Tips and Tricks for Disney World with Toddlers

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Let’s be honest, it takes planning and a bit of pixie dust to have a magical vacation with toddlers at the Happiest Place on Earth!! We took our kids to Disney World twice in 1 year, at ages 1 and 3.5 followed closely by ages 4 and just under 2 years.

I can honestly say that while exhausting, both visits went far better than expected, and incredible memories were made. This is evidenced by the fact that we did it twice!! Here are my tips and tricks for Disney World with toddlers.

Cater to Your Family’s Strengths

If nothing else, please read this tip as I think it is the most valuable of my tips and tricks for Disney World with toddlers.

Our kids are up early and ready to start the day. They are at their happiest in the morning. We rope-dropped every park because we had been up since 5-6 am anyways. Might as well make the most of the time we have at Disney!

If your kids are morning people, like mine, schedule everything in the parks, including meal reservations, before lunchtime. By scheduling everything during your kids’ prime time, you will, hopefully, avoid or decrease meltdowns and not miss any highlights if you need to leave the parks early.

Consider anything you are able to see or do after lunch a bonus if they happen.

Schedule Meals Smartly

We scheduled our meals and snacks at the same times we eat at home. This is not hard if you get on the Disney website right at your designated time to make your dining reservations. I had 1-2 “wish list” meals, and the rest we planned to eat at quick services restaurants. By focusing on a couple hard to obtain reservations with your kids’ favorite characters, you will have a better chance of getting those specific dining experiences.

There are many exciting character dining destinations at Disney World, but with toddlers, be sure to consider the menu in addition to the characters. Toddlers may be wowed by characters for a few minutes, but mine certainly aren’t reasonable enough to settle for food they don’t want. It does not matter who they are meeting or seeing!

Don’t Try To Do It All

Yes, we would have loved to see the fireworks every night at Disney but would it be worth screaming kids? Nope!!! Also if our kids go to bed super late, we risk them not sleeping, still waking up very early, and being overtired all day. Definitely not worth a bad day when we only have limited time to visit! Fireworks and nighttime events are things we can look forward to when they’re older. I feel the same way about Park Hopper passes with little kids. For our family, they are not worth the stress (and cost) of changing parks mid-day once we are past prime time happy hours.

Use Rider Switch

When traveling with a little one who does nap and an older one who doesn’t be sure to take advantage or rider switch. While our little guy slept in the stroller, we would wait in line. My husband and daughter would go on the ride, and I stayed with my little guy. Then she and I would ride next. Some rides have you wait in different areas so speak with the cast members directly at each ride to sort out the best way to proceed

Bring or Rent a Stroller

Disney World is massive! The resort properties are also huge, especially for little legs. Carrying a tired toddler likely won’t be the best time for either of you. A stroller that allows them to comfortably ride and see the sights is a lifesaver.

We own a double Bob, which is huge and does not stand up when folded, making it difficult for Disney transportation and getting around in general so chose to rent strollers at Disney World.

We have rented from Kingdom Strollers on all 3 of our Disney trips. They bring the stroller right to your resort and pick it up there at the end of your trip. We received beautiful, clean, easy-to-push strollers that reclined way back for napping.

Click to check stroller availability at Kingdom Strollers for your Disney dates.

A comfortable stroller is 100% worth it versus a tiny umbrella stroller that kids may not nap comfortably in. The strollers at the parks are hard plastic wagon-type items that look extremely uncomfortable.

I also advise bringing a clip-on stroller fan (we bought this one on Amazon and used it for both trips, with huge success). Even in January we had 85° days and needed the fan.

Bring Extra Clothes

As parents of toddlers, we know the importance of extra clothes. We all carry them in our diaper bags but please remember to bring them to the parks!!! Accidents happen- potty accidents, food accidents, weather accidents, really anything can happen.

Even if you are staying on property, it is not easy or quick to run back and grab something. I brought 2 changes of clothes for each kid each day. Toddler clothes are small and do not take up much space. We keep one outfit in our park bag and the other in the basket of the stroller.

Order Groceries for Delivery

There are so many options for ordering groceries at Disney World. We used Amazon Prime Now grocery delivery for our first trip and Instacart for our second. Unfortunately, Prime Now is no longer available, and I am unable to speak to their standard grocery delivery service.

Instacart has access to many Orlando stores including Publix, Costco, BJs, etc. Click HERE to head to Instacart and start adding to your family’ necessities to your cart!! Bonus! Instacart has a super user friendly app for your phone to make things even easier!

I filled our cart at home on my Instacart app from a master list. Be sure to save a copy or screenshot of your list in case your cart is accidentally deleted. Once we boarded and I knew our plane was on time, I ordered with a set delivery window. We were physically at the resort to receive the groceries both times. I wanted to receive the groceries myself to be sure everything was correct and nothing was missing.

Pack a Park Bag

Think of your park bag as a specialized diaper bag! What could you possibly need in that park on that day? You will not always have your stroller with you in lines, restaurants, etc, as stroller parking is offered only in designated areas of the park.

We brought refillable water bottles, snacks, wallets, park maps, and plans. One change of clothes was also in the bag, in case the stroller parking was far away and something happened while waiting in line, eating a meal, etc. Oh, and diapers and wipes should be in there for the very same reason.

I strongly advise bringing a comfortable play outfit if your little one is going in costume as those outfits can get hot!!

