Top Ten Tips for Doing Disney with a Toddler...

I recently posted my tips about doing Disney while pregnant… and here are a few more about doing Disney with a toddler.  You may notice some are the same… but there are definitely some new ones!!! :)

One- Know your child…

This may sound silly, but it is true and probably the most important to planning your trip. Is your child go with the flow?  Or do they have to have their regular routine?   How do they do in crowds? With characters? Take these things into account and plan accordingly. On that note…

Two- Come with a Plan…

It does not have to be exact, just a general just of where you will go each day and what order you will do things in.  This way you can plan around naps, wake times and bedtimes.  

We came early and with a plan. Yep, we are those people. You know the ones. Lined up outside the gate before the park even opens! But I am telling you friends it is so worth it. You can get through the major attractions while the lines are short, have your fast passes scheduled for some of those rides that you know you want to do but don't want to way the crazy 65 minutes later in the day (aka Peter Pan at Magic Kingdom). Then the hot, busy part of the day you can chill in some shows, grab some food, catch a parade and not worry about waiting in crazy lines. Seriously I don't think we EVER waited more than 20-30 minutes! We used the The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2015 to loosely plan our day.

Three- Let them catch sleep (and just rest) when they can…

One of my favorite things about walking around Disney… see all the kids sleeping in their strollers!  They are in the funniest positions and just beat from all the fun.  Also just have them rest while waiting in line or eating. It will be necessary!!! As I mentioned on my last post we would sit and take pictures in line:) 

Four- Water and Snacks…

Water and snacks… lots of water and snacks. There are actually lots of water fountains so we just brought a couple camelbacks and refilled them. We also brought a lunch box with an ice pack in it. Just FYI…our food strategy is always one meal and one snack in the park each day… and bring our own stuff for the rest. This let's you enjoy the experience without letting cost get out of hand. So for example we would eat breakfast at the hotel/on the way to the park with stuff we brought, buy a a couple Mickey ice cream bars, eat packed lunch, buy dinner and eat our snacks in between. Snacks/foods I recommend? Granola bars, nuts, pb and j, fruit, cheese sticks, goldfish, animal crackers and anything else that is semi healthy that will give you energy!

Five- Rest Days…

If you are going for an extended period of time (for me this was more than three days) plan a rest day. You hear this again and again from blogs and books on Disney, but we thought we were super heroes. We did not take any rest time and we regretted it!

Six- Height Requirements…

Know the rides your child can and can't go on.  I used the height list in the The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2015 or you can check the Disney website.

Seven- Characters…

Know which characters are must see and which you can pass.  For example… Elsa and Ana… the lines are RIDICULOUS, if they are not a must see, skip, if they are a must see then early or use fast passes! Or maybe your child does not like characters at all and you can just sneak up on a few and grab pics :)!  For us BD is still at the age where she does not care.  We just grabbed a few here and there for the pictures!

Eight- Scare factor…

Know the scare factor on different rides and how sensitive your child is to scary.  Again we used the descriptions in  The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2015, but you could definitely do your research on the Internet.  Our little does not get too phased *right now* by scary things.. she went on Pirates of the Carribian at MAguc Kingdom with us no problem.  However she did not want to wear 3-D glasses again for a while after we saw its tough to be a bug at Animal Kingdom.  We would skip that one if we went back again!

BD actually rode her first dollar coster… she said she had fun… but did not want to do it again...

Nine- Fast passes…

Schedule your fast passes early! They do fill up and then you can only get them for times or attractions that you don't need them. We found that afternoon time was the most busy and we tried to schedule then if we could. Also, Disney has just started offering fast passes for the fireworks at MK, Fantasmic at DHS and the fireworks at Epcot. I have really mixed feelings about this because they have taken some of the best spots and said you can only sit there if you have reserved a fast pass… womp womp. Fantasmic is a zoo but probably my favorite evening show. You have to get there early no matter what, and trust me when you have been on your feet all day you DO NOT want to end up in the standing room only crowd!

Ten- Have Fun…

Just enjoy yourself!  You don't want to be that crazy stressed family at Disney… just like anything it is what you make it.  Say let's have fun and roll with things :) Is there anything that I missed? What advise would you give????
And if you have not check it out already here is my post with doing Disney while pregnant! :)

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