Parents with Toddlers Babies and Toddlers (Birth to 2): • Keep in Mind: A child's patience and attention span are limited at this age, so tailor your schedule accordingly. Stick to tame, slow- moving rides, and factor in lots of downtime for feeding, changing, snoozing and cuddling. Schedule just enough to sample the magic without overstimulating baby. You can always come back again in a few years when he or she will appreciate the experience even more. • Parks to See: The Magic Kingdom -- especially Fantasyland and Mickey's Toontown Fair, where attractions are specifically designed for little ones. • Touring Strategies: Head to Fantasyland first. It's where you'll see all the scaled-down classic Disney attractions. If your child slips into her morning nap, relax on a shady bench or check out the charming (and air-conditioned!) Tinker Bell's Treasures shop at Cinderella's castle. From Fantasyland, stroll over to Mickey's Toontown Fair. Break for lunch, then head back to your hotel; or, stay a few more hours and leave after the 3pm parade. If you don't mind disrupting your little one's bedtime routine, hit the park again after dinner (if it's open), head for Adventureland and Frontierland and catch the SpectroMagic parade. • Don't Miss: Cinderella's Golden Carousel: It's a Small World: Dumbo the Flying Elephant; The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh; Walt Disney World Railroad (kids enjoy watching it pull in and out of the station even more than they like riding it); Minnie's Country House at Mickey's Toontown Fair (pint size, with lots of fun buttons and levers for pressing); Toon Park (an interactive play area in Mickey's Toontown Fair where kids can make the animal topiaries "talk" by stomping on lilypads); The new Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride in Adventureland. • Skip: Scheduled character appearances (the crowds and the larger- than-life Disney characters may be overwhelming); Tom Sawyer Island (tough to navigate with a stroller) and the Swiss Family Treehouse (too much climbing!) • Kids May Be Scared By: Dark surroundings and loud noises at some of the attractions (for example, fireworks shows, or the gunfire at Pirates of the Caribbean ride). • Meal Plans: Formula, baby food and juice are available at hotel gift shops and the Baby Care Centers located in all the Disney parks. (You can nurse there in a relaxed setting.) For a quick Fantasyland lunch, duck into the Pinocchio Village Haus, where you can cut fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pasta salad into bite-size pieces. Stash small boxes of cereal in your diaper bag to tide kids over between meals. With small children, room service or take-out dinners from hotel food courts may be more relaxing than dining out. • Best Spots to Greet Characters: From a distance at parades and shows like the Cinderella's Surprise Celebration, where kids can safely wave or call out to characters without getting close enough to be frightened. • Places to Chill Out: The Baby Care Center (with rocking chairs, toys and baby supplies); the rockers outside the Frontier Trading Post in Frontierland; Donald's Boat in Mickey's Toontown Fair, with refreshing sprinklers. Hot Tips: • Bring your own lightweight, folding stroller so you can skip the lines (and fees) at the rental counter. • If your baby's too young for a ride, you and your spouse can "baby switch" at the entrance. Tell the attendant that you'll hop on the ride first while your spouse and the baby wait for you on the sidelines. Then, when you come off, your spouse can ride while you hold the baby. Preschoolers (3 to 6): • Keep in Mind: Preschoolers love repetition and will ask to go on their favorite rides again and again. This is fine if the lines aren't long. During crowded times, however, move on to the next attraction. Children may beg for wilder rides, such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain, but must be at least 40 inches tall to board them. • Parks to See: The Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom. Epcot is too enormous, and has little to interest most young kids. • Touring Strategies: Spread the sights out over the course of your vacation. Plan to see Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Toontown Fair one day; Frontierland and Adventureland another. Set aside another day for Animal Kingdom. A half-day is enough for the compact Disney-MGM Studios. Occupy evenings with sit-down events like the Magic Kingdom's SpectroMagic parade, the Fantasmic show at Disney-MGM Studios or the Electrical Water Pageant (which can be seen from all of the Disney monorail hotels). Set aside your last day for revisiting the kids' favorites. • Don't Miss: In the Magic Kingdom: Dumbo, the Flying Elephant; Peter Pan's Flight; Cinderella's Golden Carousel; It's a Small World; The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh; Mad