Scroll down for the tips!
Rewind about 3 years and you'll find me getting very excited about our upcoming trip to Florida.
I married my best friend on Halloween 2014 and after saving like mad people for the wedding we couldn't afford a honeymoon straight away. So we saved again.
We are both big kids and both love Florida. Mainly because my second home is in the shape of a castle and the surrounding area is populated by big mice, an angry duck and a fair few princesses. It was a no brainer, we were going back to Disney.
18 months past, they were filled with lots of fertility appointments and negative pregnancy tests. We'd been trying for over 2 years and nothing, zilch, nada! So instead of getting even more stressed over the trying we decided that we would start to enjoy the run up to our honeymoon. The last fertility appointment before our trip was a straightforward one, keep losing weight, keep trying and don't stress. Easier said than done! We were given our next appointment, a week after we landed back in England and off we went.
4 Weeks before our departure date I started to feel more tired than usual and there were a few vomit occurrences but I just put it down to a bug or excitement (It's Disney, I couldn't sleep for 2 months)! It was only as I was walking into Costa with Andy that I realised I was late, and I don't mean for the Pumpkin Spiced Latte! That night we made the 5 minute walk to Asda and bought one of those tests which only cost £1 because I couldn't be pregnant and to be honest I didn't want to waste money on a test when it was going to tell me 'Nope, not pregnant again!'
My appointment with the toilet arrived and in went the stick, and out it came with 2 lines!
My first thought, 'Shit, it's in there, now it's got to come out in 9 months!'
My second thought was 'Shit, Disney World, the flight, the rides!'
So here's my tips on how to deal with Disney World while Pregnant.
1. Talk to your GP before you go. If you get travel sickness they may be able to provide you with something to help. I also wanted to ask about rides. I'd saved for this holiday for 2 years and did not want to miss Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was only 10 weeks pregnant when our departure date arrived and my GP told me that the baby was very well protected in his well protected fluid house and I was told that as long as I was sensible, I shouldn't worry and I should enjoy my holiday.
2. When we went there was a big Zika Virus outbreak. It's a virus transmitted by mosquitoes and can be harmful to ladies who are pregnant. After speaking to our midwife we were told we would be completely fine and as long as we took an anti mosquito spray with 50% or less DEET we'd be absolutely safe. Florida is home to about 80 species of mosquitoes so I'd definitely look into getting a pregnancy safe spray if you're especially tasty to those little bastards.
3. If you've had a healthy pregnancy, you can fly on most airlines until you're 36 weeks pregnant. From 28 weeks of pregnancy onwards, you'll need a signed letter from your doctor or midwife confirming your due date. It should also state that you're safe to fly and unlikely to go into labour on the flight. I was 10 weeks for our outward bound flight and 12 weeks for our inbound flight so I was good to go.
4. Talking of flights, make sure you're prepared. Check if your flight offers inflight drinks. The one thing I did more than anything while I was pregnant was drink plenty of water. Before we got on the flight I bought a few bottles of water to keep me going for the 8 hours in the air. I also bought some ginger biscuits to munch on as ginger helped majorly with the morning, afternoon and night sickness.
5. When you check in for your flight let the airline know you're pregnant. They may even be able to offer you an isle seat for those pesky bathroom trips. If you can try and stretch your legs during the flight too. Make a point of getting up and having a stroll (just be careful not to get in the way of the food trolley!
6. Before you go purchase a reusable water bottle. The drinks in Disney are quite expensive, especially water. But there are plenty of free water fountains around to refill your bottles. Keep hydrated! There's plenty of options on Instagram or you can take a look at this Buzz Lightyear bottle
7. On your Disney days make sure you pick up a free park map. You'll be able to find all the toilets (believe me you'll need to know) and first aid stations just in case you need it.
8. Head to Guest Relations (there's one in each park) and ask for an I'm Celebrating button. They can write on there anything you like but we got 'I'm Celebrating Expecting'. You may even get some extra 'Magic' if you're wearing them around the parks.
9. Eat little and often. I had really bad morning sickness so I found eating small amounts throughout the day helped.
10. Rest when you need to. There are plenty of seating areas to take a break and just do some people watching. There's also lots of places to cool off in some Air Conditioning when you're too hot to trot. If you have a Park Hopper there's always the option to go back to your hotel for an hour or two then come back once you're fully rested.
My last tip, just have fun! You know your own body and how you're feeling so just go with that!
If you're looking for some Disney Tickets look no further than Attraction Tickets Direct! Take a look at the their website here Attraction Tickets Direct