43. The 7 Grumpiest Things About Disney World

[00:00:00] Coming up, we want to pretend like every Disney trip is happy, happy, happy. Everything goes exactly as it's supposed to and you have the most magical vacation of your lifetime. And the truth is, you probably will, but it won't be without getting grumpy along the way. If you make it out of Disney and you and your spouse didn't yell at each other and your kids didn't have a meltdown, then you need to let us know what you did because everybody needs that magic. Disney comes with grumpy moments and grumpy circumstances. We're going to break down the most grumpy of them all and of course give you some tips to alleviate the grumpy.

[00:00:30] along the way. Hey there, everyone. Welcome in to another episode of the Moms Behind the Magic Podcast. I'm your host, Allie. I am here today with Katie and with Carla to get a little salty, to address some pet peeves, and to bring you the next in our dwarf series of episodes. We're talking grumpy today. But before we do, we're not feeling very grumpy. How are you guys? I feel pretty good. That's because you get to talk s***. Maybe a little bit.

[00:01:00] Did you just say s***? But yes, Florida started school, right? So in the past, I feel like two years ago when we started this, was it three years ago? I don't know. When we first started this podcast, I was like, I couldn't wait to get my kids back to school, which is the age that your children are in. Katie couldn't wait to get all three of her kids in school for the first time, right? We're here. And me, I'm the opposite now because my kids are older.

[00:01:28] Like, I just went two months without having to set an alarm in the morning, and it was glorious. And I didn't want to jump back into the routine of school. So I'm like on the opposite end. I'm with you, though, because I'm with you because we love summer. And I did actually, this week, I haven't had to set an alarm. And it's been amazing because the month of July was crazy for us. And so I was setting 7 a.m. alarms, you know, every day.

[00:01:56] But the difference was my kids were asleep, and I wasn't getting up to do the school hustle. And in that respect, I'm with you. I'm not ready for that daily. We have not started yet at the time of recording. And I am not ready to set the daily alarm to get the kids out of the house to make sure they have a water bottle and a lunch. And my kids are now at the age where I think a lot of that responsibility will be on them. So I think this year, everything gets a little easier, right? Yeah, like during the summer, I was only really responsible for making sure my kids have dinner. And I can handle that.

[00:02:26] But now that school started, I have to be responsible for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. And I hate that. It's the opposite for me. I only have to do dinner now. The school has lunch and breakfast. You're rocking that free school lunch in Florida. That's like, they've had that since COVID and they haven't let it, like, it's still there. Every year, though, we never know. Hillsborough County.

[00:02:51] We never know if we're going to find out if it's free lunch until like two days before the school year starts. They really wait to see if they have the budget for it. You're totally right. You're totally right. I forgot about that. But my kids are of the age where they decide now that they want to take their own lunches and stuff. So whatever. I am really... First of all, are you drinking out of a solo cup, Carla? I'm drinking out, yes, but it is like a Glenwood Springs, Colorado cute solo cup. Nice. Oh, cute.

[00:03:20] I was in my feels putting my kids to bed last night because I don't actually want summer to end. And we have one week left as we're recording this. And I was thinking about how I'm already looking forward to our next summer break. But when we get there, my kids will all be a year older. And... I've said a lot. I'm very excited about the teenage experience and relating to them. But we're at a very luscious age right now. And this summer was not a lot of work. We were... It was not a lot. You guys were at my house.

[00:03:48] My kids kind of were just behaved. It was weird. And they didn't need much from me. And I don't know. They need me for a lot less stressful things. And school is going to throw a wrench in that because I have to be the person that's up in the morning saying, get up, get up, get up. And then they're unhappy. You know, and it's just a whole new dynamic. And I just... I don't like it. All this to say, Katie, this is what you have to look forward to. We've talked about this in the podcast before, too. Katie, her girls have to go to school at an ungodly hour. Yeah.

[00:04:18] We have to wake up at 5.30. I mean, as we're recording this, your kids have been gone for four hours? Well, we have to wake up at 5.30. They get on a bus by 6.30. They're at the school by 6.50. That's insane. So you've been... They've been gone from the house for three hours already. And I feel like the morning has barely started. So I actually think that makes it kind of complicated for your kid-free day. It does. So on the first day of school, Matt and I decided to go take a breakfast date in town. And the older kids go to school much later here.

[00:04:46] We had time to go and drop off the kids at school. And you know what the drop-off line looks like the first day. So we had time to go drop off the kids, go to a sit-down restaurant, eat breakfast, and come back. And we live like 10, 15 minutes outside of town too. We came back and the high school kids were just to the bus stop. They hadn't even gotten on the bus yet. That's crazy. I understand the thinking behind it that little kids can wake up and they can absorb more easily and older kids need to sleep a little later.

[00:05:15] I understand the thinking and I think that's what it is. I refute that thinking. Well, and I'm also just like my high schooler can get themselves up, you know, and out the door at that time. You know, if high schoolers around here were in school until the 3 o'clock hour or 4 o'clock and I know everything would adjust, but it would change everything around here. Whenever I was in high school, we started I think around 7 and we were out of school by 2.30. But I like having the older kids sooner. I don't know. I'm more old school.

[00:05:44] But the thing with this, you know, teenagers, it's harder for them to absorb information earlier so that we're going to start school later for them. Did they run this exact same study with little kids? Is it fair to say that my kindergartner and second and fourth graders should be waking up at 5.30 to go do math by 6.50? Like, come on. It sounds awful for anybody. It sounds awful. Yeah. I don't know that anybody's brain function can do math at 6.50. And honestly, that's earlier than our high school starts.

[00:06:13] I mean, I was sitting in a calculus class at 7.30, which is a lot different than 6.50 and it's a lot different than 7 years old. Yeah. All right. Well, we're going to have a lot of back-to-school talk coming up, I think, because all of the joys of the morning routine and the things that we forget about in Sweet, Sweet Summer are going to come crashing back into all of us. And we're not there yet. Y'all are there. I think I kind of like our schedule. Did you all get out of school before Memorial Day? Or... It's like the end of May is when we're out. Yeah.

[00:06:43] So we go like a week into June and then that's why we start about a week later than you. Yeah. Like this past year, they... We had Memorial Day on Monday and they got out on that Friday, which was kind of silly. It was like they should have just pushed it out a week. You know, if only if Katie and I were in charge of Hillsborough County, it would be great. Oh, yes. Are you guys in the same county? Yeah. I live right on county line. Hillsborough County is very large. Yes.

[00:07:10] I was going to say because I teach dance where Carla lives and I don't feel like I'm where Katie lives when I do that. Well, you technically teach dance in Pinellas. Even though it seems like it's Hillsborough County, it's probably... Oldsmar is probably Pinellas. Yeah. Yeah. I'm assuming that's Pinellas County. I called the school and they had this like hold music and they were giving stats. And I think that they said Hillsborough County is like the largest school district in Florida and the seventh in the United States. So wait, your kids go to the same school district?

[00:07:40] Yeah. I did not know that. Yeah. I had no idea. Sometimes Carla has to text me and be like, hey, there's no school this week. Yeah. Making sure Katie's aware. But I've seen those texts and I just thought it was a Florida statewide thing. Like I was like, oh, all of the state, you know, all the schools in Florida are closed. I didn't realize that you were actually in the same district. I had no idea. But oddly enough, Becky is on the same schedule as us too. And she lives way down south. So... That's what I assume. She started school this week. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, we did not.

[00:08:10] So send all the good thoughts for us as we transition next week because I... My son last night is in my room at like midnight and he's saying, I can't sleep. I'm like, you have to go to bed four hours earlier than this next week. So we got to do something. Is Sam going to make the cute pancakes for first day of school? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we do a staggered start and not all the kids start the same day. So we already did the neighborhood text and found the day that worked best for the most kids and the most parents scheduled.

[00:08:37] So we have breakfast at the bus stop scheduled for the second day for my oldest and for the first day for my youngest, for the twins. And everybody will come down and we'll do the whole thing and we'll pop some bottles. It'll be great. Moms of the year. Yeah. To be clear, the bus stop is basically your front yard, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Pretty much. And I don't know that it was always that, but somebody helped me make sure that my bus time was good and my bus stop was good. And that's all I'll say.

[00:09:06] We got pixie dusted with the bus stop. I might have. Yeah. Yeah. I might have. I might have had some self-inflicted pixie dust. Okay. Well. Listen, though, if I had the choice of I have to walk a block to my kid's house, but it's at someone's house that they host pancakes for breakfast on the first and last day of school, I'd take it too. Katie's got to walk through like alligator swamps to get to her bus stop. Okay.

