Arrival Day at Swan with two young kids

I feel like an overlooked bonus to Epcot is characters with shorter lines than say COUGH MAGIC KINGDOM COUGH, so that's a nice perk.

That being said, world showcase is what people make of it. We spent 2 evenings there with my toddler a couple weeks ago...and managed to snag a photo with Snow White. I think the character meet and greets are better in Epcot (shorter lines) than compared to MK...
 
My kids were never stroller nappers when they were younger, so I always considered places at our resort when naps were needed. I would be inclined to find a place to relax while waiting if need be. We stayed at the Swan back in December and there were a couple of areas by the elevators that had couches. These areas were very quiet during the day. It was unexpected, since all of the Disney resorts we'd stayed at in the past are usually a bit too loud in the common areas to do this, but the Swan was nice and quiet...even at Christmas peak. Case in point, here's my 9 yr old catching a few z's before heading back out...

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While I've only stayed at the Swan this one time, my family has stayed many times (good FL res rates), and we've all had good luck with getting into our rooms on the early side.

This is so very helpful and what a cute pic!! Love it. Thank you - it's appreciated :)
 
We haven't stayed at the Swan, but have stayed at the Dolphin a bunch of times and have always had good luck getting in early (by 11 or 11:30). If your flight lands at 11, you will need to get lunch as soon as you arrive, I'd think. If your younger one is a stroller napper, I'd suggest lunch at the Swan or on the Boardwalk as soon as you arrive, and then stroll over to WS and see some shows or just take a stroll, get some gelato or other snacks in Italy or France, and then Tangierine Cafe (or Pizza) for dinner, then head back to the hotel and get to bed early.

On our last stay at the Dolphin, we were up at 4:30am for a 6 or 7am flight. Our girls are 6 and 2. Got to the Dolphin around 10:30. Checked in, dropped our bags off and put them in the stroller to go to Epcot. They were so wired from the flight and excited to be at Disney, so they actually walked a good part of the way there. We did a Soarin FP, I think, and had lunch at the QS there. We got a room ready text while we were on Soarin, so we headed back to the room and had a nap. After nap, I think we headed back to WS for dinner at Akershus or something (can't remember!) and a few shows/rides.

Our kids love Epcot. Don't write it off because it doesn't have obvious "kiddie" rides or shows, or isn't heavily themed. There is a lot of space to run around, walk around, and it is much more relaxed than most of the other parks because it feels less crowded and people are mellower, not running from attraction to attraction.

This is so helpful, thank you very much!
 
Thanks for the note Jimmy! Our plan right now is:

Day 1 - Arrival Day (Epcot / World Showcase?)
Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom
Day 4 - Hollywood Studios
Day 5 - Hollywood Studios
Day 6 - Animal Kingdom
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom
Day 8 - Departure Day (Epcot / Future World?)

*We're banking in two days for HS bc we'll be there after Toy Story Land opens
*Epcot we've thought of as the most expendable bc that's the advice we've heard from friends with similarly aged kids (though I went as a kid and loved it, and would like to bank in some time there if it feels manageable)

with kids ages 3 and 5 (not sure if you said girls or boys or mixed) -- but I would probably trade out day 4 for half epcot and half HS. it's an easy park hop via the boats at international gateway. If you have daughters, they're likely going to want to ride Frozen and do Anna/Elsa meet and greet. Good thing is that the line there moves pretty fast since they have two or three sets of the princesses. Longest I've waited is about 20 minutes.

If the oldest one is tall enough, Soarin' is a great ride for kids. My 5 year old LOVED it. The youngest one can go do Living with the land or Nemo and turtle talk while one parent does Soarin'. If you get a rider swap, the other parent can go with the oldest kid as well. The three caballeros ride is usually fun for kids as well. You can certainly accomplish that all in a half day if you get FP for Frozen and rope drop soarin'. maybe even do breakfast at Garden Grill pre-park opening (PPO) so that you're right next to Soarin' right when the park opens.

I would also consider knocking DAK to 1.5 days. I'm guessing neither of your kids will be tall enough for FOP -- so best way to handle that is for just one of you to get a FP for it, and when that person goes through the FP line, get a rider swap ticket for the other adult. While adult 1 is going on FOP, adult 2 can take both kids (with FPs) on the navi river journey. Timing wise, the NRJ team will get out first and that will allow you to explore Pandora a little with the kids. Once adult 1 finishes FOP, adult 2 uses rider swap to go through the FP line. If you're feeling extra generous, find two poor souls stuck in the standby line and have them join you with the rider swap ticket (it's good for 3 people). They'll be super excited and it'll make you feel good to share the pixie dust.

