How to Get Ready for a Trip to Disney World

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

23 May 2007 06:53 AM

We talk a lot about booking our vacations to Disney World and what we're going to do when you get there, but did you know you needed to start your prep work for your vacation a few weeks ahead of time. This is important, especially if you have little kids. Our daughter was 4 on her first trip to Disney World and despite her boundless energy and her desire to avoid a stroller, by day 3 - her legs were killing her and it was hard for her to keep up.

How to Get Ready To Go

Decide on a schedule for yourselves ahead of time and set the limits ahead of time. For example, we told our daughter she could get one stuffed animal, but she should wait until she'd seen all of the parks before she picked out the one she wanted.

It's important to remember that there are always going to be things you can't plan for and so you need to be prepared for a little flexibility. As a part of getting ready for your trip, you should spend about six weeks walking regularly, every day. Get yourselves up to at least an hour of walking per day. Trust me, this is important. You need to build up your endurance. Be sure every member of the family has comfortable walking shoes.

My daughter preferred sandals, but sandals can actually rub in certain areas on your feet so make sure they are not too tight or likely to rub. Walking shoes or tennis shoes are often best because they provide you with cushioning for the bottom of your feet and at the end of the day, your arches, heels and balls of your feet will thank you.

What to Discuss Ahead of Time

Be sure you decide on any specific character meals you want to have ahead of time because most of those places require reservations. Don't necessarily shoot for a reservation during a specific mealtime. For example, lunches are best around 1 and dinners are great at 5 or 7.

• Make breakfast and wake up plans for the trip before you get there, we planned to be up by 7 most days and eat breakfast in our room. It was a little more expensive, but eating a solid meal, drinking OJ and taking our vitamins before we hit the parks saved us from exhaustion, nausea and other maladies associated with hunger when we got to the parks
• Departure times were decided on before we even got there, that may sound weird but it gave us a flexible window to work with and unless we were staying for fireworks, we could be back to our rooms by 8, shower and relax before hitting the hay
• Plan for what to do if you get separated from each other and prep your kids on what happens if they become lost and how they should handle it

The most important thing to remember is that there is so much to see and do at every single park. You won't enjoy them if you're falling down exhausted, so do your homework and your prep before you get there so once you're at Disney World, you can focus on enjoying yourselves.

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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