1. Get a pedicure before you go. Otherwise, your little boys might want to help give you a pedicure, and you'll end up with nail polish all over your toes.
2. Check the weather forecast before you decide to order Personalized Disney fleeces for your children. We went to Disney World in early April and I expected to have (at least) some cooler temperatures. No. It was actually about 10 degrees warmer than average, which meant 90 degree weather every day of our trip. The fleeces were so cute, but SO unnecessary for our trip! Ooops.
3. If you're going somewhere hot, bring a reusable water and a small soft cooler for waters and drinks. Buying a days worth of drinks at the beach or theme park can be expensive. But, if you have a mini fridge in your hotel room, you pack most of your drinks for the day. We even froze some juice boxes to use as ice packs and my kids loved having a slushy juice box in the afternoon. They thought it was just as good as a $4 ice cream.
4. Nothing is better than having a new experience with a child who is wide-eyed and taking everything in for the first time. But, with that said.... Kids will be kids. Our vacation was not temper tantrum free. So, it was kind of nice seeing other people's kids having an occasional melt-down so I knew it wasn't just us. We're all in the same boat.
5. If your child is newly potty trained, you may want to bring some Pull-ups. At home everything was going well and training pants were replaced with big-kid undies. But, on vacation, the routine is different, and kids may be skeptical of going in a pubic potty.
6. Buying inexpensive autograph books before we left for Disney World was a smart thing to do. But, I learned NOT to give your preschool age kids a permanent sharpie marker to go along with their autographs books. I was thinking that a sharpie would be perfect for the characters because it's easy to grab onto and very bold. But, a washable marker would have been a much better idea for obvious reasons.
What did you learn when travelling with your family?