Here are my ideas for Disney with two children, ages 4 and 10, together with the place we stayed, Genie+, eating, journey day, strollers, and what to deliver to the parks.
I do know there are many opinions on how to do Disney: “You must go for 7 days!” “You must take time to rest by the pool.” “You must spend your money this way or that!”
This put up relies on our experiences on how WE did Disney. We needed to remain on Disney property, not need to drive a automotive, and lower your expenses on parks and meals with a shorter journey. Feel free to share tips about the way you deliberate your go to within the feedback : )
I used to be so overwhelmed by the considered going to Disney with two children that I averted planning the journey for a very long time. At one level I used to be going to take Mazen (simply the 2 of us), however I postponed the journey so lengthy that Birch was sufficiently old!
I do know lots of you have got most likely taken your infants, 2-year-olds, and younger children, however I appeared round at moms altering diapers and with napping infants on their chests and was so glad we didn’t come when Birch was a child. I’d suggest age 4 and older!
My sister took her household the week earlier than us, and it was fantastic to have the ability to ask her questions. So be at liberty to depart a remark to ask me a selected query that I don’t reply on this put up!
What’s on this put up:
- Disney within the winter
- Our information e book
- Making a plan
- Transportation to the resort
- Our resort
- The parks
- Genie+
- Stroller ideas
- What to pack
- Dining reservations
- Disney with two children ages 4 and 10
- Souvenirs
Tips For Disney With Two Kids
Disney In The Winter
I completely can’t think about Disney World within the summertime. We went the primary week of February and had two days within the low 80s and we have been fairly scorching! I bought sunburned on my shoulders, and we wanted hats and sun shades.
Those of you who go in July and August: you might be very tolerant people.
While we did have one colder day, I’d a lot relatively add layers than be melting. I positively suggest going within the winter, spring, or fall in case you can!
The Best Disney Guide e book
My buddy Emily advisable this information e book and I used to be hesitant to get it, however am glad I did. It was an incredible overview and helped clarify all of the terminology like Genie+ and restaurant suggestions. I appreciated having the ability to spotlight the precedence rides.
I skimmed the entire thing months earlier than our journey and earmarked pages I believed I’d return to. Then I learn simply these pages on the parks just a few days earlier than.
Plan your trip priorities
Even although I mentioned I’d NOT be planning our journey prematurely, just a few days earlier than we left, Thomas and I spent a Sunday morning mapping out our three days on the parks.
I made just a little spreadsheet that helped us with a free plan of which rides Birch would possibly like and which of them Mazen would wish to go on. Even although I didn’t actually use this spreadsheet as soon as we have been there (I largely used the My Disney Experience App) it was useful to get all of it in my head!
Getting To Our Hotel: The Sunshine Flyer
We booked a bus referred to as The Sunshine Flyer to get us to and from our resort. This meant we didn’t need to deliver a automotive seat on the journey for Birch which was one much less factor to fret about. The value was $104 for us spherical journey which I believed was fairly affordable.
We flew into the Jet Blue terminal and had the toughest time discovering the correct place to get us to the older terminal B to get to the Sunshine Flyer. We have been all drained and we had 4 suitcases and spent about 20 minutes going up and down elevators and escalators to determine the way to get to terminal B. We ended up discovering the correct bus and it was FAR! Like miles away.
Once we bought to terminal B, we had one other arduous time discovering the Sunshine Flyer space. And then we needed to wait about 20 minutes for the bus itself.
All this to say, subsequent time I’d simply deliver a automotive seat and get an Uber! And you probably have older children who don’t want automotive seats, positively simply get an Uber or Lyft.
Once on the bus, it was about half-hour to our resort. They had classic cartoon motion pictures taking part in for the youngsters which was good.
Our Hotel: The Swan Reserve
Part of the explanation I saved laying aside planning a Disney journey was value. I knew the resort alone would value just a few thousand {dollars} as a result of we positively needed to remain on Disney property for the early entry perk. Then I realized all about journey rewards and I discovered the proper answer: the Swan and Dolphin accommodations! These are Marriott accommodations which can be on Disney property in order that they have perks like early park entry and bus service however you may e book them with factors!!
