Who Took My Stroller?

WHO TOOK MY STROLLER? 

-a bit of a father's perspective, by Scott Harvey Jr. 

Ahh, the stroller - an easy and convenient way to transport your offspring. The happiest place on earth, by definition, must be a stroller friendly place, right? It can be with a little awareness, so here are some tips to avoid hell-on-wheels. 

-Have a plan at the bus stop, don't pile all your backpacks and shopping bags on the stroller while waiting for the bus. The bus will come, the bus will stop, and you will be the guy trying to get all the children to come get their stuff off the stroller while you try to remove the toddler without getting her feet caught, and then try to fold it one handed while the floodgates of humanity have been opened up behind you and your family becomes an obstacle to other guest's start or finish to their day. Ditto for the parking lot tram. 

-Assume no one is watching where they are going. There is a lot to see, many small details we should not miss, especially on Main Street USA, and until they start selling cowcatchers for the fronts of strollers, you will have to stop a lot. Just be cool about it, patience is a virtue, and here, you will need it. 

-Watch the tracks. The horse drawn main street vehicles travel on tracks, and stroller wheels will get caught in those grooves, watch out. 

-I'm not sure why I have a hard time remembering this, but at certain attractions, cast members will move your stroller from the entrance of the queue to the exit. At least once a visit, I have a "who stole my stroller?" moment. Not stolen, just relocated. I don't really care for this maneuver, I think if I park my stroller some where, I should be able to find it in the same place I left it. But it is what it is, so plan accordingly.


-I much prefer the stroller lots, centrally located designated stroller parking areas, but how do you find your stroller among the sea of black and grey prams? I've heard the tip to tie a balloon to the stroller, but I'm not buying a balloon everyday, we tie a bandana on the handle, if we don't have a bandana, we look for the stroller with nine resort mugs crammed into the cup holders.

Hopefully these tips will help you to have a smoother stroller experience around the parks.

Why Disney?

Why Disney?

As we plan our sixth family trip to Walt Disney World, one question I'm often asked is: Why Disney? Or, rather, why Disney again? Keep reading to discover some of my family's reasons for happily visiting the World time and time again.

• It is an immersive experience. Everywhere you go on Walt Disney property, well thought out details abound. From hidden Mickey's, to beautifully themed hotels and in-depth ride queues, to inside jokes written on the side of supply crate props, details abound. They are creative and detailed, and they make for a visually interesting place to visit that transports you to many faraway places, real or imaginary...and all you have to do is walk a few feet in any direction.

• Wonder - in both the children and the adults! Our family agrees: you aren't really in Disney World until you have entered the gates of the Magic Kingdom. I get choked up just thinking about it! From the moment we set foot in that park, our vacation has truly begun, we feel our usual cares slipping away, and we can't wait to get over to Pirates of the Caribbean or the Teacups, and experience the rides together. We remember the carefree feelings of our childhoods, the sense of wonder and imagination, and we love what Walt Disney's purpose in creating the parks was to begin with: to have a place where adults and kids could have fun together. And we do!

• It is a different experience each time. Yes, we go on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Pirates of the Caribbean EVERY time we visit the parks, but it doesn't mean that each trip is exactly the same as the others. We have visited Disney with no kids, with babies, toddlers, and teenagers (sometimes all at once!) The children have had a different level of enjoyment at various ages, and we have loved to watch them revisit favorite rides and still enjoy them as they get older, or perhaps to change their tune about a particular ride. I've seen kids overcome fears about a ride that they didn't want to go on, but to become more adventuresome just a year or two later, tackle that roller coaster, and have a good time doing it! It is a joy to see the magic through the eyes of our children. It has also been really great to see our children go on a ride with a younger sibling that they enjoyed themselves - to tell them not to be afraid, that it will be fun, and to fight over choosing the "baby" as their ride buddy. These are family memories that I wouldn't trade for anything! For our upcoming trip, we will be ushering in a new era, as with our youngest being five, there will be many more rides that we can all go on. A first for us! We are all so excited to be able to do them together. Last, but not least, the parks are always changing. The framework has stayed the same, but they are always working to improve and update the parks, adding new rides and making some changes to existing ones to keep the parks fresh and engaging. One of my favorite quotes is, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney.

• Nostalgia. I'd be willing to bet few of us grew up in a household without Disney in some way. My family wasn't hugely into it, but I grew up watching the same movies as countless of you surely have done. Few things bring me back to my childhood so acutely as the opening music of When You Wish Upon a Star or an image of Mickey Mouse. One of my early dates with my husband was to see Toy Story, and we also took a niece, nephew or younger sibling to see what is now a classic movie at the theater. We reminisce about times like these with fondness.

