Tips for Taking Kids to Disney World
Parents planning their child’s first trip to Walt Disney World often have a lot of questions, as visiting Walt Disney World with kids is uncharted territory that can be intimidating. This guide answers some of those questions with helpful advice to avoid mistakes and common planning pitfalls. (Updated December 17, 2023.)
Let’s start with the latest update, which comes as we’re reviewing this guide for the first time as parents ourselves. When we last covered this topic ~5 years ago, we were the dreaded Disney Adults without kids. The tips & tricks were written based on a mixture of firsthand experiences with friends and their kids, seeing families meltdown in certain scenarios, and reader feedback. The goal was fresh advice from an outsider perspective.
Admittedly, we’ve long worried that some of the strategy here would come back to haunt us. That our expectations would be unrealistic or idealized. As we now look update this after visiting Disney(land) for the first time with our baby–while planning her first Walt Disney World trip–most of the recommendations here still strike us as pretty reasonable. Perhaps we’ll feel differently in the future, though!
Since there are gaps in our knowledge concerning visiting Walt Disney World with kids, we’ve enlisted the help of our brilliant and attractive readers, who provided us over 100 tips for traveling to Walt Disney World with kids. You can find their quotes scattered throughout the article. The great thing about these quotes is that they often provide a sharp contrast to our opinions (and one another)–even parents can’t seem to agree on things–so they provide multiple perspectives from which you can determine what will work best for you.
This guide is meant to supplement other guides (including our own Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide) and provide a reasonably informed (hopefully) perspective parents might not otherwise hear. All in all, we think this is a pretty decent resource to read as you plan that trip with the kids to Walt Disney World!
We’ll be back for far more comprehensive updates after we have baby’s first trip to Walt Disney World under our belts. And probably many more times in the years to come as we make mistakes and learn from them. For now, here are some things that we think are good to know before your first visit with children.
Attitude
The biggest piece of advice we can offer is to know your limitations. We’ve seen this scenario time and time again, in a variety of forms: parent pushes kid’s limits in one way or another, and everyone has a bad time. For many families, Walt Disney World trips with are a once in a lifetime thing, and a rite of passage for the kids.
We understand that these trips are really expensive, and with that comes higher stakes and more pressure to “make as much magic” for the kid as possible. Our strong advice–and this goes equally for couples or solo travelers–is to disabuse yourself of this notion. Think about the money when budgeting, but once it’s already spent, think about the trip only in terms of enjoyment.
Kids get cranky after too much stimulation. Everyone knows that. However, adults can too. Parental crankiness manifests itself in a variety of ways, but the unseen way is the most common: in the stubbornness of wanting to keep pushing when they normally would not in “normal” parent mode.
This in turn causes crankiness in the child who is beyond their breaking point, which in turns causes more crankiness in the parent, who keeps thinking about how much the trip cost, and how much fun they “need” to “make” their kids have. It’s a vicious cycle, and before you know it, there’s a full-blown meltdown.
As a parent, attitude is everything. Don’t go into the trip with the expectation that you need to do 17 attractions per day and must have X, Y, and Z done before 11:30 am. There is no magic number of rides for a great and memorable trip. Four hours per day of quality time in the parks is better than 2 hours of quality time and 6 hours of miserable time.
If you’ve been to Walt Disney World before having kids, don’t expect to go at your old pace or to do the same things you once did. The trade-off for seeing the magic through your children’s eyes as they light up with joy upon meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time is that you can’t do marathon hours in the park (unless you bring grandparents!).
Approaching the trip with realistic expectations and a positive attitude is the most important element of planning a trip to Walt Disney World with kids. A plan of attack for hitting rides in the most efficient order is a great thing to have (as you’ll read below), but parents should be prepared to abandon those plans immediately once the kids on the trip are beginning to approach that wall.
What Age is Right
One of the most common questions when planning a child’s first trip to Walt Disney World is: “what age is right?” This is a loaded question that really depends on your circumstances.
For many adults who take their really young children, the experience is not about the memories of the kids, but for the parents. It’s about watching their kid’s face light up as they touch Eeyore for the first time, or it’s about getting that first photo in front of Cinderella Castle. Obviously, infants are not going to remember any of that. But they’ll be indelible memories for the parents.
Our advice here would be not to let other people talk you out of the decision you’ve already made concerning when is right for that first trip. It seems like a lot of parents find themselves thinking that they want to take a trip with their toddler for whatever reason, and then turn to other people, almost as if they want to be talked out of the crazy idea.
In this area of planning, your individual instincts and gut feeling should trump all else. If you want to wait until the kids are old enough to walk, wait. If you want to take them as soon as it’s safe (experts advise that you limit a newborn’s exposure to large groups of people so that they don’t get sick, so they’re the only group we’d rule out definitively as being “not” the right age), more power to you. You know what you want more than I know what you want.
Since this section is more or less, “when to go to Disney World with kids,” we’ll lump time of year in here too. If possible, don’t go when school is out of session–especially if your kids aren’t yet in school. There are actually two reasons for this, the first of which should be pretty obvious and intuitive.
Walt Disney World’s key demographic is families, and school breaks are the time when that demo is most inclined to visit. This actually is not quite as bad as you might expect in summer. Many families do take vacations to Walt Disney World from late May through mid-August, but since that’s a multi-month break, the attendance and crowds are diluted.
