Preventing A Meltdown At Disney

Ok. I’ll say it. There is nothing that will suck the magic out of an otherwise lovely day at Walt Disney World like a meltdown. I know it might not be the most comfortable thing to hear, but if you’re ever experienced one first hand, you know. Harsh, but true. Everything is fine and then, usually at the most inconvenient time and place, BAM. . . the cool has been lost.

Now, I’m not going to try and convince you that there are guaranteed ways to prevent a meltdown during your Walt Disney World vacation. There aren’t. However, there are some things that you can do in order to make an attempt. Today, I want to take some time to talk about my past experiences and share with you some of the things we’ve done over the years to prevent meltdowns from happening again.

Know & Accept Who You Are Traveling With

I want to start off today’s discussion with something that probably goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. Yeah. It’s that important. The best and most effective attempt you can make to preventing a meltdown at Walt Disney World is to know and accept the traits and/or challenges of the people you’re traveling with.

Here’s the deal. . . .

Walt Disney World is a magical place, but it’s not the kind of magic that can change the traits, challenges and/or needs of our family and friends. Your child’s need for a nap or your spouse’s anxiety is not going to disappear because “Disney”. It just won’t. They will be the same people, with the same challenges, and have the same meltdowns even at the happiest place on Earth.

Now, there are two reasons that I make the point to include this right here are the top of today’s discussion. First, because I know that we want to see the best in the people we love. We don’t like to focus on the aspects that might not be the most. . . . . picture perfect. However, that’s doing everyone a disservice. Knowing where challenges are and ignoring them does not make them go away. Second, I want to be very clear that acknowledging these traits, challenges and/or needs does not make you a bad person. In fact, I think that it’s quite the opposite. I know that there are people out there who are under the impression that recognizing challenges is the same as pointing out negative traits and, in turn, that reflects badly on them. False. Recognizing these challenges helps you address them accordingly and that just shows that you care.

With that out of the way, let’s jump into some of the more specific things we’ve done over the years!

Book An Adequately Sized Room

There’s this thing that some people like to say, especially if they’re trying to help you cut the cost of your Disney vacation, and it goes a little something like this: The room doesn’t matter much, ‘cause you’ll never be in it. Though it’s hard to argue when this statement comes up in regards to theme or hotel amenities, it’s much less true when we’re talking about room and family size. . . . not to mention if you’re traveling with someone who struggles with cramped or cluttered spaces.

Because our hotel room is our home away from home, having a place to rest and unwind at the end [or during] the day is very important. Though having any space away from the crowds might seem like enough, having an adequately sized space is a key factor. For example, a small room [like the ones you’d find at All Star Movies, which can be 260 square feet] might be plenty of space for a couple traveling alone or two adults with a child. However, traveling with 4 adults and 1 child [the maximum occupancy for an All Star Movies room] would be a feat of self control and stress management for just about anyone.

Finding the room that’s right for you and your family might not seem like the easiest task. However, the internet is filled with a ton of great resources that include floor plans and room tours that can aid in your decision making process. Personally, we love watching the room tours over on YouTube. This not only gives us a chance to see the rooms as they are, rather than a floor plan, but it gives us the opportunity to hear what other people have to say. The more opinions and first impressions the better!

🦇 TIP: Having more space might be what’s best for some families, but booking a bigger room might not be. In that case, consider the possibility of booking two budget friendly rooms. These adjoining rooms might be the solution you’re looking for at a price point that suits your needs.

Watch Ride POV Videos

At the top of our discussion I mentioned the importance of knowing and accepting the people we are traveling to Walt Disney World with, but it’s not always that easy. Is it? Sometimes, if we’re traveling with children, it can be difficult to know exactly where that line of what might be too much for them is. . . . . especially if we ourselves aren’t entirely sure what we’re getting ourselves into.

Let me tell you a “it’s funny now, but wasn’t at the time” story. . . .

It was the mid-to-late 90’s, if memory serves me right, and my very excited family was eager to get our Walt Disney World vacation started! We had only just begun what would be a 2 week long trip when my parents decided that today would be a great day to try an attraction we’d never been on before: It’s Tough To Be A Bug!

I vaguely remember my mother’s concern that the show might be scary for my something-like-3-year-old-scared-of-bugs sister and my father saying something along the lines of “she liked the movie. . . it’ll be fine”. The rest is pretty much a blur. Well, right up until we were almost at the front of the next line when my now traumatized sister ran under all of the switchbacks and through the crowd screaming “rund away”. . . . . which continued in every line for the next week and a half.

Funny as we all [including my sister] think the story is now, it was far from it at the time. The situation, which stemmed from something so simple, took its toll on each and every one of us. Fortunately, times have changed considerably since the 90’s and we now have a lot of different tools at our disposal. One such tool is YouTube, where you can watch videos of rides and attractions from the comfort of your own home.

There are a lot of great reasons to check out videos of rides on YouTube prior to your Walt Disney World trip [or, quite frankly, while you’re there if you’ve got concerns]. The most obvious is to give you an idea as to whether or not a particular attraction will be a good fit for the young or sensitive members of your family. It can also be beneficial for those who have other challenges [such as physical limitations] to understand what they will be getting themselves into. Years later, we found this to be very helpful when traveling with a person who struggled with mobility and balance issues. Knowing what to expect ahead of time allowed us to plan accordingly as a party, which made the trip a much more positive experience for all of us.

Pack For Convenience & Comfort

It’s not always one big occurrence that triggers a meltdown. Sometimes it’s a collection of small things that sends a person over the edge. In that case, having some items in your backpack that keep convenience and comfort in mind can make all the difference.

No matter where we travel, we’ve always got a few items that make life easier and eliminate potentially stressful/frustrating situations in our bag and ready to go; our trips to Walt Disney World are no different. This could be anything from extra socks to reusable straws. The sky’s the limit here! LIke with anything else we’ve been discussing, this is one of those things where knowing the people you’re with is particularly useful. Take the time to consider what might be most beneficial to them and add it to your packing list.

Give Your Trip Some Structure

If there is one thing I’m very aware of, it’s that people do not like the idea of having structure when on their vacation. I literally hear it all. . . the. . . time! The simple suggestion that you could have a plan or schedule of what you intend to do on your vacation always gets pushback, but that doesn’t change the way we feel about it. Having some structure to your trip, or an itinerary, is a great way to get the most out of your vacation and prevent meltdowns.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of itineraries in a future chat, but long story short, having a guide that you can refer back to [when put together and executed properly] can be very helpful for everyone. Not only can it be a way to ensure you don’t miss those scheduled “must do” items, like a meet and greet with a favorite princess or that show they’ve been looking forward to, but it also helps you keep track of some things that can easily be forgotten because. . . . well, let’s face it. . . . Walt Disney World is an overwhelming place. Making sure that you’ve checked as many boxes as possible, especially those things that you swore you wouldn’t forget about, but then it was hot and you were tired. . . . is a great way to reduce the risk of a meltdown.

👻 Like I mentioned above, we’ve got a few things in the works that you might want to check out if you’re interested in what one of our itineraries looks like and possibly putting together one of your own. Be sure to check back or visit our Facebook Group for updates as to when that information becomes available.

Like I said at the top of our discussion, there’s no guaranteed way to prevent a meltdown while on your next Walt Disney World vacation. The best we can do is to make an attempt. That said, we hope that this list gives you a few ideas and that they work as well for you and your family as they have for us.

Until next time!