Hi, I’m Katie! Are you new here? I’m a travel advisor with The Magic’s Yours Travel! I send clients on vacations of all kinds all over the world but my specialty is Disney travel. Want to work together? Check out my website katievtravel.com to request a vacation quote or email me at katiev@themagicsyours.com with any questions. I’d love to make your vacation dreams a reality!
Did you know that children under three-years-old can get into Disney World for free? You read that right! I said FREE!
One of the Disney World questions I am asked the most as a travel advisor is “what is the best age for a first visit to Disney World?” Many parents are concerned that children will not remember the trip if they visit too young. Parents think “this is a once in a lifetime trip” and they don’t want to pick the wrong time.
I absolutely get the concern behind this question but that is TOO MUCH PRESSURE to put on one vacation. It’s a recipe for you to become that family with a parent screaming at a crying child in the middle of Tomorrowland at 4:00pm. “Do you know how much we spent to be here?” “Stop it! You should be having fun!” Trust me I have seen it…. many times… and you will see it too. But no one wants to be that family. That family doesn’t want to be that family. My heart goes out to them because they are just overtired, overheated, and overwhelmed by the complexity of a Disney vacation. They probably put too much pressure on themselves for everything to be perfect on their “once in a lifetime trip”. I bet they didn’t work with a travel advisor. 😉
So what is my answer to the question “what is the best age for a first visit to Disney World?” My answers is that any age is the best age. Whenever you have the budget, the time, and the desire to go to Disney World you should go. It doesn’t matter if your child is 18-months-old or 18-years-old. The key is to build a trip that is suited to the stage that your children and your family are in.
Don’t put the pressure on yourself that this is a “once in a lifetime trip”. You don’t know what the future holds for your family. I went to Disney World only once as a child and now it’s literally my job to go and I often take members of my family with me.
Wether or not your children remember this vacation. YOU will remember it. There is a special magic to visiting Disney World at every age and every stage of life. Some of those stages go by quickly.
Even if it is a once in a lifetime trip. Don’t put that pressure on yourself to see and do everything. It is not possible. As a Disney planning professional I give you permission to not worry about doing everything and just worry about enjoying your vacation and this time with your family.
Back to that FREE park entry for children under three. This is a great tip for those with young children looking to save on a Disney vacation.
My amazing friend and travel client Kate took advantage of this saving opportunity when she and her husband took their 17-month old daughter to Disney World for her very first visit. Kate and her husband are frequent Disney World travelers but this was their first visit as parents! Kate has a lot to share about what she learned on this trip.
So without further ado here is Kate with a trip report from her fall 2023 visit to Disney World with her one-year old!
Ah, the ol’ free-before-three trick. You got us Disney, you got us good! Not that we were a very hard catch. Though to be fair, the last time I guest-wrote, my husband and I were pregnant and swore up, down, left, and right we wouldn’t take our child to Disney until they could remember the magic for themselves. Then we realized we wanted to remember the magic of going to Disney and seeing that magic through the eyes of our little girl.
There was a new challenge though. We were no longer childless Disney adults. We now had to travel and survive the magic with the mayhem of a toddler. So here’s the full report! What can I say except, you’re welcome?
First, take a deep breath, center yourself. That’s it. Zen out and anticipate things going “wrong.” Anticipate not experiencing a perfect, ideal vacation. Perfect is so boring anyways, but having this mindset will set your expectations at an appropriate level for traveling with a toddler. I want you to imagine that you are carrying with you your own personal Jack Jack, and all his superpowers. Because you one hundred and fifty percent are. Embrace the little fireball, and the demon…and the laser eyes…and invisibility…you get my drift. Have ‘nom nom’ cookies at the ready. Here’s what our pictures don’t show you, and the chaos we had to embrace:
- Two delayed flights.
- Traveling with a child getting over a cold.
- Said child brewing an ear infection at Epcot.
- Teething molars, because why not have that too?
- A diaper blow-out at Magic Kingdom. On the carousel.
And you know what? It was all okay. That’s the chaos of traveling with your own personal Jack Jack. Embrace the chaos! But that doesn’t mean you need to travel unprepared. Let me elucidate here.
Packing : The (not-so) Bare Necessities
Aside from clothes, toothbrushes, Mickey ears, and the other usual Disney-traveling essentials, this is a list of the things we couldn’t survive without at Disney and I daresay any vacation with a toddler.
The Tush Baby: This was fairy godmother-sent because it got us through every single line from Epcot, to Magic Kingdom, to Animal Kingdom. What is it? A fanny pack…with a built in seat that holds up to 45 pounds of toddler, and takes the weight off your already aching back. You can’t take your strollers through lines at Disney, you have to park ’em and tote your tot into the line and if you don’t have Genie+ to Lightning Lane those habitually longer lines? Godspeed to you and wish upon a star for the Tush Baby.
