Just a Toddler in the World
Allison FlynnMarch 7, 2017Before my youngest son was born, the only times I’d traveled to the Walt Disney World Resort was with my nieces when they were 9 and 7, and my oldest son after he’d turned 5. My husband and I always said we would be one of those families who took small children to Disney - they wouldn’t remember it, you had to pack all this stuff …..And then our youngest son was born.We pretty much threw every “we won’t” out the window when we decided we wanted to visit when he was 8 months old. It turned out, it was an incredibly easy trip. He napped in his stroller, ignored what he didn’t want to watch and was pretty chill the whole way through.But, as a toddler, he’s not as apt to nap on the go as easily. And, he wants to do everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - his older brother does. So when we planned another trip to Walt Disney World when he was just shy of 3, I was nervous.It turned out that it was almost the perfect age for him to visit.
Walt Disney World knows how to provide entertainment and attractions for all ages and abilities. My concerns about what a 3 year old could or couldn’t do were quickly put to rest, but there were still some preemptive conversations we had to try and calm our little ones fears.Three year olds have very active imaginations, and because our little man had already expressed a fear of the dark, we knew to prepare him for “dark” rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean. We kept it light and explained the the pirates were just playing and that nothing would hurt him. (As it turned out, that ride inspired him so much that he and his brother both were pirates for Halloween!)Explaining the story to some of the rides was also helpful. When it came time to ride Journey of the Little Mermaid in Fantasyland, I carefully explained that Ursula the Sea Witch was a “bad guy” and that Prince Eric would take care of Ariel. It worked - we rode it multiple times back to back. The colorfulness of the “Under the Sea” segment was also enthralling for him, so I think that was part of his urgency to “ride it again, Mommy.”Mealtimes are often a battle for us to get little man to sit still, but at Disney even that was magical. We ate two character meals, and the anticipation of seeing his man Mickey made our guy sit still and eat. At Coral Reef, one of the fancier meals we ate, he was captivated watching the fish and managed to nibble while on the lookout for Nemo and Dory.From rides and parades, character meetings and more - the toddler years are one of the perfect times to take your child to the Walt Disney World Resort. (And even better - before age 3 your child is a guest of Mickey, which means they stay and play for FREE!)If you’d like more tips and suggestions about traveling with younger children to Walt Disney World, I’d be more than happy to share. You can reach me via email at allisonf@wishesfamilytravel.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/aflynn.wft.