[00:09:31] It's not like that, but we do pass like four ponds on the way to the bus stop and we- Alligators in the- I mean, yeah, it's not a swamp. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. They're big alligators too. So- We pass exactly zero alligators on our way to the bus and back. M&M's. Allie is so afraid of alligators. And sometimes we like to taunt her and send her pictures of alligators. I really- I'm so scared. I would never live where y'all live. I would never live in Katie's neighborhood.

[00:10:01] It would be an absolute no way for me. It's- It would- Yeah. I do. I have a pond in my backyard and occasionally there is an alligator in it. It's just life down here. I mean, it's- But isn't it- It's just life. Isn't it also true that it's not occasionally there's an alligator in there? Don't you- I mean- Well, no. I mean, in mine. Always. Yeah. Not in mine. Yeah. But I mean, there's always the opportunity for an alligator to be in there. But my little pond is connected to other ponds.

[00:10:27] So the alligators and otters and other wildlife go between them. So it has been years since I've seen an actual alligator in my pond. Did you say otters? You have otters? Otters, yes. I saw three the other day. I don't know that either. Look at me. I'm learning so much today. That's cool. Yeah. I have like swine. I have like wild hogs and stuff like that. We live very rural. But she doesn't live in the swamp. You have wild swine?

[00:10:58] Yeah. It's true. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's huge down here. We're surrounded by cow pastures and strawberry fields. So we got everything. I'm surrounded by cow pastures. What are you talking- You're not surrounded by cow pastures? I've been to your house. I didn't see a cow. You went- Hold on. Oh, you took us the nice way? You went up the highway and to my house and then never left. You did not explore any areas. You live like in the middle of town though.

[00:11:28] Yes. No. I do live in the middle of town. You live in the middle of town. Very cute. I don't live in the middle of town. It is cute. I live in the middle of a walkable distance to our town. That's right. All right. Well, I'm sending everybody good thoughts as you're back in school and my kids are still asleep as we record. And the next time I record a podcast, they will not be in the home. So I'm a little sad about it, to be honest. I'm not as celebratory as I felt in the past. So today we're talking grumpy. We're doing the grumpiest episode. We are working our way right on through the end.

[00:11:57] I'm excited to dig in. And I think some of these lists that we brought, we did bring surprise lists today. We did not discuss it ahead of time. I do think that they are going to probably have a lot more crossover than not because to be honest, there's not that many things that make us super grumpy about Disney, but there are the common things and maybe a couple of surprise things. We're going to talk about it. And then of course, we're going to talk about how you can not feel grumpy.

[00:12:23] And I'm just going to go ahead and say one way you can make sure you never feel grumpy when you travel to Disney World or anywhere is to of course, make sure you are prepared with the things that you need in your life for your family and especially for your babies and toddlers. Because if you've ever traveled with kids, you know, the hardest part isn't always the travel to your destination. It's being away from all of the things that make your little ones feel like they are at home. Every time we travel, there's always that first night when someone can't settle because things just feel a little off.

[00:12:54] They're not in their usual bed. And you know what's funny? Every time we pack, I convince myself that we're going to pack lighter. And every single time we end up staring at a mountain of things that we just cannot leave behind. And now with the use of BabyQuip, you truly can leave your things behind and still feel the comfort of home. When nobody's sleeping, everyone's off their routine. And what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation simply starts to feel chaotic. And that's why we are big fans of BabyQuip.

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[00:14:16] You know one of the reasons that we go to Disney over and over and often we're not exploring other destinations like a week-long beach vacation is because of the stuff. Having the beach gear and everything you could possibly need or that you didn't even realize you might want, it changes the game of even where we'll travel as a family. That's actually, it's on my list as one of my grumpiest things is packing and just packing properly and what an easy solution using BabyQuip to help you with that.

[00:14:44] But also like we've had so many people know your, I don't know if it's actually like an alley thing, but I had never heard of the Ziploc packing until you brought it up on episodes and it's kind of genius. And it's something that I use now for Disney for, you know, my other trips that I'm taking, but also having a Ziploc bag just always in my suitcase of things that I forget, you know, Band-Aids, ponchos, medicines, and it just stays in there.

[00:15:15] Well, let's dive in then. We're going to, and we're going to have you go first and you can start with this because we're going to try to develop a list of seven of the grumpiest things about your trip to Disney World. Things that maybe your spouse or significant other or friends, family, whoever you're trying to take to Disney, maybe these are the things they're saying to you as to why they won't take that trip. And we're not only going to create the list, we're also going to combat the list and give you the way that you can make this fact a little less grumpy.

[00:15:42] So Carla, you can start here with the packing because this is, this is true. And this is a very hard, complicated thing. It's just, to me, it's overwhelming and it's not fun. And that's for any trip, but specifically for Disney, because you really have to take into consideration the different elements of the trip. Are you checking in early and are you going to take advantage of the water park on check-in day if that's available to you? In your head, it's, you have to pack for that.

[00:16:10] You have to be conscious that you want to be able to easily grab a bag and go to the pool, go to the water park and not have to dig in your suitcase, which is likely going to be put at Bell Services, right? But it's also packing properly for your park day and what's best for your family. I'm at the age that, or my kids are at the age where I need very little. And if they need things, they get to pack them themselves. But I would imagine, Katie, this is huge for you.

[00:16:37] That's likely still, you still have a, do you still take a stroller with you? We don't take a stroller. But on that note, I was going to say that it can be something really grumpy if you're planning on taking a wagon with you because you're not getting a wagon at Disney World. Yeah. Gosh, I hope, please don't try to take wagons unless you have a medical, is it the medical tag or? Yeah. So the deal with strollers at Disney is it has to be within like certain dimensions,

[00:17:07] but they are a no wagon zone. So if you're planning on bringing your wagon, because it's easiest for you to push your kids in, they're probably not going to let you bring it into the park. Like the only way that you'll, you will see families with a wagon in the park is if they're tagged as basically like the equivalent of a wheelchair because they need it for a medical reason. What is the reason? We don't know. It doesn't matter. There is a reason, right? There's, you know what I mean? There is for sure a reason because there are wagons that are smaller than some of the

[00:17:36] size strollers that are out there today. I feel like, right? Well, but there is a limit to the size. There's a limit to the size of the stroller. That you can bring. It's to accommodate stroller parking. Yeah. If everybody and their brother brought their wagon. Yeah. But I feel like it's super easy to get grumpy with Disney for some of their rules and restrictions, but there are reasons for it. And we might not know them or understand them, but just abide by them. Like don't fight, don't fight Disney on it. Right.

[00:18:05] Go in, be prepared. Know what that stroller has to be within that size. Know what you can and can't bring in. Like people don't even know that you can bring in coolers, but the coolers can't be filled of ice. Right. Loose ice. But yeah, loose ice. But you can put ice in a Ziploc. Going back to the Ziploc. This episode is sponsored. Um, you can put ice in a Ziploc. Not sponsored.

[00:18:31] And you can bring snacks and you can bring, you know, Uncrustables. You can bring, you know, whatever you need. Like I said, it's whatever your family needs to make it through 8, 10, 12 hour Disney days. So make it as easy as possible. And sometimes 8, 10, 12 days. You know, a lot of people take these really long trips and understanding how many outfits you are going to need. And are you steaming them to different parts of your trip? And how many bathing suits do you actually need?

[00:19:00] And are you actually doing the laundry? It becomes an extremely overwhelming process in general, which is why the black bag thing began. Yeah. And it's why for my wife and I, we start packing a month before the trip when it's a family trip. If I'm going by myself, I start packing an hour before my plane leave. But if we are going with the family, we will start laying everything out a month ahead of time because all of those little things. And Carla, to your point, we always have the totes of things that are ready.

[00:19:27] So bags of things that we keep packed that we just pull. Okay, here's this bag and here are the things we know we need again. It may have magic bands in it. It may have my fuel rods in it. Anything like that that we know. And always, always loose Ziplocs. Yeah. And God forbid you decide to wear an Epcot shirt to Epcot and then hop over to Magic Kingdom. Then you got to pack even more and you got to put like a change of a shirt in your lounge fly. Like, come on. Shots fired. That's only if you're me. Most people won't do that. And that's okay.

[00:19:57] You know, don't stress yourself out about things that don't actually matter to you. You can end up in the Tower of Terror shirt at Animal Kingdom. That's the thing that makes me grumpy. So the best thing that is going to be for you is to know what's in which park and what you need each day and then plan accordingly and then, you know, write it on your bag. So do we write this? Do we write packing is a grumpy thing? And then the tip is to start packing early and break down the... This is another reason why Disney has to be planned so well, right?

[00:20:24] You kind of got to know the flow of the trip and where you plan to be each day so that you can pack accordingly. I feel like we need to clarify because we've said it on past episodes of the podcast. But if you're new here, Allie's Ziploc bag theory is less about like some of you may be saying, well, why can't you just use packing cubes? And you certainly could. But the thing that Ali does is she puts the entire outfit for the day in there. She's not like, here's all the underwear and socks. She's like, here's Tuesday.

