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Disney can be wonderful, and meeting the princess characters can be very sweet. It's very magical for a three year old if you do it right.
I suggest using an app to show you the wait times at rides, familiarize yourself with the Disney maps, and show up early for rope drop. You will do more before 10:30 than can be done in a full day if you arrive later. Then leave so she can nap, and return in the evenings. It's not terribly crowded early or late. It's most crowded mid day.
Book your Fast Pass Plus for the things your daughter must do. If she loves characters, try to book a character meal.
I suggest one day at the Magic Kingdom and one for Epcot, or both days at MK. I would skip Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Use an umbrella stroller, especially at Epcot.
If you're dead set on doing it, I would follow this ^^ plan.
I think Magic Kingdom is worth two days, if she enjoys it, but one day is probably plenty. Epcot to me is for older kids who have had some school. Sometimes cool stuff happens that you can't plan for, like a bus randomly pulling up with tons of characters on it, ready to meet kids in the middle of the road.
Definitely an umbrella stroller, and keeping expectations low like the previous poster suggested is key.
I really appreciate your honest opinion and I agree with you 100%. Here's the situation: We moved to Florida from Connecticut 10 months ago. Many people are surprised that we have not visited Disney yet, but I feel that my daughter is still very young. She just turned 3 and is a young 3 year-old - not potty trained, very timid and small. (She was a 4lb premie, spent time in NICU and had some health issues early in life). Our very good friends from CT are renting a large house in Orlando for a week. They have a lot more money than we do and have an extra 2 bedrooms and they offered to put us up for free. More than anything, I really want to just spend time with them, but they want to do Disney. We really don't have a lot of money to spend, which is why we are not staying the whole week. I just want it to be the most enjoyable visit possible (for everyone). Now that we live in Florida, we absolutely plan to spend more time at Disney in the future, when my daughter is older, and we have a little more money to spend. Thank you very for your helpful and truthful advice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Girl
The most enjoyable thing would be to let your friends go to Disney, and find something else to do with your 3-yr-old while your friends are at the parks. Don't waste $100 per ticket to have a miserable time (trust those of us who have already been there, done that).
Now that you explain that your child is barely three, timid, small, etc. there is no way in H E double hockey sticks, I would spend the money and risk the aggravation to take her to Disneyworld now. Now, if you could return to the house from noon to five for her to have a healthy lunch and take a nap, perhaps it would be OK, but I doubt if you can do that.
I am getting a migraine headache just picturing your "adventure" in my mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromCTtoFL
I know you are right, but convincing my less-than-helpful-with-my-daughter husband is another story...
Can you do a trial run or two (or five) with your husband?
Perhaps have him take a few day trips with his daughter to a town a few hours away and spend the entire day with her at a crowded festival with thousands of other people, where he is waiting in lines for an hour for a few minute ride, and she does not get her regular food or nap? I bet after just one day trip, where he is on his own, he will change his mind.
Can't you just visit your friends and enjoy a relaxing time at their rented house?
The first time we took our son to WDW, he was 2 - went with my parents as it was their treat. My husband and I had very low expectations of the trip since he thought he would be too young to enjoy it, but we were pleasantly surprised. Some contributing factors that led to making it a successful trip: we only had 2-3 theme park days over a full week, did a lot of low key things that didn't involve going to the parks, didn't put a lot of pressure on ourselves to "have" to go see/do lots of stuff, went during "low season," stayed on Disney property walking distance from the MK (Bay Lake Tower/Contemporary), and had grandparents along to help. FWIW, my son's two favorite things from that trip were meeting characters and riding the monorail. We could have done both without having to pay for admission to the parks (meeting characters in the form of a character meal at the hotel). I also think he had just as much fun seeing Disney on Ice a few months later, when all three of us were able to go to the performance for less than the cost of a one day one park ticket.
Given your situation, I'd take Girl's advice and only spend maybe a day at the parks and spend the rest of your time doing low key, non-park stuff at Disney. There's a lot of it, and I think you'll have more fun that way.
Go in there with this mindset OP, and you will be fine. It's good advice. Don't force too much on her. She will appreciate the little things. That's one of the best things about Disney- being able to see it through a child's eyes. And like the poster above says, the monorail is one of the best things
Hard to say without knowing the kids. My 4 year old did 3 days and was just fine. It's always nice to have some down time to just hang at the pool, too. I wouldn't attempt all 4 parks in any less than 4 days.
When we went when my kids were 4 and 7, I was worried about how my 4 year old would do. But actually she did great. I rented a stroller for her which was really helpful, and we had a fun week. We generally went to a park in the morning, then came back for a rest and a nap in the afternoon, and then did something else in the evening. At first my 4 year old was afraid to go on any rides, even the slow little boat rides, but eventually she warmed up to it and went on several rides. She also enjoyed meeting characters and seeing shows. We went to all 4 parks and MK was not the only park they liked. They liked the shows at AK and HS a lot. We are going back to Disney this year and now the kids will be 7 and 10. Both kids ask me if we will do X or Y again, so they clearly remember our last visit very well. The top things on their list to do again are Soarin' (Epcot), Small World (MK), and Fantasmic (HS). I also agree that DISboards is the place to go for research.
