Disneyworld Florida with a 3y4month & a 14 month old - tips please

[MummyBoss86]

Yes, I may be mad. But I've booked it, to fly in October, hoping that all will be well, and before any increase in prices with an announcement expected tomorrow.

Any tips from those that have done it? Must sees; travel advice; things to take etc.

I was thinking of a back carrier for the 1 year old.

We're staying in a hotel with a kitchenette, so will be making our own breakfasts etc and will have the flexibility of self-catering accessibility.

I wouldn't bother with the carrier, you'd be better to buy a cheap buggy when you get there. It can be quite warm and he/she could get burnt in the carrier, it can also be very overwhelming for little ones so he'll need your reassurance.

At the moment, you need to wear masks around the parks, both inside and outside - even the 3 year old. You also need to book at all the parks in advance.

It's really important to get to the parks as they open and to have a plan , otherwise you'll spend most of the day in a queue. I'd recommend subscribing to this website - they have touring plans and can recommend the quietest parks to go to on certain days.

touringplans.com/

I wouldn't bother with Hollywood Studios (especially as there are no shows) or Epcot for the children, there is not much for them at the moment. I'd recommend you get a sitter one evening and do Epcot around the world showcase and book a nice restaurant and possibly watch the fireworks if they're on. Just do Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.

Blizzard beach has the best facilities for small children if you want to do a water park. They have some smaller slides and a beach area.

Oh and they have a Legoland too, which is good for younger children.

I do think you're slightly mad though - it's not the same experience as usual, the queues will be longer and having to wear a mask all day (and getting a 3 year old to wear one) will not be fun in the florida sun. Your youngest also won't enjoy it. We had Florida as our back up plan for October - our first plan is unlikely to go ahead and we've cancelled.

I’d join the Walt Disney U.K. planning forum group on fb for tips but they’re a bit hardcore on there so be prepared

We did this when DS1 was 3y 9m and DS2 23m. We had a great time (even though people said we were mad and the kids would hate it!) and the holiday was as much fun for us as it was for them. DS1 still talks about it now (he's 6).

Best bit of advice is to ditch the carrier and get a cheap, umbrella-fold double stroller when you get there (or buy one here and take it with you). They sell them in the large supermarkets; avoid the ones provided by the parks as they are expensive and uncomfortable. The stroller was invaluable as there's so much walking involved and they can nap in it too. Also good for carrying all you bags (and souvenirs!)

Plan to get to the parks early and be flexible with how long you stay. We often came home early in the afternoon so the children could have a good nap back at the villa and then we could go back out for the evening.

As for parks, the water parks are fantastic for children and have so much for them to do (both in the actual kids areas and in the rest of the park). The Disney parks are obviously great but our children really enjoyed the Universal ones too and there's plenty of play areas there.

There's lots for the children to do at the parks but they're also pretty good with single rider or parent-swap queues so the adults can go on the bigger rides if they want to.

Plan in some rest days as it can be quite full on. Disney Springs is good for a lazy day and lunch/dinner. The T-Rex restaurant is amazing.

@cowbag1 the problem is that all the play areas (and anything that can't be controlled in a line) is shut!
So you don't get that running around letting off steam bit that you need with young children - it may be open by October, but who knows? The governor of Orange county suspects that masks will still be worn, so they'll still be social distancing.

Take a double buggy. Mine were 9, 5 and 1 when we went and I took a double buggy for the younger 2 (DH thought I was mad insisting on one for the 5 year old but I knew he wouldn’t cope with all the walking). By the end of some days we had the older 2 squeezed in the buggy and one of us was carrying the baby!

[quote underneaththeash]@cowbag1 the problem is that all the play areas (and anything that can't be controlled in a line) is shut!
So you don't get that running around letting off steam bit that you need with young children - it may be open by October, but who knows? The governor of Orange county suspects that masks will still be worn, so they'll still be social distancing.[/quote]
Yes so I've been doing some Covid reading tonight (and I should've done this before booking, got carried away with the woman on the phone this morning after finding a decent deal, very unlike me- usually research it all to the nth degree).

Basically anyone above 2yo must wear a mask, expected to continue throughout the year. Limited park capacity, a park reservation entry is needed for each day. We're going during October half term so I expect it'll be busy. Currently there are no fireworks, no parades, no character meet n greets etc. To me that is all I remember about Disney when I went as a child (now 35!). Who knows whether all of that will be relaxed come October (which is when they start to celebrate the park's 50th anniversary)... but I'm now torn whether I should cancel the damn thing entirely within the 24h cancellation policy and just go another year, would be 2023 as 2022 won't be possible for us. DH thinks we should just play it by ear and see how things pan out, worst case our refund policy is losing £35pp (possibly also per way) so query do we just risk losing a couple of hundred quid if by the end of the summer things don't look any better, or cut our losses now. Either way I think it sounds like it'll be a different experience to the norm. Bloody covid!

If you can cancel and defer I would tbh

Probably too young to appreciate it all, we didn’t take ours until they were tall enough for the rides

I don't think it's a mad idea because of their ages but just think you're wasting money given that Florida is so expensive and they're not going to remember anything at all.

As another poster suggested, go somewhere else I'd change it. Why Florida? If you want it to enjoy for yourself then go for it but if it's for your kids I wouldn't bother, personally I'd wait until the youngest is 4 at least

I would also defer this holiday.

Also there is no guarantee you'd be actually travelling to the US then as their travel ban for UK and European citizens remains very much in place. There is currently no indication from the Americans as to when this will be lifted.

We're going during October half term so I expect it'll be busy.

It won't be, because it's not a holiday in the US. We've been to Disney/Universal two Oct half-terms and it's a fantastic time to go, because it's warm and quiet. Having said that, the Covid restrictions are a worry and masks worn all day long would be a deal-breaker for me. My 9-year-old struggles with it, let alone a 3-year-old.

So did you cancel within 24h OP? If you didn't, I'd just wait and see for now as the situation with Covid is very dynamic and things could be very different by October.

The first time we went was October half term her with an extra week tagged on. It
Wasn’t too busy and everywhere was decorated for Halloween which was fun. Weather was still warm for us but they did close one of the water parks one day as at 20 degrees was deemed not warm enough

I really wouldn’t be comfortable asking my three year old to wear a mask all day for the duration of the holiday. Do you think they could cope with that?

Hi, I've been looking to book Orlando flights for next year and anybody over 2 years of age travelling to America from UK will have to wear a mask whilst on the plane as well as in the American airport.

So you will need to consider if your 3 year old would manage a long haul flight plus any possible delays in the airport in a mask.