Any tips for first timers with young kids?

[mommaof3girls]

Hi!

I am traveling to the world for the first time with my family June 7th-14th. We have three young daughters, ages 6, 4, and 2.

DD 4 has moderate to severe CP and will be in her Maclaren Techno XLR Stroller most of the time, but can be transferred to ride seats for attractions, etc.

We also have a Graco Ready2Grow LX Ride and Stand for DD 2 and DD 6 will hop on the back every now and then.

What attractions are must dos for young kids? Do you have any other tips, things you wish you knew to do with young kids, etc?

 

[Pesky]

I'm mostly replying to give you a bump up, not because I'm a wealth of info by any stretch, being a relative newbie.

But, for my 2 cents, I would definitely focus on MK and I've heard HS has some cool attractions for young kids. MK, the old favorites like IaSW, carousel, Peter Pan, Dumbo, HM (probably best to preview online to ensure no one is going to freak out), and so on. Hope you get a veteran to answer your question! Have a fun trip!

 

[Yoshiandi]

When we were there last November, the thing I had wished as that we had stayed on property..by the afternoon, they were worn out and we had to leave.

Snacks: Pack them for the lines.

Water bottle you can refill and bring flavor packets for drinks. This helped as we don't drink pop.

Make sure you get the Guest Assistance Pass at the guest services as soon as you get to any of the parks. This saved SOOO much time waiting. We were able to use the FastPass lane for most of the rides so the wait was shorter.

Have fun!!

 

[kmb584]

I think the biggest thing that I learned while traveling with DD is that MY plans aren't always HER plans! I could have our days mapped out to the last minute but there's no sense to that because children are unpredictable!

Every child is different but the must-do's for my daughter are, broken down by park:

MK - everything except the rides that she's not tall enough to ride
EP - Nemo & Friends, Spaceship Earth, Journey Into Imagination, Gran Fiesta Tour
HS - Toy Story Mania, Beauty & The Beast, Disney Junior, Voyage Of The Little Mermaid
AK - Kilimanjaro Safaris, Finding Nemo, Festival Of The Lion King, Affection Section, Wildlife Express Train

DD is 3 and all of the live shows, musicals and parades are also HUGE hits. She's a WDW veteran at this point and is a fan of almost every attraction The World has to offer!

Bring snacks and (small) favorite toys to keep the kids entertained while waiting in line. Utilize the FP system for all of the major attractions to cut down on wait times. DD needs a nap every day and instead of heading back to our resort she just falls asleep in her stroller. On our first trip I did trek back to the resort on the first 2 days at nap time but quickly learned that she was so excited that falling asleep in a quiet room wasn't going to happen!

Basically, just go with the flow and enjoy your vacation!

 

[DISNEYNV]

Traveled to WD many times with my kids who are now 4 and 7. First bit of info for newbies is to be REALISTIC! I say this because we have taken our kids about five times now and in the begining we thought we could DO IT ALL in one trip...not going to happen! We still have not done it all and I dont think most newbies (with kids or not) have the grand scale of all there is to see and do...not to mention the parades, numerous trips to the bathroom, sick kids (yes it has happened to us a few time), and just the average "Im hungry" and "I have to go potty" and not to mention the melt downs and crankiness of being at the parks for days on end (yes, even the adults can get a little cranky from time to time too).

To help ease the Disney Overload we...

1. Bring a stroller. Doesnt have to be a huge stroller, but a good umbrella that folds up easily will do great especially on the sometimes VERY crowded buses. Make sure it has a hood if going in the Summer and maybe bring a few mister fans with as well as extra batteries.

2. Take small snacks such as a favorite cereal in baggies or animal cookies, etc. enough for a few days to keep in a backpack or purse. There are snacks at the parks obviously, but one from home can be comforting to little ones

3. KNOW where the closest BABY STATION is in each park!!!![/B] .They will be your best friend. They are cool, quiet, and a great place to relax, feed the little ones, or even nurse! I took my guys there to change them instead of the crowded and hard bathrooms. They have real changing tables and rocking chairs...its great and there's one in each park! LOVE THEM!

4. Map out your trip! You dont have to live by the code, but have a plan for each day including where you will eat major meals, etc. Make sure you include even the youngest family member in the planning!

5. TRY to keep the kids regular schedule as much as possible. Plan meals around their usual meal times to avoid melt downs. If they seem very cranky and tired just go back to the hotel and relax in the pool for a while, etc before heading back out to the fireworks. If you miss them they wont be scared for life by any means We try to beat the massive crowds in the evenings by simply bypassing the fireworks. The buses back to the resorts can be a mess after all is said and done with the late night firework shows.

