Mother/Daughter Trip - Advice Needed

[AshleeH]

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip for me and my daughter next year. She will be just shy of 4 when we go. I'm calling it the Princess Trip because she is the biggest girly girl ever and we'll hopefully be doing both Princess meals and the tea party.

I need suggestions for more fun things to do. We'll be there for eight or nine days - I have two older boys (they'll be in school for this trip) so I know all about the boyish side of Disney, but planning things exclusively for a girl is new territory and I don't want to miss anything!

 

[HM]

I think you may want to cut down the length of your trip from those 8-9 days. That is a long time for a 4 year old.
I've taken each of my kids on their own trips to WDW several times when they were young and the most we stayed was 5 nights. It seemed about right for them and they were glad to get back to their usual routines after a nice time at the World.

Doing each of the parks, doing the special Princess treats you have planned and some pool time, should be plenty to keep you two busy.

 

[Shellyb84]

I think 8-9 days would be fine, as long as you take plenty of down time to keep her from getting burnt out. You could take her to BBB or the mermaid makeover. She may be a little young for it but if not go to GF and get mani/pedis. Most everything else that I can think of would be fine for girls or boys

 

[Skywise]

Grand Floridian princess tea party - https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/d...-resort-and-spa/perfectly-princess-tea-party/

 

[MrsDuck]

I'd plan lots of opportunities for breaks as well as queuing up for princess meet and greets. That's also a wonderful age to do BBB!

 

[Shellyb84]

Also, my DD got a huge kick out of the pick-a-pearl in Japan at WS.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

The Disney Perfectly Princess Tea at GF has always looked so darling to me!

 

[AshleeH]

8 days includes a rest day, some time at Downtown Disney, and pool time. And I'll be staying at one of the monorail resorts, so we'll be having a lot of resort time as well because I love those hotels! We're also hoping my husband and son's can fly down for three days and finish out a little mini-vacation with us.

 

[AshleeH]

Also, my DD got a huge kick out of the pick-a-pearl in Japan at WS.

I always forget about this and we've never done it - thanks!

The Disney Perfectly Princess Tea at GF has always looked so darling to me!

It looks so sweet! My daughter loves princesses and tea parties, so this might be the biggest hit of the week .

 

[5kidsmommy]

My daughter and I did a mother/daughter trip this past November, although she is a little older, she's 15. Our trip we really focused on characters, we did lots of character meals and met all the princesses. Her brothers don't always want to take time out of the trip to see characters, so maybe plan some fun meet & greets.

 

[AshleeH]

My daughter and I did a mother/daughter trip this past November, although she is a little older, she's 15. Our trip we really focused on characters, we did lots of character meals and met all the princesses. Her brothers don't always want to take time out of the trip to see characters, so maybe plan some fun meet & greets.

Thanks! I'm hoping to get to all of the princesses, Anna, Elsa, and the fairies. She's not really into the fairies yet, but she does like the Tinkerbell movies when they come on Disney, so I think she'll like them. We met Anna and Elsa on a Disney Cruise last year and she loved them, so we'll brave that line even if we don't get a FP for them .

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

The Perfectly Princess Tea is absolutely adorable. Tip: confiscate your doll's shoes as soon as you're seated or they will not be going home with you. A perfect fit they are not. Maybe if the doll was Cinderella...

 

[AshleeH]

The Perfectly Princess Tea is absolutely adorable. Tip: confiscate your doll's shoes as soon as you're seated or they will not be going home with you. A perfect fit they are not. Maybe if the doll was Cinderella...

Lol! Good tip - thanks .

 

[EllieBride]

Each afternoon, Cinderella and Prince Charming lead a promenade of children down the grand staircase at the Grand Floridian to the main lobby while the orchestra plays. Before the parade begins, the Disney photographer takes a group photo of all the children with Cinderella and Prince Charming, as well as candids during the parade. The whole thing is rather quick, but it's fun (and free!). Many of the girls who attended wore their princess dresses and attended after a trip to BBB, but you don't have to be in princess attire. My son attended in his shorts and t-shirt

 

[EllieBride]

Other ideas:

- Spend time in the Dumbo play area (even if you have Fast Passes)
- Are you getting Memory Maker / PhotoPass? If so, take advantage of every opportunity for photos, especially magic shots! My 3.5 year old twins (son and daughter) are obsessed with their pics with Tink sitting on their hand. They didn't believe the photographer and were totally amazed when I showed the picture to them later on.
- Enjoy the fireworks off the beaten path if she can't stay up that late in the Magic Kingdom. There are some great spots at the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian and it's so relaxing to watch them away from the crazy crowds.
- On our trip last month, we took the boat from the Contemporary over to the Fort Wilderness Campground one afternoon where we had a really fun afternoon! For a small fee ($7 or $8 maybe), the kids took a pony ride. Afterwards, we walked through the stables where they saw Cinderella's horses. They LOVED it!!!!!!! You can also take carriage rides (for a fee) around the campsite.

