What is to go to Disney World with a toddler

I am not exaggerating when I say that my introduction to Disney World is a central memory. When I crossed the doors of Magic Kingdom At 4 years old, it was love at first sight.

Over the next three decades, dozens of additional trips followed. Going like a little child was extremely different to go as an Adolescent Zitty with my younger brother or a recent academic graduate who dragging my boyfriend.

However, even if the parks have changed and I changed, my attachment to them was coherent. This emotional equality is precisely what allowed Disney Parks to hold firm like the most visited theme parks in the world, even if the price of a Disney trip has become out of reach for many families.

In January, I had the opportunity to visit the parks for a Magic of Stalstones Media event and I thought it was an ideal opportunity to present my toddler at Disney Life for the first time.

At first, I feared that she was too young. Googler “What is the best age to take a child to Disney for the first time?” did not conclude anything – some said in less than a year, while others insisted that never take a child under the age of 5.

Making a direct answer, I decided to be cautious in the wind and take my 2 year old child and go there. She would surely have an identical experience in my inaugural visit, I thought.

I was wrong.

Going to Disney World for the first time as a parent did not meet my expectations at all – and I can’t wait to go back.

The individual temperament of your toddler will really determine the Disney World rides that they can continue

My 2-year-old child is a daredevil, but it is short, so the majority of height limit rides were out of the question.

I was looking forward to taking it more on the rides adapted to babies, where you just sit in a slow car and navigate, waving the animatronics.

What I did not expect is his sudden fear of the very moderate darkness.

This child never asked for a night light in his 27 months of life, but suddenly, while waiting in the Grotto inspiration line to “Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid”, weak underwater lighting and slightly frightening ocean sounds were too much for her.

“I’m afraid,” she said noisily about 3 ½ minutes after the wait. We turned around and left.

In fact, we arrived on the “Frozen” walk in Norway in Epcot, but it was also a mixed bag. I had completely forgotten that Marshmallow, the giant snowman, made an appearance towards the end, and we were entirely prepared for panic.

We avoided dark walks after that.

She loved the prince’s regal charming carousel, who, in our view, would be the case because she makes a duty to set up each carousel she sees.

The Mad Tea Party tea walk was also a great success – we were all happy to sit down without turning.

On the other hand, toddlers will find Disney Magic in the most improbable places

My daughter’s favorite “driving” was the skyliner that took us from our hotel to Hollywood Studios.

She couldn’t have had enough. Whenever we go up this thing, she jumped on the bench to look out the window, singing loudly (to the great fun of other families who have been broken with us), and shouting the names of all the characters she saw on the gondolas that passed.

Beyond the rides, I had measured my expectations for other Disney experiences, like characters and salutes.

I had planned that we had to avoid most of the characters. We have limited the screen time until she was 2 years old, so she was not very familiar with any of them, and I feared that she was panicked by seeing them (some for the first time) in the form of life. We also had a meeting with an Easter rabbit the previous year which gave me a break.

Surprisingly, she was just a little worried and warmed up very quickly. At the end of Disney Jr.’s play and dance, she organized a dancing evening with Minnie Mouse and hugs her.

She couldn’t really work the nerve to get closer to Goofy, who is much larger than Minnie, but all these months later, she always talks about giving Goofy a high-five “next time”.

The princesses were an even greater success, and it was such a joy to see her interact with them. Princess Elena was her favorite, although she never watched the show.

Live music shows were also an excellent choice. During my pre -preparation trips, I had never taken the trouble to go to them – which cares about the abbreviated versions of Disney films that I saw a Billion of times? For my little one, however, they were a major victory.

Within 30 minutes, they are the perfect length for a short period of attention and a large introduction for some of the films that she had not yet seen. “For the first time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” was his favorite and sparked an intense Queen Elsa phase.

The Safari stroll to Animal Kingdom was also something that I had never done, but we prioritized it by driving the love of my toddler for zoos. It was a major success.

Fireworks shows have always been a highlight of my Disney World trips, but they were too much for my little

The “Fantasmic!” The show in Hollywood Studios is my favorite Disney experience, and I have always done a duty several times during each of my last trips. However, we did not even plan to go with my daughter.

She had never known fireworks before, so to test the waters, we took her to “Luminous: the symphony of us”, a 17 -minute show in Epcot. We have watched since The World Showcase because I thought it was quite far from images and sounds so as not to be too crushing. I was extremely wrong.

My toddler was immediately panicked by the first boom. Unfortunately, because the show was at 9 p.m. (technically after closing the park), all stores and restaurants were inaccessible for an escape. My husband ended up taking refuge near a trash can, singing songs to distract her until the end of the show.

Part of this was a recruit error: we forgot to provide headphones committed in noise for her. That said, I doubt that she would have kept them even if we had done it.

After this incident, we knew to avoid “fantasmic!” and other fireworks shows, such as “Happily Every At Magic Kingdom”.

My toddler ate much more to Disney World than I expected

At home, my daughter is a very picky eater, convinced that she can exist in the air and occasional cheerio alone. It is a major stressor for my husband and I in our daily life, but I made the decision to relax and not worry during the holidays.

However, instead of the sautéed meals and the range we plan, we were pleasantly surprised by its slightly more adventurous appetite to Disney World. Now she was not looking for exactly for Chows on a turkey leg, but it was better than what I expected.

Its favorites included the muffins with mickey -shaped blueberries at the Royal Cinderella table, the pizza with coffee connections and the fried fries wherever we could find them.

The biggest victory, however, was the end-taastic Nemo cake in Coral Reef, one of my favorite restaurants at Disney World. She is generally not a girl of candies (to my great distress, as a big fan of Dole Whip) and the cake was so cute that she was not initially sure if she was even edible. Once she took the first bite, however, she couldn’t have enough.

Another bonus is that children under the age of 3 eat for free in Disney restaurants at will. Roundup Rodeo, a new barbecue restaurant in Toy Story Land with Hollywood Studios, was an excellent option for this – there was more than enough food for all of us, and a lot for my daughter to sample – which means that she would pretend to try it, then would outspoken it from its mouth.

The portions are quite large, especially at the à la carte table service and fasting restaurants, so we have never been hungry.

What is the best age to take a child to Disney World? There is none

I know that it is not a very satisfactory answer, but in the end, the best age for a first Disney trip is extremely variable.

Although we were limited in what we could do with my toddler in terms of certain rides, experiences and restaurants, there was still a lot to us. And the rider’s exchange option, which allows a parent to wait with the child, then exchange to roll without queuing separately, was also very useful to allow me to make my favorite rides.

Do I regret taking my 2 year old child to Disney World? No way. It was not the journey that I had imagined, but it was still very magical – largely because the things that were magical for her were things that I did not expect or things that I had not even known before.

I remember seeing her face enlighten princesses or walk on a mickey -shaped treat every time she hits me in her head with her Olaf bubble wand.

My only hope is that next time, she will be courageous enough to share a whip with me.