Traveling with a toddler can be tough or extremely easy. For months leading up to our Disney trip we seeked out advice from anywhere we could get it. We asked friends, we searched the internet, we looked over numerous packing lists. We changed our plans again and again. We took what we already knew about the parks and we made a plan.
Day one in Disney those plans went out the window. We stuck with the plan in the morning and had a very whinny two year old. She was scared to death of Mickey and Minnie. We probably should not have been first in line to meet him. She didn’t want to stand in the longest line ever at the bakery. When our morning plans were over, we threw out the rest of our ideas (minus our dinner reservation) and just went with what Belle wanted. From that moment on our trip was a breeze. No melt downs, no tantrums, no whining, and barely and crying. I won’t say she didn’t cry, she is two.
You don’t know how your child is going to react to Disney until you actually get there and they are taking it all in. We planned to go back the room midday every day so Belle could take a nap. Instead our child happily slept in her stroller. On our first day in the Magic Kingdom she zonked out in her stroller. I found a quiet shady place near Space Mountain where my mom and The Hubs got in line. We didn’t have fastpasses which was fine. They waited in the standby line and it gave more time for us to just sit and Belle to sleep. We did a combination of staying the parks and heading back to the room. She napped in her stroller at MK, Epcot, and HS. We left HS midday and headed back to the room when she ended up just swimming. AK is a half day park for us, not even so she didn’t nap but took a good nap back at the room.
Belle isn’t a fan of fireworks and since she is scared of the characters we skipped the fireworks and the parades. Well, we tried to skip fireworks. We got stuck in gridlock on our way out of the MK on our first night and couldn’t get out. No one was moving. The fireworks started at that point, and guess what Belle feel asleep during them. This wasn’t the only time either.
When it came to rides we followed Belle’s cues. If she wanted to ride the carousel for the 500th time, we rode it again. We did take her on all the rides we wanted to do. She wasn’t too big of a fan of the dark rides but she did them and got better with them by the end of the week. If you know that your child isn’t got to like a ride and will most likely have to leave during it (Mickey’s Philharmagic comes to mind here) take my advice, go with your gut feeling. Don’t do it. Especially if you get stuck in the middle of the row with a crying scared kid. The people aren’t going to like you stepping on their toes to get out.
Utilize fastpasses and baby swap. If there is a ride you both want to do, get a child swap. Much easier and quicker. Fastpasses to avoid waiting in long lines. We planned all our meals ahead of time and booked them at the 180 day mark. We only had one bad meal. It wasn’t the food it was the experience. And basically it came down to a lot of unfortunate circumstances that lead to me and Belle and not eating and me sitting outside the restaurant with Belle. Anyways, we planned our meals ahead of time and we picked normal dinner times. For breakfast we booked for as early we could, and dinner was usually when the restaurant opened for dinner. It worked to keep her on a normal eating schedule since we knew we were not going to stick to our bed time.
Find the baby care centers in each park and use them. It’s a nice quiet place to change diapers, or nice clean bathrooms for the potty trained. There are high chairs and toddler sized chairs and tables for snack time. Books, a TV and couches for quiet time. Take advantage of these. Have an infant with you? There is a small kitchen for making formula or food and I think there are rooms for breastfeeding. Not positive since I didn’t need it. It is so much cleaner then the changing diapers in the bathrooms around the parks and you don’t have to wait in line for the one changing table or shelf in the public restrooms. We used both since there is only one baby care center in each park and sometimes it wasn’t feasible to get to it. They both worked fine, but I much preferred the baby care centers.
And most importantly just have fun. Don’t stress about seeing everything. It’s not going to happen, even if you didn’t have a toddler with you. Don’t push them to do more than they can. If you are going with a toddler I am guessing this isn’t your once in a lifetime trip. It will be there when you go back. Take time to enjoy these moments. And live Disney through your child’s eyes. It is the most amazing feeling to see Disney through their eyes. When Fantasy is still very much real.
