I’ve done Disney several times and I have to tell you the season totally changes how difficult it is to manage Disney. This speaks to Disney World and Disneyland in my opinion. It is much easier to go in the winter than the summer. Do everything you can to avoid going in the summer. That being said I have gone mostly in the summer as most of the people I go with are teachers and I am a former teacher.
So while going in the summer is more difficult due to the Florida heat and humidity you can manage it. Below are my top tips for Disney with POTS.
Take it in small parts
My preference is to only do 1 part a day as that gives me time to rest and relax at the end of the day instead of running to the next park. I find that park hopping is so much more tiring for me even with the easy transportation. Maybe it’s just trying to walk around another park that is just too much for me but 1 park is more than enough in a day for me.
Magic Kingdom is the smallest of the parks even though it looks large. Animal Kingdom is the largest of the parks. So keeping that in mind going from one part of Magic Kingdom to the one right next to it is not that much of a walk. Going from one section of Animal Kingdom to the one next to it is a long walk. When you are planning out your rides you should keep this in mind.
Fast pass is worth it
I know it’s a lot more expensive but if you’re already paying $1,000 to go to Disney then you don’t want to only go on 2 rides and ruin the rest of your day because you had to wait in lines for two hours. This totally depends on you and your tolerance to standing for long periods of time. If you’ve never been to Disney a lot of these lines are shaded but only very few have benches or a place to sit in line and even those are far and few between. For me the standing still is worse than the walking but you might have a different tolerance.
Getting a fast pass can cut your time in half if not more. This will allow you to ride more rides and more than that have the energy to ride more rides and actually enjoy them.
Rest early and often
Grab a coffee and sit for a half hour, ride a few more rides and then grab a snack and sit, do a few more rides and watch the parade. See a pattern? Every ride has a long wait and most have a wait of about 20 to 90 minutes. This depends on the ride but you could easily be standing for 90 minutes followed by a 3 minute sit down before standing for 90 minutes again. This can be brutal. I’m not sure about your limits but that would wreck my day.
I try to do about 2 hours of standing max before taking a break. A break for me could be sipping on water at a nearby bench. Or sitting down for lunch. Taking those breaks allows me to keep going and get to what I want to get to.
Compression clothing is a necessity
Okay this is very dependent on the weather. Don’t choose compression stockings and sleeves if you’re going in the summer, go with a stomach band instead. That being said I’d pick stockings and sleeves in the winter over the stomach band. Also if you’re going on a ride where you might get wet you might want to take off the band, sock, etc before going on the ride so it’s not wet against your skin the rest of the day.
Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate!
Water might not be enough, you need more than water. Add some electrolytes to your water depending on what you can tolerate. I generally drink 1 water before leaving the hotel with a whole packet of LMNT in it and then I bring a second packet with me. I drive that packet between 4 cups of water but I do switch off between plain water and liquid IV or LMNT every other.
Read the Ride Descriptions
Before you go to the park read what each ride is like. If you are prone to dizziness maybe skip the teacups? If you get bad headaches from looking at screens then skip the rides that move you while looking at a screen. Be smart about what you chose to do and if you’re not going to be then save them for the end of the day so you can do the others first. There are signs on each ride but also on each park map. You can read the ride descriptions ahead of time on the website as well.
Avoid Rockin-Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror
Rockin- Roller Coaster is the only roller coaster at Disney World that will flip you upside down. Skip it. The last thing you want to do is faint on a ride. Just don’t. Tower of Terror is one that might drop you who knows how far so maybe skip that if elevation bothers you. That being said if you are dying to do either of these ride make it the very last thing you do in your day that way if you’re sick then you’re done just remember you still need to get back.
Start in the Back
You probably have the most energy at the beginning of the day so starting at the furthest point will help and you will move towards the exit as you move through the park. I would pick the rides towards the back of the park at the beginning of the day. Keep in mind that Magic Kingdom is small so while the “worlds” are in different locations it is often times only a 5 minute walk from one location to another. I wouldn’t hesitate to say go from Haunted Mansion to the Seven Dwarfs Mining, it’s not that far when you do it. That being said Animal Kingdom is far. I would be wary of going from the Safari to the Pandora ride, that is a long walk.
Also keep in mind that for the safari the animals come out most first thing in the morning and closest to dusk so if that’s important to you then plan your back to front adventure around that for Animal Kingdom.
Watch what you eat
Fried food make you sick generally? Skip the fires and the fried dough. It’s not worth being sick to your stomach for hour just for a few minutes, you can always have it towards the end of the night, the restaurants and vendors tend to stay open an hour after the rides. Can’t handle coke then don’t drink it. Remember that you’re only raising your heart rate more when adding caffeine and now you’re in an environment you can’t control even more
Put your feet up when you sleep
If you’re not used to walking so much the blood pooling in your feet might be worse on top of dealing with everything else. I do want to note that everyone I’ve ever been to Disney with had left with sore feet so you won’t be alone. It will help if you sleep with a pillow under your feet you might have better luck with that.
Bring a Fan and Cooling Clothes
In the summer it is hot, our average in July was 104 each day we were there. They do a good job of cooling the lines but it is still so hot. I had 2 fans that I hooked to my purse and a cooling cloth.
The cooling cloth worked better than I expected. You wet it and it becomes cold? I still don’t get the technology but it works so that’s what matters
Why 2 fans? I had this big one that worked really well and this little one for a back up. I was worried the big one would lose battery and it did after about 16 hours.
I would not have made it through without the fans and the cooling cloth. The cooling cloths came in a 4 pack which was great!
Final thoughts: Is doing Disney World possible with POTS? Yes! 100%, take it slow and keep your expectations low.
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