first trip with 4 y.o. and almost 2 y.o.

[NEEN09]

We are just starting to plan our first family vacation! Next spring our kids will be 4 y.o. and almost 2 y.o. and we are planning to go to Orlando, and primarily WDW. The last time I was there was 12 years ago and my husband has only been once, when he was 10 y.o., so our memories are a little vague.

1. We are on a budget, but with 8 months or so planning time we have a bit more flexibility and we want this to be an amazing trip. We will probably go hard on park days but schedule a few "hotel days" to slow things down. Any suggestions for the best resort for a young family?

2. We definitely want to make reservations when we can but don't want to make things so crazy that we can't relax and go with the flow sometimes. What are the must-do reservations to please a 4 year old (princess and Mickey obsessed) little girl?

3. Is park hopper worth it with young kids?

4. Since we're driving to Orlando, I'd like to take a day outside of Disney to do other things. Would this be better done at the start, the middle, or the end of our trip? Would it sour the experience to end outside WDW?

Obviously we have lots of time to plan, but I'm a planner and also I'm excited to finally travel with my own little family, so I'm getting obsessed. So excited to go back to WDW as the adult in charge of the trip!

 

[Meldev]

I'm sure you'll get varying opinions but our first family trip was with 6,4, and 2 year olds - we did not do park hopper and never had a moment where we thought we should have. So much to do in each park for the kids IMO no need to hop until they're older.

We did Akershus and my girls loved it!! Never ate with Mickey himself but fixing that this time (Ohana breakfast and Tusker house for us) but if she's mickeys big fan try Chef Mickeys!

Have fun planning!

 

[MSSANDRA]

What fun ages! Here are my thoughts on WDW with preschoolers. We have enjoyed WDW during the preschool years and so these ideas are for what worked for us.

Stay on site. Kids love using the WDW transportation and its so easy to get around and back to the resort when you want to do so. The choices are as broad as your budget. Decide what you can afford and go from there. We always did just a regular room, so that is what I am most familiar with. If budget allows, something on the mono-rail is perfect. If money is tight, the values are just fine. Our favorite is CSR, a moderate and our then preschool loved it there.

I recommend not pushing hard on park days and not taking days off. Once your ticket is for 4 or more days, adding more days really cost very little. It works better for us to have more days and not to push kids hard...ever. We can take things at their pace and we all enjoy it more. We find this way, we do not need or want a day off. We did , at preschool age, often take a mid-day break if we want to stay out later.

We love park hoppers. We love doing the EMH park in the morning, and take a mid-day break and them return to a different park later in the day. We liked to do Epcot in smaller chunks and this allows us to do that. The AM EMH park also tends to get crowded later in the day as well.

Character meals are fun and lets your kids see the characters with out a long line. They are also expensive and my little guys were often too excited to eat really well. That said, we have done most of them. If you stay on site and do the DDP, you can easily do several. Look at the choice and see what looks good to you.

We have not gone off site to do other things in a long time. Reality is, to do just ONE day at any other park is going to cost a ton more that adding that day at WDW and there is plenty to do there and at their age, they will be very happy just at WDW. IMHO-they are too little to get a lot out of Universal. Lego Land is GREAT at that age, but an hour or so away. We like Sea World but have not done it in may years.


You have time to plan and decide. Oh, as you see end of Summer sales, look for Disney themed items and put back for next spring.

When you book, be sure to avoid Easter week, and the weeks before that as many school have spring break. The Second week after Easter is a good time.

 

[cpburgess]

I have a 4 yr old a 3 yr old and we are going in oct, so im doing this now! so im interested in all the responses both girls both princesses
We are not doing park hopper-- we just dont have the money and i dont want to overwhelm the kids

we are focuing on 1 park per day and planning on not leaving the park.
instead we are bringing the stroller, and going to Rope drop or have a early ADR to allow us to get to things we want to see before lunch, and then relax and enjoy the afternoon in the park but not have a hard plan.
for example I have a 830 CRT then the priorities for MK that day is Merida the ariel rides and dumbo. lunch, the characters at main st around the time of the parade (mickey, tink, aurora, snow-- whoever is available) and then enchanted with belle that afternoon. A&E if we can get a FP or a return card (if they change to that)
Anything extra is just gravy.
We are going to try and follow the "see 1 thing rule" and we modified it to "see 1 thing per person (what is their priority) rule"

peanutblossom.com/blog/2013/02/surviving-disney-with-toddler.html/
wdwprepschool.com/a-toddler-centered-disney-world-trip-plan/

and know where the baby centers are!

as for ADR- we are doing CRT and Akershus and Chef Mickey. You can see Mickey almost anywhere. Since my girls are not Cinderella specific, we chose not to do 1900 park faire, but if cinderella is the focus then Dinner there is good

Reorts: Art of Animation or we are staying at Ft Wilderness in the cabins for the full kitchen and the space (you either love or hate Ft Wilderness bc its big and has its own internal bus system so fyi)

Outside of WDW- I personally wouldnt do during. i would want WDW to be the focus.

and depending on where you are driving from you can get a beach day or St Augustine on your way to or home if you are going up the east coast.

 

[NEEN09]

Thanks! Responses are already helpful! Already I think that we're going to focus in on WDW (because the potential extra $$ to go elsewhere / keeping the focus on WDW makes total sense to me) and if we opt to do something else besides WDW, it will probably be in another state. We could drive down in one day but I think with younger kids it will be more fun to find something cool to check out both on the way down and the way up so that we can break it up and keep things fun.

This is a newbie question, but are Fort Wilderness Resort & Wilderness Lodge the same?

 

[ajwolfe]

We always talk about venturing out and trying something new on our WDW trips, but we always decide the extra cost is not worth it too us when the kids are just as happy staying at WDW. We drive down, so we usually try to do something fun on the way down or find a new place to stop to mix it up a bit.
Definitely stay on-site. I would recommend the hoppers, we always get them and love the flexibility it provides.
I think Akershus and 1900s Park Fare would be good choices to see Princesses for you. Even my boys really enjoy those 2 meals.

 

[MSSANDRA]

No. Fort Wilderness is the camp ground that also has cabins . They are quite nice and sleep six, and have a full kitchen. My sister and her family stayed there a lot when her boys were little. Wilderness Lodge is a Deluxe resort. It has a very rustic theme and is really nice for a winter stay. It is one of the lower priced option of the Deluxe. It has a boat ride to MK. We like WL but have had issues with staff here being less than friendly.