How to Disney With Young Children
There are two types of parents in this world: Ones that love Disney and take their kids as soon as they can walk AND ones that avoid Disney like the plague. We fall hesitantly into the former. You won’t find us knocking on Mickey’s door multiple times a year (Kelly told me not to ask again for another three years), but we’re so glad we prioritized this trip while the girls are at an age to soak in the magic with innocent eyes.
If you’ve got Cinderella’s castle on the mind, you’re at the right place. Below I’m breaking down an amateur’s guide to Disney.
We’re in Atlanta, so a quick flight or long car drive to Orlando is what it takes. It’s a pick your poison type scenario, and we chose to drive. About 10 minutes outside of our neighborhood Bauer started asking why it was such a long drive to Mickey’s house and part of me wanted to yell, “ABORT! ABORT MISSION!” But we pulled up to the resort seven hours and three mental-breakdowns later and all was right in our tiny princesses’ world.
First things, first.
If You Don’t Book 6 Months in Advance, You’re Late
If you think I’m joking you need to adjust your Disney attitude. We started planning our October trip in May. We were indeed, late. Can you take Disney trips on a whim and have a wonderful time? Absolutely. But that’s a gamble I wasn’t willing to take because of the time, money and patience a trip like this with two children under 4-years-old required.
October was a really great time to be at Disney. Granted, I don’t have much to compare it to – but I was thankful the temperatures and crowds were manageable. Ain’t no way in hell you’d find me schlepping around the Magic Kingdom on a 100 degree day.
Work with a Travel Agent
Unless you’re sitting around with mountains of time to waste, seek out the assistance of a Disney expert. I highly recommend Corby Cook of Yellow Shoe Travel. I reached out to Corby and gave her our bio: Young family, priorities include: 1. Things that will set us up for success (convenient hotel, early dinner reservations), princesses. Must see princesses.
From there, she did EVERYTHING. Provided us with hotel options, booked our Fast Passes, scheduled dinners with princesses and characters and made notes of all things we didn’t know, we needed to know. And that was enough to fill a novel.
There’s no extra cost associated – so it’s really a no brainer to work with a professional.
Write this down (and tell her I sent ya!):
Corby Cook
Corby@yellowshoetravel.com
Choosing the Resort
We opted to stay at The Contemporary. Which despite the name, is not super contemporary – but 80s and dated. But here’s the thing and this is what I told Corby during the planning process. We went into this knowing it was not a relaxing vacation for Mom and Dad. If it was, we’d be kid-less and at the Four Seasons. The Contemporary was perfect for our young family for a variety of reasons: 1. The closest resort to Magic Kingdom, which means no public transportation with kids and a double BOB. That’s HUGE. 2. Fun pool and splash pad. 3. Super accommodating of our sleeping needs. We we’re all in one room, but with 2 queens, a twin for Bauer and a crib for Kingsley. We all actually slept 8+ hours in comfort each night. Next trip, we’ll most likely try one of the other Disney resorts on the monorail system, like The Floridian or Polynesian. We’ll have slightly older children and a better grasp of what we’re getting into.
Visiting the Parks
Because of the girls’ ages we opted for two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Epcot. I was skeptical of Epcot, but it turned out being my favorite – might have something to do with the overflowing alcohol options. But seriously, it also had all things Frozen, which is a must with little girls. In the years to come we look forward to visiting Animal Kingdom, Harry Potter World, etc. – but this visit was about the kids. Whichever you choose, if you have young ones – half days are really all you need. We’d get there when the park opened and leave after lunch. We’d spend the afternoon at the pool and playing on the beach. Evenings were reserved for character dinners and fireworks.
Getting out of the Parks without Spending Your Life’s Savings
Really think through your packing list well in advance. I wanted the girls to have special things to wear while in Disney, so I purchased a few little outfits in advance and packed their princess dresses to avoid falling victim to gift shop prices while on the property. We told the girls on Day 1 that they could each pick something special from the stores to bring home on our last day – and amazingly enough, that actually registered in their little toddler brains.
