Family disney travel for control freaks (dads with umbrella strollers)

I had a spring in my step.  We were walking to Disney from our hotel and I could not WAIT to get there.  Mickey and the gang awaited my little clan and I wanted to get there fast.  I have a 7 year old and I didn’t want to look like a loser with an all-out sprint to the park.  When a dad next to us decided the group of walkers just wasn’t going fast enough.

I also share this whole story in Episode 002 of the Pulling Curls Podcast: Pregnancy & Parenting Untangled:

If you’re looking for more Disneyland tips — be sure to check out this page!

He grabbed his 4 year old in the lightweight umbrella stroller and zoomed up the side of everyone.  He cut off a stroller a little to close, tripped sending him into the bushes and the umbrella stroller took to the air, flinging the 4 year old ending in a resounding thud on the sidewalk.

You could see everyone inhale to hope that little one was alright.  Turned out sleeping beauty was fine, but shaken up.  We were grateful.  I glanced at the ferocious mom was we walked by, wondering what the HECK her husband was thinking.

Of course, there are many stories to be learned from this story.

1. Umbrella strollers should never come to Disneyland.  If you’re going to take the effort to haul around a stroller, bring one that has a basket that can cart all your crap.
2. Buckle your child in, especially on long walks.
3. Don’t be in such a hurry, someone is liable to get hurt.

That last one is the one that really took root in my heart.

I had purposely bought a 4 day pass, so this control freak of a mom could let go of some control.  So we could really enjoy the park, the days together and the spirit of Disney.

I’ve done the whole trip planner before, where it says 7:04 go on Peter Pan, then head to Buzz Lightyear at 7:54 — the whole thing.  And I have to admit that part of me kind of leans towards that.

A good friend was going to Disneyland at the same time I was.  We were talking about how much of parenting in the parks is ruled by us.  If we can just have a “let’s make everyone happy” attitude, we likely will.  But if we have a “let’s squeeze all the fun we can out of this 1.5k in tickets” we’ll all be squeezed, and not in a happy way.

So, I cam up with 3 philosophies that ruled our best trip to Disney ever.

1. I need to foget how much this trip costs.  I need to prented that it is free.  In reality at that point it is.  The money is already spent.  We can either have a great time, or a horrible time.  Either way, it costs the same.
2.  Give my teen a little leeway.  The ability to get away from us a few times each day was super helpful.  He felt like he had some autonomy, and I felt OK giving him that (and often got Fastpasses in return)
3. Love it.  There is always something to love at Disneyland.  Whether it’s looking for characters or the treats in our back, or the treat we’ll have later.  I could love it.  And, if I loved it we would likely all love it.

** This is NOT to say that you shouldn’t plan FOR the trip.  I 100% am behind researching what will and won’t work for your family and your budget.  Below you’ll see all the planning that I do for my trips which really helps let go of the control while we are there (for the most part). **

Anyway, this was far and AWAY the best trip to Disneyland that we’d ever had.  I will say that I had always worked hard to keep my emotions in check, but sometimes #1 would rear it’s ugly head.  I’d like to thank the dad and the umbrella stroller for the great reminder at the begining of the day…. {no children in Princess costume were harmed in the making of this post}

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