DISNEY with a TWO YEAR OLD - any suggestions/tips?!

[DisneyBarlans]

Nap, Nap, Nap!!! The Hall of Presidents is great for this if they won't go to sleep in the stroller. Same thing with the American Adventure in Epcot. Don't get me wrong, I love both shows, but they put all 3 of my kids out every time. Oh, and my DS2 is absolutely terrified of characters. He was so excited on the way, but as soon as he saw his first one he screamed and would not let go of me. By the end of the trip we finally talked them into giving them a high five, and he even gave Mickey and Pooh a kiss on the nose. Have fun!

 

[bnorm27]

We took our girls last September, and they were 4.5 and 2.5 at that time. Here are some key things, and some other posters have already hit on them as well:

1. You cannot do Disney Commando style with a 2yo! You need to plan on taking your time, and taking breaks. We would go to the parks early, and stay until just after lunch time. Back to POP for a swim, and then it was nap time. After the nap, we went back to the parks for dinner and some more fun.

2. Bringing a stroller is a must! Umbrella strollers are the best. Remember, if you are using the Disney bus system, you will be lugging this thing around on the bus, so it should be something light and compact. If you rent a stroller, it is left inside the park. With very few exceptions, you are hiking out to the bus stops, so having a stroller is key.

3. If possible, go to the parks after the peak hours. Some have sugested to go during EMH's. If one park is having EMH's ,I would head somewhere else!

4. NAPS are essential. If my girls hadn't napped during our trip, I think we would have had major problems. The one day we didn't nap, was a day we planned on staying at a park straight through (it was closing early due to the MNSSHP). They were in bed by 7PM!

5. I agree with the buffet and family style restaurants. Your 2 yo can eat free at those places. The character meals were great.

6. Speaking of characters, while my older daughter was OK with all characters, my younger DD had some issues with some of the big (tall )characters. Sully from Monsters INc at MGM, Goofy, and a few others. She was good with all of the face characters. Sully is about 7.5 feet tall , and towered over me!

Some people will tell you that a 2yo won't remember the trip. HOGWASH! My daughter talks about her trip almost every day, and it's been almost a year! Plus, you'll have pictures, and maybe video to remember the trip by as well.

Good luck....and remember.....NAPS rule!

 

[lighttech]

All the advice I was looking for! Great post and great responses.

Taking my 2 1/2 yr DS in the fall. We're SO excited.

One thing I haven't seen. Any advice on sleeping in the same room? Especially if DS's bedtime is early from park exhaustion and Mommy and Daddy aren't ready yet?

 

[littlegirls]

take lots of BREAKS. I took my two y.o. and I did not listen about taking breaks and I was misiable and I was a cranky like a two year old. Not doing that again.

 

[splashmtnfan]

WE ALWAYS TAKE OUR DD's SMALL PORTABLE TENT. WE GOT IT FROM TARGET FOR AROUND $20 AND IT CAME WITH FOLDABLE CHAIR, FLASHLIGHT AND SLEEPING BAG... VERY CHEAP! SHE NOW ALSO HAS A SMALL BLOW-UP BED THAT ROLLS UP INTO A SMALL CARRYING CASE AND IS VERY EASY TO INFLATE WITH SMALL FOOT PUMP (5MIN.) I ACTUALLY FORGOT THE PUMP AND BLEW IT UP BY LUNG POWER IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME ONCE! IT IS VERY SMALL ONCE ROLLED UP AND IS ACTUALLY SMALLER THAN A SLEEPING BAG WHEN IN IT'S CASE. COOL DESIGNS TOO; CARS, PRINCESSES, ETC... THE WHOLE TENT THING WITH FLASHLIGHT AND CHAIR MAKES THEM FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN SPACE. MY DAUGHTER WAS 6 LAST TRIP AND TOOK OUR LAPTOP IN THE TENT AND WATCHED DISNEY MOVIES WHILE GOING TO SLEEP! THIS WAS A SPECIAL OCCASSION, SO WE FIGURED WHAT THE HEY ........ANYWAY THE WHOLE TENT SET IS A GREAT DEAL AND COME IN BOY AND GIRL COLORS!!! THEY CAN BE USED OVER AND OVER! TENT WILL ACTUALLY FOLD SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN A STANDARD SIZED PRIORITY MAIL BOX ( YES I DID HAVE TO MAIL IT TO GRANDMA'S THIS SUMMER!)
P.S. WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG WE UNZIPPED THE TENT AFTER SHE FELL ASLEEP IN CASE SHE WOKE UP AND WANTED TO GET OUT IN HER SLEEPY STATE.