• We are a family of history & trivia buffs. As a family, we like to know how things came to be, why they are the way they are, how things narrowly missed becoming what is now solidified in our minds. The story of Walt Disney's life and dedication to his work, and also how things came to be, is an interesting and inspiring one, and the myriad details that went into building the parks and why is something that we've enjoyed delving into. We also enjoy the trivia of the movies - how a certain actor was chosen, how different or weird it would be if they chose actor B vs. actor A, funny things that happened behind the scenes, the "easter eggs" that appear in Pixar movies, hinting of the next movie to come, have been a source of entertainment and conversation in our home.

• Convenience & safety. We have traveled to many different places both near and far as a family, but sometimes, you just don't know what you are getting into. With Disney, we have a reasonable idea of what to expect. We have visited enough times that it is comfortable place to visit. We also always feel safe and secure there, especially considering that the types of crowds that are drawn there are likely to be family oriented.

• It is FUN! Swashbuckling pirates, a Yeti chasing you through the mountain, going back in time to find a dinosaur, hitching a ride on Aerosmith's limo, trying to defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg, trying NOT to be late for a very important date with the teacups, singing bears, a little bit of pixie dust, cruising through the jungle, traveling through movie history, escaping through the briar patch, helping to find Little Red, trekking through Asia, visiting Tatooine, Endor and Cloud City, passing green army men on the street, visiting Japan, France & Italy in the course of an afternoon...need I say more??

• We can hold on to our children's childhood for just one moment longer. I'm going to be completely honest with you: this part of the post is the one that tugs at this mom's heartstrings the most. For me, this is the bottom line, and when it dawned on me and I shared it with my husband, I didn't just get choked up, I cried actual tears. Our eldest child will be graduating next year, so it is likely that this will be our last trip to Walt Disney World with all of our kids under our roof. As any parent knows, our time with our children is all too short, and the older our kids get, the more I appreciate how precious it is. Soon they will be off into the world, with the cares, concerns, choices and pressures of adulthood..and I'm so looking forward to hanging onto their childhood for a just a little while longer. We can head into the parks, have a great time, act silly, and capture a few more family memories while we still can.

Packing for Many

I feel like I should preface this post with this simple fact: I love packing. Love it. I love making lists. I love doing trial runs. I love organizing things into packing cubes. I love my Vera Bradley luggage. I love thinking about what I will wear when, and on our upcoming trip, my girls and I are planning on subtly theming our outfits and our manicures to coincide with our destination of (more on that later). I hope that this doesn't make me look or sound like a crazy person, but if it does...so be it. I should also mention that I am not always this orderly (read: neurotic) - I seem to be equal parts organzied and relaxed, prepared and fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants...ok, maybe not equal parts, but you get the idea! Traveling with a party of 9, however, is another matter: it requires a bit of preparation to make things run smoothly, and over the years we have picked up some habits that help keep things running smoothly.