Adult 1 can then explore pandora with the kids and/or get some food at Satuli Canteen. Adult 2 will be done with FOP about 35 minutes after entering the FP line.
 
One other thought -- you might consider building in a rest day on day 4 or 5. Even if you get up and do a park in the AM -- having downtime for lunch and then hitting up the pool is usually a good thing to plan for. If I'm without kids, I'll have a late sleep in day planned -- but with kids, that isn't possible b/c they always wake up at like 6 or 6:30 at Disney. So with them, I just plan on hitting up parks and then lounging at the pool for a couple days in the middle.

This also allows you to avoid the crowds when they're at their peak in the parks.
 
One last thought -- biggest thing with taking small kids is to understand that you're going to have to deviate from your touring plan. I got frustrated during our second trip because I had spent so much time planning everything and creating the perfect touring strategy, and within an hour, I pretty much had to throw it out the window.

Don't get me wrong -- I have still overplanned for our subsequent trips -- but I usually build in "slop" time and/or have a plan B/C in case things go sideways.
 
One last thought -- biggest thing with taking small kids is to understand that you're going to have to deviate from your touring plan. I got frustrated during our second trip because I had spent so much time planning everything and creating the perfect touring strategy, and within an hour, I pretty much had to throw it out the window.

Don't get me wrong -- I have still overplanned for our subsequent trips -- but I usually build in "slop" time and/or have a plan B/C in case things go sideways.

@mustinjourney - you are amazing. Thank you for being so generous with your experience, it's so helpful!
 


@mustinjourney - you are amazing. Thank you for being so generous with your experience, it's so helpful!
glad to help anyway I can. I was totally naive the first trip we took back in Jan 2016 (DDs were 2.5 years old and 6 months old). I did a little bit of research but I had no idea what to expect. Since that trip, I've done two extended family trips (with sets of grandparents), two solo trips, an adult only trip with DW for F&W, and a daddy/daughter only trip for DD's 5th birthday (that was a lot of fun to get to spend so much time with her).

One thing I can't stress enough though is that you do not want to try and "do it all." I think I have done 7 trips in 26 months and there are still a lot of things I have not done (VR experience at Disney Springs is at the top of the list). So there is no way you can do it all on a first trip -- and especially with young kiddos. They move at a much slower pace.

And don't be afraid to deviate from the plan. Some of our best pictures and videos are just of the kids running around and playing in side areas. It can be so hard to stop and smell the roses while you're there -- especially when you've spent so much money to get there and be in the parks -- but at the end of the day, you'll remember the little things more fondly than going on one more ride.
 
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glad to help anyway I can. I was totally naive the first trip we took back in Jan 2016 (DDs were 2.5 years old and 6 months old). I did a little bit of research but I had no idea what to expect. Since that trip, I've done two extended family trips (with sets of grandparents), two solo trips, an adult only trip, and a daddy/daughter only trip for DD's 5th birthday (that was a lot of fun to get to spend so much time with her).

One thing I can't stress enough though is that you do not want to try and "do it all." I think I have 7 trips in 26 months and there are still a lot of things I have not done (VR experience at Disney Springs is at the top of the list). So there is no way you can do it all on a first trip -- and especially with young kiddos. They move at a much slower pace.

And don't be afraid to deviate from the plan. Some of our best pictures and videos are just of the kids running around and playing in side areas. It can be so hard to stop and smell the roses while you're there -- especially when you've spent so much money to get there and be in the parks -- but at the end of the day, you'll remember the little things more fondly than going on one more ride.

I've been binge listening to the WDW Prep To Go podcast, and 'stay flexible' is the host Shannon Albert's mantra. It's so hard when there are so many fun things to do, but I'm trying to keep it top of mind that the kids will have their own agenda and their own ideas of what's fun, and after all, this trip is for them. It's good to have the reminder :) Thanks again for all the help!
 
glad to help anyway I can. I was totally naive the first trip we took back in Jan 2016 (DDs were 2.5 years old and 6 months old). I did a little bit of research but I had no idea what to expect. Since that trip, I've done two extended family trips (with sets of grandparents), two solo trips, an adult only trip, and a daddy/daughter only trip for DD's 5th birthday (that was a lot of fun to get to spend so much time with her).

One thing I can't stress enough though is that you do not want to try and "do it all." I think I have 7 trips in 26 months and there are still a lot of things I have not done (VR experience at Disney Springs is at the top of the list). So there is no way you can do it all on a first trip -- and especially with young kiddos. They move at a much slower pace.

