Many people believe that taking toddlers to Disneyland is either foolish or worthy of an Olympic gold medal in patience. Nothing could be further from the truth if you just plan in advance and prepare to enjoy the park from a 32-inch perspective.
I took my toddler son to Disneyland recently after I swore to myself that I’d never take a child under age 5. We had so much fun that I wish we could visit several times a year.
For those of you with children aged 2 to 4 years old, this article describes how you can take your toddler with you and keep your sanity while visiting the Happiest Place on Earth.
10. Casey Jr. Circus Train Ride (Location: Fantasyland)
You’ll feel the excitement of riding in a train – no, not the big train – rather the Casey Jr. Circus Train. This sweet little train is a perfect adventure for toddlers. They get to ride in wild animal cages and listen to Casey say, “I think I can” just like in the movie, Dumbo. Children will get to see miniature villages on the ride, and they’ll point to you excitedly as they figure out which building belongs to which character.
9. Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride (Location: Fantasyland)
You can ride Dumbo and actually show that you’re having fun. Your toddler will love this ride so much that you’ll find yourself smiling despite the fact that your view consists of watching the elephant’s butt in front of you.
The only drawback to this ride is that the queue can take a long time to load. My best advice is to catch this one early in the day or use your early entry pass.
8. The Baby Center (Location: Main Street)
You can visit the Baby Center to take a break and not feel silly. This air-conditioned, clean, and toddler friendly facility is located at the end of Main Street next to the First Aid station.
Inside, you’ll find a toddler-sized table and chairs. Pick up a book or some color crayons and let you toddler enjoy some downtime. You can also find changing tables and baby supplies here. Breast-feeding moms will find this to be a miraculous and tranquil facility in a seemingly endless sea of chaos.
7. “Minnie and Friends” Character Breakfast (Location: Main Street)
Character breakfasts become worth the price of admission. Although the “Minnie and Friends” dining experience at the Plaza Inn is technically the only character breakfast within Disneyland, you can find additional character breakfasts at nearby Disney hotels.
The “Minnie and Friends” breakfast is pricey and is an experience that adults or those with older children may want to skip. However, for families with toddlers, this experience is worth the cost.
The characters cater to the younger crowd by visiting each table, hamming it up with the children, signing guest books, and posing for pictures. During a 90 minute breakfast, your child will not only get to eat breakfast in an air-conditioned environment, but will also get one-on-one time with many characters.
In our experience, Chip and Dale coaxed the most beautiful smiles and giggles from our toddler. This experience has become one of our best memories of the entire Disney trip.
6. Parade Magic (Location: Varies by parade event)
You’ll believe in the magic of parades again. Let’s face it: if you’re in Disney with just your spouse or older children, you’ll often skip parades to get in one more ride on your favorite attraction.
Toddlers live in the moment. If a parade breaks out while you’re trying to buy a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich, prepare to get as comfy as you can and let your toddler take in the excitement and production of a Disney parade.
Watch the parade through your toddler’s eyes, and you’ll believe in magic and the spectacle of fairy tales again.
5. Tarzan’s Treehouse (Location: Adventureland)
You can get some exercise while climbing Tarzan’s Treehouse. Do you know how many stairs you have to climb on this attraction? I do now: way too many! This would be an attraction that I’d skip unless I had younger children in my party. Don’t let the climb alone, and climb up slowly or your thighs will burn for the rest of the day.
The Treehouse gives kids a chance to just touch things, particularly in the interactive play area on the bottom level. The attraction may be a bit boring for the adults, but kids seem to love it.
It’s also a great stopping point if you’re waiting for other party members to go on the Indiana Jones Adventure ride which is not appropriate for toddlers.
4. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster Ride (Location: Tomorrowland)
You can actually beat someone’s score on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride. You’ll never be able to beat an 8-year-old, but you should have a fighting chance at beating your toddler’s score!
Each person on this ride gets to use a moveable, handheld laser gun. And, yes, a 2-year-old can operate it! Older children and adults accumulate points by aiming at targets. Toddlers earn points just by waving the laser gun around.
3. Photo Ops throughout Disneyland (Location: entire park!)
You may fill your camera’s memory card for the first time as you take picture after picture of your toddler on various rides and attractions. In fact, you may even want to take a second memory card because you’ll be surprised at how many photos you’ll take of your child.
Everything in Disneyland is new and exciting to a toddler. It’s magical. It’s a dream come true. Capture all those moments because the experience of Disneyland with an older child is completely different than with a toddler. Older children race to get in the queue for the next ride. Toddlers stop and point at things you might otherwise not even see.
I remember our toddler stopping and saying excitedly, “what’s that?” I looked down and sure enough, he had found a hidden Mickey in the walkway.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean Ride (Location: New Orleans Square)
You can sing “Yo ho, yo ho” all day long and not be embarrassed. Many visitors love the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but few people sing the song over-and-over and actually have other people think it’s cute. Toddlers will love the song and will encourage you to sing it with them for the rest of the day. The good news is that most people will think it is cute and will excuse your odd behavior just because you have a toddler with you!
Dads can wear pirate eye patches and swords to match their toddlers and feel totally at ease.
Moms can say that they got to “see” Johnny Depp, err, at least a replica of his Jack Sparrow character.
1. Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness Event (Location: Toontown)
You’ll have tons of fun and great access to characters and rides at Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness. This event is a special character experience that you must have a separate entry ticket to attend. You can get the tickets by booking your trip through Disney or from other online sources such as eBay. If you can get your hands on tickets, your toddler will love it!
You’ll get to enter Toontown an hour before its official opening time. During our trip, we got to the event on time and were able to visit with several characters with limited other guests. Our toddler ran right up to Mickey and gave him a huge hug. Mickey spent at least 5 minutes with just our party. We then watched the Toontown Morning Madness event and still had time to ride several attractions in Toontown before the general public could enter.
Summary
If you plan well and take plenty of snacks and drinks for your toddler, you’ll have an amazing vacation at Disneyland. Remember to build in mandatory rest/nap times every day and go back to your hotel. Go at your toddler’s pace and enjoy this stage while you can. You’ll see Disneyland through new and magical eyes and may even make a few new traditions.
