I’m still on a huge high from a Disney trip well planned and well executed for my sister’s bachelorette—my Type A brain is tickled from setting out a detailed itinerary and actually hitting all of the beats with minimal re-planning/pivoting in the moment. Ah! One of the best feelings, I think, when you’ve put so many hours of brainpower and research and effort into a trip and it just…works out.
EPCOT! So beautiful this time of year.
So much of that is out of my control, of course. I was worried about, in no particular order: how much time it would take to get through airport security, whether my flight would be delayed, how crowded the parks would be on each day, whether any of our must-do rides would go down, whether or not one of my trip-mates would have an allergic reaction and/or get sick, whether we would melt in the heat, etc etc etc. That’s why this post is not titled “how to have a flawless Disney trip” or something like that I see all over the Internet—like any destination, there are way too many variables for that to work for everyone.
However. I do think there’s something to be said for 30+ years of lived experience and a professional eye on an itinerary (hello) and also, Disney is one of the most high-stakes, high pressure destinations you can take your family. Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself, and then I saw Rey take a little girl’s hand and run full-tilt to an alcove and hide when Kylo Ren came out at Galaxy’s Edge, and the look on that little girl’s face (and her Dad’s face, tbh)…omg. Just so awesome. It’s core memories in real time, and it’s just fun, and everyone could use a little more lightheartedness at the moment!!
How to build a rhythm that works for your family at Disney
I’m not going to fully explain all the lingo/logistics for a Disney trip in this post. If you’re new to Disney planning, this guide covers all the basics.
Okay, here’s the “secret” to a great Disney day: The rhythm.
Most people plan around the attractions. Instead, plan around the breaks. Block out down time first (meals, naptime, shows, anytime you can sit in A/C, basically).
The below timing is for those staying off-property. The rhythm for us is:
- Pre-rope drop: Pictures
- Rope drop: The most important ride with typically the longest wait (ie, Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s Edge) EVERYONE has an opinion about rope drop, do what’s most important to you!
- Second ride: A nearby high-ticket attraction that usually has too long of a wait later in the day
- Third ride – LL
- Snack break
- Depending on LLs, 1-2 more rides
- Lunch
- Early afternoon show or low-key attraction A/C required
- Naptime either at the hotel or stroller
- Snacktime
- Whether you return or power through, after naptime is more about vibing/chill rides and experiences, like the animal trails at Animal Kingdom. But it depends on your LL selection.
- Dinner
- Some adults stay out for parade/fireworks; don’t bother doing this with a toddler just yet!!
Disney is overwhelming on a good day. Don’t just plan for your kid, but for you, too. That’s why I usually recommend napping back at the hotel, because it’s just Too Much sometimes for you to push through that naptime and then be presented with an overly energetic kid at 3:30 PM.
Then, most people pick their must-rides to build their Lightning Lanes. Instead, pick the attractions you absolutely will not wait for. That can be where it is in the day, but also what the attraction is. A great example of this is the Frozen ride in EPCOT. It’s one of my favorites but you won’t catch me waiting more than 20 minutes for it because a) I’ve already done it and b) it’s super short. With a toddler, I think that means a level deeper, looking at which rides have interactive/interesting queues and which ones don’t. It’s not realistic to think you won’t wait for anything, but if you think strategically about which rides are “worth” the wait that can help a lot.
Finally, I think the underlying mistake that families make is pushing too hard because of how much everything costs. Going to Disney is super expensive, but you’ll have a terrible time if you try to do every single thing. (You wouldn’t expect to do every single attraction in Paris in a long weekend, either, tbh!) Optimize for your version of a best trip, not what you “should” do. For example, my favorite ride at EPCOT is actually Living with the Land! It’s a slow-moving water ride that is not a main attraction but I love it so much, even though nobody would ever recommend it.
A perfect day at EPCOT
Okay, here is the day we did at EPCOT which admittedly was more go-go-go than I would do with a toddler but worked so well I think you could reasonably pull this off. I starred any attractions that would require Rider Switch because of height restrictions:
- Arrived at 8:30 AM for pictures
- Rope-drop 9:00 AM:
- Guardians of the Galaxy *
- Second ride ~9:45 AM: Test Track – Single Rider. We couldn’t get a LL for this one!
