Practical Tips to Survive Theme Park Madness

If you have ever been to a Disney or Universal Studios theme park you know that it is bound to be crowded, busy, full of long wait times, and over expensive snacks. The ultimate goal is to go have a great time for the whole family. But there are days when the madness of theme park ensues and you leave feeling tired, anxious, and grumpy. 

I learned a few tips which will save you  grief from crowds, and help maintain your sanity.

1. Go early! If you are there when the theme park opens than you are avoiding a long line of crowds. 

2.  Two words – Fast Pass! If you are early pick-up your fast pass for the rides you want to go on.

3. Don’t follow the crowds when you enter the park. Look at your map, choose the rides you want to do, go directly those rides, and surprise no line-up! Save the happy snappy camera activities for the end of the day when the lines are long and you are done for the day.

4. Pack water and snacks! Theme parks charge you through the roof! So come prepared with your own water, snacks, and sandwiches. It will keep money in your pocket.

5. If you suffer from motion sickness the best recommendation is to have light breakfast and lunch. Your stomach and theme park enthusiasts will thank you for not losing your cookies.

I know this was my first time at a theme park and I followed these five simple steps and it worked!  My sanity was maintained for most of the trip!

 Almost every ride we went on had a wait time less than ten minutes. The best part is we were finished each theme park by three in the afternoon which provided ample  rest and relaxation time by the pool.

Oh! And one warning! Step out-of-the-way for highschool school field trips.  Teens in large groups become wild pack dogs! They are bound to run over you, your child, to get to the next ride…

A View of The Animal Kingdom

As walked into the  Animal Kingdom it felt as if we had walked into a naturalists dream world full of nature and wildlife. It is a small visionary planet a where men, women, and children could learn about nature and the importance of conservation. The Animal Kingdom exceeded our expectations, it didn’t feel like a theme park, or a zoo but a place to be explored and admired for the beauty of its landscape.

The Tree of Life

 

Free to Roam

 

A View of Mount Everest

 

And getting to know your fellow primate

I know these are only a few images of why we loved the Animal Kingdom. But it was more than just a theme park it took us to another world teaching about the importance of conservation and showing our children that the world is a bigger place that you or I could ever imagine…

The Epcot Center: A Smooth Landing with Mission Space

 We arrived at the Epcot center prepared for a fun afternoon of space exploration, soaring, the world pavilion, and the popular fireworks display Illuminations.

All of us enjoyed Mission Space,  we worked as a team, to land our space craft on planet Mars. I squealed with relief as  we finished the landing. At the end of the mission I  was beginning to feel the on set of  nausea  and  knew it wouldn’t be pretty if the ride didn’t end when it did. It was  at that moment I realized I was never destined to be a true astronaut. My stomach would never survive the launch into space…

After we  finished all of the rides, we headed to the pavilions were we tasted foods of the world and relished in cooling off with a nice German Beer! The highlight of the night by far was the fireworks display. We all gathered around the lake in awe to enjoy the spectacular view of the light show.

It was one of the most relaxing days we experienced at Disney World! And as we  drove back to the condo that night I looked to see two little men asleep in the car dreaming of their next adventure.

Disney Studios: The Suspense of Jedi Training Camp

The morning we arrived at Disney Studios  I looked at the long line-up through security and I knew I picked the day Disney offers extra hours to its hotel guests.I thought to myself this going to be one long and crowded day! However,The kids were eager to get started, we made our way through the maze of people,  and headed to  Jedi Training camp.

Jedi Training was the event the kids had been dreaming of for months! They were nearly hopping out of their sneakers to reach the Star Wars pavilion and ready to learn the power of the force!

We arrived at the Stars Wars pavilion to sign-up, we saw the line, my heart sank, the woman in charge of the line, advised us, “You may or may not have a chance to be in Jedi Training Camp. They only take twenty per show, and we are almost full.”

I looked at my husband, “What do we do?”

He replied, “We wait until she tells us to stop waiting.”

So we waited fifteen minutes later it was announced that our little men would have the possibility of being an alternate in the show. I was puzzled as to what an alternate was and asked, “What is an alternate?”

She responded, ” You will get a ticket with a number on it. If someone with a guaranteed spot doesn’t show-up before the show  then the alternate that is there with the lowest number can have their spot.”

I thought about the hassle of running back and forth every hour, “Do you think they have a chance of participating?”

“Yes! Definitely! Usually by the end of the day most of all of  our alternates have been used in the show. What you need to do is – talk to the person in charge, find out each time how many alternates they have already waiting, and see how many they have for each show.”

I looked at my kids, “Do you guys still want to do this?”

They of course both exclaimed in Unison, “Yes!”

So with that they became alternates for Jedi Training Camp.  In the meantime, we decided to check-out the Star Wars tour but to our surprise it was closed to refurbishment.

We then knew the next show was in a less than forty minutes, so we headed to Muppet 3 D vision. As a muppet fan I was in little Miss Piggy heaven and we laughed through the whole show.

Afterwards, we made our way back to Jedi Training, only to discover it was full. I warned the kids “Don’t get your hopes up it might be full for the whole day.”

They looked at me with positive eyes and said “No! We’ll get in!”

It was at that moment we headed over to The Tower of Terror and Rock n’ Roll Rollercoaster each with wait times of over an hour and half. My husband, kids, and I looked at each other we opted out of the lines, and headed to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.

