Lessons from Our Latest Disney Adventure

​ ​The original title for this piece was "Lessons Learned the Hard Way" and here's why. The two weeks leading up to our most recent Walt Disney World vacation were incredibly jam-packed. Between work, preschool and other commitments, I wasn’t able to pay enough attention to packing and trip preparation – and paid the price.

For example, my envelope with tip money (typical bank envelope for cash withdrawals) was likely mistaken for a Mousekeeping tip envelope and essentially stolen. Lost about $15 for that one and learned to keep my money in the safe or in my wallet.

Another money-related tip: TOLLS. It had been almost a year since our ill-fated drive to Disney with Ronan and a case of the runs…and we were scrambling to find loose change to pay the tolls. Next time, I’ll get enough quarters for the tolls and keep them separate and in the car.

Food was another issue. I didn’t push hard enough to get my way when it came to preparing and eating meals in our DVC 1-bedroom ‘apartment’. As a result, we were eating three meals a day at restaurants – an expensive proposition that is made doubly horrible when paired with an antsy toddler who is sick and tired of being strapped into a high chair. I’m already doing some menu planning for our next trip: spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese and tomato soup – basic, easy meals that can be thrown together quickly and save us the agony of endless chicken nuggets and French fries - oh, and $3.00 Cokes.

Feet/blisters – people, despite wearing my favorite sneakers and appropriate socks, I got blisters in places where I’d never had blisters before. Painful as heck! And my right pinky toe got the worst of it – I’m afraid to take off the medical tape to see the damage done. Lesson learned? Not sure on this one except to say that I might need new tennies.

Some things that worked well on this trip:

1. Liquid hand soap – I followed the advice of Shannon from WDWPrepSchool.com and packed a bottle to use in our bathroom for handwashing. Much better than the bar soap.

2. Our own roll of TP – hubby insists on this when we travel, and I’m sure his hind end appreciated the softer touch of the high-end toilet paper we packed for the trip.

3. Leaving the parks at nap time – Ronan got an afternoon nap in his crib, in our room and in the A/C nearly every day of the trip (save one). It was also nap/laundry/rest time for Mommy and Daddy. We followed nap time with pool time, dinner and stuck to Ronan’s regular bedtime as much as possible.