under 2yo, questionable nap situation, and ADRs...WWYD?

Meeko5 · May 26, 2015

My DS will be 22 months when we go in October. He's never slept in a stroller, will sometimes sleep in a car seat, and if we are away from home naps are hit or miss. I was originally thinking a midday break would work best (for all!), but now thinking trying to get him to nap in a hotel will be a struggle of it's own (much less after loading and unloading from the busses), and am praying to the gods he tires enough to just crash in the stroller. my 6yo son is an avid anti-napper, so he will go with the flow. but until we are there, I just don't know what will happen.

The ADRs are what's worrying me - I've been collecting a hodge-podge of times for the places we want now that we decided to upgrade from the quick service plan (for FD and staying at Pop). But not knowing what the little one's schedule will allow, I don't know what to do with meal times! Counter service would be 10x easier and more flexible, but we also want to experience some character meals (first disney trip!) and take advantage of the array of table service foods available at WDW.

Anyone care to share what worked best for your family with a toddler and meals? Because we have the 6yo who wants to do all the "big" rides, we plan to do RD at all parks but AK. Ideally don't want to do breakfast as our "big" meal of the day, since we aren't big breakfast eaters normally. Thoughts?

Thanks! pixiedust:

robndani · May 26, 2015

No plan is the best plan. Book the ADRs that you want and work around them. We took our kids twice before they were 2 and going back the hotel worked of we didn't try to go back to the park. It was just too much for us. Plus, your 6 year old isn't going to want to go back and relax (or God forbid, nap!).

Once or twice they would just sleep through a meal in the stroller... No big deal! We found that a 12:00 lunch or a 5:00 dinner worked well at that age. Trying to stick to meal times that your little one is familiar with will help. Doing a 8:30 pm BOG because that's all you could get may cause more of a problem than its worth.

I know you said you're not much into breakfast, but I also think that's a good time for everyone. If you have a cranky one in the afternoon you don't have to stress over ruined ADRS for dinner. I would mix up which meals you make reservations for. Have fun!!!!!

Kathryn777 · May 26, 2015

My 21 month old suddenly started napping in the stroller. Early meals, like 11:30 worked well for us. Maybe book a couple extra time slots for later in the week and Cancel them after you've done a day or two. My son kept falling asleep in transit, he would never sleep when we got homs

Superchikk · May 26, 2015

We took our kids when our daughter was 2 1/2 and our son was 6. She would not stroller nap at all. We went back to the resort 3 out of 5 days for naps. It was the best thing. I thought it would be super hard to get everyone to nap in the afternoons, but it was not nearly as bad as I thought (and the 6 year-old had some "accidental" naps). We cleaned up a bit (it was hot in September), and we all laid down and turned the lights off. We all napped! We also went back to the parks in the evenings, and it was much nicer to have had a bit of rest & time to freshen up.

I know you said breakfast isn't your thing - it isn't really ours, either. But it was a great meal for characters because the kids were fresh and we were all in happy moods. Lunch would be a good option too - you can do lunch, then head back to the resort to rest, then do a QS dinner at your resort or back at the park.

Lupeix · May 27, 2015

We went when our son was 2 and 1/2 and 4, and you never know what they are going to do when it comes to naps. My advice will be to book your meals at times you know your son will be in a good mood regardless. I find that booking the last breakfast or the first lunch slot works well for toddlers (last breakfast is cheaper and it is more like a "brunch"), since they are still OK without a nap at that time of the day, and you can take advantage of the short lines right after rope drop. You will be surprised how many rides you can do from 9-10:40 AM, specially the little kid ones (that way he can do Dumbo 3 times in a row if he wants to....my DS did not get the concept of getting out of the rides at that age, so being able to go out and immediately in was a blessing that prevented many tantrums). After that you can play it by ear and either keep walking around and see if he falls asleep on the stroller or go back and try to put him down. Early dinners can work, but at 2 and 1/2 it really depends on whether they got some rest in the middle of the day or not.

DS was always a good napper, but at 2 and 1/2 we could not get him to nap in the crib in our room at Disney, so we walked around or went on the ferry until he fell asleep in the stroller. At 4 he would not fall asleep in the stroller, so we got back to the room and he napped most of the days (we tried skipping the nap altogether one day and it was a disaster).

kuhltiffany · May 27, 2015

Start practicing stroller naps now. I used to cover the stroller so they couldn't see out, then walk until they fell asleep...

Jing · May 27, 2015

We are in the same situation (minus an older sibling). We plan to do breakfast at the resort, lunch ADR between 11-noon, play it by ear with walking nap/return to resort, then go with the flow for going back to a park or hanging out at the pool and doing campfire with movies. We have MNSSHP one night so are not doing a park that morning. What's cool with having two kids is that the older child could have some dedicated mom or dad time while the other takes baby back to the resort for some R&R.

Betty Rohrer · May 27, 2015

our 17 month toddler grandson fell asleep on the way back to room then woke up as we get off bus and refused, screamed, whole time we tried to nap. the fell asleep on the way back to dinner and slept thru. for us stroller naps worked better. you are not going to know what works until you get there. as for mealtimes, I would make sure that lunch is in air conditioning for a rest time from the heat

Meeko5 · May 27, 2015

Thanks all! Great suggestions

Hoping the closer we get to the trip some better A DR times open up. I plan to try for a break the first day, then will have to adjust the rest of the week accordingly. Here's hoping my stubborn little dude becomes magically chill at the happiest place on earth!