[00:20:52] And it's labeled Tuesday, right? And that's what makes it really easy for her. Yeah. And it really does help us make sure we're not forgetting anything along the way. I will lay it out in piles. You know, often Zan will pick what they're going to wear and then she will pass it off to me. I will fold it into piles. We'll know, okay, this day is this breakfast and this thing. So this is what they're going to wear. Then I fold it, label it, hand it once we arrive. So everything is really easy. You're not going to multiple places to get the socks, to get the underwear, to get the bra, to get the shorts, you know?

[00:21:20] And of course we do re-wear things on vacation. So that just becomes another layer of strategy. You know, you wore these shorts this day. You need them again this day, whatever. But kind of knowing those things ahead of time. Because those mornings are so early. Those mornings are early and you don't want anything throwing a wrench or complicating that. So I will even go as far as to when we have a stroller, and this is a good tip, at the end of a really long day, you're exhausted.

[00:21:45] I would, when my kids were showering or taking a bath, or even just laying in the bed, winding down to a show, a Disney show, when we got back from a long day, whatever it was, I would pre-organize and pack our stroller the night before for the next day. So I would empty and get the water bottles ready. And I would make sure the bag was refilled with things that I knew we were going to need. And whatever I knew for the next morning. Because if I tried to do it all the next morning, I was definitely going to forget something because it was chaos.

[00:22:12] So just alleviating a little bit of the morning stress by staying organized along the way is going to go a long way. And if you're that, if you are not a type A mom, and this sounds overwhelming, I get it. And this is why it can be a grumpy thing for you. But your morning version of your type B self is going to really be grateful for the little bit of organization that you put forward. Love it. So I'm going to put packing, organizing, knowing what you need. And then the tip, of course, is to use strategic packing methods and... Plan ahead.

[00:22:42] Plan ahead and start early. So another thing that makes me grumpy, and I think this is a big one, especially for families that have never been, how early the mornings are on a Disney vacation. Because a lot of people on vacation want relaxation. And the truth is there are parts of a Disney vacation that can be relaxing. That it is not a relaxation forward vacation. And we've all heard of Disney Tired. We've all heard people say, I need a vacation for my vacation when they get back from Disney.

[00:23:11] And those early mornings, I mean, we're setting alarms for far earlier than school when we're at Disney. Yep. Well, unless you're me. Right. Unless you're you. Then it's about the same time. Because I mean, my alarm, it is going off at 530 at Disney a lot of the time. I mean, is that just me? Is that just me that makes me grumpy? Is that everybody? What's going on? I agree. I think this is a really good reason that a lot of people are often grumpy. Because you have to be up so early for rope drop. Like, gosh.

[00:23:40] And Animal Kingdom is usually the park that's open earliest. And if you're trying to rope drop Animal Kingdom, more power to you. I'm probably not going to see you there. And listen, you don't have to rope drop, right? There are going to be some families that rope drop doesn't work for. However, giving up rope dropping means that you're giving up shorter lines. You're giving up the ability to hit most of the rides that are pretty desirable pretty quickly

[00:24:09] in your day, right? And yeah, I get how grumpy that can make you. But with the plan that you said is setting the outfits out, getting the stroller ready, making that morning chaos as seamless as possible, making it easier for yourself to get out the door. And of course, you're getting out the door because you're doing something that's super fun, really exciting. Like, you're going to rope drop seven doors at Magic Kingdom.

[00:24:37] And then right after, you're going to run over to Peter Pan. And that means you didn't have to get a Lightning Lane single pass for it. That means that you probably can hit all of Fantasyland before your late breakfast reservation or your lunch reservation at Be Our Guest, right? So there is a reason to do it. But also understand if it doesn't work for your family, it doesn't work for them. And that's totally fine. And you alleviate that opportunity to be grumpy.

[00:25:06] Part of this rope drop process, you're waking up really early. You're getting the kids done, ready. You're getting, you know, packing the cooler for the day, whatever you got to do. If you follow Ali's plan from our last tip, it'll be a lot more seamless of a process for you. But then people are like, okay, so I've done all that. I've left the hotel room. Now I got to get to the bus stop. There's a line a mile long to get on the Magic Kingdom bus, right? In the morning, Disney sends buses like continuously.

[00:25:33] You're not usually going to be waiting 20 minutes for a bus. They're usually going to have one come really quickly after that. So that is one pain point alleviated. After you get on the bus and you get to Magic Kingdom, now you got to go through security. So this is another place that could be a pain point too, right? Whenever you're walking through security, you need to take your eyeglasses case out of your bag. You need to take your umbrella out of your bag. You need to hold them straight out in front of you, okay?

[00:26:03] And if you beep, the cast members can see what's in your hands and you'll be able to walk through. But if you kept all that junk in your bag, guess who's going to go wait in another line for security? It's going to be you. In your rope drop morning where you're already waking up early, there can be multiple places that are pain points. So you should prepare in advance for that. After you get through security, then you got to figure out which line is the shortest to get into.

[00:26:30] So many people would just funnel into whatever line is nearest to them. There's like a dozen lines there. Take a little walk. I think Katie just explained perfectly why this is a grumpy thing. Because everything you just said was stress, stress, stress, stress. It really was. I mean, the rigmarole that you go through from the alarm clock to getting in line for seven dwarves. And to be clear, rope drop is that early, early morning. Let's just use really clear numbers.

[00:26:58] If the park opens at eight, early entry for on-site guests would be 730. Which means you actually need to be there by seven. I mean, people are starting to get in. You have to be at the gate well before then. Yeah. Can I bring up something else that's huge, too? Because I literally just experienced this. We rope drop Epcot last Friday. However, we were not staying on site. Right? So this might persuade you to not stay off-site and to stay on-site. Because we were staying off-site. We were just coming from our house. We drove there.

[00:27:28] We got there an hour before the park. We were able to get into the park but could not exceed a certain, you know, we could not go past the rope. We were being held back. And all of the on-site people, when early entry opened, walking, walking, walking. We knew exactly where they were walking to. I should say walking, right? They were walking to Guardians of the Galaxy, which was our desired destination for when we were able to get into the park. Park opens. We go to Guardians of the Galaxy.

[00:27:57] Cast member walks us. They were at the front of the rope. Over two-hour wait at that point. Two-hour wait. So what I'm saying is you're going to be even grumpier if you try to rope drop and you're not staying on site. Because that 30 minutes makes such a huge difference in your day that there's really no point in rope dropping. You might as well have another strategy for how you're going to tackle some of those heavy-hitting rides. Because rope drop isn't going to be for you.

[00:28:24] Imagine you're an on-site guest and you just messed this up enough that you're a half an hour later than you should have been, right? So if I said you should have been at Magic Kingdom at 7 a.m. and you don't get there until 7.40 because you didn't plan for that bus line or you left your resort too late, then you may as well have just slept in, right? Because you're going to get there. That wait is going to be two hours. You really miss the window. You have to hit it right on its target. And that can feel very overwhelming to somebody who has never been. We're making it sound very bad because this is the grumpy episode.

[00:28:54] And honestly, if you don't do it well, it can be very bad. But if you plan for it, like Carla said before, you are hitting Seven Dwarfs. You're hitting Peter Pan and maybe even one more thing and the park hasn't even opened yet. And that is what is actually possible if you do this well. And so I would say those early mornings are a very grumpy factor. But if you strategize them, research them, listen to us enough, and consult your travel agent and know what you're doing and have a plan, they're very, very worth it. And then allow yourself that midday break.

[00:29:22] Allow yourself to get a ton done in the morning and then take a break in the middle of the day. We are a family of hangry and tired humans. Just the five of us, even the adults in the family, myself, we don't handle ourselves beautifully when we're really tired or really hungry or really hot. You know, and we're very, we have very open communication about that. I will flat out look at my kids and just say, I'm not a very good version of myself right now. I'm really hungry. I'm really hot. And they understand that because they feel that way too.

[00:29:48] And you will get that way as well unless you have some superpower that my family wasn't blessed with. And so you need to give yourself the time and the break that you need. Yeah. And I'll add to that, like if your expectation is staying in the park from rope drop to fireworks, oh boy, you are setting yourself up for a grumpy day. Like take that midday break. Like Allie said, you will thank yourself for it. Even if your midday break is to take lunch in an air conditioned, sit down, dine, and then we're going to go hit a show after it.

[00:30:18] Right? That's a break. Yeah. Your break can be in the park. Sometimes I have FOMO leaving a park. Sometimes I'm like, I can't leave the park because I know people are here doing things and we're not. And that's just a weird wiring in my brain. And so we didn't always, especially when my kids were little, we didn't always leave the parks. We always did maybe that, maybe what you just said. You know, we had some forced stop time. Yep. Does that bring it to me? Yeah, that brings it to you.

