Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Agent Rebecca here again with part two of the top ten tips for taking a toddler to the Disney Parks. If you missed part one and part two, you can check it out here and here. We have a lot of information in this one, so let’s dive right in shall we??
6. Utilize the Parent swap – Have you heard of the Parent Swap? You haven’t? Oh boy are you missing out! The parent swap is Disney’s brilliant way to make everything accessible for families and those traveling with the super little ones. After all 14 month old Livvia can’t go on Space Mountain. At the entrance to each ride’s que is a cast member (or employee if you prefer). So Mr. Smith and Johnny, who is seven and can’t wait to go on space mountain for the first time, go up to the cast member and ask for a parent swap pass for Mrs. Smith who has to stay with little Livvia. The cast member will give Mr. Smith a piece of colorful paper which he places in his pocket and gladly takes his place in line. They wait in line, they go on the ride, and Johnny heroically returns to Mrs. Smith Who then takes the colorful piece of paper and leaves Mr. Smith with Livvia. Mrs. Smith hands that piece of paper to the cast member at the head of the line who then directs them to the front of the line to ride Space Mountain again. Johnny gets to ride twice, and both Mr. and Mrs. Smith get to ride so no one feels like they are missing out on the vacation. Brilliant right? Now, what if Johnny is terrified of Space Mountain after he rides with Mr. Smith and never wants to go again? Well, Mrs. Smith can take that paper up without Johnny with her. Sure, she has to ride along – but at least she gets to ride! The Parent Swap system is brilliant if you are traveling with really young kids you really need to use it to help make your experience even better. This is one of the reasons the Disney Parks are really a family oriented place. They have gone above and beyond to make the experience perfect for everyone! Another note about the Parent Swap, you can use them along side Fast Passes. Just hand your fast passes to the cast member and ask for a parent swap pass as well. Now, I won’t go into the Fast Pass system much here, but it IS something you NEED to be familiar with, so I suggest you read this wonderful thread that’s over at MiceChat (whom I love).
7. Know about restaurant selection and locations before hand – Megan hates anything red and Sam will only eat Mac and Cheese. Obviously just those two issues can cause a lot of problems while at the Disney Parks where food choices can be spread out all over the place, hard to find or just not available. That’s why it’s so important to have a general knowledge of food availability and cost before you go. If you have a smart phone you can find several apps that will help you find the food your looking for. My personal favorites are Disney Dining by VersaEdge Software. They have one for Disneyland and Disney World, and each one allows you to search by Park and even by your current location. These apps allow you to pick favorites that you can come back to later and also shows a comprehensive menu and price list for each food location. Now if you don’t have a smart phone you can also visit The Disney Food Blog which is a great comprehensive resource for all things Disney Food (although the focus is mostly on Walt Disney World). Now, say food preferences are not your families’ problem, but rather food allergies. No worries! Disney is absolutely wonderful on accommodating food allergies. All you have to do is alert your server to your problem and then can help you through it. Each Disney Dining location has on hand a giant binder that holds every single ingredient to every single food choice. They will gladly let you go through this to find something that works. Now, not all places can make items special order, so make sure you ask before you get your heart set on Gumbo with Okra (not going to happen). But, I think you will find, that the Disney cast members can be very accommodating and helpful when it comes to things such as this.