Bed Bumpers: We decided to opt out of a crib/pack and play (which your resort will totally arrange for you if that’s your baby/toddler’s vibe), and instead bring inflatable bed bumpers. The cons? They take up a hefty bit of real estate in your luggage. The pros? Our girl had an entire queen bed to herself. She slept, and slept well! It worked for us for naps and nighttime sleep, but I do recommend trying them out ahead of time if your tot isn’t used to free-range bed sleeping!
Battery Powered Lights: A little stroller bling! We wrapped white twinkle lights around our stroller so it was easier to find at night in stroller parking. It paid off in spades the first night when we came out of Journey of Water at Epcot and saw our stroller lit up like a Christmas tree from afar! And the second night at Magic Kingdom when our stroller was moved. Please note, cast members absolutely have the right to move your stroller if necessary! It’s usually not far and it’s to accommodate neatly parking more strollers, so don’t give them a ‘tude about it.
Airtag: Speaking of cast members moving your stroller, an airtag is a handy thing to have, just in case your stroller isn’t just moved into the next row over. We bought the Tile, downloaded the app, connected the device, tucked it in the stroller, and boom baby! Airtags also work great to tuck away in checked luggage, which we also did.
Stroller Sign: I can’t take credit for this but WOW was it helpful, especially during the day when lights can’t be seen. Ours was an incredibly thoughtful gift, and it made our black stroller stand out from the hoards of other black strollers! Etsy is your best friend if you want a legit, embroidered sign, but you can absolutely lo-fi it with a paper print out (some type of lamination recommended) easily enough.
Portable Noise Machine: I take ours on every trip. Our girl can sleep without a noise machine no problem, but you realize on a personal level how nice it is to have when it drowns out the inevitable hotel noises; from the hustle and bustle of housekeeping, the excited hollering of other kiddos, and the responding hollering of adults in a foolish attempt to calm their children down.
A Sick Kit: I never used to travel with an sick kit, but now I never leave home without one. For ours, I packed ibuprofen, infant ibuprofen, saline drops for adults and for toddlers, vicks vapor rub, a bulb syringe, and what saved our vacation – ear infection drops. Our girl started with an ear infection on day one. You just never know what will happen so in the infamous words of Scar, “be prepared.”
Navigating Disney World With A Toddler
Now that we’ve got our essentials kit, let’s get into the nitty gritty of how we survived! I’m going to get on my soapbox for a little bit here though, bare with me, and understand that how you used to travel as a hip, cool, childless Disney adult no longer applies. Honor your child and their hunger, their exhaustion, and their overstimulation. Also, honor how you are feeling as the parent, and know that feeling exhausted, touched-out, and overwhelmed are all part of the vacation package and you’re allowed to feel that way and any which way. Give yourself a pause and some grace. Now, by no means are you strictly sticking to your routine from home (haha, that’s a funny joke, me) but you’re watching your kiddo (and yourself) for cues. For example, one day we were able to nap on the go with our stroller, another day we went back to our resort to nap, and the third day a nap was a hilarious fantasy and our girl was ready to roll deep. Honor whatever they need and be flexible and adaptable enough to provide it. Understand that you may no longer be able to both rope drop and close down the park. Accept that you might need to leave in the middle of the day to take a snooze, or just to get out of the sun and give yourselves a reprieve from the crowds. Allow you kiddo to fear the characters. Don’t force that fun. For us, Pluto was a no-go and Goofy was treading on thin ice the entire time. If you set your expectations to what your child can reasonably achieve, you’ll be more content with how your days go and pleasantly surprised if your child exceeds your expectations!
What did this look like for us? It looked like letting our girl sleep however long she needed to in the mornings and we leisurely rolled into the parks. It looked like organizing reservations and Genie+ later in the day. We chose not to do any of the “thrill” rides that our girl couldn’t do. We could have used rider share to ride these attractions ourselves, but we’ve ridden Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain dozens of times so we weren’t sad to miss them in favor of our fifth ride on Dumbo. Speaking of, we rode the same rides multiple times because our girl loved them. Dumbo? Two thumbs way, way up. The carousel brought huge smiles and endless delight. She loved spinning the tea cups. All these things we rode repeatedly because this trip was for her joy, and our memories of that joy. So give yourselves some grace with how you shape your days, relax and go with the flow that your family needs, and trust that you’ll get your magic moments. But if you want a little help finding the magic, here are some areas broken down by the parks we visited:
Epcot: I’ll be honest. This park tested my resilience and it was only day one of our trip. You forget just how big Epcot truly is until you’ve got to haul around a toddler, their big toddler attitude, and all their accoutrements. This was also the day that our girl started with an ear infection so she wasn’t her best self. Still, joy was found!
The China Pavilion in the World Showcase: This is certainly not the first pavilion that comes to mind! But Norway gets choked with guests visiting Anna and Elsa and riding Frozen Ever After, France is clogged with people clamoring to ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, I would hazard that Japan is about as busy as Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo, Germany and Mexico are for the drinking enthusiasts, but China? There’s these wonderful little shaded paths with a babbling stream and pond, the primary building that houses Reflections of China is gorgeous, colorful, and more importantly air conditioned, and the quick service dining usually has minimal lines. We caught an hour and a half nap chillin’ in China, ran in and out of the building no less than twenty times, and enjoyed some brews while our girl ran amok in very light foot traffic.