6. Take advantage of the Fast Passes for the most popular rides! Get them early as they go fast. Do single riders if possible as these lines are usually the fastest.

7. Bring your own ponchos with you. You can get them at the dollar stores, walmart, etc. cheap. They charge a fortune for them at the parks!

8. Stay onsite if you can. The kids will love it and so will you. Even the values are worth it!!!!! It makes getting back to your resort easier, everything feels more inclusive, and we just love being immersed in all the Disney Magic

9. Have a plan each day in case of LOST CHILDREN! I dont think it happens too often (hasnt to us yet knock on wood), but we used the leash with my son who was a wonderer. There are temporary tattoos or stickers you can order with your name and number to use or we put our cell phone numbers inside the kids shirts. Just make sure it's not where just anyone can see them!!!! You can even use an electronic kid finder that has a wrist band that the child wears.

10. Have one parent be in charge of one kid (or two) per outing. If you are in charge of the youngest while dad takes the older ones on the rides one day then the next day he can be in charge, etc. Etc. That way everyone gets to have fun and experience the rides with each other and no one feels left out. Most rides are family friendly at Disney so this is not too much of an issue!

11. I could probably go on and on, but lets here what others have to say. Im sure I missed some really good points and ones that will help me out too on our next trip in SEPTEMBER

 

[christym]

I agree that a stroller is a must. Our 4 year old needed one, and we didn't think he would. We ended up renting him one for the last couple days.

Be prepared for anything. I very much dislike feeling like a pack mule but I was glad I had the backpack full of stuff. I carried with me diapers and wipes, obviously, but I wish I had brought extra clothes. I also took along extra sunscreen and snacks. I wish I had brought bottles for water. I brought a throw away sippy cup for my daughter and that was very useful. I also brought an extra empty ziploc container. I stashed leftovers in it that would keep (fruit, cookies, chips, stuff like that) and used it as back up snacks. Think about the types of things that you do in a regular day at home and you'll probably need it. Bag check lines make me grumpy but I was glad I had the bag.

My 2 year old had a deep and abiding love for every ride she went on but was really excited by Dumbo/Magic Carpets in MK. Tea Cups too. My son loved Star Wars the most but was generally afraid of a lot of rides. His favorite was Winnie the Pooh but he liked Pirates after we were on it. The kids both agreed that Nemo was great at Epcot and my son really liked doing the Kidcot stops in the World Showcase. My son also never really warmed up to the characters. My daughter did though, which just proves that every kid is different. They both had the same initial reaction though (run away!). It was actually character meals that brought my daughter around. We did Crystal Palace lunch with Pooh and friends and she was in heaven. After that, she was fine with the characters.

Get a fast pass for the princesses in MK if you don't do a character meal. When we got to the MK we missed the princess entrance and when we finally realized what we had done the wait was already 30 minutes. I got a fast pass for an hour later and when we went to get in line the wait was up to 60 minutes. We waited for 15 minutes in the fast pass line.

If you get a book for autographs, make sure the pen is big enough for the characters to hold. We took along a large sharpie and that seemed to work well.

Have fun. The best thing to remember is to go with it. Your kids will ultimately tell you what to do and when they need to rest. We didn't see nearly as much of the parks as we did in our previous trips but the look on my daughter's face as she chased around the bubbles a cast member was blowing for her was worth it.

 

[graceesmom]

Check out the Disabilities Board on this site for additional information about the GAC (Guest Assistance Card). You may also want to get a stroller as wheelchair tag for your 4 yr. old daughter's stroller. That will allow you to take her in her stroller through the lines and also for shows like Fantasmic or Nemo where you may need to stroll her to the show instead of leaving the stroller a good distance from the entrance to the show.

Your children will love Magic Kingdom no doubt. They will likely love every park so just check out the attractions list for each park to see what you might want to see/do.

Know going in that you are not going to get to see and do everything that WDW has to offer. In 8 trips, we still haven't done it all, but we have a GREAT time.

If the time and budget allows, you might want to consider having a meal with the princesses at either Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT); Princess Story Book Dining at Akershus in Norway at Epcot or 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. You can also get princess makeovers at Bibbity Boppity Boutique (BBB).

Have a great time planning your trip and feel free to ask any questions you may have here.

 

[mommaof3girls]

Thanks for all of the tips, guys! We have appointments for the girls at BBB, dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table and Chef Mickey's.

Any other tips?