Have just a toddler? Be sure to check out my blog post from last year, Walt Disney World with a 1 Year Old, here.
Temper tantrums. No naps. Long lines. The heat. Transportation with a double stroller. These are things every parent of babies and toddlers worries about when planning a trip to Disney. None of these things has to ruin or dominate your trip.
The truth of the matter is, while your little tykes won’t remember their trip to Walt Disney World, you will. You’ll remember the wonder and joy on their little faces. That magic only lasts for so long. The time of truly believing moves fast. Faster than any parent is prepared for.
So yes, your baby and toddler will have melt downs. They will miss naps, making them total little monsters. Long lines will make you question at times why you thought this was a good idea. However, if you do your research, plan accordingly, and most importantly be prepared to throw out all of that planning if need be, your trip will be truly magical.
This blog will touch on many factors from the plane ride to meals, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!
A Little Background
Robbie, my first born, was two months shy of three years old when we went on this trip. Grayson, my second born, celebrated his first birthday while in Disney!
We invited all of the grandparents, my husband and my siblings, as well as some of our friends. My mom, dad, and brother ended up joining us. My friend, Stacey, also joined us with her husband, two sons (2 years and 8 months at the time), her mom, dad, mother-in-law, and father-in-law.
Some people recommend not inviting other parties to join you. I disagree. It is always nice to have help with a toddler and baby. However, everyone in your party needs to be on the same page. If you want to go off with your family to do something, you should. If your friends want to go do a day on their own, they should. If you mom and brother want to go back to the parks after you put the kids to bed, they should. Do not have a trip where everyone needs to stay together the entire time. It’s too much stress. Be clear from the start that this is a go with the flow trip.
Flying with a Toddler and Baby
Previous to this trip, Robbie had already been on three round trip flights (Newark to Hawaii, Philadelphia to California, and Atlantic City to Orlando). We thought we had this flight thing down, regardless of having two children this time around. Boy were we wrong! Grayson has been a difficult baby from day one, so I really don’t know why we were so confident. We chose to have Grayson as a lap child. Robbie had his own seat. Grayson wanted to be in Robbie’s seat more than Robbie wanted to be in his seat. I’ve always told people to save money and have their baby sit on their lap. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten Grayson his own seat. This might depend more on your child’s personality than anything. Robbie has always been a cuddle bug and fairly chill, so he prefers our laps. Grayson, has been getting into things since he could move and has never really been one for too much cuddling. Try to make a decision based on your child.
The rest of my advice on flying is going to be an exact cut and paste from my previous Disney blog.
“Basically what you need to know about flying is YES your child will probably cry at some point, YES your child will probably want to get down, YES they will try to put the tray table up and down over and over (especially if you’re on Spirit where those cheapies don’t even have a latch to hold the stupid tray up), YES no matter how hard you try to keep those little hands and feet contained, they will kick or pull on the seat in front of you, and YES there will probably be some JERK(S) that will get frustrated that a child is crying and/or kicking their seat. IGNORE THE JERK(S). They obviously have never had children or forget what it is like to contain wrestle a baby honey badger in a 2’x2’ area.
My suggestion is to bring their favorite snacks, small toy(s), and some sort of electronic device with their favorite show or movie loaded and ready to go. Then again, I’m that parent who let their child lay on the floor where a personal item would normally go.
Bottom line – Don’t stress. The more you stress, the more your child will stress. It is a very small fraction of your trip and you will likely never see the people on that plane again.”
Stroller
My husband and I love our Joovy Umbrella Strollers. Before Grayson, we had the Joovy Groove. Now, we have the Joovy Caboose with the rear seat attachment. My husband and I feel it’s easier to navigate a front and back double than a double wide stroller. We also feel it’s easier for travel on the Disney buses. However, my friend brought a double jogging stroller. Her children definitely seemed more comfortable with the side by side aspect. If you’re going to bring your stroller be sure to get a stroller bag for the plane. Not only with it protect your stroller from any damage but my husband and I pack lots of things in there too, like diapers, wipes, shoes, and more.
Hotel Review
In the past ten years, my husband and I have only stayed off property once. Personally, I would much prefer to stay on property. Some of these properties have since been updated.
