10 Reasons I Like Disney World

Here we are in the first week of January, it’s bitterly cold and my daughter is projectile vomiting all over the house. Why not write about a place I love, a place my daughter loves and a place I have developed a rather unhealthy obsession with. (I might as well direct deposit my checks to them instead of my bank account.)

Oh, some of you have guessed? Disney World? Yes, I love that place. I love Dole Whips and Mickey Bars, the new caramel corn in the Germany pavilion and the resorts and the California Grill.

But mostly I love it now because I have a child who believes in fairies and princesses and pirates and magic. And my heart lights up every time she is excited about a character or a ride or fireworks. Watching Addie as we get on the plane, get to the hotel or enter a park makes my heart grow two sizes.

Some of you are cringing; some of you don’t like to travel there. My husband is one of you. He avoids this vacation at all costs. In the three times we’ve been, he has never come with us; he dislikes it that much. But I’ll share a little secret: he’s softening. Every time Addie tells him he has to hold her tight on a scary roller coaster or in the Lion King Show, his resistance wears down, just a little. And I secretly beam because I can’t wait for daddy to love this place with his kids as much as I do.

I was going to blog about our last trip in November, but I feel like I should start at the beginning. I have always loved going to Disney World. But I also love Europe, Asia and pretty much anywhere I’ve never been. Then last year I started a travel company focused on family travel.

I realized a lot of people do not have the time to spend making plans and reservations and arranging rentals that make travel with kids so much easier. I like the idea of helping families. Through the endeavor, I have been able to experience, research and study various resorts and destinations. And everybody offers something for families; they are big business in travel. I’m going to let you in on what I’ve learned: Few places cater to families the way Disney does. Honestly.

Okay, so here are my top 10 reasons Disney World is a great place to take your family:

1. The trip is a great “starter” flight.

From Allentown, AirTran offers direct flights. And last time I booked for about $50 each way. Flight times are also great from Allentown.

From Philadelphia, the flights are cheap and direct. I have an active 3-year-old. We flew out of Philly over the weekend of the freak October snowstorm. We got stuck on the tarmac for almost three hours while they de-iced. I was lucky and Addie slept for most of it, but she still spent almost eight hours on that plane and she was extremely well behaved. We were going to Disney.

Usually the flight is about two hours. With take off, getting a drink and descending, the time goes by very quickly. This is a great way to start your kids on flying. It gives them the experience but doesn’t require them to be strapped in for too long. I have plenty of tips to keep them busy too. (Another post)

2. Disney World offers hotels in every price range.

Did you know that Disney World offers hotels that start at $64/night? They also offer camping. People often ask me if they should stay in Disney World versus off-site. Here is what I always tell them: do a cost comparison, then factor in convenience with kids. If you decide to stay on-site, Disney offers Magical Express that takes you and your bags from the airport to hotel. If you’re considering the cost of staying off site, you will need a car. (One is not necessary if you stay on site.)

Disney hotels are kid-friendly. We stayed at a value resort in September; I was working and needed a low cost place to stay. It was awesome. Really. I’ve stayed all over property and have never had a bad experience. The point is this: your hotel may not be as expensive as you think. And no matter where you go on vacation, the Disney pricing is more than competitive.

3. Entertainment is built-in.

One of the things that I love about a Disney package is that once you pay, everything is included. (Except for the Mickey hats) My comparison is this: we went to Williamsburg last year. By the time we bought tickets for entry to Williamsburg, paid for  “additional activities” we wanted to do -- Busch Garden tickets, Zoo tickets etc. -- we could have gone to Disney for about the same price. Once in the gates, you don’t have to worry about the cost of entertaining everyone.

And no one entertains like Disney. We saw the Lion King show about 20 times on our last trip. Amazing. Another favorite was Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom. I’ll admit a safari trip is on my bucket list but it’s not in the budget. And this “ride” is never the same twice, because the animals are unpredictable.

