Disney With Kids: 5 Must Haves

Oh, Disney! I have over 1,000 pictures and so many things I want to share about our trip! Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be writing some posts about our trip that will hopefully help you plan yours! To start, I want to share a few things that I would want to know before I booked a trip!

• Stroller is everything

Your stroller choice can make or break your whole trip. That was not me being dramatic! Haha. We spent 15 hours in the parks one day, 13 another and close to those hours the other 5 days. Lincoln was in the stroller a lot. We put a lot of thought into the stroller we wanted to bring. It needed to fold up small enough to put on the tram, needed storage space for all 5 of our things, needed to be comfortable enough to be pushed by my 6’3″ husband and my 5’2″ self and of course, needed to be comfortable for Lincoln. We have several strollers to choose from, but settled on the Maxi-Cosi Adorra.

I love this stroller and the Edward van Vliet version is really cute pattern. It was so nice to have the different color to find our stroller in a sea of black ones in the stroller parking lot! We let Lincoln forward face most of the day, then when he got tired, we turned the seat around for him to take a nap. The seat lays all the way down, so even though he’s a big baby, he could lay totally flat like a bed. I think that’s the only saving grace in us being able to stay so long so many days! There’s a cup holder as well as a side pouch that held 2 water bottles very nicely. It was absolutely the perfect stroller for the trip. The Adorra was the stroller of my choice when we went to NYC last year, too, if you want to check out that post.

 

And speaking of Maxi-Cosi, Lincoln also rode tripped in the Edward van Vliet version of the Pria 85 Max. I think his happy little face proves that it’s a good seat for 18 hours of driving! 

• Dining Plan

I like the dining plan option for a few reasons.

1. Because you don’t have to feel like your spending tons of money all the time. You just pay the tip at your meal.

2. Because you can order whatever from the menu without the “I’ll go with the chicken and save $4” business.

3. Because you get 2 snacks a day and don’t have to cringe overtime your kids say they are hungry. (Oh and Starbucks lattes count as a snack!) 

• Plan Ahead

Bring autograph books, Mickey and Minnie Ears, and ponchos. You will save a ton of money over what you’ll spend in the parks on those things. My friend did tell me about these travel ID bands. I forgot to order them, but wish I had. There was one time I walked out of the restaurant to wait for our table and Callan didn’t follow me. It was just the amount of time that it took me to tell The Hubs how long our wait was, but he had told the hostess that his mom left him and he didn’t know my number! Next time, I will get these bands for any of my kids that haven’t memorized phone numbers yet.

• Eat Well

This tip may be controversial, but I’m all about it. Fact: you’ll see characters all day, everyday. Don’t feel like you need to eat with them, too. We opted for restaurants that were a bit more, delicious. My favorites are Kona Cafe and the breakfast at Trail’s End.

• Get PhotoPass

I added this onto our trip just a few days before we left. The price is $160, which I felt like was a bit of a rip off. But then when I started thinking about how many pictures we’d actually get as a family, I really wanted it. We ended up with over 500 pictures that I downloaded almost immediately in the parks and now have on my computer at home.

The photo pass also comes with ride pictures. So when your kids are being all calm, cool and collected, you can totally ruin their photo with your crippling fear.

This picture is half embarrassing and half hysterical. I think my boys will ridicule me over it for the rest of my life.

Will you or have you taken your kids to Disney? I’d love to know if you have any must haves or favorites! 

This post is sponsored my Maxi-Cosi. All thoughts and opinions are my own.