Most families who visit Walt Disney World nowadays put a lot of thought and planning into their vacation, from scrutinizing wait times for rides, to meticulously plotting a strategy to tackle each park, and even choosing what they‘ll order at each restaurant. These are just a few of the insane measures that I’ve undertaken to plan my family’s second visit to WDW this October. I actually have a binder full of information that I call my “Disney Bible.” Call me crazy, but I learned my lesson two years ago when I decided to take my husband, my 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son on their first trip to Disney (in June, of course – HUGE mistake!).
Our trip was riddled with epic fails (mainly due to the oppressive heat and my novice itinerary) but despite it all, we had an amazing vacation that provided many opportunities for us to bond and just plain have fun with our kids. Some of the greatest experiences we had were totally unexpected and not where you’d think they’d occur. Here are 6 things that forced us to shift away from “the plan” and just enjoy the moment:
Frontierland Hoedown – This is a random event in Frontierland and I had no idea it even existed until we happened to be walking by when it began. At the time, we were bickering about where we were going and suddenly my kids were being drawn into the show by a lovely female cast member and Horace Horsecollar (!). My husband and I shut our traps, grabbed the cameras, and captured a great impromptu show with our children as unsuspecting performers. Seeing my kids let loose and do the Hokey Pokey in the middle of Frontierland made our day and relieved a lot of stress.
Rainforest Café lizards – No trip to Walt Disney World would be complete without rain, right? I’ve been told the one thing you can count on during the summer in Orlando is a daily rain shower. We were at Animal Kingdom, getting ready to head back into the park after lunch at Rainforest Café when it began to pour. On the park-side entrance to the restaurant, there are big mushrooms to stand under, so we decided to take cover there. After a few minutes the rain began to let up, and my kids discovered that we were surrounded by little lizards! We wound up staying in this area for nearly half an hour watching our kids search for the little guys in the foliage and were able to take some pretty funny pictures.
Jumping Fountain at Downtown Disney – If you’re not fussy about your kids getting wet and it’s warm enough, let them play in the jumping fountain at Downtown Disney. We were hot and tired, sick of being in the crowded stores and were headed to the buses when we saw a group of kids running through the water. I wasn’t allowed to do this when I visited with my parents as a child, so of course I had to let my kids do it! As I stood there taking pictures of them getting soaked, it hit me that this was childhood in its purest form, carefree and just plain FUN.
Dream Along With Mickey Parade – One of the things that most families plan to see when they go to Magic Kingdom is the afternoon parade, which provides a nice break – if you can find a decent spot, that is. We had a lunch reservation at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant and I figured it would be close to parade time when we finished eating. The plan was to find a place on Main Street to view it, but after our meal we were pleasantly surprised to find the corner by the Confectionery was practically empty. So we plopped down on the curb and within minutes we could hear the music drifting down the street and the anticipation was palpable. This turned out to be a great spot – not only were my kids able to high-five and shake hands with DOZENS of characters and see the floats up close, the doors of the Confectionery provided us with gusts of wonderful cold air on one of the hottest days of our trip! We’re so glad we got to see this parade before it was replaced by Festival of Fantasy. 🙂
Unplanned Character Meet and Greets – I know, I know, they have character schedules available and we grabbed them, really we did! But we found out that it was more fun if we “stumbled upon” characters, rather than waiting in line for 30 minutes for them to show up. We met Buzz by chance after riding Space Ranger Spin, Woody and Jessie appeared just as we got off the train in Frontierland and the kids posed with Goofy and Pluto in Dinoland, U.S.A., just to name a few. Anybody we missed and didn’t meet at character meals are on our list for the next trip!
Tinker Bell’s Flight – This was something I had read about and was fortunate to find a spot along a path by the Rose Garden right under the zip-line. I did not share this information with my children since I wanted them to be surprised when Tink made her appearance. My son unfortunately fell asleep before the castle projection show, so he missed everything, including the fireworks. My daughter, on the other hand, was ecstatic when we pointed up at the sky and Tinker Bell, with her lighted wings and wand, flew over our heads. Fortunately we caught everything on video to show my son the next day. My son also proved to me that you can only plan your trip to an extent – kids have their own agendas!
Napping during lunch at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot
My advice to parents is to plan as much as you can, as far ahead as you can. But keep in mind that although you will undoubtedly have hiccups in your plans, the most memorable experiences happen when you least expect them.
