Dear Alisha,
I am going on a trip to Disneyland for four days with my in-laws next week. I am 4 months pregnant and I have a 21 month old. Do you have any advice for:
1- Dressing right for California Winter weather.
2- Maximizing fun and minimizing stress.
3- Coming home rested and relaxed.
4- Not wanting to kill my in-laws by the end of the trip.
I can't wait to hear what you have to say! (Before next Tuesday!)
Princess Arora
Dear Arora,
Okay, okay, I'll get this question in before you leave.
That you would ask travel advice from me is funny. Maybe you don't know me, but I am a terrible traveler. The worst. So maybe I am someone to ask advice from?
My two older boys, husband, and mother-in-law went to Disneyland this past summer. They loved it. I stayed home with our 1 year old because I thought I would spend all my time standing outside of rides with him in the heat. The weather turned out to be perfect (67 in August!) and most rides at Disneyland are young kid friendly. When you can't take a young kid on a ride, they give you a front of the line pass so you can go on it after the rest of your family does.
I'll tell you what little I know:
1)Dress in layers. Prepare for both warm weather and rain.
2)I don't know. Even driving on vacation is stressful to me. Keep it simple and don't try to over do it.
3) As a kid I loved Disneyland but also never could recall my legs and feet throbbing like they did at the end of a long day there. Don't try to beat every last minute of fun into your kids. Be realistic- you will probably come home tired and worn with loads of laundry and good memories.
4) I think your in-laws will be an asset. Lean on them to take the kids whenever possible. Don't try to do it all yourself. Let them feel like they were both needed and enjoyed.
Okay Readers, "it's your turn to shine", this is not my cup of tea, please give Princess Arora good advice!
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As huge Disney fans, and having just traveled with a 19 month old to WDW this past fall, I have lots of advise, but will limit myself to a few items here. (1) Alisha is correct in saying dress in layers. Also for your little one, bring at least two extra outfits each day. One day we went through three outfits and went back to our room in a diaper and shirt we purchased there. (2) To maximize fun and minimize stress, take it slow. Do not think you have to do everything. Our daughter loved the characters (she thought they were huge stuffed animals) and we did that for a portion each day. Find what they like, and don’t feel bad about missing things. It will probably not be the last time you go. Also, take breaks and go back to the room each day to nap. You and your little one will both feel better and have more fun. (3) Plan your days! We use to like to just go where our whims took us, but with a little one, we were better if we knew where we were planning to go. Face the fact that you may spend an entire day in just Fantasy Land and Toon Town. We knew that taking a toddler was going to slow us down, but we didn’t realize just how much. There are play areas around the parks for little ones, and it is a good break. (4) Allow yourselves to go off on your own without the rest of the family. In fact, use your in-laws to take time with your little one and enjoy some alone time with your Honey. Go shopping, or have a nice lunch alone. Just because you are on a trip with family does not mean you have to spend all your time with them. Not only will you enjoy some alone time, but they probably will as well. We went on a extended Family trip to WDW, and spent almost all our time together. After getting home, everyone admitted that they would have liked to break up a little more. So put it in your plan.
Also, do some research. The WDW site has a Mom’s Panel that has lots of advise. Disneyland is different, but very similar. Here is the link: http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/home.aspx
"After reading Dear Princess Arora.. tell that princess stay home with her feet up.. Preg. and 21 month how can you truly enjoy disneyland with out over doing it.. Being pregnant you can't even go on rides...the best part of disneyland is doing the rides and long days with your kids... Go to the beach instead.....lol ( Ps the book still is a great resource for anyone...)"
(1) I agree with Heidi on this one: don't feel like you have to do everything. You're there to have fun, not stress out over whether you got to ride the flying elephants. If you feel like napping, change your schedule and take a nap rather than push yourself to see and do a checklist full of things, which you'd end up having a miserable time doing with a tired whiny toddler.
(2) Eat at least one good/healthy meal every day and pack healthy snacks. Aside from my sleep schedule, the one thing that makes me feel blah when traveling is a change in diet. I'm used to eating fruits and vegetables, so are my kids, and we really notice our bodies starting to drag if we have to eat chicken nuggets and pizza for meals in a row. When we last toured Disney with our kids, we reserved a table at one nice (meaning full-service with decent food on the menu) restaurant every day, usually for lunch. If my kids were having a good day, I could even squeeze a good dinner out of them too. We used the room fridge to keep milk and juice boxes, string cheese, grapes, etc. to pack as snacks during the day or at bedtime.
(3)Decide what is sacred and stick to it. For us, this is nap time, bed time, and eating routines. I don't know anything about your relationship with your in-laws, but as long as my in-laws respect my mothering decisions with these two issues, I can deal with them doing things differently for most everything else.
