If you’re reading this post on “How To Survive Disney World With Kids” my guess is that the thought of going to Disney World already overwhelms you, otherwise you’d be reading a post like “Where To Get A Six Pack Of Mickey Mouse Ears!”. If you’re not the type of person that’s going to be sporting Mickey Mouse ears with your entire family, and you’d probably rather be on a beach, keep reading.
We were planning a trip for spring break ’22 and my parents wanted to join in and suggested we all venture to Disney World. At first, my husband and I looked at each other with a solid “no way” glare. The thought of taking 5 kids to Disney, ages 8, 7, 4, 2, and 1, especially during a pandemic, especially during the crazy busy time of spring break, did not sound like the “relaxing” vacation we had envisioned.
But after some persuasion, and the push for “there’s something to do there for all of the kids’ ages!”, we hesitantly agreed. Beyond the inevitable stress of the plane ride with an energetic 1 year old plus dishing out snacks to 4 other kids every 5 minutes, we made it to Florida. Looking back on our trip, I think we surprisingly did a good job at surviving Disney World with kids.
Here are some tips and tricks for how to survive Disney World with kids, especially when Disney overwhelms you (including some unpopular opinions!).
Tips And Tricks For How To Survive Disney World With Kids And Toddlers
Considerations For Lodging
When planning for your stay, you’ll come across countless suggestions to stay on a Disney property. Well, I think that depends. I highly suggest you think about what is a priority for you- if you’re traveling with 1 or 2 young children and you really want to avoid driving and instead want to take advantage of shuttles, and easy access to a hotel restaurant, then staying on a Disney property might be your thing.
However, if you want more space for a larger family, you may consider staying at one of the resorts nearby with “villas” that feel like a larger apartment equipped with a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, etc. This was a priority for us. With 5 young kids in tow, I knew we needed space. We needed a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, a living room area for kids to hang out together and unwind, easy access to a parking spot for our minivan rental and a place to easily park our double stroller inside.
For us, we didn’t plan on relying on eating breakfast at a hotel restaurant (and maybe that’s something you do prioritize during your stay), we wanted to stop at Whole Foods on the way back from the airport, stock up on groceries, and have access to breakfast in our kitchen during the duration of the trip. Our kids eat way too much and are up way too early (and hungry!) for us to try to pull off breakfast at a restaurant (plus, how enjoyable is it really when your young babies/toddlers are cranky at a restaurant?!).
This worked out really well and I’m glad we decided to stay off Disney property. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort Villas, Lake Buena Vista/Orlando property. We actually didn’t have many available options for lodging because we booked our trip less than a month and a half prior, and during the height of spring break season, things fill up way in advance!
However, I will say that the property worked out well for our needs. It was a short drive to the Disney parks, and had all of the amenities we prioritized for our Disney trip with kids, including multiple POOLS (this was a necessity!). Plus, it was much cheaper than some of the properties that were on Disney grounds (especially when you factor in paying for multiple hotel rooms!! And let’s be honest, Disney World is already SUPER EXPENSIVE).
you don’t need to do it all
Of course there are the people that travel to Disney World and feel the need to do it ALL– go to every Disney park, ride every ride, take a picture with every character, buy every junky Disney souvenir, and wear those Mickey Mouse ears everywhere– I’m pretty sure they shower with them on and go to bed wearing them, but I really don’t even want to know the answer to that…
Anyhow, if you are NOT one of those people, and Disney seems stressful or overwhelming, remember this: you do NOT need to do it all. Focus on what you’d really enjoy doing during your stay at Disney World.
Start with the parks. Narrow down which parks are a priority. For us, we decided we would do 3 parks: Epcot (I actually loved Epcot as a kid), Animal Kingdom (our kids love animals and none of us had ever been to this park before), and Magic Kingdom (this was grandma’s choice, and honestly, I could’ve skipped this one, dare I say it!). I know people automatically think of Magic Kingdom as the quintessential Disney theme park, however it was SO crowded and busy that it felt more overwhelming than the other theme parks, in my personal opinion.
(If you want to hear about what we enjoyed most at each park, keep reading!)
