Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
find out as much as you can about how the individuals in your family, as well as the
familyasagroup,respondtoanddealwitheverythingtheyexperienceduringtheday.
Pay attention to who moves quickly and who is slow; to who is adventuresome and
who is reticent; to who keeps going and who needs frequent rest breaks; to who sets
the agenda and who is content to follow; to who is easily agitated and who stays cool;
to who tends to dawdle or wander off; to who is curious and who is bored; to who is
demanding and who is accepting. You get the idea.
Discuss the findings of the test run with your spouse the next day. Don't be dis-
couraged if your test day wasn't perfect; few (if any) are. Distinguish between prob-
lems that are remediable and problems that are intrinsic to your family's emotional or
physical makeup (no amount of hiking, for example, will toughen up some people's
feet).
Establishaplanforaddressingremediable problems(furtherconditioning,setting
limits before you go, trying harder to achieve family consensus, whatever) and de-
velop strategies for minimizing or working around problems that are a fact of life
(waking sleepyheads 15 minutes early, placing moleskin on likely blister sites before
setting out, packing familiar food for the toddler who balks at restaurant fare). If you
are an attentive observer, a fair diagnostician, and a creative problem solver, you'll be
able to work out a significant percentage of the problems you're likely to encounter
at Walt Disney World before you ever leave home.