Journey of Water, inspired by Moana: This is a must visit if you have children, especially at night. The ambiance is amazing, the water glows turquoise, and while the goal is to educate visitors about the water cycle and the importance of water, this was basically one big toddler splash pad. Our girl would have stayed all night if we let her. Don’t let that deter you though! The crowds move easily, even though you have lingering kiddos, and there’s never really a backup. The interaction with the various water features is super entertaining, from strumming water like strings on a guitar, to summoning water with your palm. The Te’Fiti at the end is incredible, and definitely one for the ‘gram. Hot tip though, we had the Photopass Memory Maker but those pictures turned out horribly at night. Make sure you have someone snap some pics of you and your family with your cell phone camera just in case. The lighting turns out way better.
Magic Kingdom: Magic Kingdom is the most accommodating to littles. There’s lots of activities and characters for them, but the biggest issue is the foot traffic. Magic Kingdom gets crowded, and it just isn’t safe to let your toddler ramble out of their stroller. Which makes it hard if you have a big, independent, willful toddler. We enjoyed Magic Kingdom the most in the evenings, when families are tucking in for dinner, waiting for fireworks, or abandoning the park in general. This time frame saw less wait times for rides and (slightly) less foot traffic.
Main Street: We did things we’d never done before with our girl on this trip and a lot of it was right on Main Street; riding the Main Street vehicles, the horse-drawn trolley, and a jitney from 1903. I recommend both experiences for their uniqueness, the drivers are full of interesting facts and tidbits, and most times you’ll either be the only passenger or one of a few. I think visitors might think these experiences cost extra? But it’s amazing what you learn when your toddler just invites herself onto something. The experiences are free! Riding these vehicles was such a leisurely way to travel up and down Main Street, and not feel the pressure of needing to get somewhere fast along with the rest of the crowds. We also got our girl’s first haircut at the Harmony Barber Shop which for twenty nine dollars was wonderful. How many kids get to say their first haircut was a Disney? That’s a real flex. The barber knew how to handle littles, what they needed to distract them from spooky scissors, the entire staff was friendly, and we got a certificate, embroidered ears, and they even wrap up the hair for you in a little drawstring bag for all you sentimental types out there (me).
Dumbo: This is the quintessential Disney experience (in my opinion). But what makes Dumbo a cut above and worth mentioning, you ask? The ride has an air conditioned playground inside the big top. Take a break from the line, let your tot play, and you take a seat. When your kiddo is satisfied, you just slip right back into line. It was amazing. Also I highly recommend watching the fireworks from Dumbo. We rode twice during Happily Ever After and it was an amazing way to see the fireworks without having to stake out a spot hours beforehand in front of the castle.
Animal Kingdom: Honestly, I wish we’d given ourselves more time at this park, but we split the day with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party so we were limited and really only visited Harambe and Pandora. Of all the parks, I would say Animal Kingdom is the best to give your child a little free rein. It’s big, it’s spread out, and there’s so much to see and do that they can run a little wild – crowds permitting.
Tusker House: I have said, and will say, that Tusker House is one of the best character dining experiences in all of DIsney World, hands down. I’ve personally been countless times and the experience has stayed consistent. The food is spectacular, the service efficient, and you meet Donald, Daisy, Mickey, and Goofy while you eat. It literally doesn’t get any better. Our girl was so entertained we had to remind her to eat!
Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe: If you’re very fortunate, you can walk out of Tusker House right into the interactive performance of the Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe. They are energetic, enthusiastic, and want participation to clap, stomp, and dance to their rhythms. Our girl was super entertained! If you aren’t so lucky as to walk out of your meal on a performance, they usually perform once an hour with times posted in the app.
Now, all those aforementioned experiences were a few out of many. They were the stand-outs, the moments of magic, what our girl enjoyed most, and I hope that whoever is reading this – from the lovers, the dreamers, and me – find inspiration in these suggestions to explore them and create your own magic. At the end of all this, just remember to be flexible, be adaptable, give yourself some grace, and know that you’ll get your ideal family photo and your magical moments. They’ll happen when you least expect it because that’s how magic works. It comes to you when you aren’t planning for it, when you aren’t forcing it, and when you need it the most. So go, live your dream at Disney, and I’ll see y’all real soon!
-Kate
Thank you Kate for all of that great insight!
I hope you found this interesting and informative. Considering a trip to Disney World? I’m a travel advisor and would love to work with you! Check out my website katievtravel.com to request a vacation quote or email me at katiev@themagicsyours.com with any questions. I’d love to make your vacation dreams a reality!
Katie Vassalotti - Travel Advisor - Travel Blog 