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Disney World with Toddlers: What It’s Actually Like From a Mom Who Goes Weekly
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We go to Disney pretty often, like at
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least a couple times per week. And we've
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also been in a situation where we were
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traveling to Disney World from state to
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state all the way across the country by
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playing multiple times per year. So, I
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feel like that's really given me a
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really different perspective on what
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Disney with toddlers is actually like.
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as a mother who has been traveling to
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Disney World for about seven years now,
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both as a non Florida resident and as a
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Florida resident. And I feel like it
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kind of is right in my wheelhouse to
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share some of my insights on what Disney
0:40
with toddlers is actually like from a
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mom who has been going for seven years
0:46
and now multiple times per week. Because
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when you actually go that often, you
0:52
stop trying to do everything. You start
0:54
noticing what actually works and what
0:57
really doesn't. And I think a lot of
0:59
moms go into Disney thinking they need
1:01
to maximize the day. Get on all the
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rides, make it feel worth the money.
1:06
That used to be me. but with toddlers
1:09
and babies because we've also traveled
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to Disney World with a 3-month-old by
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plane, with a 7-month-old
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by plane, a 9-month-old by plane, and
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then once my daughter turned a year old,
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we relocated, became part Florida
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resident, and now we're going with a
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child and toddler used to be baby every
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single week, multiple times a week. So,
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I just want to share what it's actually
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like for us going regularly with young
1:39
kids and what has made it a lot more
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peaceful more days than not. So, here's
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the thing. It is still overstimulating
1:47
sometimes. Even when you go often, even
1:50
going all the time, some days it can
1:52
still be a lot because there's always
1:54
going to be music, people, movement. And
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while some days it can slow down and be
1:59
really really relaxing, really really
2:02
slow, sometimes it just doesn't slow
2:04
down at all, especially during busy peak
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seasons, holidays, things like that. And
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if it's something that we pretty much
2:11
love being out on the scene, toddlers
2:14
often don't feel the same. And sometimes
2:17
we'll walk in and everything is fine and
2:19
then out of nowhere it's like, "Okay, we
2:21
need to sit down or take a break or it
2:23
just leave." And there have been times
2:26
where it kind of just hit me out of
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nowhere. We're having a great time and
2:29
all of a sudden my baby girl is like,
2:32
"Okay, this was fun and it's time to
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go." And when she needs her break, we
2:35
need to just take a break. And I used to
2:38
think that something maybe went wrong
2:40
when that happened. Maybe I didn't plan
2:42
properly. Maybe I didn't have it all
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figured out like I thought I did. But
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now I realize that that is just part of
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it. So instead of pushing through, you
2:52
just adjust. You sit, you snack, you
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slow everything down. And honestly,
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these are usually the better moments
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anyway where you can truly appreciate
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and love Disney for what it is, outside
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of all of the distractions. Well, one
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thing that completely changed how Disney
3:12
feels for us is that we don't plan
3:14
around rides anymore. We plan around our
3:17
energy, our mood, how we're feeling that
3:19
day, what we've got going on that week.
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And if the kids are doing well, we will
3:24
probably do a ride. If they're feeling
3:26
great, we'll do multiple rides. And if
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they're not, we just won't force it.
3:30
Some days we go and barely do anything
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big at all. We walk around, grab a
3:36
snack, maybe do one ride, watch the
3:38
fireworks show, and leave. And that's
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more than enough. Because when you stop
3:43
trying to get your money's worth in one
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day, everything feels lighter. And that
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is why I often tell moms who come to me
3:51
asking for help planning their Disney
3:53
World trip when they're asking me how
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many days I recommend. I always say at
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least 4 days, but ideally five. And the
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reason why I say that is because it
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stops you from the hustle and bustle,
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the rushing. And if you are a parent, it
4:09
leaves margin and room to actually be
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able to slow down without feeling like
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you've wasted your money. You can rest
4:16
at the resort or the hotel. You can take
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breaks, ride the Montreal, do all of
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those little fun things in between that
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little ones typically need. You can do
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all four parks if you want and have a
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fifth day to, you know, revisit one of
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them if you're not a Disney mom and you
4:34
don't really need those breaks. Or you
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can just do three parks and just do one
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every other day. However you want to do
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it. We used to travel to Disney World
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and just stay for 2 weeks. And we were
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doing all four parks one every other
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day. Sprinkling Universal sometimes. And
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because we were able to do it for 2
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weeks and I'll share with you guys in
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another video how we were able to budget
4:55
that in so clutch and so nicely, it just
5:00
made the trip all together so much
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better. There is something that I didn't
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understand before we started going to
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Disney World regularly before we were
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part Florida residents and that is that
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full Disney days with toddlers are a lot
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like a lot like full days like from rope
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drop to fireworks closed down and
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sometimes the parks stay open past
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fireworks and then if you're at Magic
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Kingdom you also have to worry about
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whether or not you are going to hit that
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variable traffic one time. We visited
5:32
and we were in line to get on the ferry
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boat to exit the parks and the Montreal
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on a separate day for two hours, two and
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a half hours. We made it back to our car
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absolutely exhausted and it's something
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that we did not plan for because we
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never experienced a two plus hour wait
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just to exit the park. And if you are in
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that line with a toddler who is just
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overdone because they have been in the
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parks since the rope chop, it's not
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going to be the most peaceful vacation
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that you can imagine. So what we do
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differently now is shorter visits, a few
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hours and leave. And because we know we
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can come back and there is no pressure.
