Category Archives: Travel

Great Travel Games for Young Kids

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This time of the year, I start thinking about small things to buy for Buddy’s Easter basket. And one of the things I always look for is travel games. We’ve traveled a lot less in the last year due to the pandemic, but we still have taken several very long car trips. And sometimes, we’ve brought travel games to with us when we’ve had to wait somewhere like a restaurant or a doctor’s office. Here are our favorite travel games.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Travel Yahtzee

My family loves playing Mickey Mouse Yahtzee Jr., and we made our own version to play at home. (Our original is from the 80s and is at my dad’s house.) When we decided to do a 18 hour road trip last summer, I wanted to make a to-go version. I looked at the current travel Yahtzee available, and eventually decided to get a vintage one off of Ebay. I had that version as a kid, and I knew it would be easier to keep the dice contained. They way we play it is you have three rolls to get as many of the same kind as possible, with the number 1 being wild. If someone else has the same score already, you get bumped down to the next lowest score. I printed and laminated a score card and put it on a little clipboard left over from our Disney trip.

World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game

We’ve loved the World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game for a long time. It is a staple to play at home, and recently we sent a set to my dad so we can play it on FaceTime. To play the game, you have to be the first one to find a certain object on your card. Then you can discard your card and a new item is chosen. It’s great because it doesn’t take up much space, so it’s great to throw in a purse or carry on.

Spot It

There are so many versions of the Spot It Game. The one we have is Planes Spot It, which has both images from the Planes movie as well as letters. To play the game, you put down two cards and you try to be the first one to find the one thing they have in common. It comes in a heavy duty tin, so it’s really great for travel. We kept this one in the diaper bag for years.

Magnetic Bingo

We bought Take and Play Anywhere Bingo for Buddy when he was 3, and almost 3 years later, it continues to be a favorite game. This version of bingo has 24 different animals and a spinner to use to select the animal. It was a great game before Buddy knew his letters and numbers, and he still really enjoys all of the different animals. This one also comes in a magnetic tin that is very durable. The Take and Play Anywhere game series also includes hangman, memory, and fishing, which all look fun.

Road trip Scavenger Hunt Game

I bought the Briarpatch Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game last summer before our 18 hour car trip. The box says the game is for ages 7 and up, but Buddy was able to play it at age 5 without a problem. We started playing it with a card holder, but then Buddy discovered that he can just prop the cards on the edge of the window. I modified the rules a bit from how they were written. We each choose 5 cards, and then we discarded them as we find the thing. I go through the cards before we play and pick things that I think are more likely to be seen depending on where we are driving. It takes awhile to play, and it makes a long car trip pass more quickly.

Spin and Play Board Game Book

I bought the Spin and Play Counting Games board book before our trip to Bogota in 2019. This board book has five different board games with two dice in the middle to spin. I liked it especially for that trip because it was easy to take in our carry on, and we played it both on the plane as well as in the hotel room. It’s also a great way to practice counting and simple addition.

Cars and Trucks Card Game

Cars and Trucks is another card game we’ve enjoyed on trips as well as at home. It’s not currently available online, but this war game is similar. We have played it on planes, and we like to bring it as a game to play when we arrive at our location.

Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game

Buddy likes to play memory, but it takes a lot of space to set up, so it’s not a great choice to play while traveling. So we got him the Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game last Easter to use for trips. It’s great because there are a lot of different game choices, so it’s nice to use even at home. The flaps are a little loud, so it’s probably better as a car trip game than a plane game.

Mental Games to Play While Traveling

While it’s great to be able to buy games to take with you on trips, it’s also helpful to have games you can play without anything else. We play these a lot while waiting in lines at the store, as well as when we travel.

  • Animal Game – One person chooses an animal and the other people ask yes and no questions until they guess it.
  • Alphabet Game – You look around at signs, license plates, labels and anything else you can find and look for the letters one at a time in order. We’ve found this to be a great game to play while sitting in slow city traffic where there are lots of lisence plates and billboards to see. We play this in grocery store lines as well.
  • iSpy – One person picks something they can see, and the other people ask yes and no questions to guess it.
  • Color game – We play this two ways. Usually we play it like iSpy, and one person says the color of the thing they see. Then the other people guess what it is. But we have also played it by picking a color and then seeing how many things you can find with that color. The person who finds the last thing of that color wins.

If you have any other travel game suggestions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.

Airplane Activities for a Four Year Old

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Airplane Activities for a Four Year Old

My family flies a lot because my husband works for an airline. And he was working abroad last summer, so Buddy and I flew together a couple times to see him. It was our first experience flying just the two of us, and overall, we both had a good time.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Before our first flight, I had purchased this Wildkin rolling suitcase for Buddy. Since we were traveling by ourselves, I needed him to pull his own toys. Buddy loved this suitcase and was happy to pull it. It fit underneath the seat, and it holds a lot! I highly recommend it.

Because our trip consisted of two long flights followed by a week in a hotel room, I wanted to bring a variety of activities. I put together a few busy bags, some games, some books, and some small toys for Buddy. Some of these were things we had, and I got some new things for the trip too. Here are the things we brought with us.

Toys

Books

Other Items

  • Kindle and headphones
  • Empty waterbottle – we always fill after we go through security and before we get on the plane
  • Snacks – fruit snacks, Ritz bits, and animal crackers are Buddy’s current favorites. I usually throw in a couple suckers too.
  • Bag of clothespin, popsicle sticks, and pipecleaners- This kept Buddy busy for awhile. See picture below.
  • Post it notes and pen – I’m not sure why Buddy is more interested in writing with a pen than a marker or crayon, but he is.

I found all of these items to be very helpful in entertaining Buddy on the flight and at the hotel. Although Buddy was content to watch his Kindle for long periods of time, it was nice to have other things to keep him busy when we were ready for a screen time break.

Waiting Activities for Kids at Disney

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Buddy and I both love Disney World, and we were lucky enough to be able to take a quick trip with our extended family in August. All of Buddy’s cousins came, which meant our group had a total of 5 kids – ages 2, 4, 5, 5, and 7. I spent a good amount of time planning for keeping our kids busy while they were waiting at Disney World.

