I recently took my four-year-old daughter to Disney World. I think I was as excited as she was to see everything. I really wanted to see her excitement as she entered the magical world before her. She was thrilled from the moment we walked into the park until we left after the fireworks show.
The first thing we saw was the morning coronation of Cinderella. This was a truly magical event, because it involved all of the princesses. My daughter thinks that the world revolves around those princesses. After that we went on to ride a few different rides, but all my daughter really wanted to do was meet Belle. Belle is her absolute favorite princess. We went to Belle’s story time. This was a big hit. The story time area is small and intimate. There was not a huge crowd, and people in the audience are able to participate on stage. After the story time, Belle will pose for pictures and give autographs. After this we could enjoy the rides.
My husband had been talking about all the different rides for months leading up to the trip. My daughter eagerly got on every single one. Well, I’ll take that back. She was not entirely thrilled about the Haunted Mansion. In fact she was angry with her dad after that ride. The Barn Stormer is a great roller coaster for children and she liked it, but she didn’t want to ride again. The Teacups were a big hit, and we had to ride those more than once.
In all of my trips to Disney parks I had never seen the parade. We sat down to get a good seat about a half an hour before the parade was going to start. The parade we watched started at 2:00 p.m., which is about the hottest time of the day. We ended up sitting at the end of the parade route so we were sitting there a lot longer than normal. While my daughter loved the parade, I did not. I had a headache and was ready to go home at the end of it. My daughter got to shake several characters’ hands, and she really enjoyed it. If you have the option of which parade to attend, I would attend the evening parade when it is not quite so hot. Growing up we would spend the time on the rides, because lines are a lot shorter.
Disney really has their act together when they created a positive experience for young people. My daughter was impressed with the bathroom sinks, which were “just my size” as she put it every time she washed her hands. The kids’ meals are healthy and you can find a wide variety at each restaurant for your picky eaters. I would recommend renting a stroller for when your children get tired, and it is a great place to store stuff during the rides. There is a magic at Disney World that you feel best at a young age. I am glad that we got to take her at just the right age to get the most out of the park.