The Ultimate Disney World Itinerary For Families
Oh Disney, the thought of you seemed so overwhelming with two children. But alas, we did it and conquered it. We left filled and happy instead of drained and cranky and I attribute 90% of that to our amazing itinerary! So here I am, sharing our EXACT itinerary with you, so you too can have an amazing time at Disney, especially if it’s your first time and especially especially if you are visiting the park with littles under 5. Ok, here we go.
Where to Stay:
Hands down, if you are traveling with littles, you absolutely need to stay at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. It has some great amenities including a pool with a slide and splash pad, an arcade, lots of shopping inside, and a marketplace. There are also a few restaurants on site including Chef Mickey’s, which is really cute to have breakfast with the kids and meet some characters. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of foods they offered at all the restaurants, including healthy and vegan options. California Grill is a more upscale restaurant in the hotel that has AMAZING food, and I highly recommend going there for dinner and watching the sunset. They also had lots of grab and go options available. The monorail literally passes right inside the hotel making it easy to get to other locations around Disney, and the buses to all the parks stop right in the front of the hotel.
If you stay at this hotel, I recommend booking Atrium Club or Tower Club on the 12th and 14th floors, as you have your own concierge and lounge area that serves breakfast and a rotation of snacks and treats throughout the rest of the day. There is endless water, ice creams, teas, coffees, fruits, pastries (that are so yum), you name it. It is so worth it to be able to have a place to eat breakfast every morning and always have a snack for the kiddos on deck.
Despite all these amazing reasons to stay at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, the top reason for me is that it’s walking distance to Magic Kingdom: the BEST park for smaller children. Being able to walk back and forth to Magic Kingdom was honestly elite, and if you've ever been to Disney, you know it’s a lot of walking and waiting for transport. The fact that you have one park right at your doorstep is amazing, especially at the end of the night when you watch the parades and fireworks, so you don’t have to squeeze onto a busload of people.
You can book this hotel on Expedia, and I will also share some other great Disney hotels in my Travel Shop, like Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside, or Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Use my code MISSENOCHA for a little discount when you book on Expedia too!
Ok now that you know where to stay and why, we can get into this itinerary… but first, here’s a little (not so little) tip you maybe (absolutely) should do.
I HIGHLY recommend investing in the Lightning Lanes at Disney if you are traveling with younger children. I’m sure these long lines will teach them patience yada yada, but honestly, the passes are SO worth it. We previously visited Disneyland Paris without the Lightning Lanes, and I speak from experience when I say this, having them is night and day. Waiting in line really takes away from the experience and honestly takes away from a lot of your time at the park, not to mention the rides are so short after you’ve waited so long in line, it almost feels like an insult. So if you’re going to do the trip, just allocate a little extra budget for the Lightning Lanes. You will be SO glad you got them! I recommend doing them for at least 2 rides for each park you visit.
Do you need a park hopper: I say yes, if you want to really experience all of Disney and not feel constrained for time. 4 days is a perfect amount of time to visit Disneym, and with the park hopper you won’t feel rushed as you get to just hop around to every park and experience what they offer.
Day 1:
Magic Kingdom
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
I’m always for arriving one day before activities begin so you can get settled in and decompress after a flight with kids, but sometimes budget doesn’t allow for that, so on Day 1 we hit the ground running. From August - November, the park is decorated for Halloween and they offer Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on select nights at Magic Kingdom – but keep in mind, the party requires separate tickets. The day we arrived was a party day, so after we got settled into the hotel, we got some grab and go food at Contemp Café, got dressed, and headed to the party. The nice thing about the party is that all the rides are still running, so you get to still experience the magic of the park (pun intended) in addition to the bonuses of the party. During Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, the kids can trick or treat around the park, there’s a dance party, and special shows like the Hocus Pocus show as well as little attractions around the park featuring the villains. They also have a special Halloween parade and a fireworks show.
Day 2:
EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Starlight Parade + Fireworks
Rides for the kiddos: Frozen, Ratatouille, Soaring Around the World (height limit 40cm), Finding NEMO
Another perk of visiting Disney from Aug-Nov is the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. From Disney’s Contemporary Resort, you can hop on the monorail right inside the hotel and take it to EPCOT. If you like food, then you will LOVE this festival. You can try foods from all around the world at little restaurants set up around the park. The portions are small and prices are reasonable so you really can try ALL the foods. It was so fun going around trying all the different offerings from savory foods to decadent desserts they obviously also offered an array of cocktails and wines as well. My kids also loved trying all the foods so it was a treat for the whole family.
The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is inside the park, so after you’ve stuffed yourself, you can also catch some rides too. If you have the Lightning Lanes you can experience all this in half a day, and then I recommend heading back to Magic Kingdom after a little break in the hotel (the heat is no joke).