Disney Busy Bags

Before we left, Buddy and I went to the party store, the dollar store, and the grocery store looking for cheap toys to play with at Disney. I splurged on one larger toy per child. For the three girls, I got a small princess doll. I got a Woody doll for Buddy’s oldest cousin, and Buddy desperately wanted a dragon stuffed toy. (It was actually a keychain and I cut that part off so it was just a tiny stuffed animal.)

Buddy and I got a bunch of smaller toys to play with in lines. I put them in groups of similar typed items, and then I put each group in a bag. The groups were: things for fingers (skateboards/light up rings), pretend play (fairy wands and pirate spy glasses), and rubiks cubes. I also made bags with papers, coloring supplies, and stickers for times that we were sitting and waiting for a show or at a restaurant.

Here is a close up of the coloring supplies bags. I put them in quart size ziplocks to be easy to open and close. The girls had a spiral notebook and pen from the party store. Then I split a set of princess stickers and a princess crayon set from the dollar store. The boys had a spiral notebook, marker, and ruler set from the party store, and then they split Lion King crayons. I found a ton of Disney stickers around the house, and I put them in the bags along with tiny coloring/activity books from the party store. The spiral notebooks were the biggest hit and several of the kids used them as autograph books.

When we were in a long line, waiting for a show, or the kids were about to melt down, I’d pull out one of the bags. They were great distractions, and helped to enhance the Disney magic. I also brought a bag of glow wands, which were great entertainment at night.

Buddy was excited to have his dragon Cinder meet all of the princesses.

Other Waiting Activities

  • Read a picture book – We did this at rope drop! It would also be great for waiting for a show.
  • Play I Spy – Buddy and I take turns picking an object, saying its color, and then the other person has to guess which item it is.
  • Play The Animal Game – I taught this one to Buddy earlier in the summer and we play it all the time! One person thinks of an animal, and the other person asks yes or no questions until they guess the animal. This was a hit with our group.
  • Play The Color Game – Choose a color, and count how many things you can find with that color.
  • Look at a map – Buddy loves looking at maps, and there are many of these available as you enter each part.
  • Look for Hidden Mickeys
  • Blow Bubbles
  • Play Simon Says
  • Put on sunscreen
  • Have a snack
Buddy’s reading a map of Magic Kingdom while we were waiting at our hotel.

It wasn’t easy to keep a large group of little kids entertained while waiting in Disney lines. And there were definitely tears and meltdowns. But for the most part, having a plan for keeping the kids busy in lines made our trip much more fun.

Hotel Fun with a Preschooler

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My husband is working in Colombia this summer, so Buddy and I took two different week long trips there. We spent time every day sightseeing, but we still had a long amount of time in the hotel. Here’s a list of some of the things we did to have fun while in the hotel room.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Build Something

On our first trip, I brought train tracks, duplos, and these duplo train track pieces, which were a new surprise for Buddy. He had a blast constructing different arrangements with the blocks and tracks. It was a great way to make well loved toys feel like new. We also brought magnatiles with us on both trips.

Washi Tape Roads and Bridges

Buddy and I used washi tape to make roads and folded construction paper to make bridges. I intended for it to be for Buddy’s cars, but he wanted to use it as a runway for his planes instead. (Read more about this activity here.)

Coloring and Activity Books

I bought some new coloring books from the dollar store before this trip. Buddy especially loves the puzzles and activities in them. I also purchased some dry erase activity books from Usborne, which is what is pictured above. (We got the dinosaur wipe clean book and the big activity book.)

Play Games

Buddy loves to play games, so of course we always bring them when we travel. I bought a book of 5 board games (Spin and Play Counting Games) to bring with us on this trip. This book was awesome because it had two dice as spinners in the spine, and it was great practice with adding, counting, and reading numbers. Buddy also brought his favorite game, Sequence for Kids, which I packed in a gallon ziplock. We also brought travel bingo, Toy Story Uno, Cars and Trucks card game, and Disney Eye Found It (which we call the Mickey game).

Draw on the Windows

I brought washable dry erase markers for Buddy’s activity books, and we used them to make pictures on the windows. We looked outside and drew the things we saw. Buddy loved this so much that we did it multiple times on both trips! (Read more about this activity here.)

Read Books

Buddy loves to read, and we brought a bunch of books with us. Sometimes we would take the whole pile and cuddle up in bed and read. Hotel beds are so cozy and comfortable for reading.

Play with a Balloon

I meant to bring one from home, but I forgot. Fortunately we were staying at the most amazing hotel that gave Buddy two different balloons during long waits in the lobby. This one kept Buddy entertained for a very long time. We just hit it back and forth all over the place.

Make a Fort

Buddy made a fort on his own when I was in the bathroom. This is how I found him!

Put Together Puzzles

I bought a couple puzzles from the dollar store to put together in the hotel. I also got this nicer one, which was magnetic and had two different puzzles. The magnetic one was also great for doing on the plane.

Play Mats

Before our second trip, I decided to bring printed train mats and Thomas mini trains. Buddy loved having wooden train tracks with us on our first trip, but the printouts were much easier to bring and he was just as happy.

I was worried before our trip that I would feel cooped up in the hotel room, but Buddy and I had a lot of fun! By the end of our time there, it began to feel like home.

Portable Train Tracks Busy Bag

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Buddy loves playing with trains and setting up train tracks. When I saw the idea of a portable train set on Play Train’s blog, I knew it’d be perfect for our upcoming trip. We were planning to spend a lot of time on airplanes, and portable train tracks sounded like a great way to keep Buddy busy.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

I started by getting a handful of jumbo craft sticks, a sharpie, and a ruler. Then, I drew the train tracks on the sticks, and I used the ruler to make my lines nice and straight. I decided to make 10 sticks so Buddy would have a lot of different options when setting up the tracks. Once the tracks were finished, I added three of Buddy’s mini trains. The portable train set on Play Train’s blog included felt background pieces and pipe cleaner trees. However, when I asked Buddy about making these, he wasn’t interested.

