Keeping Toddlers Entertained at Walt Disney World

Part of our problem was that while the oldest was tall enough to ride on almost everything, there were many attractions the little one could not ride. While splitting the family up for parts of the day wasn't our first preference, my husband and I found we really enjoyed having some one on one time with each of the kids. However, I don't think either of us was prepared to entertain the toddler as much as we needed to.

To save you some of the lessons we learned, I’ve come up with 10 strategies to help distract your youngster, even at the Happiest Place on Earth.

1. Food and Drink. This is the most obvious of course, and there is no shortage of amazing treats at Walt Disney World. Our first day there it poured rain, so we spent a lot of time running from one covered location to another. Fortunately, because we spent more time in gift shops than I had expected, we stumbled on the snack packages of Chip & Dale Snack Company Tiny Treats and Mickey Puffy Cheese Crackers. Our cranky toddler was near melt-down levels, yet she happily sat right back down in her stroller and munched away after we bought these. The best part, they only cost approximately $3 and it took nearly three days before she worked her way through the whole package. It was a steal at twice the price, and that cannot be said very often at Disney!

2. I have collected pressed pennies since before we had children. Many of the pressed penny machines are hand-cranked, but some have electronic buttons. My toddler loved getting to pick which penny we would get from each machine, and liked to hand it back to me to put in our penny book. Maybe your thing is trading pins or collecting Vinylmation -- just find something personal to your family and include the kids.

5. We had originally planned to go back to our condo so our toddler could rest, but past the first day, that just didn't happen. We discovered that if we put her in the stroller and walked around at nap time, she would often fall asleep right there, and then we could stroll over to a shady spot and sit down while she slept.

6. Our children both know how to utilize our iPhones, and that came in very handy at Walt Disney World. We also have some old iPod Nanos that we passed down to them when we got the phones. You might consider taking your old devices and loading them up with things that are guaranteed to keep your toddler amused. They used them to play games, look at pictures and videos from previous days, and take pictures. Speaking of, that brings me to the next tip…