By contrast, the weeklong or shorter breaks are far worse–especially when everyone is out of school at the same time. There’s only one Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and so forth. Even fall break and spring break occur for many school districts around the same time, so those weeks and long weekends are bad. This is to say nothing of the many lesser known holidays or breaks that have an outsized impact on crowds. Things like Presidents’ Day, Mardi Gras, Jersey Week, etc. Suffice to say, see our 2024 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars.
The underappreciated component of this is weather. Summer is the worst time to visit Walt Disney World not because of crowds, which are “only” above-average, but because of crowds plus the worst weather of the year. The heat and humidity makes those congestion and crowds feel so much worse. Even the late summer and early fall off-season, which has the lowest crowds of the entire year, is arguably not worth it due to the weather.
This could all probably be reduced to “comfort.” Lower crowds means greater comfort, as does better weather. Less comfort increases the chances of a meltdown, whereas the opposite is true of more comfort. Everyone should optimize for comfort–minimizing crowds and maximizing weather to the greatest extent possible. That’s even more true for families with small children, who are more meltdown-prone. See our list of the 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 & 2025 for the sweet (and not-so-sweet) spots.
Where to Stay
Where to stay really depends upon personal preference. Common advice for families is to stay at the most compact hotel in each price tier. This means French Quarter out of the Moderates, Contemporary out of the Deluxes, and All Star Music out of the Values. The advantages are more pronounced at French Quarter and the compact Deluxes than they are at All Star Music–pretty much all of the Values are equal in size.
Other families may want to stay at resorts with interior hallways (Deluxe Resorts plus Art of Animation suites and Gran Destino Tower). Some may want to avoid resorts without elevators (Caribbean Beach and Port Orleans Riverside). Then there are the resorts with internal bus loops and multiple stops, which is related to sprawling size but slightly different.
Speaking of which, transportation is really a big one. We strongly favor resorts that offer non-bus transportation to at least 2 parks. Typically, this means the Magic Kingdom area (monorail loop, boats, walkways), Crescent Lake/EPCOT area (boats, walkways, Skyliner) or Skyliner gondola resorts.
Buses are the least-predictable or reliable form of Walt Disney World transportation, and being able to use non-bus transportation can make things easier on families. Less stress with strollers, lower commute times, and a greater likelihood of actually taking a midday break. (This is advice that is not unique to families with kids, but it’s more pronounced for them.)
Resort pools should also be a consideration, as midday breaks at the pool seem to be popular and well-remembered by kids. See what pool theme appeals most (the best pool by far is Storm-Along Bay at the Yacht and Beach Club) to your kids, and factor that in the decision.
Picking the “right” hotel seems to be one of those “YMMV” things. Different themes will appeal to different families. You might not mind being farther from the parks, or relying on bus transportation. But over the years, we’ve receive a ton of feedback from parents who think the spread out resorts are awful because of how inconvenient they are to navigate with kids. In any case, see our Rankings of All Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World from Worst to Best for recommendations of where to stay for all parties and travel styles.
Where to Eat
Certain restaurants are more fun for kids. Namely, restaurants with cool and kid-friendly themes. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater ranks at the top of this list. I still remember eating here as a kid, although I don’t really remember any other restaurant (besides Hoop De Doo Revue, and that’s only because we went there every year, so something was bound to stick to my memory). Our list of the Best Themed Restaurants at Walt Disney World is a great resource for making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs).
We have a List of Best Character Meals at Walt Disney World, and we’d strongly recommend booking at least one meal at these far in advance of your trip. This is a great climate-controlled way to meet several characters, and eat while doing so. Kill two birds with one stone. (For some families, character dining experiences are the highlight of the trip–they do one every single day!)
Our other recommendation for places that many families should avoid is Signature Restaurants. These restaurants do allow children, and a lot of parents bring their kids to the restaurants. However, they’re upscale restaurants that definitely skew towards adults, with adult ambiance, adult cuisine, and adult prices.
If your kids are often loud or unruly during dinner, it’s probably not the best of ideas to bring them to these restaurants. We mention this because a lot of “for kids” guides written by actual parents try to justify taking any children to these restaurants with the mentality that “it’s Disney World, the place was made for kids, they are okay ANYWHERE.”
Speaking for the adults without kids who form the main clientele of Signature Restaurants: this isn’t true. Walt Disney World is not solely “for kids” (there are tons of convention-goers, honeymooners, businesspeople, couples, etc.) and other patrons will be irritated by the presence of unruly children during their nice, expensive meal.
Not only that, but you’ll probably be less comfortable and feel out-of-place at a Signature Restaurant if your children are unruly. The meal is pricey and neither the menu nor the atmosphere are aimed at families. Frankly, it’s hard to see how this is more enjoyable than just eating at a more family-friendly restaurant.
However, it’s important to emphasize that this pertains to unruly children. If your kids are well behaved, by all means take them to any restaurant (besides Victoria & Albert’s, where they flat out are prohibited). It might be an expensive way to feed kids, but there’s not necessarily a problem with taking them. Other people won’t give side-eye at the mere presence of children–only misbehaving ones.
As for counter service restaurants, most places in Walt Disney World have pretty tame options that will appeal to children. World Showcase in Epcot is a notable exception to this, but that’s really about it. Otherwise, almost every counter service restaurant at Walt Disney World will offer something that’s suitable for even the pickiest of eaters.
Our final recommendation with dining is to go early to avoid the crowds. We recommend everyone do this, but it’s especially important with kids. Some restaurants get really busy around noon, to the point where it can be difficult to find a table. Juggling the kids and trays of food during these times can be difficult (we’ve seen plenty of families struggle with it), and it’s just much easier when things aren’t so busy. The opening times for restaurants varies, but most start serving lunch at 10:30 am or 11 am.
