Our First trip to Disney after the birth of our third son.
Wondering the Perfect Age For a Walt Disney World Vacation ? This is a guest post from my awesome reader Susan:
Most people say you should save the money on Walt Disney World trips until your kids can remember it. I’ve been taking my children to Walt Disney World since we moved to Florida in 2005. When my son was born in January 2011, we were at Disney 10 days later. This trip wasn’t really for the baby, it was for my two older children that got to step in as midwives when I suddenly went into labor at home while my husband was at work. It was a great trip and Disney World has many features that can make traveling with your small child easier and more memorable for everyone. As my son has grown and is now closing in on his second birthday, Disney World has become even more magical. Our last trip really showed how excited he is about seeing the Disney characters he recognizes and enjoying the various rides.
1. Magic Kingdom – By far, Magic Kingdom presents the most bang for your buck with a toddler or baby. With the new expansion of Fantasyland, there is so much for a small child to enjoy.
Pooh’s Thotful Spot and queue to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a great spot to chill out with the small kids for alittle while.
There is also a new play area in the queue for Dumbo’s dueling flying elephant.
On hot days, pull out the Lil Swimmers and enjoy the new Casey Jr Splash N’ Soak.
There is always the classic Fantasyland rides for your young children to enjoy. Don’t forget Peter Pan’s Flight, Small World, Snow White and the carousel. In Tomorrowland, don’t forget to enjoy the robotics of “Carousel of Progress”, PeopleMover and Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor. In Frontierland, we’ve taken our son on Pirates of the Carribean, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion and seen the Country Bear Jamboree.
The baby centers at all the parks are a great place to stop and take alittle break when needed. There are changing areas, nursing rooms and a play room with a TV playing a movie usually. There are usually coloring activities and other toys available to play with. The baby center is also fully stocked with diapers, clothes, Desitin, blankets that can all be purchased. This can be a great escape from the hustle and bustle.
2. Hollywood Studios
The stage and street shows at Hollywood Studios are a great adventure when traveling with small children. The Disney Junior Live on Stage show is a great attraction. My toddler was mesmerized by his favorite Disney characters here. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einstens, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates help Mickey and the gang surprise Minnie for her birthday. This show is displayed while sitting on the floor. Get in line early for this one to grab a good seat!
Right across from the Disney Junior Show is the Little Mermaid show as well. Catch the great songs from one of the best Disney movies of all time and some great black light display in “Under the Sea”.
A great ride to relax, beat the heat or escape from the crowd is the Great Movie Ride just behind the big hat. Here you become part of the movies with a slow moving Journey through many classic Hollywood films like Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones, Singin in the Rain and Public Enemy.
Also, don’t miss Beauty and the Beast at the Theatre of the Stars or Fantasmic! Fireworks display!
3. Epcot
While Epcot tends to be more of an “Adult” park, there are some great experiences here for younger children.
Ellen’s Energy Adventure is a great slow moving ride through time where we learn about fossil fuels and how energy is used. It’s air conditioned, cool, and normally very little wait time.
Journey into Imagination with Figment has great music and entertaining scenes for children of any age. Another great slow moving ride with little wait.
The Seas with Nemo and Friends – Big tanks, big fish and big fun! My toddler loved the tanks and seeing all the fish swimming around! Also, don’t forget Turtle Talk with Crush!
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros – Join Donald Duck and his Cabelleros friends on a great boat ride similar to it’s a small world at Magic Kingdom with robotic children and great music! Entertaining for the whole family!
Illuminations is my all time favorite fireworks display at Disney. If your little one is ok with the sound, check it out if you can!
4. Animal Kingdom
Where to begin? There’s lots of animals and what kid isn’t fascinated with that! The many animal displays around the park are fantastic.
It’s Tough to be a Bug – There’s alot of loud sections of the video in this attraction, so if your child is sensitive to noise, you may want to skip this one. This is also a 3d experience. It’s been great for us everytime and my son has extremely enjoyed it.
Finding Nemo The Musical is another great stage show with great music for the whole family to enjoy.
If your limited on time, this is a park to hit first thing in the morning. Since it normally closes earlier than the other two parks, it’s a great park to visit in the morning and move onto another park in the afternoon. Helps maximize those park hopper tickets!
If your staying on property, one of my son’s favorite activities is to go to the pool. While your at Disney, it’s easy to get caught up in the parks and trying to see and do as much as possible. It’s a vacation! Enjoy it and schedule some down time for the family outside the parks too! Keeps everyone relaxed and ready to take on the next day!