Location
The location of the Swan and Dolphin accommodations was excellent. They are “Epcot resorts” so they’re walkable to Epcot and a fast boat trip to Hollywood Studios. They are additionally subsequent to the Boardwalk, in order that opened up some extra walkable eating places. We beloved the ice cream store on the Boardwalk! The solely purpose I’d say to not keep right here is if you’re ONLY going to do Magic Kingdom. I’d keep at a resort on the Monorail if that’s the case.
Our Suite
While I had initially utilized for a Marriott Bonvoy card hoping to make use of these factors on this journey, we determined we actually needed to get a set. So I ended up reserving a set on the Swan Reserve with 192,000 Chase factors (that’s $2,400 for 4 nights). (Learn extra about journey rewards right here!)
Our suite was excellent for us!
We had an enormous eating desk, a fold-out couch in a single room for the boys, and a king mattress in one other room for us. The rest room was very fashionable and good with a rain bathe!
The resort is new (2021) and all of the options have been good. We had a mini fridge, microwave, and three HUGE TVs.
Amenities + Pools
Since the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are all a part of the identical assortment, you should utilize any pool or amenity you need. We took 3 visits to the Dolphin Grotto Pool, which was simply throughout the road. It was heated (not scorching however lukewarm) and there have been 3 or 4 scorching tubs too. I beloved that that they had just a few in order that they didn’t get too crowded on the cooler days.
Dinner at Cabana
We had our first dinner by the pool at Cabana. Our meals was fairly good. And the muddled Watermelon and Cucumber Spicy Marg was wonderful!
Grounds Café
We bought espresso and breakfast every single day at Grounds Café.
The meals was simply so-so, but it surely did its job. We additionally introduced cereal and bars from residence. If we had identified there was a microwave we might have introduced oatmeal too!
The in a single day oats was fairly good!
Transportation to the Parks
The resort has buses to all of the parks, however we solely took one to Magic Kingdom. It was a few 10-minute trip.
We walked to Epcot! It took about 12 minutes.
We took a ship from the entrance of the Dolphin Hotel to Hollywood Studios. The boat trip was about 8 minutes.
The Parks
We had 3 days to plan and ended up selecting Magic Kingdom first, Epcot second, and Hollywood third. I used to be glad we did this order as a result of they went from most to least intense and our power positively drained as time handed!
We wished we may have additionally achieved Animal Kingdom, however we determined to prioritize location over bus journey. We additionally didn’t get to Disney Springs as a result of our flight time bought pushed again by the airline and we needed to get Birch to mattress! That would have been nice for our first night time.
I do know lots of people do an extended Disney journey and suggest planning down time for swimming pools. Because the accommodations and meals have been very costly, we selected a shorter journey and it was excellent. I’d relatively do a shorter journey each 2 years than an extended journey each 4. We have been fairly worn out after 3 days!
Links to our park weblog posts:
Our Favorite Rides
- Mazen, age 10, beloved Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, Smugglers, Guardians, Thunder Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean
- Birch, age 4, beloved Nemo, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Small World, People Mover, Alien Saucers
- Kath, age 40, beloved Guardians, Rise of the Resistance, Space Mountain, Frozen, Remy, Pirates of the Caribbean
- Thomas, age 40, beloved Thunder Railroad, Remy, Guardians, Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster
Is Genie+ value it?
YES. 1,000%. How a lot do you worth your time? Genie+ value us $180 over our 3 days and saved us hours and hours of ready in strains. I’d by no means go to Disney with out it (until perhaps you’re a group of fifty excessive schoolers going collectively).
The complete system wasn’t as scary as I believed it will be. While among the hottest rides did e book up (we didn’t get on Peter Pan or Slinky Dog Dash), we bought on 95% of the whole lot we needed to go on with out ready greater than 10 minutes for any Genie+ line.
Each day I used to be up by 6:30 a.m. and set an alarm on my cellphone for six:45 so I wouldn’t neglect to do our Genie+ first reservation of the day. I bought Genie+ for 4 and at 7:00 a.m. booked our first trip.
I’d select the preferred trip on your loved ones’s “can not miss” record first after which select much less essential however prime precedence rides as your first of the day for early entry.
As you undergo your day, preserve taking place your priorities record from most to least essential, maintaining a tally of the occasions accessible. If one thing is getting near while you wish to go away the park and also you positively wish to go on it, e book it!
