Disney World with a 3 yo
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Just booked a Disney World trip for late January. DD will be 3 years old at the time. Now we're starting to think about dining with characters, express passes, reservations for shows/performances, etc. Would appreciate any recommendations/warnings about rides, restaurants, shows, etc. that your 3 old liked/didn't like. For what it is worth, she loves most Disney Junior shows (MM Clubhouse, Sophia, Doc McStuffins). |
Anonymous
|
Highly recommend buying/borrowing Unofficial Guide to Disney. They have touring plans that save a significant amount of time.
Best advice: get to the parks 30 min prior to opening for rope drop. If you are staying off site, get there 45-60 min early so that you can park, take tram, get through security and to the entrance. |
Anonymous
| With a 3 yo, the main thing to do is try to plan downtime, unless you want melt downs. |
Anonymous
|
We're taking our 3.5 year old over Thanksgiving (not our choice time wise but it's a free trip). Hollywood Studios has the Disney Jr stuff, not sure if you'll be able to get a reservation at Hollywood and Vine restaurant (Disney Jr character meal) at this point, it's a little close but worth checking.
Fast Passes - if you're staying on site you can book then 60 days out. If she likes Frozen you can try for Anna/Elsa, but that goes quick. At least you're going off peak, that will help, but it's still one of the more popular things. Rides are by height, so you can go filter that. I wouldn't grab any FP's for the bulk of the little rides, they will have next to no wait. Only Peter Pan and the 7 dwarves mine train will. Plan meals for breaks. You'll be able to leave and come back which is a huge bonus. Get the hopper option as well since you're going off peak. Spend one night at Magic Kingdom to see the parade, and another to do any other rides/attractions during the parade (they will be empty with most people seeing the parade). We're skipping Animal Kingdom since it closes early and doesn't have as many rides/interactions. Epcot has a lot of princesses and Nemo. |
Anonymous
|
We did a character breakfast at the Four Seasons when we were there last February. It's pricey but it was so much better than the one we went to at Cape May Cafe. The food was better and it wasn't crowded so the characters spent SO much time with us. Like I almost had to ask them to leave to DS could eat. We did it on a day we were not going to the park, so we went at like 10 am.
Unless you have a very tall 3 year old, she's probably too small for 7 dwarves mine train anyhow. I agree with trying to get the fast pass for Anna/Elsa (if you don't and that's a must-do, get to the park at rope drop and book it. We waited about 45 minutes which actually wasn't bad). I think the Disney Jr. stuff is at hollywood studios - definitely get a fast pass for the Toy Story ride there. Our method was to get to the park at rope drop and ride a few rides before the lines picked up. Then make fast passes between like 10-2 for stuff you really want to do. Then re-up fast passes for whatever you can get. It worked well for us - we got to do absolutely everything we wanted and NEVER waited in line. At 3.5 DS loved the stuff in tomorrowland - the racetrack, buzz lightyear, Astro orbiter. And as someone else said on a different thread, get familiar with the kid-swap. Actually you and DH can get different fast passes and take turns riding. So you can use a fast pass for thunder mountain, say, and get the kid swap so he can go right onto it after you. Take turns watching DD. Therefore he doesn't need the thunder mountain FP and can use his for something else. For food... Hoop-de-doo review is fun. T-rex is fun for some kids but pretty intense. We love Flying Fish Cafe but I think it's gettnig ready to close for renovations. Have fun! |
Anonymous
| Op here. Thanks for this info! The ride and character meal recommendations are very helpful. We have no objectives for this trip - nothing we absolutely have to see/do. Just want to make sure that we get on a few of the rides that younger kids enjoy and that we are able to eat a few meals with characters. |
Anonymous
| Crystal Palace before the MK opens is fun. (Or if you can't get in before it opens it's a fun brunch later in the morning too). |
Anonymous
|
We took DD at 3: she loved meeting the characters far more than the rides. Definitely do Fast Pass for Anna/Elsa and Cinderella (that one is more of a little play, but it was a hit). Many of the kiddie rides have relatively short lines: the carousel, Its a Small World, Dumbo (which has a cool indoor playground while you wait to ride-- they give you a buzzer like you get at a restaurant when it's your turn). Peter Pan had a huge line, so did Mine Train. Neither is worth the wait.
DD also loved Animal Kingdom: seeing the safari, the Lion King show and eating a character meal the Tusker House. Also agree that heading back to the hotel for nap/quiet time/pool every day is a must. We went back to MK for the fireworks and rides, but it was nice to have time off. Oh, and bring food to the park. Restaurants had long waits, and the quick service food was blah. We ordered breakfast and lunch in advance from Garden Grocer. Have fun! |
Anonymous
| Going back to the hotel for midday breaks and returning to the parks in the evening did not work for us, even though many people swear by that. Instead, we just did 8:30 (rope drop) - 2/3pm and called it a day. Went swimming, at dinner at/near the hotel, went to bed early/on time. So we make our character reservations for breakfast or lunch only. |
Anonymous
Me again. The first time we went to Disney, our kids were 1 and 3. On that trip, we went to the parks at opening and came home around lunch. We would come back to the hotel, rest/nap and hang out at the pools. We did not go back to the parks. We did one park per day and it was a wonderful trip. We did not try to do everything. I had 3-4 things I wanted to see/do per park and made sure we did those. Everything else was just extra. We have been to Disney 4 more times. Our favorites are as follows: AK - Tusker House character breakfast. we like to do the latest breakfast sitting around 10:30 so that we can do the safari first and a few other attractions. We usually light on the go breakfasts around 7 and my young kids get hungry by 10:30. Safari should be first. My kids LOVE dinoland - boneyard, triceratops. Nemo show is great. Flame Tree BBQ is probably the best lunch option. Many people like this park the least but our kids love walking around, getting their sticker badges and seeing animals. MK - Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Small World, Winnie the Pooh, you should be able to do all or most of Fantasyland before lunch if you get there before rope drop. I would try to get fast pass for toy story and jungle cruise. Aloha Isle's pineapple dole whip is amazing. Epcot - At age 3, my son loved the art stations at each country. Japan (udon noodles), Germany (caramel corn), Morocco (gyros) and Mexico (churros) are our favorite foods at Epcot. Nemo ride and aquarium area is a Must. HS - Toy Story Mania should be first on your list. Always has a 1+ hr wait. Photo op right in front of the ride is great. |
Anonymous
| I suggest Animal Kingdom for a 3YO. It's the most relaxing park and offers a playground, animal petting zoo and monkey island. The bird show and Lion King stage show are big winners with that age group. |
Anonymous
|
Not the OP but I am going for the first time ever with my almost 4yo next April.
Did I understand correctly from a PP that the Disney Jr Rides and stuff are at HollyWood Studios? So a different park from MK Where is all the Harry Potter stuff, I want to see that but DD is too young so was going to take a day by ourselves and go do that, and leave DD with the Grandparents. |
Anonymous
Harry Potter is at Universal Studios, on the other side of Orlando. The Disney Junior experience is at Hollywood Studios, it is a different park from the Magic Kingdom (a different ticket, or a park hopper is required). |
Anonymous
We recently went to Universal with our 4yo and 6yo children. You can child swap. It actually gets you through the lines faster since you and DH will be single riders. We actually walked through the HP castle with no wait and had to wait 5 min or less to single ride and child swap. Both our kids were too small for the ride. Regular line was 60min. There are many areas for kids. Seuss Landing, Jurassic Park, Toon Area and more. I would bring an umbrella stroller and bring your 4yo. |