Once you know what parks you really want to visit, try to pick your “top picks” of what you’d like to do at each park. I say “top picks” because you have to factor in if you’re very willing to wait in a long line for a ride and be okay with it if that’s the case. Which leads me to my next tip:
Be Flexible
Depending on the time of year you visit Disney World, sometimes you’ll run into a situation where your kids really want to go on a specific ride but maybe the wait times are too long, or you weren’t able to book it with a fast pass/lightning lane/genie plus (I’m sure there’ll be a new name by next year!).
So be flexible. Have your top choices of what you’d hope to do, and know that some things will work out and some may not, and that’s okay! You’re there for the adventure, and the kids will love the experience.
For example, we knew our top choice at Animal Kingdom was to do the safari, since it was a unique experience that was suitable for every age in our family- from a 1 year old all the way to the grandparents. So we were able to book that on our Disney booking app, and then filled the morning with some “less competitive” attractions, where we didn’t have to wait in long lines (because again, shorter wait time was a priority for us).
Divide and conquer
If you’re traveling with kids of different ages like we were, sometimes it’s worth it to divide and conquer. The older kids may have an interest that the toddlers aren’t ready for. Surviving Disney with toddlers can be hard enough on its own, so you don’t want to have them crankily stand through long lines just for the older kids! Even though much of the trip will be spent together as a family, it may be worth it to split at times so everyone feels fulfilled in their Disney experience.
For example, at Epcot, my husband took our older kids, ages 8, 7, and 5 on the ride Soarin’ Around The World (which they all loved!), while I cruised around the cutest little butterfly garden with our 2 and 1 year old (and they loved it!). We actually went through this butterfly garden a solid 7 times, but they loved it every time. Sweet, simple, but everyone got to enjoy something for themselves.
If you’re going to Disney World with kids, sometimes you have to be flexible and accommodate to different ages and different interests, but it may make it more enjoyable for everyone in the long run!
Plan Out Your Ideal “Busy Times”
Speaking of surviving Disney World with kids of different ages, it’s important to plan out when your ideal “busy times” are. For example, if you’re visiting Disney World with toddlers, we all know that late afternoon to early evening is usually when those little bodies start to melt down (especially if they’re nap-skippers!).
So your ideal “busy time” may be first thing in the morning when the Disney parks open. So plan for that. Eat an early breakfast, pack for the day, and be there right at opening to make the most of your day. If you don’t want to spend the entire day at a Disney park, then don’t! (We didn’t! It was important for us to have “down time” toward the late afternoon- I’ll talk about that next.).
However, if you’re traveling to Disney World with kids that are not in the young toddler crowd, maybe you’re okay with having your “busy times” dispersed throughout the day- maybe you have a priority to see fireworks at night, or other events/attractions in the evening, and that’s what will bring you joy during your Disney experience. For us, having the younger toddlers in tow, we knew that fireworks were not in the cards for us (as much as we love fireworks!), so we kept our mornings busy, and eased our way out of the theme parks by mid-afternoon, and that’s what worked well for us.
have “down time”
Again, if you’re already reading this post about “Surviving Disney World With Kids (When Disney Overwhelms You)” then you’re probably in the camp that appreciates some down time from the Disney chaos! This is probably my most important tip: have down time. Just because you’re going to Disney World doesn’t mean that you need to do Disney World every second of the day- it’s exhausting!
Figure out what “down time” means to you for your trip. For us, we wrapped up our visits to the Disney parks by mid-afternoon so we could recoup at the resort/villa, walk to the resort pool, and enjoy our pool time until we were ready to have dinner in our kitchen. Some nights we cooked an easy pasta dish for everyone, and other nights we did carryout from some recommended restaurants nearby, and we loved it! For us, it was much more enjoyable than lugging hot, overtired kids into a Disney park restaurant and hoping our youngest ones don’t have a meltdown there at dinnertime.
This also completely depends on your length of stay, but we spent about 6 days in Orlando, and decided that 3 of those days would be “Disney park days”, and the other 3 would be our “down time” days- which were filled with pool hopping at the resort, lots of popsicles, long walks to resort playgrounds and searching for lizards- and these days were just as fun as our “Disney park days”!
