Disney World with a 3 year old
Disney,  Disney World,  Family Fun,  Travel

How to Do Disney World with a 3 Year Old {Part 2 of 2}

[Original Post Date: July 2016 | Updated: January 2020]

Yesterday I shared some tips for the planning stage of your Walt Disney World vacation. Today I wanted to share some tips on making sure you get the most out of your day at the parks. When it comes to doing Disney World with a 3 year old, it’s all about maximizing your time within the parks and hitting them EARLY (i.e. before “rope drop”)!

Below are some KEY things we have learned to get the most out of our park days. I am going to be speaking primarily about Magic Kingdom in this post, as this park is typically the biggest hit with the toddler/preschooler crowd. However, these same principals can be applied to any of the Walt Disney World parks.

how to do disney world with a 3 year old
Set Your Alarm + Arrive Early

This is key. We all know that preschoolers are early risers, so you will want to take advantage of this and set your alarm to get up and going early. We always try to arrive 30-45 minutes before the park opens. If you are staying at a WDW Resort Hotel, be sure to check the daily schedule for any Extra Magic Hours at the specific park you plan to attend that day. Most days you can expect Magic Kingdom to open at 9:00 AM (with Extra Magic Hours beginning at 8:00 AM on select days for resort guests).

Tip: Eat breakfast before you arrive to the park (or bring on-the-go breakfast items with you)! Unless we have a character breakfast reservation, we always eat before we arrive so we can hit the ground running as soon as the ropes officially drop!

Head Straight to your Must-Do Attractions/Rides.

Remember that ride list we talked about in Part 1? Well, it’s finally time to put your plan into action! Right before Rope Drop, you’ll want to try to position yourself at the entrance of the Land you plan to visit first.

For us, it’s Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom. We have always been able to walk right on at least 3-4 rides in Fantasyland before ever having to wait in a line. For this reason, we typically don’t book any of our FastPasses any earlier than 10/10:30 AM. You definitely want to make your FastPass+ selections count, so I recommend booking those during busier times of the day.

Take a Break for an Afternoon Nap

This is crucial if you plan to keep your little one(s) up for the fireworks! If your child isn’t napping anymore, I still encourage a mid-afternoon break for some quiet time (in the A/C). Our kids don’t always fall asleep, but we always make sure that they at least get some quiet time back at the resort.

I remember one afternoon when my son was 3 1/2 – we were overambitious and tried to keep him going all day at the park. Well, we ended up with a cranky, over-tired 3 year old who ended up melting down by 6:00 PM, forcing us to miss all of our evening plans at the park.

Mobile Order Your Food

As a parent, trust me when I tell you that mobile ordering is a game changer when it comes to eating at the parks with little ones. Inside your My Disney Experience mobile app you can order your food at quick-service dining locations throughout the parks, view restaurant menus, and even make customizations to select menu items – all saving you time waiting in line!

Magic Kingdom Itinerary

Here is a sample itinerary from one of our days at Magic Kingdom. Keep in mind that this was just day 1 of 2 in the parks (we also went back to Magic Kingdom the following day). But even with a break for naps and dinner back at our resort, we managed to squeeze in quite a bit during our 1st day!

A.M. HOURS

Fantasyland: Dumbo, Barnstormer, Little Mermaid and Peter Pan’s Flight (FastPass+)

Cinderella’s Castle: “Dream Along with Mickey” stage show (Now “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire”)

Fantasyland: It’s a Small World (FastPass+)

LUNCH TIME

Lunch/Souvenir Shopping

Fantasyland: Winnie the Pooh (FastPass+) and Meet & Greet with Pooh & Tigger

AFTERNOON HOURS

Break for Nap/Dinner at Resort

P.M. HOURS

Fantasyland: Mad Tea Party, WDW Railroad Steam Train and Meet & Greet with Donald & Goofy

Adventureland: Aladdin’s Magic Carpets (we absolutely love riding this one at NIGHT)

Note: We ended our night with the Electrical Parade, which is sadly no longer running at Magic Kingdom.

We were lucky that Noah seemed to really enjoy pretty much every ride we took him on; however, some clear favorites of his were: Dumbo, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan’s Flight, Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, and The Walt Disney World Steam Train.

I hope you found this guide to visiting Disney World with a 3 year old helpful! For more tips & tricks on visiting Disney World with preschoolers, click here.

How old were your kids when you first took them to Walt Disney World? What were their favorite rides?

xo,

Sumer

Let’s be friends!

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How to Do Disney World with a 3 Year Old

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