9 Tips for Surviving & Thriving a Multigenerational Disney World Trip
My family and I just got back from Disney, and let me tell you, I was more than a little nervous. We had six people in our group, ranging in age from 2 to 70.
Everyone had a slightly different game plan.
My 2-year-old was afraid of most characters. Meanwhile, my 6-year-old couldn’t get enough of them. My 70-year-old father-in-law would have been perfectly content to sit most of the day and see what came along, while I wanted to make rope drop. My mother-in-law wanted everyone to be happy, and my husband? Well, he wasn’t sold on the trip in the first place. Get the picture?
Thankfully, after spending 7 nights together, including 4 park days and 2 rest days, plus travel days, we couldn’t have asked for a better trip. One of the main reasons why? Planning.
Now, when I say planning, I don’t mean having every minute of every day scheduled, but having a general idea of how things work and having some structure to your day. (Your future self will thank you!)
Below are 9 tips that I would recommend to anyone traveling in a larger group like this. Take what you think works, leave what you don’t, but whatever you do, make sure you have some sort of structure or game plan.
#1: Mid-Day Breaks & Rest Days
This was a biggie. With littles plus grandparents, it’s almost impossible to have a tear-free day going sun-up to sun-down multiple days in a row. My 2-year-old still naps, and frankly, my husband and I need downtime too, so we built it into the schedule.
On park days, the general plan was to have lunch in the park, then leave for a few hours, and return to the park again before dinner. Since we were missing out on so much mid-day park time, we rope-dropped and planned to stay later in the evenings. We did this on our days at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and we had evenings at both parks with kids who actually enjoyed themselves.
While my 2-year-old (and I!) napped, my husband and mother-in-law took my son to the pool to chill out. It worked well, and everyone had enough energy to make it through the evening shows.
On rest days, we set up character meals (more on that below) and enjoyed the pool and resort, including the activities in the Community Hall. It was a much-needed reprieve that gave us some relaxation in between park days.
#2: It’s Okay to Separate
Not everyone will want to (or be able to) do the same rides and activities, so don’t force it. The adults in our group ended up sharing our phone locations so we could keep track of each other while split up, and agreed on a time to meet up later. For instance, while my husband, son, and I went on Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Tron at Magic Kingdom, my daughter went with the grandparents and saw a few characters and went on the carousel.
She was incredibly content with Grandma and Papa, and we enjoyed our rides. Speaking of rides, this leads me to…
#3: Lightning Lane Multi/Single Pass
To me, this is a must with families with little kids or anyone, really. Lightning Lane Multi and Single Pass options are separate purchases that you can make alongside your park tickets, which allow you to “skip the standby line” and wait in a much shorter one. My thought was, ‘We’re spending all this money already, why not enjoy it with more limited lines?’ We went during an “off” time (early February), and we didn’t wait longer than 15 minutes for anything our entire trip. This isn’t always going to happen, obviously, but especially when we were separated from our 2-year-old, we wanted to make the best use of time when the rest of the group wasn’t waiting on us.
Going through all the details of Multi and Single Pass Lightning Lane options would be an article in itself, but take the time to understand the benefits (there is also Premier Pass) before your trip. Book everything as soon as you’re able (set your alarm!) and if you’re not already familiar, check out the park maps to get a general idea of where the rides and attractions are located. I tried to plan as much as possible ahead of time so that I could really enjoy my trip and not be glued to my phone, figuring out where the attractions are.
#4: Rider Switch
One of the nice things about having my in-laws with us was that we didn’t have to worry about rider switch, but it is such a great option, I’d be remiss not to mention it. Rider switch allows parents with a younger child who is too short or scared to experience select attractions to “swap” out with the other parent so that everyone who wants to ride can. Just let a cast member at the ride entrance know, and they’ll set it up. There is no cost, and you can do this with or without Lightning Lane.
#5: Book a Two Bedroom Villa If You Can Swing It
If you’re on the fence about booking a larger room? Do it! We stayed at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas (and loved it!), and our original plan was to get two smaller rooms. Those were sold out when we went to book, so I decided to book a Two Bedroom Villa instead, even though it was a bit more expensive.
With wrangling six people for rope drop, nap time, and general food and snack sharing, having a larger Villa worked out so well! My in-laws and my husband and I each had separate quarters with our own bedrooms and bathrooms, so we weren’t in each other’s way all the time. The Two Bedroom Villas also have a shared kitchen and living room (where the kids slept), which leads to…
#6: Order Food to Your Room
I ordered food prior to our stay through a grocery service, and they delivered everything to Bell Services at the resort on the day of check-in. My husband’s jaw was on the floor with how much stuff I ordered, but with 6 people for the week, including some full meals, we had a lot of food.
We decided to eat at least two dinners at the hotel, plus had breakfast food, wraps for the occasional lunch at the resort, and lots of snacks and drinks for the week. For the first night, we had frozen lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. After a day of traveling, it hit the spot.
#7: Character Dining
You know how I said we had 2 rest days, plus napped back at the hotel on our big park days? It’s tough to do everything at Disney World in a week with that schedule, and you have to choose what’s most important. Character dining helped a lot. We had 2 character meals, plus one Disney Springs reservation at T-Rex café (yes, I have a 6-year-old).
Instead of waiting in lines during park days, we optimized time and chose to meet and greet characters during character meals. It was the best of both worlds and definitely worth the money. We booked ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows on a rest day and Tusker House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. I was concerned about taking park time away during the day, but since Animal Kingdom is a small park with fewer rides, this setup worked well.
#8: Prioritize Everyone’s Top 1-2 Things
Before the trip, I made sure to understand the top 1-2 things everyone in our group wanted to see or do. With my kids, I knew meeting Mickey and Minnie was important to my daughter, and the “big rides” were important to my son. We made those priorities. The adults didn’t have strong opinions, but I think it’s worth making sure everyone’s voice is heard so no one misses out on a must-do.
#9: Memory Maker
One of the big reasons for bringing my in-laws was that they hadn’t been to Disney World before and probably wouldn’t have gone had we not invited them. We wanted to document our memories, and flagging down someone every time we wanted a photo of all six of us wasn’t something I wanted to do. The Memory Maker photo package was a great addition for us, and we captured a few hundred photos across our trip. In my opinion, it was worth it.
Finally, one thing my husband had to remind me of mid-trip was that our kids didn’t really know if we were missing out on something. This is actually huge and something I briefly forgot. I was so worried about making this trip amazing that I overlooked the fact that everything would be amazing for them. So, if things don’t go according to plan (and they won’t always), remember to hug your family and know that the memories are the most important thing to take back with you.
~Christie Hecht
Guest Blogger Bio: Christie is a working mom with 2 young kids, is married, and lives in the Midwest. She works in Finance and also writes on the side.
