We recently returned from taking our little girl, who just turned three, on her first trip to Disney World. Boy, was it truly the most magical trip! And it was also the most exhausting. I spent the better part of 6 months planning this trip with the incredible help from my sorority sister, who is a Disney travel agent. (I’ll tell you more about her free services below!) I grew up in South Central Florida and have been to the Disney parks more times than I can count, but it was always as a kid or young adult. Going with children is a totally different ballgame… I joked that we could have gone to Europe with the same amount of planning! BUT — it was 100% worth all the time, effort, money, (and even walking around in 90+ degree heat in early October!) to see the joy and wonder in our daughter’s eyes the entire week as we experienced new things and met her favorite characters. I’ve compiled some tips and tricks we learned along the way… hopefully they will be of some help for your next family trip to Disney World!
Use a Disney travel agent | I can’t sing my friend Jody’s praises enough. She works for a company called Small World, Big Fun and is so incredibly knowledgable about all things Disney (including cruises and Disney Land!). I reached out to her when we first decided to book our trip, and she took the reigns from the start. The best thing is that it’s no additional cost to use her services! Seriously, why would you not do this?! Jody advised us on the best times of year to go, booked our hotel rooms and park passes, booked all of our character meals and other dining reservations, and even set up our Fast Passes. Some of these things required getting up at the crack of dawn to be the first online to grab the hot ticket items (like a princess lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table… actually IN the castle itself!), and Jody did it all with a smile. She got every single reservation and Fast Pass I asked for, and she made it all work so seamlessly. In addition to all of that, she checked in periodically throughout our trip to make sure all was going well and provided some much-needed info and help while we were there. The services she provided to our family both before and during our trip were priceless, and I like absolutely recommend contacting Jody for your next Disney trip!
Bring a good stroller | If you have a child under the age of probably 8 or so, I can’t stress this enough. We chose to bring our City Mini jogging stroller because it is so easy to push and turns on a dime, which is especially helpful in the midst of crazy crowds. The number of miles we walked daily was outstanding, and it was so, so convenient to just pop Leighton in our stroller and be on our way. It was also nice to have a place to hold our reusable water bottles, snacks, and a misting fan to keep Leighton cool. Because y’all, it was HOT. Even in early October, it was 90+ degrees every day, and I’d bet you a dollar that the humidity was at least 90%. And word to the wise — those mister fans go for $25-ish dollars in the parks, so bring your own! My mom got some adorable Disney-themed ones for around $5 each, and they were worth their weight in gold.
Purchase the Photo Pass | Trust me, it’s worth it, especially if you don’t want to tote around a heavy camera all day. I brought mine, because of course I couldn’t NOT document our trip the way I wanted to, but we also utilized the park photographers throughout our trip. We got some really sweet group photos of all of us in front of Cinderella’s castle, which we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, because I wasn’t about to hand my professional camera over to some random tourist. 😉 They captured great shots of Leighton at several character meet and greets and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (which was helpful because she was too nervous to sit in the BBB chair by herself, so I had to join in during her princess makeover and couldn’t document it myself). It was nice knowing that we could grab a park photographer whenever we saw one and would have access to all of the photos taken throughout our stay. *photo below is from a park photographer*
Stay on property | This may sound intimidating due to cost, but if at all possible, I’d personally recommend staying on the Disney property. There is a wide range of price points and accommodations, and in my opinion, the convenience of staying as close as possible to the parks and having access to their complimentary transportation is absolutely worth it. We opted to stay at the Polynesian because it is on the monorail line and it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to stay due to the amazing theming. It was a definite splurge, but the rooms were quite spacious, the restaurants were good, the pool and splash pad was a big favorite of Leighton’s, and the super quick monorail rides to Magic Kingdom and the other two resorts on the line were mine and Craig’s favorite part. 🙂 One night as we left after fireworks, we saw the mob of people waiting to board the monorail back to the parking lots, and it looked like a total nightmare. We were really thankful that we didn’t have to fight those crowds and had a short wait for our ride back to the hotel, especially after a long, HOT day in the park. Also — resort guests have access to Fast Pass selections 30 days prior to anyone else, so that is a huge help with pre-planning for your must-do rides!
Plan ahead and bring a backpack of supplies | I am still kind of surprised at the amount and type of things Disney parks allow patrons to bring in with them, but it’s so nice to be able to pack your own snacks, water bottles, etc. to help save a little money. We each wore a backpack to the parks — one filled with important things that would be needed often during the day (like my DSLR camera, GoPro camera, phone, wallet, small snacks, sunglasses, etc.) and another filled with things that we might need (like cheap ponchos we bought ahead of time, a change of clothes for Leighton, sunscreen, hats, and more snacks). We brought in a couple reusable water bottles and filled them up at either the hotel or breakfast before we got out into the parks. You can also ask for a free cup of water at the quick service restaurants to refill your bottles throughout the day. For the times we were in the parks after dark, we brought a few packs of glow stick bracelets and necklaces that my mom picked up at the dollar store, which saved us on having to buy a $20+ light-up toy at every turn. Also — for character autographs, bring along a couple thick, retractable-tip sharpie markers so that folks like Mickey (who have big plush hands) can hold them to sign their names.
Just go with it | Your child isn’t feeling Mickey or Winnie-the-Pooh? Back off the character meet and greets and do some rides for a while or watch the characters from afar so they can get used to them. Or wait until the afternoon parade for another great way to see all your favorites. If your little girl is like mine, she was NOT interested in sitting in the chair to have her princess makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, so we improvised and I held her in my lap while she got her hair and “makeup” done. That was the only thing she was scared/nervous about, so we improvised and still had a great experience. Are your kids cranky and tired? Let them snooze in the stroller or head back to the hotel in the afternoon for naps and much-needed rest (especially if you’re there in the hot months… which is much of the year in Florida). We went back to our resort every afternoon by about 3pm and we were grateful for the break from both the heat and the crowds that get worse in the afternoons. One of our favorite things was just hanging at the resort pool one afternoon… I’m pretty sure Leighton would have stayed in the splash pad/water slide section all night if we’d have let her. After a few hours, we’d be rested (somewhat) and ready to go for dinner and more rides or character meets. By doing these things, we really minimized the crankiness and meltdowns with a three year old in tow. 🙂
All this to say — I’m the kind of person who likes to plan out all the details of our trips and make itineraries to maximize our time, and that proved to be really helpful with making the most of our Disney trip. But when you’re traveling with children, there’s always going to be an exception or a change to the plans, and that’s ok, too. I’m by no means a Disney expert, but if you have any questions or want any other thoughts on our experience, I’m happy to share! It truly was the most magical vacation, and we’ll be reliving this trip through our photos and videos for years to come.
