First timers

[sarah0730]

Can use any advice on planning our first family trip to Disney. We will be traveling with our 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son. Any suggestions if we should do the dining plan and fast passes? I feel like with the ages of the kids the fast passes would be pointless. I'm not crazy about have some in of a schedule. Any tips/suggestions would help. Thanks!

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Can use any advice on planning our first family trip to Disney. We will be traveling with our 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son. Any suggestions if we should do the dining plan and fast passes? I feel like with the ages of the kids the fast passes would be pointless. I'm not crazy about have some in of a schedule. Any tips/suggestions would help. Thanks!

What are your dates?
I would definitely do FP, you can actually ride twice with parent swap. Maybe have your 3 y/o pick a ride from photos or from YouTube that she likes and FP that.
Also you don't say if she loves princesses... if so you would be smart to FP a princess M&G (absolutely essential if she wants to meet Anna and Elsa.
As far as the DP goes, only you know your family and their eating habits to decide what would work for you.
Also, since your children are so young, I would definitely do a schedule... I would try to keep it somewhat close to what you do at home. That probably mears afternoon naps. So plan to get to your parks at rope drop, get as much done before 10:30.- 11 am, and then either head back to your resort for lunch and nap, or eat lunch in the parks and take the children back for naps... When they wake up you can go back to the parks with your pre-arranged fast passes and enjoy the rest of your day in the parks.

 

[disneydude365]

I don't see why you wouldn't go ahead and and get fast passes.. Even if you don't use them all its giving you 3 free chances to avoid lines

 

[tiggergal15]

I agree on no DP...imo it doesn't save anything.
But FPass+ is huge. Since you are first timers understanding things can be difficult. Basically without Fpasses you will wait in very long lines for a long time. You want to avoid that with your kiddos.
FP+ saves time and some planning is essential but you have a 1 hour window for each one so it is flexible as well.

 

[AFwifelife]

FP+ is essential IMO. It was 3 guaranteed rides for us without waiting in long lines with a 15 month old than later in the year when he was 24 months and his 4 month old sister had her first visit. I scheduled them early and we would do RD so if they were done being in the parks by lunch, we got a few things we wanted to get done accomplished. Many times we would only go back to the parks for a ride or two or just stay at the hotel.

 

[Tara1988]

You'll definitely want fast passes to avoid the longest lines. Unless you have the world's most patient toddlers.

 

[a742246]

With a 3 and 1 year old I would take things slow. At that age my GD(4) liked the pools at the resort best! You will want the FP as others had said. I do not believe you need a park hoppers pass because one park a day will be plenty for young children. Do at least one character meal and do a boat ride from MK to GF to Poly back to MK (you don't even have to get off the boat), for a little relaxation while you are at MK.

 

[memo10]

We became APs in when my daughter was 3 and son was 1 so I have quite a bit of experience with that age. Definitely utilize fast passes, they are a life saver! I can't comment on the dining plan because we've never done it. We always take plenty of snacks and drinks to save a little money. Agree about the pools! My daughter is still asking when we're going to stay at the "disney with the slide."

 

[elmom]

7 years ago I took my 2 year old and 3 year old. (We are going again in a couple days). I don't know if they had fast passes back then. We didn't use them if they did. But what really, really helped was knowing the park and how to tour it for maximum efficiency. There are several websites available to help. Even though we went at peak time, we managed to avoid long lines. Our longest wait the entire week was 45 minutes. Most of our waits were under 15. I came with a plan to tour really well mapped out. I was going to skip that this year but my husband told me I absolutely have to do that again. He had been many times in his life (it was my first) and he thought it was the smoothest trip ever. And this is from a guy who HATES over scheduled vacations. We have the fast passes this time and kind of are working them into the schedule best we can. I figure if we miss it, no big deal. But if we happen to be on schedule and near by, awesome. They are free. But planning is my biggest tip.

The park hopper ticket was very used because we would go back to the hotel mid day for naps (and maybe a swim) and then would often go to another park for the rest of the day. I don't know, it kept things interesting.

The smallest and lightest weight stroller was essential (even though the 3 year old walked most of the time and the 2 year old made me carry her almost all the time). We actually got away with a single umbrella stroller...maybe if your hubby can push too, bring 2 umbrella strollers over a 2 seater. You will really enjoy the freedom over something bulky.

We didn't do any ride swapping. Hubby and I aren't big thrill ride people, so we did little kid friendly rides.

The worst thing was down town disney (now disney springs). It was a SUPER hot day and there was soooooo much walking and not enough entertainment for little ones. They were miserable...we actually stopped for ice cream twice just to ease their suffering. I don't know if its different now, but they really didn't like it at all. We also skipped Hollywood Studios. At the time, there wasn't much for the little ones. Im not sure if its different now. But we enjoyed lots of time in MK, Epcot and AK.

I have no memory of snacks. I don't feel like we brought a lot. Sippy with water, for sure. The kids were so distracted by all the people and the new sights they didn't seem to fuss much (as long as I carried my daughter and let my son walk).

I don't know if they have it, but Epcot was their favorite place all for one reason. They had this miniature (but not super small or on a table) train set thing...Germany maybe? My kids were obsessed with watching that thing. Good thing I planned a break for there. I think we spent 3-4 hours there over our week in WDW.

So anyways, plan, plan, plan. But be flexible. Thats my advice

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I.agree with pp about having a plan... It makes Disney a whole lot easier. But, FP has changed the line system. Because of FP the stand by lines are now a lot longer with really really long wait times. FP should be part of your plan.
Rider swap is not just for thrill rides. There may be an attraction your child absolutely loves. With rider swap that child is able to ride twice, once with dad, and once with mom.
Also totally agree with mid day break, but having the extra expense of park hoppers is not necessary. Take a midday break and then return to your original park to finish the evening.
Familiarize yourself with the rides in the parks. Plan for some relaxing fun stuff as well. There are things to do that are relaxing in the middle of the chaos. Make a plan... AND remember to breathe!
Also, just one caveat, the maps of each park never really show how far things are from each other. They really aren't to scale... So be aware that even though something looks really close it really is not! Prepare for a LOT of walking...

 

[SCPixie]

With a 3 yo, you most definitely want to do Fast Passes. The dining plan will not be worth your money though.