I am so excited about my guest today at Unforgettable Childhood. Megan Dahle is the creator of 1st Person History. She is also from my hometown. She is sharing her recent experiences in Orlando. She has some great tips for surviving the parks with kids.

My kids are traveling rock stars. I’ll take them anywhere. Even my brother-in-law had to admit that he was not looking forward to traveling with 9- and 5-year-old little girls, but was very pleasantly surprised by their attitudes and easy-going style of the entire week-long trip to Disney World.

We spent Easter at Disney World with 9 members of my family this year. Apparently, this is the worst time of year to go because of the lines, but the attitudes of everyone traveling with us and careful preparation before hand made it a great vacation.

I give all credit for this fabulous trip to my daughters. Their attitudes were above and beyond magical. Although we did have to overcome the initial disappointment of our 5-year-old, who was expecting the airplane to land in Magic Kingdom, everything else went off without a hitch.

The attitudes of your children can make or break an entire trip. All too often we would pass families in the parks where the children where breaking down and the parents scowled and scolded. No one was having fun. How miserable.

So here are a few tips on helping your kids have a whining-and-tantrum-free trip.

Make sure your kids know what to expect. We told the girls about the long lines before we ever got on the plane. We made them personally responsible for their own entertainment while standing in line. While we never waited more than 30 minutes in any line (Thank heaven for touringplans.com), 30 minutes is a lifetime for a 5 year-old. 

Our tools were miniature messenger bags that each child was responsible for. If my 5-year-old can lug a bag around the parks for 7 days, so can yours (she’s very small for her age). She was proud of it. It was hers, and she felt very grown-up having her own bag. Inside that bag were a Nintendo DS, gum, GORP, and a camera. She could snack whenever she wanted, take pictures whenever inspiration struck, and break out the DS when she got antsy in long lines. There was no reason to whine for anything because she had all the tools she needed.

Stop the whining long before it starts. Our girls know it’s pointless to whine. This isn’t a philosophy that we adopted once we got to the gates of Disney World. This has been practiced over and over long before the idea of going to Disney World even entered our minds. (“I’m sorry, darling. I can’t understand a word you say when you whine. When you’re ready to talk in a normal voice, I’ll be here to listen.”) So why bother?

Kids reflect their parents’ attitudes. I love Disney World. I can’t help it. They can do no wrong in my eyes. (I think I was more excited for this trip than they were.) My girls could sense that. 

How you approach the day sets the stage. Sure, you may be up at the crack of dawn to get to the parks when they open, but plastering on a smile and concentrating on the anticipation of the fun to come is contagious. If you’re not feelin’ it, fake it.

Take breaks. No matter how great your kids are, once they tire out, moods sour quickly. Same goes for adults. And a cranky adult makes for cranky kids.

We went back to our house (we rented a 5 bedroom house for a dirt-cheap price – vrbo.com) every day around lunch time. This is when the crowds in the parks were at their worst. 

Once we got home the kids got to swim in the pool for an hour or so to thoroughly wear themselves out while lunch (or sometimes an early super) was getting prepared. Then a half hour in bed was mandatory. If you didn’t sleep, that’s okay. But these generally grew into 2 hour naps for everyone, including the adults.

We’d go back to the parks that evening, around 5-7 and be refreshed to stay up as long as we wanted and take advantage of the shorter evening lines.

Mix in some magic. Disney offers many different Character Breakfasts throughout their parks. We went to the Akershus Princess Breakfast and I made sure to get reservations for a time before the park opened. We got in the gates almost two hours before the park opened. It was a whole different world.

Disney really does the character meals up right. Cast Members were blowing bubbles for the kids to pop outside the restaurant while we waited for our table. We got to meet 5 (Five!!) princesses (Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White). That also meant we never had to stand in line to meet them in the parks.

The best part was the anticipation. Even the adults got excited when they see characters coming. It’s hard to be grumpy when Cinderella is making her way to your table.

Relax. It’s a vacation. Sure it took the car rental guy an hour to find your reservation, and maybe check-in didn’t go too smoothly, but shake it off! Breathe and remember you’re on vacation. If you’re relaxed, your kids will be relaxed. Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Just concentrate on the fun to come.

If you find your heart rate rising and your face getting hot, take a step back (and perhaps a nap is in order). Things are not going to go perfectly as planned. It’s no big deal. A stress-free parent makes for stress-free kids.

Maybe I lucked out with great kids, but their approach to travel makes me look forward to our next family vacation. Attitude is everything! I hope some of these tips struck a cord and will help make your next vacation a joy.

Make sure you check out 1st Person History. It is an amazing tool to help you capture your family heritage. Megan can also be found on twitter @mtjono.

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