It was full of surprises! The kids ate every acrobatic move, fist fight, and explosion up! My oldest guy at the end of the show decided he was going to be a stunt man and would have to be more serious about karate in order to reach his goal.

We  made our way back to Jedi Training camp only to be turned away once again. I thought maybe the third time will be the charm…We headed for lunch at the sci-fi diner which had  1950′s drive-in feel with old school movies like mars attacks on the big screen as you enjoy a yummy burger and milkshake under the stars in your very own car.

After we finished our sci-fi lunch we headed back to Jedi Training. And the woman looked at us, “You have the lowest numbers at this point you might get in. Check back in five minutes.”

We all looked at each other with excitement and five minutes later we let out a massive whoop to celebrate that our little men would be in participating in Jedi Training Camp.

It was the highlight of Disney Studios despite the hassle of waiting, the lines, running back, and forth. It was worth smile and pride on our little guys faces as they stepped on stage to spar with Darth Vader.We cheered our young jedis on as they used their light sabres swooping, and diving to defeat the dark side.

As soon as the show finished my husband and I decided to leave Disney Studios on a high note. We grabbed our excited kids, bribed them with ice cream, a promise to swim in the pool, and made a fast track to the door. It looked like the parade was about to begin and by that point we just wanted to escape the crowded magical world of Disney.

The Magic Kingdom: Full of Laughter and Coke Floats

We followed the rules of the Disney Junkie and arrived early at the Magic Kingdom.  In our high spirits of expecting  an eventful day, we avoided the crowds of the monorail, and we opted for the quiet ferry-boat across the lagoon enjoying the morning view. As we arrived at the gates, security checked our bags, and we then made our way into this merry dream world.

The kids were awestruck by this magical playground! And we were are all ready for a full day of fun! 

Our first stop was Frontier Land were we hit the rails of thunder mountain. We laughed, and screamed our way on its wild railroad track.

The next stop was splash mountain and unfortunately I squealed as we plummeted down into the water; getting an ice-cold splash of reality. It took over an hour to dry out and I was a sopping wet mess.

As wet as I was…I was feeling nostalgic and the moment I saw ”It’s a Small World” I knew I had to seize the opportunity and make my little men relive the magic of the globalized doll world.  I knew they would never go on this ride if they knew that it  truly was.. .

What was I to do? I betrayed their trust in me and I lied to them. I told their excited eyes it was a water roller coaster. It was only half way through the ride, they caught on and were not impressed with my shenanigans. They both groaned  in disbelief and couldn’t believe that I would lie to them about such a big thing!

I laughed at them and swore it was the best prank ever. The look on their faces will be entrenched in my memory forever. But karma always bites you in the butt!  

As the ride seemed to slowly go on, and on forever… I  began to feel as if I was in trapped in a doll maker’s fantasy for over an eternity. I sincerely apologize to  my mother for making her go on it with me at least a dozen times when I was a child. 

After all of the (cough) fun at It’s a Small World we than made our way over to Space Mountain. I opted out just for the sheer thought of being in the dark with no control on a roller coaster. I thought it was best to leave it to the big boys! And from the looks of things it was a huge success…

The kids had a fantastic day and I enjoyed every single enthusiastic minute. It was around three by the time we finished exploring the park and decided to head back to our digs for a swim.

Unfortunately, we got caught in the parade full of princesses and princes. My boys were not impressed but grumbled through it as we drank our coke floats.

The Magic Kingdom was surprisingly a wonderful time for the whole family. And we enjoyed every Disney minute!

 However, my son  suspects that the hitchhiker that hopped on our ride in the Haunted Mansion is now sleeping in his closet. I guess we will never escape the Disney Magic or its ghosts!

Ouch! Beware of the Never Bite!

In my early twenties, I was a naive know it all, smug, and probably a tad bit condescending. It was in those days that I lived for the moment, back-packed, travelled, and enjoyed the free life. It was also in those days – that I was a travel snob.

If you were sitting next to me at a pub you would have at one time or another hear me utter the words “I would never do an all-inclusive vacation.” Or gasp at the notion at spending time and money on Disney World. How could anyone do such a thing?

Once discussing this topic with a close friend, as  I sipped my pint of Picaroons, “Please! If  I ever have children you will never ever catch us at Disney World.”

Now all of those grand statements of ” I would never” have come back to bite me right in the butt! Something happens when you have children, sleep deprivation, responsibility, and lack of time.

It was after the birth of our second son my husband suggested an all-inclusive to Cuba. I was leery of the idea…But at the same time sun, sand, and an open bar seemed to be tempting.The moment we took our first package destination that involved luggage and not a back pack. I knew I had to bite on my words…

 It was this  year we decided it was time to go to Orlando and explore the magic of Disney.  Gasp! My twenty year old self is rolling over on the bar floor groaning at this current moment!

It is at this moment  that I feel thrilled to share this vacation with my kids and enjoy it through their ever-increasing excitement.  Of course,it`s not Paris or Greece! But heck it`s Disney World! I`ve plotted everything down to the minute, and don`t even get me started about Islands of the Adventure and Universal studio (can you say Harry Potter and Jaws).

Life is unexpected, and the best thing about kids is it snaps you out of your early twenty self.  I `ve learned my lesson to” never say never” because those words will come back to prove a point  that your smug previous self was all wrong.

Has the word “Never” ever bitten you in the butt?

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