Dear Parents of Young Children:

[teentoddlermom]

First, let me confess that I am very jealous of you. No, not about the sleepless nights, constant messes, the occasional random temper tantrums and the general overall chaos of early parenting. No, I'm jealous that it's your turn to have all those magical moments with your toddler(s) as they experience Disney magic for the first time(s). I miss those years BADLY---where did they go? We began going every year in 2001 when our kids were 12,9, and 2. The visits FLEW by and now we have a married 25 year old, a college graduate and a HS sophomore. It's tough to say goodbye to that era of our lives even as we celebrate the next magical seasons in our kids lives.

So my unsolicited advice to you is to SAVOR every single moment of your WDW visit(s) with your young ones, ESPECIALLY if it's your FIRST VISIT. There's nothing like that moment when you first see the Disney signs driving in and when you walk down Main Street and see that castle. Good luck not tearing up, even if you are president of the he-man's club.

Don't be like me chasing all over the parks trying to manufacture every magical moment--relax and soak it ALL in. That doesn't mean "wing it," either by the way; you still need to plan well or you will be very sorry. Just be sure to take time to treasure the smallest of magical moments along the way. Get a ton of pictures and videos--but make sure you don't go overboard with that either. I felt like my first couple trips were only seen through a viewfinder of a camera. Oh and one practical piece of advice I will always remember from the Official Guide to Disney, "take the nap, take the nap, take the nap!"

So young parents--just forget all the stress and chaos of planning and managing your Disney trip(s)--roll with it and take advantage of what are and will always be among the most magical memories of your lives. Before you know it, you'll be walking your daughters down the aisle wondering how this time passed you by so quickly.

Let the memories begin and keep the magic rolling as long as you can...

(I realize none of you needed this advice, of course. I just needed to share for my own therapeutic benefit if nothing else. Cheers!)

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Great post! Though I have to say when I clicked it to read I was bracing for one of those posts lecturing parents how to parent

 

[Kristina4109]

My daughter's two trips to WDW happened at age 4 and 8. But she practically grew up at DL. I rode iasw when I was 8 months pregnant with her and I'm convinced she was born less than a week later because she wanted to find out what was up with that music.

She has celebrated every one of her 9 birthdays there. When she was 3, 4 and 5 we had annual passes and we'd go once a month. I will never forget those days. In fact, I told her that when DL turns 100 on July 17th 2055, I expect her to push me around DL in a wheelchair since I pushed her around in a stroller plenty.

 

[ttintagel]

DH is annoyed at me, thinking I'm over planning and not going to allow us to stumble upon those magic moments. I am trying to be careful about that, but *not* planning is a bit scary to me, so I may actually have needed this reminder!

IMO, there's nothing wrong with having a plan as long as you go into it prepared for the possibility of changing it on the fly when magic (and not-so-magic) things happen unexpectedly! Plans with kids are like the Pirate Code.