I've seen many posts about how to plan the best vacation and I just wanted to touch base on keeping your sanity. I know that some of these tips are going to turn heads in some way because they will go against some of the advice other bloggers put out there. These are things that we have discovered over the course of eight back to back years of two trips a year. Some of the advice you will probably have seen somewhere else and I'm just repeating it because it works for us as well. So let's get on with this!
1. You know I'm always seeing things about how you should have a schedule for your day at the parks and while that seems like a great idea, in theory, I think a schedule is where your sanity starts to slip away. I'm going to tell you right now straight out the gate that nothing will go according to that perfectly crafted down to the minute schedule that you have probably taken so many hours perfecting. There are things like rain to take into account that happens and those can ruin a good schedule especially if lightning has come into play. So what am I saying for this first tip? Go with the flow! You weren't planning to ride Winnie the Pooh until this afternoon you get in front of it and it has a ten-minute wait?!? Go hop on that ride. Go with the flow I promise that this will help keep your sanity. We've done gone with the flow and it works so much better for us unlike trying to schedule things.
2. Speaking of rain, don't let rain interrupt your day. If you wake up and it's already raining don those ponchos that you've packed and go to the parks anyways. Why should a little rain ruin your vacation? Did it probably ruin your schedule more than likely it did but go with the flow and don't let rain ruin something for you. If it is lightning keep in mind that rides that are outside will be shut down but your shows and rides that take place inside are going to be still functioning. On top of that honestly, there are a lot of people there who are not big fans of the rain and will go back to the hotel or stay in the hotel until the rain slacks off or stops altogether. It's Florida. It rains daily. Again this is a go with the flow type of situation.
3. If you have children and they see a character that doesn't have a short line go for it. Remember you are going with the flow and you may not see that character again or if you do they may have a really long line. *I do support using a FastPass for characters that have extremely long wait times.* Plus it may help with the inevitable meltdown that is sure to follow if they don't get to go see that character. Remember they should be helping with the things that you are doing. A good example I have is back before the refurbishment of The Grand Fiesta Tour in the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot. My little one loves that ride. Absolutely loves it. I would like to say borderline obsessed with the ride. He wanted to ride it over and over and over again. Was that what was in our plans for the day absolutely not. We had planned to ride it once... not ten times. Yet for him, we did so and eventually, the cast members just told us to stay on the boat because there was no line. We went with the flow and eventually, we told him we had to get off the ride because there was still so much more to do and we did go back later to ride it a few more times.
4. If you notice that your little one is about to have a meltdown pull them off to one side. Get down to the level and talk to them. Meltdowns happen no matter how hard you try to keep them from happening. I cannot tell you how many parents I have seen who when their child has a meltdown they stand in the middle of a busy area and end up yelling at their child because they are having a meltdown in the middle of the park. Yes, meltdowns start making your sanity slip a little and you get frustrated. However, I have discovered with our little ones when I notice they are about to have a meltdown because it's sensory overload the first day or two we pull them off to the side and we kneel down to their eye level and just talk to them. We find out what is wrong and try to fix it and we can usually avoid the meltdown altogether. Honestly, it could be something as simple as they are hungry and want to stop for a snack. If you can avoid their meltdowns then odds are you will be able to keep from having your sanity slip away from you.
5. Take a mid-day break. I used to believe that we didn't need the mid-day break. However, we've discovered that we occasionally need that mid-day break. If we have done all of our fast passes and we have already hit our dining reservation then we go back to the hotel for a break and maybe even a quick swim.
These are just 5 tips for keeping your sanity while you are at Disney. I am in no way an expert on how to keep your sanity while there. These are just some tricks that we have discovered work best for us. If there are some tips or tricks that your family does let me know about them in the comments and if I ever do another post about keeping your sanity at Disney I may include your tip too!
1. You know I'm always seeing things about how you should have a schedule for your day at the parks and while that seems like a great idea, in theory, I think a schedule is where your sanity starts to slip away. I'm going to tell you right now straight out the gate that nothing will go according to that perfectly crafted down to the minute schedule that you have probably taken so many hours perfecting. There are things like rain to take into account that happens and those can ruin a good schedule especially if lightning has come into play. So what am I saying for this first tip? Go with the flow! You weren't planning to ride Winnie the Pooh until this afternoon you get in front of it and it has a ten-minute wait?!? Go hop on that ride. Go with the flow I promise that this will help keep your sanity. We've done gone with the flow and it works so much better for us unlike trying to schedule things.
2. Speaking of rain, don't let rain interrupt your day. If you wake up and it's already raining don those ponchos that you've packed and go to the parks anyways. Why should a little rain ruin your vacation? Did it probably ruin your schedule more than likely it did but go with the flow and don't let rain ruin something for you. If it is lightning keep in mind that rides that are outside will be shut down but your shows and rides that take place inside are going to be still functioning. On top of that honestly, there are a lot of people there who are not big fans of the rain and will go back to the hotel or stay in the hotel until the rain slacks off or stops altogether. It's Florida. It rains daily. Again this is a go with the flow type of situation.
3. If you have children and they see a character that doesn't have a short line go for it. Remember you are going with the flow and you may not see that character again or if you do they may have a really long line. *I do support using a FastPass for characters that have extremely long wait times.* Plus it may help with the inevitable meltdown that is sure to follow if they don't get to go see that character. Remember they should be helping with the things that you are doing. A good example I have is back before the refurbishment of The Grand Fiesta Tour in the Mexico Pavilion in Epcot. My little one loves that ride. Absolutely loves it. I would like to say borderline obsessed with the ride. He wanted to ride it over and over and over again. Was that what was in our plans for the day absolutely not. We had planned to ride it once... not ten times. Yet for him, we did so and eventually, the cast members just told us to stay on the boat because there was no line. We went with the flow and eventually, we told him we had to get off the ride because there was still so much more to do and we did go back later to ride it a few more times.
4. If you notice that your little one is about to have a meltdown pull them off to one side. Get down to the level and talk to them. Meltdowns happen no matter how hard you try to keep them from happening. I cannot tell you how many parents I have seen who when their child has a meltdown they stand in the middle of a busy area and end up yelling at their child because they are having a meltdown in the middle of the park. Yes, meltdowns start making your sanity slip a little and you get frustrated. However, I have discovered with our little ones when I notice they are about to have a meltdown because it's sensory overload the first day or two we pull them off to the side and we kneel down to their eye level and just talk to them. We find out what is wrong and try to fix it and we can usually avoid the meltdown altogether. Honestly, it could be something as simple as they are hungry and want to stop for a snack. If you can avoid their meltdowns then odds are you will be able to keep from having your sanity slip away from you.
5. Take a mid-day break. I used to believe that we didn't need the mid-day break. However, we've discovered that we occasionally need that mid-day break. If we have done all of our fast passes and we have already hit our dining reservation then we go back to the hotel for a break and maybe even a quick swim.
These are just 5 tips for keeping your sanity while you are at Disney. I am in no way an expert on how to keep your sanity while there. These are just some tricks that we have discovered work best for us. If there are some tips or tricks that your family does let me know about them in the comments and if I ever do another post about keeping your sanity at Disney I may include your tip too!
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