Attractions
The salient recommendation here is to not take kids on rides that they’re not ready to experience. For starters, read our Disney Parks Ride Guides that describe, rate, and provide other info for each ride. Beyond that…how can you know whether they’re ready? Well, the best way is to gauge their reactions or what they say when they approach an attraction.
Lots of kids are scared at the prospect of the Haunted Mansion, and just because a Cast Member tells you that it’s mostly comical ghosts doesn’t mean your kids will pick up on that nuance of the attraction. To them it might be the case that a ghost is a ghost is a ghost, and all are equally scary. You may also find they’re scared of things that seem innocuous.
Kids won’t even be able to ride some attractions due to height, and you should not attempt to circumvent these rules to get your child on an attraction before they’re the appropriate height. Those restrictions are not arbitrary–they’re for the sake of safety.
It also important to remember that height is no guarantee that a child will enjoy an attraction. It seems like everyday we’re in Walt Disney World, we see parents trying to coax their kids to “be brave” and go on a particular attraction. This probably stems from the mentality that the vacation was expensive, and parents want to get their money’s worth.
Also don’t be surprised if these fears change and “evolve.” One day they might be fine with Haunted Mansion or whatever attraction, the next day they may not. Just roll with it. Heck, if they are reluctant to go on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, don’t force them. Some of these fears might defy logic, but it is what it is.
If the attraction is going to traumatize the child and make them nervous about experiencing subsequent attractions with which they otherwise wouldn’t have had an issue, what is gained by forcing them to “be brave”? Nothing. Their memories of the trip will form around those negative experiences, and there will be issues for the rest of the day or rest of the trip. So why force it?
The rationale kids have for wanting to do or not wanting to do things perplexes even the smartest scientists, so there’s no sense trying to rationalize or reason with them about experiencing an attraction. Karin J. offers solid advice in this regard: “Do not take young children on attractions they aren’t ready for. I’ve heard many stories from others who did that and it can ruin the trip, because the child is miserable and then can be fearful of everything afterward. Test them with tamer rides first if young and see what they like and can handle.”
Of course, you know your kids better than a guide written by some stranger, and there’s always the chance that your kids have initial hesitation but are typically fine once they actually engage in the experience. If you know this to be the case with your kids, disregard the above advice, and encourage them to go on attractions about which they’re nervous. But if you don’t know, and find yourself just pushing them because you want to do as much as possible, rethink the strategy.
As for what attractions are best for kids, that depends on the kid. We’ve seen kids like and dislike just about every attraction at Walt Disney World, and any list you see elsewhere is going to be based on what the list writer’s kids enjoy. Their kids aren’t your kids.
I absolutely loved Country Bear Jamboree as a child (and still love it), but I read parents all the time who call it a snoozer that puts their kids to sleep. What different people and kids enjoy may be shocking. Erin S. illustrates this point with her daughter: “You can’t plan for everything, so be prepared to go with the flow. Who knew my daughter’s fave ride would be the transportation bus?”
To get an idea of what your kids will like in advance, we recommend watching YouTube attraction ride through videos; just search for the attraction name plus “ride-through” and you’ll find plenty of results. You might even watch these with your kids so you can see their reaction to specific attractions (like we said above, they may be scared by things that surprise you and they may like things that you thought would’ve scared them).
It’s also important to remember that, for kids, character meet & greets are an important part of the experience. Doing a character meal can be a great way to see several characters without waiting in line, and while eating in the air conditioning. We highly recommend character meals. If you don’t want to do character meals, indoor meet & greets are typically better options.
Chris T. has a recommendation for meet and greets that proved polarizing: “Skip the stupid autograph books. If you have an outgoing child who’s not afraid to talk, get them to interact with the characters. They’ll have a lot more fun.”
Like so many things, we disagree with this as one-size-fits-all advice. For some kids, the autograph book might be a conduit for an interaction that they might’ve not had otherwise. For more social kids, the autograph book might be wholly unnecessarily–and prevent an organic interaction. (One thing we do recommend in our Unique Packing List for Walt Disney World is an autograph book replacement.)
No matter how much you prep yourself and them, there’s always the possibility (nay, probability) that your kids will surprise you once you visit. To this day I remember being scared senseless by the Universe of Energy as a child and hiding on the floor of the ride vehicle when I saw the dinosaurs…and I loved dinosaurs as a child. This was no fault of my parents, but it made for a bad experience that I still remember. Unpredictable things like this happen, and the best you can do is damage control once they do happen.
Plan of Attack
If you’re like my dad, you teach your children life lessons through maxims and colloquialisms. A popular one is always “the early bird gets the worm.” A trip to Walt Disney World is a great time to really hammer this one home. (Okay, maybe not in the sense that the trip is really the time for teaching them life lessons, but you should follow it on the trip.)
Tackling Walt Disney World with kids is so much easier if you’re up early and to the parks before they open. Ideally, you want to arrive 15-30 minutes before official opening time, and you want to have a plan of attack for at least your early morning. If you’re eligible for Early Entry, you absolutely want to take advantage of that.
Usually this will involve experiencing several attractions in Fantasyland, most of which are quickly experienced and can get long lines later in the day. In these cases, the difference between being to the park at 8:30 am versus 10:30 am can be a 5 minute wait for Peter Pan’s Flight versus a 60 minute wait. The importance of arriving early cannot be understated.
