Orlando with almost 3 yr old

[Anonymous]

We are going to Orlando with almost 3 year-old. DD takes a two hour nap from about 1 to 3.

We were not planning on staying at a Disney hotel because family are going to be at a different hotel.

Wondering if you are able to reenter the parks/worth it? My thought was to be there at opening and leaving around 11:30 for lunch/nap. And then returning to the park after the nap and leave for dinner. guess we'd have to pay for parking twice.

Will have
4-5 full days in Orlando. (2 travel days not counted). Thinking about: Animal Kingdom, Sea World, Discovery Cove. Not sure what else. DD is not a Disney kid so we don't have to go to Magic Kingdom.

We don't mind spending money but we don't want to be throwing money away.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Those places are like all day affairs. I dunno if you can quit that early without it being a waste of money. I'm not sure if you can re-enter. It's probably easier if your kid naps in a stroller. That's what my son did. It's such a pain to get there, that leaving and going back may not be worth the effort. I'm not really a fan of Disney and don't know much about it, but we went once to Magic Kingdom, Wild Animal Park, and Sea World. The in laws live in Florida so are expecting us to go again. I've been putting it off til my daughter is older (same age as yours). I think you can push the nap til later. Sometimes my daughter doesn't even nap and then falls asleep early. My son actually preferred the Orlando Science Center at that age--baby crocodiles, dinosaur skeletons, things and other kids to play with, easier to get to, doesn't take up the whole day, or cost as much. I'd much rather go there than the Magic Kingdom.

[Anonymous]

My child liked magic kingdom. It is where the kids rides are. And, animal kingdom. I would just see how it goes. We planned to take midday breaks but it was more of a hassle. We brought a stroller, paced ourselves and made sure to keep the kids heavily fed before they reached hunger.

[Anonymous]

Our twins were 4 months shy of 3 years when we took them to Disney this year Mother's Day. At that point, about the only thing that they had been exposed to were 2-3 Winnie the Pooh books, Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals and Tigger stuffed animals (presents from an old college friend). So they were pretty much Disney virgins.

But, here's the thing. Whether your child knows the characters or not, the Magic Kingdom is designed for children and rather magical for them. Without knowing who the characters were ahead of time, our children LOVED the experience. Since we are also still slaves to the nap, we opted to stay in the Contemporary Hotel on-site. It was a good choice. We were able to leave the Magic Kingdom, get back to the Contemporary Hotel, get the kids to take a 2 hour nap, hit the cafeteria in the hotel for a snack and get back to the park. Time from leaving the gate to walking back in to the gate was about 4 hours. So, we could leave the park around 1:00pm and get back to the park around 5:00pm, do one or two things, then get dinner and still do a few more things. Note that we went at a low-peak, not completely off-peak (scale of 1-10, it was 4-5 for congestion). We hit the parks at 9:00am, stayed until 1:00pm, and did the parks from 5:00-9:00 PM so we got about 8 hours of park time per day. No way we could have had that staying anywhere else. Even if we had stayed in a Disney property not on the monorail, it would have been 5+ hours to get back to the hotel, nap, snack and get back to the park. We would have had about 6-7 hours per day in the park. Additionally, my kids are into vehicles of all kinds (trains, boats, planes, trucks, etc) so the monorail itself was a fun experience for them and we got to ride it 4 times per day! If you include those, they got over 8.5 hours of Disney fun per day. We were visiting my parents who live in Orlando and had planned to take 3 days mid-week (we spent both weekends with Grandma and Grandpa) and do one day Disney, one day off and then a second day at Disney. The kids loved it so much that they begged to go back on day 2 and we ended up doing 3 straight days. We did Magic Kingdom on the first day, Hollywood studios for 5 hours on the second day (late nap and went back to Magic Kingdom for dinner plus a couple of rides on the second day and got to see the fireworks) and then Magic Kingdom again on the 3rd day and they still wanted to stay and see more. Additionally, staying on property comes with free parking so that makes the price differential for the hotel a little less. Even if you stay off-site, parking is per day, so if you pay for parking in the morning, leave and come back, you don't have to pay for parking again. Without knowing the Disney characters, my kids loved riding with me in the Tomorrowland speedway, riding train that goes around the park, riding the carousel, the Winnie the Pooh ride, It's a Small World, the Country Bear Jamboree, climbing the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, taking their picture with characters, exploring Tom Sawyer's island, Tiki Room, People Mover and other random things we encountered (like the small play area under the train station). The loved to stop and watch the logs coming down in Splash Mountain and the one time we accidentally came across an afternoon parade as we crossed the park. There's so much to experience and enjoy without knowing the Disney characters and at that age, it's all pretty magical and entrancing.

They're 3 now and it's been over 6 months and they still talk about wanting to go back to "Mickey's House" to play. They remember quite a lot of it and talk about it and keep asking when we'll be going back.

