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Before we went on our first family trip I wanted to prepare our 15 month old for not only meeting the characters but also to recognize them. She really liked the Mickey mouse clubhouse cartoon so she was off to a good start but
we also tried to show her a few princess movies but she was a little young for movies to hold her attention. Now that our girls are older they have seen most of the Disney video collection. There are also a few sing along videos that take place in the theme parks and have some of the popular ride songs. Like this Disneyland fun –Sing Along Songs – Disneyland Fun
We also showed her pictures of us from our honeymoon next to the characters. It help put their size into perspective and I think it made the meetings go smoother. Now before every trip we prepare the girls by looking at pictures and video from previous trips and youtube videos of the rides. This has been a huge help especially with the character greetings; the characters in the full body costumes can be scary to little ones. We have such an advantage now days with the help of the internet. You can go on youtube and find a ride through of almost any ride. This can be a great tool in helping you determine if a ride may be too scary for your family. If you got the Disney parks planning video you could watch that with the family too.
The theme parks are big and often have lots of distractions for young kids Between the crowds and all there is to see there is always a chance of getting separated. If you have toddler aged children or older you should teach them to look for a Cast member (this is what they call their employees) and they can help reunite you together. All cast members have the same oval shaped name tag and if the speak a foreign language that will be listed as well.
Several weeks before our vacation we start doing more walking. If you are planning to buy new shoes for the trip now is the time to break them in. There is a lot of walking between the parks and resorts. Even if you have stroller they will not always want to be in it, trust me. You can easily walk 3-5 miles a day depending which park you are visiting. That can be a lot for anyone especially on tiny feet. We usually take family walks around the neighborhood before our trip just to get everyone used to all the walking we will be doing. In addition to all the walking there will be a nice chunk of time spent in lines. That could be a line for a ride, the bathroom, food and the transportation to and from the parks.
I believe that preparing our kids even when they were only 1 really helped make our vacations go smoother. I hope that you can use some of these suggestions to help prep your kiddos for your trip!