Planning a trip to the most magical place on Earth can seem like a daunting task, but planning a trip to the most magical place on Earth with small children..it can seem impossible. Never fear, we have done this very thing many times and have learned a few valuable lessons along with way that I want to share with you! Let’s get started.
As with any trip to the Walt Disney World resort, the first (and somewhat obvious) tip I have is to make a plan. Pick the time of year you would like to visit, how long you would like to stay, and where you would like to stay. Although these are a given with any trip, it is important to keep your littles in mind when making these decisions. It’s no secret that Florida in the summer is hot (this is a major understatement) so if you or your small children can’t hang in this heat, pick another time of year. We have been with our kids right smack dab in the middle of summer and it definitely took more planning to keep everyone as cool as possible. I will do a whole post about doing Disney World in the summer soon! Another important question to ask when starting to plan your dream vacation is to decide how long you want to stay. We have done anywhere from 3-7 nights on our trips with the kids. Every kid is different and only you know what your littles/budget can realistically handle. My kids are extremely routine oriented so the first few times we traveled with them, it was a trial and error thing to learn their limits. Picking your hotel is another important factor in planning a trip with your tiny travelers. One important lesson we have learned since traveling to WDW with babies/toddlers/preschoolers is taking that mid day break from the parks. We usually spend this “down time” back at our resort either in the pool or hang out in our room. This is a must for our family. Sensory overload is such a real thing and it can cause meltdowns and make for a not so fun day for everyone. Being able to escape back to your resort definitely helps “reset” us to gear back up for more evening fun. I also recommend if you time allows to have a resort day if you are staying on WDW property without going to the parks to really reset and to enjoy all the amenities that your resort has to offer.
Notice I did not say, “we go back to the resort for a mid day nap.” Another lesson we have learned over the years is not to have the highest expectations of keeping your daily routine while on vacation. On our November of 2018 trip, we attempted a nap time during the first few days of the trip. We came back to our hotel around our normal nap time and tried to put our kids down…they literally laughed in our faces for like 2 hours. It just wasn’t going to happen. We gave up and let them watch TV for a little while before we headed back out. They immediately fell asleep in the stroller as soon as we got to Animal Kingdom. We took that time to stroll around, grab a snack and relax ourselves for a few minutes. Maybe your kids will go back to your hotel and take a 2 hour nap, but don’t sweat it if they don’t.
Speaking of strollers, I have some tips on that for you as well. First tip is, always use a stroller if you have small children. I am not even kidding. If you are on the fence of your kid may could ride in a stroller, just do it. I mean I have often found myself jealous of my kids being able to ride through the magic on those days we walk 10+ miles in a day. It is not that much of a hassle to fold/unfold the stroller vs the alternative of whiny kids with tired feet who want to be held. They may also take those wonderful stroller naps! I spent months researching on the perfect light-weight stroller that would recline before we took our daughter the first time when she was 11 months old. We went with the Graco Breaze and it was perfect! It was easy to fold up when getting on the buses and light enough to carry one handed (I will leave a link at the end of the post for you to check out). When we found out we were expecting our son, I started researching the best double strollers. I won’t lie, I actually googled, “the best double strollers to use at Disney World”. I stumbled across a brand called “Zoe Strollers” that was actually created by parents who visited Disney often and had multiple children. I did some more comparing and it seemed this brand was perfect for us. We purchased one and have not regretted it at all! It is super light-weight, easy to carry and the kids absolutely love riding in it (Ill leave this link at the end too). You can also rent strollers at WDW for a fee, but these do not look comfortable to us. There are also local companies who rent strollers if you are flying and don’t want to travel with one. Many people choose this option and they have some well known brands available for your little ones to ride around the Kingdom in. Disney World has cracked down on stroller sizes/types so just look up the restrictions before you go. A few other tips on strollers..cast members will move around your stroller when you park it in stroller parking so don’t immediately freak out and think your stroller has been stolen (guilty of this..more than once). Put some kind of noticeable marking on your stroller to help it stand out in the sea of strollers. We typically use a very bright, pink ribbon that is tied to the handles. Last tip, don’t leave anything valuable in your stroller. As much as I love Disney, this is still the real world and it’s just not smart in this day and age…but enough about that, this is a happy place.
The next important tip I have for traveling with small kids is to feed them. Again, I know this seems obvious, but I ALWAYS keep snacks in our park bag and will just pass them out in intervals throughout the day. Full kids are happy kids. We also allow them to pick out special treats if they behave well ( I am not really above bribery either, but that is a whole different topic). There are plenty of snacks/treats for your littles to choose from and let’s be honest, if they aren’t a little sticky by the end of the day, I am not sure you are doing it right (kidding, sort of). If your little ones love the characters, doing a character meal would be a great choice for them to eat and have entertainment at the same time. It also is practical because you won’t have to wait in a line or use a fast pass to meet a character if you are dining with them!
Next up on our list is doing attractions, shows and fireworks with little ones. As I mentioned earlier, you know your kids best so you decide how you will spend your days in the parks. On one of our trips, we rode “it’s a small world” FIVE times because it was one of the only rides our little girl wasn’t scared of. I heard that song in my dreams for a week. She was scared because we took her on Pirates of the Caribbean on our first day and it was dark and there was a slide and she was totally unprepared for that. She was three when that happened and still talks about it to this day. We learned from that experience to try new things toward the end of our trips in case one of our littles isn’t a fan so their experience won’t be ruined. I would also recommend you measure your kids before you go and look at the rides with height restrictions so nobody is sad if they aren’t tall enough to ride Slinky Dog! As far as shows go, I will have to let you know how that goes on our next trip because we have not been successful so far with our kids being still while waiting for shows to start (another one of those moments you have to be flexible and just go with the flow even if that flow means walking out of the Frozen show with a screaming toddler). I can tell you if your little ones will sit and enjoy a show, this is a great way to catch a little break, rest your feet and catch some air conditioning. As far as fireworks, that is about the same for us. Our kids hate loud sounds so we bought headphones with all intentions of watching fireworks…also did not work. To say we were disappointed was an understatement, but it’s hard to enjoy something when there is a screaming baby/toddler who is terrified. That is another experience we are going to try again on our next trip in hopes being older will help.
I can tell you that taking small children to Disney World is tiring, but oh so worth it! I get asked so much why we have taken our kids so much or why don’t we wait until they are older and will remember it. We take them because it is something that brings us all joy and happiness and we are doing it together as a family. We are making memories that will last a lifetime (corny, but true). As far as them not remembering it, my daughter may not remember her first trip as an 11 month old, but we do! Seeing her light up and smile at Mickey Mouse and kiss Pooh on the nose will forever be in my heart. Seeing our little boy dance and flirt with Anna and Elsa will always make us laugh! I will also add that our little girl who is almost 5 talks about things we did when we went and she was 2 years old so maybe they remember more than we give them credit for. I think my biggest piece of advice is to have a plan, but remember plans will not always go the way you expect and to enjoy the moment with your little ones. Okay last piece of advice, call me today and let me help you plan your trip!
See ya real soon!
Wish Upon A Star With Kelly 
Kelly this is great! We are going to Disney in February and are so excited! Proud of you!
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Thank you!!! ❤️ Hope y’all have the best time! I can help you with your next trip 😉
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