Hi there,

We (my wife and I) are taking my 3 year old son to WDW at the end of January for a week. We are staying at the Animal Kingdom.

We have never been to WDW (even as kids). Any suggestions on how we should spend the week? My fear is that without a plan we will just wander around and not see too much. Are there any books we should read? HELP!

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is a great book and can be found in most book stores. The secret to a great trip to WDW is to plan, plan, plan and then be flexible when you get there. We just came back from a trip to WDW with our grandchildren - ages 3 and 1. Magic Kingdom is worth a couple of days. Get there early and head to Dumbo ride ASAP. Then do The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Merry go Round. Allow for play time at the Pooh Playground..great fun for pre-schoolers and a chance to rest for Mom and Dad. Your son would probably enjoy the Speedway and Buzz Lightyear. Lots more to see in MK. The other place pre-schoolers enjoy in Disney Studios -- Playhouse Disney, Beauty and the Beast, Lights and Sound to just name a few highlights. Epcot is more for adults, but our 3 year old enjoyed making the craft at each of the countries this year. Have a great trip.

Although not as crucial if you're not traveling over MLK weekend, I'd recommend making any 'must do' table service reservations (Advanced Dining Reservations, or ADRs in Disney-speak) ASAP. You may have to be a little flexible with your meal times (which can be difficult with a 3 year old!), especially in the MK.

You have a very short time to plan, and the Unofficial Guide can be intimidating in it's size. I might recommend Birnbaum's 'official' guide to you as an alternative - it's smaller, hits highlights and doesn't get into the detail that the Unofficial Guide does, and has color pictures that might be nice for your 3 year old. BUT it doesn't go as in depth into strategies for touring the parks, so it depends on how much time you have to devote to planning in the next month.

I second what Drince said - the official Birnbaum guide is the way to go. I really enjoy the Unofficial Guide, but it's pretty detailed, and you don't really have that much time to plan. Just a little more info on dining - Disney allows guests to book dining reservations 180 days in advance, and some restaurants book up within hours. So the first thing I'd do after buying the Birnbaum book is to go to the dining section, pick which restaurants you want to visit, and call Disney right away with your booking request. It's usually easier to get a reservation for lunch, and as Drince said try off times for eating. Or you may be happy with Disney's quick service counters, which require no reservations. There's plenty of variety - much more than just burgers & fries.

The only other firm advice I could give you is to take your time, and do things at your son's pace. There's nothing sadder than to see parents practically flogging their exhausted children late in the day, trying to get in one more ride or one more show, trying to get every bit of their money's worth. Just take it easy, take time off in the afternoons to go back to your hotel for a swim and a nap (and the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a spectacular resort!), and then hit the parks for the evening.

If you have any more specific questions, please feel free to ask away. I wish I was going with you in January!

Thanks for your help. I have ordered the guides. The travel agent has already made us some reservations at the Coral Reef Restaurant, Chef Mickey’s Breakfast, Disney’s Play n Dine Breakfast, Crystal Palace Dinner, and the Nine Dragons Restaurant to get us started. She wanted to give us some flexibility. Hopefully she made some good choices for us :-)

Those sound like a nice variety of locations!

I agree with other posters, and would stress taking an afternoon break. We, generally, get to a park as close to opening as possible, stay about 4-5 hours, then return to the hotel for a break. The parks offer a lot of sensory stimulation, and my kids tend to get tired after about that amount of time. If you child is a napper, get him to rest in the room. It may be too cold to swim, but pack suits anyway, and hit the pool, if the weather is suitable. Enjoy quiet activities at your resort, or in your room. After a break, go back to a park for awhile, for dinner, and stay as long as your little one is up for it. I have seen many a child have a total meltdown because their parents did not heed their warning signals, and insisted on spending all day at the park. When my kids were smaller, as soon as they looked like they were going to hit the wall, we would leave ASAP. A kid heading for a meltdown is not going to get better or snap out if it. We would, sometimes, plan a character or restaurant meal at lunch, rather than dinner, which has been successful, and then play it more by ear later in the day for meals. We usually do dinner on the early side. The only really bad dinner experience we had was when we had a later reservation, for around 7, and the kids were too hungry and tired to behave well. At 5 or 5:30, they do much better. Let me add the suggestion, to be sure to stop at the Kidcot tables, at Epcot, located at each of the World Showcase pavillions and some of the places in Future World. This gives your child a chance to do a simple activity, usually coloring. Also, bring lots of quarters and pennies, and collect pressed pennies-my kids always loved that, and get the little albums for them.

While most consider Epcot to be an adult park, there is plenty to keep young children busy.

By all means go to the KidCot stations at the countries and attractions the counselors keep they kids busy with crafts and mask making. The entire Living Seas has been themed to Nemo and Friends, and the huge aquarium is still the same and facinating for most kids. It's also visible from most seating in the Coral Reef restaurant. For counter service, the Sunshine Seasons in the Land pavillion has several stations with choices sure to please picky eaters, and for table service there is character lunch or dinner at the Garden Grill in the Land.

There are indoor character meet-and-greet areas for autographs and pictures at one of the Innoventions buildings, as well as characters themed to the various countries making appearances in their resprctive areas. The Alladin characters in Morrocco, Beauty and the Beast characters in France, etc.

while not a fan of birbaum, the for kids by kids edition may be appropriate in this case, although perhaps a bit over the head of a 3 year old.

also, check out http://disneymagicalbeginnings.com which offers park maps geared at the preK crowd, highlighting all types of attractions and dining as well as a downloadable activity booklet.

more info on kidcot here: http://kidcot.stitchkingdom.com

medwaylab,

I completely agree with posters who suggest taking the afternoon break with young children. My wife and I were at WDW in December with our daughter, son-in-law, and their 2 1/2-year old daughter. We made it a point to concentrate on kid-friendly rides during the mornings and then our daughter, son-in-law, and grandaughter went back to the hotel after lunch for a few hours of rest. My wife and I continued doing some of the more adult rides in the afternoon, and then we all met up again at the parks for dinner around 5:00p. Little Jaidyn survived this pace just fine without any meltdowns to speak of. Pushing her to do more than she wanted to do would have been a disaster.

For sit-down meals, we selected character meals at Crystal Palace, the Garden Grill, and Hollywood & Vine. We also had great character meet-and-greet opportunities within the parks, including the new character spot in Innoventions West at Epcot.

Hope things work out as well for your visit. By the way, I hope to have my trip report posted by next weekend.

Arnold