Susan Storm
Storm Family!
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2015
I hope that this trip report can be helpful to other people making summer plans at Disney! I had looked forward to taking my family to Disney World for years, and I was finally able to make it a reality. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter from May 31st to June 7th.
My family (or the cast, as some people say):
Me - Susie
Husband - Daniel
My mom
Eldest daughter, Melody, age 9
Stepson Lucas, aged 6
Son Max, aged 1
View attachment 103649
I actually had my hands so full with the three kids during the trip, that I hardly had a chance to take a picture and we didn't get a full family photo (crazy, right?). However, here's my husband and I, and Max, getting ready for Jungle Cruise
View attachment 103650
This is Melody and Lucas on Jungle Cruise.
I had gone to Disney with my daughter several times as a single mom when she was young, but hadn't been since 2009, so I was very excited to experience it with my husband, who'd never been to a theme park in his life, and my stepson, who had also never been. I was a little concerned about taking a one-year-old, but hoped that with my mom there we could get some extra help with him. I spent a lot of time here at disboards trying to get tips and finding a lot of useful information.
Biggest lessons I learned during this trip:
With a one-year-old in the summer heat, afternoon breaks were mandatory. He was miserable after just a couple of hours in the park and one of us had to take him back.
Touring plans doesn't have very accurate crowd calendars, at least not during this trip. I went to Magic Kingdom on a level 9 day and had one of the nicest days of our whole vacation, and crowds weren't bad. I went on a level 6 day and it was completely packed, even the line for the people mover was twenty minutes long. Also, their lines estimates were pretty off during our trip. Next time I plan a Disney trip I think I won't take the word of touring plans as seriously, and just try to plan around where we really want to go.
I should have brought my own Graco stroller from home. I rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers, and while it was nice, it didn't have any tray in the front for snacks for my little guy, and I think it would've made it easier. Also, it wasn't any easier to maneuver than my Graco stroller, and it really didn't fold down much smaller at all. Overall, I think it would have worked better to bring the Graco stroller. I had rented the City Mini stroller because I thought it would be easier to maneuever and fold down smaller for taking on the buses.
I enjoyed the evenings in the parks better than the mornings. I arrived at rope drop nearly every day, and it was so packed and the kids were so tired of waiting in the big jumble of people. At night time it was so much more easy to get in and out, and the lines got pretty manageable towards 9 PM, plus it wasn't nearly as hot. It's just hard to do the late nights with a baby. He didn't sleep in his stroller once!
All babies will handle disney world differently. My oldest daughter, Melody, would sleep in her stroller just fine as a baby, and was very flexible, so staying up late or longer wasn't a problem. Max, my youngest, is very routine oriented and had a much harder time with the trip. Because of this it really limited my own personal time in the parks.
Be flexible. I made itineraries and thoroughly planned them out for each day, but with a family with three kids, I ended up changing my plans around at the last minute a lot because of everyone's schedules and levels of tiredness.
If you go in the summer, it will be really really hot and crowded. Of course, I knew this going in, but it was quite a bit worse than I expected. You just have to enjoy the moments and the magic when they happen. Overall, I think I'd avoid a summer trip again in the future unless it's the only time we can make it happen with school schedules.
Cut through the shops on main street to avoid crowds at rope drop! Oh my goodness, we cut past soooo many people by doing this. I know it's nice to see the castle and everything, but when we went to the left through all the shops on main street, we bypassed tons of people. During the summer when the crowds are so extreme, I think it's a great thing to do. Plus, after that we went straight to adventureland and frontierland and were able to do all the major rides there before lunchtime without waiting long.
Okay, I will write more soon! My 1-year-old just woke up and is fussing for his lunch
My family (or the cast, as some people say):
Me - Susie
Husband - Daniel
My mom
Eldest daughter, Melody, age 9
Stepson Lucas, aged 6
Son Max, aged 1
View attachment 103649
I actually had my hands so full with the three kids during the trip, that I hardly had a chance to take a picture and we didn't get a full family photo (crazy, right?). However, here's my husband and I, and Max, getting ready for Jungle Cruise
View attachment 103650
This is Melody and Lucas on Jungle Cruise.
I had gone to Disney with my daughter several times as a single mom when she was young, but hadn't been since 2009, so I was very excited to experience it with my husband, who'd never been to a theme park in his life, and my stepson, who had also never been. I was a little concerned about taking a one-year-old, but hoped that with my mom there we could get some extra help with him. I spent a lot of time here at disboards trying to get tips and finding a lot of useful information.
Biggest lessons I learned during this trip:
With a one-year-old in the summer heat, afternoon breaks were mandatory. He was miserable after just a couple of hours in the park and one of us had to take him back.
Touring plans doesn't have very accurate crowd calendars, at least not during this trip. I went to Magic Kingdom on a level 9 day and had one of the nicest days of our whole vacation, and crowds weren't bad. I went on a level 6 day and it was completely packed, even the line for the people mover was twenty minutes long. Also, their lines estimates were pretty off during our trip. Next time I plan a Disney trip I think I won't take the word of touring plans as seriously, and just try to plan around where we really want to go.
I should have brought my own Graco stroller from home. I rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers, and while it was nice, it didn't have any tray in the front for snacks for my little guy, and I think it would've made it easier. Also, it wasn't any easier to maneuver than my Graco stroller, and it really didn't fold down much smaller at all. Overall, I think it would have worked better to bring the Graco stroller. I had rented the City Mini stroller because I thought it would be easier to maneuever and fold down smaller for taking on the buses.
I enjoyed the evenings in the parks better than the mornings. I arrived at rope drop nearly every day, and it was so packed and the kids were so tired of waiting in the big jumble of people. At night time it was so much more easy to get in and out, and the lines got pretty manageable towards 9 PM, plus it wasn't nearly as hot. It's just hard to do the late nights with a baby. He didn't sleep in his stroller once!
All babies will handle disney world differently. My oldest daughter, Melody, would sleep in her stroller just fine as a baby, and was very flexible, so staying up late or longer wasn't a problem. Max, my youngest, is very routine oriented and had a much harder time with the trip. Because of this it really limited my own personal time in the parks.
Be flexible. I made itineraries and thoroughly planned them out for each day, but with a family with three kids, I ended up changing my plans around at the last minute a lot because of everyone's schedules and levels of tiredness.
If you go in the summer, it will be really really hot and crowded. Of course, I knew this going in, but it was quite a bit worse than I expected. You just have to enjoy the moments and the magic when they happen. Overall, I think I'd avoid a summer trip again in the future unless it's the only time we can make it happen with school schedules.
Cut through the shops on main street to avoid crowds at rope drop! Oh my goodness, we cut past soooo many people by doing this. I know it's nice to see the castle and everything, but when we went to the left through all the shops on main street, we bypassed tons of people. During the summer when the crowds are so extreme, I think it's a great thing to do. Plus, after that we went straight to adventureland and frontierland and were able to do all the major rides there before lunchtime without waiting long.
Okay, I will write more soon! My 1-year-old just woke up and is fussing for his lunch
