Taking your kids to Disney World is a dream vacation for most families. Even before I had my girls, I imagined what this trip would be like and had probably (definitely) already started planning it in my head. So, when the time came to actually plan a REAL trip for our family, I was beyond excited! I absolutely love vacation planning, and Disney is its own level of needing to have All. Of. The. Plans. Resorts book up months and months in advance, as do dining reservations. You even need to schedule which days you will attend each park and what time you are going to ride rides! There is a lot to plan for, but I am here to help with this guide to planning your Disney vacation with young kids.

The first step of course is to choose your dates and plan your travel. I have actually ONLY been to Disney in the hell of summer, so I know no other way ;). I am fairly positive that this is the WORST time to go since it is unbearably hot and the crowds are massive while kids are out of school. However, even under these circumstances, I have always had a magical time, so I don’t think you can pick a bad day to go to Disney World.

When preparing for our latest visit, I did a lot of research on what we would need to pack and how to make the most out of our trip. Disney in the summer is no joke when it comes to preparing for the heat, especially when you are traveling with little kids. It is so important to take lots of breaks in air-conditioned areas whether that means stopping in a shop, grabbing a meal at an air-conditioned restaurant, or going on an indoor ride. Everyone also MUST drink tons and tons of water to stay hydrated. These tips will absolutely save your trip.

Another amazing tip that I learned was bringing a stroller fan for the kids as well as little mister fans for the ride lines. My husband and I also used these cooling towels that really made a difference in cooling us down. There were a LOT of Amazon purchases before our trip, including these adorable Mom and Dad tanks for the parks for my husband and I and matching princess rompers for our girls. Of course, they needed multiple outfits so we also got these cute rompers which were cooler for the park (the first link they wore to Disney Springs in the evening for dinner). The Minnie ones were super lightweight and perfect for a day at the park. We also brought our own double stroller which was a lifesaver from the endless walking and it also provided shade for the girls. The one linked meets the regulation size that Disney requires. Having a changing pad that holds diapers and wipes so that you don’t have to fish them out of your diaper bag for every change is also super convenient. The one linked attaches to the stroller handle. These items will make your Disney trip much more comfortable, as a vacation should be!

Next up is booking your resort. For our trips, we have stayed off Disney property at The Grove Resort Orlando, which I have written more about here. For our latest stay, we stayed on the property at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Both resorts were great and had their own perks, but I must say that staying on the property is a truly magical experience and definitely much more convenient. We absolutely loved the Polynesian, so much, that I am not sure I will ever want to stay anywhere else! The main perk was having the monorail go right to the resort, which is so amazing when you are traveling with young kids. The pool area and restaurants are also top-notch. For our next visit, I will be sure to dedicate a full day to just hanging out at the pool and enjoying the resort. On this trip, we had a mix-up with our room type and were a little bit stranded/homeless upon arrival which ate up our pool time, but this actually turned out to be a blessing because we were upgraded to an AMAZING suite with a fireworks view. I guess it was a blessing/curse since now I will always want to stay in this room type that costs almost $1,000 per night!

Once we were settled in our room and unpacked, we headed to Disney Springs. I think this is a perfect way to kick off a Disney vacation since you get a glimpse of the magic to come without having to pay for a park ticket. We started a family tradition of having dinner at The Rainforest Cafe on our first night. My girls absolutely love this restaurant at their ages because there is so much to see and we love it because the food is always great (and I love the atmosphere as much as the kids!). Make sure you make reservations in advance as wait times are crazy here. Once you have made a Disney resort reservation, you can book dining reservations 60 days in advance, which is highly recommended. After dinner and a spin on the carousel, we go shopping for our ears at World of Disney. You can definitely skip this step and just purchase your ears on Amazon for a much more affordable price! The ones linked look exactly like the ones I bought at Disney. Next, we get the girls some ice cream before returning to the resort for a full night’s rest before our busy day at Magic Kingdom! We did let them stay up a little bit later on this trip since we could see the boat parade and Magic Kingdom fireworks from our room. The resort even plays the music from the park in tune with the fireworks, it is such an amazing treat to witness this in your pajamas and then just go tuck yourself into bed. We were truly spoiled by this experience!

In the morning, we were so excited to start our Disney day! I highly suggest adding Genie+ to your ticket purchase, especially if you are traveling with young kids. This dramatically cuts down the wait times for rides. It is kind of a complicated process which you can read about here, but basically, I would suggest that you make your first ride selection first thing in the morning at 7 AM, and then build your day from there. You will absolutely want to download the Disney World app, which will connect you to the Genie+ options, and also gives you a “Tip Board” of how to plan your day based on crowds, show times, etc… The most popular ride you will definitely want to use Genie+ for is Jungle Cruise. As for the others, I just looked at what was convenient for us and nearby and used it that way, although I’m sure there are better strategies. I preferred this method so that we weren’t rushing around from place to place.