(4) Go to bed at the same time as your child, or shortly thereafter. If your in-laws want to stay up talking, play the prego card or whatever you need to do to make sure you get adequate rest.
I don't know what type of in-laws you have, but I'd cross your fingers for a good balance of helping each other out. If you're lucky, you have the doting grandparents who gobble up every second of grandkid time they can. In this case, praise the Lord and let them! If your in-laws aren't so comfortable with little kids, remember that you're the parent, so you can't expect your in-laws to take care of your toddler full-time. Plus your non-prego in-laws may want to ride some grown up rides. But perhaps you can ask them to take your toddler for a grandparent/grandchild morning one day so you can do things with your hubby.
Good luck! Have fun! We want a full report when you get back.
Thanks ladies! You have been very helpful. I am also a horrible traveler, Alisha. Thanks for giving your input anyway!
Tomorrow is the day! I went on the Disneyland website and looked at most of the rides. You would not believe how many I can still ride, DeAnna! Not to mention the parades every day and the shows for little ones in California Adventure.
I took your advice and went to Target for some clothes that I can layer. (See. Horrible travelers don't think about that stuff.) I also have some broken in tennis shoes that are very comfortable. I've been worried about the aching, throbbing legs, Alisha. I have no doubt that I will be exhausted after every day, but I'm glad we're going. (Even if that means no roller coasters for me.) I just can't wait to see my little boy's face when he goes on Finding Nemo or takes his first spin in the teacups!
Thanks again!
No rain in "Aurora's" forecast for her trip this week. If she had traveled over this past weekend she would have been more comfortable in a bathing suit at DL!!! 80° at Laguna means 90°+ in Anaheim.
I agree with all those who wrote in and hopefully she's packed an umbrella stroller at least (our double stroller is THE thing to bring though), cause it's a) a bed on wheels, b) a bag/jacket/anything-you-can-think-of holder and c) an anti child theft protecter (there is an Amber alert posted on the freeways almost on an hourly basis down there, so you just have to keep your guard up—unfortunately).
Also, hopefully she read on the website that any outside food and drinks (even water) CANNOT be taken in to the park (they check bags), but can be put in a locker outside the park gates. The only thing with that is then you need to be sure to bring ice packs, unless you don't mind your food heating up from the metal lockers in the sun.
I can't imagine how they couldn't get through the entire park a couple times over with at least 2–3 days touring (DL is just not as big as DW).
We took Camryn and Colin when Camo was 4 1/2 yrs and Colin was 3 1/2 mos for just the day (opening to closing) while we were back home and we got to enjoy just about everything. We even got Camo on Star Tours—she LOVES roller coasters.
Bummer I didn't see this before she left, cause I'd have LOTS of suggestions for places to eat (particularly OUTSIDE of DL) in the area. You can do DL really cheap and I shake my head when I hear how much people spend there—NOT NECESSARY AT ALL (did I emphasis that enough?).
For all those who are thinking about traveling to DL—the key is to have friends/family/family of friends down there buy your tickets under the Southern California Residence discounted rate. . . OOOOOR you can have a friend in Oregon who still has her CA license (and will probably NEVER give it up) to buy them. . . OOOOOR there are some connections down there with, well, interesting characters for tickets as low as $50 a day. Disney has such a ridiculous mark up on their prices for EVERYTHING under the Disney brand, that finding a steal never makes me feel like I'm cheating them.
Hope she has an awesome time and really, I don't know ANY trip that you feel rested after you return home—I think that's a lofty goal ;-D
Sorry for the dupe comment—I deleted it, since there is no sense in anyone being forced to read through my ridiculously long comment a second time.
Wear comfortable shoes. As a shoe lover (and heel lover) this was hard, but it is absolutely necessary. There are some cute tennies out there. (some, but few). Ballet flats do not have enough support.
We are about to head out of town, so I got to read your tips, Rhodes Trip. Thanks! My brother-in-law is in the military and we bought three day hopper passes for $99 each. Can't beat that! Luckily, this is our Christmas preset from our in-laws, so we're not planning on shelling out any big bucks (unless it involved Churros. So worth it.)
I was at D-land two years ago, and they let me bring water and snacks in. And they def saw it. I wonder if it depends on the person searching your bags...?
Anyway, thanks for the tips! I'm exhausted from packing already, but a good night's rest and I'll be ready to hit the pavement in the morning.
Man, I can't believe how helpful everyone having a cell phone is. Make sure you charge it all the way up every night or morning before you go. Then if you get separated, you can find each other again!
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