Travel Hacks for the Modern Family: We’ll never go to Disney…. “Little” Disney Trip One

Before I start I should probably explain the title and our old outlook on Disney. Keith and I went to Disney for my Birthday one year before we were married. We looked around at all the crazy parents lugging all the kids and even more stuff throughout the parks. We said to ourselves that will never be us! We said we wouldn’t come back to Disney until our youngest was 5. We wanted no naps, no diapers, no strollers and no crap to drag all around the park. With all that being said we took our first trip to Disney when our first was 18 months and just about every year since including when our last (3^rd) was just 9 weeks. Haha yes I know we were those exact crazy parents we thought we would never be. Plus I feel like I added a whole new level to the madness with nursing a brand new baby every 3 hours all though magic kingdom from open until fireworks! What’s funny though is the mom I saw walking straight down the road of magic kingdom boob out nursing, no cover, nothing! Funny the things you notice when you’re in the same boat.

The reason I am choosing to call our Disney blogs “Little” is because I do not believe I have all the knowledge there is to have about Disney. We have only experienced Disney for kids 5 and under. With the being said we have not done the meal plans or park hopper passes. The meal plans I believe are great if you expect your family to actually eat. Toddlers are too unpredictable. I usually use my 31 picnic thermal to pack all kinds of snacks, sandwiches and drinks to take through the parks. As a family with young kids we also haven’t done the park hopper pass because frankly we are exhausted after 2 days! We need days off in between, pushing that stroller and chasing the kids around is exhausting. Plus the kids always love the hotel pools just as much as the parks at this age.

Our first trip was when Macie was 18 months old. This is the first time we have stayed on the Disney property. We stayed the at Art of Animation. This was a neat hotel and each building was themed after a Disney movie. We stayed in the little mermaid rooms seeing as that was my favorite movie. This hotel also has really fun pools with Disney songs playing under water. The main pool was also zero entry. We also never had an issue getting chairs around the pool, not like some resorts where you get up at 6am to throw towels out and claim an area. My biggest lesson learned on the trip was a standard hotel room with no balcony will not work for a family with young kids. Our room was a standard two queens with a pack and play and little bathroom. This being our first trip with a kid we didn’t realize that she wouldn’t just go to sleep with us sitting there watching tv. We didn’t have anywhere outside attached to the room to sit so we went to bed every night at 8 pm. One thing is we returned home from our vacation well rested haha.

Hotel Lobby

Little Mermaid Room

Splash Area

Main Pool

One nice thing about staying at a Disney property are the free shuttles from the hotel to and from the parks. Most on property Disney hotels also offer the option to shuttle to and from the airport. This will save you a few bucks and the hassle of renting a car and bringing car seats. We however chose to rent a car and brought a car seat because we did this a joint beach and Disney trip. We were also able to go the a little grocery store and get a few snacks and milk for Macie. We purchased the refillable cup from the hotel but you were only able to fill with sodas so this was not an option to use for Macie.

During this trip we went to the beach for a few days and then hit up Disney for two nights. Magic Kingdom was the only park we did because we figured for a young kiddo this would have the most for her to do and she loved it! I was surprised at how many rides there were for such a young aged kid. We got there a little before the park opened via the hotel shuttle and stayed until about 2:30. Macie had a blast! We did all kinds of rides and shows. Her favorite area was the circus water part. She loved running and getting soaking wet. I recommend bringing a change of clothes for the kids because you never know what they will get into. You know like all that crap that I said in the beginning I never wanted to lug around. We didn’t do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique this trip because you have to be 3 years old, but don’t worry we do it next time! Since we didn’t do the meal plan we were able to try out a few different food options. We ate at the hotel for a few meals which was a little expensive. We also went to downtown Disney one night which is now 3 times the size and called Disney Springs. We love going to the rainforest café and go there every time we visit Disney. The have so much going on around the restaurant it seems to help the kids stay occupied and helps you make it through a dinner. Plus they have yummy drinks which also helps!