Disney tips and tricks...

I have a few tips that I want to share...mainly so I can look back when planning our next vacation!  

1 - I went a little nuts packing and took tons of snacks (which came in handy), bottled water (which was completely drank), glow toys for night time parades, ponchos, dish soap to clean our cups, etc.  We used everything!  Then we had a nice empty suitcase to stuff with souvenirs for the trip home. :)

2 - If you have a child too young to ride (or who just does not want to ride) take advantage of the "parent swap".  It was a huge time saver for us!  You ask a worker at the entrance for a "parent swap" card.  They HAVE to see the child not riding before they hand over the super beneficial card!  Once they give it to you, one parent (or in our case both parents) ride while the other (or the grandparents) waits with the non-riding child.  Then when you are done you switch and the other parent (or grandparents) ride by going through the fast pass line.  We used that ALOT!  It saves so much time especially if you don't want to waste a fast pass on the ride.  Plus Ryne got to ride 2 times that way...if she wanted too!

3 - If you are doing a breakfast book it as early as possible, preferably BEFORE the park opens.  That way you are in a can hop on a popular ride as soon as you are done with breakfast before the lines get too long.  

4 - April is a phenomenal time to go!  Lines in general were not too long.  The longest wait we had was maybe 30 minutes.  

5 - Even if you get the park hopper pass (which we do just to have options) don't use it unless you really need/want to.  It takes about an hour to switch parks because of the walking and bus wait time.  I am all about making our time there count!  :)

6 - Meal Plans are awesome!!!!  We did so many great character meals that we would have cringed at the bill without the meal plan.  Plus, it is nice not having to shell out money and already having that part taken care of.

7 - While we are talking about food you have got to try the Dole Whip float.  It was amazing and so worth the wait!  It is just soft serve ice cream and pineapple juice...who knew that could be so delish?!

8 - Take advantage of their photo packages.  We bought the Photo Plus and got so many great pictures from character dining and rides plus all the normal ones.  It was priceless to me to get pictures of Ryne's first big rides!

9 - This isn't Disney specific but still a good tip.  Give your kids there own spending money.  We gave Ryne a wallet with a $100 bill in it and told her she could spend it on anything she wanted!  She was so proud of her money that she held on to it for more than 1/2 the trip before buying anything!  And then she always used her money and didn't ask us to buy her a thing...crazy!  She is normally an "I want everything I see" kind of kid so that was super nice.  :)

10 - Get temporary stick on tattoos for "Tot-toos".  They are durable and last for days even when getting wet.  We had some made with "If lost call ###".  However I left them sitting on my desk!  Thankfully we didn't need to use them while we were there but I would have felt a little safer if I had remembered to take them and use them!

11 - lastly, remember that the most important thing is making great memories!  Not everything is going to go as planned.  Kids will get grouchy and may even talk back (even in Disney World...gasp!) and parents may not react with all the patience and understanding that they should!   But take a deep breath and remember that you are in the happiest place in earth!  ;)