A trip to DisneyWorld - helpful tips to make your trip a little easier

We've taken our son to Disney twice. Everyone thinks we are crazy for bringing him there thinking that it's overwhelming. All I hear is how tired the parents are. If you drag your child around from morning till night you'll be tired. We left our vacation relaxed and quite happy. Our son had a great time and we managed to have fun too. Here's what I learned...

Booking and planning:

• Take full advantage of the Disney Vacation Planning Guide. Start planning your trip in advance and you can pay it off a hundred here and a hundred there. Before you know it, your trip is payed for and you are on your way.
• If you are staying on property, take advantage of the Magical Express service. They send you luggage tags in advance color coded for your hotel. You walk off the plane, check in at the desk and walk onto a luxury bus that takes you right to your hotel. Sometimes it takes awhile for your luggage to arrive, so plan ahead and bring whatever you might need i.e. p.j.s, swimsuit, etc. in your carry on.
  
• BUY the Disney Dining plan. There are several different options. We chose the most simple plan in which you get one counter service meal, one snack and one sit down dinner. We pay extra for wine or beer if we want it. This cost our family $500.00 for 7 nights. That's 71.42 per day and $23.00 per person per day! Some of you might think that sounds like a lot, but we SAT DOWN for a table service dinner every single night. It was a great way to take a break and stop running. We hardly ever ate the snack or dessert that you get with lunch. So, i'd chose something like a banana or box of cereal save it and bring it to our room for breakfast. Each one of our sit down dinners cost close to $100.00...this alone is a savings in and of itself. MAKE your reservations for dinner as soon as you plan your trip. Restaurants book months in advance.
  
• Don't kill yourself or your kids running around the parks all day. You'll NEVER see everything that all of the parks have to offer. Pre-plan and map out what you are all interested in BEFORE you go on the trip. This way, you'll know exactly what to do when you get there. Split your day between running around the parks and relaxing. We spent the morning by the pool had lunch and then went to the park. We always went to the park in which our dinner reservations were...i.e. we had reservations in Germany one night and spent the afternoon at Epcot. Sometimes, we went to one park in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the pool.
  
• If you're tired, your kids are probably exhausted. After having dinner, do one or two things at that park and then GO TO BED! You'll be happy you did when you wake up the next day well rested!
• Treat yourself and your husband to a relaxing "date night". Most of the hotels have kids clubs. It costs about $10.00 per hour, but it's worth it. The kids have a blast and you get to have a night out by yourself.
  
• Disney has a variety of hotels for all price levels. Take advantage of this! You don't have to pay extra for transportation, parking, etc. Disney has buses, monorails and boats to take you where you need to go. You don't have to park, pay or have any other hassle.
  
• Have fun and do your research before you go! A well planned trip makes for a happy trip!