 

[lynzi2004]

Each afternoon, Cinderella and Prince Charming lead a promenade of children down the grand staircase at the Grand Floridian to the main lobby while the orchestra plays. Before the parade begins, the Disney photographer takes a group photo of all the children with Cinderella and Prince Charming, as well as candids during the parade. The whole thing is rather quick, but it's fun (and free!). Many of the girls who attended wore their princess dresses and attended after a trip to BBB, but you don't have to be in princess attire. My son attended in his shorts and t-shirt

I have never heard of this! Is there a specific time, or do you just have to be lucky enough to catch it?

 

[EllieBride]

I just checked my planning notes and see that this was a new experience that debuted on February 12, 2016 (we were there on 2/24/2016). I'm not sure how long it will continue. Here is what was listed on the Parks Blog:

Cinderella's coach is arriving today at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Starting from Friday, February 12, Cinderella will host the Princess Promenade (which starts in M. Mouse Mercantile) on a daily basis. Guests ages 3–12 are invited to stroll down the grand staircase of the resort with Cinderella and then participate in a waltz in the main lobby. All young princes and princesses are invited to join this daily promenade that begins at 3:30 p.m.

 

[Shellyb84]

I just checked my planning notes and see that this was a new experience that debuted on February 12, 2016 (we were there on 2/24/2016). I'm not sure how long it will continue. Here is what was listed on the Parks Blog:

Cinderella's coach is arriving today at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Starting from Friday, February 12, Cinderella will host the Princess Promenade (which starts in M. Mouse Mercantile) on a daily basis. Guests ages 3–12 are invited to stroll down the grand staircase of the resort with Cinderella and then participate in a waltz in the main lobby. All young princes and princesses are invited to join this daily promenade that begins at 3:30 p.m.

I've never heard of this either! Sounds so cute. Hopefully they will still be doing this when we go in July.

 

[AshleeH]

Each afternoon, Cinderella and Prince Charming lead a promenade of children down the grand staircase at the Grand Floridian to the main lobby while the orchestra plays. Before the parade begins, the Disney photographer takes a group photo of all the children with Cinderella and Prince Charming, as well as candids during the parade. The whole thing is rather quick, but it's fun (and free!). Many of the girls who attended wore their princess dresses and attended after a trip to BBB, but you don't have to be in princess attire. My son attended in his shorts and t-shirt

How fun! I hope this is still going on when we're there .

Other ideas:

- Spend time in the Dumbo play area (even if you have Fast Passes)
- Are you getting Memory Maker / PhotoPass? If so, take advantage of every opportunity for photos, especially magic shots! My 3.5 year old twins (son and daughter) are obsessed with their pics with Tink sitting on their hand. They didn't believe the photographer and were totally amazed when I showed the picture to them later on.
- Enjoy the fireworks off the beaten path if she can't stay up that late in the Magic Kingdom. There are some great spots at the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian and it's so relaxing to watch them away from the crazy crowds.
- On our trip last month, we took the boat from the Contemporary over to the Fort Wilderness Campground one afternoon where we had a really fun afternoon! For a small fee ($7 or $8 maybe), the kids took a pony ride. Afterwards, we walked through the stables where they saw Cinderella's horses. They LOVED it!!!!!!! You can also take carriage rides (for a fee) around the campsite.

We will definitely get the Memory Maker - that's always "my" souvenir for our vacations every year. I drive my family crazy stopping at all the Photopass locations, but we have great pictures over the years!

And being off the beaten path is my favorite way to watch the fireworks. The few times I've tried to watch them from Main St. just hasn't been enjoyable. I might give it a shot for just one night, to see if I can get that Disney experience of watching them in front of the castle, but I'm hoping to go to the beach at Poly one night. And I'm requesting a MK/Wishes view with our room - we've watched them from Bay Lake Tower's balcony many times and I love it, but I won't be staying at BLT this trip, so hopefully on those early nights, when she wants to go to bed early, I can just watch them from our room.

I'll definitely have to remember Fort Wilderness - we've been over there before, but never done any of the activities!

 

[EllieBride]

Regarding the Princess Promenade... you initially meet on the second floor at the Mercantile (right by the monorail station). Then, the Cast Members escort everyone over to another area, closer to Citricos, I think. At that point, they take the group photo and encourage parents to proceed downstairs to the lobby to wait for the grand entrance down the staircase. Being that my children are only 3, I wasn't comfortable leaving them, but I did send my husband down to try and get pictures of them. Once the parade begins, there is a back staircase that the parents STAMPEDED down trying to beat the children to the lobby. I seriously thought that someone was going to get trampled! Anyway, I made it to the lobby in time to see both of my kids come down the grand staircase, but then somehow my son never showed up on the lobby. He wandered off looking for me . Naturally, I panicked!!!!! After a minute or two of searching, I found him wandering around behind the staircase. I don't know how he got separated from his sister.

Back to the OP... even if you don't make it for the Princess Promenade, try to check out the GF when the orchestra is playing. Our kids LOVE dancing in the lobby and enjoying the live music. That's also where the Disney Wedding Pavilion brides take their pre-wedding photos and it's very magical to see a bride having her picture taken their. Some of them will even have Cinderella's Carriage!