*** The Official August 2019 thread ***

[succorso1]

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

 

[trackchik6]

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

I like the character meals with a 3 year old. (Any of them!). Fwiw my then two year old was afraid of Beast at BoG and also was a little afraid of the meteor shower at T-Rex.

In addition to all the rides there are free play type areas in many of the parks that a 3 y/o might like. My info is out of date. Someone can chime in the new free play areas.

 

[NJlauren]

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

I like the character meals with a 3 year old. (Any of them!). Fwiw my then two year old was afraid of Beast at BoG and also was a little afraid of the meteor shower at T-Rex.

In addition to all the rides there are free play type areas in many of the parks that a 3 y/o might like. My info is out of date. Someone can chime in the new free play areas.

Last trip DD was 3 and a half.

Inside dumbo has a good play space, there is the splash pad in fantasyland as well, the boneyard park (I think it’s called in AK). While my daughter liked the play areas and we did use them, we didn’t seek them out to much either. She loved the move it Shake is parade, even more then the regular parade, you can dance with the characters and she loved it.

She talks about the ride with the dolls all the time (small world), she loved mine train, and barnstormer, and the speedway.

We skipped it last trip but Hollywood and vine breakfast has Disney Junior characters, she loved it when we did. She did love all the shows at HS ( last trip Toy Story wasnt open) we managed to spend almost a whole day, little mermaid, beauty and the beast, frozen, Disney Junior, it was a great day!

She also really liked the play areas in future world, great for cooling off, if I remember they are after spaceship earth, and Nemo (there is an aquarium type area) and maybe after figment too.

 

[Tomh]

Are you guys mainly making lunch or dinner TS ADRs for your August trip?

I can’t decide whether lunch is better - break from heat / then no pressure if we don’t want to go back at night. Or if dinner is better to give more freedom in afternoon but then it forces us to go back at night?

We typically do counter service for lunch, but try to pick a place with indoor seating, and just take our time. Supper is our normal TS meal. However, we are all day in the park kind of people. Sounds like you are more afternoon break people, so our strategy might not work as well for you.

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

Trying to remember back to when my 15 year old was that young. Gosh, any and all of the water play areas. The tiki's in Adventure Land that spray water out, the Came near Aladdin's Magic Carpets. There is also a water play area in Fantasyland near Dumbo. In Epcot, there is a splash pad on the Left side of Future World, between Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth, and another on the bridge from Future World to World Showcase. He would spend quite a bit of time in them. He loved the Gran Fiesta Tour, and watching the trains in the Germany pavilion. Character meals were a hit with him as well.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

MK- Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh were our DD's favourites! DD's loved 100 acre woods friends and the meal at Crystal Palace. Still on their must do list and they're 17 & 19 now lol

 

[siren0119]

Current goals for dining ressies, we will be there for 8 days not including departure day. Some of the days will be just QS eating, and we'll have a grocery order for the room to take care of snacks. Trying not to schedule too much eating so we don't get slowed down!

MNSSHP day
Bon Voyage breakfast

EPCOT day/Evening EMH at MK (if the kids are up to it
Storybook at Artists Point

Morning EMH at Epcot, then AK
Garden Grille breakfast
Tusker House late lunch

MK Day (leaving at 6 since it's a party day)
BOG Breakfast
Hoop Dee Doo dinner

For the few days between this and our last day, we'll probably just stick to QS/packed food since we'll be paying OOP at this point

Last day at HS
50's Prime Time, not sure if lunch or dinner but probably a late lunch

 

[The13thLetter]

Are you guys mainly making lunch or dinner TS ADRs for your August trip?

I can’t decide whether lunch is better - break from heat / then no pressure if we don’t want to go back at night. Or if dinner is better to give more freedom in afternoon but then it forces us to go back at night?

We are doing Lunch at MK for 2 reasons; 1 - not sure the little one will make it all the way to dinner and 2 - having a dedicated reservation for lunch to take a break from the summer heat (although this is mostly for the grandparents who aren't used to the longggg Disney days haha). We are also doing breakfast at AK and dinner at HS and Epcot, with those last 2 being date nights for me and DW.

 

[The13thLetter]

DW's school calendar for 2020 came out this week. Now I need an April 2020 thread too!!!

 

[NJlauren]

DW's school calendar for 2020 came out this week. Now I need an April 2020 thread too!!!

Jel!!! I’m waiting for ours want our April 2020 dates so bad!

 

[The13thLetter]

Jel!!! I’m waiting for ours want our April 2020 dates so bad!

Going slightly off topic here but do you go in April often? How is it?

 

[Tomh]

DW's school calendar for 2020 came out this week. Now I need an April 2020 thread too!!!

Well, we won't get our 2020 school calendar until sometime in July or August. There have been times that we have missed the first couple of days of school because they waited until July to announce when the first day of school would be, and we had booked our vacation, and made our ADR's and FP+ choices already, so missed the beginning of school.

As for April 2020 . . . sorry, someone else is going to have to make that thread, I am strictly an August traveler.

 

[NJlauren]

Going slightly off topic here but do you go in April often? How is it?

Nope! Will be first time, have done March and May, not April so I’m no help! I do think the two weeks around Easter are usually crazy!

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

I think you've had a lot of good responses. My DD at 3 was all about princesses (still is...) so those meet and greets were awesome. DS at 3 was in to Mickey and Minnie. Both loved Philharmagic, the Carousel and the Nemo ride at Epcot. Neither one was a big fan of Peter Pan at that age - too dark (but having a small pen light sort of thing helped them not freak out without distracting anyone else). Maybe catch the Muppets great moments in history and some of the music groups in the various parks. Let them bang on the drums in AK.
Both loved the dance parties, and with both we just planned on crashing early so we didn't even try to catch the fireworks. Other people have better luck - but mine could not handle the late nights. I think the big thing is to realize that for them it's all so much bigger than it is for us, so take your time and don't feel like you have to do everything.

 

[ADS2508]

Are you guys mainly making lunch or dinner TS ADRs for your August trip?

I can’t decide whether lunch is better - break from heat / then no pressure if we don’t want to go back at night. Or if dinner is better to give more freedom in afternoon but then it forces us to go back at night?

We have young kids and find that they do better with a schedule the first half of the day and then more relaxed evenings. So we typically schedule lunch and then figure out dinner as we go. Sometimes that means quick service and others we will snag a last minute reservation somewhere. The only exception is Be Our Guest dinner....my daughter is obsessed with Beauty and the Beast and seeing him is her big request each trip.

Hey all, this is our first trip with our 3 year old, any suggestions on must do attractions/meals for a preschooler? Or any other tips in general. We have been to WDW several times but just as adults, so this will be a whole new trip for us haha, excited now.

It’s an adventure going with little ones, but so much fun.

I have 2 very different kids. DD (5) is all about whatever thrill ride she can get on and has been since she was little her favorites are Mine Train and Splash. She loves characters and wants them at every meal. DS (2.5) loves looking at the ducks by Cinderella Castle (he can lead you there from about anywhere in the park), watching the people on Splash Mountain, and riding the monorail. He is over 40” but he is terrified on most rides so we haven’t tried anything too thrilling. He hides under the table at every restaurant until he is sure there are no characters. However, I think he loves the parks more than any of us. He loves exploring all the details and he has really made me slow down and appreciate all the aspects we would breeze right by before.

There is a lot of divide and conquer on our trips- and really hard to keep them both happy when it’s just me. It really is true when you read you need to know your kid. There are very few attractions they both like but favorites include the Speedway & Small World & People Mover in MK, the Safari & Navi River (not a fave on the boards, but my kids love it) in AK, Nemo in Epcot, and Toy Story Mania.

One thing that I think really helped my planner DD is watching you tube videos of rides, character meets, and the parks in general. It made her much more comfortable and let her know what to expect. It helped her have a much better trip and let me know things that I should FP and what I should/could skip. We did a surprise trip one time, and it was a mess. Even though she had been there not preparing her made the week much more difficult. You really just have to know your kid on that one.

I like the suggestion of the play areas. My kids definitely need some time where they could just play and run around. It really helped them decompress and were much happier.

My kids are early risers so we like to take advantage of EMM & EMH, but they have not made it to firework show in the park - but have seen them from resorts.