Make sure you grab a Times Guide every morning.
Learn more about planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Plus overwhelmed with all the planning? Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect trip.
Susan Finnigan is a military veteran, mother of three wonderful children, wife to her best friend and database programmer extraordinaire. She spends her days as a full-time programmer and runs a web-hosting service and blog at http://www.lynnamorris.com in her spare time. President of her own IT services company, she provides quality websites and computer repair. She also uses her blog to share her shopping and coupon experiences for keeping her budget focused and stretch her dollar as far as possible. A Florida resident, is also Disney addict and uses her savings to visit the Happiest Place on Earth as often as she can!
We’re looking at taking our 5 kids this summer. They’ll be 5, 4, 4, 2 and 2 1/2 months. This article definitely helped and I’ve found tons of budget info online. There are condos all over the place to stay that cost a fraction of the price of a Disney Hotel but offer free Disney shuttle service. My husband is active duty so we’ll also be using the military priced tickets which is saving us big time as well
I took my boys when they were 8 and 4 my mother-in -law paid for our trip
I now have 2 more children but at this moment the two boys are now 32 and 28 and my daughter is 22 and my other son is 13 either have been to Disney we can’t afford it I keep promising one day i’ll take them I wish I could
Thanks for the info! We’re planning to take our soon to be 4 year old and infant twins this May.
Hi Lindsay! You will have such a great visit with Mickey Mouse. Some of my favorite memories of my kids as toddlers was during our visits to Disney World. Did you book your trip with our agents? We are happy to email you the Preschoolers Guide to Disney World. This has lots of tips on the best restaurants, attractions, and activities at Disney World for little ones. We normally sell this ebook, but we will email it to our guests for free. This will certainly help you pick the best of the best for your little one!
We are taking our 2 1/2 year old daughter to Disney in Feburary for 8 days and I wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions for places to eat (needing reservations) that she would enjoy. Thanks!
Thanks for the advice. We went in October with a 6, 3 and 1/2 and 10 month old. The baby was the easiest one :) He was just happy to see new things and be held a lot (I had lots of toys and food for him). We had 4 day tickets but it was too much on for our crew. we stayed 6 nights and 2 day park tickets would have been just right as there was so much to do at our resort (Caribbean beach, which we all loved), other resorts, and DT Disney. We had free dining and the character meals where some of our favorite parts of the trip (some we could do out of the parks)
Im hoping to go next October or Dec and stay at a value. Which one do you suggest? our kids will be 7, 4, and almost 2. I am also hoping they offer free dining again and then we would up grade to TS, which still figures to be cheaper than staying at a moderate. Thanks!
we’re gearing up for Disney World right now and actually booked with Destinations in Florida. They were great!
Thanks for the advice on taking a child under 3.
We’ve been going back and forth on whether it was wise to take our little one, but now I feel a little better.
Here’s hoping to as few tantrums as possible.
I think my favorite memory was taking my son for the first time when he was 16 months old. He may not remember the vacation, but I will always have those amazing memories!
Great tips!
My oldest son was only 8 weeks old on his first of many visits. My last child was 4 weeks old on her first trip, or “pocket sized” as she was referred to by Anestasia at 1900 Park Fare. You won’t see or do it all with a small child or baby, but Disney makes it so easy with the baby care centers. Besides, it is cheaper take them before they turn three!
Amanda,
You’re absolutely right about Great Movie Ride, an oversight on my part. I always think about Wizard of Oz at the end and him always clapping along with the music. I didn’t think about the gangster/cowboy scene.
I’d agree with most of this post. We took our son earlier this year at 25 months and he really enjoyed it. I would disagree about the Great Movie Ride though. It started out fine, but gets very loud and kind of scary-gun shots, fire, yelling,etc. My son and the little boy behind us were both very afraid.
A few years back my older son got a wish granted by Make-a-wish to go to Disney (surprised he picked that because we had been before and we live in fl). A the time we had a newborn as well and made the week long trip. We had an amazing time and never had any trouble with a 3 month old. Only thing I can say if you are traveling there with a small child be sure to compare hotels! We ended up staying at the Disney Port Orleans riverside, not the best one for babies. The hotel is divided into buildings and we had a room around the back side, which ment a lot of walking and carring a ton of stuff and two kids. Be sure to select a preferred room (might cost a few extra dollars but well worth it).