I've heard many people say that they’d like to put off that trip to Disney World until their children are at least six or seven years old. Well, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to wait. The great thing about Disney World is that it caters to all ages.

When you finally decide to take a vacation to Disney World, you want to be sure you do it right. Below are some key pointers you'll want to follow in order to make the most of your trip.

Stay in a Disney World Resort: Disney World offers accommodations in four price groupings to meet your budgetary needs -- Value Resorts, Moderate Resorts, Deluxe Resorts, and Disney Vacation Club Resorts.

By staying on site, your children’s Disney experience will be present throughout the entire trip. The benefits are numerous:

• Free on-site transportation: With easy access to Disney buses, boats and monorails, your children will love traveling to the park just as much as the rides themselves. And if you ride the monorail, ask to sit in the captain’s seat.
• Extra Magic Hours: Walt Disney World Resort guests are entitled to exclusive access to the parks before or after hours. Since the evening Extra Magic Hours begin after the park closes, your best bet is to keep your eye on the morning Extra Magic Hours. With a jump start on the crowds, you can make your way around the whole park all before lunch. And if you’re traveling in the summer months, this is one of your best strategies for managing the heat.
• Complimentary airport transportation via Disney’s Magical Express: The ride to the resort from the airport can be filled with excited anticipation, and those dreaded words, “Are we there yet?” When you’re on board the Magical Express, your Disney experience begins from the moment you step out of the airport. So, you and the children will be entertained the whole ride.
• Disney ambiance:From the staff to the décor to the gift shops and the food, you will feel submerged in the Disney experience everywhere you go. Even the hand towels are folded in the shape of Mickey!

Focus More Time on the Magic Kingdom:With young children, the Magic Kingdom really holds most of the… well shall we say, “magic”? While adults and older kids tend to gravitate more towards Epcot, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, the Magic Kingdom has the most to offer young children. With attractions ranging from Mickey’s Toontown Fair to lunch at Cinderella’s Castle to tons of kid-friendly rides, the Magic Kingdom experience will be forever ingrained in their little memories for years to follow. That said, they'll also enjoy experiencing the other parks, though they will likely not be quite as captivated.

Build in Time for a Nap: We all know how much rest kids need. Well, that rule is magnified at Disney World. Their little bodies are not as equipped to handle the activity level and heat as well as ours (well, we’d like to think we can handle it better than they). So, by planning a morning jaunt to the park, then perhaps another in the evening, you can build in plenty of time for rest in the middle of the day. And don’t be afraid to follow their lead and sneak in a little cat nap yourself. In a couple of hours, you’ll all be refreshed and ready to go.

Purchase a Park Hopper: The Park Hopper gives you unlimited access to any of the four Disney World Resort Parks. Don’t let the price tag scare you. You pay for the Park Hopper up-front, then go on as many rides as you want, as many times as you want in as many parks as you want, in any given day.

Young children are unpredictable. One minute, they’re gung ho and the next they’re melting down. With the flexibility of the Park Hopper, you can leave the park in a moment’s notice, comforted in the knowledge that you are not losing any money, and you can return or try another park later in the day.

You can purchase anywhere from a 2- to a 7-day Hopper, as well as a 10-day. Children under 3 are free and those under 10 receive a discounted price.

Eat Before you Get to the Park:The Walt Disney World theme parks are known for many things. The food is not one of them. You will typically find a wide variety of fast food in the parks, and not much else. This excludes the obvious lunch at Cinderella's Castle and Epcot's World Showcase. Otherwise, if you’re looking for a nice meal, have it before you leave for the park. When you face the park on a full tummy, you and the children will have the energy to maximize your visit. Not to mention, the last thing they'll want to do once they get there is eat.

Dine with the Characters: Nothing is more exciting to kids of this age than to meet their favorite Disney character. And while you will see them throughout the parks, you will likely be faced with long lines in the blazing sun. One way to guarantee your little ones meet their heroes in person is to schedule a dining engagement with the characters -- breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Character dining is offered by many of the Disney Resorts. Do your research to find out which ones feature the characters your children are most interested in. The characters will make their way around to all the tables, sign autographs and pose for photos.

You'll never be bored when visiting a Walt Disney World theme park. What you may be, however is unprepared. Below are some tips to ensure that you trip through the park is packed with fun, and not frustration.

Research Before You Go: The parks can be overwhelming, if you’ve never been. So, your best bet would be to research which age-appropriate attractions you’d like to see. Then go online and download a map, and begin charting out your visit. If you know where you’re going before you get there, you will spend more of your precious time enjoying some fun rides and less time wandering around, frustrated and disoriented.

Rent a Stroller: Do not bring one from home! That will cause you unnecessary hassle. The Disney Parks and Downtown Disney offer length-of-stay passes, whereby you can pay up-front for as many days’ rental as you need. You may want to map this to the number of days you selected for the Park Hopper.

There are many benefits to this service. First and foremost, you don’t need to lug a stroller on the monorail, bus or boat. You just bring your stroller pass with you to each park, and you can pick up the stoller there.  What's more, the stroller itself provides shade for the kids and storage for your bags and water. You will find stroller parking throughout the parks, so you can board the rides without the worry of what to do with the stroller.

Fast Pass Wherever Possible: This is a key strategy to enjoying your park experience, and I always wonder why some don’t take advantage of this benefit. The concept is simple. The theme park maps will indicate which rides allow Fast Pass. Go to the attraction and you will see a sign that gives you a one-hour time-frame of return. You can then decide if you want to Fast Pass that ride. This will take some scheduling considerations on our part. But believe me, it’s worth it.

Here’s an example of how this might work in the Magic Kingdom. At 10:00, Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasy Land shows a Fast Pass return time of 11:15 – 12:15. So, now you have a little more than an hour to kill. There are several attractions you can visit while you wait. You can stay in Fantasy Land and hop aboard It’s a Small World. While the line may look long, it moves very quickly. After that, you can ride on the Carousel, and maybe do some shopping. Or, you can dart over to Adventure Land and hop on Aladdin’s Carpet Ride or Pirates of the Caribbean (my all-time favorite). Take a walk through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. Then back to Peter Pan’s Flight.

The best part of the Fast Pass is walking past the poor fools who have been standing in line for an hour waiting for the five minute ride, when they could have just Fast Passed it and enjoyed other attractions in the meantime.

Divide and Conquer: If there’s another adult with you, a good strategy is to divide and conquer. For instance – once again using the Magic Kingdom as an example – one of you can run over to Adventure Land with the Park Hoppers (your park tickets) and get four Fast Passes for Splash Mountain, while you take the kids on a leisurely stroll over to Liberty Square and wait in line for the Haunted Mansion. By the time you’re ready to board your ghostly journey through the mansion, your partner will have already met up with you in line. If you get this art down to a science, it works beautifully.

Pack a Light Backpack of Essentials: Visiting the parks is a commitment. It takes a good deal of time and energy to get yourself and your family around. So, make sure you’ve got your must-haves before you arrive. A few bottles of water is essential. Yes, you can purchase one at a park shop, but you’ll pay an arm and a leg. Same goes for sun block. Better to be safe than sorry! And don’t forget your camera, cell phone (in case you get separated), the park map and a signature book for the kids. Remember, characters are all over the park. And if you get the chance to meet up with one, you don’t want to be unprepared.

By knowing how to get the most out of your trip to Disney World, you will create an unforgettable experience for you and your children. Of course, be prepared to start hearing them say, "When can we go back to Disney World?"