Disney Questions Answered

After my first Disney posts, I had some questions so I just decided I’d do a whole post dedicated to answering any questions you might have.  

First of all, thank you to theKfam!!!  I posted this picture and said I had NO idea why the photographer told us to hold up our hands.  She filled me in.  It’s supposed to look like we’re holding the ball!  hahaha!  We clearly kind of made the picture a hot mess with ALL those people!  But I’m so glad you explained it.  I had no clue why we were supposed to do that!  haha!

What did you think about the Caribbean Beach Resort?
We wanted a “moderate” resort with a great pool.  We went in May and wanted the kiddos to be able to swim, so my travel agent suggested this resort for us.  It was perfect!  

Just FYI, (in case you didn’t know) Disney World has three different types of resorts…value, moderate, and deluxe.  The value resorts are the most affordable with prices going up to deluxe.  We chose the middle.  

On our next Disney trip (we’re thinking when B is 4 or 5), we might go to Disney in January or February.  If that’s the case, then a pool won’t be important to us.  When you’re choosing your resort, you must decide what’s the most important…price, pools, location, transportation and make your decision based on that info.

We really enjoyed the convenience of the monorail system.  It was quick!  So…next time we’ll skip the pool and we might be looking for a resort conveniently located on the monorail.

I had lots of questions about the stroller!!  
Did we take a stroller or rent?  Was it a pain on the buses?  Did all my kids use it?  Am I happy I took the double jogging stroller?
My stroller!  Here’s the long story behind my stroller.  I have a Phil and Ted’s jogging stroller that I NEVER used so I talked about selling that and purchasing a side-by-side double Bob Revolution stroller for the trip AND everyday life.  I was telling Shay about this idea and she offered up her stroller for my trip!  So…we borrowed her stroller and took it to Disney World! The thing I LOVE about the Revolution stroller is all three of my kiddos can fit.  Two kids sit in the back and then my big kiddos took turns sitting on the front.

We actually took two strollers.  We had the double jogging stroller AND we took a small umbrella stroller.  We wanted to have enough seats for all the kiddos.  But we never actually took the umbrella stroller to Disney World (we always left it in our room)because the double jogger could hold them all.  When I looked up the prices to rent a stroller, price-wise it seemed expensive to me.  For the price of renting one, you could almost purchase a new stroller!  I think the price for renting a double stroller is $25-$30 a day at DW.  If you’re there 6 days, then you just spent $150-$180 on renting a stroller.

There were a couple times at night that the kiddos would be asleep or almost asleep and we’d have to get them up to collapse the stroller to haul it on the bus.  Was that a pain?  Yes, for the 30 minutes it took to get to our resort, it was a pain.  But it was no more a pain than taking a light double umbrella stroller.  I would hold a kid or the bag and Tab would take care of the stroller on the bus.  That wasn’t a big deal.  

Yes, I’m SO happy we went with the big jogging stroller.  I don’t know if you’ve ever used one of those before, but it was so light.  Even pushing around 3 kiddos felt light.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone taking three small kiddos!!

What did your boys like/not like? 
(I had a couple boy moms ask about this.)
They liked it all!!  Because Nixon has an older sister, he knows all the princesses and he’s seen the movies.  So, he enjoyed going on The Little Mermaid ride and participating in Enchanted Tales with Belle.  If your boys have seen those movies, I think they’ll enjoy it too!  

You saw some of Nixon’s character dining experiences.  He was a little shy around the princesses!  (understatement of the year!  ha!)  He definitely preferred Mickey Mouse and his crew at a character meal, but they were all fun for them.

If you’re going to be at DW for a while (several nights), I’d definitely do a princess meal.  It’s Disney World.  Everything is fun there so I’m sure they’ll enjoy it!

Any tips for taking a baby?
Bowen was almost 18 months when we were there.  He really did great!  Did he fuss or cry?  Sure, every once in a while, because he’s a baby!  But overall he was awesome!  My mom was the snack packer!  She packed a bag full of snacks and we’d load up a fresh bag of snacks each day for the parks.  We had lots of snacks for him to eat.  And…I took a bag of Dum Dum suckers.  You know those little cheapo suckers?  It kept him happy and content in the stroller AND it helped him wait patiently at a sit down restaurant.


What were favorite rides/must for fast passes?
I should say before going I had NO clue what rides were popular, so it was hard to know what to book a fast pass for in advance!!  My friend, Amber, passed me some info another friend had researched.  I’ll share with you my kiddos favorites at each park.  These were our favorites…not everyone agrees I’m sure, but if you’re planning a trip soon maybe it will help you.


Magic Kingdom
Nixon-Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Ebby Lee-Peter Pan’s Flight (always had a long line-I’d get a fast pass)
Erika-Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid (I felt like I was five years old again!  ha!)
Tab-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Splash Mountain (he said it was a tie)
*I think they are HARD to get, but I somehow managed to get Anna and Elsa fast passes.  I’d highly recommend this if you’re going and your kiddo wants to see them.  The line was around a 270 minute wait when we were there.  With our pass, we were in and out of the line in less than 10 minutes.


Epcot
Nixon-The Seas with Nemo
Ebby Lee-Turtle Talk with Crush
Erika-Maelstrom (the ride in Norway)
Tab-Soarin’


Animal Kingdom
Nixon-Kilimanjaro Safari
Ebby Lee-Kali River Rapids
Erika-Expedition Everest
Tab-Expedition Everest


Hollywood Studios
Nixon-The Indiana Jones Stunt Show (can’t get fast passes for this, but he loved it!)
Ebby Lee-Disney Jr. Live Show (fast passes available)
Erika-Little Mermaid Show (clearly I’m a big fan of The Little Mermaid…ha!)
Tab-Toy Story Midway Mania


We LOVED the night show at Hollywood Studios.  The park shuts down at 8:30 and you can stay for the show or leave.  It was SO GOOD!  It’d be a MUST-SEE again for the Slaughters!


What did you bring for them to do on the plane?
I packed a small backpack for each kiddo.  The big kiddos had a blanket, a couple special toys, a Kindle Fire (E got hers from Santa and N got one for his birthday), a new coloring book, stickers, and a little tablet of paper.  Bowen’s bag had all his necessities…diapers, wipes, snacks, sippy cup, a few toys, and suckers.  The suckers were a lifesaver!



Again, I am not a Disney pro!!  But we just got back with three small kiddos and these were some things that worked for us.  Good luck on your next Disney trip!!


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Have a great weekend!!!

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7 Comments

  1. 6.6.14
    Mix and Match Mama said:

    You nailed all of the questions here! I am so happy your family had such a good time! I was really excited that you were all going!!

  2. 6.6.14
    Kimm Atwood said:

    Great post!!!

  3. 6.6.14
    Andrea - Momfessionals said:

    Such a great post!!! And LOVE that first pic!

  4. 6.6.14
    Unknown said:

    Thank you so much for the info. We are taking our three kids next summer and I almost sold our double BOB stroller, but I'm thinking maybe I should keep it.

  5. 6.7.14
    Unknown said:

    Thanks for the info!!! Sounds like everyone loved it 🙂

  6. 6.9.14
    Kara said:

    Great advice! Thanks for texting me back all the answers to my questions. I may be calling you again next year when it gets closer to us going!

  7. 6.11.14
    theKfam said:

    We're in Disney right now for our 2nd time, and yesterday we took that Epcot picture where the photographer told us to hold up our hands, and I thought of you while we were doing it! Haha!! Made me smile even bigger! It is weird if they don't explain it to you! I'm sure our pic will look crazy too with our 12 people in it! You have a precious family and I love your blog!