How to survive Disneyland with a 4 year old

Last summer we had our first family trip to Disneyland in the new formula of three. We didn’t know exactly what to expect with our 4 year old son. I heard different opinions, pros and cons, on going with a young child as well as debates on the perfect age to begin trips to Disneyland. Here is Flamingo’s experience on this topic and the things I’ve learned on this vacation.

First of all, I indoctrinated my kid with Disney movies since the age of two. I’m a huge Disney fan and over the years I gathered the entire collection of animations and most of the movies on disc. We began with Mickey, Donald and Goofy shorts, followed by the short musicals “Silly Symphonies” (like “Three Little Pigs”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Tortoise and The Hare”). Then, when he was a little older, we continued with Winnie the Pooh and its whole collection of movies. After my son was three and I decided he was too obsessed with Pooh and needed change I introduced him to the animations featuring mainly animal characters like Jungle Book, Dumbo, The Fox and The Hound, The Aristocats and 101 Dalmations. Needless to say, he enjoyed them so much he sang the songs and did role play with lines from the movies. Last year he also started watching animations with people, like Peter Pan and so he became obsessed with pirates, then Pinocchio and his passion for whales grew, Moana because he liked the demigod Maui very much and with Lilo and Stitch he became acquainted with space and planets.

The conclusion to my way too long introduction is that you can’t take your child to Disneyland without having seen a fair share of Disney animations. The kid would lose half of the entire experience and joy.

Second, we planned the Disney trip at least half of year ahead and made a countdown so that our son’s eagerness reached its peak by the departure date. In the meantime, we showed him short videos of what it is to be expected from the experience in the park. He got more excited by each passing day.

Our five day trip turned out to be really amazing. We enhanced the experience by staying in a Disney hotel, one with a “Cars” theme and my kid was ecstatic. He got to meet a different character each morning after breakfast in the lobby. We went every day to the park and we had the perk of using the Magic Hour, so the park was full just of hotel guests…in other words, pretty empty. We reserved the dinners at different restaurants in advance so as to have a bit of a schedule and healthy eating. Meanwhile, the lunches were after my kid’s heart, whenever he liked and whatever he preferred. We also rented a stroller so he wouldn’t exhaust himself in just two hours and then ride the whole day on his daddy’s shoulders. So everybody was happy, my husband included.

The thing that amazed me the most on this trip and that I finally understood, is that each age has its perks. I saw all the wonder of Disneyland Paris through my 4 year old’s eyes.

At 4, he is young enough to believe in fairytales. He really didn’t understand that characters are people in costumes, he really thought they were the real thing. He got so emotional when he met Pooh and Goofy for example, that he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly with no sound coming out, like a fish out of water. He was hilarious, I got so emotional as well, seeing him like that and embracing the characters with such warmth, although he is normally shy and reserved.

He went on different rides fearlessly. For example the Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland was his favorite, he rode it a couple of times a day, although he was barely high enough to be accepted. He went into the Haunted Mansion, in his daddy’s arms, he swallowed his fear of ghosts and came out smiling out the other side and said “let’s do it again…but tomorrow”.

He is also obsessed with pirates, went on my favorite ride, The Pirates of the Caribbean, twice a day. He is his mother’s son after all.

He also loved being in Fantasyland, so not really old enough to be a tomboy who dislikes everything girly. The Tea Cups and A Small World were definitely on his list for more times a day. Not to mention Peter Pan’s Flight, which on this occasion I discovered is the most popular ride in Disneyland Paris, with queues that extended hours and hours. Thank God for Fastpass.

In Discoveryland he began crying in Star Tours, the ride in which you go into a spaceship and the robot from Star Wars is flying you through space and different planets. My poor son really thought we were going to fly into space and leave Disneyland behind. At the end of the ride as we went out he began screaming for joy “We are in Disneyland again!”.

We also visited the Sleeping Dragon underneath the castle several times a day on his request, until he decided he wasn’t scared anymore.

In the 4D theater we watched a hilarious symphony and my kid was always with his hands up in the air to catch Donald and help him in different situations. “Where is Donald? Is he alright?” he asked looking through a hole at the back of the theater, where Donald was dispatched like a rocket.

For him everything was as real as can be.

At 4 he is old enough to understand very important stuff when going to the park. Like we could do a ride only once and maybe come back later for a second round. He understood the meaning of queue and that each person is equally important and we couldn’t skip ahead, although at first he was asking “mummy, why can’t we say excuse me and go?”. The kid also was easily persuaded to avoid rides with queues longer than 30 minutes wait time. He went to each ride and read the number stated under it and knew by himself if we were going to queue or not. Also when shopping for gifts, he knew he was allowed one gift a day, so he chose carefully and didn’t cry once for anything he couldn’t have.

The conclusion is, we avoided tantrums altogether. I am still amazed by this fact, because my child is very vocal and stubborn, not docile at all. We were also very careful to let him lead the way, didn’t impose too many things on him. We chose our battles well.

Disneyland is perceived differently with each age, so if you can experience this amazing adventure, I strongly recommend to plan your first trip no earlier than 4 years old, so everybody has a pleasant time and live Disney’s dream to the fullest. We decided to try and take our kid every two years, to see how things change over time, how his interests develop and feel beside him his full joy every time.

For more tips or questions on Disneyland, feel free to contact me anytime. Disneyland is really the happiest place on earth, for all Disney fans, children and adults alike.

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive.