Disney with a toddler?

[ericalynn94]

My spouse and I are planning a trip with our son and we are thinking about going either the last week of September (2023) or first week of October or last week of January (2024) or first week of February. Our son will either have just turned 3 (his birthday is in late August) or close to 3 1/2. In your opinion, what would be the best time to go between those dates?

I’m having a hard time figuring out what parks to go to. We would probably plan on a week or maybe just short of that, but not just doing Disney. I have been to Disney 8 times, but have not been since January 2014. My spouse has only been once when he was 12 (he’s 32 now ) and he has only been to Magic Kingdom so he literally has no opinion on anything lol. I don’t think I want to go to all the parks as my son is still young and I don’t think there would be a lot for him to do at certain parks. I’d like to go back when he is older and go to all of them so we can really enjoy what they all have to offer!

I’ve read Magic Kingdom is a good park to do twice with toddlers/young kids as there is so much to do. I’m not sure what his nap schedule will be like then (if he will even have one) but right now he is still napping in the afternoon so we would most likely leave the park in the afternoon and go back to our place for a nap or to relax for a couple hours.

I think I might skip Epcot and Hollywood Studios and just do Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Do I really need two days for Magic Kingdom? We could do one full day at Magic Kingdom and one full day at Animal Kingdom or one full day at Magic Kingdom and a day of half Animal Kingdom and half Magic Kingdom? Or even two days at Magic Kingdom and one day at Animal Kingdom? Honestly, I’d be okay with just doing two days at Magic Kingdom, but I feel like we should at least go to two different parks, but I don’t know…I’m really unsure of what to do What’s everyone’s opinion? I’m open to suggestions! And just an FYI we plan on staying off property.

Also, if you have any tips please do share!

Thanks in advance

 

[CharissaOKC]

You will get so many different opinions and only you can decide what is best but I have a 3 year old and I would say 2 days MK and 1 day at Epcot. Both of my kids absolutely love Epcot and there is a lot of attractions a 3 yr old can do. It’s really hard to pick which parks to leave off because they all offer something unique. I think it’s also what you and your family’s interests are.

AK is interesting because my 3 yr old only rides 2-3 things here. Do you have a nice zoo where you live? Are you interested in seeing all the animals or just attractions?

Also I think sometimes people lose sight of also thinking about what you as parents want to do at Disney. Sometimes the kids are just along for the ride and are happy with a snack and riding in the stroller.

 

[sponica]

I'd say definitely 2 days at MK for lots of reasons. My kids don't stay in the parks much past dinner (they're up with the birds). Splitting the park into 2 halves allows us some sanity.
Epcot is a must do, there's tons to do at Epcot with little kids.

I like AK, even if there isn't a ton for the kids to do.
DHS I'm torn on, because it's the only place to see Toy Story characters but aside from a handful of things, there's not many rides that little kids can ride.
As far as tips, eat earlier than you do at home if you're in the eastern time zone. Hungry kids are cranky kids.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Definitely agree with the recommendations above to not skip EP with a toddler. We did this last year with a 2 yr-old, and some of the EP attractions were his favorite - Figment, boat ride in the Land, Nemo, Frozen - all popular with our toddler.

 

[ElenaRN]

Any chance you can go before he turns 3? You wouldn't need to pay for a park ticket for him then. Even if he turns 3 on the trip as long as he's 2 the first day of your stay he doesn't need a ticket. Would save you a little $$$. Just a thought.

In regards to your other questions..we love October in Disney. That is our most common time of year to visit. The Halloween decorations are awesome. The weather is usually still really warm, although can vary greatly. We have never been in Feb.

You didn't mention if you are staying on property or plan on going back to parks after possible afternoon nap.
We never went back to hotel for naps. Even when staying on property, it always seemed like to much of a hassle. My kids had no problem napping in the stroller at that age. On the rare occasion we did go back to room tp attempt naps, it blew up in our faces bc they never fell asleep.

I agree with PP, Im not sure if I would choose AK at that age, esp if you have a zoo local. Def 2 days at MK so you can take your time. I may be in the minority but HS is a must for us now that my son is obsessed with Toy Story. They also have the Disney Junior show and Mickey and Minnie RRW.

Enjoy

 

[pixiedust33]

Take this with a grain of salt because I haven’t done it yet, but I’m in a very similar position to you (taking a 2.5 yr old in early 2024, I’ve been to Disney a lot but not since the pandemic, husband has been to Disney as a kid, loves the idea but no real opinions and I’m running this show).

I was unsure about which parks and how much time to spend until I started actually looking at the specific rides and attractions, thinking about what would likely appeal to my kid, and realized how much there is to do, while also leaving time for a nap, lunches and time to just wander around and take in the sites and do shows and parades. We decided not to skip any park.

Epcot has several toddler friendly attractions (frozen, remy, the boat ride in Mexico, figment, living with the land) and they also have several indoor and outdoor playgrounds that I think our son will like to explore. I also like the food and drink options

HS has Toy Story land, which I think our son will love (we plan to do Toy Story mania, alien flying saucers and eat at the rodeo roundup bbq), plus Mickey and Minnie railroad and the Cars show. And we’re going to wander Star Wars land, mainly for ourselves, but I think our son will also like some of the food there and he and my husband will build a droid together. We *may* also do a ILL$/rider swap for Rise because people rave about it (this trip is otherwise really geared around our son!)

AK is a must only if your kid really likes animals and/or dinosaurs (which ours does). We plan to do the safari, Navi river journey, affection station (a train ride to basically a petting zoo) and triceratop spin, then spend some time at the boneyard. We also plan to do some of the animal treks, the lion king show and the bird show.

Magic kingdom a toddler can do nearly everything in the park, except for the big coasters and when I planned out that day, I realized I wanted at least 2 days to do it all in a leisurely fashion.

Our plan is to take long resort breaks in the afternoon though and do character dining in mornings and evenings, which is why I thought MK required two days for us.

Also on timing - I personally think Feb/March (avoiding any holidays!) is a sweet spot for nice weather (as someone who doesn’t tolerate heat well at all but also wants a warm break from the northeast in the depth of winter). I feel Disney is a whole new ballgame post Covid but I’ve also always been happy with crowd levels at the time of year in the past. I’ve been in mid September and got hit with 90+ degree weather, which was a huge negative to me, and it’s also started to get more crowded at this time of year now because of how early Mickey Halloween starts (though the presence of that may be a plus for you/your family!)

 

[Beer Me]

Having been with a toddler I would say plan the parks you would like to visit. You never know what your kid will latch onto and love. For us the resort pool was a huge hit . But seriously beyond that any random sight, character or attraction might be what makes the trip and you can’t plan it ahead of time.

Just focus on having a nice experience as a family no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

 

[Cherrychip]

For MK I personally would want two days. Otherwise you may feel rushed trying to fit everything in, especially if you leave for an afternoon break-MK takes forever to get into and out of since you have to park and then take the ferry or monorail.

For the other park, I agree that you should choose what appeals to you- your toddler is going to probably prefer swimming or playgrounds over any of the parks anyway, and will have fun at any of them! My two year old had the most fun at MK when we were waiting by Space Mountain for an hour while my DH and girls were in line to ride-he was thrilled to be able to just walk around where ever he wanted and explore lol! He loved AK because he loves animals and he loved Epcot, especially the aquarium after the Nemo ride and drinking the free soda at Club Cool since he doesn’t normally get it! HS would probably be my last choice- my toddler wasn’t big into shows, the few rides he could go on were a little faster and louder than he would have liked and he really only liked animal characters not people characters-YMMV on this.

 

[Dcgc28]

For MK I personally would want two days. Otherwise you may feel rushed trying to fit everything in, especially if you leave for an afternoon break-MK takes forever to get into and out of since you have to park and then take the ferry or monorail.

For the other park, I agree that you should choose what appeals to you- your toddler is going to probably prefer swimming or playgrounds over any of the parks anyway, and will have fun at any of them! My two year old had the most fun at MK when we were waiting by Space Mountain for an hour while my DH and girls were in line to ride-he was thrilled to be able to just walk around where ever he wanted and explore lol! He loved AK because he loves animals and he loved Epcot, especially the aquarium after the Nemo ride and drinking the free soda at Club Cool since he doesn’t normally get it! HS would probably be my last choice- my toddler wasn’t big into shows, the few rides he could go on were a little faster and louder than he would have liked and he really only liked animal characters not people characters-YMMV on this.

We’ve been with smaller kids our last 3 trips. We do MK HS EP/AK MK every time and we love that schedule. It does sort of suck to only go to EP or AK every other time. But going to MK twice is a must

 

[Anna131517]

Well, to start, he’s free for admission and at buffets if you go before he turns three. Just something to consider.

You could do four days, one day at each park, or five days with 2 MK days. I personally couldn’t plan a WDW trip without going to all the parks. When our kids were that age we’d go to the parks until about 2 pm then head back to the resort. However, all my kids were stroller nappers and I really enjoyed walking around the parks while they napped. My youngest also still napped in a carrier as a toddler (even at 3!) so
I would just wear her in line as she slept (had to get a toddler carrier for when she was 3).

The magic of taking kids when they’re young is doing things slower and see them get so excited about what they’re seeing. They don’t care what ride they’re on or how long they stay at the park. They don’t care about park hopping. I really enjoyed those ages. I hope you have a great trip! Whatever you decide on will be fun.

 

[Jhondy]

My daughter is now 3.5 and we are going to Disney in a few weeks. She has been spoiled so this will be her 6th or so trip since she was 1. Her favorite parks are MK and EP. She did not care for AK because there weren’t a lot of rides for her and even though she loves the zoo at home, she didn’t care to see the animals at AK. And the safari ride was very hard to keep her sitting cause she didn’t have the attention span for it.

She loved the rides at MK and at EP she liked some of the rides (is scared of figment cause the loud blast at the end) but liked there was more room for her to walk around and the little playgrounds at EP were great. At HS she loved the Disney jr dance party and there were quite a few character meets at HS with not super long lines so that was fun too. But if I was choosing just two parks for her it would be MK and EP…my preference will always be EP cause MK is always just so packed and hectic to me! EP feels easier to manage.

 

[Miffy]

As far as your possible dates, if you don't mind the heat, choose the September/October dates. I say this because the last time I went at the end of January/beginning of February, it was cold and rainy the entire trip and I swore I'd never go at that time again.

Granted, it can be pleasant at WDW in Jan/Feb, but after a week spent wearing my winter coat in the rain, I rejected this timeframe for the future.

It will be hot in Sept/Oct. I've never been then for that very reason, but if the heat isn't a barrier to your plans, it's a great time to go, barring hurricanes.

Really, if you could swing sometime that's not Jersey Week in November, that would be a way better choice than any of your proposed dates. Just thought I'd throw this out there.

And I'd get hoppers. It's impossible to know what your kids will latch onto, and with a hopper, you'll be prepared for anything.