We’d also recommend reading itineraries in advance of your trips and making some notes. However, we do not recommend creating binders, spreadsheets, and scheduling every step of their day. People get serious and obsessive about this, which is a mistake. (See above about parental expectations leading to meltdowns.) The best laid plans often go awry, and when that inevitably happens (and it absolutely will if you’re traveling with small children), it can be disappointing if you’ve over-planned.
As with most things in life, balance and moderation are key. We have the following flexible step by step plans for each park that cover our perfect days using standby-only:
- 1-Day Magic Kingdom Park Itinerary
- 1-Day Epcot Itinerary Park Itinerary
- 1-Day Animal Kingdom Park Itinerary
- 1-Day Hollywood Studios Park Itinerary
Do NOT expect to stick to these plans if you have small children. Use those as a broad strokes outline, not as a strict schedule. Kids may become tired, irritated, or they may spontaneously see something they really, really want to do. We’re not suggesting that you should always let kids call the shots, but at Walt Disney World…there are a lot of circumstances where you should let kids call the shots.
It may sting to skip your Lightning Lane return time for Frozen Ever After because your kid can’t get enough of the interactive water in Moana’s Journey of Water, but don’t fight it. Embrace the joy and spontaneity–forcing them to stop having fun to do a “higher-priority” ride likely won’t end well.
This was advice multiple parents shared with us, and the recurring theme of this advice was that it’s important to slow down and not over-plan. Sharlene M. said this: “The youngest member of your group is always going to determine your touring style. Slow down, take a nap, and keep them on as close to their normal schedule as possible, especially for meals. You will have a better trip and everyone else will too. A melt down is no fun for anyone.”
Beyond arriving early and having a loose plan, you may want to consider using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Genie can be confusing, but everything you NEED to know, including ride priorities, where it’s NOT necessary to buy Genie+ or Lightning Lanes, and much more is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World. We do not recommend using Genie+ every day or for every park.
Another similar time-saving option is the Rider Switch Pass (more commonly known as a “Child Swap”), which can be obtained from Cast Members outside attractions with height limits. This pass allows one parent to stay with the kids who don’t meet the height requirement for an attraction while the other parent (or group of above-height people) waits with the kids. When the riding parent/group is done, the waiting parent/group can use the Lightning Lane.
Midday breaks are another popular recommendation, and these are something we advise taking advantage of for both parents and non-parents. The middle of the day is not only the busiest time at the parks, but it’s the hottest, too! A midday break allows you to return for nighttime fun, so definitely leave the park during the middle of the day.
When it comes to a “plan” for preserving memories, Karin J. reminds families that photo time should be early in the day on the plan: “Take pictures early in the day when the kids are happy and not worn out…have a current photo that shows exactly what they’re wearing if you get separated during the day.”
Strollers
Even now, we have a knowledge gap here. Even though we own a stroller, we’ve never used it. (Well, aside from “practice” runs.) We use a BabyBjörn Baby Carrier everywhere–including during day trips to Disneyland. We are huge fans/advocates of baby-wearing, and hope to continue doing so for as long as possible, and avoiding strollers to the greatest practical extent.
It may be impractical to baby-wear for a weeklong trip to Walt Disney World, especially during hotter times of the year. The jury is still out on that for us. While we love the idea of not taking or using a stroller, and having to deal with folding it up on crowded buses, parking, navigating through crowds, etc., it simply may not be reasonable to baby-wear all day every day during the heat and humidity from April through October.
With that in mind, we are of the opinion that strollers are often a necessity. The parks are huge and small children simply cannot be expected to traverse World Showcase or Animal Kingdom without some assistance. However, strollers might be overused.
When you look back at photos of Walt Disney World from past decades, you notice far fewer strollers. This isn’t because more children are visiting now–it’s because a greater segment of children are using strollers. When visiting the international parks, we’ve noticed shockingly lower use of strollers by guests. There are still strollers, but not nearly as many. Part of this might be due to the active lifestyles of Europeans and Asians as compared to Americans, but that’s just a guess.
Anyway, our first piece of advice when advance planning would not be to plan on renting a stroller for older kids, but would instead be to work on increasing their stamina before the trip. Strollers are just as much a hassle as they are a convenience, so why take one if you really don’t need it? Of course, this won’t be practical advice for everyone, and we recognize that.
Reader Rhonda B. agrees: “Have your child walk. We took our children to Disney back in the days when children were not obese, went outside to play, and exercised. They were 2 and 4 years old….now 22 and 24 (currently a cast member). My youngest, age 2, did just fine.”
However, not everyone agrees. “Rent a stroller! Even for your kids that have outgrown them…Something that’s comfortable for the kids, we had an lightweight break and had to call Orlando Stroller Rentals they got us one that day. Amazing. It cost the same as our stroller we bought and it was a double, had lots of room for bag and a big sun shade,” says Jill M.
It’s about a 50/50 split as to whether you should bring a stroller or rent one at Walt Disney World. Megan R. shared this: “TAKE your own stroller! Totally not a hassle in the airport (can be gate checked for free) and so much nicer and cheaper than renting the plastic ones from Disney.”
On the other side, many parents recommend renting a stroller because what you’ll want at Walt Disney World might differ from what you’d normally use at home. Again, a YMMV situation. The overwhelming recommendation other parents shared with us was to use an umbrella stroller.
Dawn B. said this: “When my boys were younger, we always brought umbrella strollers (if it reclines for naps, that’s a bonus–not all umbrella’s recline). The umbrella stroller was nice because it folds easily for bus rides to parks and helps save grown ups from carrying little ones from the parking lot into the park.”