Plan What You Can, Accept What You Can’t

Yes, we all long for those vacations when we can jump at the drop of a hat and do something on a whim. This is not that vacation.

If you are taking toddlers to Disney, I would not advise winging it. Hence an entire blog post of tops and tricks for Disney World with toddlers!

The middle of the park at lunchtime is not the time to pull out your phone and start looking for somewhere to eat. There will likely be a meltdown if you do, from the kids, or maybe you as you navigate the crowds to a dining location that may or may not have a long wait.

I have to be honest, on our second trip, I pre-purchased park maps for all 4 parks and laminated them. On the back was a list with our plans for each park along with scheduled reservations, parades, and ride times. It may sound crazy, but the parks are overwhelming and it was truly a game-changer. I highly recommend this trick and will continue to do it each time we go for the foreseeable future.

Disney Facebook groups are a great planning resource, especially mom groups!! They have women from around the world, some who have never been to Disney, and some who are total pros!! Every question I had while planning our trip and even an SOS for somewhere for Baby J to run around during our park day, was answered so fast and by multiple people, so there were different options and opinions to check out.

As for accepting what you cannot control but planning what you can… You cannot control if there is slow service at the restaurant. But you can book an early reservation so that if there is slow service no one is screaming and starving. You cannot control the weather. But you can plan ahead to have a hoodie or an umbrella or something available if the weather changes so that everyone isn’t wet, freezing, or sweating which will inevitably cause meltdowns. You cannot control which rides have long or short lines. But you can be aware of other less popular rides in the same area that may not have a line. You get the gist, always be prepared.

Flying to Disney with your toddler? Check out my 7 Essentials to Park when Flying with a Toddler.

Organize Outfits by Parks / Characters

Disney World is one of the few trips that you may need to play very specific outfits, depending on the park you visit! Your princess may be planning to dress like Belle for Magic Kingdom or Elsa for Epcot. Our little guy wore his Donald shirt the day he was going to meet Donald Duck (his favorite character at the time), Mickey on his day, and so on.

I highly recommend packing cubes for this trip! Give each park its own cube with your kids’ outfits based on character meals, who you expect/hope to meet, etc. I have these packing cubes and swear by them for Disney and all vacations with kids.

Bring Princess Dresses with You

While I love Disney’s gorgeous princess dresses, and we have several of them at home, Little A tends to run hot and hates to be “sweaty.” Looking at the elaborate dresses we have, and knowing that there was a chance the weather would be hot and humid, there was no way she would be comfortable wearing those dresses.

Jane.com sells our favorite hot weather princess, click below to purchase one for your Disney vacation. These dresses are cotton and wash beautifully. I tend to air dry them due to the embellishments, but they have survived an occasional accident dryer cycle!

Unsure where to purchase the best toddler princess dresses for your Disney trip? Check out my Where to Buy Toddler Princess Dresses post, with different dresses and price points.

I brought dresses for each of our park days and surprised Little A with one each morning. She had never seen them before and was thrilled. It was a special thing to do for her and she loved it. Also, they were a fraction of the cost of the Disney dresses!!

Speaking of buying things in advance, check out my recommendations on What to Buy for a Disney Trip to save you time and money.

Stay Close to their Normal Bedtime

This likely won’t be very hard. After an early morning and a crazy day of fun and activities, kids are exhausted at night! Again, would we have loved to see the fireworks, of course! But that is something that we can go back and do when the kids are older.

Overtired kids do not equal a good night’s sleep for anyone in our house. It sets us all up for failure the next day and I can’t think of any nighttime activity that is worth ruining the whole next day.

Try for a Room with a Balcony

We did not have this for the first half of our first trip to Disney, so we were in bed at the same time as the kids. To be honest we were exhausted and it wasn’t a big deal. But once we switched to a different hotel halfway through we had a little balcony.

Having the option to go outside and relax at the end of a long day or just talk about our day was huge. When we went back for a second trip we made sure we booked a room with this extra space. It is a huge perk to have time to connect on our vacation after the kids are in bed. Once we had this perk, it was quickly added to my tips and tricks for Disney World with toddlers!

Schedule a Pool Day

The pools at Disney are so amazing, that we chose to schedule a full day of relaxation and pool time, in addition to post-park afternoons. I am so glad that we did! As toddlers, Little A and Baby J love pools, water slides, and splash pads. Toddlers likely don’t need a water park, and wouldn’t touch half of the attractions at them if you went based on height requirements, etc.

Take a day to relax and play at the pool together. I’m sure it will be needed after or in between your park days. This would be a great day to try a character meal at one of the hotels, for breakfast or dinner. To make things even easier, chose a restaurant that is easy to get to from your hotel to minimize chaos on your rest day.

Purchase Memory Maker

Memory Maker is an incredible service that Disney World offers via its extremely talented photography staff. Simply scan your Magic Band or app with each photo or ride and you will have access to ALL of your photos from your trip, across parks, restaurants, and anywhere with PhotoPass (depending on which package your purchase).

You own the digital images and can download them to make prints, photo books, etc in the future. There are several options such as a One Day Pass, or Advance Purchase for a discount and you can even wait to purchase until you arrive if you don’t mind paying a bit more.

Parent to parent, this is on my list of Tips and Tricks for Disney World with Toddlers for selfish, sentimental reasons. You do not want this to be another trip where the photos look like Dad and the kids went on vacation without you because you were behind the camera. I truly believe this is a must-do, more so than an expensive character meal.