Buddy was very excited when I offered to pull out his portable train set on the plane. We set up two squares with 8 of the sticks, and then we added a couple extra lines of track. Buddy had a lot of fun making his trains go around the track.

We did have a slight problem because the popsicle sticks slid around a bit on the tray table. Before our next trip, I’ll add a piece of felt to go under it to help make it more stable. Otherwise, it was a great activity that kept Buddy busy on a long flight.

Do you have any other busy bag ideas for our next trip? If so, please share your ideas in the comment section.

What to do with a Preschooler in Disney World

Last week, I blogged about my planning process for Disney World. The ultimate success of our trip was largely due to taking time to making good dining reservations, booking good fast passes, and making a fun itinerary for the 2 year old and 3 year old boys in our group. This week, I want to focus on all of the things we did in all four parks and Disney Springs.

Our trip was only four days, so we didn’t get to everything. But we did do a lot, and we had a lot of fun. We spent our arrival day at our hotel (Art of Animation) and then Disney Springs. Our second day was Animal Kingdom, hotel for nap time, and then Epcot. We did Magic Kingdom, hotel for nap time, and then Hollywood Studios on our third day. And our final day we spent the morning in Magic Kingdom before flying home.

Having fun at the Art of Animation Hotel!

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Magic Kingdom

What we did:

*Dumbo Ride – This was Buddy’s favorite ride! We did it three times. There is an amazing play area where you can wait and then you have a pager when it’s your turn to get on the ride. Buddy never was interested in playing there because we could always get right on the ride. But it looked like a lot of fun.

*Barnstormer – This was Buddy’s first roller coaster. Buddy was kicking and crying when we put him on, and then he immediately loved it and wanted to go again.

*It’s a Small World – A classic! Buddy has recently gotten this set of Lego animals around the world, and it was fun for him to see all of the people in different areas of the world.

*Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – Buddy had a lot of fun shooting his laser at the different targets.

*The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – We used a Fast Pass on this one, but the line is really fun and a great place for kids to play. It was a great follow up to our brunch at Crystal Palace, which was the highlight of Buddy’s day.

*Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid – This is a favorite of mine, and Buddy liked it a lot too.

*Enchanted Tales with Belle – An interactive story of Beauty and the Beast (without the scary Gaston part.) Buddy was cast as Mrs. Potts, and then had stage fright, so I had to do it with him. At the end participants of the show get to take a picture with Belle.

*Meet Daring Disney Pals and Meet Dashing Disney Pals as Circus Stars at Pete’s Silly Show – The Daring ones are Donald and Goofy, and the Dashing ones are Minnie and Daisy. I had originally planned to see just Daisy and Minnie, since Minnie was the only Mickey Mouse Clubhouse character not at one of our character meals. But of course, Buddy wanted to see them all.

*Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater – In the week since we did this, now it includes Minnie too. Buddy had already seen Mickey twice at this point, but he wanted to see him one more time before he left.

*Brunch at Crystal Palace – We had a great meal with great characters. Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger all visited our table for pictures and autographs. Buddy was literally bouncing up and down watching Tigger come to our table.

What we missed:

I was so disappointed when I realized Peter Pan’s Flight, Tomorrowland Speedway, and the railroad were all going to be closed for our trip. All would have been great rides for Buddy. Other things we didn’t have time to get to were the Prince Charming Regal Carousel, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, and the play area by Splash Mountain.

Animal Kingdom

What we did:

*Breakfast at Tusker House – This is my favorite restaurant in Disney World. The food is great and the characters are so fun. Because we had an 8:10 reservation, Buddy met Daisy, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald before the park even opened.

*Kilimanjaro Safaris – We did this immediately after breakfast before a line started. It is a 20 minute jeep ride through the African savannah. This was Buddy’s second favorite ride of our trip.

*Festival of the Lion King – Buddy talked about this show for days both before and after our trip, and it was another highlight for him. It’s part circus, part sing along, and part character fun. Buddy loved it all!

*Gorilla Falls Wilderness Trek – This is a little like a zoo, but Buddy loved it anyway. You get to see gorillas, hippos, and exotic birds, in addition to other African animals.

*Boneyard play area – Some members of our group did the Dinosaur ride and the rest of us played in the Boneyard. I was expecting an actual digging area for bones, but it’s more of a playground. (*Edit – apparently there is a place to dig and we missed it. You have to go up and cross a bridge to get to it. We will do this next time!*) Buddy had a ton of fun jumping on dinosaur footprints and listening to the dinosaur sounds that played. There was also a pair of small slides that both boys enjoyed.

What we missed:

We wanted to do the Na’vi River Journey in the new Pandora area, but we ran out of time. If we had used Fast Passes at Animal Kingdom, we would have gotten one for that ride. I also love Finding Nemo the Musical, and I’m sure Buddy would have liked it too. The Maharajah Jungle Trek is another fun animal viewing area. The Wildlife Express train and affection station petting zoo were closed for renovations when we were there, but I would have loved to do that with Buddy. I had hoped Buddy would have done Triceratops Spin, but he was too nervous. I’m sure he would have done it if we had done Dumbo before our time in Animal Kingdom. There are also many character to meet at Animal Kingdom, but we didn’t meet anyone besides the ones at Tusker House.

Epcot

What we did:

*Frozen Ever After Ride – This was the first Fast Pass we booked, because Buddy loves Frozen and this is a very popular ride. Buddy loved it until the end, when he got soaked and burst into tears. We were on the front of the boat and he was on the edge. If we had put him in the middle, he would have been dry and happy.

*Meet Anna and Elsa at Royal Sommerhus – I was prepared for a long line, but we were able to see Anna and Elsa fairly quickly. Buddy was really excited to meet both of them, but was pretty shy in the moment.

*The Seas with Nemo – Buddy loves Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, so he was pretty excited to go on this ride. It’s a relaxing ride in a shell while watching video clips of the movie, and it finishes in a real aquarium.

*Turtle Talk with Crush – Buddy was brave enough to sit in the front of the theater with the other kids. Kids asked questions to Crush, and the animated Crush was able to answer them in live time. It was kind of amazing, and fun for all of us.