A few tips: even though our twins had been out of the stroller for most of a year, we still rented a double stroller and it was worth it. Do not rent a stroller from the parks because you have to return that before you leave the gate. Then you are carrying your tired child to the monorail, waiting in line (end of the day, the wait can be 30-40 minutes and we were low-peak) and then to the hotel. We rented from Kingdom Strollers and they delivered the stroller to the hotel, we had it from door to door and then the day we left we returned it to the bell captain's station in the hotel, right next to where you check out. Little things that I liked about Kingdom Strollers was that all stroller rentals came with a rain cover for the stroller. Since there are daily afternoon showers, this was useful. The day we went to Hollywood Studios it *POURED* right at lunchtime and between ponchos for Mom & Dad and the rain cover, we all stayed about as dry as we could on the run to lunch and later the run out to the car. We used the rain cover all 3 days. The strollers also came with a small mini-cooler that was useful for packing bottled water, fruit and snacks for the parks, so that the food wasn't all toasty hot when it came time to snack.

Bring snacks. When we went for lunch, we went to the fast food places, found a table and my wife sat down and fed them the snacks while I went and bought lunch. So the kids had some fruit and small amounts of crackers or nutrigrain bars or something while I got lunch. This kept them moderately tame while I waited in the lines for fast food. The first night we arrived (the night before day one), after we put the kids to bed, I went out to the 24-hour Walmart (about 10 minutes drive away) and shopped. I got breakfast foods for us so that we could save time in the morning eating in the room before going to the park (the kids are up by 7am anyways and it only took 20-25 minutes to get to the park, so feeding them while getting us all ready saved time). I also got us snack foods and a case of bottled water, which saved us about $20 if we had to buy the water in the parks. If your child wants Disney memorabilia, then buy it at the Walmart and you'll probably save between 20-30% off the price of Disney junk. The only thing we ended up buying in the parks, were tee-shirts because they had better designs in the gift shops.

If you stay on-site, you also get access to My Disney Experience which allows you to prebook your fast passes, add more fastpasses once you use your allotment of 3 per day and also makes paying for meals, etc easier by just scanning your wristband. With the ease of identity and credit theft at Disney, I loved that I didn't ever have to pull a credit card out .

If you have a Smart phone, download the Disney Experience mobile app (even if you aren't staying on site). The app for showing wait times on rides was quite good and allowed us to plan our visit on the fly pretty good so that we could save time by seeing what around us had the shortest wait times.

You can't see everything, even in 3 days. So don't try. But make sure to leave some time every day for unplanned activities. The day we went to Hollywood Studios, we booked 3 shows. After 2 shows, one of my twins was done, but the other one wanted to see the 3rd show. So Mom took one kid to the 3rd show and Dad took the other kid for a walk through the park. My son absolutely loved having 45 minutes where he was the guide for a rambling walk through the park. We stopped so that he could watch the ducks in the lagoon, got to find a fountain with moving figures that completely captivated him for a while and found the photo op for Lightning McQueen and Mater (he hadn't seen the movie, but he had been given a toy Lightning McQueen and loved getting his photo taken with Lightning). So the unscripted 45 minutes was some of his favorite time.

[Anonymous]

we did Orlando twice. Once when DD was 15 months (first plane ride) and 2nd at about 27 months. she loved it both times. I would not skip Magic Kingdom. I was shocked at how many rides she could enjoy. She didn't know very many characters the first time. it think she just knew Mickey. She was tall enough to actually drive the race car (husband stepped on gas pedal) which stays on a track. she absolutely loved it.

We stayed at an embassy suite as we do not co-sleep. She slept in the living room in a pack n play and we had the bedroom w/ tv and bathroom. We usually are pretty strict about adhering to a nap schedule but the first time we played it by ear. she lasted until about 4 pm and we went back to the hotel for a quick nap. We ended up coming back in the early evening (took the boat over from the parking lot, which is technically a ride itself) and then monorail back to the parking lot. I believe that parking was all day even if you left.

We bought an umbrella stroller at babies r us for 20 bucks (close to our hotel in orlando and got it before our hotel room was ready the first day) b/c we didn't have one before and thought it was about the same price as renting one. We took it back w/ us and returned w/ it for trip #2.

2nd stay our hotel had free shuttle service so we planned our day around that schedule.

Totally recommend orlando science museum. very interactive. great for rainy or really humid days. Kids under 3 are free and parking is for all day. we came back after kid's nap during the day. also, much more affordable then 2 parks.

Sea World is great for younger kids. Kid absolutely loved the animal show and the penguins. Also, dont' need to spend as much time as you do at Disney. we spent our last day there and then headed straight for the airport in the early evening.

definitely bring tons of snacks/drinks. didn't really you could when we first went.

[Anonymous]

Yes you can re-enter the park on the same day - it can be helpful to look ahead at the schedule posted online if you haven't had a chance to already to see what the hours of each park are on the days that you are planning to visit. DD was under 2 1/2 when we first took her and she typically took a big (at least 2 hours) afternoon nap and wondered ahead of time about naps too. We stayed on Disney property, but at a resort that could only be reached by a really long (more than half an hour) bus ride so any trip back to the room meant adding to our schedule: 1. time to trek back through the park to the entrance + 2. time from entrance to transportation + 3. time from transportation to hotel. Then if you're planning to return later, you also have to add in nap/maintenance time plus getting back. We went in the autumn when many of the parks were closing early. (e.g. 5:00 for animal kingdom, 7:00 most nights at Magic Kingdom for special event "parties" which required extra admission, etc.)

