Help planning itinerary for first Disney trip??

[UWSMom]

I am hoping someone can help me! We are going on our first family trip to Disney. My DD are 4 and 2.5. Both are scared of rides and characters so it has to be a low-key trip (inlaws are taking the whole family so we have to go now).

We arrive at noon on a Thursday and have a 2:45pm flight home on Monday. We are staying at the Port Orleans. What are the BEST things to plan to do with the girls while we are there? Any advice or suggestions to make sure they aren't scared the entire time??? We do have a Chef Mickey's and a Princess breakfast booked...

Help is appreciated!!!

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

I am hoping someone can help me! We are going on our first family trip to Disney. My DD are 4 and 2.5. Both are scared of rides and characters so it has to be a low-key trip (inlaws are taking the whole family so we have to go now).

We arrive at noon on a Thursday and have a 2:45pm flight home on Friday. We are staying at the Port Orleans. What are the BEST things to plan to do with the girls while we are there? Any advice or suggestions to make sure they aren't scared the entire time??? We do have a Chef Mickey's and a Princess breakfast booked...

Help is appreciated!!!

You're only going for 1 day??

 

[UWSMom]

Gosh no - sorry! We have three FULL days and then basically 1 half day and one "lost" day I think since we'll have to get picked up at 11:45am. Any help???

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

Are you sure that they're afraid of ALL rides? I'm sure they'd love the Dumbo ride, It's a Small World, Carpets of Aladdin, etc. They're very low key. Not sure how soon you're going but it may be worthwhile for you to purchase the book Unofficial Guide to Disney. It has detailed explanations of all the rides in all the parks as well as info on restaurants, hotels, etc.

 

[GoinToDisney]

What kinds of rides have they tried? Rides that you can go on with them? Philharmagic is in a theater, as well as country bears. Have they ever been on Disney rides before? My dd was 2 1/2 and was afraid of most of the darker rides like pooh at first, but we completely won her over and that ended up being her favorite ride. You know your kids best, but my dd definitely surprised me. Parades would probably be good for you. I would plan a day at Animal Kingdom because there are lots of great shows like Pocahontas, and Nemo plus all of the animals. They may be afraid of the Lion King show, but I don't know for sure. They may like Pooh's Playful Spot and the Laughing Place near Splash Mountain. At MGM, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Muppets and Playhouse Disney are all shows. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Set is fun. Fantasmic was too scary in my opinion.

My suggestion is to go without expectations and try not to show them that you expect them to be afraid. Don't ever say it in front of them. This is only feeding the fear. It is so tough to find that balance between acknowledging and respecting their fear and yet not feeding into it at the same time. I really struggled with this in the beginning of our trip, but apparently, it was worth it because by the end, she wasn't afraid of anything. We skipped a lot in the first 2 days because I didn't want to force her to do anything. The first night, I decided it was a mistake to come, but by the end, it was great. I really hope it turns out to be that way for you too, but if not, you can still have a great time at playgrounds, shows and parades.

 

[TSNCS]

When my dd was small, she was afraid of the characters, too. I told her that since Mickey couldn't be everywhere at once, he had helpers, and those characters were actually people in a costume. It eased her mind somewhat, but she was still a little afraid.

They might like to tour Mickey and Minnie's house in toontown, ride the train around MK, but I agree that AK would be a great place because of all the animals. Epcot could be fun, you could have them do all the kidcot stations where they color the masks, take them to the nestle tollhouse and let them watch the cookies being made.

You could take them to downtown disney, there is a great toy store where they can decorate a crown, they had my little ponies there in April that you could buy princess dresses for, and there is also the lego shop. There should be plenty for you to do without stressing them out too much. I hope you have fun!!!

 

[Disneylush]

My DS went when he was 1.5 years and then again when he was 2.5 and he will be going again, in Jan, when he is three. As far as characters go he did great when we told them he could just give five to them... he didn't have to hug them. Chip and dale ended up being his fav because the were smaller and could kneel on the ground. (he had no idea who chip and dale were before the trip) He also enjoyed looking at them from far away and waving. As far as attractions here are his favs in ranked order:
The Studios: Playhouse Disney (but we watch these shows everyday), Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and the characters.
AK: Nemo show, Lion King show, Safari, Conservation Station and the characters
Epcot: Figment Journey into Imagination, Nemo ride and Crush, Mexico, and characters
MK: Train, Toontown, TTA, Alladin carpet, pooh's playful spot, tiki room, Dumbo, Tea cups, pooh, It's a Small World, Indy speedway, Buzz, laugh floor, Wishes Fireworks and all the characters (we spend most or our time here)
Restaurants: Hollywood and Vine play and dine lunch, 50's prime time, Crystal Palace, Cosmic Ray's, Whispering Cayon
Everywhere:The parades, the street entertainers, and just playing/ running around

You will have a wonderful time! Just remember to stop and watch the magic in their eyes and threw their eyes!!

If you have more questions or want help please feel free to PM me

 

[skw444]

We were there for our first family trip at the beginning of September. I have 2 dd's, one is 2.5 and the other just turned 5 a few days before we went. They were both scared of the characters for the first 2 days but slowly warmed up to them. They weren't afraid of the "face" characters like the Princesses. They really enjoyed Epcot and Fantasyland at MK. Have fun!

 

[TheDizMom]

Pick the calm easy rides first like the carousel, Dumbo, and IASW. Once they do some of those easy rides they will probably enjoy more rides and Fantasyland is a great place to start. It's always the kids favorite land as far as I am concerned .

For the characters, I understand . My DD was petrified of all of the characters except the princesses . Start by letting them see the characters at a distance by doing things like the castle show and parades where the characters don't approach them. Go to Ariel's Grotto in Fantasyland and look for princesses in the countries at Epcot for meet and greets. Hopefully that way they will be somewhat familiar with them when they are in a situation like Chef Mickey's where they come to the table. When you check in you should see if it's at all possible to be sat at a table with a booth on one side. It may be hard with a large group, but worth a try. We did this for our DD at every character meal, except the princess storybook one, and always sat her on that side. The characters then couldn't approach her from behind or easily get to her, and we had time to let the characters know she did not want them to touch her or get to close . They were great and just waved at her from across the table and blew her kisses . If we wanted a picture she was OK if we put my DH or myself between her and the character. We never could get her to go see a character in a park, except of course if we came across a princess. That was our first trip . When we went over spring break she couldn't get enough of them and was hugging and kissing them like crazy. It was so cute and almost like she just couldn't believe her self that she wasn't afraid of them this time .

Good luck! With any luck your concerns will prove unfounded. Sometimes our little ones surprise us and do the complete opposite of what we think they'll do .