There's no less glamorous topic than a primer on packing for Disney World. But everybody has to pack. Some do it well, some don't. Trish has tips on how to pack just a bit more pixie dust into that carry-on bag.

I’m not as vain as the Evil Queen nor am I planning to poison my wonderful bonus daughters, but I do like to look good, even when we are on a vacation that involves walking about 10 miles a day. Within our group, Nick and Austin are the only ones who don’t care that much. Austin just wanted to make sure he had a photo at Disney in his co-ed cheerleading shirt. For the rest of us, it requires planning. Sam, Annie, and Mags were all into DisneyBounding (dressing up in contemporary versions of your favorite Disney characters) and had been gathering hairstyle photos, vintage t-shirts, and comfy flats for months. Nate was all about his t-shirts and even had a few picked for specific parks. My dad is the same way and had his “¡Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas!” t-shirt for our monorail day. Joe’s version of casual is linen pants and lightweight button-down shirts, and all Oliver cared about was being around Nate as much as possible, and that he had his Jedi Academy t-shirt. Shoes are always a bit of a challenge for me, but I have found that a good pair of espadrilles is invaluable. I planned for what I would pack months in advance, did a few fashion shows for Joe, and didn’t try to poison beautiful Annie once.

Stock up on travel-size toiletries. For face creams, special lotions, and those tricky products that don’t come in travel size, pick up a set of travel bottles. Use the Ziploc space of the low-maintenance men in your life. I always use that space to pack things like shampoo and sunscreen, as it’s easy to justify because everyone uses them. Make a pit stop on your way from the airport and have a list. Quite a few of the car services will make a stop for you at a grocery store or a Walgreens/CVS. The cost savings of purchasing toiletries, breakfast and snack foods, and bottled drinks outside the Disney “bubble” instead of on-site at your hotel can go a long way to paying for the cost of the hired car. There are also a few grocery services that deliver to Disney resorts.

Standing in baggage claim is a waste of perfectly good park time, so we try and travel carry-on only. The most important trick to carry-on only is planning and being willing to tell yourself no. You will likely have to wear a shirt or maybe a pair of pants or sweatshirt more than once. I also do a lot of layers on the flight out, sometimes having 2 days worth of shirts on, and plan it so some shirts I end up wearing as pajamas or for lounging in later. This also requires knowing when you have too many clothes. You will not need 3 pairs of sneakers, your 2 super-cute black dresses, 12 pairs of underwear, or two bulky sweaters at Disney (unless you are going late November through February; it can get surprisingly chilly at night).

If you know where you are eating, the parks you are visiting, and where you can expect Florida air conditioning, you can plan out your wardrobe and fit at least 7 days in the largest United/American-approved carry-on. If you are staying at a villa, you can (usually) do laundry in the room and most of the Disney hotels have a self-laundry on site. We were able to have every person in our group of 11 do carry-on only, including me with my shoe obsession and Annie, the girl who once had a bag just for shoes. Sam and Nate were able to share a single carry-on bag, so we had one whole empty bag for souvenirs on the way home. I promise you, it can be done.

Whether you decide to do carry-on only or not, make sure everyone has a change of clothes in their carry-on in case the room isn’t ready. In the last 10 years, my room was ready twice and once was on a work trip and I arrived late. The last thing you want is to be starving, tired, and trying to dig through your well-packed suitcase trying to figure out what to wear on 4 hours sleep. Have a pre-set outfit ready to go for each member of your party easily accessible in their carry-on. Also, have your in-the-park bag packed up when you leave the house. Then, when it’s a 3-hour wait for your room, you can pop in the pool bathrooms (they usually have great changing spaces), change, freshen up, give your bags to the bellman, and be on your way.

Continued in "A (Not-So-Evil Stepmother) in the Most Magical Place on Earth"!

You see them at Disney World all the time. People who look like they've been mugged, or who have just heard that their goldfish (named Mickey, of course) died back home. It's worse than that. These people are at the end of their vacations. Trish has tips (she calls them "keys") on how to survive this existential crisis.

Key 1. Picture this: by the third day your feet hurt so bad you want to tear them off, you’re tired of hearing complaints about lines, heat, or any number of other things not within your control, and you can’t imagine enjoying one more minute let alone another 4 days of this.

There is no magical solution. Your feet are going to hurt. I so wish Disney would have a reflexology massage place in the China pavilion. It would challenge Anna and Elsa for popularity. Someone is going to crack and complain at some point and you will feel like all your hard work is not appreciated. But I can say you will make it through 4 more days. Not only that, it is likely within a week of getting home you will wish you were back there doing it all again. And there are some things you can do, starting with your feet. Bring a tennis ball or golf ball, throw it in a sock, and slowly run your feet along it. You can do this in the parks, but may get some strange looks, so I recommend you do it at your hotel after a long day. Pain medicine will help a little and if all else fails, cocktails. Epcot, the park that is biggest and hardest on the feet, may not have reflexology, but it does offer a wide array of tasty options to numb the pain.

Key 2. Schedule one day or at least a half day where you can do something again that you enjoyed the first time—maybe a ride, a show, somewhere to eat, or just another dip in the hotel pool.

Key 3. Make dining part of the experience. It’s a chance to talk about what you did that day, and live it all over again. With restaurants featuring flavors from over 50 different countries, visiting Disney World is a chance to try new foods. Seeing Austin try butter chicken, naan, and African-spiced lamb and surprising even himself at how much he liked is a fun memory.

Key 4. Take a night off and hang in your room or by the pool. If a new Disney movie has just been released, watch it together as a family. If you are going for six or more days, this is really important, because it’s easy to get Disney burnout and once it happens the rest of the trip can be affected. For some, Disney is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the need to ride every ride, see every show, and experience every single thing can result in exhaustion, short fuses, arguments, and bad memories. Not every moment of your trip will be perfect, but you will have many more magical memories if everyone has the chance to take a breath, recharge their batteries, and have unstructured time to relax. An afternoon at the pool may be all your group needs, but after doing this with every age range, I can tell you that sometimes it’s the grown-ups who need the break the most.

Key 5. Be present. If you’re the planner in the group, you’ll find yourself focused more on checking the My Disney Experience app for the shortest wait time, making the next FP+/dining reservation, or making sure everyone else is where they’re supposed to be and doing what they’re supposed to be doing. You come home and realize you don’t remember anything.

Stop and absorb the magic. For each day, schedule at least one thing where the organizer can just sit and hear about the trip. I suggest a dinner. Ask everyone what they liked about the day, what they want to see again. Not only do you get a few minutes to absorb, you’ll learn how everyone is enjoying all those hours you spent on planning the trip. And hopefully this will also remind your group to thank you for all your hard work. Suddenly the daily phone calls to book Be Our Guest may feel a bit more worth it.

On the rides, be there. Take five pictures and then just sit back and enjoy. While riding Haunted Mansion on the most recent trip, I realized how different Disney can be when you remind yourself to stop and take it all in. Actually taste the ice cream, look around when walking from one attraction to the other, have a conversation, ask your group what they see that they think is magical. I’m no expert at this. I sit back now and have regrets on not really savoring moments when we were there. I had moments where I spent unnecessary time focused on what was happening next, where we needed to be, checking things off the list. Don’t get me wrong, I have incredible memories and writing them down along the way for this book made me stop and remember more than on any previous trip. If there is any advice I hope you take, it’s this: stop and savor the magic. Hug your kids, laugh with them, scream on a coaster, taste something new together—all of that will matter so much more than whether you made your Peter Pan FastPass.

Continued in "A (Not-So-Evil Stepmother) in the Most Magical Place on Earth"!