*Gran Fiesta Tour – This is a boat ride with the Three Caballeros. Buddy loves Donald, so this ride was a lot of fun for him.

*Garden Grill – We had dinner here, and it was a lot of fun. The whole restaurant slowly revolves, and you can see different nature scenes. The meal is served family style, and we liked the food. The restaurant wasn’t busy when we were there, and we were able to see all of the characters (Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey) twice. Chip even made it to our table three times, and he was really playful with Buddy! Buddy had so much time with all of the characters, and it was nice that we didn’t have to worry about missing them while at a buffet.

What we missed:

We actually had a Fast Pass to Spaceship Earth, but by the time we went to use it, Buddy was too tired. I would have liked to do Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and Living with the Land. The Epcot Character Spot would have been fun too.

Hollywood Studios

What we did:

*50s Prime Time Cafe – There are many fun dining options at Hollywood Studios, but Buddy decided that a tv at the table would be fun. Not all the tables are like that, however. (I forgot when I gave Buddy the option of 50s Prime Time and Sci Fi Diner. Thankfully that worked out.)

*Frozen Sing Along – This was a lot of fun for Buddy because he loves Frozen. There are live performances with Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff, along with the Royal Historians who tell the Frozen story. Then they play the songs with all the words on the screen for the few people who haven’t seen Frozen over and over with their kids. Snow comes down at the end, which was a nice touch of Disney magic.

*Celebrity Spotlight – One of the main reasons we decided to visit Hollywood Studios was to meet Olaf. Buddy had so much fun seeing him.

*Fantasmic – Buddy doesn’t like fireworks much, so I was excited to do Fantastmic, which doesn’t have many. The animation projections on water and characters on boats were really cool. I forgot it was a little scary. Mickey fights a large dragon and there was a lot of fire everywhere. Buddy toughed it out, but he wasn’t a fan of Fantasmic. A lot of kids love it though.

What we missed:

I really wanted to take Buddy on Toy Story Mania, but we used our Fast Passes at Magic Kingdom that day, and the line was long. If we would have had longer at Hollywood Studios, I would have done it though. Other fun options for preschoolers at Hollywood Studios are the Disney Junior Dance party, Muppet Vision 3D, and Minnie and Mickey Starring in Red Carpet Dreams.

Disney Springs

What we did:

*T-Rex Cafe – This is a restaurant where large animatronic dinosaurs make noise and move a little. I was a little nervous that the boys would be scared, but they both loved it!

*Marketplace Train Express – This is a tiny kid train, and somehow was the only train working during our Disney trip. It was a must for my train loving boy. He had so much fun going on this, and we were able to go twice in a row! It cost $5 for the two boys to ride and one parent rode for free with each boy. (There can only be two parents at a time on the ride though.) When my friend’s son was crying because he had to get off the train, the guy in charge let him ride again for free. And then he let Buddy go with him. It was the best $5 I’ve ever spent at Disney.

Train ride selfie! Buddy had so much fun!

*Once Upon a Toy – A very fun toy store, and Buddy wanted to buy everything! He had a gift card for souvenirs, and eventually decided to buy a monorail.

*Lego store – There are life sized Disney characters built out of Legos. There are also stations where you can play with Legos or Duplos. This was a fun way to kill time before going to dinner.

*Watching Amphicars – It is a classic car that drives into the lake and turns into a boat. They were cool to watch go around the lake.

What we missed:

There is a carousel by the Marketplace train that would have been a lot of fun. The World of Disney Store at Disney Springs is enormous and has lots of unique souvenirs. There are also a ton of fun restaurants to visit or even just to grab dessert.

Our trip to Disney was so much fun, and we were all sad to go home. I can’t wait until I can go back! Please leave a comment if you are planning a trip of your own and have questions, or if you have other suggestions that I missed.

Planning a Magical Disney World Trip for a Preschooler

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We recently took a trip to Walt Disney World, and it was wonderful. I have been to Disney World several times in recent years with my adult friends. However, this was my first trip with Buddy, which meant putting a lot of extra thought into my planning. My family traveled with my best friend’s family, so we had a two year old and a three year old in our group. Not everything went according to plan, but most of it did. And amazingly, we had three and a half days of joy and laughter with no tears or meltdowns!

Ultimately, planning Disney for young children means doing everything possible to minimize waits and maximize fun. It takes some work to do it well, but in the end the effort is so worth it. (For me, planning is a large part of the fun!) Below is a summary of my planning timeline and links to other helpful resources.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

More than 6 Months Before: Choose the Right Date and Hotel

I’ve become pretty picky when it comes to Disney crowds. Disney is crowded all year long, but the crowds are worse when schools are on vacation. As a teacher, it’s easier for me to go during school breaks. However, it’s worth it to me to use a couple of personal days to have a less crowded and happier Disney experience. My off season Disney trips have been in late April, early November, and mid January. I’ve enjoyed all of these times. This WDW Prep Crowd Calendar can give you more specific guidance about what times are good to go and what events are available during your stay.

You also need to decide where you are going to stay during your trip. I have stayed on and off property, and there are merits to both. However, I prefer to stay on property because you never have to leave the Disney fun. It also takes less time to get into and out of the parks. The latter part was especially important to me when traveling with a little one. I knew we would want to go back to the hotel for nap time, and so I wanted to be as close as possible. Disney hotel guests can also book their Fast Passes earlier (60 days in advance compared to 30 days). If you don’t stay on property, many of the good Fast Passes will be gone.

Buddy enjoying the playground at Art of Animation.

We ended up staying at the Art of Animation Resort, and we loved it! We had a lot of fun exploring the hotel on our first day, and the theming is so fun. One of the reasons we chose this hotel is the family suites, which were great.

Buddy had a ton of fun meeting all of the cars at our hotel.

Download the My Disney Experience App

This app is so helpful when making reservations for dining and Fast Passes. It’s also great for looking at trends in wait times. The times won’t be the same every day, but if you check often, you’ll see patterns. Some rides always have a long wait time regardless of the time of day, and some never have a long wait time. Seeing patterns can help you decide which Fast Passes you need and which ones you can skip.

