NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2019 - 11

WINTER/SPRING 2019

F

irst of all, allow me to dispel the
thought that Disney World in Florida
is for children. It is for anyone at any
age. Your trip needs to take into consideration the ages of people going. Next, forget
the idea that you will see everything - you
won't no matter how long you go for. So
with those things out of the picture let's
plan on some fun!!
If you have never been there or have not
visited very often find someone who loves
to go to Disney and ask them to help you
plan your trip. There are so many ways to
work the system (within the rules) and have
a more enjoyable time. If you are traveling
with young children - under 6 or so - plan
on rest periods and early nights. The worst
thing I see at Disney are families up at the
crack of dawn and running all day into the
late night where they are now yelling at
the children and nobody is happy - at the
happiest place on Earth. Proper Planning
Prevents Poor Performance - that is a
military saying but works in most of life
- and it definitely works best for Disney
World! Disney and many parks now have
things called Fast Passes or the like. These
are ride passes that help you avoid long
lines. The problem is that there are limits to
how many fast passes you can get. Someone
with a working knowledge of the parks and
how to get around can be very helpful with
this strategy. I see people with fast passes
for rides that are never crowded, and I am
sorry that they "wasted" a perfectly good
fast pass on a ride that they could have
walked onto in 5 minutes.
We have traveled to Disney World with
an 11-month-old to an 86-year-old - and
every age in between. The key is planning
around your family. It is important to decide
if your family is an early riser or prefers to
sleep in. Do you mind splitting up sometimes? When our children were 2 and 4 and
they were up VERY early we would go into
the parks early and come back to the hotel
after lunch for quiet time. The lights were
turned off and the kids had to rest - we
told them that they didn't have to sleep but
quiet time was just that - they usually fell
asleep. My husband and I would take turns
- one would stay in the room for quiet time
while the other did whatever they wanted

WE HAVE TRAVELED TO DISNEY WORLD WITH
AN 11-MONTH-OLD TO AN 86-YEAR-OLD -
AND EVERY AGE IN BETWEEN. THE KEY IS

PLANNING AROUND YOUR FAMILY.

to do! This allowed for a calm and happy
evening with the family having fun together
and no arguing. As our children got older
and wanted to sleep in we just shifted our
schedule to later. Didn't go into the parks
until around lunchtime. Yes, I know this
means that you can't do everything - but,
we settled that in the first paragraph.
The fireworks shows are all at night - so
this poses a problem. Choose which one
or ones you really don't want to miss. The
person guiding on your vacation (this is
the person you asked to help you make all
of your plans - the one who loves Disney
World) can tell you where you can view
some fireworks shows without actually
being in the park - that way you don't have
to deal with the mass amounts of people
trying to leave at the same time. You and
your family will be in the pool while they
are still waiting for the monorail!

pricey but in my opinion worth it as then
I don't have to wait in 90+ degree weather
to meet one character.
Plan for pool breaks and downtime
during your trip. We usually have a pool
day at least once during a week stay. This
is your vacation and you really don't want
to come home more tired than when you
went - do you? For vacations in the summer - yes, our favorite time is the last
week of August - plan on a pool dip at
the end of a day in the parks. It is so nice
to get cooled off and again have some fun
family play time together in the pool.

Disney World in Florida is a wonderful
place for a family to play together. If you
enjoy your vacation at Disney World you
will go back, and I guarantee there is always
something new! This trip can just as easily
be a nightmare if not planned. Please take
time to talk to someone who loves Disney
To meet the characters, go to one or two World - we are every where and we love
of the character meals - figure out which helping others have fun at the happiest
characters are your favorites (or your chil- place on Earth!!!
dren's' favorites if you really don't want to
admit that you have a favorite). You can eat,
KAREN E. ARSCOTT, DO,
have an adult beverage if you so desire, meet
MSC, AOBNMM,board certified
in neuromuscular medicine, Associate
the characters, and get pictures taken, all
Professor of Medicine at Geisinger
at the same time. The food is really pretty
Commonwealth School of Medicine
good at most of the buffets. They are a little
N E PA

11

VITAL SIGNS
NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEPA Vital Signs - Winter Spring 2019