Our first trip and first reservation record:
- Magic Kingdom: first rides of the day have been Little Mermaid, Barnstormer, Dumbo. First Genie+ was Space Mountain.
- Epcot: first trip of the day was Remy. First Genie+ was Frozen (at 11:40!)
- Hollywood: first trip of the day was Alien Saucers. First Genie+ was Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway. Note: I’d do Slinky as your first Genie+ in order for you that one! This was a mistake for us.
The draw back to Genie+ is you’ll do extra strolling forwards and backwards throughout the park to get to your subsequent reservation, BUT this didn’t take so long as we thought. We solely needed to cross a park for a reservation time a few times. Most of the time I may plan our route via the park based mostly on what was subsequent accessible.
Unlocking your subsequent reservation
With Genie+ you may e book a trip each 2 hours OR in case you go on the trip you have got booked, it unlocks the subsequent one. For instance, Jungle Cruise was creeping in the direction of the 7:00 hour at 11:25 a.m. So I went forward and booked 2 of us on that for 7:15 p.m. which might find yourself being our final trip of the day. This held up two of our G+ slots for two hours, however then I used to be in a position to preserve going. If you cut up up, you’ll have the ability to be extra versatile. This the place having children of various ages actually helped us!
Plenty of the time, when the 4 of us went on a trip I’d make the subsequent reservation whereas in line. Sometimes I may do one thing subsequent door straight away and we’d stroll proper on. Sometimes I reserved one thing 2 hours out and we did one thing like lunch or a present till the time got here up.
Phone App vs. Swipe Cards vs. Magic Bands
We began our day with the cellphone app which was a bit wonky at occasions. The passes sit in your cellphone’s pockets and typically they wouldn’t scan the correct particular person.
So midway via our first day I went to customer support and bought us 4 scan playing cards. These are like bank cards you faucet on the lightning lane scanners. They labored nice! We every had a unique Disney character so we knew who was who.
We determined to not pay for Magic Bands, however you probably have older children, that may most likely be the simplest factor to do.
Individual Lightning Lane (ILL)
They want a brand new identify for this, however ILL is a paid service that’s principally like utilizing a Genie+ lane for a trip that doesn’t settle for Genie+. The largest and finest rides supply ILL for buy. Yes it’s annoying to pay AGAIN, however these rides are value it!
We purchased it for Guardians of the Galaxy and Rise of the Resistance as a result of we needed to go on each rides and didn’t wish to wait 2-3 hours in line! This value $45 for every trip ($14 x 3 folks) but it surely was positively value it. We walked proper onto the rides and so they have been the very best of the journey.
Rider Switch
There is one thing referred to as Rider Switch the place they permit mother and father ready with babies to go on the trip again to again. I believed this could imply we’d solely have to attend within the line as soon as (the quick Genie+ line) and Birch would swap mother and father on the loading dock. But it actually simply signifies that if Mazen needed to trip as soon as with every father or mother he may. But we nonetheless needed to undergo the road twice. So rider swap didn’t actually get us something. Sometimes we each went with Mazen and different occasions only one particular person did to avoid wasting time (largely at Magic Kingdom the place time was of the essence and reservations have been tougher to get).
Should I deliver a stroller to Disney?
Absolutely. I’ve heard in case your baby is beneath the age of 8 it’s a good suggestion. Even if Birch hadn’t needed to trip a lot, it was SO good to have our stroller for our jackets, snacks, water bottles, sanitizer, and so forth., and so forth. We had a lot stuff the stroller was extra for the stuff than the kid! But the kid used the stroller the entire time (we have now a baby who likes his stroller lots). Bring your stroller with the most important storage beneath, particularly if you wish to purchase souvenirs.
There is a stroller car parking zone outdoors of every trip, and dozens of strollers lined up. Be ready to depart it, and don’t put something in it you’d be unhappy if it bought stolen. I wore my Lululemon fanny pack with a bank card, our Genie+ playing cards, sanitizer, and my sun shades throughout all of the rides.
I’d additionally suggest a stroller marker like a colourful ribbon that will help you spot it within the crowd. I had a brilliant purple water bottle that made our straightforward to identify.
My sister rented a double stroller down there and was pleased with that, however we ended up bringing ours as a result of we may verify it on the airline free of charge and saved cash having to lease it. I’m glad we introduced ours!