If you’re lucky enough to be on a longer Florida vacation, I think it’s so fun and such a break from the chaos to skip a day or 2 between Disney parks. Maybe they’re solely pool days, maybe some mini golf, or maybe even wake up super early for a day trip to the beach! (You can get to beaches on either coast within under 2 hours). We really considered doing this, but decided another pool day was worth it for our crew.
plan meals/snacks
If you’re already a parent of young kids, you’re probably a master snack-packer. But it is extra important to plan and pack tons of snacks for your Disney park outings (especially for the toddler crowd). Snacks and food in general can get very pricey at Disney World, and it’s better to pack as much as you can before you enter the long lines and long walks. Prepared snacks help keep the wallet filled and toddler tummies filled too.
Planning for meals is also helpful in being “less overwhelmed” when visiting Disney World with kids. Consider if there is a restaurant you really want to go to, or are you pretty flexible with where to eat? Is it easier to eat breakfast at a resort restaurant (or in your rental kitchen) and pack a lunch for the parks? If you want to eat at a restaurant make sure you book a reservation because the popular restaurants fill up and have a long wait.
We only ate at 2 Disney park restaurants- one of the Teppan-style Japanese restaurants at Epcot (which is a fun experience in itself for kids of all ages watching them cook food right in front of you), and Tiffins at Animal Kingdom (which we had to wait a very long time for even with a reservation). Lines can be long, meals expensive, and sometimes it’s worth it to have an alternate plan.
Our favorite dining experience was actually just ordering tapas take out for my birthday from Cafe Tu Tu Tango (non-Disney park restaurant), and eating in our dining room back at the resort after a long day at the pool! Again, down time + good food will recharge your soul so you’re ready to tackle a busy theme park the next day!
fast pass, lightning lane, genie+ (whatever they’ll call it next)
I’m sure the name will again change in the future, but do your research on whichever Fast Pass/ Lightning Lane/ Genie+ options are offered and I highly suggest paying for it. You’re already making the plunge and the splurge going to Disney World with kids so you might as well have everything working in your favor for waiting in as short of lines as possible, or being able to book some of your top choices for rides and attractions. This in itself will help reduce so much stress and feeling overwhelmed at Disney World.
remember this is an adventure!
When you’re taking kids to Disney World, it’s naturally going to be an adventure! The sights, the architecture, the characters, the rides, the events, all of it will be a memorable experience. So try not to stress about making your trip to Disney “perfect”, but rather see the magic through the eyes of your children and know that no matter what, this will be a trip they’ll always cherish and remember.
Now here are a few of the rides and attractions we personally enjoyed (or didn’t) on our trip:
Magic Kingdom
Again, Magic Kingdom was my least favorite of the 3, and super crowded when we were there. I’m sure it would be much more enjoyable to visit on a non-peak season week. We picked a few rides to go on that didn’t have super long lines, and kept this day short and sweet.
- Pirates Of The Caribbean – I have no idea why my mom thought this would be the best choice to book for our very first ride at Disney World, considering we have a 1, 2, and 4 year old aboard our ship, but the dark ride, cannons, and drunken pirates were NOT enjoyed by our youngest ones. Or me, dealing with them getting upset. Our oldest ones were even confused about this ride. Thanks, Grandma π
- Disney Festival Of Fantasy Parade – Our kids really enjoyed watching Anna, Elsa and other Disney characters sing their way to the Magic Kingdom Castle. We actually didn’t plan for it, but we were walking near the castle and found it to be a great spot to hang tight and watch the parade. No lines, kids could enjoy popsicles we packed from the resort, and sing along.
- Under The Sea ~ Journey Of The Little Mermaid – Our kids enjoyed this slow ride, musical adventure suited for all ages. It was fun to hear the classic songs from the movie. However, one of my kids pushed down our “safety bar” so far down that I felt claustrophobically pinned down the entire ride- so leave yourself some breathing room if you don’t want to feel trapped to a giant seashell!
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin – Our kids, and even the grandparents enjoyed this one. It’s simple, but flying around on your own magic carpet is a fun choice for an all-ages Magic Kingdom ride.