Kayla E. shared a few additional tips: “Bring a poncho or rain cover for your stroller…if you’re in a ride or eating when an afternoon rainstorm breaks out, that will help. Tie a scarf, balloon, something identifying on stroller. It will probably be moved from the time you park it to picking it up.” She further added, “think in advance how you’ll ride the bus. If you have two or more kids, a stroller, and a few bags, boarding the bus can be a mess.
Know how to fold the stroller, and if you can, fold it before the bus arrives, not as you’re stepping aboard. The bus advice is something to consider when deciding which stroller to use in the parks. On the one hand, a Cadillac-sized stroller can be nice to use, but the drawback is transporting it when there aren’t kids in it, which can really be a pain. Weigh the pros and the cons before settling on one stroller.
Enhancing the Magic!
A lot of people look for little ways to make the trip more “magical” for their kids. We’d advise parents not to fret too much about adding more “magic” for the kids, as it seems more likely to put pressure on the adults than to really result in that much of an enhanced experience for the kids. Really, if you’re a kid at Walt Disney World, that’s already about as magical as it gets.
There are ways to make the trip more “interactive” for the kids. Ben H. summarizes some of our favorites: “Hidden Mickey books go over well, too. And prizes to daily winners, if you can afford. The books have different Mickeys at different point values, as do the apps! Disposable cameras are an inexpensive way to let a kid be a photographer without risking their iPod Touch or your iPhone to damage. Zip-top bags are a must for electronics… they’ve saved my butt more than once in a surprise rain storm!”
Buying Disney pins in advance of the trip to trade with Cast Members was another piece of popular advice. Here’s what Bernadette G. had to say: “Pin trading was a huge hit for our three kids (teen through six year old) on our first trip to WDW last year – great for helping shy ones muster up the courage to interact with cast members, etc. I second (third?) buying them in advance on ebay – we doled them out a bit at a time over the vacation to spread out the fun.”
The over-arching advice regarding souvenirs is to always buy before leaving home, as things are much more expensive in the parks. Rosalie gives another example: “Bring your own costumes, never buy them at the parks. Buy your Princess dresses right on or immediately after halloween from Disney.com, they will be on sale, or wait for any of the numerous sales shopDisney.com has. Never pay full price, if you like it, wait and it will go on sale.”
A recommendation of something that might make the trip a little more special for parents is shared by Darleen L., who writes: “Many people don’t know about the Main Street Barber Shop. It is NOT just there for looks/atmosphere. They do an AMAZING “baby’s first haircut” there! By amazing, I mean, take your tissue and camera!”
Another miscellaneous tip comes from Sara S., who recommends taking a lot of photos (we agree!): “Another tip that was great for our family is take pictures of everything. My husband loves photography and snaps pictures constantly. It’s not uncommon for him to take over 6,000 in a 10 day trip…. He took tons of shots of our kids, but also took lots and lots of pictures of the parks themselves. There are so many details that I missed because I was so busy looking down at our youngest. I was so grateful to have to pictures when I came home, even the ones that were a little out of focus!”
We’ll close out this article with perhaps the best piece of advice and something that’s always worth remembering from reader Anthony G., who writes, “BE A KID TOO! All the prep tips are awesome. But enjoying Disney with your kids as a kid is the best part of going to Disney with Kids!”
We agree. A trip to Walt Disney World with kids can seem overwhelming and it might sound like a lot can go wrong…but way more can go right than can go wrong. Roll with the punches and remember to lighten up and have fun!
As our own experience increases, we’ll undoubtedly be back with many (many) more pieces of advice. For now, if you need personalized help with planning any aspect of your vacation—we recommend contacting a no fee “Authorized Disney Vacation Planner” (Disney’s term for a travel agent) to get a quote and to help you plan. They get their commission from Disney, so none of the authorized (key word) planners will charge you for booking their trip and helping. Here’s one such recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What tips do you parents think are most important? Which advice we shared do you agree with? Where do you disagree? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’ve had a lot of people ask me (a childless adult, with 1 trip with a nephew under her belt, so my advice can be taken with a grain of salt) about the age thing, and I always suggest a milestone rather than concrete ages. My nephew has some developmental disabilities, so he was still potty training/diapering at age 5 and doing the bathroom thing in the parks was often an ordeal. My advice for a smoother trip is always: When they can toilet alone. They don’t have to be old enough to GO INTO the washroom alone, because that’s a much bigger step, but if they can reliably wipe their own bottom and pull up their own pants, they’re a good age to take.
Like yourselves, we’ve recently been blessed with a miracle. She will be 8 months for her first Disney World trip. We are flying internationally into MCO and NOT bringing a car seat.
I’d be interested in any tips you have for transportation between the Airport and Disney Resorts.
Now that Magical Express is no more, would you still recommend Uber first (based on your transportation post), even if travelling with an infant?
Mears/Sunshine feels like it could be too long a wait/journey on a hot day…
Most Ubers are not going to have a car seat (I’m not sure it’s something you can even request). If having a car seat is important to you, then you will definitely need to book something ahead of time.
LOVE reading about your experiences with your new little one! So excited for you that you’ve discovered the joys of baby-wearing! Of course, things are different for everyone, but we often used an umbrella stroller with our first two in Disney and it was ok. When their little brother arrived I exclusively wore him, all day, in the ergo baby carrier, until he was two-ish. (He was let down to walk, too.) I liked the ergo for comfort and being able to face in or out, but everyone has a different preference. (I actually preferred the baby bjorn and then the Tula with my first two). Just wanted to offer support that baby wearing is amazing. I miss it now, and I love looking back at all the pictures of him in his carrier.