- Non-riders have a few options, but the easiest would be to do the Finding Nemo ride and/or the Moana Way of Water (change them into a swimsuit before going in; it’s a full splash pad at the end!)
- We all met up in The Land.
- LL: Living with the Land
- Soarin’* was down, but we would have waited for that. It’s worth a LL also but that had sold out.
- Snack at Sunshine Seasons
- LL for Spaceship Earth
- 11:00 AM all the restaurants open for the Flower and Garden Festival, so we watched the Encanto show at Communicore Hall and got our first sips and eats. The festival booths are all outside, but you can bunch them together:
- Go to a few Futureworld booths and bring everything to Communicore Hall to sit in the A/C.
- Move forward toward the World Showcase, picking up food/drink and meeting at the Odyssey, which is another A/C dining hall.
- From there, we started the World Showcase with Mexico.
- LL for Frozen around 3:30 PM
- We took a long sitting break in Germany (outside).
- Took a break by getting a bunch of photos in Italy…
- Then kept working our way around for a 5:45 PM reservation at Spice Road Table in Morocco, which is all small plates. (Not for picky eaters, I’d say – but the point is, if you’re going to power through, find a sit-down spot for dinner that has appetizers you like since you’ll be full from going around the world, but will need to sit. Italy or Japan could also work really well for this.)
- We got delicious dessert in France and some of the group did Single Rider for Ratatouille*…
- Then, we backtracked to America for the Garden Rocks show – an ABBA cover band that was phenomenal.
- And stuck around for fireworks! We exited in France and took a rideshare from the Boardwalk rather than walking all the way to the front; if you’re on property you kinda have to walk all the way to the buses in the front unless you’re staying at a skyliner connected property or the Boardwalk. Sorry!
I wouldn’t do the evening portion of this with a toddler unless we had gone back to the room to nap, but truly, this felt so easy that I didn’t feel like we needed to go home. Part of the reason this worked so well was that my sister crushed the LL selection—some of that is you get what you get and don’t get upset.
That, and knowing where rides are in the park is super helpful. For example, you don’t want Frozen to be your first ride of the day because then you’re all the way over in the World Showcase when nothing is open unless you’re coming in by skyliner! And you’ll have to backtrack all the way to the Land/Seas to do something next. Study the map before you try to book anything and be familiar with where things are.
A perfect day at Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Studios is very different from the other parks because it’s about 50% rides, 50% shows, and if you have a toddler that won’t sit still, it may not be a good park at all for you. I did see plenty of toddlers out and about on our trip, but I’ll be honest, if you read this and you’re like: They will not sit for 30 minutes, skip this park for now. They’re building a few new things geared for littler ones that should make this a good choice in ~2ish years.
If you want to go for it, though, here’s what we did:
- Arrived 8:30 AM for pictures
- Rope Drop 9:00 AM:
- Rise of the Resistance
- Second ride ~9:30 AM Smuggler’s Run*
- Non-riders got breakfast at Ronto Roaster’s and enjoyed the characters wandering around Galaxy’s Edge. The theming is so cool!
- Snack break
- 11:30 AM Frozen Show
- LL – Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
- Lunch at ABC Commissary or Backlot Express – With a toddler, I’d book a sit-down lunch at a place like Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater or the Prime Time Cafe. This was a little hectic.
- Shows! We did the Beauty and the Beast and Villains back to back. We juuuust missed the Indiana Jones show which is another great one. As a rule of thumb pick 2-3 shows you really want to do and plan around those. We did a snack/shopping/drink break in between Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid.
- LL for Tower of Tower* (Rock n’ Roller Coaster* is closed); non-riders did Little Mermaid.
- Backtrack to Galaxy’s Edge for
- Drinks reservation at Oga’s Cantina – I would not take a toddler here, it was very loud, but as an adult? Omg the coolest.
- Dinner at Docking Bay 7
- LL for Toy Story Mania!
- Then, the line finally went down for Slinky Dog Dash!
- We skipped Swirling Saucers, but that is a toddler-friendly ride.
- We called it a night but Fantasmic! show was at 8:30 PM, if we had wanted to stay.
Like I said, this is a tougher one with toddlers because there are very few rides with no height requirement. But they do have the most shows and the most characters here of any park, I think.
