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Exciting!

We just took my kids this spring and they were 1.5 and 4.5. The older one can go without nap so we just planned for the youngest to nap in the stroller. Either way plan out time for a nap. Either to deal with the bus to get back to the hotel or for some quiet time in the park. We had to cover the stroller and stand in a corner so there weren't distractions and then he napped.

We were able to pull off a full day at MK with them. The nice thing was they had no expectations. So we would pull up the app, find something with a low line wait and then head there.

We planned for at least one sit down restaurant meal in the park to give everyone a break in some AC.

I’ve found Disney to be much more enjoyable when we don’t try to cram everything into what then ends up being very long days. So I’m a big fan of not expecting or needing to necessarily be there from early opening moment until late at night. The Disney resorts have tons of activities going on all day/evening for kids, and those activities ended up being some of what my LO enjoyed the most (we stayed at the Yacht Club and they had movies on the beach, their own little beach, great kids swimming areas, s’mores, craft activities, etc.)

FastPass what’s most important to you and plan your day around that. Ditto to any restaurants/activities you want to do that require reservations/tickets. If both your girls still nap and you have the time, I think it would be great to be able to go back to your room after lunch, let them nap, and then see about a late afternoon/evening activity (or go back to the parks). If either girl wants to go to the bibbidy bobbidi boutique, make reservations ahead of time (they have one at MK and one at downtown Disney so be careful of which you make reservations at).

For your LO with sensory issues, what about bringing a set of kids headphones for her? Or having a stroller with a blanket large enough to cover it to make it “enclosed” / private / a quieter space?

I would personally swap out Hollywood Studios with another half day at MK.

We were there in April with a 2.5 year old (and I was first tri and exhausted/nauseous). What worked for us was to keep her normal schedule and plan around it. Since she still naps, that meant I planned in 2-3 hours chunks in the morning and evening and that was it. We left the parks each day for lunch and nap, and we didn't plan any evening activities (her bedtime is 7:30). I made detailed touring plans and got our fast passes around those, so we never stood in line more than 10 min. Even though we weren't in the parks for huge amounts of time, we all felt like we used our time well while we were there. My LO is good in restaurants so we did at least one or two per day and those were nice breaks.

A few things that helped us were to let her interests lead the way and to not really have any expectations (DH and I didn't really have anything we definitely needed to do or see). That way, if we needed to change plans suddenly because LO was tired or cranky, it didn't feel like we were missing out on anything.

In terms of actual touring, you know your kids best, so I'd go with your gut. I knew in advance that trying to do stroller naps for my LO would be a disaster so we literally planned everything around naps, and it worked great. My cousin recently went with his kids (age 1 and 3) and they did stroller naps and had a great time. On the other hand, they couldn't do any sit-down restaurants with their kids whereas mine does great in that environment. So don't try to force things, just go with their flow.

@BabyBoecksMom: Awww so much fun!!

We took LO last year and he just turned 1. We didn't take nap breaks. He would just take naps in his stroller and we would go somewhere ACed. We are going again Monday and this time around he's 2. We are doing the same thing but also not going too early to any of the parks other than MK. I feel like MK you need a whole day, the other parks, not so much.

You can also go back to the resort and take a long late nap on the last day if you want to make it to a fireworks night. We did not get to see fireworks (except from our hotel) when LO was younger since we were so anal about her sleep. We almost always had an early start, nap in the middle of the day (when it was hot) and then got back to the parks late afternoon. It was still tons of fun. Lmk if you have any specific questions. I love Disney talk.

@BabyBoecksMom: I wasn't into pins or hidden Mickeys but I liked getting autographs. One of our best moves was a ziploc with sharpie and a very inexpensive Golden book that has all the Disney princesses in it. We got autographs on the princesses and characters autographed the blank inside covers. You might not be into that thing but if you do a character meal, it's very easy.

I chose everything from researching MyDisneyExperience app and Touringplans.com. Plus you can ask us! I was so not into Disney when I started when LO was two but every year I did it, I got more and more sucked into the fun. Every year I say, I'm done this time...I've seen it all. Then I get an itch...a Disney itch. This year, I'm done for sure! Hah!
I packed a pretty princess like dress and tiara in a bag the day we did the princess lunch and she changed into it just for the meal and pictures after. It was super fun. I wouldn't recommend cruising around like that all day. Princesses get uncomfortable.
Do you need a stroller? We went with Magic Strollers and got a discount by signing up for free D23 membership.

@BabyBoecksMom: I think my son would be really into pin trading if we tried it now. He's on the shy side and I think he would really open up for something like that. Plus, I've read that if you approach a cast member for a trade, they can't refuse, so it's an easy way to build their confidence. I believe you can buy pin packs on Amazon, so I'd get that upfront and then maybe get a few special ones at the parks. Oh, and he also was really into the penny rolling machines, so the second time we went, I made sure to bring a good supply of quarters and pennies.

The characters are kind of hit or miss for us, my son was afraid of them the first time we went, but the second time, he was okay with them and we have a ton of cute photos with them. The talking Mickey really knocked his socks off.

I like to go all out when we go. My son gets new pajamas for the trip with characters on them. Plus I always let him get a few things from the stores, he loves that (the store at Disney Springs has exclusive Mr. Potato Head pieces that we collect). I want him to do the pirate dress up thing, but I think he's still too fidgety for that. Maybe when he's more in the 7-9 age group.

But the biggest thing for me is taking comfort in the fact that Disney isn't going anywhere and we can take another trip and see new things. It helps so that I don't plan too much.