One of my personal favorites is the storytelling at Epcot at Christmas time. At each "country," someone tells that country's version of the Christmas story. You could spend an entire day wandering from story to story, included in admission. Or how about the nightly fireworks? On our last trip we got to watch the first lighting of Cinderella’s Castle decorated for Christmas. My daughter watched in wonder.

4. Kid-friendly bathrooms: Okay, so maybe this isn’t important to everyone, but it is if you have a toddler who is potty training. Almost all of the restrooms on Disney property have a smaller potty and lower sink to make it easier on kids to use. Yes, it's the simple things that make parents of toddlers happy.

5. Disney dining is varied and kid friendly.

Dining in Disney can be expensive but dining plans are available. And so when people ask me what to book, I advise them to look at some of the menus. A base-dining plan costs about $35/day/adult and it includes two meals. Considering a buffet meal costs about $25/person, the dining plan can save families money. Over the past several years Disney has offered the dining plan free to families booking packages.

Also, Disney restaurants are pros at dealing with families. They offer a staggering array of character meals. You can dine with almost any character during some point of your day. There are also “entertainment” restaurants. Ohana, at the Polynesian Resort, comes to mind. Here there are hula-hoop contests, broomstick races and all kinds of kid friendly hoopla during the meal.

My favorite example: The California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Resort. It commands a view of the Magic Kingdom, Seven Seas Lagoon and Epcot. It’s menu focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients. It’s consistently at the top of the Orlando restaurant scene. It gets four stars. You can see where I’m going.

On our last trip our waiter brought my daughter a special plate of goldfish to start. She had crayons and a special placemat. The sushi chef made her some kid-friendly sushi (the sushi chef also prepared me a very special plate because I was pregnant and couldn’t eat raw).  My point is this: even the very highest end restaurants cater to people with kids.

6. Disney has good customer service.

I deal with a lot of different companies offering travel to families. Few compare to Disney's level of customer service. And I can give you several examples. A year ago, my mother had a stroke a week before we were supposed to leave for Disney. We didn’t have trip insurance and could have been penalized because we were cancelling so close to the trip. We weren't. Disney was incredibly kind. And they created some loyal customers.

Another example, I was asked to book a group, which requires 10 rooms. I had only one family who booked but the group manager I worked with let the family keep the group pricing. He wanted to create loyal customers, not one-time visitors.

There are so many more examples but you get the idea.

7.  Child-friendly gear is available.

Okay, so this is not directly related to Disney. But on one of our last visits we needed a toddler bed. A company in Orlando rents that kind of baby equipment, at a reasonable rate. They deliver it to your hotel and they pick it up. And there are several companies that rent strollers. It makes a trip to Orlando so much easier.

8.  Bag check is available at your yesort.

This might actually be one of my FAVORITE reasons for staying on property. If you stay at any Disney hotel, you can check your bags at the “check-in” counter at your resort, have your boarding passes printed and the bags get to the airport and onto your plane. No dragging luggage from your hotel into the rental car into the airport. I LOVE this.

9. Multi-Generational trips.

Disney is a great place to take the extended family. We have done three trips with grandparents. And one of the best parts is that there is enough to do to make everyone happy. On our last trip we went to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. My mother and I took a cooking class (delicious), while my father took Addie to the pool. Another evening my parents attended a special dinner while I kept Addie at Magic Kingdom.

Another day we went to Downtown Disney. While my mother shopped I took Addie on the carousel, played with the Lego tables and ate ice cream. On our last trip we attended the Grand Floridian Tea, where we donned white gloves and fancy hats and had a tea party with Addie and her grandparents. Another afternoon my mother got a spa treatment while Addie, Grandpa Wes and I played at the pool.

10. Disney = magic = happy kids

I’ll admit right up front there have been moments, only moments, when things haven’t been fun. But for 98 percent of the time my child was happy. No whining, no tears, no tantrums. And for me, that is magic and that is Disney.