180 Days Before: Make Dining Reservations

You can make Advanced Dining Reservations 180 days before your first day of your trip if you are staying on Disney Property. If you are staying off property, you can schedule your reservations 180 days from that date. These reservations open up at 6 am EST, so for particularly hard to get reservations, you will want to get up early.

My family enjoying our dinner at 50s Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios.

I highly recommend doing at least one early breakfast in the parks. You can get in up to an hour before the park opens, and then you can be one of the first on a ride. We got a 8:10 am reservation at Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. We finished up a little before 9, and we were able to walk onto Kilimanjaro Safari without a wait. Our group used our Fast Passes at Epcot that day, so we planned an early breakfast so we could do the safari ride without a long wait. Just make sure to check that there are no Early Magic Hours at the park on the morning of an early reservation. (Read this Touring Plans post about Early Magic Hours and when they are scheduled.)

Tusker House breakfast and Mickey Mouse! It doesn’t get any better than this!

I also highly recommend doing at least one character meal if you’re traveling with small children. (And honestly, we always do character meals even if we’re only traveling as adults because they’re so much fun!) During these meals, you will have several characters visit your table, and you can get autographs and take pictures. These meals were one of Buddy’s favorite parts of the trip! We did Tusker House at Animal Kingdom, Garden Grill at Epcot, and Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom. Touring Plans has a great list of the different character meal options here.

Buddy’s having fun meeting Dale at the Garden Grill.

60 Days Before: Book Fast Passes

Fast passes are used to skip most of the line for a ride. Not all rides have them, but the popular ones do. Everyone gets three fast passes as part of their Disney ticket. If you are staying on Disney property, you can make your Fast Pass reservations 60 days in advance of your check in day. Everyone else can do theirs 30 days in advance. Fast Passes open up at 7 am EST, and again, it’s worth getting up early for good ones.

You can only book three passes in advance, and they all have to be used at the same park. After that, you can book one pass at a time for any park. Once you use up that pass, you can continue to book one pass at a time. Fast Passes at Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios are tiered, meaning you can only choose one of the most popular options. WDW Prep has a great summary of Fast Passes available and the priority levels here.

Buddy’s favorite ride was the Dumbo ride! No fast passes were needed for this one though.

Our group chose to do the following fast passes:

Epcot: Seas with Nemo, Frozen Ever After, Spaceship Earth

Magic Kingdom (two days): Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Buzz Lightyear, It’s a Small World, Space Mountain. While we did the rollercoasters, Buddy and my mother in law had fast passes for character visits. Peter Pan and Tomorrowland Speedway were on our initial list of Fast passes, but they were closed during our trip.

One Month Before: Make an Itinerary

If you have already booked your dining and Fast passes, they you already have a general idea of what parks you are visiting and what you want to do. But a month out is a good time to finalize what your day will look like. My friend and I ended up changing a couple of Fast Passes as we made our itinerary, so you don’t want to wait until too late to do this.

Buddy is ready for a day in Magic Kingdom!

There are lots of sample itineraries online to give novices a place to start. Disney Tourist Blog has a great list of different itineraries for the parks. When I put together my itinerary, I spent a lot of time looking at the map. Once you decide where you want to start in the park, then look at the things close by that you also want to do. For us in Animal Kingdom, it meant starting in Africa and working our way across the park to Dinosaur USA. In Magic Kingdom, we spent almost all of our time in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

Three Weeks Before: Buy Special Items for Trip

I made a special trip to the dollar store before we left. I bought glow wands, and I even found Mickey ones! There are tons of other Disney related things you can get there for your trip. I bought small Mickey ziplocks for snacks and Mickey and Frozen stickers for the plane. Also, I got a Mickey coloring book and crayons for the plane and waiting at restaurants.

Since we were leaving for Disney a few weeks after Christmas, I made sure to buy stocking stuffers that would also work for our trip. I bought this book for pressed pennies, and a few toys that could be played with in line. (I bought a Tangle Jr., a fidget monster, and hot wheels cars.) I also bought a Mickey Mouse look and find book that we used while waiting.

Chip thought Buddy’s fidget monster was a nut and tried to eat it!

Two Weeks Before: Make Hotel Requests and DIY Items

If you are staying on Disney property, you can check in ahead of time. When you check in, you can choose up to two room requests. I requested to be near transportation and main floor. I ended up calling because I also wanted my room to be near my friend’s room.

I also printed off cards for autographs, which will be put into a 4 x 6 photo album with printed pictures from our trip. The cards I used were from Hip 2 Save’s blog and Moms & Munchkins’s blog. I printed them on cardstock and cut them out. We brought them with a small clipboard and a click top Sharpie for autographs, and it worked well.

Buddy was a little shy when he met Elsa. But he was so excited to meet her.

Additionally, I printed and laminated this stroller tag from 2paws Designs. There are thousands of strollers at Disney, and having a large tag with our name on it helped. (It also helped that we had a yellow stroller and no one else did!)

One Week Before: Pack

There are lots of great packing lists for Disney, including this one from Wit and Wander. I would recommend bringing lots of snacks, sunscreen, a portable phone charger, and an extra pair of sunglasses. (I broke or lost sunglasses on three of the four previous trips. I brought an extra pair for this trip, and of course I didn’t need them!)

Good luck with planning your Disney vacation! If you have any questions or additional suggestions, please share in the comments.

Best Car Seats for Air Travel

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This has been a big car seat week for our family, because we finally changed Buddy’s car seat to be forward facing. We waited as long as we could, but he finally got too tall for facing backward in his seat. In the process, we’ve bought a new forward facing seat for Hubby’s car. All of this car seat change has me reflecting on the seats we’ve had so far, and what I’ve learned about traveling with them.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

I’m often asked by friends with kids about how we fly with a car seat. Since Hubby works for an airline, we fly with Buddy often. We have also purchased car seats specifically because they would be useful for flying. This blog covers what I’ve learned at every car seat age.