[00:30:42] Okay, well, I'm going to talk about the little kid angle and I know I'm grumpiest and my husband is grumpiest whenever our children are having a meltdown. Your children have meltdowns at Disney, Katie? You don't say. My kids have never thrown a tantrum ever, especially not at Disney. I have like been, I've been there. I've been that parent that's like really frustrated that my, my child is having a meltdown.

[00:31:07] But I have witnessed other people be like, we spent all this money on this vacation and you're here crying. And I'm like, you look a fool. What are you doing? Yeah. They don't, yeah. Don't say they look a fool because I've thought those same things. We've all thought those things. I mean, we might not have verbalized them, but I mean, we all verbalize some crazy stuff when we're hot, hangry and, you know. We do. Out of money.

[00:31:33] I've said before on the podcast, like I've had this conversation with Matt before our trip where I'm like, the kids are going to have a meltdown. So what are we going to do in that moment? Are we going to find a place to take a break? Are we going to break out a snack? Like what are we going to do so that we don't add fuel to the fire? Because if you snap and you start yelling at your kid, that's when you look a fool and you just added fuel to the fire that nobody wants happening. So that's why I say have a plan for it. Know what you're going to do. It's going to happen. Listen to me.

[00:32:03] It will happen. Your child will have a magical meltdown in the middle of Magic Kingdom. The list of reasons they're melting down are they are tired. They are hot. They are hungry. Their feet hurt. They're overstimulated. They have to go to the bathroom. There are so many things. They can just grab any of the balloons and pull them down and start melting down. Their parents won't let them have a balloon. Guilty. Right. They wanted a third Mickey bar. Whatever it is. They're going to meltdown.

[00:32:30] I talked about on our spring break trip, one of the silliest things I did was we were staying at Riviera. I was going alone with my kids in the morning. My wife was sleeping in, which is kind of this new era we're in. She doesn't really like the parks open to close. And to be honest, I don't either. Like when we go on our trips, if some of y'all go early, I often don't join. I will go later. But my kids want to go and they need somebody to go with them. So obviously that's me. And I'm happy to do that with and for them. But I was trying to think, okay, I'm going to be alone with them for hours before we have reinforcement adult.

[00:33:00] So one of the things I did was I bought that little loaf of banana bread that the Riviera sells and a couple pieces of a couple apples. And I threw them in my bag because I knew mid-morning they were going to start to get feisty. And sure enough, they did. I brought out that bread and they were done. They literally, not that everything can be solved that easily, but it was just enough of a redirect. And just of enough to like take the hunger edge off that I was able to say, here, let's all split this. And then they started to fight about the pieces and who got what.

[00:33:29] Next time you get three banana breads. Yeah, everybody gets their own dang loaf. That really piggybacks off of my first one is packing and just being prepared in the parks, specifically snacks, games, you know, the heads up game, having that ready to go on your phone. That's always a fun way to pass time. Katie and her girls love to pixie dust others. So that's always fun.

[00:33:53] And having them help with that process or picking those items out and, you know, talking to them about it beforehand is something that can be fun. And just, you know, when you're in the depths of that 75 minute line is how are we going to make it through with no meltdowns? Because if my kids are melting down, I'm melting down and nobody wants that.

[00:34:16] This is why having babies was hard for me because when the baby's screaming and you can't make it stop and I melt down if they melt down. And I don't love that, but it is what is true and I can own it. And so having the clear conversation and having a way out as the kids are older, even a toddler older that you can actually communicate with is so important. I do think that having a snack or a treat in your bag is like the magic answer for a lot of meltdowns. Like if Tally's having a meltdown, she's really frustrated about something.

[00:34:46] I'm like, would you like this lollipop? Yes, I would. Oh, okay. Now things are better. Like instantly. It's hilarious. Treats are really good. Carla mentioned pixie dusting. What I started doing, feel free to take this if you want to or just say, Katie, you're kind of weird. That's fine. We go on Amazon and we buy like acrylic dinosaurs or acrylic gemstones that you can get a pack of like 350 for like eight bucks or something like that.

[00:35:10] And if I know we're about to get into a line that's really long, we will basically hide little dinosaurs and gems throughout the line. And my kids think it's great to watch people behind us in line find the treasures and they get a lot out of that. But they also think it's great to like hide a little dino in this little nook on Tiana's bayou, right? One more thing because we probably do need to move on from this at some point. It's a big one though. Child meltdowns. Yeah.

[00:35:38] But also parent meltdowns and how it's totally fine and there's ways to navigate it. You said that Zan isn't an early morning person. She doesn't really enjoy, you know, long park days. I have a son like that and my son is now old enough to know, for example, we went to Disney, like I said, last Friday. I was totally willing to take both my kids because it had been a while. And I asked Lennon, of course, Lennon was gung-ho, wanted to go, can't wait. Liam was like, that's not for me, mom.

[00:36:08] And realizing that you do have kids that might want or need to sleep in. Maybe your spouse wants or needs to sleep in and they stay back. And that's totally fine. It's hard as moms to know that we're spending this much money, right? And we want everything perfect and we want to do and ride everything. We want to see every show. We want to try all the treats. But maybe that's not for everyone in your family and that's okay.

[00:36:35] And that's when you navigate your day and you divide and conquer. That maybe one of the parents with the kid that's a little more fatigued than the other goes and waits at the parade spot. You know, go get a spot for the parade on Main Street or in front of the castle. And they have a time to relax a little bit, eat a snack, grab a coffee, whatever they need, right? And that's totally fine. Yeah. Yep. I mean, to be clear, because she might kill me otherwise. She is a morning person.

[00:37:05] I didn't hear this anyways. She is. Is she back there listening? She might be back there. It's not that she's not a morning person. It's that she's not a Disney morning person. She doesn't want to get up and go to a park, right? Yeah. And I get it. Yeah. And I do too, which is why two times now, the last two times we've had park days, we've done it this way. And it's been fine. You know, I can easily take my kids to the parks. It's fine. They're at an age where it's easy. And we started last year. So they were what? Seven and 10. And that was fine.

[00:37:35] And even at Disneyland, she wanted to go back. And actually, Carla, this is a perfect about what you just said. My oldest was kind of done. She wanted to leave the park as well. And we were in walking distance. We were at Disneyland. So they wanted to walk back to the resort. But my twins wanted to watch World of Color. And I really wanted to. So I was like, well, why don't you guys leave? We'll stay here. We'll figure out dinner in California Adventure. You figure out dinner in Disney, Downtown Disney. And we'll meet back at the resort later. And that's what we did. And it was great.

[00:38:02] So yeah, being flexible and being prepared for those meltdowns. Notice that all of our tips are be prepared. And there are ways to be prepared for it. And knowing that when you're not prepared, you're going to be grumpy. Yeah, exactly. The whole point of this episode is lack of preparedness equals grumpy. All right, Carla, that's to you. That was three things. You're going to start fourth. I think, and you guys will agree with this, the biggest thing that makes me grumpy, especially this time of year, is the weather. And I am a Floridian saying that. But it is brutally hot.

[00:38:32] And I feel like I should be used to this, but I'm not. And I never will be. And I don't enjoy it. I know that moms out there want to go to the park in the summer. And they want to be cute. And they want to have the makeup. And they want to get the pictures. And they want to wear the outfits and the cute shoes. And all I have to say is chafing, rubbing, blisters, face fell off.

[00:39:00] I mean, I cannot even express to you how hot it is. I was just watching a TikTok the other day of this poor mom that just, she was actually talking about Universal. She just took her family of seven to Universal. And she spent $7,000 on tickets and express passes for the day at Universal. She left two hours into it and was like, I'm done. It was too hot. I could barely breathe.

[00:39:27] All that to say, and I'm just referring to hot weather at this point. We're not talking about hurricane season. We're not talking about rainy season. All I'm going to say is be prepared for the worst. If you don't like hot weather, summer is not for you. Don't do it. And that stinks. I think that's really fair. Because summer inevitably is the least expensive, probably most benefit time to go to Disney.

[00:39:51] And if that is more important to you, then you're going to have to have proper expectations that summer is going to be hot and it's going to be brutal and there's going to be rain. And what am I packing? What am I bringing in my park day? What am I wearing that day? Do you guys know that? You know how I always talk about the free tampons and pads at the deluxe resorts? I have got into the bathroom. And sorry for all the men that are listening. There's like 5% of you. 10.

[00:40:16] I've gotten those free pads and I have lined the back of my underwear in hopes that I could stop my butt crack from sweating. And I swear it might just be me. I don't understand why my butt crack sweats. And it's super long. So it's a lot happening. I mean, even my mom was like the other day. I did some volunteer work and she's like, why is your butt crack sweating? I literally, I have to dress and I have to prepare. I have to wear all black to Disney. Otherwise, it is, it's a show.