Definitely planning some 1:1 time with the big kid too. Can't wait to share the magic of disney at night with EMH while DH and the little one are in bed :earsboy:

Jess_S · May 27, 2015

My son won't nap at home, but he naps on vacation because all the new things to see and do tire him out. I found that planning naps doesn't work though. If we try to schedule a time to go back to the room to sleep, he resists. But on a bus, or in the car or in his stroller, he'll drop right off if he's tired enough. I agree with everyone who said that you can't know how your ADRs will work out until you try them.

nalajms · May 27, 2015

Betty Rohrer said:
our 17 month toddler grandson fell asleep on the way back to room then woke up as we get off bus and refused, screamed, whole time we tried to nap.

that's us! The only time my kids nap in the stroller is at WDW. That's also the only time my 5yo naps. When my little one was younger, I'd purposely push the stroller around and around in a quiet area (big top tent? across from Dumbo) until she fell asleep. Now that she's 3, we just go till they pass out

I avoid character dinner ADRs because you never know when they will sleep through it. I do still make dinner ADRs for the adults. Most of the time one or both kids will be sleeping during a 5-6pm dinner. We also do not do RD....but get to the parks around 10am.

AspenLL · May 27, 2015

We got back recently with our 13mo at the time. We aimed to do only dinner ADRs around 5:00pm. For lunch we would do an early QS around 11/11:30. We went back to the hotel a few hours before dinner to relax if he didn't fall asleep and that worked. We were able to hit every ADR.

pigletgirl · May 27, 2015

AspenLL said:
We got back recently with our 13mo at the time. We aimed to do only dinner ADRs around 5:00pm. For lunch we would do an early QS around 11/11:30. We went back to the hotel a few hours before dinner to relax if he didn't fall asleep and that worked. We were able to hit every ADR.

This is what we did this past fall. I tried to keep to DD's rhythm at home and for the most part it worked. I'm slightly more anxious for our upcoming trip because her naps are not what they used to be. Thankfully she still loves to sleep in the stroller so we'll see what happens.

Meeko5 · May 27, 2015

AspenLL said:
We got back recently with our 13mo at the time. We aimed to do only dinner ADRs around 5:00pm. For lunch we would do an early QS around 11/11:30. We went back to the hotel a few hours before dinner to relax if he didn't fall asleep and that worked. We were able to hit every ADR.

I'm going to keep checking back on later ADR times with this in mind...at 180 days we werent planning on TS meals but decided after to go ahead and do some but of course my ideal times are taken. Doh!

DH is a 3rd shifter so he's already going to be off schedule this week and likely need naps too. I'll have to convince him that he and the little one can head back without us if all else fails

maramarrie · May 27, 2015

I agree with previous advice to just go with the flow. With WDW you never know who will tire out and when. We don't like to take the time each day to head back to our hotel, so we just let the kids crash when they crash (sometimes we "encourage" it by parking the stroller near the waterfall or riding the monorail for a while). We always have ADRs and there have been a couple times when one child was asleep when we got there and still asleep when we left. Thankfully, we had a booth table both times and he just laid out while the rest of us ate. We saved things in case he was hungry when he woke up. Another thing to try is scheduling meals differently than you would at home. We tend to eat a large late breakfast and an early dinner...or save our big meal for early afternoon when we want to cool off for a while.

OSUgal03 · May 27, 2015

We will have a similar struggle with my 2 year old and I am interested in how it plays out. She will not nap on the go. We plan on pushing her nap time back later then usually, go to the hotel for a late afternoon nap and then back to the park for the evening, hoping that since she had a later nap, she will be able to stay up later. We will see!

robinb · May 27, 2015

I can't tell you how many meals I ate with my DD's head in my lap while she was out cold. Just go with the flow and be ready to eat with a sleeping child.

travelfearlessly · May 29, 2015

I'd start practicing stroller naps now and assume your son will nap a little earlier than normal because at Disney they tire out quickly. We made the mistake of booking dining reservations around our daughter's normal naptime and it turned out she would sleep so much earlier when we were at the parks. We made ADR for Crystal Palace and Biergarten. She slept almost the entire time through Biergarten and we were very lucky that we made our reservations for a late lunch so it wasn't crowded and we were able to bring the stroller inside with us.

PartOfYourWDWorld · May 30, 2015

IMO, even a 6yo should get a midday break. I would plan 5:00ish dinners for your table meals each day. We do breakfast in the unit or use snack credits on the go, then hit counter service for lunch before taking a midday break. Even if the 2yo doesn't nap, a break out of the sun in the AC will do him good. And maybe one of you can take the 6yo swimming to make it nice and quiet in the room for the 2yo.

Happyinwonerland · May 31, 2015

I don't even try to go back to the hotel for a nap. I know DD would fall asleep in the car on the way, then be wide awake when we arrive at the room. Not even worth a try.

We just let her nap in her stroller when she's sleepy. If it's during a meal time, so be it.

under 2yo, questionable nap situation, and ADRs...WWYD?

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