And don't be afraid to deviate from the plan. Some of our best pictures and videos are just of the kids running around and playing in side areas. It can be so hard to stop and smell the roses while you're there -- especially when you've spent so much money to get there and be in the parks -- but at the end of the day, you'll remember the little things more fondly than going on one more ride.

This 1000000000 times. My husband said that aside from the look on our daughter's face when she met Minnie mouse, the best part of the trip was her walking back to the hotel from the bus stop and running in an open area on the resort.

I've done 5 trips without a kid and this past one was the first one with a kid and I decided that the easiest way to be happy was to pick key must do experiences and whatever else happened was a bonus.
 
Everyone is different but we like to do a different park every day. in 2016 we had 8 park days and did MK,AK,HS,EP,MK,HS,(AK/EP),MK. I prefer to begin and end our trip at MK but the kids are way too excited about TS land so it's first this trip and our last day is a saturday (in parks) and saturdays are so crowded in MK so I know we will have a better time at other parks on saturday. Plus they will have MK overload this trip since we plan on 3 full days plus MNSSHP and hopping to MK for EMM one night.

You paid $$$ for hopping, but only hopped one time?

OP, the PP's talking about hopping are not mentioning that it's an added expense to your regular ticket. Do you have park hoppers already? (I think it costs $75 a ticket now to hop???)
 
You paid $$$ for hopping, but only hopped one time?

OP, the PP's talking about hopping are not mentioning that it's an added expense to your regular ticket. Do you have park hoppers already? (I think it costs $75 a ticket now to hop???)

We don't have park hoppers. Because we have little ones, we're planning to take this trip pretty slow & easy. We're planning to spend mornings in the parks (rope drop to lunch) then go back to the hotel for naps and keeping the evenings open-ended. We have a few plans to return to the parks for Happily Ever After fireworks, Fantasmic and maybe Rivers of Light. But otherwise, I think we're just sticking to mornings with afternoons flexible.
 
You paid $$$ for hopping, but only hopped one time?
Park Hoppers were included in the Magic My Package we booked. Plus I know me and my older daughter went to Epcot one night and also hopped to MK one night when my wife and little one were too tired to go back out. But better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it :upsidedow
 
Park Hoppers were included in the Magic My Package we booked. Plus I know me and my older daughter went to Epcot one night and also hopped to MK one night when my wife and little one were too tired to go back out. But better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it :upsidedow

For $75 a ticket, I don't know if I agree. Plus, you can always add it to a base ticket (for the full cost, no matter how late into the trip) We always park hop, though, pretty much every day, so always get it.
 
For $75 a ticket, I don't know if I agree. Plus, you can always add it to a base ticket (for the full cost, no matter how late into the trip) We always park hop, though, pretty much every day, so always get it.
As I stated, Park Hoppers were included in the Magic My Way Package we booked. There was no option to have them or not. If there was the option to opt out of them I didn't know about it. Either way, I like having the option there. We upgraded to CL for this coming trip in September and are purchasing the extra FP+ option for 4 of us. My 4 year old may not be tall enough for FOP but I'm buying her the FP just incase. Back to the better to have it and not need it vs. the alternative.
 
As I stated, Park Hoppers were included in the Magic My Way Package we booked. There was no option to have them or not. If there was the option to opt out of them I didn't know about it. Either way, I like having the option there. We upgraded to CL for this coming trip in September and are purchasing the extra FP+ option for 4 of us. My 4 year old may not be tall enough for FOP but I'm buying her the FP just incase. Back to the better to have it and not need it vs. the alternative.

I guess if you have lots of money, sure, but you can always add it later you know. But why spend the $$$ if you don't plan on hopping?
 
A couple of thoughts: I would count on about 1 1/2 hour from land to hotel.
There is at least a good shot of getting a room that is ready. We find it works better if you don’t do on line check in. If your room is not ready, ask nicely if there is a room ready that could be yours.
I would not try to head to Epcot without feeding your kids. It takes a while to get there, get through security and get food. Resort food is the way to go.
My boys loved Epcot from an early age. They loved it because we did it in small doses. We always do hopper passes and many evenings after dinner we would head to Epcot. Hoppers are very worth it. Be sure to plan ahead for that first evening so you can get FP. The only WS FP would be frozen so I would be sure to at least make that one. The kids would also like the Mexican Boat ride. My guys loved the street performers too. It’s the most laid back part of the parks and we often do it our first afternoon.
 

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