How to enjoy a theme park trip with a toddler

There is no certain age on when is the perfect time to bring your child at a theme park. Well if you have quite a big family it will be more fun to bring a young child before he turns two so he can get in free! I've been to that place where in I want to have my son enjoy himself not thinking he is just too young for all of it and would not even understand a thing. When Zach was about 6 months old my family of 5 decided to go to Universal Studios Hollywood, it was the time when they are offering "Buy a day get a year free", who wouldn't want to miss that great deal right! So we went there, with Zach's fully packed and complete diaper bag and sturdy stroller. With so much excitement nobody was thinking at that time that it was summer and no school for kids, dang! It was like 100 degrees in there and I want to go back home and back out. We were all sweating, imagine summer in Socal! But then we said let's do this, I didn't have any problem with Zach during that visit as he was just sleeping in his stroller most of the time. Child switch is available too, so everyone can go for a ride without going back at the end of the line when one member of the family watches for your child while waiting for each ones turn. He was also sleeping the whole time in the tram when we went for a studio tour. So even though  it was hot, it was a fun day at the park

Then again our second attempt, as we want to take advantage of our annual pass. Zach was a year old already and I was thinking, oh he will definitely enjoy this trip as he interacts with almost everyone and he was already walking too! Wrong!!! He was scared of the mascots, the rumbling sounds of the roller coaster rides and he was crying the whole time when we were at the tram when I was trying so hard to nurse him to calm him down  most especially when we went inside "King Kong"! I kept on shaking my head and was very upset and thinking this will never ever happen again!

Well, "never say never" for me. Yesterday we went to a local park in Orange county, it's called Knotts Berry Farm. From the experiences that I've been through with my child, I learned a lot from him. Like what upsets him the most or what will really make him enjoy himself. This time around everybody had a good time, even mommy:

1. Visit the park during off peak seasons ( Doesn't matter if it is a weekend) I find a weekend after the first day of school being a slow day in every park.

2. Schedule. Come in around 3 PM onwards as parks tend to offer a very low ticket price after that time. Plus it wont be too hot the whole time of your stay, you will still have enough time as most of them closes at 10 PM.

3. Nap. Since you are going there in the late afternoon, make sure your child will get enough rest. Nap time is very important so that he will not get cranky when you are already in the park. Make sure mommy and daddy will have enough energy too!

4. Get a Map and walk. Before going inside, have a meeting with your family and plan which are the ones they want to got to first. Since it is not crowded, let other members of the family go to rides that they want to ride, with an adult supervision of course. Obviously it will be dad and mommy will stay with baby. So, probably go to the "toddler friendly" place. Like for Knotts Berry they have "Camp Snoopy", very suitable for toddlers. They have live shows, kid friendly rides and a mini park that is shaded were you can walk as if you are not in a theme park.

I apologize for the video as it keeps on zooming in and out.

5. Take turns with your partner or have the family go on the same ride, like the Carousel, who does not want a good old merry go round, or spinning tea cups even a sky cabin were you can view the whole park from 180 feet above while listening to a relaxing music.

6. Take pictures or videos and have fun!

As a parent, we are the only ones who knows our child as every child is different and unique. It really takes experience. I would not have to exchange those experiences that I had with my child as those experiences help me to learn how to deal with him more.