Walt Disney World Tips, Advice and Recommendations

Disney Tips

• It’s a lot of walking so wear good tennis shoes.  Sandals will not do.
• Bring a car or rent one.  Why spend your time waiting on a bus when you can zoom to the park in your own car?  Imagine holding 4 kids, 2 strollers and 2 bags on a crowded bus-not for me.
• You can take an ice chest in so we always bring a small one and hang it on the back of the strollers.  Water bottles filled with ice work well to keep things chilled.
• Most of the concession stands/restaurants will give you free cups of ice water
• Buy a drink cup from your hotel if you are staying onsite especially if you are a big coke drinker.  We used ours for an afternoon and evening snack.  Pretty good value and gave us something fun to do-go and get a coke!
• Fastpasses don’t expire.  You can use them anytime after the first time listed.  Our first few times as Disney, we didn’t go back to a ride because we thought we had to go between the two times listed.  Nope, just any time that day after the first time.
• Give everyone in your group your park tickets and let them hurry to the main attraction to gather the fastpasses and then meet up.  Saves so much time.
• Don’t sleep in.  Be there when the park opens-the lines are not long and you can get so much done before everyone else shows up.  Disney is not a restful vacation-Get up!
• Use a AAA parking pass.  You can get one if you buy your tickets through AAA or you can get one off of ebay.  You park right behind the handicapped parking if you have the AAA parking pass.  Seriously, you will never have to ride a tram.
• Port Orleans French Quarter is our favorite hotel right now.  It is in a central location and a much smaller resort with many amenities.  Building 3 is preferred-near the parking lot, pool and main building.
• Schedule breakfast before the park opens, it is so nice to get in early and finish just as everyone else is walking in.  And if you are eating early at Magic Kingdom, the walk down an empty Main Street is wonderful.
• Always be at your reservations early.  We have been seated up to an hour early sometimes-it never hurts to try if your dining time is supposed to be later than you want. 

Disney Food
We have ranked the places we have eaten on our last trip and will add on subsequent trips.  But here is what we thought on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being the best and 1 being not worth the time)

• 10-Magic Kingdom Adventure Land’s Orange Juice Slushies.  This is Robby’s favorite dessert and would hop in the car and drive to Orlando just for one.
• 6-Magic Kingdom Adventure Land’s Dole Whip.  Great dessert but much smaller than expected portions which made me sad!
• 3-Magic Kingdom Crystal Palace.  Unless you really like Winnie and Tigger, just go ahead and skip this.  The food is a standard buffet prepared for a zillion people. 
• 7-Magic Kingdom Pecos Bill.  Loved the condiment bar with lots of indoor seating.  I loved the taco salad-absolutely loved it.
• 8-Magic Kingdom Main Street Bakery.  Great cinnamon rolls.
• 7-Magic Kingdom Cosmic Rays.  Large portions with lots of variety.  Also lots of indoor seating with close bathrooms. 
• 9-Epcot Akershaus Royal Dining.  Wonderful for little princesses.  Liked sampler buffet and really great that you see all of the princesses and it is just one dining credit as opposed to the two credits that Cinderella’s Castle takes.
• 5-Epcot Coral Reef.  Not my favorite and probably should have ranked it lower.  I think it had a fishy smell, pitiful service but with decent food.
• 7-Epcot Sunshine Season.  Fairly central location with lots of seating and wide selection. 
• 7-Epcot Mexico Cantina.  Good Mexican food with delicious nachos.
• 6-Hollywood Studios Pizza Planet.  Pretty good pizza that kills hunger.  Nice that it has indoor seating.
• 8-Hollywood Studios Starring Rolls.  Great desserts with huge sandwiches. 
• 9.5-Animal Kingdom Tusker House.  Huge breakfast selection and you see Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.  This now beats out my Chef Mickeys which I love.
• 8-Animal Kingdom Flame Tree BBQ.  The best BBQ around with plenty of covered seating along the lake just keep walking down the path.
• 7-French Quarter Quick Service.  The food was good, plentiful.  Excellent beignets and quesadillas.
• 6.5-Polynesian O’hana Breakfast.  We weren’t as crazy about O’hanas this year as we were last year but still a great breakfast and well worth it if you go here before the park opens (at least an hour)
• 7-Downtown Disney Wolfgang Pack.  Pretty good out of the park dining.  The service was a bit slow but the food was still good.

