Disney with a 3 yr old?

We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

On Nov 18, 8:26 pm, "Donna Metler" wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

I am interested in the same question for a 4.5 yo -- my parents are
taking my eldest son.

Donna Metler wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

Never been there and can't help you out at all with that, but Bob
Sehlinger's "Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World" seems to have
excellent reviews overall. I've never read this book myself, cannot
vouch for it personally, and only stumbled across it by chance because
someone with the same name as my husband had two copies of it on his
Amazon wish list and that made me curious enough to check it out. Might
be worth a look to see if it's as good as most people seem to think, in
which case it could help you plan.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

In article ,
Donna Metler wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?


I found reading www.allearsnet.com to be useful, for Disney World, as well
as a written guide to Disney that was specifically geared to kids. The
must-sees do depend a lot on your child. For my kids, riding the monorail and
train were absolute musts - sometimes we went out of our way to ride the
monorail. But you might not have train fanatics. (If you do, when the
monorail is not busy, ask to ride up front with the driver.) If your child
absolutely must see (and get the autographs of) certain Disney characters,
I recommend going to character meals - the advantage is that the characters
come to you, rather than you having to find them. Food quality and price
does vary though. Some of the rides are scary - this is where reading
a guide to Disney helps, because you are the one to know your child's
tolerance for roller coasters, being in the dark, etc. Although you probably
will at some point wind up in line for Dumbo's flying elephants :-) Things
like parades and fireworks can also be quite good - they are fun for all
ages and give everyone a chance to rest their feet.

Carol

On Nov 18, 8:26 pm, "Donna Metler" wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

We went to Disney when DD1 was 2.5 yrs. and again this past summer
when DD2 was 3 years old. At that age both had a great time. I think
the trip for DD1 was a little more fun for her because we taylored the
entire trip around her. DD2 this past year had to suffer through us
pandering to the older kids (we went with cousins).

I highly recommend the character breakfasts or lunches. If your
daughter
is into the princesses I've heard great things about the princess
breakfast
at Cinderella's castle. Both trips we did lunch with Winnie the Pooh
at
the Crystal palace. Lunch was good and plentiful. It was nice to sit
and
relax. It was fun to see the characters (although DD2 was quite afraid
of
them, she did enjoy them from afar). You need to make reservations in
advance (call (407) WDW-DINE).

Both kids loved the dumbo ride, so with this last trip we hit dumbo
as soon as we got to the park (grabbing a fast pass to the winnie the
pooh ride I think) and we got to the park right when it opened. That
way we could do Dumbo with a minimal wait. Some of the rides are
dark and kind of scary, but both girls were fine as long as I let
them know ahead of time. Both love rides, though. Neither is big
on greeting characters so we didn't meet Mickey or Minnie at
their houses (lines were really long).

Since you are staying at a resort, be sure to know the magic hours
or whatever they call them. That is the time that the parks are open
just for people staying at Disney resorts. I expect it would help
with
the lines alot.

As for parks - the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were probably
the best fits for the 3 year old. We did have fun at MGM and at
Epcot, but the older kids got more out of those.

Have fun, we had a grand time!

Mary W.

Sarah Vaughan wrote:

Donna Metler wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

Never been there and can't help you out at all with that, but Bob
Sehlinger's "Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World" seems to have
excellent reviews overall. I've never read this book myself, cannot
vouch for it personally, and only stumbled across it by chance because
someone with the same name as my husband had two copies of it on his
Amazon wish list and that made me curious enough to check it out. Might
be worth a look to see if it's as good as most people seem to think, in
which case it could help you plan.

My mom took us all in 1999, at which point she had 10 great
grandchildren ranging from 19 years old to 8 months.
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3605...en-Orlando.jpg
[DD#1 had three children 19, 17 and 5; DD#2 had two children 5 and 8
months; DD#3 had one child age 20 months, DS had two children age 6
and 3, and my nephew had children age 5 and 3. Photo has all but the
oldest two great grands]

Dd#1 had a book that was somewhat similar to this and it had
recommendations and dis-recommendations for various ages as well as
strategies. I thought it was quite good- she lent it to me before we
went, and I was able to figure out what I personally would want to
see.

