Just booked first trip with child!!

[zweltar]

We just booked a June trip with our almost 3 yr old son. So excited, but I know I have A LOT of research to do. Haven't done a FP+ trip yet and never did meet & greets, so this will be lots of new territory. Any help/advice is welcome.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

First of all.....you are in for a wonderful trip. You will see Disney through the eyes of your 3 year old and that is an experience like no other. Your job as a parent is to plan the "outline" of the trip and let your child fill in the rest. Use your fast passes and dinner reservations as the as goals and plan around them, but remember.....try not to pack too much in to one day. Disney is very overwhelming for a preschooler and he will have no reservations about letting you know when he has had enough. Try not to fall into the trap of running from fast pass to fast pass. You will miss much of the parks if you do. Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the magic between fast passes. I have seen more children have "melt downs" while their parents drag them from place to place...no fun for anyone..especially the child. When we brought my granddaughter (age 21 months) , we let her set the pace. It was slow going since she wanted to walk 98% of the time, but this slow pace allowed us to see things we had never seen before. You know your son better than anyone else...try to get him out of the park for a rest before he reaches the point of no return. You did not say if you will be staying on property. Getting back to the hotel for a rest is easier of you do. My granddaughter loved The AK better than any other park. It has a less "frenetic" feel and there is so much to see. Also there are plenty of places to tuck away for a rest or nap in the stroller. In my opinion, HS would be a very difficult park for a 3 year old. Not much to do, and again in my opinion, the hottest park...all cement.
Bring or rent a stroller and be sure to have a stroller fan...it will be very hot in June so a coolish breeze will help with comfort.
Have a Magical Trip!

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

That's exciting!

Our daughter (almost 2 years) loves meeting the characters and going on the rides that she's big enough for. Like Tink said, schedule a skeleton plan for food and then fill in the rest as you go because your son will be the one driving what gets done.

Will you guys be staying on property?

 

[zweltar]

We are staying on property. All Star Movies. First time in a value, so we'll see how that goes. I figure our son will have no issue with it, but mom and dad might have trouble adjusting after our last stay at Contemporary!

 

[SAV]

You should get or at least check out at the library the "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids" and read through it. It is a great resource for your first trip with kids.

I agree with bringing a stroller since the in park ones are just hard plastic and not extremely comfortable. Don't bring a big behemoth Travel System stroller. They are so big and it is overkill for what you would need. I also wouldn't bring an umbrella stroller since those generally don't have a basket underneath, a tray for you or a shade overhead. There are plenty of mid-size strollers that are perfect for touring the parks.

You will get many views on whether you should go back to the room for a mid-day break. We never left the parks from open to close and my kids were just fine the entire day. They napped in their stroller if they needed to. It's really something that you need to decide based on your child and how they are doing. Maybe they will be fine early in the stay, but will need a break later in the trip.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

You will get many views on whether you should go back to the room for a mid-day break. We never left the parks from open to close and my kids were just fine the entire day. They napped in their stroller if they needed to. It's really something that you need to decide based on your child and how they are doing. Maybe they will be fine early in the stay, but will need a break later in the trip.

For me, that depends on three things: time of year, how the child sleeps, and whether you're park-hopping. My daughter (six months first trip, 15 months next trip) is a crummy napper but sleeps amazingly at bed time. We also like to travel during the slower season when the parks aren't open as late, and we rarely park hop. So for us, our plan is usually to go to the parks from open until about dinner time, then get the baby to bed around 7:30. Napping becomes more valuable if the parks are open later at night, if the kid functions better with a nap in general, or if you're leaving the park to hop anyways. Leaving to go back to the hotel is much more inconvenient if your'e returning to the same park, but less so if you're heading somewhere different anyways.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

We don't leave the parks at all and we usually go from rope drop until close. When my daughter gets sleepy, we lay the seat in the stroller back and she'll nap that way. It's usually not her normal 2-3 hour nap, but enough for her to get some rest. While she sleeps, we usually sit somewhere and grab a snack or do some shopping. Once she wakes up, she's ready to go again.

 

[R W B]

I dread this day to be honest.

Just got back last night (short weekend trip) from my 8th trip with my fiancé, our 9th trip will be 10days long and is booked for February. I assume my feelings will change once we actually have kids but as of right now, I feel that I don't wanna bring a kid until their about 10yrs old. I see so many kids crying and throwing fits at all hours of the day I just don't want any part of it. Like I said, my feelings will probably change but not right now lol.

 

[Figgy1]

Congrats and I can't agree more about getting the Unofficial guide, but buy it it's worth it's weight in gold. I also suggest booking Character meals not so much for the food but for the character interaction (BTW the food isn't bad), when my boys were younger they saved us hours on line and that way you can use FP+ for other characters or rides.

 

[Noellikechristmas]

There's some great advice here. I'm traveling down in October and my daughter will be 3 months shy of 3. I went when she was 14 months and planning around naps was such a waste of time because she never slept..and instead would fall asleep when she couldn't handle anymore excitement. This time around, she's a bit older and I've been going back and forth with the to go back and nap or not to go back and nap. On this trip, most days we're going open to dinner time...so maybe my strategy will be to hope for a nap, if not, we'll be home by a decent time for bed.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

My daughter naps at home from anywhere between 12-4 (usually 2-3 hours). Doing this at Disney was a must if we wanted to get the best out of her at night too. We liked the naps too bc it gave us some down time as well. Being as though you are staying in the Disney bubble I would definitely recommend sticking to whatever sleep schedule your 3 year old is used to at home. Disney is magical and your son will love it and just like others have said it will be such a different trip seeing the joy in his eyes. It is the primary reason why I am addicted to going... I love seeing the happiness in my children's eyes... Besides the fact that I love the way I feel when I'm there too!
Enjoy your trip!