Most of teaching elementary is showing them how to be people. How to not interrupt others when they're talking, how to be kind to others, how to tie your shoes... It's pretty exhausting and it was pretty eye opening to realize that
Disney World (Orlando) for people with young children who aren't millionaires
Tickets, Meals, Hotels, Rides and more below the cut
Tickets: Tickets are generally around $100/day. Ages 3 - 9 pay a reduced price, ages 10 & up all pay the same price. Which means your ten year old costs the same as an adult and your infant, one- year-old, and two-year-old are free. We've timed it so our youngest at the time is an older 2, and that works out well. They are old enough to enjoy everything but get in for free.
You can check prices on the Disney website
Sometimes they have deals, like four days for the price of three days. There are also non-peak day prices which are great because they are slightly cheaper and also because they expect less people on those days, so it will hopefully be less crowded.
A Park Hopper ticket (where you can go to multiple parks in one day) costs extra and I don't think it makes sense for people with young kids. Arriving and departing are such hassles that it was easier to go to one park and spend the whole day there, then do a new park the following day. There is plenty to keep you busy at each park for a whole day.
Meals: You can bring in any food and drinks you want. You can use coolers but no actual ice, just ice packs. The lines for meals are so long and the prices are so expensive that we saved a lot of time and money by packing tons of snacks, drinks, and two meals. Eating especially saved the day while waiting for the parade or an outside performance to start.
Out of four days in the park, we ate one sit down meal at a restaurant - Akershus in Epcot. It was crazy expensive but it was nice to sit down for a bit. The kid menu is one fixed price and the adult menu is a higher fixed price. They let us order a meal for the two-year-old for no charge, which I think is standard, I don't think we got away with something. Character meals like that are a nice way to take pictures without having to find them out in the parks or wait in lines. One picture is posed with a Memory Maker photographer on the way in, and the rest are ones you take on your own when the princesses come to your table. We called this meal our four year old's birthday party and then the price was easier to live with.
If you do want to eat a meal in the park, make reservations. You can do this on the My Disney Experience App 180 days in advance. You hold it with a credit card and as long as you cancel by midnight the day before, you aren't charged. I didn't know about the 180 day thing, and was able to get a reservation 30 days in advance, albeit for a weird time (lunch at 3:30). The app makes it very easy to search for times so depending on how obsessive you get (a lot, you're reading this), you'll probably find something! If you have a large group, try splitting it up. We were able to get a group of 3 and a group of 8 instead of a group of 11.
Memory Maker Photo Pass:This is $169 if you buy it in advance or $199 if you buy it after you get there. It allows you to download every picture that any Memory Maker photographer takes of you in the parks, any ride pictures that you want, and you can also do some photos in a portrait studio in Disney Springs. I think this is only worth it if you want to meet a lot of characters. Otherwise, the lines to take pictures slow you down from getting to rides.
Hotels: Staying in a Disney hotel gives you free transportation to the parks (instead of paying $25/day to park at them) and sometimes additional hours in them (called Extra Magic Hours). But. It is so much money.
There are affordable Disney hotels, but they are far from the parks and you'll spend time waiting on the bus and riding the bus. For $200/night at a Disney hotel you are all going to be in one room, so you and your kids get to hear each other snore all night long.
There are so many non-Disney hotels with great deals and lots of room that are within 15 minutes of driving. The hotel we stayed at had a three bedroom suite with a full kitchen, amazing pool, and was less than $200/night.
Strollers: Bring them. They make things easier. You can put your food and your kids and the changes of clothes and diapers they will need in them so you don't have to carry it all around on your back. There is lots of stroller parking everywhere, and don't be surprised if your stroller gets moved when you leave it there. There are cast members whose job it is to continually re-park the strollers to maximize space. It's amazing, really. Using a stroller does mean that the parking lot tram won't really be helpful for you unless you can easily collapse it and get all of your stuff out of it quickly.
Also a note on walking - if you're from a city, you will be super annoyed at how people walk in the parks. They don't know what they're doing, they don't stay on the right hand side, they stop in the middle of the street to take pictures, the abruptly change course. Be fine with it. It's their vacation too. At least, that's what I kept telling myself over and over.
Getting In The Parks: We drove to the parks each day because it felt easier to transport four children and two double strollers and we had driven to Florida anyway. Most hotels, even non-Disney ones, have shuttles if you prefer not to park and pay the fee.
For Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot you park in a lot right there and can walk in or take a tram to the front. Getting in and out is pretty easy.
For Magic Kingdom, you park in a lot at the Transportation Center and then take a monorail or a ferry boat to the park entrance. Give yourself about an hour for this coming, and two hours for this leaving. Especially if you're leaving in a crush of people after fireworks or closing time.
Buy your tickets in advance so you can do fast past options a month ahead of time, and then the ticket booth is one line you can skip. You'll have to go through security where all the bags will be checked and then the ticket scanners line. Help your kids remember which finger they used to match their scan! We had cards to scan, some people had magic bands.
Fast Passes & Rides:You can get three fast passes in advance for each day at one park. If you are staying on a Disney property, you can do this 60 days in advance. If you aren't, you can do it 30 days in advance. I think choosing fast pass times midday are best - if you go to the park the first thing in the morning, you can usually ride for a while without standing in lines that are too long. But by 11 am or so, start using fast passes. Once you use your third pass (like, the minute after it's scanned) you can go on the My Disney Experience app and choose a new one. Keep refreshing, different stuff pops up all the time. I think it's better to use them for rides than for shows since you are likely to get in to the show even without a pass.
At Magic Kingdom, there are places to go that don't have lines and seem to stay uncrowded, like the splash area by the Dumbo rides, Tom Sawyer's island, and the train around the park. The My Disney Experience app has a map of each park with wait times for each ride, and walking directions to the ride. Check it to see what is nearby and open.
Children under 7 have to ride with a someone 14 or older. Check out the ride requirements before you go so your kids will know what they can and can't ride:
You Know What You're DoingJust like any day with kids, have more food, more diapers, and more clothes than you think you're going to need. And sunscreen. Make a budget so you're not surprised by how much it costs. Be willing to leave early if the kids are tired. There are cast members everywhere who are happy to give directions and clarify rules. Ask for help, and then remember their name and send a cast compliment to [email protected]