[00:40:46] And it's not a cute show. I, I will say they do the free pads and tampons everywhere on Disney property. Now, if you go to the parks, it's a change. Disney, that's awesome. Go get your free pads and cover up your butt crack if your butt crack sweats. Okay. But also we had this huge controversy about socks at Disney, right? Allie informed us that ankle socks are, are not in anymore and that you should not have. And when I'm talking about ankle socks, I'm talking about like the no show. No show. Can't see them.

[00:41:16] And I know, and I know Katie, you still wear those, which is totally fine. Yes. Those to me are never acceptable at Disney for the very reason that your shoes are going to rub after four hours in the summer. Feet are sweating. Shoes are sweating. Everything's sweating. Blisters are coming. You have to have that protective layer. You have to wear socks. You have to wear tall socks. Sox. Ankle socks. Whatever socks you need to make sure that there is no skin between your shoe and your ankle.

[00:41:46] You got to get that, you got to get that cute little pack. I've got a couple packs of them with the little one single color. Well, the frilly, yes. But I'm talking about the Disney ones with the one color stripe and then the character. Yeah. Yeah. I have those. They're very cute. They're great. Yeah. It is. It's like a four or six pack on Amazon. Probably less than $20. I have a couple packs of them. Best thing you'll buy. Do you guys relate at all with this? Yes. No. Weather is on the... I don't... I'm sorry. I have no crack sweat. You barely have a crack. I do sweat.

[00:42:16] My body does sweat. I will agree with you that weather and the unpredictability... You sparkle. I glisten a little bit. But the weather at Disney is so, so brutal. I hate when... I think I've told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again because I learned a lot from this story. When I was younger and we would stay at what was called Dixie Landings and is now Port Orleans Riverside. We arrived for our annual Disney vacation.

[00:42:44] We typically would stay over a week and we always had park hoppers. We did it really big. It was so fun. And the day we checked in, my dad would inevitably put us in like six different rooms. He would check them out and check the view and check the location and we'd move... And we would always move rooms. So while he was doing that, my mom would take my brother and I to the pool. And so we went to the pool, which is the same pool there at Port Orleans Riverside now and they have that kind of cabana bar area thing. So it starts pouring down rain.

[00:43:13] And this was a summer trip, so that's not abnormal for Florida, right? It's mid-afternoon. It's pouring down rain. And my mom sits us under the cabana thing and I'll never forget. She's just like, okay, when the rain stops, what do we want to do? When the rain stops, this is the things we'll do. When the rain stops... You know, and she just kept framing it like that and talking about the fun things we're going to do. My dad finally joins us and he can be a bit of a pessimist. And he... I will never forget. He was just so disappointed and he sat down. He's just like, it's a shame. Such a shame.

[00:43:40] And he's just going on and on about how the rain has ruined our trip. And it's just, you know, this whole trip we'd built up. My mom's like, Joel, it's going to stop. This is not going to last. And sure enough, you know, give it 20 to 30 minutes. It cleared up. We're off. It's bright sun. And we're having the best trip of our lives, right? So I had two parents that could easily fall into either mindset. And if you're in the mindset that the weather can determine the entire trip, you're going to be disappointed and you're going to be very, very grumpy because it is going to rain if you're going during rainy season.

[00:44:09] Now, there are some times of the year where it's certainly not going to rain. It's just going to be heat the entire time you're there. Or, you know, like when we go, we usually go in the winter. It doesn't typically rain while we're there. But it is cold when we go a lot. In the summer heat, I have said on our podcast Instagram and I have said on this show, Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land are the hottest areas of any Disney park ever of all time. And the bottleneck squeeze of Fantasy Land. I want to die walking through Toy Story Land.

[00:44:37] I mean, I have visions of myself dropping to my knees and just surrendering. It's like an Andy's coming moment, but to the response to the sun because it is brutally hot and you have to mentally and physically prepare. Bring a fan, bring a cooling towel, bring a poncho. But you also have to mentally prepare. And the weather is absolutely a grumpy. It's on the grumpy list. For sure. If you're bringing a little kid and you're like, what kind of stroller fan should I use? I see those Ryobi fans all the time.

[00:45:06] Those are heavy duty. It's because it has the replaceable battery. So you can, as soon as one's done, you just put the other one in, right? So Ryobi is a good choice if you need a stroller fan. That's another thing to prep the night before. Plug your fans in. Yeah. Yes. Florida is hot and that should come as no surprise to anybody. But I do think that Disney does a really good job of offering a lot of places that you can cool down. Like if you are melting in Galaxy's Edge, maybe you should go get on Smuggler's Run because

[00:45:35] the queue is entirely indoors and it's air conditioned. Like in Hollywood Studios, there are so many shows that you can go do that are air conditioned. There are so many places for you to go and cool off and you are going to be relieved. So instead of saying, I'm going to give up park time and go back to the resort, find a place where you can go cool down in a show. There are so many rides that are indoor rides now. Yeah. I think oftentimes people say Florida weather is so unpredictable.

[00:46:04] To be honest with you, there's nothing more predictable than Florida weather in summer. It's hot and it's going to rain. And if you're not prepared for that, if you're going to be Joel, right? Your dad. And you have that mindset that that's just going to ruin the whole trip. And that mindset, if you let it, will happen before your trip starts. If you're on your phone looking at Walt Disney World weather for your trip and all you see

[00:46:31] as 40%, 50%, 60%, you know, every single day of your trip, you're already in that mindset that my trip's rude. It's going to rain every day. I mean, we see it all the time in post and what am I going to do? It's going to rain every day. It's not. It's going to rain on and off. It's going to be hot. So how do you prepare for that ahead of time to make yourself not so grumpy? That's the key because the weather is a huge one that will make you grumpy.

[00:46:57] Hey, listen, planning for all of these things is literally one of the best strategies and tips that you can think about when you're thinking about all of these grumpy factors. And part of that is really knowing when is the best time for your family to go. And if you are planning with a big family and trying to figure out the best time to go, join our friend Kayla's Facebook group, Family Vacations with Kayla, Disney Universal Cruises Hawaii and more by clicking the link in today's show notes.

[00:47:24] And by joining her group, you can get a free guide that's going to help you determine the best time to go for your family. Maybe you've got a toddler who needs naps and a teenager who's chasing thrill rides or you're tackling the park solo with multiple kids. That's exactly what's going on inside Kayla's group. And the first step to planning your Disney vacation is much easier when you join to get that free guide. So you can skip the biggest crowds or avoid the common mistakes that we're talking about today and plan a trip that's actually enjoyable for everyone.

[00:47:53] Get the free guide by joining Kayla's group, Family Vacations with Kayla, Disney Universal Cruises Hawaii and more or by clicking the link in today's show notes. All right. We are at four of our seven grumpiness lists. We got three more to add. I think it's my turn. We've talked about this already, but not as its own isolated thing. And we're not even doing a standby cue today because I think we all know what these seven biggest things are, right? Do we? Do we not? Have we disagreed one time?

[00:48:22] We haven't disagreed, but I think that whenever we come up to the end here, we're going to be like, oh, and this. Yeah. Well, maybe. You tell me though, does long lines get to be on the grumpy list? It's on my list. Of course it does. Yeah, of course it is. Those long lines are keeping families from even trying to go to Disney World. People do not want to wait in lines. Families are afraid of lines with their kids. Families are afraid of the meltdown that we talked about.

[00:48:48] The long line is the grumpiness provoker for some of these things we've talked about today. You know? And obviously there are strategies that you should be using. Disney offers services. They aren't free. That's what's true, right? And I'm sure we're going to get into that. But lightning lanes and the use of lightning lanes are the way that you get out of this one. But it has to be talked about because the long lines are unavoidable in entirety.

[00:49:16] I don't think you can go for an entire trip and not wait in a single line. Yeah. You're going to wait in line somewhere. Lightning lanes do help diminish it, right? But it's not going to completely... Like, this is not a VIP tour. If you want that, you could get a VIP tour. Sure. But, no, if you want to avoid the lines, it's going to come at a price tag. You know what, though?

[00:49:42] When I hear you talk about lines, in my head at first, I was just like, the ride lines, right? But it's not just that. It's the food lines. It's true. It's knowing that you can mobile order to avoid food lines. It's the lines at security. It's the lines for the buses. It's really, like you said, there are so many lines at Disney and it is inevitable that you won't avoid them all.

[00:50:06] But, again, planning your day to do whatever you can to strategize not being in lines is going to make you happier. People often ask, is it worth getting Lightning Lane Multipass at Epcot? And I'm like, yes. Because if you go to Epcot during a festival, you are waiting in every single booth line.