There are a few options with flying with car seats. You can check your car seat with checked baggage. You can bring it through the airport and either check it at the gate or bring it onto the plane. And finally, you can rent a car seat if you are renting a car at your destination. I’ve never trusted that, and the options of car seats are very limited. Hubby and I never considered this to be a good option for us, so we’ve always brought our own seat with us.

Infant Car Seat

When Buddy was an infant, he flew on our laps. Because we didn’t have a seat for him, we always checked his bucket car seat. We bought this car seat backpack to help carry the seat into the airport. We always added baby food, extra diapers, and Buddy’s clothes in this backpack as well. I put all of these extras into extra large ziplocks, so I could easily pull out the car seat away from the rest.

Buddy’s first flight!

The one thing I wanted to mention about the infant seat is that you don’t have to fly with the base as well. Those bases are heavy, and I’m amazed when I see people carrying them through the airport! Our car seat was able to be strapped in with just a seat belt, and I think that is common for most infant carriers. (Be sure to read your manual to double check before you fly.)

I hated checking the seat because I always worried about it getting lost. We did lose a bag on one our flights with infant Buddy, but fortunately that was my luggage and not Buddy’s car seat.  It may be worth buying a seat for your infant to not risk losing the car seat. (Plus, your infant is safer in a car seat on the plane than in your arms.)

Baby Buddy in his baby car seat.

Convertible Car Seat

When Buddy outgrew his bucket seat, I got a Britax Advocate for my car. However, we knew we didn’t want to travel with that seat because it weighs a ton! After a lot of research, I got a recommendation for a lightweight convertible car seat from a friend of mine who flies with her kids even more than I do. She recommended the Evenflo Tribute LX, which is what we ended up getting. It weighs 9 pounds, so it was even lighter to carry through the airport than Buddy’s infant seat. It doesn’t have a ton of padding, but Buddy’s always been very comfortable in it. We’ve taken it on long car trips, and he seems just as happy in it as in mine. The best part about it is that it’s a very affordable car seat with great safety reviews. It’s also pretty easy to install in both cars and airplanes. 

When Buddy was under two, we still hauled this seat in the back pack and checked it. But once he turned two and we had to get him his own seat, we took it onto the plane with us. It was a great peace of mind knowing the seat wouldn’t get lost. To get the seat through the airport, we used this belt to tie the seat onto either my suitcase or Buddy’s stroller. You are supposed to be able to use the car seat as a stroller once it’s belted to the suitcase, but I never tested that out.

Buddy was forward facing on the plane in this seat (There’s not really enough space to rear face on a plane), but he was always rear facing in this seat in cars. The only big drawback to this seat is that it only lasts until 40 pounds, which is why we ended up buying a new car seat for Buddy this week. But since we paid around $50 for it in the first place, I don’t have a problem having to upgrade it after two and a half years.

Forward Facing

When I was researching traveling convertible car seats, I came across the Ride Safer Travel Vest. Hubby and I were so excited about the idea of carrying a vest with us instead of a car seat, and we had to wait two long years between learning about it, and when Buddy was finally old enough to get it. (The Ride Safer Vest is made for forward facing kids from ages 3-8.) This vest is basically a belt positioning booster, and it makes the regular car seat belt hit Buddy’s body appropriately. It comes in a travel bag, and it’s so easy to throw in one of our carry ons. We also love bringing it with us when we need to Uber somewhere. It is a lifesaver, and we love it so much!

If you have questions about flying with young children, please share in the comments section. Best wishes for safe travels!

Road Trip Activities for a Three Year Old

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My family loves to travel, and we traveled a ton this summer. Over the course of ten weeks, we took two airplane trips and four road trips. I’ve already blogged about the airplane activities we did with Buddy here.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

We did two big road trips (6 hours and 7.5 hours) and two small road trips (3 hours each) this summer. For all of the road trips, I set up a shoebox of activities, and I tied it to Buddy’s car seat. I always bring an empty reusable grocery sack in the car so that our toys can come into our destination to entertain Buddy. For the longer trips, I throw a few extra activities in the bag that can be handed back to Buddy as needed.

Here are the things I packed to entertain Buddy on our road trips:

Little people Disney characters and animals – Buddy loves playing with little characters, and he’s lately been very into his Disney ones.

Little Look and Find books – Buddy’s loved look and finds for a long time. I bought a set of four mini look and find books, and we only use them for road trips. They are my favorite thing to bring because they keep him entertained for a long time.

Small board books – The board books at the dollar store are great because they are slim, but still sturdy. We also have this Thomas the train set of four board books and they are the perfect size for travel.

Water Wow – These are reusable paint with water books that are no mess, and dry clear so they can be used again. There is also a look and find aspect to them. We have a bunch, and they are great!

Reusable Stickers – This Melissa and Doug Pet Shop Puffy Sticker Book lives in our diaper bag, and it’s amazing! The puffy stickers are easy for Buddy to peel on his own, and there are a ton of pages to choose to put the animals. Best of all, it’s reusable! We also like Colorforms, which are flat reusable vinyl stickers and can often be found at the dollar store.

Dinosaurs – We always bring a ziplock bag with a few small dinosaurs with us when we travel. Originally, we just used a set from the dollar store. But Buddy got this set last Easter, and they’re much nicer.

Thomas Mini Trains – Buddy has loved Thomas the Train for a long time, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. The minis are awesome because every set comes with a lot of trains. We have a bunch, and we take 4-5 with us on all of our trips.

Cars – Buddy loves cars, and there are always a ton of great ones at the dollar store. We have a Lightning McQueen car that travels with us often. Buddy got this pull back set of cars in his Easter eggs last year, and we always have them in our diaper bag. (I even have one in my purse!)

Planes – Yes, we need a variety of vehicles wherever we go. I actually would love to get some smaller travel friendly ones, because Buddy is really into planes right now. This set of small planes looks great for travel.

Nuts and Bolts – We have a toddler nuts and bolts set, and I usually just toss a couple in our car box. It’s a different type of activity from “playing pretend” that Buddy does with his cars or animals.