• Don't bring too much. I know, I'm stating the obvious here. However, I have been guilty of overpacking and have come to the realization that unless you need something specific (medical equipment, for example) don't bring it, OR bring the smallest version of it that you can. Do I bring the entire first aid kit? No, but my purse always has band-aids and hand sanitizer in it, because, hey, I'm a mom - but I don't bring everything under the sun. I might add to it some moleskin, but this is flat and easily packed. Also, our kids are limited to a small duffel for most of their belongings - these are easily stackable in the back of the van, and slide under the seats easily if necessary. There have been times where they have brought backpacks with them for the road as well, with toys and and other necessities to keep them occupied during our long drive or flight, and then they doubled as day bags at our destination when necessary.
• Division of labor. It used to be that I packed for everyone in our family. Several years ago, I think that I forgot to pack my husband's belt, and that was the end of my packing for him. It was an oversight, I swear. Now, I only have eight people to think about getting packed. It works well, though, because I love doing all the prep work a couple of days before, then the night before, my hubby likes to put the gear in the cargo hold of our van in a very orderly way (as opposed to me, weary from all of my list making and packing to be organized when loading the van, TOO!). He has often said that all those years of playing Tetris really come into play here, so, Dads: you may want to break out the Gameboy before that next family trip. Ditto for the return trip. He unloads, and the kids and I usually do the bulk of the unpacking when he returns to work to get some rest; to pay for the vacation we just took; to start saving for the next vacation; hmm...perhaps I'll just leave it at "when he returns to work"!
• Give kids a list. When everyone in my house was little, as I mentioned before, I used to do all of their packing for them. Now that our kids are a bit older and more responsible, I'll usually pair them up with a packing buddy. I'll pack for the youngest and myself, and I'll give a list to an older child and ask them to buddy up with a younger sibling to be sure that nothing is missed. This has worked well for us as they usually enjoy it - who doesn't relish the excitement of an upcoming trip? When you get to begin packing for it, then it must be getting near and the anticipation only increases! I also think that there are a lot of little life lessons hidden in this task: helping someone less capable than yourself, learning responsibility, thinking ahead, discovering how to be organize
• Ziplock bags are your best friend. When we went to Italy, our kids were all quite young, and we were traveling to several different locations for a total of 17 days. In order to keep 5 little people's (and two not-so-little-people's) items separated and organized in our shared luggage, we packed an outfit per day, per child in a gallon sized bag and wrote their name on it with a Sharpie. Later I would quip that I couldn't figure out where all our socks had gone, knowing that we at one time had over one hundred pairs, yet the children were lamenting their absence of socks! That worked brilliantly for us on that trip, and while I don't go to that extreme now when packing, I do like to bring Ziploc bags for other reasons - they are handy for transporting wet bathing suits, extra toiletries, or to toss into your day bag to toss your cell phone or park maps into in the event of rain. During some seasons, a quick shower is inevitable, but manageable. I'm sure that you can think of countless other good uses for them that I haven't listed here. 
• Consider your destination. I used to suffer from chronic overpacker syndrome. Hard to believe, I know, but it's true. I probably still pack a little more than I need, but I try to keep it to oft used, well thought out items. I am Mom, after all, and when someone has a headache, cut, or tummy ache, I am the go-to gal, so I do like to be able to cover these basic needs, among a few others. When we traveled overseas, I felt the need to be much more prepared than I do on my typical U.S. road trip. I could make a list here of everything that I typically bring on a road trip, but I won't, as your must-have's are likely to vary somewhat from mine. The bottom line is, pack what you think you will reasonably need over the course of your time away from home, items that best suit your family's particular but also bear in mind that when you are visting Disney, you aren't traveling to a third world country - if you haven't packed a common item, it will likely be accessible somewhere on property. Likewise, if you drive versus fly, you can always visit your local Target or Wal-mart for the necessary item. It is also possible that you will also find that you can get along without it.

I hope that you have found some useful information here, especially if you feel overwhelmed by the idea of traveling with the whole family. I am here to tell you that it can be done, that it is managable, and that it can add to the fun of the trip itself!

Unexpected Magical Moments

Some of my favorite memories from visiting Disney World over the years have been moments that were a surprise. Certainly, I expected to feel excited when we passed the signs on the highway, thrilled to check into our hotel, and even downright giddy the first time I waited in line to ride Expedition Everest with those of my kids who dared. But what of the moments that I didn't forsee? In a sense, those moments are perhaps even more wonderful, because they were unexpected, and all the sweeter because of this. Read on to discover some of my family's favorite, yet unplanned-for, moments...

• Hula Hoops & Sidewalk Chalk. We were awaiting a boat to take us to the Magic Kingdom, and while trying to keep several toddlers and an infant occupied, a cast member suddenly appeared, wielding hula-hoops and sidewalk chalk. With delight, we watched our children happily entertain themselves for a few minutes longer until our boat arrived. It was such a simple and thoughtful thing to do, and while I don't know the cast member's name, I always remember him fondly for it.

• Texas Rangers. In 2010, we had the pleasure of attending the Hoop de Doo Revue dinner show. The food was delicious with generous portions, the sangria was plentiful, and the show was corny and fun - complete with singing, dancing, and puns galore. The audience participation and laughter was really a highlight - even before our son was chosen to take part in the show! They randomly chose people by name from the audience, and when his name was called, it was really the icing on the cake. It was rather hilarious to see him up on stage, dressed in an oversized Texas Ranger costume, shooting the bad guys with his "hand" guns, and drawing laughs from the audience when the rescued damsel in distress kissed him on the cheek - and he promptly wiped it off!

• Mousekeeping. On more than one occasion, we returned to our room to find our guest towels in the iconic shape of Mickey's head, of various animals, and sometimes arranged in some humorous fashion with souvenirs that were left in our room. One time we returned to find the princess dolls in the window with several small animals, placed where we would see them before we even entered our hotel room. I'll bet it's a lot more fun being a housekeeper at a Disney resort than at a Travelodge. Just sayin'. 

