Disneyworld (or land) with Toddlers

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Disneyland.

Do you love it? 

Hate it? 

Land somewhere in between?

No matter where you're at when it comes to Disney, you might end up there at some point with children. We're not the biggest Disneyland fans, but Orlando was the place for our May family vacation of 2022. We had our 3 kids (I was also pregnant at the time) Our two nephews and our niece were also there. All the kids ranged from 1 to 5 and we had 10 adults there too. 

Here are my top tips to surviving days at the parks with littles (preschool age and under, but some of these probably apply to older kids as well). 


1. Be prepared
This means bring the things you need. If you need to buy stuff in the park, expect to pay 2 or 3 times what you'd normally pay. Here's what we brought with us: 
  • Water and water bottles (luckily you can refill these for free pretty much anywhere)
  • Diapers and WIPES (wipes are essential)
  • Sunscreen
  • Snacks — we tried to get a variety and things that could last all day like:
You also might want to consider:
  • Spray bottles (if you/your kids tend to overheat) can be really nice to cool down
  • Hats

2. Have games/things to do while you wait in line. 
I have a whole separate blog post about this. But here are some of the things we did in line:
  • I Spy
  • Telling stories
  • Stretching/jumping etc.
  • Eating snacks
3. BRING A STROLLER
You will thank me. Even if you have an older kid like we did (5 years old), walking around all day long is no joke. They will get tired. You will get tired. You do not want to carry a large child when you are tired. 


4. Set a budget.
This may be a surprise to you (or not), but Disney wants your money. And they have systemized exactly how to get it in a way that feels good to you. However, I did not want to be that person that looked back on our trip and wondered where our money went. So we set a budget and (more or less) stuck to it. It helps me enjoy trips better when a) we don't spend beyond our means and b) we are on the same page regarding expectations about how much money we're going to spend. 

I even set a Google flight alert for our flights so we bought them for dirt cheap! That was great because then we had more resources to spend on the actual vacation part.  


5. Have some semblance of down time. 
In my experience, if you go at full throttle all day for multiple days at the park, your kids (and you!) are very likely to burn out. A tired, grumpy kid is not going to have fun with anything, even at a theme park.
I would have some semblance of quiet time partway through your day at the park. This might look like having lunch indoors or in the shade at a leisurely pace, being chill somewhere, or even listening to a story. Trust me, this will help your kids in the long haul. 

6. Get to the park early.
It's going to take some time to park your car, get everything gathered, and everyone ready before you enter the park. I would get there before it opens (a lot of people will do this!) because I think it's the best way to start your day fresh and you'll avoid the peak of crowds. 

7. Plan out your rides and/or route beforehand. 
If you wait until you're at the park to decide which ride to go to, you'll probably end up feeling frazzled and frustrated. Not to mention you would be wasting a lot of your park time. (This applies especially for larger groups.) I recommend listing which rides are most important to you and then using that as your guide for how you will go through the park.

8. Consider downloading the park's app 
This is really nice because it has park maps, wait times, and everything you might need to know while you're out and about!



Would you rather go to Disneyland or Disneyworld? Do your kids want to go?