As I type this, I hear the news anchors on television again remind us that Disneyland closed this week due to crowd levels. Those of us who regularly read MousePlanet all smirk to ourselves and say “Of course it did! We knew it would!” Right? As the rain rain rain comes down down down and my children wrestle on the couch still in their pajamas, I take this opportunity to remember our most commented on articles of the year. Can you guess what they are? Keep reading to find out. The Parenting Panel wishes you all a Happy New Year and don’t forget to send in your ideas for our panel for next year’s columns! We already have a few in the queue that have come in from readers such as yourself. Stay tuned in 2011!!
In response to this Panel Question: Who’s that Masked Mouse: What do/did you tell your children about Mickey Mouse and other characters?(link), Judy wrote:
When our little ones get about 6 years of age, occasionally they ask, “Is Mickey real?” I get down eye-to-eye and say, “Mickey is real. We are not.” They look at me for a moment and laugh and laugh!!!
In response to our Panel Question: Discipline at Disney Parks: HOW do you handle it? What do you do at a Disney theme park when it’s time to discipline your child? (link) Debbie Bolen wrote:
Although I have not visited the parks with little ones in awhile, I do remember taking my son, age 7, my granddaughters, ages 5, 4 and 3, to Walt Disney World for a week-long trip. Also along was my husband and my parents. It was one of my favorite trips.
We worked ahead of time building the trip up for six months beforehand. We talked about all the rides and things the kids would like to do.
We planned on nutritious breakfast each morning of yogurt, juice, and granola bars. We also came out of the parks each day around noon for lunch at the resort, swimming and naps, then back to the parks around diner time. We did not pressure any of the kids to ride if they didn’t want to. Souvenirs were purchased with their money earned ahead of time. We did not have any melt downs or issues all week. I was so proud of them!
Making sure we had good meals, stayed rested and took it easier, instead of making it a marathon really worked. The only issues we had all week was with my parents, because they were nervous letting my son push the stroller with the 3 year old through the parks. He was a perfect “babysitter” all week.
I’d gladly take kids again to the parks, just as soon as we have little ones around again. It just takes planning, patience and working with them ahead of time so manners and being well-behaved come a little easier.
In response to another Panel Question: Accommodating the Family: What tips for choosing accommodations would you share with parents planning to take their families to Walt Disney World or Disneyland? (link) Bobby L. wrote:
I think Chris Barry hit the nail on the head with this one. I get the question all the time, Your not getting tired of going to the same place every year? It’s the same answer every time….NO. My family is enamored with Walt Disney World. Most of the people that ask that question either have never been or don’t like crowds. To that I say the only one that suffers are the kids. Everyone knows when the kids are happy, Mom and Dad are happy.
Back to on-site or off-site. We always stay on site, to me it is a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t you want to, I mean you literally do not have leave property for anything. The parks, food courts, buses, swimming pools, shopping, movies (at Downtown Disney), package delivery, I could keep going on and on. Once you step foot onto your resort property, you are immersed into the Disney Magic. Why would you want to stay anywhere else except on Disney property. We have never been on any other vacation where at the end of the day my kids can’t make that 10-20 minute bus ride back to resort without falling asleep. The only thing that will wake them up is those lights on the bus when you arrive at your resort.
We had two articles that generated the most discussion on MousePad this year.
You can read Rookie Mistakes (link), where the Parenting Panel shares the lessons learned from their “first time” experiences, then visit our thread on MousePad here (link)
Then check out Discipline at Disney Parks (link), where the Parenting Panel discusses how we handle the parenting dilemma: What do we do when our little angels … aren’t? (And what we do to try to prevent that!) and then visit our thread on MousePad (link).
It’s your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
Visit the Parenting on the Parks section of our MousePad discussion board, and share your opinions about this topic or many others (link), or send your suggestions via e-mail (link). Reader-submitted tips might be used in a future article, and you might be selected to participate in an upcoming panel discussion!