Tea Party; Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin; Mickey's Toontown Fair (especially Minnie's Country House, and the Barnstormer rollercoaster -- a tame coaster that's perfect for pint-sized riders); The Magic Carpets of Aladdin; Jungle Cruise. In Disney-MGM Studios: Voyage of the Little Mermaid; the new Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage! show, where kids can meet Bear in the Big Blue House and friends; Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D. In the Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safaris; TriceraTop Spin in Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama!; Conservation Station, where you can meet animal experts and ride a train to a petting zoo. • Skip: At Magic Kingdom: Space Mountain (Kids must be a least 40 inches to ride, and are seated individually, so you will not be able to sit next to them); Alien Encounter (too intense and scary for children under 12); Tomorrowland Speedway (kids can't drive their own cars unless they're 52 inches tall). At Disney-MGMStudies: Tower of Terror (has a dark, foreboding pre-show and frightening 13-story free-fall); Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (kids must be at least 44 inches to ride); Walt Disney: One Man's Dream (young kids will find it boring. • Kids May Be Scared By: In the Magic Kingdom: Snow White's Adventures (the witch pops out); the Haunted Mansion (dark, scary pre-show and ghosts galore); Pirates of the Caribbean (gunfire and menacing pirates). At Disney-MGM Studios: Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (contains fire and many explosions); The Great Movie Ride (some kids think the gunfight is real); Sounds Dangerous Starring Drew Carey (some of it takes place in complete darkness); Fantasmic (loud noises and lots of mean-looking villains); Studios Backlot Tour (which contains fire, a flood and explosions). At Animal Kingdom: It's Tough to Be a Bug (though comical, the 3-D bees and spiders can be frightening); Dinosaur (a T-Rex lunges unexpectedly from the darkness). • Meal Plans: Duck into counter-service restaurants by 11am, before they get busy. Also check out the McDonald Fries carts, located at select locations throughout the parks. For leisurely dinners, try out sit-down restaurants that have kids activities and entertainment. Two kid-pleasing favorites: Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge hotel, where children can compete in hobby-horse races; and the Ohana Grill at the Polynesian Resort, where kids participate in Hawaiian-style sing-alongs and coconut-rolling races. Best Bets for Character Meals: Magic Kingdom's Crystal Palace, for buffet breakfast, lunch or dinner with Pooh and the gang; and the Once Upon A Time Breakfast at Cinderella's castle in Magic Kingdom, where kids can dine royally with Disney princesses. Preschoolers also enjoy Chef Mickey's buffet breakfasts and dinners at the Contemporary Resort. • More Great Spots to Greet Characters: Character caravans that come to Disney hotels in the morning -- ask at your hotel desk for times); Mickey's Toontown Fair in the Magic Kingdom; Mickey Avenue in MGM; and Camp Minnie-Mickey in the Animal Kingdom. • Places to Chill Out: One of the sprinkler areas in the Magic Kingdom, located at Ariel's Grotto and Donald's Boat (water revives even the crankiest children!); Disney-MGM's Miss Piggy Fountain, in front of Muppet-Vision 3D (kids love splashing their hands in it); Animal Kingdom's Boneyard (a gigantic sandbox and interactive playground with caves, slides and climbing nets). Hot Tips: • Bring a stroller (or rent one). The kids will need it. • Buy the children a small trinket on the first day to keep them from hounding you constantly. Then tell them you'll buy them one special souvenir at the end of the trip. Remember the Baby Swap No, it's not what desperate parents do in the midst of yet another crying fit. If you want to ride an attraction with a height requirement, both parents can ride by using the "baby swap." A ride attendant can explain the details (which vary by park and attraction). But, basically, one parent goes through the line and rides, while the other waits with the little one. Then the second parent rides - without waiting - immediately after the first gets off. At some rides, a companion (big brother or sister?) can ride twice, with each parent. Tour Toddlers (might) Tolerate Family Magic Tour This tour takes about 2 hours. Its ideal for young families. You get a tour guide who tells your objective - to get Captain Hooks Hook back & save the Magic Kingdom. You follow the clues on the treasure map - you are lead through various 'lands' as you complete your tour meeting Peter Pan. Not to ruin anything, but keep in mind that adults as well as children are required to follow all the instructions that the clues give.