[00:50:27] Like, I don't want to go wait for even the short waits on a ride whenever I have to wait like 20 to 30 minutes at every booth for a snack or a drink. Where's my Lightning Lane for the booths? That's where that divide and conquer is going to really be helpful, too. Because, you know, I might wait for this while you wait for that. And I'm going to also label this one long lines and crowds because it's also the crowds. It's also the bottled neck, wall-on-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder. It's trying to find a spot for the parade that isn't in the blistering sun.

[00:50:56] It's trying to escape after the fireworks. I mean, one of the grumpiest parts of an entire Disney vacation period without argument is leaving Magic Kingdom after Happily Ever After. It makes me sad. We talked about this even recently on an episode. It makes me so sad because the show is such an important piece of a great Disney trip. That then to be the thing that immediate follows, be something that is one of the worst parts of a Disney trip, is a hard thing for me to admit.

[00:51:25] But it is what is true. And that's why, like, you could use a dessert party. Maybe you book a post party and that is helpful. Or even just go hang out in the shops and do your shopping for a half hour or 45 minutes after the fireworks. Yeah. And one of the grumpy crowds that stands out to me is the parade crowd. If you're going to the midday parade, it is during the hottest peak of the day, typically, right?

[00:51:52] Sometimes there's two and whatever is happening with the parade is probably hot. And if you wait to get a spot, I mean, I have waited a couple of times and we've ended up kind of in front of the, where the riverboat used to be, where the new car stuff is going back in toward Frontierland and Liberty Square. And that area, we've been there and it's been so hot. Like, want to throw up hot. And we get Mickey bars and then they're melting all over my kids. And then my oldest daughter sat in the chocolate and then she was devastated because her white shorts had chocolate.

[00:52:18] Or we ended up in front of the castle and it was in the middle of the blazing, blazing sun. And that was really hard. So the crowds ruining your ability to enjoy even the simplest things is tough. There's no bigger pet peeve than when you've stood an hour in a particular spot to watch the fireworks, to watch the parade. And then at the very last second, maybe even after the fireworks have started and you've kind of eased into your space, you're up against the rope, but there's a little bit of room.

[00:52:47] And some freaking dad comes in with the kid on their shoulders and then that's your view. So with that said, you have to hold strong. You have to get up against the garbage can. Get up. I mean, don't think that because you've been there that that's your space and yay, the fireworks and all this stuff and nobody's going to impede. People will hold the balloons. The worst one we've ever had. I don't even know if I told you all this or if I talked about it.

[00:53:16] On our spring break trip, I waited forever for our perfect viewing for Happily Ever After. We wanted Center Castle. We got it. Me and the kids waited so long. And then Zan was joining us. She had gone back to the resort. She's coming back. There were these girls next to us that were live vlogging maybe or FaceTiming. Maybe they were Face. I think they were FaceTiming actually. They were FaceTiming because there was somebody on the other end of the phone. They were having the loudest conversation. Oh my gosh. Screaming into the phone. Sharing. Like sharing. Had the volume turned up on the phone.

[00:53:46] We could hear the person on the phone talking. Flashlights on. I was so appalled. And luckily we had seen this show. But so many people around us, this might be the only time you ever have it. And that's the experience that these people... You're going to experience rude people in the crowds that are there only for themselves. It was appalling. Honestly, it was horrible. And that's part of it. I don't get mean too often, but mama bear will make me really mean. Carla thinks I'm mean.

[00:54:14] I will get mean if I have been standing in a place for a long time with my kids and then adults stand like immediately in front of us. We will usually position ourselves to watch the fireworks. Like they'll put a tape line. We will be right on that tape line. And then 15 minutes before the show starts, someone comes and stands directly in front of my little kid. And I'm like, no, I'm not doing this. There's always a cast member that's walking there by that tape. And I'll be like, excuse me, we've been waiting here for an hour and a half.

[00:54:44] And this person thinks that they should just jump in here and stand in front of my four-year-old. So that's not going to happen. And the cast member told them to keep walking. That has happened to us for a parade before too. We will wait right on the line for the parade. And then a whole bunch of older people will come and stand in front of my kids. And I will say, excuse me, we have been waiting here a very long time. If you would like to stand behind us, you're welcome too. This is where real Disney grumpy comes out is when it comes to crowds and lines.

[00:55:11] Because people will try to cut the system in some way. And that's hard. There's so much at stake in those moments that that's your one time to see happily ever after. And you take it all very personally. Yeah, you do. And that's what happens. This person is doing this to me and to my four-year-old. When really they're just trying to create an experience for themselves. But if you failed to prepare, get in the back. If you fail to prepare, walk in the back. Yeah, I mean you've got to prepare. It's true.

[00:55:40] I mean, oof. Okay. You're getting heated. We're all fired up now. This is how we know we're on the grumpy episode. You're so grumpy. Is it my turn then? Yeah, there's a big one we haven't talked about that has to make lists. I'm hoping it's what you bring out now. Because, I mean, we have two spots left. And I know at least one for sure that has to go on. So, yep. So, I'm going to call this an inappropriate amount of planning. So, whether you are not planning enough and you're that person that's showing up at the

[00:56:09] last minute for the parades or the fireworks. Or you're the person that's overprepared and you have an itinerary down to every five minute increment of the day. You are going to be grumpy. You should have the right amount of preparing for your trip. If you are underprepared. If you don't know how to use the My Disney Experience app before you go. And you're grumpy because you don't know how to use it. And it's very integral to your day whenever you get there. You're going to have a bad time.

[00:56:36] If you plan way too much and you're like, oh, we're behind schedule. We were supposed to be on Dumbo seven minutes ago. Like, you are also going to have a bad time. Having an inappropriate amount of planning is going to decrease your joy in your day. This is kind of called like expectations are too high. But I think, I do think this has to go in the standby queue. So I'm eating my own words. What? Well, here, because there's two other big ones that aren't. I have two big ones. Here's where I'll side with Katie. You guys are crazy.

[00:57:05] I'll side with Katie a little bit. This goes to like my first one of packing. And it's really packing slash planning. Because really, planning is the giant umbrella. And part of planning is packing. And part of planning is getting advanced dining reservations. And part of planning is knowing your windows for your lightning lanes. And that's all part of that bigger umbrella. That if you don't do that, or like you said, Katie, if you overdo it and have these unreasonable

[00:57:34] expectations that everything is going to be so happy and so perfect. And if you're not at a specific place at a specific time, the world is going to end. Which people do it all the time, right? That's when meltdowns are going to occur. Yep. It's just not going to be as magical as it could if you're not properly planning your days. You're going to be in so many circumstances with the opportunity of a meltdown for being

[00:58:00] hangry, for not being able to take a bathroom break, for having to run to the opposite side of the park because you didn't look at the map and pre-plan your lightning lanes properly. Let me tell you why. The reason why this goes in the standby queue for me is because it's true. That is something that's going to make you grumpy. However, I almost feel like the truth is it's the rebuttal for all of our grumpy things. The rebuttal for all of our grumpy things is how to properly prepare.

[00:58:25] And being over-prepared and having less flexibility is also going to lead to a grumpy meltdown. So because I can think of two things that are tangible, this is a very grumpy, I'm not going. That is a grumpy circumstance within your trip. But this is a... So I'm just going to... Can I throw one out there that I think has to go on the list? And you explain... If you are not looking at the My Disney Experience app before you go, you are doing yourself a great disservice. And we have an entire episode all about it.

[00:58:53] We have a guide that you can purchase all about it. So check them out. It's an incredibly important piece of your vacation planning because you won't be able to do literally anything without it. The one that has to go on the list that doesn't go to standby queue and the reason I'm hesitating here because we only have two spots left is cost. The cost of Disney is grumpy. It's expensive. The packages are expensive. The souvenirs are expensive. The food is expensive. I think that cost is absolutely something that is going to make people grumpy.

[00:59:22] I do think that people have unrealistic expectations of what Disney costs on the face of it. Everyone thinks that Disney's $10,000. It's not $10,000 to go to Disney. I couldn't go to Disney if it was $10,000, right? Well, but it can be. It can. But cost is definitely something that makes people angry. Because if you go to a character meal with a family of five, you're probably not getting out of there for less than $250, $300, maybe more. Yeah.

[00:59:49] For me, it's the nickel and diming. If you don't plan and you don't have the dining plan. If you don't have, you know, gift cards for souvenirs for your children. All of these things that you know you are going to do, need to do, want to do. You need to eat. You want to buy shirts. You want to buy souvenirs, right? You want to buy the bubble ones. So it's, if you don't have those expectations and you go on with nothing, then you're just constantly going to be shelling out money everywhere. Left, right.

