Theme Park With Small Children: 5 Survival Tips For Families

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If you’re traveling to a theme park with small children, here are 5 travel tips to help you survive without losing your stuff, your kids or your mind.

Are you getting ready to go to a theme park with small children? These are the essential tips you need to know so your trip goes as smoothly as possible.

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How to Survive a Theme Park with Small Children - Kenarry.com

Welcome to “Ask Kenarry,” a feature on our blog, where our friends, fans and followers ask us to gather ideas for their home or family. The question most recently posed was “What ideas do you have for surviving a theme park with small children?” We threw out the question to our followers on social media and gathered five survival tips that are sure to make the vacation fun for the whole family.

ASK KENARRY QUESTION: What ideas do you have for surviving a theme park with small children?

Our question this month comes from our own plans to take our two boys (ages 3 and 1) to the Magic Kingdom this Spring. While countless pages could be written with specific advice for the Magic Kingdom or Walt Disney World as a whole, we were looking for more general guidance about how to even survive a theme park with small children without losing our kids, our stuff or our minds! You will find the five survival tips we’ve gathered apply to any family attempting to visit a theme park with small children.

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Theme Park with Small Children Survival Tip #1: Don’t over do it

  • “Don’t over schedule yourself. So often you will see families rushing to get places in the park, trying to cram as much in as possible. I get it- it’s expensive to go and you want to get your monies worth-but it takes the fun out of your trip. It ends up with crying kids and arguing adults. Pick a few places that you want to see but be willing to go with the flow.” – Sharon, California
  • “Don’t push them to do too much and make sure that if they do not nap to get to bed early most nights.” – Tracey, Pennsylvania
  • “Don’t over do. Go back and take naps… We always make sure ahead of time to verify what they can ride.” – Jenny, North Carolina
  • “Make time for naps.” – Amy, Texas
  • “Even with older kids, we always planned a low-key rest day between the big park days.” – Melanie, Michigan

Theme Park with Small Children Survival Tip #2: Don’t lose your stuff

Theme Park with Small Children Survival Tip #3: Don’t lose your kids

  • “I took my 3 yr old a few weeks ago and was terrified of losing him. A friend of mine told me about these lost child tattoos and it really helped put my mind at ease.” – Tracey, Pennsylvania
  • “Each parent take one child.” – Diana, Ontario
  • “(If you feel comfortable with this…) bring a backpack with a ‘leash’ for the kid who wants to walk.” – Katie, Michigan

Theme Park with Small Children Survival Tip #4: Don’t lose your cool 

  • “Children and adults can get cranky just waiting around. Stop tantrums with ‘busy’ activities. My kids loved bubbles and stickers while they were waiting in line. These are easy things to pick up at the dollar store before leaving on vacation. I bought the packages of wedding bubbles, small 1-2 ounce tubes. They were light to carry and just enough to not make a mess when spilled.” – Nicky, Oklahoma, Little Family Adventure
  • “Have plenty of snack bags, and drinks, also double stroller for when the kids are tired. Also, don’t try to take everything in… impossible with small kids… from a mother who took 4 kids ages 3, 5, 6, 8. We had a blast.” – Diana, Ontario
  • “If you are there for multiple days, take a rest day half way through. We have never made nap time a priority, at that age they will fall asleep in the stroller, if not, sugar is your friend in the late afternoon. We always get there when the park opens, the lines are more manageable at that time.” – Matt, Pennsylvania

Theme Park with Small Children Survival Tip #5: DO lose yourself in the moment

  • “Follow your child’s lead. There is a special pleasure in experiencing [the theme park] through your child’s eyes. Just remember that you can’t do everything at [the theme park] in one trip. Focus on rides and attractions that they will enjoy.” – Nicky, Oklahoma, Little Family Adventure
  • “Your kids will have more fun if it’s ok to stop and enjoy the magic of [the theme park] instead of being rushed from attraction to attraction. (You will, too.)” – Sharon, California

Other Travel Recommendations

Before you fly to your destination to visit a theme park with small children, be sure to read our three part series on Flying with Small Children. You’ll find stress-free travel tips, what to pack in your carry-on luggage and options to get your car seat there.

Flying with Small Children: A Three Part Series - Kenarry.com

If you’re planning to take small children to Walt Disney World, I highly recommend that you read Disney World with Small Children by Nicky at Little Family Adventure. It’s chock full of great advice to help you prepare for your trip including recommendations about what to see in the parks.

Have you taken toddlers or babies to a theme park? What additional advice or tips would you recommend for traveling to a theme park with small children? Please comment below to share.

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What’s Next?

While you’re here, be sure to check out other family travel tips on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –

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18 Comments

  1. These are all great tips Carrie. They work great for just about any theme park. Thanks so much for sharing the link to my article as well. We love Disney, especially, and have taken children as young at 6 months old.

    1. Thanks, Nicky! I appreciate all your ideas and your help with this article. Our trip is going to be so much better thanks to you!

  2. Great tips, Carrie! Looks like your readers really have some great information to share. We’re planning our big vacation for next summer so I’ll be pinning this to make sure I read before we go!

  3. Thanks for sharing with us at the Let’s Get Real Friday Link Party. I’ve said it before that this a great article. I’m sharing it again on my social media.

  4. Great tips! I have to admit, I did lose my cool at theme parks when I went with my young niece and nephew. It is stressful. Hopefully I would be able to keep calm and actually enjoy myself next time, now that I’m armed with your survival tips!

    Thanks for linking up at Link’n Blogs Party this week 🙂

  5. Great tips. My kids go to theme parks at least once a year and these are good tips to follow…even for some older kids. Especially taking a break half way through and brings some snacks for them. Thanks for sharing on Link’n blogs link up. Have a super weekend.

    1. You’re absolutely right, Erlene! I think snacks are important to keep everyone’s spirits up during a long day at a theme park. Thanks for stopping by!

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