First time to Disney World, with 3/yo

[vass]

Thank you for the great info I have been able to glean from the forums. We are going the first week in December with our (soon to be) 3 year old daughter. Any advice from folks who travelled with a child that age? It will be our first trip down, so it's pretty overwhelming. I've booked several character dining experiences in advance. We have park hopper passes, so the little one can take a break during the day. We're staying at a timeshare off-site, but it's less than a mile away from the enterance. Thanks for any tips/advice (PS, as a newbie, I don't know what half of the abbreviations I see in posts mean! ).

 

[codygirl5150]

We took my daughter last year, right after she turned 3. We only went to Disneyland for 1 day though. She had a great time and did good on rides (even Haunted Mansion) and ended up taking a nap in the stroller that afternoon while my husband and I just chilled out on a bench and snacked for a while. It was so cute seeing her hug Mickey for the first time! If you fly down, be sure to take some cookies, games, portable DVD/laptop, wet wipes are good too! You guys will have a great time, 3 is about the perfect age for Disney!

 

[puddleduck]

We went in Dec w/ 3 boys ages 2-5 yo. We found it to be fairly easy. The one thing you have to remember is that with a 3 yo, there will be so many new things she is seeing, that there will be times that you move at the pace of a snail. My kids loved just watching everything. My youngest were also a little nervous about the rides at first, mostly because they had never been on rides before. I would also reccomend taking ear plugs. My middle ds was bothered by noise level of many of the shows, and I spent a lot of time with my hands over his ears. He was always fine as long as the noise wasn't too bad. My biggest piece of advice is to have a general plan, but be prepared to divert if your child decides that she wants to ride Pooh 50 times in a row. Don't set anything in stone.

We are going back in 13 days, and I have vowed to take less pictures. By the second day, we had posed the kids in so many different places that my oldest refused to in another picture. After that we just took pictures of the kids doing things and not posed. My oldest was much happier after that.

 

[haley's mom]

We went last october dd was 2-1/2. She had a blast. I must repeat the above reply that said your child will dictate your day. My dd was out of the stroller, but we took our anyway, and it was great. She would cat-nap, we also returned to our room everyday for a mid-afternoon nap. You can see other families not doing this and by 7pm and kids and parents are miserable. You will not see everything, you will not see all parks, but it will be a blast. My dd loved getting autographs with the characters. That took away riding time, but she got what she wanted.

 

[MickeyNicki]

I just came back a few weeks ago with my 3 year old niece. A stroller was a must but she wanted a double stroller and that worked out well because she would stretch out and take a nap.

Pack snacks..she was hungry for stuff all the time but did not want anything the parks had to offer. I had sugar free fruit gummy snacks, goldfish crackers, sugar free lolly pops and she drank tons of water (it was unusually hot out 3 weeks ago).

Get to Toon Town first and get to the big tent to see all the characters. We did this mid morning to early afternoon and the lines were about 30 minutes each.

Get sunglasses for the little one...the first day she was complaining the sun hurt her eyes.

She was not scared of any rides, rode BTR like a trooper and wanted to do it again, loved POTC but would not step foot near the Haunted Mansion.

Make sure you attend any parades, our 3 year old was fascinated by them.

Schedule character meals. We did Chef Mickeys and the Princess breakfast and although it was expensive and she did not eat anything the character interaction was priceless.


Start early, take afternoon breaks and go out later that night. Worked great for all of us!

 

[LaraK]

Hi, we took DD when she was 2.5 and again at 3 (DS was 9mos and 15 mos). The nap is important....not only for your daughter, but for you as well. No one will sleep as well as at home and even though you will have a wonderful time, you will be very tired. We also love the character meals...beats having to stand in those horrible lines for the characters in toon town. DD also LOVED the restraunt in Germany in Epcot.

Magic Kingdom will definately be the hit (do Dumbo 1st!). We do Epcot in the evenings when the kids are a little more tired anyway and not as pumped up to ride things. Don't be surprised for multiple requests for swimming at your resort pool.

Also, there is a great Disney for Families thread hear at the Dis, come on over we talk about everything from the best stroller, to the best tips with toddlers (like our obsession with ziplock bags....trust me you'll want to buy a case to pack with and take).

 

[rie'smom]

As others have said a stroller is a must-oh and a camera!! Other than that,enjoy the look of wonder on your little girl's face

 

[ogreenlee]

We're taking our DD3 for her first time leaving in 10 days! It'll be a short trip with only two days in the park.

I've made reservations at Crystal Palace on the first day for lunch, and at Chef Mickey's the second day for breakfast.

I plan on coming back to SOG after lunch on the first day in hopes that my child may take a nap. I guess I'll leave that to be decided that day. My DM70 will also be going with us. She's going to drive me nuts, though, b/c she constantly frets over what my dd eats, which is hardly anything. I've already told her that I'm not going from one eatery to the next. I'm actually really nervous about this. I'm sure she'll try to sneak in a whole meal in her pocketbook.

I plan on renting a double stroller the first day, and bringing my own on the second day. Right now, it's still up in the air on whether we'll go to MGM or AK on the second day. I'm kind of torn on whether we should spring for the park hopper.


What I'm wondering about is... what kind of shoes should I put on dd? My husband and I will be sportin' crocs, duh. I even got my mom a pair, but will she wear them? My dd is inbetween Crocs sizes right now, with a 10-11 being too big, and 8-9 being just past perfect. I hate to spend the money on shoes that she will outgrow by the end of the trip. Should I invest in good athletic shoes? Should I put her fake Crocs on? I'm kind of worried about them slipping off and getting lost.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[MickeyNicki]

What I'm wondering about is... what kind of shoes should I put on dd? My husband and I will be sportin' crocs, duh. I even got my mom a pair, but will she wear them? My dd is inbetween Crocs sizes right now, with a 10-11 being too big, and 8-9 being just past perfect. I hate to spend the money on shoes that she will outgrow by the end of the trip. Should I invest in good athletic shoes? Should I put her fake Crocs on? I'm kind of worried about them slipping off and getting lost.

Any advice would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

My niece wore sneakers, they were the most comfortable for her. Most of the time she was in her stroller tho...

 

[mtemm]

we just got back a couple of weeks ago from our first trip with the kids (4, 2, 2). I think what really worked for us was doing the parks in the mornings, and keeping the afternoons for naps and swimming. sometimes we would head back to a park for the late afternoon/early evening. this worked very well. another thing that was a good thing was we made one adr every day for dinner at 5pm. the kids normally eat dinner at 5 and keeping this the same really helped keep some semblance of routine in their lives.

good luck and enjoy!

 

[ogreenlee]

Is swimming a possibility for Nov 15-18?

I'm sitting here wondering what layers to dress my kid in.
I thought I'd put her in thin legging-type pants and a tshirt, and pack a pair of fleece bottoms and jacket for evening/morning. I'm hoping it will be warm.

Thanks for the sneaker advice!

 

[LaraK]

We also do good, well broken in, sneakers (at the park is no place to break in new shoes!). You will also want to do a foot check a few times a day (take moleskin with you...pre-cut it at home so you don't have to take sissors)

 

[ogreenlee]

Maybe I'll just stick a pair of her fake Crocs in my backpack with a pair of extra socks, too. They don't weigh anything.