Magnadoodle – We have this Doodle Pro that we love. When we left it behind at my dad’s house, we bought one from the dollar store, which also works well.

Follow Me Finger Maze book – I came across this book a week before our longest car trip, and I bought it because it looked like something that would entertain him for a long time. I’m so glad I did. It’s not a small book, but it is great to put in the big bag to pass back. It is a board book with grooved paths where an animal goes through different setting (city, forest, ocean, etc.). Buddy asked his Nana to read this book over and over when we were visiting her. There is a world version and holiday versions of this book, and I’m definitely tempted to get another one.

Small stuffed animals – We love Teeny Tys for travel sized animal fun.

Squishy toys

Finger puppets

Magnets and tin – We have brought a cake pan and magnets for long road trips in the past. This summer, we used a small metal tin with some magnetic letters in it. (Read more about our magnetic letter busy bag here.)

Duplos – Buddy loves his Duplos so much he tried to smuggle them in both Hubby and my suitcases on one of our summer trips. For some of our trips, I brought specific ones so they will make the pictures in our Duplo Busy Bag (read more and get the free printable here). And for some trips, I just gave Buddy a ziplock and let him throw some blocks in.

Happy meal toys

Busy bags – I have some sewing cards from the dollar store and popsicle sticks with velcro dots on the end that I put in a bag. I have also done crazy straws with felt squares to push onto it.

Travel binder with crayons and stickers – This is another one that I have to pass back on longer trips. I love puffy stickers from the dollar store because they are easy for Buddy to put on himself.

Custom photo books – Buddy is really into planes, and since Hubby works for an airline, he knows a lot about planes. Hubby put together two photo albums worth of planes and airlines pictures with information about each one. He made them in Power Point and saved them as jpegs. I had them printed at Walgreens and put them in cheap, flexible photo albums. But you could make one about anything your child is interested in. I plan to do another one with pictures and autographs after we go to Disney World.

Kindle and headphones – We love the Kindle Fire for long car trips and for traveling in the dark. Buddy has these Kidz Gear headphones and likes them a lot.

Buddy loves playing games, so I’m going to link our favorite travel games here. We actually don’t play them in the car because I get car sick if I’m in the backseat or turning around too much. However, they would be great in the car for other families. We play them on planes and take them with us to play at our destination on road trips.

We also bring a ton of snacks on road trips, and they help a lot as well. I let Buddy help pick the snacks for our longest car trip, and his choices surprised me a bit (grapes and fruit snacks). It was great having things he liked it in the car to help us get through to our next stop.

We have three more road trips coming up in the next two months. Can you think of anything we should bring with us? Please share in comments if you have ideas.

What to do with a Preschooler in Glacier National Park

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Hubby and I both love Glacier National Park, and we have been talking for years about taking Buddy there. Once we decided that we were going to go this summer, we spent a lot of time looking for fun things to do with him. We were amazed to find almost nothing about young children and Glacier National Park. Most of what I found was activities to do with older kids – hikes that were several miles long, horse back rides, and kayaking. And the only one I found about young children was from parents who hiked a lot, and wore the preschooler in a backpack when he got tired. None of that was very helpful for me.

It took a lot of research and planning, but eventually we found things to keep Buddy entertained. All of our walks are less than a mile round trip, with interesting things to see along the way. We also found other fun things to do besides hike. I’m sharing our itenerary for anyone who might be considering a trip to Glacier National Park with a preschooler.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Day 1 – Travel day and Whitefish

Our flight landed in Kalispell, Montana around noon. We drove over to Whitefish, and we had lunch at Piggyback BBQ. I love barbecue and was excited to find a barbecue place that had a kids menu. We ate outside in the shade, and it was so delicious! There was a great view of train tracks and a bridge, both of which were very entertaining to Buddy.

After that, we headed over to the Whitefish Mountain Resort. Hubby read about their alpine slide, and we thought it would be fun for Buddy. Buddy was very scared about everything at first, but he ended up having a great time. We took a gondola to the top of the mountain, and the view was amazing! All of us enjoyed seeing the mountain bikers racing down the mountain. Then we went back down the mountain and tried the alpine slide. It was so much fun! Buddy loved it, and we did it three times! We took the slide down, and then caught a chair lift back up to the top of the slide. We saw a mother deer and a fawn from the chair lift, and it was neat to watch them during our ride.

Finally we stopped by a grocery store to buy food for breakfasts and snacks. Then we made our way to our hotel, The Izaak Walton Inn, where we had dinner and watched trains. This historic hotel used to serve as housing for the Great Northern Railroad crew, and it is right along train tracks near the Essex train station. We had stayed there before and loved it, and we knew Buddy would love it too.

Day 2 – Going to the Sun Road

We entered the park at St. Mary, and we drove down the Going to the Sun Road. Our first stop was to see St. Mary Lake, which is stunning. Then we headed to Logan Pass.

The parking lot at Logan Pass was packed, but fortunately we found a spot after a few minutes. We lucked out that a man mentioned to us that there were several bighorn sheep across the street and a short walk away on the Highline Trail. Then we came back to Logan Pass and did the Hidden Lake Trail.

The Hidden Lake Trail is 2.4 miles if you do the whole thing, but we did just a part of it. It is paved at the start, and then it has wide wooden planks, so it’s easy for preschoolers to walk. If you go all the way up, there are a lot of stairs, so it’s not entirely preschooler friendly. Buddy made it a long way before we needed to help him. But we saw a ton of wildlife before we even reached the steps. There were ground squirrels everywhere, and there was a mountain goat right by the walkway! We saw a bighorn sheep at the top of the mountain as well.

Buddy got these binoculars for his birthday, and they were a huge hit! We tried them out for the first time at Logan Pass, and Buddy was obsessed. He loved seeing the sheep up closer. He also pretended to take pictures of everything with them, which was a lot of fun for him.

We drove straight through the rest of the road until we got to Apgar Village, and then we had a late lunch at Eddie’s Cafe. We ate outside, and enjoyed the view of Lake McDonald. The huckleberry lemonade and the huckleberry cobbler were both amazing!

