passses and dinner reservations are set but other than that, try to be flexible)
Grandparents will join us for a few days so taking advantage to have a parents' night out while they watch the kids and do some activities at the resort.

Any other ideas? This is our first trip so any experience or advice is appreciated!!
 
How many days are you going? WDW is huge and doing everything isn't always feasible. A first trip is different because you don't necessarily have your top picks but I make sure that everyone get to do their top things. Also don't be rigid about everyone sticking together. My husband also is quick to call it a day when melt downs start happening so he will go back to the hotel with the child that has had enough.
 
I think you are going in with the right mindset. I might even suggest food before hungry. I took my twins for their 5th birthday and we were literally in line to order CS when my son started melting down. I missed it by that much! I took him out of line (which of course made the wait for food longer since it was just me and my children) to talk him down and I will never forget this thoughtful CM came over and offered him a sticker. We thanked him but refused because I didn't want to reward my son for having a meltdown in line but thought it was super sweet that the CM wanted to help. We got through it and all was well but I even now (and my children are 16) kick myself for waiting literally those 2 minutes too long to get food.

Expectations are huge in my mind. I try to have very few because I think a lot of the issues with a vacation like Disney is trying to meet all of the expectations. Without them you can just enjoy your family and roll with what happens.

Patience is also huge! As they say, pack your patience...be ready to accept things may not go as you expected (see what I did there, expectations again) and be patient while trying to make adjustments. Take the time to think twice before reacting to what someone says/does because your reaction may control the mood and of course, you want it to be a a fun/positive/magical one!

Have a great trip!
 
I think you hit right on the head when talking about expectations. Disney can be an overwhelming place and you will not be able to do everything. Having realistic expectations will go a long way towards everyone's enjoyment. If your young one normally naps by all means let her nap when she gets tired. Use a stroller. Also, have snacks available when someone gets hungry. Figure out what everyone's must do is and make it happen. Beer breaks are not that big a problem. EPCOT has lots available. The other parks not as much but the resorts that are close by will have that option. Don't be surprised if your kids want to go to the resort pool more than the parks. If this happens be sure to plan some pool time everyday. The most important thing to remember is you are on vacation. Relax and enjoy. Don't sweat the small stuff. (It is all small stuff.) Have a great trip!!!! Cheers!!!!!
 
How many days are you going? WDW is huge and doing everything isn't always feasible. A first trip is different because you don't necessarily have your top picks but I make sure that everyone get to do their top things. Also don't be rigid about everyone sticking together. My husband also is quick to call it a day when melt downs start happening so he will go back to the hotel with the child that has had enough.

We are going for 7 days (minus two travel days) and have 4 park days planned, one "rest" (DS, resort) day planned. I guess it's good it's our first trip because the kids don't have any major demands- this will all be new to them. I like the idea about separating if we need to.
 
We always gave our boys a set souvenir money as well, but we didn't let them spend it until close to the end of the trip. We wanted them to at least hit every park (if possible) and see what was out there before they made their decision. You can get almost anything at multiple locations throughout the parks and Disney Springs. This strategy helped us prevent buyers' remorse and any melt downs associated with it.
 


Your list sounds very good - I would stress to definitely take mid day breaks, and if your trip is longer than 4 days at least one rest day, maybe go to the park in the evening. If not that then at least sleep in a day or two. The down time at the resort saves us. Going with the flow is huge - some of the best times we've had are the spur of the moment things where we just ditch plans and do whatever we come across.
 
I think you are going in with the right mindset. I might even suggest food before hungry. I took my twins for their 5th birthday and we were literally in line to order CS when my son started melting down. I missed it by that much! I took him out of line (which of course made the wait for food longer since it was just me and my children) to talk him down and I will never forget this thoughtful CM came over and offered him a sticker. We thanked him but refused because I didn't want to reward my son for having a meltdown in line but thought it was super sweet that the CM wanted to help. We got through it and all was well but I even now (and my children are 16) kick myself for waiting literally those 2 minutes too long to get food.

Very smart- food BEFORE hunger. Seems simple but I can definitely see making this mistake too. Isn't it amazing how it hits them in an instant?
 
My daughter is 7 and she was not as easy going these last couple of visits as when she was 5! We took it very slowly, as we did not want to deal with a stroller. Lots of breaks, making FP for what she wanted, letting her guide the day, etc. She's an extremely picky eater, so we had to make sure to stop and take food breaks, as she gets VERY hangry!!

She always has a few gift cards and knows when those are gone she can't spend anymore.

I think letting the kids make decisions can save everyone. We would ask her if she wanted to stay in the park or go back to the hotel. I think you really have to let them decide sometimes. In my experience if my kid admits to being tired then she is DONE.
 
flexibility flexibility flexibility. the best laid plans are destroyed by a meltdown, hunger, bathroom break, ride breaking down, etc. the gift cards for souveniers is a great idea. if you are staying on property, remember that anything you buy can be sent to the hotel to be picked up later. it can also be returned at your hotel if there is some buyer's remorse.
 
