Some tips for visiting Disneyworld, Orlando with small children

We were lucky enough to take the family to Disneyworld, Florida a few weeks ago. Before we went I was rather daunted at the thought of taking two small children (1 and 3) on such a big holiday but I am so glad that we did, we all had a fantastic time. I've put together a few tips that made our holiday much more pleasant for us all!

• My most important tip - arrive at the parks early! You should be in the queue at the turnstiles before the park opens, which means allowing time to get from your car to the entrance (especially at Magic Kingdom where you need to take the monorail from the car park) and to get through the security bag check. Arriving earlier makes it so much easier to do the rides before the queues build up.

• Take a pushchair even if your child doesn't still use one at home. You can rent them in the parks, but that still leaves you some distance from your car to the entrance, so it's much easier to have your own or you can buy a very cheap basic one locally from Walmart or Target.

• Tie something recognisable to the pushchair as you will have to leave it outside all attractions. They may be moved around but we never felt that security was an issue, but obviously take all valuables with you.

• All the toilets that I saw had a small changing table and a large cubicle that would accommodate a pushchair, each park also has a Baby Center with more changing and nursing facilities.

• You can take food into the parks without any problems, we took sandwiches, drinks, and lots of snacks.

• There are plenty of places to sit down and rest in the shade.

• The larger adult rides operate Rider Switch passes so that adults can ride if your children are too small. As you are about to join the queue, tell the attendant that you want to use a Rider Switch pass. One or two members of your party can join the queue to wait as normal, then the second adult will be given a pass which allows up to four people to return to the ride using the Fastpass queue.

• Don't try to do a full day at Disney. The parks are huge, there is lots of walking, the weather is likely to be warm and the crowds build throughout the day. Arrive early, see as much as you can, then return to your accommodation for lunch and a rest. If you are up to it, return to the park later in the day.

• Take some familar food items with you from home if you have fussy children. For our family, this means Weetabix, Marmite and baby biscuits. 

I hope that these tips are helpful! If you have any more please do add them into the comments!