We 100 percent failed in the food and drink department. For whatever reason I had it in my mind that Disney World was like a sporting game – no outside food or drink. Wrong, so wrong. While we waited in long lines for $10 hot dogs, we watched veteran Disney-goers eat packed picnic lunches under shaded trees. GENIUS.
Rides to Prioritize
First and foremost, take advantage of Fast Passes. You get 3-per-day and can request additional once you use those. Corby scheduled all of our Fast Passes since she knows the park like the back of her hand. She accounted for our girls’ ages, which rides have the longest lines and spaced them out to help us make the most of our day. If you need me to spell it out for you: USE A DISNEY WORLD TRAVEL AGENT FOR ALL THE THINGS.
You can hit up some of the classics like The Teacups, Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Carousel with little, to no lines. Do not waste your Fast Passes on this nonsense. But prepared to do them over and over and over again. Little ones love these simple rides and it took me back in time to visiting Disney as a child.
With our age children, it’s more about the full experience than the rides. Use the Disney World app to get daily parade and show times on Main Street and throughout the parks. You can also use the app to track your Fast Passes.
Dining Reservations to Get
We had dining reservations for all three nights, which took a lot of “in the moment” stress and planning off my plate. We did Chef Mickey’s (The Contemporary Resort) the first night, Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Hall (Epcot) the second night and finished with Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare (The Floridian Resort). You 100 percent need to plan for these dinners well, well in advance. They all had their own charm – but if you have little girls and want to choose just one, I’d hands down recommend Akershus Hall. Plan that around your Epcot day. It was by far, my favorite part of the trip.
Something for the Memory Book
If you’re anything like me, the second you walk into Magic Kingdom you’re going to want to stop on Main Street and get that token family picture with Cinderella’s Castle in the background. By all means do it. But also put this in your memory bank: the best spot for a money shot with Cinderella’s Castle is to the right of the castle when you’re facing it. The path towards the Tea Cups. You can get a great photo without a billion and one tourists in Mickey Mouse paraphernalia in the shot.
If you aren’t your family’s own paparazzi rest assured that Walt’s got you covered. The place is busting with photographers snapping shots that they will then upload to the Disney World app via your Magic Band. Apps, Magic Bands, Fast Passes…the only thing not advanced about Disney World these days is The Contemporary. I’M KIDDING (kind of). Still would recommend it for first-timers like us.
We left Disney World with more photos than necessary and some of the blurry, poorly lit ones I know will be the girls’ favorites because…princesses. I pulled 30 favorites for Bauer, 30 favorites for Kingsley and made them special little books via Artifact Uprising so they can look back at our adventure together.
Disney Hot List (all the things I didn’t know, I needed to know)
Bring your stroller. And then be prepared to feel inexplicable anger towards anyone that rides an elevator and doesn’t have a stroller. WHY GOD, WHY?
Tie something obnoxious to your stroller’s handle. You’ll park your stroller and head into It’s a Small World, you’ll come out 20 minutes later and it will be lost in a sea of BOBs and UppaBaby Vistas. Make it easy for you to find.
Let your tailgating experience shine. Bring a cooler, people. We spent hours by the pool and beach in the afternoons and drank Bauer’s first year of college tuition away. Next time Kelly will be loading several kegs into our minivan before we head south to Orlando.
Don’t be Epcot assholes like us. The front of the park is old and haggard. The back of the park takes you on a trip around the world and is overflowing with yummy food and delicious alcohol beverages. Go through the gates and head to the back of the park.
Prepare a believable response to one VERY important toddler question you will surely receive, “Mommy, why doesn’t Mikey talk?”
You can rip the outer portion of the Magic Band off to fit your small child’s wrist. YOU’RE WELCOME.
That’s it for me folks. If you’ve taken one thing away from this post I hope it’s to call Corby. And to be understated with your Mickey and Minnie attire. My husband is still recovering from the amount of grown men he saw in “Mickey is My Homeboy” t-shirts.
Have a question about our trip? Leave it in the comments!