First visit with my daughter...

[accord99cutie]

I am so excited to say that I finally booked my week long vacation with the 4-3 deal for April 29th-May6th! I am a little nervous though because this will be my first trip with my daughter. It will be me 23, my BF 23 and our daughter 3 1/2. The last two trips have just been me and her father, and we have such a routine set for the two of us while there, that I am a little anxious to see how we do being there and following her lead versus doing our own thing. I know we will be fine, but there are so many things that we are going to be doing differently, early rising and early nights, no sitting by the pool and having drinks all after noon. No staying out til 1am just to be up at 6 for EMH. She should be 40 inches by our trip, she is 39 now, and 4 months to go so Im hoping she gets that inch! She is very adventurous, and I really think she will be great on all the rides! There are a few I am not so sure about, I know we can use child swap, but i just want her to love it so much! If anyone has any special things to let me know of that a 3 1/2 year old would love, I wanna hear them! I am reading everything i can find on line about bringing pre-schoolers, but i would also love any ideas from you guys on here since you are all so great! Again, any information, even just warning me about certain things, or giving me ideas, would be greatly appreciated! I am sooo Excited!! 137 days and counting! :sohappy:

 

[KC82271]

Congratulations on the upcoming trip. Let me tell you, I did 13 trips before my DD came along, and now at 3.5, I can't imagine doing it without her. She's going for her 6th trip in April. She loves it. She doesn't like fireworks or any dark shows. Other than that, we do everything. She just hit the 40 inch mark last month as we were going. She did Splash Mountain and Test Track and loved both. I haven't gotten her into Space or Thunder Mountain simply cause I dont want my baby to grow up!!!

One bit of advice - take it at her pace. If she sleeps in late in the AM, don't wake her. Get to the park when she's ready. Life will be more pleasant that way.

Bring snacks that you can feed her while waiting on lines. Put trail mix or something like that in ziplocs, so she can carry them in line.

If she wants to ride It's a Small World 5 times, let her. It is better than listening to her scream. Been there, done that.

We found that either the TTA or the WDW Railroad were great "chill out" locations. This trip was the first that my DD didn't nap on either. She used to call the train the "All Aboard the Sleepy Train" and laugh. She knew!

Don't order her a full kids meal most times - she is going to be too excited to even eat. I let me daughter pick through out the day, and there is no wasted food.

Do some character meals. DD loves breakfast at Crystal Palace and dinner at Chef Mickeys.

When in Epcot and the MK, be prepared for your DD to want to run in the fountain/sprayers. Bring a towel or a change of clothes. We live in those things.

Child swap is okay. It's just a "fast pass" - so the 2nd parent still has to "wait" additional time.

That's all I can think of now, but if I come up with more, I will post them.

Enjoy and take lots of pictures and videos for her to remember the trip. I can't take enough on any trip now!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Things will be totally different as you'll have to do things at her pace, let her curiousity loose and let her explore. Seeing Disney through a childs eyes is like you visiting for the first time

 

[WDWmazprty]

Yeah, don't overthink it too much. Just her being at DisneyWorld will make her happy, especially being the one 'in charge'. Let her do her thing and go on the rides she's able to. She'll have a blast, guaranteed. My girls did.:wave:

 

[SAV]

I would suggest that you put a little "pool" time in the trip for your child. They love the parks, but it is amazing what some time at a pool will do.

Make sure that you bring along an extra towel or blanket or something to put over your stroller to "encourage" nap time. She will be tired, so enhance your odds of a little peace and quiet. I usually try to find a really bumpy area away from alot of the loudness and just walk ours to sleep.

I'm not sure how your DD is, but our DS isn't into fireworks too much so we had to just say no to the night time shows. Plus getting them to bed earlier makes for an easier morning/day the next day.

Most of all...HAVE FUN!!!!!

 

[earldw28]

The first time I took my daughter she was about that same age and was right at 40" tall and I was pretty nervous because I didn't think she would ride anything but the first thing I convinced her to ride was Soarin' and after that she didn't need much convincing to do anything that she was tall enough for. Splash Mountain is now her favorite, along with Soarin' and Big Thunder Mountain. Not every child will be the same but once you get them on one thing and they like it it becomes much easier after that so start out with something on the tame side. Also, I completely agree with SAV about the pool time. We always ate lunch in the parks and then went back to our hotel and swam for a couple of hours it helps tremendously. Hope you have a great time!!

 

[SAV]

I guess the pool time can be interpreted a couple of ways.

We aren't ones who go to the parks and leave. We go and stay in the parks all day. I am saying to allow a little bit of pool time before you leave for the parks or when you get back to the hotel. Or allow an extra day "off" in the middle and make it a relaxing pool day. It will allow everyone to recharge a little bit.

But the message of having some type of pool time is still valid.

I almost forgot...I am assuming you will have a stroller, bring your own food and drinks with. We always freeze our own bottles of water and Gatorade. They act as our ice in the cooler and then when we want cold water, pull one out and let it sit for a few minutes. The hot Florida sun will give you ice cold water in a matter of minutes. On our last trip, we got a dream certificate for "The family most prepared for a 2 hour safari" even though we were just loaded for a day in A.K.

 

[Monkeymama]

Don't be afriaid to book a "nothing day." With our DD, we take a day in the middle of the week off to sit by the pool and visit DTD. We grab dinner down there and call it an early night. It is usally enough to recharge her for the rest of the trip. We usually do 8 days bc of this.

Other than that, make a couple of character dining reservations, depending on who she likes. My DD is not much of a princess girl so we are doing Ohana, Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's this time around. What is a trip to DIsney without eating with Mickey???

Keep an easy pace an open mind. Let her make some decisions and don't be too anxious to do everything in one day.

Have a great time!

 

[Mrs.PhD]

My suggestions is pick what rides you start out on carefully. Don't start off on something to big or scary because if she gets spooked like my friends son did and not want to ride anything it can be a pain.

Just work your way up to be sure.

I agree about bringing your own food (snacks) and stroller. It is so much easier to grab a bite when you have a min, instead of having to stand in line or find something. You can still get the fun treats, but to always have something when they are hungry is a good plan. We keep a soft sided cooler that we just hang off the stroller.

Take lots of pictures and video.

That is a great week to go. We have been many times that week and the weather is always great and the crowds low.

 

[pinkcroc]

Great advice from KC82271 and everyone else. We have been taking our kids every year, and this year we are celebrating our son's 6th birthday at DW.

My 3 year old, who will be 4 when we visit in May wants to ride Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, everything. And she needs 2 inches. I need to find some platform sneakers! Has anyone done that?

re: Character Meals - - -everyone loves Chef Mickey's, I think Crystal Palace is a little hectic, My kids love Ohana. My daughter likes Cinderella's Royal Table and everyone loves Park 1900. We have done the dinner every year and last year my husband had to dance with the stepsisters. It made a great video. This year we are trying the breakfast with Alice at the same location. We usually do a character breakfast, snack for lunch and a nice dinner (like Kona or GF Cafe). It works perfectly for the dining plan.

Definitely bring your own stroller, even if you no longer use it at home. The rentals can't leave the parks and you may want it on the monorail, etc.

HAVE FUN!!!

:sohappy: