Hi! I'm Jill, the Mom from over at the Barnes Yard and I am so excited to be here today at RTSM!
My friend, Kelli, is going to have so much fun road trippin' with her family this summer! I'm totally in love with her Airstream!
So the Barnes Yard doesn't do road trips. I know! We are super wimps! I've got two kids that get barf-a-rama the minute we leave our town!
Last month we went to Disneyland via plane.
I do have some great tips for staying (somewhat) sane while doing Disney with small children!
1. Make lists
Making lists is actually one of my favorite pastimes...Anyway, each day before we headed to the park, I made a list of things I would like to accomplish, i.e. picture of kids with Mickey ears on, ride on It's a Small World, meet Rapunzel, etc. That way I could stay focused whilst being pulled in a million directions by over-excited children.
2. Bring Grandparents
Honestly, there is no way we could have pulled off this trip without the Grandparents in tow. They were there to push strollers, wait with the "too shorts" while the bigger kids went on rides, and take anyone in the middle of a meltdown back to the hotel for a nap. We LOVE them!
3. $$ saving tip: Buy your Mouse gear before you get to the park.
I knew I wanted to dress my kids Disney every day so I stocked up months before our trip at Target, Old Navy, WalMart, and disneystore.com
I also swiped Kelli's idea of making our own autograph books!
4. Wear bright colors
This is what my daughter was wearing the day we lost her. Yep, we totally lost her for about ten minutes. Luckily my eagle eyes spotted her bright skirt from a mile away!
5. Bring your own stroller and rent one
We brought our own strollers for the babies but, let me tell you, it was nice to have something to push around all of our drinks, snacks, cameras, purses, and purchases in, plus have a place for the big kids to sit when they got really whiny.
6. Don't eat too many Oreos the first night.
My
husband made fun of me for leaving a note, but seriously, I would have
felt really bad if the maid had put her hand in that black mess.
7. If they love Princesses, give them Princesses!
You better believe that I rode on that Ariel ride 50 times too!
8. Eat at IHOP
Kids eat free with purchase of adult meal. We had 6 adults and 6 kids so this totally worked in our favor.
9. Get a special souvenir
The days were long and super exhausting (we estimated that we walked 10-12 miles each day), but every time I look at this I will remember how magical it was for my kiddos (well, at least the two older ones)!
10. Act like a kid and HAVE FUN!