I had fun when I did Disney but I was older than 3.
Now that you have explained a few things about your situation, it may not be wise to do a full park day at Disney with your daughter at this time. The parks can get crowded (the crowds will build steadily as May goes on as kids will be getting out of school and the Memorial Day holiday approaches). There is a lot of walking (although she will probably be in a stroller), it's hot, and she may not be able to go on many rides. If she is not completely toilet trained, you will spend time waiting on line to use the rest room to change her. If she is timid, she might be overwhelmed by all the people and different things to look at, And keep in mind that for some children, meeting a Mickey Mouse that is about 6 ft tall can be scary if they are used to seeing him only on television where he is much smaller.
You know your daughter best, If you think that she will become upset and overwhelmed at Disney, offer to go in the late afternoon/early evening. The crowds will be less, it's a little cooler and she will still be able to see things. There are plenty of other things to do in Florida that don't involve Disney which might be better suited to your child's personality at this time. If your hosts insist that you have to do Disney, go early, leave early and return as some people have suggested.
I really appreciate your honest opinion and I agree with you 100%. Here's the situation: We moved to Florida from Connecticut 10 months ago. Many people are surprised that we have not visited Disney yet, but I feel that my daughter is still very young. She just turned 3 and is a young 3 year-old - not potty trained, very timid and small. (She was a 4lb premie, spent time in NICU and had some health issues early in life). Our very good friends from CT are renting a large house in Orlando for a week. They have a lot more money than we do and have an extra 2 bedrooms and they offered to put us up for free. More than anything, I really want to just spend time with them, but they want to do Disney. We really don't have a lot of money to spend, which is why we are not staying the whole week. I just want it to be the most enjoyable visit possible (for everyone). Now that we live in Florida, we absolutely plan to spend more time at Disney in the future, when my daughter is older, and we have a little more money to spend. Thank you very for your helpful and truthful advice!
okay. I totally understand. At 3 she will be overwhelmed and probably cranky, and not being potty trained is going to be rough on you but I understand why you feel the need to go to Disney.
When my grandkids went to Disney at the same time they were all different ages so their parents had no choice but to go their own way. The older kids didn't want to do the 'baby' rides or exhibits so the parents couldn't even stay together. They met up for lunch but that's about it. Are their kids the same age as your daughter?
If not,
Any chance you could get a babysitter? Or would your husband be agreeable to staying home with her? She's not going to remember being there anyway.
As an adult, I actually enjoyed a lot of the things Disney offered so you'd probably have an enjoyable time there too but I think you'd have a better time without your daughter there.
All three of our kids made their first trip to Disney at around the age of 3. They get free admission under 3 (but nobody asks for proof), so it isn't a big financial loss if they don't remember the experience. Mine loved it. Just settle on a few rides suitable for that age, and keep your expectations low. May is a great month, at least until the Memorial Day weekend. You'll have school groups, but fewer families vying for rides.
The stroller is so useful for carrying gear, I used one for longer than my kids' ages would indicate a need.
Disney can be wonderful, and meeting the princess characters can be very sweet. It's very magical for a three year old if you do it right.
I suggest using an app to show you the wait times at rides, familiarize yourself with the Disney maps, and show up early for rope drop. You will do more before 10:30 than can be done in a full day if you arrive later. Then leave so she can nap, and return in the evenings. It's not terribly crowded early or late. It's most crowded mid day.
Book your Fast Pass Plus for the things your daughter must do. If she loves characters, try to book a character meal.
I suggest one day at the Magic Kingdom and one for Epcot, or both days at MK. I would skip Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
Use an umbrella stroller, especially at Epcot.
I think this is the best advice on the thread. You can have fun with a 3 year old, just try to keep your expectations realistic and know that it's better to enjoy a small number of attractions rather than trying to do too much. yes, it's quite expensive and no, your daughter won't really remember. But you will have photos and esp. as she gets older and does remember more, you can reinforce the memories of this first trip for her.
allears.net and disboards.com are both very helpful sites.
My in laws used to live in Orlando. We took our 1st there at 7 months old and had a great day with him. We were there from 9-5. He napped in his stroller and we just walked around and rode rides while he napped. We did the shows, the birds, the bear jamboree, monorail ride and did the boat ride around Tom Sawyer's island. There is a lot to do and see for a 3 year old. Don't forget the parades!There's Dumbo's ride and there's also the train that takes you from one side of the park to the other. There's the people mover too in Tomorrowland. We did a character lunch when my son was a baby but it was a buffet. Not worth it at all. I can't eat $35 worth of food. I think they have some other character meals that aren't buffets but the reservations open up 90 days before and most of them are most likely booked.
We ate at the Starlight Cafe in September and they have uncrustables, chicken nuggets, fruit (apples) and drinks for kids. As everyone said, don't have high expectations follow her lead she may surprise you. We did Sea World when he was 11 months old and he survived the day as well and did just fine. He did not like getting wet at Shamu's show though. It made him really mad.
We didn't spend a lot of money either when we went for the two days it was about $280 for 4 people for 3 meals a day and drinks and some cold treats (as it was really hot).
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