I just thought of one other benefit I loved about using a forward-facing carrier. Unless Disney has changed the rules, I could ride with my baby facing forward on any of the unrestricted height rides, without having to remove him from the carrier. It was so nice to just be able to stand in line, and hop on without fussing with getting settled (especially when trying to take care of the older two).
For younger children, they can not do a full Disney day from rope drop to park closing. Maybe one day yes, but this is not sustainable. When mine were elementary school age, we prioritized rope drop and would leave park for dinner and a swim back at the hotel. Now they are middle and high school mostly, we come to the park midday and stay until park closing. Consistent strategies help them with sleep and better attitudes and productivity while touring the parks. And you don’t miss out on those crucial first or last couple hours with lower wait times.
Another dissenter on the stroller here! We took our daughter in May when she was 4 and it was so hot out. At home she never used the stroller anymore so we didn’t even think of it. But that first day was so hot our daughter was very uncomfortable almost immediately and was walking so.slowly. I could tell it would be a long week so we rented a nice BOB stroller from Stroller Kingdom very last minute (they were great!)and it was a Godsend. We were driving to the parks and it helped so much schlepping ourselves and our stuff through the parking lots and as we crisscrossed the parks for our genie reservations. It allowed her a place to rest and the adults to even feel we had some alone time. I will always remember the time we were being ferried back to the Magic Kingdom for round two and my daughter napped in the cozy stroller as me husband and watched the sunset 🙂 that stroller saved our vacation!
I distinctly remember having nightmares as a kid after my mom forced me to go on the Jaws ride at Universal so I’m really careful about pushing our six year old son onto rides (We skipped Haunted Mansion). But I know he loves roller coasters so even though he was hesitant about going on Everest for the first time I did encourage him and he ended up loving it so much we rode it five times that day
Our son is very active at home but we still rented a stroller and it was a life saver. We did a 14 hour day in Magic Kingdom that never would have happened without the stroller. He loved every minute and it really wasn’t that much of a hassle.
Refillable popcorn buckets and bubble wands have prevented many a melt down especially when he was younger. We did save our bubble wand from last year and reused it.
Last year we tried watching the fireworks from Central Plaza and I’ll never do that again. Too much hassle and he ended up having to go to the bathroom right as the fireworks started so we missed them anyway as we rushed to the bathroom This year we skipped the fireworks (he doesn’t care about them anyway) and instead ride Mine Train during the fireworks. It was awesome.
We also really lucked out by getting to Animal Kingdom before Early Entry started and instead of heading to Pandora we headed to Everest and asking the way stumbled on Mickey and Minnie doing meet and greets and there was no one else around. New Core Memory seeing my son get to rush up straight to Mickey and give him a big hug ✨
Lots of good stuff here, especially ‘avoiding fireworks from Main Street.’
That’s something we advise in many other posts, but neglected to mention here. Probably should do a list of quick-hitting specific recommendations for things like that!
Looking back on several trips with my kids over the past 25 years I can say the biggest suggestion is staying on site. The very first time we stayed on site and it was great. It was before Disney became so outrageous in price. I just ran across our 1998 receipts and for 2 weeks for 4 staying at Port was 2,700(rounded). And that included the cruise for 3 days and park for 4 days. Then we added another week at the parks. So, as Disney price went up we stayed off site to save some money. It was just so hard with kids waiting for an off site shuttle or waiting for a tram to the parking lot, then driving to our hotel or condo. It also made it more difficult to take afternoon breaks which are an absolute must. Our kids, young and older, did so much better staying on site. The extra price to stay on site, say at POP, verse off site is worth it. We save money other ways so we stay on site.
Totally agree.
Even as Walt Disney World has gotten (much) more expensive, it really isn’t cheaper to stay off-site if you’re trying to do the trip as inexpensively as possible. Most of the budget off-site hotels are pretty close in price to the All Stars–and staying on-site is usually less expensive when you factor in off-site parking, transportation, etc.
This isn’t to say there aren’t better bang-for-buck accommodations off-site (there definitely are–especially larger or luxury ones). Just that trying to do things as cheaply and efficiently as possible still arguably favors on-site.
Umbrella stroller without question. When our kids were young we had a nice stroller we took with us. We got so tired of dealing with it in tight spaces and especially on busses, that we ended up buying a cheap umbrella stroller at our hotel (onsite of course) gift shop. OMG. What a difference. It saved the trip.
Another time we had a sit and stand stroller when we went when we had two kids. Big fail again. Ditched it and got another umbrella stroller. 2 umbrella strollers > sit and stand stroller.
You sacrifice some comfort for the kids and some ease of rolling with bigger wheels for mobility and lightness.
My best use-case of strollers at Disney long after my kids had otherwise graduated from them is the Hollywood Studios/Epcot walking path. So many memories of casually deciding at lunch time to leave HS and head to Spaceship Earth, pushing a double stroller. Sure, there is the option of taking the boat (and it’s a lovely ride), but the weather if fine and I am in the mood for a stroll. At some point before the first underpass, both kids have fallen asleep and now I have to make the critical decision – Epcot via Boardwalk or Beach Club? The boardwalk slats don’t wake up the kids, and they are still asleep after one loop around the World Showcase. I stop for a Grand Marnier Slushy, and am appreciative of the one-handed push of my double stroller while I get brain freeze and a nice happy glow.
Just got back from our annual trip last week. Kids are far too big for a stroller, and we had 3 amazing twelve-plus mile days. But we had to take the boat from HS to Epcot, to give their little legs a break. I miss those lovely walks, and I’m looking forward to the next milestone when the kids are old enough to ride the boats on their own while I race them on foot to the International Gateway.
