Preparing a 3 year old

[SKFamily]

Well the secret is out... the kids know about the trip. Any ideas on how to get a 3 year old ready for Disneyland? He doesn't actually watch a lot of "Disney" shows but knows who Mickey Mouse, Tigger and some of the rest of them are. He's watched the planning video too, for what a 3 year old gets out of it. He recognized "Bear in the Big Blue House" and "Rolie Polie Olie".

But when we told him we'll ride on a plane to get there he said "no, we need to walk with our shoes on the road". I realize this is a little beyond his comprehension (all of ours, really!) but I don't want him to be so overwhelmed that he's scared. (We have a 13 year old who doesn't always handle big events really well, I don't want two stressed out kids on my hands.)

I figure since the cat is out of the bag, we might as well start preparing him... somehow.

 

[funnygarcia]

My youngest was 4 yrs old on our first trip.. (now 8 ) ..somethings we did..

Books about going on trips, books about airplane, "There goes an airplane" video... point out planes, airport (and busses too) in your day to day life.

Watch the older movies so he gets to know the characters more (Alice, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Snow white, Dumbo...)

Buy the Singalong Disneyland Fun video... I have only found it online or at Disney Store (VHS only - not available on DVD). It introduces your child to the songs and some of the rides (abit dated but not too bad).
Soundtrack from DL would be fun to listen to- I bought mine online- they are sometimes hard to find- the WDW ones are easier to find but it's not the same music.

If you have a chance.. visit an event that has costumed characters (Chuck E Cheese??). Some children are afraid of the characters as they are just so HUGE to a lil guy.

And share your excitement about what you may see at DL, how much fun it will be, adventure to sleep in hotel and go swimming etc.. Don't overdo but slide into conversation. Lots of reassurance that Mom will be there ...

Coutdown calendar/paper chain links to tear off as you get closer to date.
I also let him help pack. Asked what his favorite shirts/ shorts were, beanie baby to bring with, other special toys.

Have fun!!

 

[Blackunicorn]

I really like the advice funnygarcia gave, and I wanted to stress the bit about letting him watch the movies. It made a big difference to my kids when they knew the story behind the ride! I guess maybe it made them feel more a part of the adventure, I don't know.

One other thing I've been doing is to record every show on TV about Disney. There are a lot more shows about WDW than about DL, so I've just been recording both. Of course, the down side to this is that now my children want to know when we're going to WDW, as well. (I guess it's going to be Disney for the next three years. Yikes!) I had a website to go for TV listings of Disney-related shows, but I can't find it now. Let me know if you want it, and I'll go bug someone until I find it.

Oh, also, the family forum on this site has some links to Disney-related activities that you might find useful. And the Disney website has some neat things, too. Maybe my family's a little too immersed in Disney....

 

[mobetsy]

As important as getting him ready is getting yourself ready! Taking a 3 y.o. to DL involves a willingness to let him set the pace and let go of your own ideas. Best example I can give: I recall my frustration w/ my ds3 (6 years ago!) when he wanted to spend 20 minutes playing on an Autopia car that was bolted to the ground, when the real ride was right there. I had to let go of my conviction that the ride would be more fun for him (maybe, maybe not) and just let him enjoy what caught his eye. It is no fun if you spend a lot of time arguing or trying to convince a small child to do something else. I think that when you start out with the mindset that you probably won't do as much, or as fast, as you might on your own agenda, then you will have a blast!

 

[almostGoofy]

In regards to your 3 yo being afraid of riding on an airplane: same thing happen with my DS around the age of 2 - 2 1/2 yo. What I got from him was that he was afraid because how high up airplanes are when he would look at them from down on the ground. The height simply scared him. I explained that when you're on the airplane, you don't know you're that high. It's kind of like sitting in a room or movie theater. You hardly feel it moving. You might want to tell him something to that effect. See if that eases his fears. After telling my DS that, I stopped pointing at planes up in the sky and dropped the subject. I no longer made a big deal about the plane trip other than letting him know how I packed his suitcase with new things to do on the plane trip.

If you have access to an air, space or science museum that might have a passenger airplane mock up you could visit, he might feel better about riding in a plane.

 

[SKFamily]

I've checked out the family board, there's some good ideas there for both kids. I have to keep in mind that I also have a 13 year old who stresses (a lot) over anything new. To the point that he can't sleep because he's more worried than excited.

So I think for now we'll just immerse the little one in as much Disney as possible around here since we can't even rent movies in town, not mention flying because really what is the point... he can't possibly comprehend it until he's done it. And when it comes time to go, I'll have the 13 year old helping us reassure his little brother.... and hopefully himself in the long run.

I've gone to a couple of the websites from the family board.. I'll print off coloring pages for the little one, and likely a trip journal for the older one.

Hopefully we can keep everyone calm, cool and collected through this trip... hopefully.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>For your 13 yr old - I would recommend letting him help in planning your trip.

Even when my kids were younger, we would pick the one thing we wanted to do that day, and I made sure we did it all. It helped them feel that they had some control.

... and if the kids don't want to go on an attraction, don't worry about it. I learned that the world won't end if my kids didn't go on everything or experience everything. My stress level went down, and we all enjoyed ourselves more. When they were ready to go on an attraction, that's when they went. (It didn't stop me, though. Since we go to DL a lot, when they were younger, we just went through the line together, and they waited for me while I went on the ride. One day they were just ready (at different times).

 

[SKFamily]

The kids will "lead" most of the time at the parks. There are things dh and I want to see, too so there will have to be some give and take, but for the most part it'll be what the kids want to do. They have to keep in mind too that I have some restrictions to how much can be done in a day. Not something I like to admit, but it's a fact of life we all have to adjust to. As far as the rides, etc. though... the kids will do/see what they want to. We figure they each get as much of a full day as I can handle to pick what they want to see/do. Since this may be our only trip I'd like them to see the majority of it, but if not oh well, they've still been there.

I think once we get there, we'll be okay. It's the getting there.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I took my 3 yr old nephew to Disney World for over a week without his Mom . I was scared at 1st that he would be upset but he did great . The best thing I did was buy a book called " Riding in planes" it was geared to his age . The only tiem he worrued was when we were in the plane and he saw a man ( loading the luggage on the plane) All he said was " I dont want to run over that man out there"

You will not have as much stress as you think .

ENJOY !!!!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Since this may be our only trip I'd like them to see the majority of it, but if not oh well, they've still been there.

Every family is different, but I've got to warn you--that's exactly what I thought! My son had been pestering me for two years to take him to Disneyland (thanks to his grandmother, who wanted to go) and we finally said, fine, we'll do it once so that we can say we did it. That was in 2002, and as you can see, we're going again this year, we're going again next year, and in 2006 we'll probably be going to WDW. It can be addictive!