Disney Attractions

• Animal Kingdom’s Lion King show.  It is one of our favorites and always a nice break to sit somewhere cool for a bit.

My Most Favorite Store - IKEA

"Look Mom, I see a new IKEA!" shouted my 4 year old on the way home from a play date a few days ago.  Unfortunately, he had only seen another store painted blue with yellow letters saying the name of the store.  Even though I knew it wasn't IKEA, I still thought about turning my car around just to double check.  Unfortunately, I live 329 miles from the nearest one.

Why do I love IKEA?  Many reasons.  The first one is the stuff is inexpensive - not to say that I am cheap but I am the type of person who would drive across town to save ten cents so the economical products there do excite me.  Cheap, like a children's potty for 5 bucks-which I packed in my suitcase for a friend and carried home over 1000 miles.  Then there is the quality which is pretty great.  The furniture we have bought from there is still standing.  That is saying a lot since it all was assembled by my husband and me and when you throw in those 4 kiddos running around here anything still standing is considered very high quality.  Another reason is the uniqueness of everything-heck, my daughter picked out a lamp that looks like a tree which is now lighting my computer-I would consider that as pretty unique.

I could stop there but since this is a travel blog, let me bring it all back home.  I love IKEA because I know I can always kill a few hours during a rain storm happily shopping away.  I love  IKEA because I can drop my kids at the play area for an hour while I shop in peace. (Not that I would ever do that after being trapped in the car with them for hours and hours upon end)  I love  IKEA because even when we can't find a restaurant in the city I am visiting, I know there will always be good food to eat there.  Did I mention the play area for the kids?

So next time you are traveling, punch Ikea in the GPS and drive yourself right there.  If you have never been to one, it truly is a destination in itself but even if you have grown up with one in your backyard, it is still worth a stop on your next trip.  You might even see my family there- I'll be the one with the goofy grin on my face because my children are all in the play area for another 38 and a half minutes and my buggy will be full of potties that I am bringing home to my friends.

Travel Tip #22 - Make it through airport security with children and live to tell about it

My husband and I have traveled quite a bit over the past 11 years.  Our youngest, an 18 month old has been to 28 states!  We are always up for adventure and love to travel...by boat, car, train or even plane.  And most of the time, our trips begin in an airport (we usually rent a car and drive over a 1000 miles when we land but that is another post).  But beginning our trips at the airport means that we have to face the scariest and most stressful part of traveling with children.  Can you guess what it is?  Airport Security!  It doesn't sound that frightening when it is just my husband and I traveling.  But when you throw in four kids age 5 and under or any kids for that matter it can be a scary, scary thing.

So how do we make it easier?  Here are a few hints that might make your airport security adventure a little less stressful:

• Be Prepared: I know the TSA rules by heart and I know what I can and can not bring on a plane.  My liquids are packed in the zip lock bag ready to be pulled out.  Our laptops are already out of our backpacks.  My oldest son's inhaler and meds are in a separate ziplock bag.  Any liquids I am carrying on for my lap child are in another bag (yes, if you have a lap child, you can bring liquids on board-they will be inspected by hand).  Anything that I think will cause the TSA agents to search my bag, goes on the very top of my suitcase for easy access.  I even have a list of what I am taking through security: back pack, lap top, liquids, belt, phone, 12 shoes, etc.-this way, I make sure that I don't leave anything on the belt.  And this should go without saying but always, always have enough time for security.
• Accept Help: There are still nice people in this world and sometimes they even offer to help.  I usually smile and decline but in the airport security line, if someone offers any help at all-I take it.  Occasionally, you will encounter a TSA agent who will help put suitcases up on the conveyor belt, push them through or my absolute most favorite help of all: setting my strollers up for me after they have gone through the x-ray.  I have even seen an agent, help a lady retie her baby sling.  Sometimes you get help, sometimes not but don't panic.  You can do it either way.
• Practice, Practice:  We do this quite often at our house.  Not only do we play airplane and practice what to do on the plane but we play airport security to practice what to do then.  We take off our shoes, put our backpacks and lovey toys on the kitchen cabinets and slide them across.  Then we walk through a door way one at a time and stop on the other side (so no one wanders to far off).  Then we grab our things off of the counters and take them to a seat to put on our shoes.  Silly, I know but my 4 and 5 year old could probably get through security faster than some business travelers.  And since we practice no one gets upset about taking off their shoes and everyone knows that their beloved backpacks filled with toys will be handed right back to us.  Another thing that might be good to practice is standing in a line.  Sometimes the security lines are long so practice wouldn't hurt here either.  We have even played "I Spy" while standing in line or passed out candy-anything to pass the time, keep everyone entertained, prevent meltdowns and keep them from rolling around on the floor!
• Be Patient:  This is the tip that my husband I need to work on.  If it was just us in the security line, it would be a breeze.  But when the lines are long and people are inching closer and closer to us, we start to rush.  And inevitably when we do this, we get sloppy and start dropping stuff (like on our last trip when my husband dropped my laptop and it bounced 4 feet away) or we start rushing and we forget someone (no, that has never happened-wink, wink).  Unfortunately, when we start hurrying, we tend to get a little short and snappy with the kids during security because we are feeling that we need to hurry up and move along.  Just be patient-your family paid for a plane ticket like everyone else, you have a plane to catch like everyone else, take care of your family and the people behind you need to be patient too-there is no reason to hurry.
• Just Smile:  I mentioned that some people can be helpful but some people can be down right rude.  When this happens, you have two options-get upset or just smile.  On our last trip, a lady nearly knocked my two boys down trying to cut in front of them in line.  A simple "excuse me" would have been adequate but not everyone was raised correctly so we have to carry on.  You will probably drop something, spill something or have to be searched and your kids will probably trip and fall, have a mini meltdown or even refuse to go through the x-ray.  Just smile and walk on-it can make your trip much more pleasant.  This too shall pass.  

This is our strategy of how we make it through security:  We have practiced and are ready to go.  As we approach security, our laptops and liquids are pulled out.  My husband is in front and I'm in the back with the kids in between us.  I immediately start reminding everyone to listen to us, stay in line and give my youngest a reminder that we are going to take off our shoes and put our stuff on the belt-just like at home.  As we near the bins, the kids start taking off shoes while my husband gets a bin for shoes.  The kids then take off back packs and putting them on the conveyor belt while pushing them forward.  Once everything is on the belt, I take the baby out of the stroller, leaving my husband to fold the strollers and make sure everything gets through the xray machine.  The kids line up and walk one by one through the metal detector and then grab their backpacks off of the belt.  If a blessed TSA agent has set up my stroller, I can plop the baby in it and start hanging bags off of the back (if I have to maneuver the double stroller off of the belt and open it while holding a baby, it is just not pretty). Once the kids hands are full, I pick a spot and tell them to go there-like a bench I can see or stand up against a wall.  Then I take what I can (including the shoes) and meet the kids.  They start putting on their shoes and we wait on my husband who is bringing up the rear.  Now if some of our luggage, liquids or medicine have to be inspected, then we do switch spots.  My husband has a huge fear of the TSA agent opening up the suitcase and seeing my Victoria Secret undies and not his whitey tighties.  Once he returns, we finish with shoes, repack our laptops and liquids and take a deep breath because we have made it and our vacations has begun!

Okay, airport security is scary but it takes about 10 minutes of your trip.  Once you pass through security, you have faced the hardest part of the trip and have nothing left to do but enjoy your travels.  Remember my tips: be prepared, accept help, practice, be patient and just smile.  Just relax and you can do it. When things get too stressful, look up because in just a few feet you will have made it through the pearly gates and into the airport terminal.  Trust me, traveling with your children is so worth a few stressful minutes.

REVIEW: All Aboard Restaurant & Grill, Little Rock, Arkansas

Travels and Kids Rating:  
4.5 out of 5 travel buggies (fun factor)
2.5 out of 5 travel buggies (food)
Sticking with our train theme from a few days ago but this time a visit to a restaurant in our neck of the woods, we visited the All Aboard Restaurant & Grill on a Sunday night.  It was about an hour and half before closing so we had the entire restaurant to ourselves.  If you ask our kids they would have probably wished there were more people in the restaurant just so they could view the unique food delivery experience again and again.

