Avoiding a Meltdown

Avoiding a Meltdown

Avoid crowded times of year (during school holidays, for example) and plan your itinerary around the days of the week and times of day when the parks are the least busy.

Bring a stroller, or rent one at the parks. Your child may have plenty of energy and be a great walker on a normal day, but something about pounding the pavement under the hot sun for six to nine hours can really take its toll.

Pack hats or visors for everyone.

Get everybody in your family, including your children, to agree to certain basic touring plans, such as getting up early and taking afternoon naps. At the same time, leave room in your schedule to take a detour and be flexible.

Eat at off times to avoid crowds.

Give yourself more time than you think you need, and buy park-hopper tickets so that you can always go back and see what you've missed another day.

Even with Fastpass, you may end up in a line or two. Pack snacks and handheld games to keep boredom at bay.

Save character meals for the end of your trip, when your youngsters will have become accustomed to these large, sometimes startling figures.

Plan for family time away from the theme parks. Spend a day at the pool or get away to the Historic Bok Sanctuary or Wekiva Springs State park.

Familiarize yourself with all age and height restrictions. Ideally, you should measure young children ahead of time so they won't get excited about rides they're too short to experience. However, most rides have premeasuring signs at the entrance to the queuing area, so even if you don't know how tall your child is, you won't have to wait in line before finding out.

Finally, be prepared for family disagreements and even tantrums. Chances are, they'll happen. Possible solutions include splitting up or leaving the parks. Missing out on a few rides while allowing everyone to cool down is better than forcing the tour to continue and testing frayed nerves.