The Disney Trip We Only Take One Child On 

We’ve done this before. 

This was actually our third time doing this exact trip. Same setup, same idea behind it. And at this point, it’s less of a trip and more of a tradition. 

Before each of our boys turns three, we take them to Disney. Just us and them. No siblings, no split attention. Just a few days where that one kid gets all of us. 

There’s something about that almost-three window. They’re old enough to actually take it in and get excited but still young enough to fully buy into the fun of it all. And when you only have one kid with you, the pace of it all changes. You’re not managing anyone. You’re just… there with them. 

Every time, we keep it simple. Three nights, two park days, both at Magic Kingdom. That’s it. No park hopping, no trying to fit everything in. We stay at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, which just makes life easy. The monorail is a stone’s throw away, the room is close enough to go back for naps, and it all just flows. To truly immerse ourselves into the experience, we book club level with a park view so we can see the fireworks from the room, and honestly the snack access alone is worth it when you’ve got a toddler. 

First day we usually don’t go anywhere. Pool. Settle in. And, let them get excited about where they are.  

Park days are loose. We know which rides they can go on, and we’ve got two days to hit them whenever. If they want to do the same ride three times, cool. If they’d rather sit and eat a pretzel and watch people walk by, that’s perfectly fine too. At this age, for our boys, the magic isn’t about how much you check off. It’s about watching their face and enjoying the moment when something clicks. 

For us, fireworks have become their own little thing now too. Two nights we watch from the room. Pajamas on, snacks out, nobody fighting for a spot. One night we do the Fireworks Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom. Seated with a great view and desserts everything, everywhere, all at once. It’s become how we close out our trip every time. 

Sure, we could add more parks. We could bring everyone. But we don’t. Because this works. Each of our kids gets something that’s just theirs. A few days where they don’t have to share us with anyone. 

Three boys in now and honestly it feels much less about Disney and more about grabbing onto this little window before it closes. 

And we get to do it one more time.