You place your order at the counter. The menu is displayed on large digital screens above the cashier. For a first time visitor, it took a minute to review the three screens so a paper menu might have been handy.  The menu is fairly minimal though - hot dogs, nuggets, macaroni & cheese, etc. for the kids while wraps, burgers, soups for adults with carrot sticks, fries or chips as side items.  After paying, the cashier handed us a key to activate our order at a table of our choosing.  Our kids could not wait to find a seat so we positioned ourselves for best train watching.  It's all booth seating for our family of 6 it was little tight but helped that our youngest in still in a high chair otherwise we would have needed two booths.

Did I mention the unique food delivery experience?  That's right - a train delivers your food to your table via tracks above the tables.   There were 4 of 5 trains and when the order makes it way to you all the trains are set in motion.  Soon the training was headed overhead and the kids were about to scream (glad it was an empty restaurant).  The train drops off a tray without stopping and then a slow moving elevator lowers the food to the table.  The kids kept saying, "Wow! wow!"  They were ready to order something else before they even started eating their food.  Speaking of the food, it seemed to be your average grill type food - nothing too special but not too bad.  Dad's burger was grilled fine, topped with fresh toppings but a few spots of the patty had a bit too much salt & seasoning, my baked potato soup was fine and the kids cleaned their plates of macaroni & cheese and nuggets.  (You fetch your own condiments, napkins, forks, knives - no train deliveries for these items.)

With no other customers, the trains didn't travel too much although I think the employees did run them a few extra times as they heard our kids talking about how they wanted to see the trains again.  By the time we were leaving, the big three kids were all talking about how they wanted to come back for their respective birthdays.  Probably not a destination for food alone but if you are looking for a place to thrill the kids, it's worth a visit.

The employee said they had been open for about two months and the only restaurant of its kind, although the owner is considering franchising if successful.  He said it had all been word of mouth advertising up until a few days ago so not sure if we hit on a lite crowd night or if they might consider doing a little more advertising.

411 on the All Aboard Restaurant & Grill:
www.all-aboardrestaurant.com
6813 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, AR 72207
Hours: Sunday - Saturday, 10:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Travel Tip #21 - Take Out Sometimes is Necessity (and you don't miss out on McClard's Bar-B-Q)

We spent the day at Magic Springs and Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, Arkansas today and by day, I mean the whole day. Oh, did I mention it is hot, hot and very hot outside.  Actually, I have never sweated so much before but that is not what this post is about.  Anyway, the kids had a blast and were wet, hot and exhausted when we finally called it a day.  But when you come to Hot Springs you can't leave without having bar-b-q from McClard's.  We knew from many failed restaurant experiences that our crew was in no way able to go out to eat and sit through a meal without major, multiple meltdowns.  So we did the next best thing: take out!

I am sure that people often forget about getting their food to-go on a trip but often for us it is the best thing to do.  You can leisurely eat your meal at your hotel room or wherever and your kids can run around, eat whatever they want (sure, you could even stop and get their McDonald's on the way) or they can even throw that long overdue fit without bothering anyone.  Seriously, sometimes when we get take out, it is so much more relaxing for us and we still get to enjoy the food from the restaurant that we wanted to try (and my husband would add that we saved money on the tip!)  So pick out that place on your next trip that you have always wanted to try and bring it back to the hotel room-you (and your kids) will thank me!

By the way, I bet you were wondering what makes McClard's Bar-B-Q Restaurant so special.  Well, their bar-b-q is great and world famous but our favorite menu item is their tamale spread.  Two tamales, Fritos, cheese, beans and beef (and even onions if you want them-we didn't).  I think I might just get out of this bed right now and heat up our leftovers in our little hotel microwave.  It is mouthwatering good and probably worth the trip to Hot Springs just for the tamale spread.