• Impromptu Jedi fights. We took an extended family trip with my husband's grandfather, parents, aunts & uncles, cousins, siblings & their kids, and there were over 50 of us in total. One morning, as we sat chatting with some family members outside of our hotel room, our son was playing with his newly-purchased light sabre. A cast member was walking by and began interacting with my son - "playing" Star Wars with him and running away. One of my favorite things to see happen is when an adult truly knows how to interact with a child, and this was a good and fun example of that. How I wished I'd gotten a photo of it! 

• Unexpected Street Shows. On more than one occassion, while wantering around the parks, we have been surprised by something going on on the street. While I realize that these are well orchestrated and practice, they sometimes had a bit of an impromptu feel to me - perhaps because it wasn't a large production on stage with a couple of regular, scheduled times. Also because would sometimes pick out members of the audience, asking them questions, talking to them, and even teasing them a bit. We have stumbled upon musical pirates & their treasure, Hollywood starlets arguing with their directors, a band, a barbershop quartet, drummers in Japan, amazing acrobats in China & Africa, and a walking (but not talking) vine lady. What an entertaining way to pass the time, and also to have the opporunity for a few minutes to slow down, rather than spending the entire time rushing off to do the next thing.

• Character Interactions. In Walt Disney World, many things are larger than life. The character meet & greets are no exception. We have enjoyed a couple of character meals as well as met up with some of our favorite characters in the parks. When our third daughter was around 2, she would not go up to any of the characters - she wanted nothing to do with them despite her sister's excitement in saying hello and having their augotgraph books signed. Imagine our surprise when, upon seeing Pooh bear, she ran up to him and gave him a hug. Another time, while enjoying a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, we were treated to visits from Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter and Tigger. Tigger, however wasn't content to say "hi" and be on hismerry  way. No, in true Tigger form, he stole my daughter's hat right off her head, put it on another child's head, tossed it around and eventually wore it himself. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that was certainly an awesome way to start ours!

• Hidden Mickeys. You may be wondering - what is a hidden Mickey? All over the parks and resorts, you can find the outline of Mickey Mouse's head scattered about, some are obvious, others are more subtle. Though not officially acknowleged by Disney, Imagineers are allowed and even encouraged to add them when designing anything from queue lines, attractions, hotel rooms, pathways...anywhere, really! There are websites, guidebooks, and apps devoted to helping you find and keep track of them, but my favorite way to enjoy them is to stumble upon them oursleves. It is almost like you've been let in on a little secret, and it is really fun to have the children proclaim, with surprise and delight, "Look, mom, I found a hidden Mickey!" I encourage you to look for yourself next time you are there to see how many you can find.

• Autographs by restaurant staff. While staying at another resort location, we decided to travel to Olivia's Cafe at Old Key West Resort for a dinner. Upon discovering that one of our daughters is named Olivia, one of the wait staff took one of the menus and took it around to have the other cast members working that evening to sign it, some adding funny comments as well. She felt really special when they singled her out in this way, and still has it as a keepsake.

• Animation Academy. When visiting Hollywood Studios, we have often passed by the Magic of Disney Animation building. For whatever reason, it didn't really interest us, but when visiting in 2013, we walked in to check it out. It turned out to be a welcome rest, but still with plenty to do - visiting Incredibles characters, enjoying some down time while your kids enjoy one of the many coloring stations, or walking through the Animation Gallery. It also houses the Animation Academy, where a Disney animator tells a little bit about what they do, then gives step by step instructions on how to draw various Disney characters. On the wall in front of me, I am looking at renditions of Daisy Duck created by my husband and I, as well as a Pacal that I drew and a variety of indistinct characters drawn by our almost three year old daughter. Suffice it to say, we didn't miss our calling as animators, but we DID appreciate the insight into the animator's job and how characters are drawn, as well as the keepsake drawings.

When I look back at these times, they aren't necessarily the most exciting ones of any given trip, nor would our trips have been ruined had they not occurred. However, little moments like this really helped to make each trip special, and they are definitely unique to Disney. I can't think of another place that we have visited where moments like these could have occurred. In the end, I think that the most enjoyable part of times like these is that it wasn't really about being on vacation, "selling Disney", or making ours the perfect trip, but it was about interactions with each other - each person doing their jobs to the best of their abilities and making the world a better place with their kindness, their sense of humor and their desire to bring joy to another person. 

Quick Take - Fam on the Tram

  Just a quick one from Scott here, while riding on the parking lot team, Disney insists you have adults on the outside of the row on either side. If you can't all fit in one row, be ready. We had a bit of chaos one year because we weren't ready for such problem solving so early in the morning. Fortunately, a nice couple helped us by flanking our children.  So, just be prepared for a little cast member confusion while you work together for a solution.