During this past trip we stayed at Art of Animation. The main reason was, the number of people we had and Robbie was OBSESSED with CARS. If you have a child that absolutely loves CARS, Nemo, Little Mermaid, or Lion King I highly recommend this resort!! We never walked down to the Little Mermaid or Lion King end ( I wish we would have just to see) but I was impressed with the grounds of Nemo and Cars. They are truly well done. Every night, Robbie ran around to each car to say “Goodnight”. The joy on his face was priceless. We stayed in a CARS suite. It has TWO bathrooms, a bedroom, a table bed, and a sofa bed. The master bedroom was big enough to fit a pack and play for Grayson to sleep in. Robbie slept in bed with me and my husband. Some may say the living space with the two pull out beds is tight but it worked for our party. The food at this resort, besides breakfast, was not good. I recommend eating elsewhere or in your room.
Coronado Springs – Moderate Resort. Newly Renovated. We stayed before Renovations and it was nice. Resort is HUGE so you may have to walk quite a bit. Multiple bus stops. Food is good!
All-Stars – Value Resorts. They aren’t bad but they are just what they say VALUE. I hate when people complain about these resorts. Fact is, you get what you pay for. You want more luxury, stay somewhere else. Last time I was there was for a Bachelorette Party. It was perfect for us. Food is cafeteria food.
Caribbean Beach – Moderate Resort. Smelled so badly of mold. I believe it has been renovated since 2011 when we stayed there.
Tickets
My brother came with us this trip. He serves our country in the United States Coast Guard. Therefore, we had military tickets that included a park hopper. While we did utilize the park hopper, I would not pay extra money for it unless we were going for less than 4 days.
Napping
As said before, Robbie was my easy baby. So last year, with one child, this wasn’t as much a factor for our trip. Robbie was a bit older than Grayson on his first trip and he was down to one nap so we were able to push him a bit more. Grayson was still taking two naps. The days we did not go back to the room were ROUGH and quite frankly a big mistake.
If you listen to one piece of advice it would be to go back to your hotel room once during the day to do nap time or at the very least relaxation time. Grayson napped each day we went back. Robbie napped most days we went back. If not, he relaxed and just played in the living room with us. We tried to go back at a middle time between the two boys nap times and it worked out perfectly.
Rope Dropping
We chose to rope drop or wake up for an early breakfast every day. I don’t recommend this. I would let your children wake up naturally. If you want to wake up for a sit down breakfast, make your reservation for roughly an hour and a half after their normal, at home wake up time. That way, if you do have to wake them up, you can do so as close to their normal time as possible. One hour is plenty of time to get to most breakfast places. We got zero benefit out of rope dropping the parks with the fast passes we had.
Baby Care Centers
Utilize the Baby Care Centers!!! There is one in each park. Epcot and Magic Kingdom are by far the biggest and best. They have giant changing tables, nursing/pumping rooms, TVs for the kids to chill, spots to eat. AND MOST OF ALL WATER!! Free water!! Bring a Hydroflask with you to the park and fill that puppy up all day long in the Baby Care Centers!
Fast Passes
Last trip, I made the mistake of spacing out the fast passes. This meant that 1. we often had to walk back and forth across the parks more than necessary and 2. we weren’t able to utilize the use all three, book another, use that one, book another fast pass feature.
This time around I found the fast pass we wanted most in the park and made that one first of the day, then added the other two fast passes near that ride. We were able to go with the flow of the park this way instead of running from one side to the other and back again. We were also able to use 5-6 fast passes in one day instead of just 3. If you don’t get the fast passes you want, be sure to keep checking before your trip.
Pro Tip 1 – The second you scan your first fast pass of the day, go into your app to make changes to your other two remaining fast passes. Often you can move the times up.
Pro Tip 2 – Once you scan your third fast pass, go into your app to pick up another fast pass. When you use that one, go into your app and pick up another fast pass. Keep repeating 🙂
Crowds
A big complaint in the Facebook Disney groups is the crowds. Disney is an extremely crowded place. If you go thinking there will not be lines, that you won’t have to navigate through crowds at times, that you won’t have people that will stand too close to you, you’re going to have a non-magical trip. We never waited in a line for more than 30 minutes. We chose to either come back to a ride or just skip it if it was longer than 30 minutes. No matter what time of year you go, you’re going to run into all of these things. The key is, your trip is what you make it. If you brush all of that stuff off, you’ll have an amazing trip!
Epcot
People love to hate on Epcot but it has always been one of my favorites and having children has not changed that. There is plenty to do for all ages. It was the Food and Wine Festival when we were there which had its pros and cons. The pro was the food, obviously. The con was the crowds were much more than I had experienced before in Epcot.
I love to let my kids take a mental break and play by the fountains in different countries.