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel – A beautifully decorated carousel with magical views of Cinderella’s castle. This was another sweet and simple ride that everyone enjoyed. My “older” kids are still young enough to enjoy a carousel, and the littlest ones thought it was pure magic!
Epcot
As a kid, I LOVED Epcot. I loved to travel and was lucky enough to experience many different vacations, so the joy of being in Italy one hour for lunch, exploring Norway and an old Vikings ship the next hour, and somehow ending up in Japan for a teppan-style dinner was my form of magic at Disney when I was a kid.
We arrived at Epcot on our second “theme park day” and it was like a breath of fresh air! No where near as crowded as Magic Kingdom, less “in your face” stimulation, more spread out paths to walk on, pretty fountains, beautiful countries to explore, better food options all around, and a great little playground for the kids to burn off some energy between rides.
- The Seas With Nemo And Friends – Who doesn’t love the movie Finding Nemo?! It’s so cute and this ride was a perfect underwater adventure for the entire family.
- Seabase – Everyone loved this underwater aquarium featuring reef fish, sea turtles, sharks, stingrays, coral reefs, and a special manatee sanctuary where you get to see the manatees cared for and chomp on lettuce. This kids loved every bit of this aquarium.
- Bruce’s Shark World – Yes, you definitely need to get a picture in Bruce’s sharky grin.
- Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros – Everyone enjoyed this relaxing slow boat ride down the Rio Grande. The music and colorful Mexican heritage decor was fun, and our 2 year old (who loves ducks) thought this was “super fun!”.
- Soarin’ Around the World – While I stayed back with the younger 2, my husband took our 8, 7, and 4 year old on this interactive ride where you feel like you’re flying over some of most scenic wonders of the earth. This was probably their favorite ride out of any Disney theme park!
- Butterfly House – Such a sweet butterfly garden! I went through this about 7 times with my 2 and 1 year old, and they loved it. When our older kids were done with Soarin’, they joined us and loved it too!
- Playground – We found a great little enclosed playground while at Epcot and it was the perfect way to let the kids burn off some energy in a contained environment. Sit on a bench, sip some cool drinks, and let the kids play before heading to the next adventure!
- Teppan Edo Japanese Restaurant – We stopped for lunch at this teppan-style Japanese restaurant, and because the “show” of cooking food right at the table is pure entertainment in itself, the kids had fun and no one got too antsy to leave the table = a win!
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom was new for everyone in our family and we were all really impressed! Like Epcot, it had a more “relaxed” vibe vs. Magic Kingdom. There was space to walk, the crowds weren’t nearly as overwhelming, the music was enjoyable, the “nature-aspect” of Animal Kingdom was beautiful and interesting, and I love how it felt more “outdoorsy” vs. solely a “theme park”.
- TriceraTop Spin – Similar to Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride at Magic Kingdom, this was a fun ride for the kids. Simple and fun- plus they were able to control how high their triceratops reached in the air.
- The Boneyard – All of our kids really liked exploring The Boneyard climbing through caves and finding twisting slides. They all really enjoyed the excavation “dig site” where they dug for fossils and gave Mom a chance to sit! This was a perfect spot for me to hang out with the younger 2 while my husband took the older 3 on DINOSAUR (big kid only ride).
- DINOSAUR – I think everyone had high hopes for this one, especially since we have some dinosaur- obsessed kids, but everyone said it was “too jerky” and a rougher ride, which made it not as enjoyable.
- Wilderness Explorers – A fun concept for our older 3 kids as they learned about the wilderness and collected badges along the way.
- Flamingo At Discovery Island – A cute little flamingo habitat- it’s always fun to see these cool pink tropical birds!
- Discovery Island Trails & Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail – These were easy, beautiful trails where everyone enjoyed spotting different animals. It was a nice scenic way to get some exercise surrounded by nature and so many sights and sounds.
- Kilimanjaro Safaris – Everyone loved the safari adventure and seeing so many beautiful animals roam around the park. We went on this ride in the afternoon, however, I’ve heard it’s such a cool experience to do the after-dark tour and see the animals in their nocturnal setting.
I hope you found some of the tips and tricks helpful for surviving Disney World with kids!
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