Planning a Disney trip with little ones is no small feat! I just returned from a 10-day Disney vacation with my kids (ages 6, 4, and 2), and I came home with more than just magical memories. I also came back with a list of things that I won’t be doing next time. It’s not because they were total disasters; it’s just because they didn’t work for us.
Every family is different and what works for one crew might not be right for another. If you’re looking to plan a Disney vacation that fits your family’s priorities, be sure to reach out to me here, and we can get started! Additionally, follow along on my Instagram page – @theorganizeddisneymom – because I regularly share realistic, mom-centered tips and tricks for making the most of your Disney vacation.
A Gentle Reminder
Before I dive in, I want to give you a gentle reminder that every Disney vacation is different. Just because you see someone doing it a certain way doesn’t mean that’s the way you have to do it too! Social media is full of highlight reels and opinions, but at the end of the day, there’s no one “right” way to do Disney.
If you see someone rope-dropping every park, keeping their kids awake until midnight, or precisely scheduling out every minute of every day, that doesn’t mean you have to do it too. You are the expert of your family, and the most magical Disney vacation is going to be the one that actually works for you!
I hope that in sharing some of the lessons learned from our recent trip, I can help you feel more confident (and more prepared) in planning your own Disney vacation in a way that makes sense based on your family.
Number 1 – Water Parks
One of the additional perks of staying at a Disney resort in 2025 is FREE water park admission on your arrival day. We had never visited a Disney water park before, so we were excited to take advantage of this offer. We chose to visit Typhoon Lagoon, and I’ll be honest – my kids had a blast! My older boys loved being adventurous on some of the water slides, and my youngest and I enjoyed splashing around in the wave pool.
But here’s the thing – getting to and from the water parks is kind of a hassle. There are no direct buses from the resorts to the water parks, so you’ll take a bus to Disney Springs or Animal Kingdom, where you’ll transfer to another bus headed to the water park you’re visiting. And of course, the same is true on the return trip – bus to Disney Springs or Animal Kingdom and then transfer to your designated resort bus. This also adds up in the overall transit time required to get there and back.
Additionally, all of the Disney resorts have exceptional pools! And quite honestly, my kids have just as much fun at the pools and splash pads that are within walking distance from our room. Swimming is an exhausting activity for my kids (maybe because they’re so little), so after just a few hours, they were tired and needed a break. It makes more sense for us to swim for a little bit at our resort pool, walk up to our room for some rest time, and then come back down to swim again later.
Number 2 – Forget to Mobile Order
I will start by saying that I am usually really great about this, but several times on our recent trip, I got caught up in the moment or distracted by whatever we were doing at the time, and I forgot to pay attention to mobile order wait times.
Most Disney Quick Service locations offer mobile ordering through the My Disney Experience app. It’s honestly no different than mobile ordering your Starbucks on the way to work. You select your restaurant, select your return time (which can range from immediately to several hours from now), order your food, and place your order. Then, when you get to the restaurant, you can skip the standby line to order and just proceed directly to a pickup window.
The important thing to know is that some popular spots can have extended return windows during peak meal times. Therefore, you want to think ahead if you plan on ordering your meal around the same time as everyone else. Normally, I do a good job of this, and we don’t have any issues, but twice on our last trip, I forgot to do this, and by the time we were hungry and I was trying to place an order, the earliest available pickup window was 45 minutes to an hour later.
Now, this mistake didn’t ruin our trip by any means, but it was the difference between us having what we really wanted for lunch and us eating chicken fingers and French fries for that meal because it’s what was easily available at the time. So, in the future, I will remember to be more diligent about checking mobile order times further in advance.
Number 3 – Fireworks at Magic Kingdom
This is one of the most iconic parts of every Disney trip, right? Perhaps for some people, but again, on this latest trip, I was reminded why my family has never seen the fireworks from inside the Magic Kingdom.
First, let me start by saying that my family is a family of rope droppers. We are early risers, and we hit the parks as soon as we can every day. That being said, we rarely make it to park closing. On this last trip, we took mid-day breaks to get out of the summer heat and then returned to the parks for a bit in the evening. Even doing that, keeping my kids awake until 9:00 or later was a challenge.
Fireworks at Magic Kingdom are not for the faint of heart. Guests will start staking out their spots an hour or more in advance. So we followed suit and did the same because I figured if we were going to stay for the fireworks, we were going to have a good viewing spot in the area around the castle hub. And we did have a great spot until about 10 minutes before showtime, when Cast Members encouraged guests to fill in all available space, which means several adults promptly positioned themselves directly in front of our stroller, thus blocking all of my kids’ view of the castle.
To make matters worse, at about 3 minutes before the start of the fireworks (which were scheduled for 9:20 pm that day), an announcement was made that due to storms nearby, they were delaying the start for another 20 minutes. I actually cried a little when they said that. Here I had gone through all of this effort to keep my kids up and secure a great viewing spot, and now we had to wait even longer. My kids were barely hanging on as it was.
I debated bailing, but at that point, I had committed so much effort to making it happen that we just stayed put. 2 out of my 3 kids proceeded to fall asleep and never even saw the start of fireworks. My oldest loved it (as did I), but overall, I don’t think our 15 minutes of joy were worth the 90 minutes of hassle. And that’s not even accounting for the mass exodus out of the park when they are over.
The fireworks were spectacular as always, but for my family, it just wasn’t worth it. We are perfectly content with being a family who does Disney in the early mornings and doesn’t make it until the nighttime entertainment.
What Works For You
At the end of the day, every Disney trip teaches you something. Even with a few “won’t do again” moments, our vacation was absolutely amazing! It was filled with laughter, magic, memories, and yes, a few meltdowns too.
As a mom of 3 little ones, I’m constantly learning how to make each trip a little easier, a little better, and a little more us. My hope in sharing these lessons isn’t to scare you away from trying something you’ve never done on your next vacation, but instead to remind you that it’s okay to pivot, simplify, or skip things altogether. Your Disney vacation is going to be fun, not flawless. And with a little direction, your next trip can be the best one yet!
If you’re already feeling overwhelmed at the thought of putting together your family’s next Disney trip, I’m here to help. As a Smart Moms Travel Agent, a big part of my job is to help you get the most out of your Disney vacation, no matter what you want your park days to look like. For more tips and tricks and the best resources for planning your Disney vacation, subscribe to the blog and follow me on Instagram: @theorganizeddisneymom.
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