![\"1_epcot_spaceship_earth_2010a\"](\"http:\/\/momfactually.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/1_epcot_spaceship_earth_2010a1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n1. Ship your pants, or your snacks and supplies.<\/strong><\/p>\n Want to take snacks that take up valuable suitcase room and\/or a few small toys that you buy at home but don’t want your kids to see prior to arrival? Heidi Gorsica, mom of 2 boys ages 6 & 8, recommends shipping a box to yourself at the hotel. “I use a Medium Priority Mail box, which can be stuffed to the brim and mailed for a flat shipping rate. If you are staying on Disney property, address it to yourself and include your reservation number and date of arrival. They will have the box ready for you at check-in or deliver to your room shortly after,” she says. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 2. Get glow bracelets at home.<\/strong><\/p>\n Heidi said that she gets glow bracelets\/toys from the Target dollar bin. It’s a great way to avoid paying steep prices for nighttime glow and light-up items that they sell throughout the park.\u00a0 If you’re waiting for the parade with nothing in hand, it can be tough for kids to avoid the siren song of the vendors wandering the crowds. Giving your kiddo a $1 glow stick or necklace makes all the difference and can save you $10 or more easily. Heidi ships these in the box she sends ahead to the hotel.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 3. The Biergarten is a great, kid-friendly stop.<\/strong><\/p>\n “The BEST ‘secret’ (well, not really a secret) was the Biergarten Restaurant<\/a> in Epcot. You’d think of it as an adult place, but they have a whole stage performance that includes kids,” Jenna says. “They play alphorns (those long horns famous in the Ricola cough drop commercials) and have an Oompah Loompah band and all the kids are invited to come up and dance. The kid-friendly food at the buffet is also a nice surprise. It’s just mashed potatoes and mac & cheese and stuff, but I was so glad to see it. I think baby Greta ate her weight in spaetzle!”<\/p>\n 4. Don’t skip Epcot, even if your kids are little.<\/strong><\/p>\n Many people think Epcot isn’t for little ones, but Jenna Karvunidis, mom of three girls\u00a0ages six, 3 1\/2 and 13 months and blogger at High Gloss and Sauce <\/a>disagrees. Her family of ventured to the Happiest Place on Earth with their three girls and she says that families of all ages can enjoy Epcot. She say, “I highly recommend one full day in Epcot, even for families with young kids.”<\/p>\n Want to make your child’s first haircut really special? Have the folks at Harmony Barber Shop<\/a> (HBS) do it. Kerry did, and said that they have been return customers on every subsequent visit.<\/p>\n “I like HBS for a lot of reasons,” says Kerry. “It is a steal. My daughter is a bit shy not a problem here. We have gone back every time. Also, it is a GREAT alternative to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique<\/a> (BBB). They are allowed to do more than 2 styles at HBS. Pair that with a facepainter for instant princess makeup or Tinkerbell face or anything you want, and there are free touch ups on the face painting, too. I know people love BBB, but we’ve had more fun making it our own. It can be a bit cheaper too.”<\/span><\/span><\/span> 6. Button up!<\/strong><\/p>\n Did you know you can get buttons at Guest Services in each of the parks? “It was our oldest’s birthday and Guest Services gave him a birthay button with his name and age. EVERYONE wished him ‘Happy birthday,’ which even added to the magic,” said <\/span><\/span><\/span>Julia Passamani, blogger at Lipstick, Lollipops & Life<\/a>, traveled from Chicago to Disney with her two boys, ages 2 and 4, and the rest of her extended family in November. “We saw buttons for ‘first time visitors’ and others,”<\/span><\/span><\/span> she adds.\u00a0 You can get buttons for anniversaries, engagements, family reunions, and even just “I’m celebrating!”<\/p>\n Find more of her suggestions in her post “14 tips to visit Disney with toddlers<\/a>.”<\/p>\n 7. Use the My Disney Experience app.<\/strong><\/p>\n Erin Gosser, mom of two boys now three years old and two months old from Illinois, says the phone was her friend, particularly the My Disney Experience app<\/a>. “We used the official Disney app when we went with our 2.5 year old son, Logan, last spring,” she says. “The best feature was the ability to obtain a FastPass. You could also view wait times and make dining reservations.” Erin offers more helpful advice in “12 tips for 12 hours at Disney with a toddler” on her blog, Social Butterfly Mom<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 8. Take advantage of Baby Swap Passes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n “If you have one kid who is tall enough for a ride and one who is two small, use the Baby Swap passes. The older child gets to ride the ride twice – once with each parent,” explains Morgan Van Arsdall, Maryland mom of a two kids, ages 2 and 5. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She adds, “You can use them in conjunction with FP+, to get in several rides through the FP line.<\/span>” Sounds like a great way to maximize your fun and spend time on a kiddo’s favorite ride. It is officially called Ride Switch and you can get more info here<\/a>. Don\u2019t miss a post! Please subscribe to Mom Factually\u2019s completely safe, spam-free email list in the box in the top right corner of the page!<\/p>\n It would make my 2015 if you\u2019d like Mom Factually on Facebook<\/a>.<\/strong> You can also find Mom Factually on Pinterest<\/a>, Twitter, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We’re getting ready to head to Disney World and to say I’m excited would be an understatement. In addition to pouring over The Unofficial Guide, I asked some of my favorite friends who are awesome moms and who have recently been to Disney World for their advice. Here are their great Disney tips and tactics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6124,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions\/6124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betweenusparents.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> 5<\/strong>. Harmony Barber Shop is worth the stop, and a cheaper alternative to Bibbity Bobbity Boutique.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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