When we were growing up our mother broke the bank to get us to Disney not once but twice. We stayed in the moderate and budget resorts, had character breakfasts, and did all of the parks. Our mother spent years paying that back but she still has so much pride in being able to take us on her limited salary as a single mom.


It was years later that we would go back to Disney as a family of 6 including our younger brother, our mother, myself and my son and Shi and her (now oldest) daughter M. on a trip that we as a family have agreed to never talk about. My son was 9 while Shi’s daughter was 4 and we did not know how to plan and make the most of our time in the parks. Due to this we were miserable, spent too much, didn’t do half of what we wanted to, and didn’t even attempt another trip for a few years.

Shi laughing trying to figure out what in the world she was thinking

Now that we have gone through the fire and figured Disney out, we are preparing for my niece's first trip. My younger niece is an intelligent and rambunctious 6-year-old who is now into Disney. We are trying to Disney right this time around to keep both her sanity and ours.

Looking for our sanity in attempting this

Below are the first steps we are taking to prepare for my younger niece’s trip:


  1. We looked up the Youngest niece’s height to find out what rides she actually will be able to go on. No point in dragging her to a park that has 2 things she can do.
  2. We are having the younger niece create a list of everything she wants to do/see. Whether that be Princess and characters, stage show, parade, fireworks, or teacups.
  3. From this list we are looking at special ticketed events and crowd levels to find the best plan of attack. Can we go to a special event and get everything the younger niece wants to do done and be in smaller crowds?
  4. Booking a hotel on property for easy trips to the hotel to escape the heat, take a nap, and enjoy the resort. Everyone needs and deserves a nap in the middle of a Disney day, no one is exempt.
  5. We are setting a spending limit for her and me (Tiffany). My younger niece is what I consider to be prime Disney age. Per her mother my niece will have a gift card with money added so she can have a preset spending limit for things she wants. My sister will be holding my wallet and approving any and all purchases that I make.
  6. We are preparing our patience and setting up realistic expectations for her. Youngest niece is 6 and this will be her first experience dealing with that many people. My younger niece is a child, and we will not look down on her and ask, “Do you understand how much money we spent?” and expect her to be happy every second. She is still a child and we are choosing to take her to Disney. She can be grateful and express it (and she has) but she is still going to be the same child in Florida as she is in Michigan.


Make sure to look out for our upcoming blog posts and video that will follow us as we plan for the trip!


And Shi asks for thoughts and prayers.

Tiff

Hi, I'm Tiff and I wrote this! Learn more about myself, my family and our hopes for this blog on our Meet the Team page!

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