After that, we headed back to our cabin for some rest time. We got a family cabin with one bedroom and a loft for Buddy. It was great having a place with a kitchen and some extra space to relax and play. We ended our day having dinner at the hotel and listening to a summer concert by the train tracks. Buddy played on the hotel’s playground and ran around like crazy, and it was so much fun.

Day 3 – West Side of the Park

We headed into the park through the West Glacier entrance, and drove to the Trail of the Cedars. This is another wooden planked trail that is wheelchair and stroller friendly up to the halfway point of the trail. Then you can head back the way you came, or you can finish the loop. The rest of the trail is dirt packed, but mostly flat and easily walkable. The total loop was 0.8 mi, and you see a waterfall and the amazing Avalanche Creek. You can see all the way to the bottom of the river because the water is so clear! It’s truly incredible, and like no other place I’ve seen.

After that, we headed back to West Glacier for a helicopter tour. This tour was perfect for Buddy, because he loves to fly. It was loud and bumpy though, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for all preschoolers. We had a great time, and the views were incredible! It will be one of my lasting memories of this trip for sure.

We had our lunch in West Glacier, and then we headed down to Lake McDonald. It was an incredibly windy day, so there were a ton of waves in the water. We saw a mother duck and a bunch of ducklings try to swim across the bumpy water! Buddy had so much fun throwing rocks into the water, he didn’t want to leave.

For the rest of the day, we explored the west part of the Going to the Sun Road. We walked around at the Weeping Wall, and stopped several other places along the road to see the view. Buddy loved seeing all of the waterfalls. We stopped outside a tunnel, and walked on the sidewalk into a viewing balcony. Buddy loved yelling “Hello!” into the tunnel and hearing the echo.

We spent the evening with dinner and train watching again at our hotel. The third night was the one where we tried the huckleberry-apple cobbler topped with huckleberry ice cream, which was amazing. Even if you don’t stay at the Izaak Walton Inn, it’s worth going there for dinner just for this dessert.

Day 4 – East Side of the Park

We scheduled a boat tour of St. Mary Lake with the Glacier Park Boat Company. It was one of my favorite parts of our trip, and my #1 recommendation for families visiting the park. The lake was calm and still, so even though I get seasick in the ocean, it wasn’t a problem at all. Buddy loved being on the boat, and the views were incredible. Hubby and I enjoyed learning new facts about the park that we love. Halfway through our tour, we had a chance to get off and do a quick walk to Baring Falls. We all had a great time.

The next part of our day didn’t go as planned. I had read great things about doing hikes in the Many Glacier area. We wanted to go see Fishercap Lake because we heard it was a great place to see moose, and it was a quick walk from the Swiftcurrent Inn. We also wanted to go to see Swiftcurrent Lake from the Many Glacier Hotel parking lot. However, the parking lot in that area was completely packed, and we were turned away. On our next visit, we plan to go early in the morning or even stay at the Many Glacier Hotel for a night.

Instead, we drove up to Chief Mountain, which is almost at the Canadian border. There were lots of roaming cattle and a few horses, which Buddy loved. He even said the horses were his favorite animal of the trip! I was disappointed that we didn’t see more mountain animals, but Buddy didn’t care.

As we made our way south, we went back to St. Mary Lake to walk to Sun Point. It is only 0.1 mile to Sun Point, and then there are a bunch of cool rocks to climb on. It feels like you are the top of the world without being too close to any steep drop offs. Buddy had a lot of fun climbing up and down the rocks.

We drove down to the Two Medicine area of the park for one more hike. The Running Eagle Falls is a 0.6 mile round trip hike over level ground. It takes you to Two Medicine Creek, although you do have to cross a small bridge to get a good view of the falls. Buddy enjoyed throwing rocks in the creek, and it was a fun way to end our last day in the park.

Day 5 – Travel Day

On our way to the airport, we spent an hour at Lake McDonald. This time the lake was the way it usually is – completely flat and still. Buddy had a blast throwing rocks and poking the water with a stick. We were all sad when it was time to get in the car and head back to the airport.

General Tips for Visiting Glacier National Park

Buy food at the beginning of your trip. We visited a grocery store for stuff for breakfasts and snacks, but I wish we got lunch stuff too. It takes a long time to get around the park, and on the day we were at Logan Pass, I would have liked to have lunch in the middle of Going to the Sun Road.

Be prepared for no cell coverage. We had cell signal at West Glacier and East Glacier, but nowhere else. Our hotel had wifi, but our cabin didn’t. It was great to be off the grid, but there were times we wanted it. When we needed a different plan, we had to figure it out on a paper map. We had restaurants that we wanted to visit, but we didn’t know exactly where they were. It would have been helpful to be more prepared.

Bring some small activities for the car and park. We are very lucky that Buddy is a good traveler, and for the most part, he was happy to just have a stuffed animal in the car. But by the end of the trip, he wanted a little more, so I gave him Melissa and Doug Reusable Puffy Stickers. The combination of his binoculars and throwing rocks kept Buddy very entertained on our hikes. We are thinking about giving him a kids camera like this one for our next trip because he loved pretending to take pictures.

If you have motion sickness, bring some medication or wear a motion sickness bracelet. There are lots of twists and turns and bumpy roads in the park. I get mildly car sick in those conditions, but we were in and out of the car so much, it wasn’t too bad. On our last day, though, we didn’t stop very much, and I wasn’t feeling great at the end.

Make sure to have a car seat plan if you are flying into the park. We recently purchased a Ride Safer Car Seat Vest, and we love it! It made our whole trip easier. We were able to Uber to the airport, and then we put the vest away in our carry on. We didn’t need to worry about checking our car seat or lugging it onto the plane. When we were driving around the park, we just had to unbuckle him and we left the vest on. It made it much easier when we were getting in and out of the car quickly. I highly recommend it for anyone who travels!

If you’re planning a trip of your own, please feel free to ask questions in the comments section. And if you’re not currently planning a trip to Glacier National Park, I hope this article made you consider it. It truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and somewhere I think everyone should visit at least once.

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