[01:00:19] If you have the mindset of, I went to Disney when I was a kid and we had the paper fast passes and they were free. And now I have to pay for lightning lanes and I can't believe Disney is going to charge me for this. You're going to be grumpy as heck to know that not only are they going to charge you, like you are going to get charged, right? It's going to be per person, per day, per ride in some cases. And if you don't know that and pre-plan for that cost and utilize strategies like buying

[01:00:49] gift cards at discounts or, you know, having your parents gift your kids for the birthday or Christmas ahead of time gift cards for them to be able to buy their souvenirs. You're going to be extremely grumpy your whole trip. It's going to be rough. Yeah. I still have to slip into the mindset that we're going to spend money while we're there. You know, my wife is really good about that mindset. She has no problem spending money and she will happily say to me, you know, this costs money. We know this. Just let it go.

[01:01:18] It is. This is not, we did not come here thinking it was an all inclusive. So why are you surprised right now? You know, and it's true and it's fair. The reality is though, it doesn't have to be the scary dollar. You can name your price and then build the trip within it. So for instance, yesterday I was helping somebody and they had a very strict budget they wanted to stick to, but they were also trying to go at spring break, which is a premium time of year. And we were having a really hard time fitting everything they wanted into the budget for that time of year.

[01:01:47] Now they didn't have a lot of flexibility on when they could go, but if you do, I bet I could have built the same trip that they were wanting with everything under budget in the summer. Right? And so you can alleviate some of the costs. You cannot make it all inclusive and you cannot make it free, but you can alleviate some of the pressure and the stress by naming your price and then building within it realistically. Right? It's not going to cost you a thousand dollars. It's not going to cost you $2,000. It's going to cost more than that, but you can make it work. Okay.

[01:02:16] So see, that one has to go on the list, right? So it does. Okay. I'm going to name the last one that is very overwhelming for a lot of people and it's transportation. There's the other one on my list as well. Yeah. It's transportation and it's, you know, when you're in that really like pre-planning part, I have this idea that I want to go to Disney. You can very quickly get overwhelmed with just the sheer amount of Disney resorts that

[01:02:41] there are and that each of them have different price points, but also each of them, you know, have different transportation options. And what does that even mean? Right? It means that some of your higher costs, higher price resorts, your deluxe resorts are going to have better options for transportation. And if that's important to you, if you want to be able to walk into Magic Kingdom, if you want to be able to take the monorail over to Epcot, that that's going to come at a cost, right?

[01:03:09] But also just the bigger picture of Disney Springs is where, how do I get there? How do I get to the water parks? What are my transportation options at my resort? If I want to go to Animal Kingdom, it's, it's really, it's very overwhelming when you don't know and you've never been. And the, I guess my only solution would be to work with a travel planner that's going to help you navigate that. If that is something that's already stressing you out. I don't know. What are your thoughts on this one?

[01:03:38] This was on my list because you can get yourself into a real bind, not being able to get where you want to go the most efficient way possible and not understanding all the routes. There are clean and efficient ways to get from point A to point B, but we've talked a lot about how sometimes it's going to take two or three forms of transportation to do it. And in that case, you know, are you better off utilizing a minivan? I don't know. That's a very premium service because Uber and Lyft are not always super convenient either because they don't have all of the accessibility of Disney transportation getting to the most

[01:04:07] convenient drop-off point. Understanding the pathways is a huge deal. Yeah. If you are that person that has a really early bivety-bubbity boutique reservation, I think it's really wise to splurge on the minivan so you can be dropped off right at the front of Magic Kingdom gates. You're not going to be waiting on a bus. You're not going to be waiting on a monorail. You're not going to wait on anything. You're going to be right there at the gates. So it'll ensure that you get there in time. If you're like, hey, we're staying at Pop Century and we have dining reservations

[01:04:37] at Ohana at the Poly, you are absolutely going to have to take multiple legs of transportation if you use the free Disney transportation. You would be like taking a bus to Magic Kingdom and then taking either the monorail or the boat over to the Poly. That's going to take a lot of time, probably an hour, maybe more. If you're really lucky, it'll take less than an hour, but I wouldn't plan for that, right? In that case, I would say, you know, get the Lyft or the Uber, but not all Lyfts and Ubers have car seats.

[01:05:06] So that's something to factor in as well. In my opinion, everybody looks at the dollar for what things cost and nobody looks at the time for what things cost. Everyone's like, I'm willing to sacrifice my time. And I'm like, I'm not willing to sacrifice my time. I will pay 40 bucks for a minivan if it gets me a solution in 10 minutes. Katie, can you just, since you still are in your stroller phase, can you run through which means of transportation you have to break down your stroller? Because I remember those days.

[01:05:36] I remember driving and parking at Magic Kingdom because we were coming from Tampa and having to suddenly break down my stroller when the tram came and I was just like beyond. Yep. There's a lot of parents with strollers that if you are parking, if you're staying offsite and parking, they won't even get on the parking tram. It doesn't matter how far back they are. They're walking it because they don't want to break down their stroller to get on the tram. That's a fair point.

[01:05:59] We, if you are staying on property, let's say you are going on the Skyliner, you'll be able to take your single stroller onto the Skyliner. If you have a front and back style double stroller, you will be able to take that onto the Skyliner. If you have a side by side though, that's going to have to be broken down. It won't fit through the doors. If you're going on the monorail, everything fits on the monorail. Even if you have a side by side double stroller, it will go on the monorail. You won't have to break it down. Boats, it kind of depends.

[01:06:29] If you get on one of the really big boats, like from the TTC going to Magic Kingdom, you're not going to have to break down your stroller. If you're on one of the small friendship boats that's going from, say, Magic Kingdom to Wilderness Lodge, you're probably going to have to break down your stroller. And that, you're going to be grumpy. I mean, that is a grumpy factor for sure. It was really hard to get the kids out of the stroller when they were little and to get all of the things that we had packed onto the stroller off of the stroller. And then who was carrying the kids? Or are they old enough to walk? And then who's carrying the stroller?

[01:06:59] And where's all the things? And that is a massive grumpy factor. You're never going to get away with 100% of the time not folding it. Yeah. But knowing the options where you don't have to fold it and trying to make your circumstances have all of those options, right? The boat, the Skyliner, walkability. Yes, walkability too. These are going to matter. You know, the monorail. You guys, on our first trip, we had a double stroller for my five and two-year-old and we had a single stroller for my four-month-old.

[01:07:26] And I remember we got off the bus at Animal Kingdom and we were trying to get re-situated with the kids. And some other parents saw us and they were like, we just want you to know your heroes. Yeah. I was like, thank you. I do feel better pretty often for the people with strollers navigating some of those tighter walkways for sure. But I'll tell you this. I'll tell you this. Katie, Katie's heroic moment that had to be really difficult and chaotic and really hard. But at the end of that trip, you were a Disney family that moved to Florida to be closer

[01:07:56] to Disney that goes to Disney all the time. Like the grumpy factor did not matter. This is very true. All right. We have our seven. These are definitely the seven grumpiest things about Disney. We didn't even have to do a stand by cue. Really? We did. Don't take away my thing. Because among all of these grumpy things, as long as you prepare, you're going to be okay on the flip side of it. You can't over prepare because that's also going to lead to your grumpy meltdown. You have to be the right level of understanding and preparedness so that you can enjoy these

[01:08:25] things rather than let them be things that are going to ruin your trip. You can't be sitting with your head in your hands thinking you messed everything up when you can truly, truly navigate everything. The things that are going to make you grumpy on your trip that are going to lead to the meltdowns that are going to lead to the low parts of the trip are the pre-planning, packing and organizing, knowing exactly what the trip is going to look like. It's hard to think that much strategy ahead of time. The early mornings and wake ups and the very little sleep. Vacation is about relaxation for a lot of people and Disney simply is not that trip.

[01:08:54] You may have relaxing days if you do pool days and things like that, but overall Disney is simply not about relaxation in its prime. The parent and child meltdowns. We all have them. Don't pretend like it's only your children. You're melting down when they're melting down or you're simply hot and hungry. Your feet are hurting. You've got the blisters. You've got the sweat in the places that shouldn't sweat and you're having the meltdown as well. The weather and pretending like it was unpredictable. It's going to be very hot. It's probably going to rain.

[01:09:21] You are the only person that can decide if weather is actually going to be something that ruins your trip. It simply does not have to. You can bring fans, ponchos, things like that and you can keep going about your day because Disney sure plans for that. The long lines and crowds, that's a really hard one. It's not avoidable in its entirety. At some point you're going to wait in a line whether it be for a firework show or parade, food, an attraction. You can budget and utilize lightning lanes and mobile ordering and other things that are going to help alleviate those waits.