Rides & Shows
Spaceship Earth – We went here right at opening and walked right on. This ride goes inside the Epcot ball. It’s nothing special, just cool to be inside the ball. Grayson was seconds away from falling asleep on it since the ride is mostly dark. If you have a toddler who is afraid of the dark, I do not recommend this ride.
Nemo & Friends – This ride is a must for little ones. It’s slow but adorable. There is almost never a wait longer than 10 minutes. We used a fast pass on it just because there aren’t many other tier 2 attractions but it’s really not necessary. This ride dumps you out into an aquarium. The kids loved looking at all the fish! We walked around for about 30 minutes in between Nemo and Turtle Talk and we could have spent even longer in there.
Turtle Talk with Crush – Absolutely adorable and a must do! The kids can sit down in the front if they want to. Crush is 100% interactive with the kids.
Character Spot – Unfortunately we couldn’t get a fast pass to this until later on in our week late at night. If you’re like us and would prefer to use the Tier 1 fast pass on Frozen, try to snag one of these as soon as you can. Next trip, I will probably head straight here at park opening and do Spaceship Earth at another time during the day. The characters here are always amazing! You get to meet Mickey and some of his pals.
World Showcase – There is SO much to do for kids in the world show case, you just have to look. There are Kidcot Fun Stops in each country. Kids can stop an do a small activity, like coloring here. It’s great for kids to get a little break from the sensory overload.
Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros – Located in Mexico. Boat ride that showcase Mexico and features Donald Duck. It’s cute and we do it every time. However, I do really wish they would revamp it into a Coco ride.
Frozen – Be sure to fast pass this ride!! You will not want to wait 60 plus minutes. It does have a little drop. Keep your kids on the inside so they don’t get wet.
IllumiNations – Fireworks. Amazing Show! We watched on the walkway that leads to the baby center. Zero crowds there but you couldn’t see everything.
Food
I HIGHLY recommend you go at least once. My husband, mom, brother, and I all shared things. There wasn’t much for Robbie to eat but Grayson tried some of the other stuff we ate. The waffles in Belgium were a great choice for kids. I was fairly disappointed in the rest of my party for not drinking around the world as much as they should have since I could not being 22 weeks pregnant. Also, even the booths that serve breakfast items, like donuts, do not open until 11. Please don’t make the same mistake I did, walk all the way to a booth because your kids love donuts, just to find out it won’t open up for hours. We ended up getting the boys Joffrey’s donuts which are still great!
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom was Robbie’s favorite park and I’m a bit upset we didn’t change the schedule up and get there again since we had a park hopper ticket. He kept asking to go back. Don’t be like me, do what your kids want to do, hahaha!
Rides & Shows
Avatar Flight of Passage – I’ve been pregnant both trips this ride has been open so I have not been on it. My mom has rope dropped Animal Kingdom both trips just to go on it. She LOVES it!
Na’vi River Journey – Great ride but SHORT. I would never wait in line for this ride with toddlers over 20 minutes. This ride is always a Fast Pass priority for us.
Kilimanjaro Safari – MUST DO! Fast Pass this one for the morning. We did Na’vi River Journey as our first fast pass followed by this one so we didn’t have to backtrack to Pandora. The animals will be out most in the morning and evening when it’s cooler.
Lion King Show – Great show! Robbie loved it! I had to take Grayson out towards the end when he got antsy.
Dinoland USA – I really wish we had spent more of our day here. There is so much for little ones, including the Boneyard, which is basically a playground. They even had a spot inside kids could meet Pluto and he plays with them a bit. There are SO many character meeting spots. Robbie road TriceraTop Spin, which is very much like Dumbo.
Rivers of Light – This is the night show. We went last year, not this year and unless they improve upon it drastically, I won’t go again. It is plain boring.
Food
Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes – The food was good here. My husband and I shared the chicken fried rice and each got an egg roll. It was plenty for us. The kids shared one Chicken Strips meal. Again, plenty for them to share. The chicken fried rice was really good!! I definitely recommend. However, the line was INSANE for this place and there was no where to sit. We ended up backtracking, watching Lion King, and then going to sit in Harambe Market.
Tamu Tamu Refreshments – Located in Harambe Market. Dole Whips, Ice cream cookie sandwiches, and sundaes. Need I say more?
Magic Kingdom
There is so much to do in Magic Kingdom. It is the park with the most rides for little ones. We took two full days here and did the Christmas Party and still did not get to do everything. Tip – If you have little boys, still stop to see a princess or two. You never know when they are going to get the cutest little crush, like Robbie with Rapunzel. It was SO late and we almost didn’t stop but the line was so short we did and it was beyond worth it.