Not really fair to call autograph books stupid. Kids love them, it’s about the kids. Leave your negativity elsewhere.
We are going to disney for first time the week of Christmas!! Any suggestions for how to do a Santa gift on Christmas for 8 and 10 year olds best way bring ahead or deliver? Any suggestions of must have things for a “gift box” I can make ahead and give them on the first day both girls? Thanks
For young children I highly recommend considering visiting Magic Kingdom when the sun sets early, like mid January into February. The fireworks are as early as 8:00 PM which was a much more pleasant and tolerable time for my little ones.
You forgot a crucial point that I at least couldn’t do without. Childcare, there are 4 playhouse/club you can drop off kids off for the evening. There’s even room-in sitters! Some are flat rate others are by the hour and some have discounts! I drop my kids off at least twice per week trip. Our schedule is go to opening until 3pm, leave, return later or daycare, be back at hotel by 9pm. Typically 3hr break from kids each drop off at the facility per night. Oh but the difference! That’s magic at bringing peace and smiles back….and strength for another long day. We also plan the middle day is always Fort Wilderness to chill.
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We took our son for the first time at almost 14 months. Planned the trip around his 1st Haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop. Booked character breakfasts each morning to keep his attention, best meal of the day. We took him on anything that was ‘any height’ and he did great. Rode Frozen in the dark and loved it, even put his hands up for the drop. You just need to know your child and slow down and enjoy it. The trip was actually more relaxing wit him, because we did go at a slower pace. Umbrella stroller and rain cover for the stroller was the best advice I received prior to going. Disney is great with requesting a crib in your room (we stayed at the Poly) and even came with spare sheets just in case. The Poly was great for an infant trip. Our room was in a building that was easy to push the stroller right out, catch the monorail, and be off to the parks. The kid pool area was awesome too, lots to look at and could wade in with my hubby. The park Baby Centers were awesome and great place to get out of the heat and change him. If you forgot something, you could purchase it there. We ate at nicer restaurants, but chose wisely. Boma (it was louder), Via Napoli pizza (lots to watch). Coral Reef was the only bad restaurant for us with him, dark and the aquarium did not keep his attention like we thought it would. He also did great at the Food & Wine festival, we just picked foods wisely from carts for him. We already have a trip to go back again this fall (age 2) and will probably do it each year with him. We all had a blast.
Tara,
I would love to hear how your trip went when your little one was 2. We are planning our first trip for our son when he hits 2 this November. I have planned it around what I think he will like, but it is always difficult to tell.
We took a 2 year old, and it was awesome. He was tall enough for Mine Train, and loved it, but his favorite was Buzz Lightyear. He loved all the Fantasy Land rides. We didn’t try the more frightening ride she like Pirates or Hainted Mansion until he was 3.
He did not like the character meal at Tuskerhouse House because it gets very loud in there, but he did fine at Crystal Palace. He loved all the rides and all sites and the fireworks (although he did wear some noise canceling headphones).
The key for us was heading back to the hotel for an afternoon nap each day. We then went out in the evenings, and he slept in the stroller if we stayed past bedtime.
You left out that very young children will annoy everyone on the airplane. Do yourself and everyone a favor, travel with kids when they are at least 6 years old and older.
Wow! I think you forgot that you were a child once. I’ve been traveling with my kids since they were infants. Seattle to Florida and we haven’t had one complaint. Bitter people annoy me.
My children are actually very well behaved on plans as they have been traveling since they were as young as two months old. Maybe you should find some compassion. And manners.
Wow did you really say that?
If people pay for a seat for their children they have as much right to be there as you. Get a grip, you were a child once to you know.
Trying to determine which of the Disney witches you resonate the best with. You do realize that there are a lot of 2-3 year olds better behaved than 6,7, and 8 year old. What am I saying… Of course you don’t know. No one wanted to have kids with you. Duh… Besides that normal human beings realize that humanity only continues if you have kids, and you can’t just completely stop living because you have kids. Think about what you are saying suppose I have 3 kids and 2 years between each kid. That would mean 10 years would have passed, before I could get on living my life again. That also means my oldest child wouldn’t be able to go to Disney until they were 10, once the “magic” is already starting to fade. Your just a selfish and narrow minded little thing. Do yourself and everyone a favor and never go to Disney World.
Wait which parks to see?
Magic Kingdom is a must and has a lot of small child appropriate rides. Hollywood studios has all the Disney Junior characters. Animal Kingdom has animals for the animal lover. Epcot is the most grown up of all the parks, but it does have the Frozen meet up and ride. At the end of the day is what your child enjoys most.
In my case, my little one loves Magic Kingdom so we did a day and a half there, she also enjoyed Epcot (we only did half a day there) but all we did was the frozen ride, meet up, princess character dinner, and Illuminations.
I have been to Disney a few times as a grown up before going with my son when he was 18 months old. It was totally different and even more magical going with him.
I didn’t read anything about the Baby Centers on the article and they were great help for me. A calm place in the park where I was able to change his diapers and clothes, I could feed him heated baby food, there are baby items to be purchased if you need them (pacifiers, baby food, etc.).
We are going again and he will be 4 at the time. I know it will be awesome!
