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[Mammyto2]

Hello
I've just booked my first visit to DLP staying at Explorers Hotel.
I was wondering if there is anything that you recommend me booking in advance. I have a 3 and 4 year old.
Do you have any tips for our little holiday? Will they be able to go on most rides?
I'm just trying to plan our trip and what my two kids would want to do
Thanks

[bp_serene]

Just making a note to reply to you properly when I get home to the laptop, I just visited with a 4 year old and 1 year old so have a bit of info

[Mammyto2]

Aw that would be great thank you

[stifle]

Most ride restrictions are based on height, such as 1.02m, 1.07m, 1.2m, 1.32m, and 1.4m. The cast members are quite strict on these because ride restraints may be ineffective for those guests who are not that tall.

[never2old]

When are you going?

We've been a few times with our daughter, she's now 4. Of course by now she knows what she likes and most of the time we just follow her lead...

I find that it helps to have the meals planned. If you're going for a buffet or table service one, book it in advance. We used to do a lot of buffets with her before she turned 3 (and didn't pay). Now we tend to do more fast food places. For the fast food, try to get there before noon, and beat the crowds. It's a much better experience when you don't need to start by queuing to get your food and then trying to find a table...

Plan a bit your day to avoid walking too much from one side of the park to the other. I assume you'll be taking push-chairs (our daughter usually refuses to sit on hers for a few hours the first day... but after that she stays on it most of the time - less tiring for everyone!). We usually plan to spend half a day or even more in the Studios, and do Animagique, Disney Jr Live (I personally don't like that one at all, but our daughter loves it, particularly since she gets to dance with Princess Sofia before the show), if possible meet some characters, and do a few rides (she likes Cars and the Magic Carpets most of all). There's also Ratatouille, if you want to do it try to get to the Studios early and get fastpasses. Or if the children don't want to do it, take turns and go for the single riders line. We've done it once with our daughter, she was OK on it but hasn't wanted to do it again, she got a bit scared in one of the scenes... Still a fun family ride though

In the main park Fantasyland it's where we spend most of our time. All the rides there are great for the children. You also have Meet Mickey Mouse, a must for our little one. And of course the Castle Gallery, she loves it, and the dragon underneath. It's dark and the dragon is quite big, so it can be a bit scary. Our daughter can't get enough of it though, last time we were there we visited the dragon 4 or 5 times in one day.

Elsewhere there is Pirates (unfortunately not for our daughter, she doesn't like it, but plenty of children do), and Adventure Isle, always fun to explore (leave the push chairs outside Pirates, for example). In Frontierland she likes going on the riverboat, and if you're going during the Summer don't forget the Frozen sing-along show in Chaparral theatre and the Arandelle market place next to it. In Discoveryland we have Buzz, also a favourite. She also likes Orbitron, and we haven't done Autopia yet (because of odd opening hours and queues, mostly).

We usually try to avoid long queues to avoid her getting too bored (and difficult). Usually we manage to queue only for Meet Mickey Mouse (but that's OK because they show cartoons and she's entertained) and Dumbo - for the rest of the rides we do fastpasses or go when it's quiet. I find that taking it easy, and not trying to get too much done works best.

For the parade we usually split, I go and take place for it (with her push chair) at the start of the route (by the Bella Notte restaurant) while she goes with my husband to It's a Small World, that way we end up having a decent spot and she doesn't need to wait too long....

Have a great trip!!

[Mammyto2]

I'm going in August, Thankyou for your post some great tips there

[AmyT14]

Some good tips above, we just got back on Sunday from our first trip with our 3 girls who are 9, 4 and 2.

I agree with pretty much all of what was said above, don't try and fit too much in, especially when it's busy, you just end up getting stressed out. We were lucky in that in was term time when we went so on the weekdays the rides were particularly quiet and we managed to walk on to most of the ones the little ones wanted to do. With the exception of Peter Pan and Ratatoiulle, we got Fast Passes for these. Having said that, they hated Ratatouille but that's a personal choice obviously. It's A Small World was their favourite a long with the Casey Jr train.

Buzz's Pizza Planet was a fave to eat, we went early and were the first ones in there! it's a pizza/pasta/salad buffet, is very reasonably priced (by Disney standards) and there's a play area so they get to let off some steam too! I agree with the position for the parade, we got a spot near the start and it was perfect, meant we weren't waiting too long (we got an ice cream and took our places about 40 mins before, think the girls were happy to have a sit down for a bit!) and could get on some rides once the floats had passed us whilst everyone else was still waiting! We didn't do Dreams with the little ones (I took the eldest) as they just couldn't have coped.

If they like Princesses and your budget stretches to it the cinderella restaurant (Auberge de Cendrillon) is well worth a visit and Cafe Mickey is also fab but it's advisable to book these in advance. The shows (Frozen sing along) and the shows in the Studios park are good when you fancy a sit down, as is the railroad (just a train that goes right round the park).

Feel free to ask any other questions... you'll have a great time.