Little legs tire fast - you might have to schedule some rest times here and there... even just standing and waiting in line can be tiring for kids (or maybe just my kids :laughing:).

I'm a mega planner and that was the thing I didn't plan for my first time.
 
Reading this made me remember a souvenir issue too (honestly we had a great trip but since it was the first time taking my children and I was by myself I pretty much remember everything)...I had decided they could select one thing a day. I didn't go by price but that each day they could select one thing. We tried to scope out shops early and I suggested they take their time thinking about what they wanted and we could make the purchase later in the day. Welllll little did I know that the store at Hollywood Studios where my son found what he wanted closed early in the day and the item he wanted was not available anywhere else (or not that we could find anyway). That was a bit of a lesson for us and for the remainder of the trip we had to think carefully about what we were going to buy that day and if it was a definite I want only this we went for it instead of risking going through the trauma again!

I agree about the little legs and it may be too late for OP but I will share anyway in case it helps others reading. We did Disney training walks for a few months leading up to the trip. I wanted them to be able to walk (not get a stroller) and I also wanted them to not have to hold my hand every second (it can be a pain, literally, for little children to have their hand up in the air for hours and hours day after day after day) so I taught them to walk within my reach but not under my feet. Now, of course it is impossible to know if the training really helped but I can say our trip was 8 days long and we never had a single complaint about walking/standing/staying in reach. It worked out perfectly!
 
Set amount of souvenir money that they can spend how they like- when it's gone it's gone

Gift cards with their souvenir money on and their names written on them.

Not only is it a good way to keep your money safe (if you lose your gc, Disney will cancel it and give you the unused money in another gc), it gives the kids "spending power." Keep track of the available balance on the receipts. "Are you sure you want to buy this? You'll only have $15 left?"
 
Your family sounds a lot like mine . . . :)

I try to plan so we never have a late night followed by an early morning or have convoluted transportation schedules (we relied heavily on Minnie Vans on our last trip). I typically set our 3 FP+ and make one ADR a day. Everything else is gravy. Some of my DH and DS10's favorite things to do in WDW have nothing to do with rides (walking around the Boardwalk, swimming, etc.) so I incorporate those heavily into our plans. I also know when to abandon ship when need be, LOL! You won't see it all, so there's no use trying!
 
Food when they're hungry & sleep when they're tired (Obviously food will be easier but we'll do what we can to take mid-day breaks, not make every night a late night)

Food BEFORE hunger. Have snack bars and water and plans for food.

You have a short trip (4 park days isn’t a long trip) so choose late nights or early mornings. With a longer trip you can flip flop with easy days in between.

Mid day breaks even at Disneyland make us crazy. I cannot imagine having to leave a park wait for a bus deal with the ride walk back to the room....try to rest them so it all in reverse. I’d rather have stroller naps and a nice table service meal to cook off and sit down.

if you lose your gc, Disney will cancel it and give you the unused money in another gc)

Oh I wound never rely on that. You have to have the receipt, first. Then the receipts for what you’ve spent. And hopefully no one has spent more because how can you prove that



Souvenirs...you can return just about anything anywhere (ok maybe not fine art?), so if you see something you love, buy it and if something else catches the eye later, it can be “exchanged”. If I’d started doing that with my son early he would have more trust in terms of souvenirs. I tend to forget that I had promised to go back somewhere, so he gets nervous lol.
 
Oh I wound never rely on that. You have to have the receipt, first. Then the receipts for what you’ve spent. And hopefully no one has spent more because how can you prove that

Better chance of getting that refunded than getting lost cash back.
 
I had a few little things in the backpack for those moments when we were near meltdown (often because of a line). Dum dum lollypops, gum (i know its a disney no no but my kids are great with it!), sticker puzzles were a HUGE hit, and the character encyclopedia we brought for autographs was great for them to sit and read for a few minutes. My kids are 4 and 6.

For souveniers we kind of played it by ear, but they picked a stuffed animal each and a bubble machine. The bubble machine alone got us through 2-3 days of lines, haha!
 
Expectations, expectations, expectations. Realistic expectations are the key for ALL involved, and since you seem to have that in line already, I think you're going to have a wonderful trip!

When we took our DD's the 1st time it was an awesome trip. DW and I both work full time and felt we needed time for "just" the 4 of us...and the 10's of thousands of other people at WDW. We knew going in that not everything was going to get done and that there were going to be meltdown's...by them and us. It will most likely happen, but when / if it does, being ready for it is more than half the battle.

One thing we ran into, our youngest was used to earlier naps, at 11 AM or so, and would fall asleep in the parks before our mid-day break. Then when we got back to the resort would wake up despite our best efforts to keep her asleep, and would not go back down. This went on the 1st several days until she was tired enough that the naps came easier once we got back.
 

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