In 2013 I was a cast member at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin in the Magic Kingdom. Although it wasn’t an everyday occurrence, every once in a while a child would approach me explaining that they lost their parents. Obviously this is a tense situation, as the child is extremely scared. Fortunately, in every case I dealt with the parents quickly found me with their child before I had to call security. Even still, these experiences were tense, and I am writing this so that as few parents, and more importantly children, have to experience that panicky feeling on their vacation as possible.
Before you even get to the Disney Parks, prepare your family by talking to your kids at home about your upcoming vacation. Let them know that while both places are extremely fun to explore, that it is important to stay together. There is a lot to see and do in the Disney Parks, and it is easy for kids to get distracted. So stress the importance of sticking together as a family before you even start your vacation.
For a long time I mocked the idea of a family wearing matching t-shirts. It looks extremely silly, but I’ll tell you it is a great way to keep everyone together. Picking a unique color that will stick out in a crowd is extremely helpful in making sure your children don’t slip away. If you are worried about keeping everyone together, it is worth sacrificing what looks “cool” for something that will keep everyone safe.
The first thing you want to do when you get to the parks is create a plan as a family. Without making them panic, calmly let them know what to do if they get separated from you at any point in the day. Tell your children to immediate look around for their mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, etc. and if they don’t see you, then they should find a cast member as quickly as possible. Assure them that if they do that everything will be okay.
Take a family picture in the front of the park at the beginning of the day. Not only do you have a family photo to remember your vacation by, but you also have a picture of your loved ones in case any of them go missing. I know this sounds bleak, but you’ll be happy you have it if anything goes wrong.
Be aware of the crowds. Most of the time it is easy to keep track of everyone, but at certain times of the day at a Disney Park the crowds can become a tidal wave of people that small children can get lost in if they don’t stay close by mom and dad. For example, immediately following a parade there is a rush of people that will follow directly behind the parade, and if you don’t keep tabs on everyone this is an example of when you might lose track of each other.
Personally I don’t like the idea of making a meeting spot if you are a family with small children. The reason for that is, the four theme parks are all too big for that to be a good strategy. If your family gets separated half way across the park from the meeting spot then you are expecting your small children to navigate through an extremely crowded theme park by themselves, which just isn’t a good idea.
These are just some simple tips, so I hope this helps. If you have any tips that you and your family use to stick together, leave them in the comments below, or on Facebook!