She really needed a nap but it was logistically a pain to return to the hotel every day. Our trip was exclusively at Disney World and it sounds like yours is going to be more out & about around Orlando, but FWIW here's what worked for us. We took our own regular vs. umbrella stroller which was huge and a pain to travel with, but also was super comfortable and the seat could flatten and recline. (The Disney rentals are convenient but essentially plastic buckets and a huge PITA to find in the stroller parking areas outside of attractions.) She was tiny, but then if she got droopy we didn't need to carry her until we boarded the shuttle bus and had to fold & carry the stroller.

On the days we took her to the room to nap, we just got to the park when it opened, played on everything we wanted to, and she was having such a good time she had no problem stretching nap time back a bit. Then we left for the day and she had a huge nap and we ate and played at the hotel for the rest of the evening. (Not enough time left in park hours to be worth the trek back, but for her it was also nice to have quiet time after a hugely fun but overstimulating day.

There were also a couple of days that we thought would be fun to visit the parks at night, so we had a quiet morning and let her sleep as long as she wanted, put her into bed early for her nap, and then got up to leave for the park after that and had dinner reservations to break up our time while in the park.

Then the rest of the days, we stayed in the park through nap time. Got there at opening, she played hard, had a big lunch, and then we walked around quietly until she fell asleep and then flattened the seat and lowered her shade and enjoyed walking through the beautiful paths and stopping for a snack while she rested. We chose Animal Kingdom for this because the walking paths through the habitats are amazing and not loud even if there are a lot of people there. She didn't rest as long as at home in her bed, but it was enough to refresh her to be perky and happy and have more playtime in the park.

You know your own child best of course, but when they're really small it seems to be more fun to maximize a smaller amount of time rather than hope for a marathon. I also second taking them to Magic Kingdom if you can - there is a lot for little children to enjoy. The better playgrounds are at Animal Kingdom and Universal Studios though. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Magic Kingdom is much much much better than Animal Kingdom for a 2 year old...no contest.

People still go to Sea World?

[Anonymous]

We took our 2.5 year old and 6 month old in January. Stayed off site, about 30 min away, and had only planned for one day at Magic Kingdom. Our plan was to hit it hard. Girls could nap in strollers, but we were staying until we were done. 6 month old was only one to nap. 2.5 year old was so excited about everything that she couldn't sleep. She made it to the end of the electric parade before she passed out! Next day we had planned low key day at hotel so everyone could sleep in and rest. Best day our family life, and my oldest still talks about it 9 months later!

[Anonymous]

Hard to imagine a 3 year old who wouldn't love the Magic Kingdom! You can repark and re-enter without paying, but I'd just let the child nap in the stroller instead of going home. There is SO much to do there. The Magic Kingdom is at least a 2 day park.

Some of our happiest memories of our child is from his infant and toddler days at Disney. It is still one of his favorite places in the world as a tween.

[Anonymous]

With a 3 year old I would go to Magic Kingdom over Animal kingdom. You also do not have to stay on a Disney property to use the my Disney experience app. If you stay off property you can book your fast passes 30 days in advance using the app. We went to Disney in September and booked our fast passes 30 days out. It worked really well.

[Anonymous]

Parking was $14 when we went to Magic Kingdom. I'd say it takes about 8 hours to do all the kiddie-oriented rides and a big meal. Less if you skip Pirates of the Caribbean (scary) and the dinner at Cinderella castle. Nap in stroller.

[Anonymous]

Animal Kingdom has pretty limited hours compared to the other parks--figure arrive at 9 am when the park opens, leave at 11:30--if your child naps 'till 3--about an hour to get going and get back to the park, so only about an hour 'till closing (at 5 pm)---that really only gives you about 3.5 hours of time in the park. At $80+ per person, it's totally not worth it.

[Anonymous]

PP here--but you would not have to pay for parking twice. They will honor your parking pass from the morning. Still, not worth the hassle.

Now, if you did that for Magic Kingdom--and stayed later, like until 8 pm or so...then it might be worth it.

But really, if you are in a position where you "don't mind spending money"--why not make it easier on yourself and stay in a Disney hotel? Your best bet, would be to stay at the Contemporary so you can walk to/from Magic Kingdom for nap time.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the others. Don't doubt the magic of Magic Kingdom for that age. I'd go there before the others you named.

[Anonymous]

PP 21:55 here. Parking is now $17 a day but it is good for the entire day and you can use it at other Disney Parks if you have a park hopper pass. When we were there in September (on a Tuesday) Animal Kingdom closed at 5:00 p.m. So with Magic Kingdom staying open later, if that is the only park you are going to visit, is a better value. If you decide to go to Animal Kingdom the Lion King and Nemo shows are a must. There are not a lot of rides for little ones.