I would definitely suggest researching the park that you are going to and making a list of your “must-ride” attractions and also familiarizing yourself with the park map to determine which rides are near each other so that you can customize the perfect day for your family. This may seem like overkill, but it will really keep your day much more organized and efficient, which is important if you are only there for a short time. Of course, there will be things that throw your plan off course and you will have to make some adjustments, but just try to go with the flow and enjoy your day. It can be overwhelming to try and get to every last thing, so my best advice is to try and stay in the moment and enjoy what you are experiencing- you’re at Disney World after all!

Before heading to the park for the day, we grabbed a quick breakfast at our resort at Capt. Cook’s. They have everything from donuts and yogurt to full breakfast plates, including “tonga toast” which is a must-try! After breakfast, we walked upstairs to the monorail platform and headed to the Magic Kingdom. They also have a boat that you can take or a bus, or it’s so close that you can even walk there!

We had the most magical morning in Fantasyland riding all of the classics like It’s a Small World, Peter Pan’s Flight, the Royal Carousel, Snow White, etc… and most importantly MEETING REAL LIVE PRINCESSES!! This I would definitely recommend using Genie+ for as well. The princesses were so sweet and gracious to the kids, even I was in awe!

My favorite place to eat at Magic Kingdom for lunch is Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. Most importantly, it is air-conditioned! It is also huge and has a great menu (including mac & cheese!). For breakfast and lunch quick-service dining options, be sure to pre-order your food on the Disney World app so that you don’t get stuck waiting in unnecessary lines. We spent the afternoon catching up on the rest of the Fantasyland rides like Under the Sea and Winnie the Pooh and then moved on to Dumbo and the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and some of the Tomorrowland classics. We even caught a parade before dinner!

For dinner, there are magical options like Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table, which I can’t wait to go to, but with our girls being so young, we decided on Tony’s Town Square for both of our trips. I absolutely love this restaurant. The food is delicious and the Lady & the Tramp theme throughout is so adorable. It is also in a great location for you to time your reservation so that you catch the fireworks right after dinner. You will be towards the exit and can catch the monorail right after the fireworks end before the huge crowds come (also important with young kids). After watching a magical fireworks show, we headed home completely exhausted but full of joy.

The next day, we had a park reservation at Hollywood Studios to check out Toy Story Land and the Star Wars attractions, and then park-hopped to EPCOT after 2:00. This turned out to be a mistake since you simply cannot do a Disney park in half a day (except maybe Animal Kingdom I have heard). The kids LOVED the Toy Story attractions and my husband was like a little kid seeing all of the Star Wars attractions, so I am so happy we were able to spend some time there. I just wish we had planned to spend the whole day since there was so much more to see and do than we could possibly squeeze into a few hours. We will definitely need to go back. Although not in the summer, because Hollywood Studios was miserably hot. There is absolutely no shade in that park, to the point that I got worried about one of us overheating. Thankfully, we found the ABC Commissary for a nice air-conditioned lunch and then took the friendship boat over to EPCOT.

Taking the boat was also a mistake (learn from me!) because we didn’t have a ton of time and it took forever. The bus would have been a much quicker route. The friendship boat would have been a cool experience if we weren’t on a tight schedule, but we had to RUN to Norway to make it to our Genie+ reservation for Frozen Ever After (which was totally worth it, it was definitely the most fun ride we went on). The afternoon there was just very rushed and we were all exhausted, which was a shame because EPCOT was the park I was most excited to visit. The girls did get to meet Snow White and Elsa and Anna, so that made the trip worth it :). Meeting Disney princesses is a major highlight of EPCOT that I don’t think people even realize. They have Belle and Aurora in France, Snow White in Germany, Elsa & Anna in Norway, Jasmine in Morocco, and Mulan in China. This is such a cute addition to the already awesome World Showcase. I love that it ties together what the adults want to see and what the kids are there to experience. The true magic of Disney!

We ended our day at EPCOT with a nice dinner at San Angel Inn Restaurant which has the most amazing atmosphere (we also booked this one 60 days in advance). They have delicious Mexican food which was a nice change from the park food we had been eating. It was the perfect end to our day. We didn’t last for the fireworks at EPCOT because the girls (and the parents!) were just exhausted, but we did get to catch Magic Kingdom’s fireworks from our patio one last time.

This trip was definitely amazing, but I will be sure to schedule at least two more days next time so that we can have a resort/pool day and a full day at EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. If you want to incorporate Animal Kingdom and any of the Disney waterparks into your trip, you really do need a whole week. It is absolutely true what they say, Walt Disney World is truly the most magical place on Earth. It is expensive as hell, and the weather can be torturous, but I would do it a thousand times over. The joy that they are able to create there is just such a magical experience. From the moment you set foot on the property, you can just feel that you are somewhere special. I am so thankful that I have been able to give my girls these experiences, and I look forward to the magic yet to come!