Note that among the transportation will make you fold your stroller down. This was annoying once we had 4 water bottles and plenty of small issues we needed to maintain on the bus/boat. But not too unhealthy. Just bear in mind.
If there’s rain in your forecast, think about a stroller cowl as a result of whilst you can duck right into a theater, your stroller has to take a seat outdoors and get soaked. Bring rain jackets or ponchos too!
What To Pack
Sanitizer and Clorox wipes
The Happiest or Germiest Place On Earth?! People have been in every single place and I hated the rides you needed to contact a joystick or steering wheel pondering of everybody who additionally touched it! We went via numerous sanitizer and likewise used loads of to-go Clorox wipes to scrub off on our telephones, water bottles, and stroller handles earlier than consuming.
Snacks
We packed a pouch filled with bars, toddler pouches, and crackers that largely Birch ate. Snacks are so costly, even in case you simply want one thing small!
Lollipops
Someone instructed me to pack lollipops and this was an incredible thought! A couple of occasions Birch was getting grumpy about one thing or needed to wait whereas Mazen rode a trip, and a lollipop cheered him proper up!
A change of garments for toddlers and layers
You by no means know after they’re going to dump a drink down the entrance of their shirt….
And the eating places’ air con was fairly chilly!
Water bottles
Of course you’ll wish to deliver water. I can’t stand paying for bottled water due to the waste and value. However, we discovered at Magic Kingdom there weren’t good locations to fill them, so we did find yourself shopping for some water. The water fountains tasted like steel. They want extra bottle fillers round just like the airports have! I solely noticed one close to Canada in Epcot.
Extra charger
We introduced a transportable charger that was helpful at Magic Kingdom when my cellphone began to die at 6 p.m. We didn’t want it the opposite days although.
Dining Reservations
Dining reservations are a giant deal at Disney as a result of many of the service eating places require them. You can begin to e book eating places 60 days out. The day we have been eligible was the day Thomas and I have been up at 3:30 a.m. to fly to Anguilla, so I believed we’d get our prime selections for certain. Turns out everybody will need to have stayed up til midnight as a result of those we needed have been already full at 3:30 a.m.!
I used to be stressing out about eating till I consulted with Thomas who mentioned “We aren’t going to Disney for the food.” He was proper and all of the strain was gone.
We ended up altering ALL of our reservations whereas we have been there. As persons are on the bottom they abruptly let go of reservations they’ve held onto for weeks and issues open up. We switched our Epcot one 3 times that day!
Don’t sweat the reservations. We didn’t actually assume any of the meals was that nice, and the very best meal we had was at Spice Road Table at Morocco at Epcot and we bought that resy 10 minutes earlier than we went in!
Disney with children of various ages
When we began to plan this journey I didn’t know if we must cut up up 2 and a couple of for your entire day or if we might have the ability to do most issues as a household. Turns out that regardless of our children’ six-year age hole, we did most issues as a household. Mazen went on nearly each trip that Birch did, and Birch was completely satisfied to sit back whereas he waited on Mazen or us to trip among the thrill rides. He didn’t appear to note he was ready (and the few occasions he did we discovered some nice leisure, just like the mist machine or a snack).
Here are my ideas for going with ages 4 and 10:
- Alternate rides so that you’re doing a younger one and an older one each different trip.
- Book your Genie+ 2 and a couple of so that you do 2 thrill rides and a couple of kiddie rides and the mother and father swap.
- For thrill rides, have one father or mother go along with the older baby whereas the opposite waits with the stroller. Then swap. Most rides took about 15-20 minutes to undergo begin to end with Guardians being about half-hour and the longest.
- Find exhibits for the baby to look at whereas the older is on the fun rides.
Souvenirs
My sister and I every gave our nieces and nephews a $50 present card to Disney for Christmas. Thomas and I defined to the boys that that they had $50 to spend and to decide on correctly. When the present card was gone, that was the top of their present store experiences.
Mazen ended up spending a bit extra through the use of some extra cash he introduced in his pockets. And Birch bought to go over throughout a few of his ready time. But not less than they didn’t anticipate it and ask! Birch even mentioned to me at one level “I’m going to go in this shop just to look.” I believe they every ended up with about $100 value of issues.
That’s a wrap!