Tip #5: Buy costumes before you go. Save money by packing costumes you already own or picking up an inexpensive one at Target, which will be less than shopping at the parks. But consider the weather. Wearing a multi-layered ball gown in the hot Florida sun may be too much for your little princess, so pick up a lightweight tee or a thin night gown that passes for a gown and she’ll be much more comfortable. “We wore our new Frozen shirts when we met Anna and Elsa and they told us how much they liked them,” remembers Maeve. They’ll also make a great icebreaker for shy kids meeting royalty.
Tip #6: Don’t forget to wear your tiara! If you don’t have a costume, your little girl can accessorize her theme-park look with a glamorous tiara. While all the cast members will call her a princess, when wearing a tiara they’ll curtsy too, as royal etiquette dictates.
Tip #7: Sleep like a Princess. While there are Princess-specific suites you can book, you’ll be treated like royalty at all the Disney properties, just choose the theme your kids will like the best. We stayed at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort because it had easy access to the Magic Kingdom and the TTC. They also just revamped the pool area with two waterslides, which meant we didn’t need to visit a water park.
Tip #8: Pack a Princess-themed activity bag for the plane. To keep the kids busy during the flight we picked up Princess backpacks and stocked them with Disney coloring books, stickers, snacks and Frozen paper plates and napkins. “I also went to the local Disney Store outlet and got small knick-knacks that we put under the kids’ pillows at night and told them Tinker Bell left them because they behaved so well the day before,” explains my best friend Lindsay.
Head to the next page to keep reading more tips…