You should definitely reserve dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant. It’s in The Beast’s Castle and decorated just like the ballroom in the Beauty and the Beast movie. The Beast walks around the castle for some meet and greets and they even have the magic rose on display. It’s a fun experience with the kids. I love that they even had the windows simulate fake snow “outside” to really make you feel like you’re in the movie. It’s a prefix menu with a set price where each guest orders an appetizer, entrée and dessert. The food was also really good with healthy options.
You can then catch any rides you weren’t able to on the first day at Magic Kingdom (if you arrived the same day like we did) and then definitely for the Starlight Parade and Fireworks. You HAVE to catch the fireworks at least one day at Magic Kingdom and staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort makes it so easy.
Day 3:
Half Day Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Half Day Resort
Resort Pool
Dinner: California Grill
Recommended Rides/Shows: Lion King, Safari
Getting to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is easy from Disney’s Contemporary Resort as you just hop on a shuttle right in front of the hotel. It will clearly be marked “Disney’s Animal Kingdom”. If your kids love animals, then this park is for them. It feels more like a zoo with rides and shows. There are animals on display all around the park as you walk around. The main attraction I would say is the Festival of the Lion King, which is an immersive/interactive show that’s giving Cirque Du Soleil vibes. The kids really liked it. It was also fun to go on Safari and see the animals in the “wild.” In my opinion if your kids are smaller you only really need a half day at this park and I would take advantage of having an easier day and taking time to actually enjoy the resort you are paying for and all its amenities.
After the show and catching some rides, we got back to our hotel and had some pool time with the girls. They absolutely loved it and they really enjoyed the splash pad attached to the pool. We then headed to California Grill for an amazing dinner. We were so pleasantly surprised with how good the food was here and honestly how good the food options were at Disney in general. I thought we were going to be subjected to junk and processed food the whole time but it was simply not the case. You will see the theme of prefixed menus or set prices a lot for many restaurants and California Grill was no exception. Each party orders an app, entrée and dessert (even the kiddos). The restaurant has a beautiful view where you can catch a glorious sunset. We loved the open kitchen and watching the chef cook. You can tell they took care with the food and everything was thoughtfully prepared. Another perk of this restaurant is they have a lookout space where the patrons are able to catch the Magic Kingdom fireworks so if you want to catch them for a second time with a great view, this is the spot.
Day 4:
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hollywood & Vine
Recommended Rides: Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania
On our last day, we headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which has the perfect balance of attractions for kids and adults. They have Toy Story Land, which is so epically designed that even us as adults were VERY impressed. The rides at Toy Story Land are also VERY fun and suitable for small children. After we rode some rides, we had dinner at Hollywood & Vine in the park, which is a character dinner buffet with a set price for adults and children. They offered an array of foods including healthy and vegan options, and during this time, it is decorated for Halloween and the characters are also dressed in costumes. They come around to each table for a meet and greet where you can take pictures with them. Honestly, if your kids are wanting to meet characters, doing one of the character dinners is the best way without having to wait in long lines – and you get to have dinner, so it’s killing two birds, ya know? My girls used to be so scared of the big characters, but they did so good on this trip and were excited to meet their favorite characters.
Side note: We actually started our day a little later at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and did a couple rides at Magic Kingdom in the morning first, so that’s always an option if you have the park hopper (might as well make use of it).
Day 5
Chef Mickey’s
Arcade
Depending on what day you have free, if it’s the first day you arrive or the last day you leave, I definitely recommend taking time to go to Chef Mickey’s in the hotel to enjoy the arcade. If you follow this exact itinerary, then book a later flight the day you leave (our flight was for 5pm) so you have time to enjoy more hotel amenities. The perk of being on the 12th floor is that you have access to your lounge the entire day, even when you check out, so you can still hang out up there, wait for your flight, and have some treats with the kids..
We made a reservation for Chef Mickey’s that morning and enjoyed their buffet offerings. Let me tell you, I’m not normally a big fan of buffets, but Disney will change your mind because they do it right and offer so many different foods and everything feels clean and sanitary. The characters all come out in their chef uniforms, then stop at every table for a meet and greet. Afterwards, we checked out and had the hotel hold our luggage while we enjoyed the arcade. You purchase a card and put “tokens” on it, which you can then use for all the games inside the arcade. Before we left, we also stopped by the lounge to get some water and treats and headed to the airport.
This was by far one of our favorite trips as a family. ALL of us had the best time, and my daughter literally cried when we were leaving because she said she wanted to live at Disney. If that doesn’t sum up the trip, I don’t know what else will!
Navigating Disney for the first time, especially with kids, can seem daunting so I hope this itinerary helps you find your way and that you have the most magical time in the most magical place!