I am at Walt Disney World With a Toddler…Now What?

The planning that goes into traveling with a toddler can sometimes rival the planning you have done for the vacation itself. You may hear comments from friends or family that your child is too young for a trip to Walt Disney World or that they will never remember the time you spent there. While they might be right about them not remembering the most important thing is that you will remember.

I want to start by saying when traveling with a toddler you need to go into a trip with very low expectations and be pleasantly surprised. Don’t expect to be able to hop from park to park and see fireworks every single night and everything to be all sunshine and smiles all of the time. The reality is, its not. Your three year old will have a hard time staying up late and getting up early, temper tantrums will happen, and things that you have envisioned doing with your child since you started planning the trip will not. I myself struggled with this on our first Disney vacation, I found myself getting frustrated that my daughter was cranky and so unappreciative of where she was. I then gained some perspective, shes three! From that point on our family truly had the most magical vacation ever! Of all of the things to do and see at every park we definitely found some favorites during that trip!

Some Must dos for under threes in the Parks!

Magic Kingdom – Don’t worry if you do not get to all of the rides during your stay, that just leaves more to explore for next time! I left Princess Fairy Tale Hall out of this list but it is worth a mention if you are catering to young princesses!

1. Astro Orbiter
2. The Barnstormer
3. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
4. Dumbo the Flying Elephant
5. Enchanted Tales With Belle
6. it’s a small world
7. Jungle Cruise
8. Mad Tea Party
9. The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
11. Mickey’s PhilharMagic
12. Peter Pan’s Flight
13. Prince Charming Regal Carousel
14. Tom Sawyer Island
15. Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid
16. Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
17. Dream Along with Mickey stage show
18. Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party

Disney’s Hollywood Studios – A tradition in our family is visiting Muppet Vision 3D and taking our picture in front of the Miss Piggy fountain! We have over 20 pictures of my family throughout the years and it is fun to see everyone grow! I also recommend the Disney Junior Play and Dine breakfast at Hollywood and Vine where kids can meet Jake, Sofia & Doc Mcstuffins!

1. Honey, I shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure
2. Muppet Vision 3D
3. Toy Story Midway Mania
4. Beauty & The Best-Live on Stage
5. Disney Junior-Live on Stage
6. Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Do the safari first thing in the morning it is when the animals are most active. I love Animal Kingdom! There is so much for kids to see and do here, a favorite of ours is the Boneyard a large playground designed to resemble a dinosaur boneyard!

1. The Boneyard (seriously your kids will play here forever!)
2. It’s Tough to be a Bug (might be a little scary for some little ones)
3. Kilimanjaro Safaris
4. Maharajah Jungle Trek
5. TriceraTop Spin
6. Festival of the Lion King
7. Finding Nemo: The Musical
8. Flights of Wonder
9. Wildlife Express Train

Epcot – I won’t lie sometimes it is hard to keep younger ones occupied at Epcot. Just prepare yourself.

1. The Circle of Life
2. Gran Fiesta Starring the Three Caballeros
3. Journey into Imagination with Figment
4. The Seas with Nemo and Friends
5. Turtle Talk with Crush
6. Mission: Space – Did you know there is a play area inside Mission Space? While your older family members are riding the ride you can hang out in this play area with your toddler.

As you can see the park that has the most to offer small children is the Magic Kingdom but there are activities for young ones at all parks. We found that spending our days moving leisurely from one attraction to another and letting our daughter somewhat lead the way worked out best.  Just relax and try to go with the flow as much as possible and I promise your vacation will be every bit as magical as you were hoping it would be!

My name is Megan and I am the Walt Disney World Planning Tips & Tricks writer for Chip and Co. I am also a travel agent with World of Magic Travel, the preferred agency used by Chip and Co. and the Disney Addicts. Email me today at Megan@worldofmagictravel.com to book your next magical vacation!

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