It is a different trip and you will not be able to cover as much as you used to. Just pick a few priorities everyday and then everything else is great. Be flexible, sometimes missing a fastpass and heading back for some down time is better than dealing with the meltdowns.

Sorry that got long.

 

[Tomh]

I think you've had a lot of good responses. My DD at 3 was all about princesses (still is...) so those meet and greets were awesome. DS at 3 was in to Mickey and Minnie. Both loved Philharmagic, the Carousel and the Nemo ride at Epcot. Neither one was a big fan of Peter Pan at that age - too dark (but having a small pen light sort of thing helped them not freak out without distracting anyone else). Maybe catch the Muppets great moments in history and some of the music groups in the various parks. Let them bang on the drums in AK.
Both loved the dance parties, and with both we just planned on crashing early so we didn't even try to catch the fireworks. Other people have better luck - but mine could not handle the late nights. I think the big thing is to realize that for them it's all so much bigger than it is for us, so take your time and don't feel like you have to do everything.

I had completely forgotten about that, but DS absolutely loved the drums in Epcot, and AK . .. well, to be more precise, mostly he loved making me play them, but still, that is enjoyment.

We also did a lot of youtube ride videos with the kids before our first couple of trips, so that they would know what to expect. DS would, and still will, ride just about anything. DD (significantly older, but MUCH less of a risk taker) is very timid about rides. The videos really helped her to judge what she might enjoy, and what she might freak out over lol.

 

[succorso1]

Thanks everyone for the great responses, lots of good ideas and info! Should be a fun time for sure. We are staying at CSR so we are close to AK, think that will be her favorite spot, seems like there is a lot to do there for little ones. The youtube videos are a good idea. I actually put her in a laundry basket on my knees and turn on the POV rollercoaster videos on the TV, I move the basket with the ride and she loves it, haha.

Also like the suggestions about shorter days, we have park tickets for every day, but probably won't use them, right now we are planning morning to lunch, eat lunch at the park and then head back to the resort...IF she takes a nap we may try a fireworks night, but we will just see how that goes. She is super active and sleeps very little now, wonder if Disney can wear her out, nothing we do now does lol.

thanks again!

 

[123SA]

10 days to my ADRs. It's both exciting to have real plans and extremely frustrating since I know it all likelihood that with no park hours or dates for DAH, EMM and dessert parties, most of the ADRs I book are likely to change.

 

[Tomh]

10 days to my ADRs. It's both exciting to have real plans and extremely frustrating since I know it all likelihood that with no park hours or dates for DAH, EMM and dessert parties, most of the ADRs I book are likely to change.

EMM is quite likely to follow the same schedule as it is in July. It is a fair bet that MK will be open until at least 10 PM until the very end of August, when it may close at 9, except on party days, and those have already been announced. With that info in hand, you should be able to do a pretty good job of choosing your ADR's.

 

[Madame]

We are looking for different dining options this year, especially near MK. Thoughts on Crystal Palace lunch?

If you can get in for 10:30 breakfast it’s the best. We greatly prefer the breakfast food & the restaurant is in the lull between bkfst & lunch & is a bit calmer.

 

[123SA]

EMM is quite likely to follow the same schedule as it is in July. It is a fair bet that MK will be open until at least 10 PM until the very end of August, when it may close at 9, except on party days, and those have already been announced. With that info in hand, you should be able to do a pretty good job of choosing your ADR's.

I don't think Early Morning Magic dates have been released beyond April, but they have been pretty consistent days of the week.

I'm struggling the most with wanting to plan for Disney After Dark. We want to do 2 at MK, 1 at HS over the 2 weeks. I'd like to do water parks/golf, laundry (yuck) on those days, followed by an early dinner, then the Disney After Dark event. The next day, sleep in a bit, so I'd need to make sure I'm planning a meal that is later in the day. (This plan worked well for us last year) However, I'm just guessing that they will continue this event and that it will continue on the same days. If I plan it this way, and they don't have the event, I have giant holes in my schedule. I'd want to re-arrange park days, which means meals too, so we go to EMM instead. If they have the events but on different days of the week than the current schedule, then my meals aren't at the right place.

What I really need to do is just stop obsessing over it. I know this...and yet, here I am obsessing over it. Last year, I booked the Disney AFter Dark events in May and managed to re-arrange meals, so it's doable.