REVIEW: B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

Travels and Kids Rating:  
4 out of 5 travel buggies
We recently visited Baltimore, Maryland.  It was our second time to the area with the kids and we wanted to do something different than a ballgame or a visit to the Inner Harbor.  We heard there were train rides nearby and with two boys who love trains, we traveled to the B&O Railroad Museum located close to downtown Baltimore.  Yes, most familiar to us with the help of Monopoly but also a truly famous train line in America's history.

Is this museum kid friendly?  Definitely. While we saw several adult train enthusiasts, there were plenty of children visiting with ample kid friendly activities.  It has a great balance between history, education and lots of fun and hands on opportunities. Upon arriving, you immediately notice the round house, large trains outside and ample parking.  In addition to the admission price (a bit pricey for a family of 6), you have the option of purchasing a ticket ($3/adults, $2/children) for a 20 minute round trip train on the first commercial mile of of railroad track in the U.S. (Tell that to your friends after visiting!)

We toured the exhibition gallery first.  It had models trains through the ages and a great display of the inner workings of a train engine. It was still a bit over our kids heads (ages 18 month to 5 years) but they enjoyed the models and the Morse Code stations where they could try to tap out a code.  We were soon in the Roundhouse.  It was very impressive to see the massive turntable and then all the various locomotives.  While some were for viewing only, they had a great display of real trains (accessible and fairly buggy friendly) where the kids can traipse through the cars (the mail car was very interesting) and pretend to be a railroad engineer.  Right behind these trains is a kids zone where they have toy trains, tracks, coloring sheets, books and more.  The boys could have stayed in this area all day playing trains but next up was our train ride. Check the schedule before going because on the day of our visit they only offered one train ride.

We lined up outside on the platform and soon heard the "All Aboard" call where we had a choice of seats on the train.  It's a quick 20 minute round trip up the track and back but the kids enjoyed taking their picture with the conductor.  There is brief commentary, not too many sights to see but again you are riding on the first commercial train track.  Back at the platform, the kids noticed the outdoor kids area.  There is small playground and a few more opportunities to spend some money. We skipped the train themed carousel but did opt for the $1 kiddie train ride (with 4 cars, our family filled the train for the 3-minute ride). I would recommend if you have younger children.

After about 3 hours, the kids were about at their limit of train exposure. But we did visit the North Car Shop to see some more giant locomotives and an opportunity to board another large locomotive (again buggy friendly) before visiting Platform 1 for a look through a caboose and a great model train with Baltimore scenes.

They had your usual gift shop and we didn't escape before purchasing a few train whistles. If this is your first trip to the Baltimore area this may not be your first stop, but I would definitely recommend adding this stop your list for a return trip or if you are in the area several days with children.

411 on the B&O:
http://www.borail.org
901 West Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21223
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

I Don't Think I Would Take My Kids To New York City

A year or two ago, a friend of mine was asking for travel advice since she was taking her infant to New York City for a few days. And I am afraid that my reaction scared her. I was shocked that someone would take their kids there and I might have even said that I wasn't ready to take my kids. I did give her some advice and tried to encourage her and was silently a little skeptical that she would still have a good time. Well, since then I have eaten my words and even had a change of heart about the whole thing.

Would you take your kids to NYC? What planning would it take? How would you need to be prepared? My 3 kiddos were 3 and under when we headed off to the Big Apple and we made it just fine. Were we prepared? yes. Did we know where we were going? yes. Did we know what we were going to do? yes. Did my kids know and understand certain rules? yes. We were only in New York City for a day but we had plans and kept those strollers moving. And our rules, you ask? Well, they are 1) listen 2) obey and 3) stay in the stroller. Oh, we did let them get out and run around every once in awhile-but definitely not in Times Square!

Even though my kids are small, we had read stories about NY and they were able to recognize the Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty. Since they knew what they were seeing, they were much more interested in it. They were also excited about seeing taxi cabs and riding on the subway-the little things in life are what make great vacations. We didn't even need to ride the subway since we were just on it for one stop, but in my son's eyes our trip would not have been complete without that ride. They are still talking about it.

So, moral of the story is hop on that plane and visit some big city. Yep, it is hard work but it is worth it. Your kids will always remember it. Heck, my kids are still wondering how the taxi cabs we see in our city came all of the way from New York City!