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[quote=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!

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