Help! Planning a trip with my 3yo daughter

[RachelsMommie]

Hi, everyone!

I have been to Disney World and Disneyland in the past, without kids. Now that our daughter is 3, we are thinking about a trip.

We are considering the following:
1. 7 days/6 nights at the Polynesian
2. 7 days/6 nights at the WL
3. 7 night Land & Sea Vacation...4 nights at Poly in WDW, 3 nights on the Disney Wonder.

Our fear is that our 3yo will not appreciate or enjoy the trip...that she is too young. You are the Disney experts. What do you think? The Land&Sea package appeals to me because it's like 2 mini-trips. What would you do? Which option is better for a 3yo? Also, my daughter is in an impatient mode right now where standing in line is her personal nightmare. We are thinking of going either the second week of May or the last week in September.

HELP!

Thanks!
Kristi

 

[Elmo888]

I would do a 7 days/6 nights at WDW. I think that it might be easier for her to settle in and stay in one place.

Of course, the Poly on the monorail is great. We stayed at the WL, and it was great for kids, too. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the boat to the MK.

She would probably enjoy the trip. I don't know about appreciating it though. (I don't know how my my DD7 appreciates a trip to WDW!) If you plan on taking her every few years, then go for it. If you only plan to take her once or twice in her childhood, I'd wait until she was 5 - 7.

Just keep in mind that it is a different trip with kids. It is slow and plan on spending some time in your resort (not at the parks all day every day).

Since she isn't it school, I would find a slow time to go. Slow times mean less lines. I think that the weeks that you are considering would work. Are both of those weeks considered value season? Those are usually the slowest times. A good book to read for planning is The Unofficial Guide to WDW.

This best/worst times to go might help...

http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwfaq.html#busy

Have a great trip!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Your DD may not remember the trip (although mine talks about our trips daily). However, she is the perfect age to go and have a blast while she is there. At 3, she'll probably be okay interacting with the characters (only you will know this for sure) but will TRULY believe that the characters are real. DD's face seeing the princesses and castle for the first time was worth every penny we spent.

Sept is a great time to go. We go in Sept every year because the lines are very short...which means that you will be able to take it slowly...which is important at this age. I find that DD's schedule immediately gets thrown off and she's all over the place with when she wants to nap/eat. But we do everything at her speed and that minimizes the meltdowns.

 

[hoosiergirl7]

Our DS was almost 3 the last time we went. We're going again in April and he'll be nearly 4 1/2 then. He does remember our trip and talks about the Dumbo ride and the Haunted Mansion all the time. Since we have come back he has repeatedly asked when we can go back. He is looking forward to the trip in April.

This time we are staying at WL since we've never stayed there before and I've heard both the WL and the Poly are good for kids. I don't know if I would do a Land/Sea trip just yet. It probably wouldn't be much fun for you right now.

One thing we learned is that with a little one you will have to take some down time in the afternoons. We are going to try and enjoy ourselves this time instead of running from park to park to see everything.

I've heard going in October is really nice because the weather is still warm and the Food & Wine festival is going on over at Epcot. The last 2 times we've been in Sept and it's been miserably hot still. Hopefully it won't be too bad in April when we go for DH's 40th birthday trip.

 

[GabbyMom]

DD was 18 months when we went and she still talks about it.

I'm looking at planing a trip for december, DD is into animals so i thought staying at AKL might be cool. I thought she would get a kick out of opening the window to a giraffe

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

DD was 18 months when we went and she still talks about it.

I'm looking at planing a trip for december, DD is into animals so i thought staying at AKL might be cool. I thought she would get a kick out of opening the window to a giraffe

Yes, she will. While I was waiting at the conciege desk picking up dinner show tickets, DH took DD up to the room. She came running back down to me totally out of breath yelling "MOMMY....there....are....three...giraffes...outside...my room" Worth all the extra money spent on AKL. It was also at that exact moment that DH said "we are never staying at value resorts again"...OH well!!!!