Rides & Shows
There are too many to list. Just be sure to follow my planning advice from above. FastPass what you think your children will like. I fast passed – Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Meet Mickey in Town Square, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Dumbo, and It’s a Small World. We used a ton of other fast passes as well. The key is to follow the fast pass information above to get the most out of this park.
Fireworks – Be sure not to miss the fireworks. I recommend the grassy spot in front of the Baby Care Center. We watched from the bridge by Splash Mountain and while not as crowded, it just wasn’t as nice as the view from the front of the castle.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party – Incredible! The lighting of the castle, the fireworks, the free snacks, the shorter line times, and all of the other magic were so worth the extra ticket! We pushed our kids to midnight because we were leaving the next day. I highly recommend booking a party day the day before you leave. If you push your kids to midnight you won’t have to worry about their behavior the next day.
Food
Crystal Palace – We went both trips. The food is fantastic!! Like seriously some amazing buffet breakfast food. I highly recommend the puffed french toast in the kids section. I think we are finished with it though. The characters take a LONG time to come around here.
Peco Bills Tall Tale Inn & Cafe – Mexican Restaurant. Pretty good for quick service food. I got the nachos. The kids shared a Mac and Cheese. They also have great vegetarian options that my mom was able to have. The best part about this place is the toppings bar.
Harmony Barber Shop
We can always say Grayson got his first hair cut in Magic Kingdom! We scheduled an appointment for both boys. We ended up waiting about twenty minutes past our appointment time. It was a great experience! Grayson got a First Haircut Certificate and mouse ears that say “First Haircut” on the back. I highly recommend!
Hollywood Studios
We didn’t stay past noon. This place is PACKED with Toy Story Land and I cannot even imagine what will happen with Star Wars opening next year. The line to see Buzz, Woody, and Jessie was over an hour. We basically ate breakfast, used our fast pass for Toy Story Mania, went to the Frozen Sing Along, met Pluto and left.
Food
Woody’s Lunchbox – We were not impressed at all. Everything was under a heat lamp. The “poptart” was probably the best thing we got. I think between our entire party we got everything on the menu and everyone agreed the food was not worth it.
Other Food
Sanaa is located in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our second time at Sanaa. This menu is not for everyone. A majority of it is traditional African food. Sanaa is an amazing restaurant. The sat us as close to the windows as possible with our large party. The kids loved seeing the animals right outside the window. Be sure to get the Indian Bread Service with all of the sauces. It’s delicious. The kids butter chicken is the same sauce as the adults. It’s spicy and not for toddlers and babies. Don’t order this by mistake, like I did. Also, a kid’s side of mac and cheese and fruit is plenty for two toddlers to share.
Kona Cafe – Located in the Polynesian Resort. One of our favorites for breakfast. Tonga Toast is a crowd favorite. Be sure to get either a mimosa flight or if non-alcoholic is your thing, the Liliko’i juice.
Whispering Canyon – Located in the Wilderness Lodge. This restaurant was awesome!! We decided to do the family style skillet and it did not disappoint. If you’re easily offended, I do not recommend eating here. If you do decide to give it a try, be sure to ask for some ketchup! Kids can get up and ride stick ponies during dinner.
Chef Mickey – Located inside the Contemporary. Only character breakfast that has a majority of Mickey and Pals. We went on Grayson’s actual birthday. The characters were amazing. Not too rushed but quick enough that we weren’t waiting forever for each one. They sat us so we had a view of the castle. It was incredible! This is a buffet, but we all thought the food was great and there was a ton of variety. They even gave Grayson a cupcake with a candle. Minnie had just passed us but came back around a corner to help sing!
‘Ohana – Located inside the Polynesian Resort. It is family style. So much delicious food. Has activities kids can get up and participate in.
That bring us to the end of the blog. If you’ve read to the end, I know it was a lot. As you’re planning come back and tackle it section by section. Overall, have fun and be prepared to throw all plans out the window if need be. Your family will have a much better trip if you remember that toddlers and babies are still learning to be human and Disney is full of so much stimulation. Just have fun!! Your vacation is what you make it. Please feel free to comment with any questions or some of your own tips!
Other Pack Products
Your feet will thank you! Put on each night before bed.
Hydroflask with a straw lid (it’s easier for toddlers to drink with the straw). Fill up in the Baby Care Centers.
Double Stroller Bag for airplane. Don’t forget to use extra storage in the bag for things like diapers, shoes, and more.
you said: