trip with 3 year old

[tita598]

We are going to WDW for the first time next month. Me and my husband and our 3 year old and I will be 4 months pregnant.

We are going for 8 days. 1st and last are 1/2 days and we want to do MK plus one full day. We don't know how to divide the rest of the days. We are staying at a disney resort and we don't have park hopper so we have to pick one park per day.

I been told that epcot is just a one day for a 3 year old and too much walking for me.

should I do then 2 AK, 2 MGM and 1 epcot?

ANy suggestions are really appreciated

 

[Got Quattro?]

Do what you have to do and get park hopper added. End of Story.

You need to break up your days. Hit magic kingdom in the morning, then go back to your hotel and pool area for some relaxation.

Then go and spend and evening in EPCOT world show case.

It would not be very enjoyable for you to spend all day in one park every day you are there.

Mid afternon breaks are the key to your walking woes and the sanity of your 3 year old.

 

[KimWDW]

We went last year when my son was 3. We did not use park hoppers because my son is fast asleep by 7pm each night so it's not like we're going to switch parks for fireworks and stuff like that. We did one park per day and it worked out great. We got there at park opening every morning and the parks were empty at opening, we did more in those first two hours every morning than I ever expected we'd be able to do. He took a nap in the stroller every day after lunch (usually from 12-1 ish). Then we'd leave the park every afternoon sometime around 2 or 3 when it started to get crowded and hot. We'd head back to the hotel for some swimming and we'd have dinner at the hotel or at DTD and back to the hotel for early bed. It worked very well for us.

What I would suggest is to leave one or two days open as wildcards to see what your son likes. We only planned on doing one day at MGM last year but my son loved it so much we used our wildcard day to go back there (he loved all the characters there). Your son may love EPCOT or AK or MGM, you just never know which he'll really dig.

 

[cybrkitn]

First, congratulations on your pregnancy! We are also going for 8 days starting on the 25th and we have a 4 year old.

You can still do Epcot if you like, but just make sure to take frequent breaks! I was 9 weeks pregnant with our DS when I went with DH to San Diego on his business trip. We walked from the trolly station to the San Diego zoo (more walking than I have ever done, incl. Dis), that I over did it and really strained my muscles. I was so worried about the baby. My doctor agreed that I definately did way too much walking. But in the end, our son was fine.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Tiffer]

HAve fun!

 

[DisneyBlonde]

My son was just about that age when I took him for the first time. We got to the parks early and did several things quickly without a lot of lines, then went back to the hotel for swim time, nap, and dinner. Most nights we'd head back to the parks for a little while.

We did Magic Kingdom and MGM only that first time.


I agree a hopper would come in handy.

 

[liznboys]

If I were you I'd add some non-park time in there. I did WDW at 5 months pregnant last December and I think non-park time is a good idea. You said you have 8 days, but 2 of those are half days, so let's say you have 7 full days there. I'd spend 5 days in the parks, and 2 days doing other things...enjoying your resort, visiting other resorts (maybe have a meal at one of the many resort restaurants), going to Downtown Disney, riding the entire Monorail loop just for fun...

You could split the 5 park days like this: MK-2, EP-1, AK-1, MGM-1. Now those days could be spread out though...for example you take your 1 AK day and actually enter the park on 2 days but for only half the time. Then for the rest of that day do non-park things as I mentioned.

 

[DRRluvsWDW]

Definitely get to the parks @ opening and plan a midday break!

BEFORE YOU LEAVE, Check out the park and attraction descriptions and pick out your favorites, do those first!

Would definitely recommend the hopper. Check out the fireworks & nite show time schedule. It's dark earlier, so you may see more shows than you think!

HAVE FUN!

 

[mla2177]

I took our Ds, 2, in July, and we took afternoon breaks every day so he could get a nap. I think with you being pregnant, you will probably want to lay down also. I wasn't pregnant, and I needed a cat nap every day!!!!!

 

[Disney Crazy Family]

Cure any problem and add the park hopper, you will enjoy WDW
nuch more if you do

 

[DisneyBoundinDec]

I would try to add the park hopper if you could. You never know what is going to happen once you get down there.. your 3 year old may all of a sudden want to go back to MK, when you are in MGM and have a major fit if he/she can't! you may want to avoid that!! lol

We are going in December with our 3 1/2 yr old son.. I will be 30 weeks pregnant at the time.. (yeah, I know.. I am nuts! but I wanted to go at Christmas time and take our son before the baby got here). But I do have my pg friend and her 3 1/2 year old daughter going too so it shouldn't be that bad..

anyway.. I would try to get the park hopper to cut back on any stress there and just take plenty of breaks.. I plan on renting a wheel chair if I have too..

 

[codygirl5150]

We took my daughter to Disneyland last year for the first time. She had just turned 3. It was actually a San Diego vacation, with a 1 day trip to Disneyland. (This was before I became addicted to "the magic"). We were so sad at the end of the day because we had planned/budgeted for only 1 day there. I would spend 2-3 days at MK and 1 day at each of the others. My DD took a good long nap in the stroller while we ate ice cream and waited for the parade, so we all got a good break without having to go back to the hotel (we may have just gotten lucky with her just falling asleeep and not having a melt down), but since you're staying on property why not go back for an afternoon nap? Have fun!!

 

[dman11]

We took our almost 3 year old to WDW last fall. We did not have the park hopper option and did not find the need for it. We also have 2 older kids (10 & 11) that we also had to accomodate. Our DD was a real trooper through the entire vacation. We made the schedule of which parks we were going to be at ahead of time and were actually able to stick to the plan.

You will need 2 full days at MK so plan for it. I would also suggest leaving a "wild card" day towards the end of your vacation to go back to the park you liked the best or that you missed some attractions that you wanted to see. Epcot was by far the least favorite of our 2 year old. There's not much for younger kids to do there to keep their attention. Most of the day was spent split up with one of us taking the older kids to do what they wanted while the other walked around the park with DD2. There are some things for the younger kids to do but not much. I would also suggest skipping the World Showcase if walking becomes a problem for you.

 

[NJDad18]

I would get a hopper pass too. Two things that are at EPCOT are the character connection and Pooh and friends in the UK. The character connection is air conditioned and your 3 year old can see a lot of the big characters in a row. Pooh and friends are in one of the shops in the UK. It's off of the beaten path so to speak.

When my kids were that young, they liked hunting for characters, riding the monorail and all of the rides in fantasyland. Buzz was also a favorite too.

Most of all have fun.