A perfect day at Animal Kingdom
I LOVE Animal Kingdom especially for toddlers! It’s the most low-stimulation park, imo. A few closures here too but I think you can still have a great day:
- 8:30 AM pictures, get close to the Tree of Life
- Rope Drop 9:00 AM – Pandora
- Flight of Passage*
- Non-riders rope drop Na’vi River Journey
- Africa
- Breakfast at Kusafiri Bakery
- LL: Kilimanjaro Safari
- Take the train to the Conservation Station for the rest of the morning – a new Bluey show is opening here in May!
- Lunch at Tusker House (character buffet) or Yak & Yeti for A/C
- Lion King Show
- Do the Gorilla Falls Trail
- Then, LL for Everest* while non-riders do the Tiger Trail or the Nemo show
- My toddler LOVES animals so we actually spent a ton of time doing the trails a second time and then had dinner at Tiffins, which is pricey but delicious. Because…
- If you can make it to nighttime, Pandora at night is SO cool just to walk around.
Animal Kingdom has a reputation for a half day park and I get it. Especially with Dinoland being closed at the moment! They’re building an Encanto ride, a carousel, a restaurant, and I’m hoping another show, so that will change this rhythm dramatically when it comes out in 2027/2028.
A perfect day at Magic Kingdom
Friends, I’ll be honest—MK is in rough shape at the moment. We chose not to go because of all the closures and construction this year. I think if you have a toddler, you can still have an amazing day. But it’s very crowded, or it feels very crowded, because of these closures and so, please take this plan with a grain of salt:
- Arrive 8:30 AM for pictures – go closer to the castle than you think
- 9:00 AM Rope Drop – normally, we rope drop Buzz Lightyear or Space Mountain* and work our way around; I think your best bet now would be to rope drop Toon Town and do Dumbo and Fantasyland first, so Winnie the Pooh, the Carousel, the Ariel Ride, Teacups if you’re into that. Most of those don’t have long waits early on in the morning. I’d pick Winnie for a LL.
- Snack break
- Backtrack to Tomorrowland for a Tron* or Space Mountain LL. Non-riders can do the Speedway or hang on People Mover, it’s lovely.
- Cross Main Street for lunch at Crystal Palace or Cinderella’s Royal Table; this is your character meet-and-greet. It is worth splurging here because otherwise, trying to find characters is so difficult, and the character dining in other parks isn’t as good food.
- Depending on naptime, try to catch the mid-day parade. The times change pretty often. It’s crowded; I personally wouldn’t wait on the curb to see it, you can see plenty from further away if you’re a little kid on an adult’s shoulders.
- Adventureland in the afternoon: Pirates of the Caribbean (can be dark and scary), get a LL for Jungle Cruise, and bop around the Swiss Family Robinson Tree to get wiggles out. Take the train back to Main Street and head home!
I am very excited for the new stuff to be done in Magic Kingdom, because it’ll totally change this rhythm/itinerary and honestly, make MK a two-day park which is pretty fun. In the meantime, with a toddler Fantasyland/Toon Town are full of rides you can ride, so if you only get one area, do that one.
This week’s rapid-fire recs.
Disclosure: This newsletter contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. I promise I’ll only ever recommend products I’ve actually used and loved.
- King Arthur Baking asking the big questions: Is focaccia just pizza?
- Wore these the whole trip. Extra magic!
- Striving for this aesthetic all summer long.
- I mentioned a lot of construction – here’s the full overview of what’s going on at Disney.
- Not me tearing up at a comic…
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Me in my element as Anna at EPCOT. Follow me everybody!!
I think you can tell I’m a Disney adult from this blog. But when I say I love Disney, a lot of people interpret that to mean that I don’t want to travel anywhere else; far from it. Growing up, my favorite park was EPCOT precisely because it inspired me to want to go everywhere. (Fun fact, that was actually the point of EPCOT. The pavilions in the World Showcase are sponsored and were created by the tourism board of each country.)
There’s something very quintessentially American about Disney, the make-believe of it. (That, and the crowds and the over-optimization of it, too.) For me, a little bit of magic goes a long way. I’m a storyteller, and the way I learned what a good story is came from these stories. Now that I’m an adult, I still love them, and I can also challenge them. In the meantime, I’m gonna get my little Dole Whip and escape a little bit to find a tiny bit of joy.
Far-off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise,
Kayla
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