One of the recommendations that I remember was for parents to go out
to whatever park had early opening that day in the morning, and then
come back after lunch for a nap and then to play in the pool at the
hotel in the afternoon. I think that is what dd#2 did. I took her ds
out into the park early one morning before the park opened for real.
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/7765...on-Orlando.jpg We rode
one of his favorite rides, plus it was cooler then

We did one huge enormous family dinner at the Rainforest Cafe (after
which we all gave our cameras to bystanders so we could all be in a
group portrait), and we did Mickey's breakfast the next morning
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/7765...sr-Orlando.jpg
and that all seemed to work well. None of the children got terribly
cranky or at least I didn't notice if they did.

On Nov 18, 8:26�pm, "Donna Metler" wrote:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

Each park has attractions that are appealing to children of that age
group, with the park really targeting that age as the Magic Kingdom.
You would be very hard pressed to see everything all in one day in any
one park. Gatorland was fun for my kids at that age, as was Sea World.
You can get cheaper tickets online, and the last time I checked Sea
World offered a second-day pass free online (rather than waiting in a
huge crowd at the gates before leaving to get one). Gatorland offers a
good one-day park experience that is doable and the kids can sit on
gators (little ones with their mouths taped shut) for a picture that
appears they are wrestling it, touch all sorts of lizards, etc. Lots
of animal experiences there, but each photo opportunity is expensive.
You can feed the gators hot dogs by throwing them over the partitions
too. I don't recommend the Animal Kingdom really until maybe 5'ish.
Check out the Disney website for any special events they are having
too. Last year we took our kids to the special Pirates and Princesses
party where they got after-hours admission and rides on all of the
Magic Kingdom rides that were appealing to them. They also got
treasure maps to hunt for chocolate dubloons (sp?) and beaded
necklaces (treasure). They had a ball.

"Donna Metler" writes:
We're going this winter for a few days. We're staying at one of the On-site
hotels, so should have a lot of flexibility as far as going back and forth
from the parks for naps etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as
must-sees/dos?

I've only been once, and our kids were older than 3 at the time, but I
think I can offer some basic advice.

Get a guide book and read it ahead of time! We liked the Unofficial
Guide. You can also find lots of websites, allearsnet.com was my
favorite, but I think a guide book you can read wherever you are and
bookmark and highlight to your heart's content still beats the
Web. The place is huge and if you don't have some idea what's
important, you'll just spend your days wandering around looking at the
park maps.

If anyone in the family isn't used to walking, make sure they get
there before the trip. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you'll
just keep the three-year-old in the stroller - he will be walking more
than you think! (Our 4.5YO declared that strollers were for babies and
would have nothing to do with them. His little legs put a lot of miles
on them that week....)

Figure on some breaks - the nap is an excellent idea, but also know
that your child is going to want to blow off steam in the playground
areas and need to just sit and rest for a bit during the day. It will
slow you down, but you'll enjoy your time much more. The physical
exercise is only half of it; Disney really sends you into sensory
overload, especially the Magic Kingdom. It's tremendous fun, but
anybody's brain is going to need a break from time to time, small
children especially.

We were there a week in January almost three years ago. We were at the
parks as soon as they opened each day and spent about the first hour
walking right onto the rides. It was beautiful. We were really lucky
with the weather, too, and our younger boy's favorite memory is
swimming in the (heated!) hotel pool, with a Mickey Mouse/Sorcerer's
Apprentice fountain spraying water on him. For a Scandinavian kid, the
idea of swimming OUTDOORS! in JANUARY! was just too incredible to
believe. I'm told the week after we were there it was cool and rainy,
though.

Oh, yeah, and ride Dumbo. I'm such a sap, that was my favorite ride.

- Cindy Kandolf, mamma to Kenneth (13) and Robert (7)
****** Bærum, Norway
Bilingual Families Web Page:
http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.html