Plus-Sized Disneyland

Last month I got the opportunity to not only live out a childhood dream, but also overcome a sizeable fear that has been growing in my mind lately.

As a child raised in the 90’s you can sure bet that I was raised on Disney. I grew up watching movies like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. One of my favorite outfits as a kid was this Lion King pajama set (light teal shorts and a tank top with Nala printed all over) and my matching Lion King watch; I wore those with pride, like they were Church clothes, instead of the pajamas that they were. So, obviously, going to the Magical Land of Disney to see all my favorite characters in real life was high on the list of dreams. Realistically though, for our family of five living in Colorado, a trip to either Disney park was out of our fiscal reach growing up.

By the time I could have afforded to go on my own, it had sadly drop on the priority list, for a few reasons actually. First off, I had started to travel internationally and the desire to see more of the world outweighed my desire to visit amusement parks (unless we are taking about the one at the bottom of an abandoned salt mine in Romania, because that one is so intriguing to me). Second, and probably the one that hurt more to admit, I didn’t want to spend the time and money to visit “The Happiest Place on Earth” just to find out that I didn’t fit (literally).

You see, I have been overweight most of my life, and just calling it overweight is putting it nicely (obese is certainly more accurate). I don’t really remember weighing less that 180lbs (granted, I must have at some point, because I was only around 7lbs at birth) and I haven’t dipped below 250lbs in over a decade. So when the BMI chart tells my 5’5″ self that I am not supposed to weigh more than 140lbs, I kinda just scoff and chuckle to myself as I think, “well, that’s not realistic.” While I try my best to accept my body and not let my weight define me or get in the way of what I want to do, unfortunately, the mere physics of life sometimes won’t let me. And please, don’t read this as some sort of pity party or demand that the world be made to fit me. I know that I am the outlier, that most people fit in airplane seats and restaurant booths, and rarely consider the structural integrity of a chair before sitting in it. But, between having to regularly check the max load capacity before buying furniture and the not so pleasant experience of barely fitting on amusement park rides back in high school (when I weighed significantly less), I obviously had some trepidations about going to Disneyland as a size 26/28.

**I am leaving that little sizing tidbit here for anyone else who might be having the same fears, because “plus-size” is a vague term, but actual dress size can give clarity and alleviate some concerns.**

So, why, with all my apprehension, did I finally end up going to Disneyland? Well, as they say, love conquers all. And in this case it was love for my sister. It was for her 40th birthday and a whole group of us ladies went with her to Disneyland to celebrate. In the month leading up to our trip, I was researching size/weight limits on rides, reading numerous blogs on Disney Parks and plus-size travel (which is how I knew that only the knowledge of someone else with your same dress size going and fitting the rides can possibly assuage the fear of not fitting), but was ultimately preparing my heart to spend all day walking around a park and not being able to go on any rides. However, as I approached to the front gate and saw the Alice in Wonderland-esque white rose bushes, I realized it was like walking onto a beautiful movie set and that I was going to have so much fun, even if I only got to walk around and look at all the things.

But, lo and behold, Disney lived up to their magical promise of inclusivity, and I fit all the rides that we went on. Not gonna lie, some of the rides were definitely a tight fit, and I highly recommend going with good friends, because being squished up next to a stranger on some of those rides would not have been fun, but being able to go on iconic rides like Space Mountain and Matterhorn Bobsleds, or epic rides like Indiana Jones and Star Wars: The Rise of the Resistance was totally worth a couple of tight squeezes in different parts/rides of the park. So if you are a size 26/28 or smaller and have been letting the fear of not fitting stop you from going to Disneyland… don’t.

Recommendations for Plus-Size Travelers…

• Wear good shoes and comfy clothes. Trust me, I know the temptation to dress nice for all the photos, and if you are able to dress both stylish and comfy, by all means, go for it! (Also, maybe teach me yours ways?) But if like me, you haven’t quite come to terms with how you look in leggings and are contemplating wearing jeans… I would like to kindly remind you that by the 10th hour and after 20,000 plus steps, you will be far more grateful to yourself for wearing more athletic clothing and tennis shoes… because chaffing is real, and so is the need for supportive footwear.
• Pack Light. The one regret I had is that I took a full size backpack with me. Granted, I kept it light and only packed a few things in it, so it wasn’t heavy or arduous to carry, but I do wish I would have gone with something smaller, like a fanny pack, or small cross-body bag. While there are lockers that you can use if you want to store a bigger bag (check out this site for sizing info on lockers), in case you want to pack a picnic lunch or an extra change of clothes for hot summer days. But regarding the bag you will carry with you all day, go for as small as possible. Here’s why: when you find yourself on a ride that is already a tight fit, the last thing you want to be figuring out is where to put your bulky backpack. There isn’t anywhere for you to just drop your bag as you enter a ride and then pick it up as you get off either, so that bag will have to go on the ride with you. Plus, Disneyland is running those rides like a well oiled machine that almost never stops in order to service an average for 46,000 guests each day.¹ So for most rides, I would say you have about 30-40 seconds to get situated, which is just enough time to get on and get belted in, not a lot of excess time to properly store your bigger bag by your feet or in the storage net/basket that is available on some rides.
• Practice Walking. But like, seriously. If you have a desk job and routinely get less than 4,000 steps a day, you will want to train. Our group was blessed to have a Californian who had been to Disneyland a bunch of times who pretty much acted like our own personal tour guide, leading us from ride to ride in the most efficient manner; so we covered the whole park with minimal backtracking, but I still walked over 23,000 steps that day. Thankfully, I had been working on increasing my daily step count leading up to Disney (I was shooting for about 6,000-7,000 steps, four out of seven days a week for the month prior to our trip), and it made a world of difference. I still had a lot of pain and fatigue towards the end of the day, but because I was realistic (and proactive) about the walking expectations at Disney, I was able to last almost the whole day and still function the next day when we had to fly home (note that I said function, not thrive).
• Go On a Rainy Day. Now this tip you can take with a grain of salt and choose whether or not it really applies to you personally, but I was a huge fan of our rainy visit for a couple of reasons. However, even as the childless adult that I am, I too know that children change all the logistics of any outing. So if a wet day in the rain will cause your seven year old to lose their mind, please, disregard this tip. But, if you are sans children (and adults who swear they melt in the rain), I highly recommend going on a day that is forecasted to rain if you can swing it. Here’s why:

• Fully Extend the Seat Belts. Now this is a tip that I can not claim as my own, but one that I actually found while researching before my trip.² I can, however, verify that it works (and is surprisingly important). When you first get on a ride with a seat belt, make sure to grab that bright yellow tab and fully extend the seat belt before sitting down, you can tighten it up after you have sat down and securely fastened the buckle. This trick genuinely makes all the difference. I had forgotten this tip when I first got on the Indiana Jones ride and almost thought that I wasn’t going to be able to fit, but I stood up for a second, pulled the seat belt all the way out and then was able to get buckled in much easier. So this trick makes the small but essential list.

Overall, I am really glad that I went, and not just because we were celebrating my sister’s birthday, but because I really used to relish amusement parks and roller coasters as a kid, and it is a source of enjoyment that I denied myself for decades because I didn’t think I was physically capable of fitting in rides anymore. I had forgotten how much I love being jostled about by a roller coaster, and how much it makes me laugh. Plus, some of these modern rides are so much more than the tracks of steel I grew up on. The engineering behind trackless dark rides like Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway left me constantly looking around trying to understand how they worked. My brain was so intrigued! I am just so grateful for the opportunity to have overcome some of my weight related fears and go out and enjoy time with friends and family, without it becoming awkward because of my size. And also… I met Chewbacca!