16 Tips for Taking Small Children to a Theme Park
In last week’s article, I mentioned that my husband and I recently took our children to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom, Disney World. While it was a fun experience, it was also our toddler’s first trip to a theme park, and knowing what I know now, I would do a few things differently. I loved seeing Bebe experience a theme park for the first time but I know she wasn’t having a great time the whole time. She got tired early in the evening, it was pretty hot outside, and she had to spend more time in the stroller than she would normally have to. By the time we left, she was scream-crying in the stroller. That’s not the kind of experience I want her to have if we can avoid it.
Here are some things I would do differently next time we take Bebe to a theme park:
Arrive early, leave early. A few years ago, pre-motherhood, I would never have pushed to get to a theme park early in the morning. Theme parks generally open around 8-9 a.m., which means we would need to wake up a couple of hours before that. Now, as a toddler mom, I strongly recommend getting to where you’re going as early as possible (whether you’re going to a theme park or anywhere else). Toddlers have low tolerance for long days, and they get tired and cranky easily. Bebe is a completely different person when she’s exhausted and when we get to that point, we usually have to drop everything and just leave. It’s much better for us if we arrive as early as possible and head home around 5:00 p.m. That would give us plenty of time to get her home and get her in bed on time.
Start in the back of the park. If you arrive when the park opens and go straight to the back, the attraction wait times are going to be minimal. In some cases, you might be able to walk onto a ride/show without waiting at all. Most of the other patrons who come into the park are intuitively going to start at whatever ride they see first, which will be toward the front of the park. The less time you and your toddler spend waiting in line, the better. You’re welcome.
Keep everyone hydrated. Staying hydrated is extremely important when you’re doing anything outdoors. It can prevent any heat-related illnesses from occurring and it can prevent you from getting tired early in the day. Plan on bringing plenty of water with you if you’re going to a theme park/amusement park that allows you to bring drinks into the park. If they don’t allow you to bring in drinks, plan on forking out some money to buy water bottles, or you can always use the park’s water fountains. If you have little ones, it’s a good idea to bring their sippy cups and keep water in them all day so they can always take a sip if needed.
Sunblock is extremely important. If you’re going to a theme park, that means you and your family are going to be outside in the sun for most of the day. You’re going to need to protect your skin and your children’s skin. You wouldn’t want your trip to be ruined by severe sunburns. I suggest bringing sunblock spray to save time. I burn up easily, so I like to bring SPF 50, minimum.
Don’t skip meals or snacks. You’re going to be walking and sweating most of the day so you must take in enough calories to sustain you until the next meal. In between meals, plan on having some snacks on hand for you and your little ones to avoid any hangriness.
Strollers are a must. Bebe doesn’t like or appreciate being in a stroller for an extended period but unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil when we’re at a theme park or any other crowded outdoor space. Bebe is around 30 lbs at this point and is way too heavy to carry all the time. She’s also too young and wild for us to let her run around freely. If we did, she would probably get stampeded, anyway. Having her in a stroller allows us some freedom to move around without worrying about her getting lost, and without getting too fatigued. Also, it’s better for your wallet if you bring your own stroller - renting one at the park could cost between $15 - $30 for the day, depending on whether you need a single or double stroller.
Plan for some downtime. I cannot emphasize this enough - try to keep to your normal nap time routine as much as possible. If you get to the park at 9:00 a.m. and your toddler normally takes a nap around 11:00 a.m., then it would be a good idea to take a break so that your toddler can fall asleep for a little while. If you’re staying in a hotel onsite, it would be a good idea to go back to the hotel and let your little one fall asleep there. Once they wake up, you can head back to the park. Trying to make your toddler power through a long day (like we did) is sure to make everyone miserable, so you’re better off not trying to.
Make sure everyone dresses appropriately and comfortably. Wearing heavy clothes or flip-flops isn’t going to cut it at a theme park, especially one in Florida where it’s hot. An ideal outfit would be leggings or shorts, a loose T-shirt, and comfortable and sturdy sneakers. If you have long hair, make sure to have a hair tie with you. Bring sunglasses. Wear a comfortable sports bra.
Make a plan. Realistically, you and your family will not be able to do everything at the park (unless you’re going to be there for multiple days). That’s why it’s crucial to make a plan for what you’re going to do when you get there. Make a short list of rides/attractions you must experience so that you can do it early on and get it out of the way. Make sure to have some rides on your list that everyone can go on. After all, the point of taking your family to a theme park is to have quality time together.
Buy tickets online to save time when you get there. Most everyone buys tickets online nowadays, but ticket lines can still get quite long. You don’t want to waste your precious time waiting in line for tickets, so it’s better to get that out of the way by booking online in advance.
If the theme park you’re going to has an app, download it ahead of your trip. Disney has a neat app with all the information you could need - a map of each of their theme parks, wait times at each attraction, the ability to buy tickets, order food online, make hotel reservations, dining reservations, etc. When you go into the park, you can also scan the digital ticket in your app instead of having a physical admission ticket.
If you can afford it, buy fast passes. Unfortunately, gone are the days when Disney had free fast passes that anyone could get. How it used to work is you would grab fast passes at an attraction’s fast pass machine, and it would give you a window of time to come back and redeem the fast pass. Now, you have to buy them, making them inaccessible to many visitors. I think the overpriced nature of many theme parks is predatory and should be illegal, but that’s just my opinion. You’re not going to convince me that a $5 bottle of soda is ever justified.
Prepare for the possibility of rain. It’s a good idea to bring some ponchos with you to the park, as this item will be much more expensive if you buy it at the park. Keep in mind that while most outdoor attractions will not close due to rain alone, they will close temporarily if thunder or lightning are within a few miles of the park.
Try to pack lightly. This is easier said than done when you have small children, but try to avoid bringing anything unnecessary with you to the park. Pushing around a stroller and carrying several bags, plus all the souvenirs you just bought is going to get exhausting fast. I would suggest no more than one backpack for each person, and don’t go too crazy buying merch. Wearing a fanny pack is smart because you’re going to want to have your phone and other small items easily accessible to you at all times.
If you have a small child, make sure they’re tall enough to ride at least some rides. You don’t want your little one to have to sit everything out - that’s not going to be fun for them. At Magic Kingdom, many attractions have no height requirement and some others have a low height requirement. Bebe was able to experience the Winnie the Pooh attraction and It’s a Small World before she got too tired to do anything else.
If you can, bring a couple of friends or family members with you. Having extra hands to help with small children can help a lot, especially if you want to be able to ride the bigger rides with your spouse. If your child takes a nap, then you can all take turns staying with them while the others go do stuff.
XOXO, Alexis.