[01:09:49] Maybe you plan a dessert party but you're not going to get rid of them entirely. The cost. You're not going to Disney for cheap but it doesn't have to cost your entire life savings. There are ways to strategize and find the place that fits for your family and then build the trip right within it. And of course the complications of transportation. Knowing your routes, knowing what makes sense for your family, the places you're going and the ages that you all are is going to be a huge deal. Being prepared, being knowledgeable and for anybody listening out there today, all you M&Ms,

[01:10:15] the magic word will be prepared because there's a level of preparedness that is just right, not over, not under, that's going to alleviate all of your grumpiness throughout your trip. Did we do it? Is that the grumpy list? I think that's the grumpy list. Yeah. If you're prepared, you're less grumpy. That's what's true. Proper expectations. Absolutely. What's next? Because I haven't looked on the outline. Sorry, Becky. Can we do like our list of pet peeves? Wait a minute. That's what the lightning lane is. Oh, okay. It's a pet peeve lightning lane. It's a pet peeve lightning lane. Okay.

[01:10:45] So it touches on pet peeves and then you have to pick the pet peeve. The worst. Wait, the worst. You have to pick the worst pet peeve. Which pet peeve is worse? Which one is worse? Okay. So for instance, waiting 20 minutes for a bus or getting stuck on the Skyliner? 20 minutes for a bus. I think it's bus too. I think it's bus also because on the Skyliner, that's just like a forced break. But when you're waiting for the bus, you just feel like you're missing out on something. Using a snack credit for a drink or unable to find a water bottle fill station?

[01:11:11] I do wish there were more water bottle fill stations, but I would never use a snack credit on a drink. Yeah. I don't know. I think Becky could have come up with better pet peeves for us. These were mine. Oh. Katie, you could do better. But anyways. It's an escalating list. Okay. Using a paper straw or bringing your own reusable straw and having to clean it. Using a paper straw is the worst thing ever. That's bad. The paper straws are bad. You could just get another paper straw. Ugh.

[01:11:41] Just don't use a straw. For a slushie? How are you drinking a slushie? Oh, well. I'm not drinking slushies. Well, there you go. Drinking alcohol from the cup. Yeah. France. Yeah. I'm drinking slushies. But even in France, and you're not using a straw on that. No. No. No. All right. On a martini glass? It rains when you should have seen the Festival of the Fantasy Parade, or you can only watch Fantasmic from the bleachers in the very side back.

[01:12:08] Uh, the bleachers in the back, because I have been known to not have great opinions of Fantasmic because that's the only place I had seen it from. Yeah. It's bad. I mean, if it's raining during the Festival of Fantasy Parade, you miss it altogether, which sucks. But if you're seeing Fantasmic from the back, I've been so grumpy about it that I've walked out. So. But there are some spots you can catch a parade under an awning. But they don't usually run it if it's raining. Oh, well, yeah. They run the rainy day. Rainy day cavalcade. Yeah. The rainy day cavalcade.

[01:12:38] That's not Festival of Fantasy. I have a question. What's B- what's B- mode? Oh, we'll get to that. Go ahead. Say what it is. I don't know what it is. Oh, gosh. Okay. So the next lightning lane question is Tinkerbell doesn't fly or Kylo Ren is in B- mode. So B- mode is whenever an animatronic isn't working. And so you have a lesser experience. Oh, so he's just like on Rise of the Resistance. You don't mean his meet and greet. Correct. If you're on Rise of the Resistance and you're in the last scene and Kylo Ren does not confront

[01:13:08] you, that's a letdown. Oh, I hear ya. Okay. I would say Tinkerbell not flying is the worst thing that can happen in Disney World. Okay. I'll give it to Tinkerbell, but Kylo Ren really kind of kills me. I don't think I've ever not had him confront me. So if Kylo Ren doesn't confront you, his B- mode is that you see him on screen outside of the ship. And I'm like, that is such a huge letdown. Oh, I've never had that. Yeah. Okay. Can't get a reservation for Bibbidi-Boppity Boutique or you can't get a reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table?

[01:13:37] Gosh, probably Bibbidi-Boppity Boutique. Yeah. That Bibbidi-Boppity makeover, that's really hard to swear. Iconic. You need a travel agent. In one situation, you're getting your whole family into the castle and in one, you're only getting your kid into the castle. But I feel like the kid one is higher stakes. Absolutely. Yeah. Avoid that. Okay. Your child is sitting behind someone wearing ears and cannot see a show or people stand in front of your child after you've waited for your spot for a long time. Oh, the people standing in front. Definitely people coming and cutting you off. Yeah.

[01:14:06] But that said, don't be that person that wears your ears in a show. No. Take them off for sure. Okay, Carla, did you have anything you wanted to add? I've never thought about that. I can't tell you how often I'm sitting there with my toddler or somebody else's little kids nearby me and they can't see anything because they're sitting, like if you go see the villain show or the little mermaid or something and the people in front of them have ears and it's like, no chance your kid's seeing that show. Yeah, I know.

[01:14:31] I don't have anything specific other than just people being inconsiderate of others, you know, stopping dead in the track, having your whole family like take up the very small walkway that exists and like walking super slow. That kind of stuff just drives me nuts. That too! The very worst one, this is the one that really gets under my skin and this happens to me almost every trip, is you've been waiting for the bus at your resort for like 20 minutes and you're sitting on one of those benches and then the bus pulls up and a family that's

[01:15:00] going to the same place as you sees it and they run and they line up and get on the bus before you. Yeah. That is infuriating and it happens every single time. Yeah. Running up and just assuming you're the one that gets on the bus. People have been waiting and sitting and you have to be, that's like in an elevator. The same thing happens at elevators where if you've been waiting a really, really long time for an elevator and one closer to where somebody that just walked up opens, I am always a person that's like, you've been waiting longer, go ahead and get on.

[01:15:29] People that just pile themselves in when there's a line, I just cannot take it. Yeah. This all boils down to don't be rude. Yeah. Don't be rude. Don't be rude, but definitely hit us up in socials and tell us what your Disney pet peas are because I bet you guys have some funny ones. I want to hear all the time someone was rude and I want to be visceral with you. I'm also, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm going to say giving your kids a seat on the bus.

[01:15:55] Like kids get carried, they're in strollers, they're like, put your kid on your lap and let another adult sit down. Like I've seen people let their kids sit, like a five or six year old and there's grandpa holding onto the thing. No. Yeah. Kid needs to stand up. Yeah. Kid needs to stand up and give grandpa the seat for sure. All right. Don't be grumpy at Disney. You can plan against it. And we got what? Two more dwarfs, I think? Something like that? Okay. Well, I'm excited. This has been a really fun series.

[01:16:22] I want to hear your pet peeves in our community and the thing that made you grumpy at Disney, but please don't just come be grumpy. Come tell us what made you grumpy and then how did you fix it? Right? Because at Disney, everything can be turned into happy when it starts grumpy and that is cheesy, but true. Okay. Make sure you're joining us in our communities. Make sure you are sharing with us your thoughts on today's episode and every episode. Hey, we're a visual podcast now. If you weren't watching us, just remember that you can turn on your videos, your downloads and everything you need on Spotify to make sure you see us while we're talking.

[01:16:51] And I have found it's a little annoying the way I drink coffee now that I've been watching and that my nails need redone. Every visual podcast, I've had the same set of nails. That's why I'm like- I feel like I always look like I have a mustache, but I don't because I shave it. I don't know. Ditto. All right. That's going to do it for us on another episode here on the Moms Behind the Magic. And until next time, we're sending you fun, love and joy. And we'll see you real soon. Okay. So then- That was fun. But you're across by where the water was. Mm-hmm. It scared me.

[01:17:19] My daughter is standing right here. I was going to say, we don't even see anybody. So I don't know what you're talking about. I'm like, what is going on? I jumped out of my skin. She scared me. And so anyway- Can't change mic while recording. But it did. It did change it. Yeah, it did change it. That stinks. I know. But I didn't do anything. Do we stop recording and start back? I don't know. We'll call Stacey and ask her. Oh, stop. No, no, no, no. Don't do that. Don't do that.

[01:17:49] Okay, okay. Yeah, it'll stop your recording and then I don't know what happens. Well, we would still stay on though. No? I know, but does it create a brand new track for her? And is that going to be easy? Starting a FaceTime call to Stacey. I'll call Stacey. Call our lifeline to access mic or cam. Okay, what should I do? Because, dang. Start recording again. What? Is she not answering? She didn't answer, but I'm chatting with support. I opened the chat window. So weird.

[01:18:18] Are you actually getting a human being? I don't know. I guess it says that we won't. I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave. So it chats up. Yes. Yeah. So I'm leaving. Bummer. What were we talking about? Cost. We were talking about cost. Cost. That's right. So we were close to the end. Yeah. Let me make sure I'm on the right video. Yes. Okay. Proceed. We good? Okay.