last week was the big trip. to disney and the giant mouse. the mouse that my little guy has been talking about seeing for at least three months. the trip that as my husband so adorably put it, was “one of those moments where you stop and go ‘wow. i’m really a parent. i’m taking my child to disney.'”

while there wasn’t any craftiness going on during the trip, i just felt like i had to share some of what we encountered and some tips and tricks i discovered (and had no idea about) for navigating this happiest place on earth with a little one.

just to give some idea of what we were up against, this is how my little guy is:

1. he’s really had no experience with any characters. except for a fleeting experience with santa claus in december 2010, which didn’t go well.

2. he’s a total fan of mickey and minnie and donald and daisy and pluto and goofy. and all things disney junior. but in the two-dimensional form.

3. we’re in the midst of potty training. enough said.

4. we had used “mickey’s house” as a big incentive for potty training. we’d been telling him for weeks that “big boys get to go to mickey’s house.” that seemed to be working….

5. he hadn’t been on an airplane since he was about fifteen months old.

so away we went. and here are some things we learned…

– take a stroller. we rented a great one from orlando stroller rentals. because it’s hot in florida and when you have to walk to the tram, then walk to the ticket counter, stand in line for tickets, walk to the monorail, and walk to the park, it takes a lot out of a little one. first day, we let him have free reign…which meant that by the time we actually walked into the magic kingdom, he was pretty much ready for his nap. day two, he rode in the stroller.

From Petunia Pickle Bottom – my fave

– get a backpack diaper bag. huge help.

– one of my favorite mama items to have is the booginhead sippigrip cup, bottle and toy tether. it’s one of those things where you say “why didn’t i think of that?” but it’s genius. you never lose the juice cup.

– if you have a toddler that isn’t a huge fan of characters (the big ones), hollywood studios is a great place to go. they have a whole disney junior live on stage show that has the characters in puppet form. plus, there’s music, singing, dancing and bubbles. what more can you ask for? (we went to the show twice.)

– also, at hollywood studios….the “honey, i shrunk the kids” playground. there are slides and water. perfect toddler fare.

– have change on you for when you stand in line at “it’s a small world.” we had a ten minute wait, but i was so gloriously happy that i had change on me, so my little guy could make wishes in the water below.

– if epcot is your thing, there are some great playgrounds and gardens for running and playing. great to burn off some energy.

– for anyone in the midst of potty training….this sounds strange, but pack a stack of post-it notes in your bag. you see, in an effort to be environmentally friendly (which i am all for), all disney potties flush automatically. like, as in, when your child is sitting on it. which naturally will scare the bejeezus out of a toddler. put the post-it note over the sensor before you even have get your child on the potty. this should prevent all of the “mommy, please don’t flush the potty” pleas that we heard. (heartbreaking, by the way.)

– finally, i have now learned the absolute best seat in the magic kingdom to catch the electric light parade at night…it’s a little known secret we found out from a guide there. if anyone is heading to disney and wants to know, message me. i’ll share. 🙂

all in all, we had a great time. it was three days of seeing joy in our little guy and testing our stamina running around the parks. if anyone has any great tips to share on disney, i’d love to hear. because i’m pretty sure we’ll be headed back to “mickey’s house” again soon!

enjoy!
ashley