Not sure if this has been mentioned in previous posts but we rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers in Orlando. A double (our kids were 4 and 18 mo. at the time) cost us about $80 for the entire trip. Obviously if you are traveling with only one child an umbrella stroller would probably be easy enough to take on the plane and save you some money, but the rental was a great option for us. It was relatively inexpensive (certainly considering that these are Baby Jogger products), gave us access to the stroller for our entire vacation, and allowed us to not have to rent those bulky plastic strollers at the park (which are also wildly over priced). Our favorite part is that they dropped off the stroller at our hotel the day of our arrival and all we had to do was drop it back off at our hotel lobby the day we left. If you are committed to renting a stroller while there I would highly recommend a local rental company (like Kingdom Stroller) as our experience was wonderful.
This is my favorite “Disney with kids” article by far. Well done Tom! I’ve been to Disney World 5+ times and our trips have always been very fast paced. We will be going with our 2 year old son in May and my parents will also be joining us so that should help. This is our first fastpass+ experience and everything is all set. I’m trying have that go with the flow, low expectation mindset but how can you when you have to say 60 days in advance where you will be, what day, within one hour. I plan to utilize parent swap and just try to stay flexible but I’m stressed about not being stressed! Probably seems silly, but I hope when push comes to shove I can take a step back and just enjoy the little moments. And still get some big ones in too Any thoughts?
Hi! We took my son when he was 2 along with his then 8 month old sister. We had such fun! We went with a group of family members, and you will LOVE having the grandparents alone. I highly recommend asking them to watch your son in the hotel for at least one evening so you can go enjoy yourselves, just the two of you. We enjoyed 2 adult only dinner/park evenings with our kids staying at the resort with family members, and it truest gave us the best of both worlds!
The baby was a gem for the entire trip. She slept through most of it, including rides-she even fell asleep mid-frozen lol.
Our little boy did have 2 big melt downs-both our faults. The first problem was that we selected, for our VERY first experience in the parks the morning after a late arrival with less rest than usual,, a character breakfast at noisy, busy Tusker House. We should have built up to that. Our 2 year old was over-stimulated from second one and unhappy about the whole thing. He wasn’t a afraid of the characters-it was the crowd and the noise and the fact that expectation was that he’d be going on rides. We should have done breakfast in the room and started day 1 with attractions for sure. That said, he LOVED Crystal Palace later in the trip.
The second problem was that we keept him out past his normal lunch time and then tackling Be Our Guest. Even with ADR, it took over 30 min from check in to sit down. It was all downhill from there. We had a very successful lunch a different day in Animal Kingdom, but there was 0 crowd and it was quick and wasn’t eating into nap time. We also had positive experiences eating at the resort restaurant. BOG was just too much.
Everything else was delightful! He loved the rides, especially 7 Dwarves Mine Train (he was a tall 2, so we gave it a try) and Buzz Light Year and Teacups and Peter Pan. His favorite was the resort bus, so we had no trouble convincing him to leave the parks.
We arrived daily at the parks prior to opening and left for afternoon naps.
Here is a tip: We took some noise canceling earmuffs for the fireworks. Lots of kids are scared of them, so the headgear prevented that.
All in all, it was awesome. I, po, easy worried would stress about no time stressing out. We kept our plans simple-hit up our fast pass times and fill in gaps with attractions with no lines. We got to do lots of walk-On rides just by arriving at Rope-drop -including Frozen. (Actually we had FP for Frozen later in the day and spent WAY longer in the FP line than we did when we arrived initially.)
Have fun! Keep your nap schedule, an utilize the help you’ve have coming.
1- Strollers are absolutely a must if you are planing a full day at the park with your little ones. If you are planing to go back to the resort for nap time (you should absolutely do this if staying close enough to the park) then it is not as necessary. The stroller also doubles as a great place to keep your belongings (bulky coats, ponchos, backpacks, drinks, etc). The down side is that EVERYONE brings a stroller, so it gets pretty crowded, and you can’t bring them everywhere either. Also stroller parking gets rearranged by cast members constantly to insure optimal space. If you can’t find your stroller it doesn’t mean it was stolen (most likely) it just means it was moved by a cast member and now you get to play the SUPER fun game of find that stroller among 100 other very similar ones (and no, the balloon trick doesn’t really work, everyone does it).
2- Definitely do character meals, so much better than doing lines to meet them. Your little one gets to sit down in the AC, eat, and meet his favorite characters.
3- Memory maker is actually worth it. When we went the first time we thought this was stupid, in the age of iphones, why on earth would I pay for pictures? Well those photographers capture some really magical shots (being professionals and all), it also permits all of your party to be in the picture without it having to be a selfie. They can also add some magical effects and such which is just icing on the cake.
4- I read in another blog this thing called Tinker Bell gifts. Which are little presents you give to your child from Tinker Bell to keep them entertained (hit that Disney store twice upon a year sale and stock up). You can give it to them in the drive/flight, at the hotel, in those really long lines, just any time you need some quick entertainment. (Also can check dollar store or amazon for more budget friendly options).
5- Lastly the age of the child. This is completely up to the parent. But in my experience 3 years old is a pretty sweet spot for that first trip (even better if you time your trip right before they turn 3, then they are old enough to enjoy it, while they are still free). I know some parents that start taking their children from babyhood, but that to me is not enjoyable for all parties since the child has no idea what is going on, at least one parent has to remain out for every ride, and there are just too many things that will result in the baby being overwhelmed. So my recommendation is wait until your child is at least close to 3, unless you have an older child that will actually enjoy things even if you have to take one for the team and sacrifice your own enjoyment.
Bonus: Did you know the Contemporary Resort is a short 12 minute walk from Magic Kingdom? And it is the first stop on the monorail loop on the way back 😉