Vacationing at Disney World isn’t like vacationing at the beach. The parks are forever changing and it is impossible to see and do everything in one trip making Disney World the most repeatable vacation destination there is. When your children are very young they likely won’t be able to experience certain attractions due to height restrictions or their age isn’t appropriate for it. That will affect how you as a parent experience the parks with your kids. The Disney vacation experience will be wonderful but different from what you’ll experience when they are a little older.
The very first time my wife and I took our children to the hallowed grounds that is Walt Disney World my son was 5 and my daughter was 2. The year was 1998 and it was shortly after Animal Kingdom opened its gates. Since then my family has been back numerous times. My son is now 19 having just completed his first year of college. My daughter is a sweet sixteen year old high school student.
It seems like just yesterday that my kids were pulling us by the hand screaming with joy for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the Disney princesses autographs. My kids idea of fun was playing hide and seek in the Honey I Shrunk The Kids Movie Set or amusing themselves with the dirt in The Boneyard. Then, in the blink of an eye they went from small to tall.
Each time my wife and I have been to Disney with our children it has been at various ages and stages of their young lives allowing us to experience the parks and Disney property in very different ways. When they were preschoolers we didn’t make reservations at the sit down restaurants because keeping to our children’s schedule was more important. That meant getting to the parks early and leaving right after lunch so we could return to our resort for their naps and to relax at the pool. We would then head back to the parks after dinner. Once our children were both elementary school age we were able to stay in the parks from opening to closing taking an occasional rest break here or there. So, instead of being on our children’s nap schedule we were now on the tour the parks around the Advanced Dining Reservations (“ADRs”) schedule. As our children continued growing up Disney so did me and my wife. Now, it’s not the kids who need to take the midday break from the parks, it’s us! If that wasn’t a big enough hint that our children are growing up it was the first time we allowed them to venture out on Disney property by themselves.
I remember on our first Disney family vacation that my son was raring to go, see, and do anything and everything while my daughter was apprehensive to go on Spaceship Earth. Now, Test Track and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster are more her speed.
Seeing Disney World through your children’s eyes is a magical experience in itself and one worth repeating over and over no matter how old they are.
The years may have gone by fast but, the magical memories we have will remain forever!
Magical Mentions:
There are so many wonderfully talented people within the Disney community and one of them is Keith Lapinig an amazing and gifted artist. Keith has posted some of his vacation videos on You Tube that is well worth your time checking out and subscribing to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMunyGKA8mU. To find out more about Keith please visit his website http://www.mametchi.com/.
Stuart Sternberg is the founder of WDW Fan Zone you can find him on Google +, Facebook, and follow him on twitter @disneygeekdad.
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