Walt Disney World with Kids

So you've always dreamed of that moment when you surprise your kids with that famous phrase: "We're going to Disney World!"  For us that moment was met with blank stares and confused faces.  Why would we want to do that? the kids seemed to be asking themselves.  Apparently we'd been derelict in our parental duties of making our children aware of the magic of Disney.  That moment was two years ago in a last-minute (gotta use those mileage passes before they expire moment).  We went in March and it was incredibly HOT.  Melting in your shoes HOT.  Cannot stand waiting in lines without having ice-cream right now HOT.  So that trip taught us a few things about going to Disney with kids.  Of course, we always learn the hard way, but that's so you don't have to. 

What we learned from that trip:
1.  A pool is better than standing in line
2.  Disney is magic only when your feet don't hurt
3.  Less is more

For those few of you who have never attempted Walt Disney World with kids, let me tell you a couple of things.  There are at least four distinct parks for kids: the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood.  Then there are the water parks and games parks, which we don't bother with (kids are still under 10 years old, so still not worth it for us).  Although there are park hopping passes, I really don't recommend buying those with little kids in tow.  It takes forever to get from one park to another and you'll wear yourself out without ever actually getting on a ride.  Our original problem was that we bought waaaaayyy too many days at Walt Disney World (WDW) and found that after four days in a row we were dreading it instead of enjoying it.   Our kids were begging us "Pleeeeze don't make us go to Disney" but to let them stay at the hotel and play in the pool instead.  We also tried several activities that were highly rated around the area, including an alligator farm (thumbs up!) and the Arabian Nights show (thumbs down for food and price, kids enjoyed the horses, but I'd never go again).  Also one of our kids got really sick, so suddenly we were forced to come to a stop.  It ended up being the best part of our trip.  Not only did we stop following WDW itineraries and stop spending every waking moment either getting to WDW or at WDW or coming home from WDW, but we finally just got a chance to relax and enjoy our vacation.

So this year we decided to do it differently.  We would buy fewer days.  We'd do either half days or every other day at WDW and we would spend more time by the pool.  Also, instead a hotel room we went on VRBO (that's Vacation Rentals By Owner) and got a sweet deal on a nice house about 30 minutes away.  The kids were excited to go (so it's possible the first time wasn't as terrible as I remember it).  It was lovely December weather.  We had our own plan.  Everyone got to pick one ride or show in each park and we did those together, mostly by Fast Pass.  We didn't try to see and do everything and had way more fun doing the little we did.  The kids were just as happy to hang out at the community club house as they were at Mickey's Club House.  I'm not disparaging Mickey and co., but as an adult I sometimes forget that a laundry basket can be just as interesting as that $60 infant toy to my babies.  I can get so caught up in making memories for my kids that I forget to make memories with them.  I've discovered that WDW is magic only when we're actually making memories of enjoying it together.  The rest is just a wasted effort.