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If you're only going once, then that is
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different. But even then, building in
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breaks or not staying all day can make a
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huge difference. Another really big
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thing is that character moments are hit
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or miss. Sometimes the kids love it and
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sometimes they don't. For my
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seven-year-old, he loves it, but for my
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almost 2-year-old, she still hasn't come
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around. And like I said, we've been
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doing this since she was 3 months old.
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And yeah, it's not something that she
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looks forward to. She's really just
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honestly truly not a fan. And it really
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just depends on the day. There have been
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times where I thought this is going to
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be such a cute moment. And my toddler
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wanted nothing to do with it. And now I
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just don't force it. So if they're
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interested, we go for it. And if not, we
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wave. We move on. We let my older son
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take pictures. Hey, we enjoy the
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pictures. And just having that, you
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know, expectation knowing that it might
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go well, it might not. It keeps the day
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from becoming stressful over something
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that's supposed to be fun. You just move
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on. And that's the big thing with kids.
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Sometimes you just got to keep it
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pushing. And even going often, Disney
7:20
can still feel overwhelming as a mom
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because you are carrying everything.
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You're thinking about everything. You're
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managing everyone's mood. You got to
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make sure that you have the diaper bags
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packed perfectly. And if you haven't
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seen it yet, make sure you check out my
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Disney diaper bag pack with me video.
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I'll link it for you guys. But I think
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that when you only go on occasion that
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there is even more pressure for it to go
7:43
perfectly because you know that you
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won't be back for a while and you want
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to make sure that you're getting
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everything done that you can. But it
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doesn't have to be that way. Some of our
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best days are the simplest ones. No big
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plan, no rushing, just being there. The
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very first time that we traveled to
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Disney World, my husband and I, with our
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at the time, my son was one and a half,
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we were told by often Disney goers that
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we needed to have a plan, set a plan in
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motion, know what you're going to do,
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have a game plan. You don't want to be
8:17
in there and not know what's going on.
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And at the time, back then, I don't
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think that people were dependent on
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their phones as much as they are now.
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Disney Genie Lightning Lane was
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completely different back then. In fact,
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I think back then Disney Genie was just
8:34
beginning to roll out. And I think that
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back then we had the most amazing time.
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And we actually had the most amazing
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time. We didn't plan anything. We had no
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idea what we were doing when we were
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going in there. We just went in there
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and we just had a good time. We stood in
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line. We didn't have any lightning lane
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passes and it was a hot day and we had a
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great time. Did we get everything done?
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No. In fact, I think it actually rained
9:04
that day and we missed the parade. But
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that was the trip that solidified us as
9:09
frequent Disney goers. We enjoyed it so
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much, but also left room for more to try
9:15
that we've never done before, which
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meant that we needed to go again so that
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we can experience everything else that
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Disney had to offer. But if you're
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getting everything done the very first
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time you go and in the very first trip,
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the next time that you go, there's
9:30
nothing new, right? You have already
9:32
experienced everything. And I can say
9:34
that having been going to Disney World
9:36
for 7 years now, there are still things
9:40
at Disney World and all four parks and
9:44
on Disney property, resorts we haven't
9:46
gone to, things in the park itself we've
9:49
not done yet. And we have barely touched
9:52
the surface when it comes to like Epic
9:54
Universe and things like that. Like
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there are a ton of things that we still
9:58
have not done yet. And that comes from
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really just enjoying simple days and
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making the best of it and not feeling
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the pressure to rush and get it all
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done. You realize that it's in the small
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normal moments walking around together,
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letting your kids explore, sitting and
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watching something simple that those are
10:17
the moments that actually feel the best.
10:19
Disney with kids, toddlers, babies, it
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does not have to be this big,
10:23
overwhelming experience. It can be
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slower, simpler, more flexible. And
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honestly, that is when it feels the most
10:30
enjoyable. So, I would love for you, if
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you are new here, to go check out some
10:35
of our vlogs going to Disney World as a
10:38
family. Even go back to years ago when
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my now 7-year-old was just 2 years old.
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Just kind of get a feel for how we've
10:46
done Disney. not just trying to force it
10:49
and get it all done. They are truly some
10:52
of the best times, even on the days
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where we weren't pressured to get it all
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done. So, check out some of those vlogs
11:00
and really get a feel for what Disney
11:02
World with kids or what toddlers, even
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babies, is like. And if you're planning
11:07
a Disney trip with young kids, I'm going
11:10
to continue on this channel sharing
11:11
what's actually helpful from a real mom
11:14
perspective who has been going to Disney
11:16
World as a non Florida resident and now
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part Florida resident. So, subscribe if
11:21
you want more of that and comment below
11:23
how old your kids are because I would
11:26
love to hear what stage you are in as a
11:28
Disney mom or parent. Thanks for
11:30
watching and I will see you guys in the
11:32
next video.
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