Disney with Babies and Toddlers

When parents with babies and toddlers approach me about the “best age” to visit Walt Disney World, my first response is always, “NOW!”

There is a huge misconception that traveling to Disney with little ones is stressful on the entire family. I have been helping families with babies, toddlers and young children plan Disney vacations for years. Not once have I ever had a family call me to say that they wish they would have waited.  Their response is always the same, “I am so glad we didn’t wait. This was our best vacation ever.”

Having traveled to Disney with babies and toddlers more times than I can count, there are few tricks of the trade.

Have a game plan each morning. Grab a map and times guide for the park you will be visiting. Most Disney rides and attractions do not have height requirements. Plan kiddie shows and rides during your child’s happy and awake times, then when baby sleeps, Mom and Dad can take advantage of the grown up rides. You won’t have to stand in line twice with Disney’s Parent Swap System. One parent waits with the baby while the other rides the attraction. When that parent exits and takes over childcare duties, the other parent is allowed to walk right up and enter the attraction.

Know your child’s limits. If meeting characters could cause a potential breakdown, skip it until later in the day. Always start the morning with a positive experience. It sets the pace for the rest of the day.

Try to keep feeding and nap schedules as close to the same times that they are accustomed to at home. If dinner is usually served at 6pm at home, don’t schedule a character dinner for 8:30pm.

Stick to your schedule, but be flexible and follow your child’s cues. No one knows your child like you do.

From newborn to toddler to teenager, Disney is for everyone. A few simple planning strategies can make a magical vacation smooth sailing for Mom and Dad.  With their Baby Care Centers and Parent Swap System in the theme parks to in-room childcare, Disney has made it possible for everyone in the family to enjoy all of the magic that is Disney.

Contact us today to learn how you can experience the thrill of Disney with babies and toddlers and for all our other FREE Disney vacation planning tips and services!

Stacy Conrad
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner
MickeyTravels, LLC
1-337-849-3937
stacy@mickeytravels.com
www.mickeytravels.com
www.facebook.com/mickeytravelsstacyconrad

DISNEY PIN TRADING

Whether you’re new to Disney or a mouse-eared veteran, you’ve probably heard (or seen) the pins that visitors to the parks wear proudly on lanyards around their necks. You’ll spot them on Cast Members, too, and it’s okay to ask about them…as a matter of fact, it’s encouraged!  Let’s talk about Disney Pin Trading!

Disney Pin trading began with Disney’s Millennium Celebration back in October of 1999 and as of this writing, thousands of designs exist. THOUSANDS! You can’t enter a gift shop on property without spotting a display of them, and they’re available in pretty much any Disney character, attraction or milestone imaginable.

I should warn you: Disney pin trading and collecting is addictive! We started off with some favorite characters, but once we discovered how much was out there we were all HOOKED. My boys have huge collections: James is a Stitch disciple; Austin has two lanyards, one for his favorite rides and the other strictly for Star Wars related pins. They love pin trading in the parks, but once they’re home they display them on plain black canvases we purchased at JoAnn Fabrics. They’re a sort of growing souvenir of our family trips, and I know the boys love that they’re completely unique and ever changing. I keep my favorites on a board over my MickeyTravels desk with my own most treasured pins: a peace sign Mickey head, Cinderella’s carriage, the Grape Soda bottle cap from UP my husband gave me on our most recent trip, and of course more than one Mickey: as Steamboat Willie, in his full-color glory, and Mickey wearing a Santa hat.

One of my favorite parts of this kind of souvenir is that no two will ever be alike…each month Disney issues new pins and retires old ones so that there are a constantly changing variety of them.  So if you see a collection you love, well, you should probably snap it up because next time you visit one of the parks it might be gone.  Then again, you can make the collection by trading.  Sure, it’ll take a while, but isn’t that half the fun?

Getting started with Disney pin trading is simple: you can check out the Disney Store online for current editions and order a starter set. If you’re lucky enough to be in the parks, you can grab a few in the nearest gift shop. Be sure to get a lanyard too; you’ll want it to display your favorites. And then you trade! With other resort guests, with Cast Members working anywhere on Disney grounds, you name it! Simply approach the cast member and say, “I’d like to trade.” Be sure to offer one they’re not already wearing and offer your pin first, with the back intact. They give you the one you selected, and just like that, you’re a pin trader!

One note: be sure that you’re trading for authentic Disney pins. You can do this by checking the back stamp: it will classify the manufacturing date, whether or not it’s a limited editon or series, and the official Disney mouse-ear logo.

For some real excitement, be sure to stop in at Pin Central in EPCOT or Pin Traders at Downtown Disney…they’ve got amazing assortments of pins to purchase, in addition to trading boards and usually a pin trader or two. Let’s get started with your Disney pin trading!  Have fun and happy trading!

Contact us today to learn how you can experience the thrill of Disney Pin Trading and for all our other FREE Disney vacation planning tips and services!

Nicole Courson
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner
MickeyTravels, LLC
(412)735-6131
ncourson@mickeytravels.com

Making Magic One Vacation at a Time…

Disney Space Mountain

”This is flight safety!”

Reaching for the stars is what we all dream of everyday and thanks to the Disney magic, we are able to travel to the final frontiers on Space Mountain!  Did you know that each Disney theme park around the world has a Space Mountain?

Space Mountain opened first in the Magic Kingdom on January 15, 1975 and it became the first indoor dark roller coaster.  The Space Mountain ride technology had been advancing during that time to allow Disney Imagineers to experiment with cutting-edge ideas to give Disney fans new thrills!  This attraction has also undergone major makeovers in every of the Disney theme parks!

A few of these notable changes are new projections of stars and other cosmos, tunnel and queue line upgrades.  Most notably, the Space Mountains at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris have also had refurbishments done on them like their U.S. Disney counterparts.  Tokyo Disneyland’s received an upgrade on its very own space ship which is very different from the other Space Mountains.  This unique space ship has a ”power charger” that is used to give power to the space craft.  On the side of the space ship, waves of green/blue colors surround inside a window.  Both the power charger and the side window special effects seem to complement each other giving guests the feeling that they are in a futuristic space age.

Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris also got a huge makeover done that it was renamed Space Mountain: Mission 2.  The goal of this ”mission” is to send space travelers to the deepest reaches of space (a.k.a. a supernova!)!  Hong Kong Disneyland’s Space is the only Space not to have a space ship unlike the other four.  Instead its loading area is filled with brightly lit planets hanging from the ceiling.

Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom was the last to receive a refurbishment.  The queue line has been changed and now features games that the guests can play.  Recently, the ride was able to incorporate a soundtrack that guests can hear from speakers that are placed throughout the ride.  On July 17, 2005, Space Mountain at Disneyland reopened to the public just in time for the 50^th anniversary.  The queue had been remodeled, the track had been replaced, and new rockets and star projections were installed, getting the attraction ready for its re-launch.  These major changes to all the Space Mountains makes us create new memories with our families and friends while keeping the old thrill alive in us.  As we reach those stars, Space Mountain will always be for us that classic attraction and we share that magic of going to the moon with our fellow peers in Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo as ”one of the best loved!”

Contact us today to learn how you can experience the thrill of Space Mountain and for all our other FREE Disney vacation planning tips and services!

Elyssa Antonelle
Authorized Disney Vacation Planner
MickeyTravels, LLC
1-888-812-8750
elyssa@mickeytravels.com
www.mickeytravels.com

Making Magic One Vacation at a Time…