 

[ObsessedwithWDW]

not sure if this will work for your child or not but for our DD we bring a radio everywhere we go so that the noise will drown out us still awake in the same room but basically without a patio or balcony we feel pretty much trapped in the room so might as well just go to bed....get your rest you'll need it.

 

[lighttech]

WE ALWAYS TAKE OUR DD's SMALL PORTABLE TENT. WE GOT IT FROM TARGET FOR AROUND $20 AND IT CAME WITH FOLDABLE CHAIR, FLASHLIGHT AND SLEEPING BAG... VERY CHEAP! SHE NOW ALSO HAS A SMALL BLOW-UP BED THAT ROLLS UP INTO A SMALL CARRYING CASE AND IS VERY EASY TO INFLATE WITH SMALL FOOT PUMP (5MIN.) I ACTUALLY FORGOT THE PUMP AND BLEW IT UP BY LUNG POWER IN THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME ONCE! IT IS VERY SMALL ONCE ROLLED UP AND IS ACTUALLY SMALLER THAN A SLEEPING BAG WHEN IN IT'S CASE. COOL DESIGNS TOO; CARS, PRINCESSES, ETC... THE WHOLE TENT THING WITH FLASHLIGHT AND CHAIR MAKES THEM FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN SPACE. MY DAUGHTER WAS 6 LAST TRIP AND TOOK OUR LAPTOP IN THE TENT AND WATCHED DISNEY MOVIES WHILE GOING TO SLEEP! THIS WAS A SPECIAL OCCASSION, SO WE FIGURED WHAT THE HEY ........ANYWAY THE WHOLE TENT SET IS A GREAT DEAL AND COME IN BOY AND GIRL COLORS!!! THEY CAN BE USED OVER AND OVER! TENT WILL ACTUALLY FOLD SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN A STANDARD SIZED PRIORITY MAIL BOX ( YES I DID HAVE TO MAIL IT TO GRANDMA'S THIS SUMMER!)
P.S. WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG WE UNZIPPED THE TENT AFTER SHE FELL ASLEEP IN CASE SHE WOKE UP AND WANTED TO GET OUT IN HER SLEEPY STATE.

Glad to hear the tent thing has worked. We're trying something very similar for our first trip with DS this fall. We have the tent/sleeping bag in a backpack kit and just found a great inflatable with bolsters on the side. (DS is 2 1/2 and not used to sleeping in anything that doesn't have sides.)

We'll see! We're gonna do some dry runs at home.

 

[MinnieMe2DW]

great post - we're going in May and was hoping he'd be ok.. from the sounds of it - he'll LOVE it!

 

[bellastella227]

OK so one tip I see over and over when traveling with an infant/toddler by air...is to make sure they are drinking/sucking for take-off and landing. My next question then is, how do you make an almost two-year-old drink something? My daughter has an agenda all her own!

 

[twins4mimi]

we are traveling with 2 year old twins in September and I love all these tips! We have been collecting disney items and putting them away to give as treats in the park instead of buying all the more expensive things there. The disney store always has perfect things clearanced out!

 

[MinnieMe2DW]

we are traveling with 2 year old twins in September and I love all these tips! We have been collecting disney items and putting them away to give as treats in the park instead of buying all the more expensive things there. The disney store always has perfect things clearanced out!

that is BRILLIANT !! Thanks !

 

[o2bacelt]

I remembered something else and I didn't see it mentioned.

Plan ahead. Call your health insurance company or look on their website to see if there are providers in the Disney area that accept your insurance. This really helped out on DD's first trip, we ended up at After Hours Pediatrics and it was easy, I had the numbers, the directions and already knew they took my insurance so it was a lot easier and cheaper (only our co-pay) and relieved some of the stress of a sick toddler.

I usually put together my "Great Big Book of Everything" (thank you Stanley!) which is just a little portfolio with all the important information about our trip, plane, rental car, reservations, doctors information, etc. I carry it in my carry on so I have all the info in one place and I'm not digging for it trying to find it.

Also take advantage of things like online check in and the airline check in at your resort. After using that service once I will NEVER fly another airline that I can't use the resort check in again. It made everything our last day so easy. We dropped off our bags right before we checked out and all I had to deal with was the carry ons and car seat. I even sent the stroller, I figured for one day I'd rent if needed. We only had a half day that time so we didn't need to rent one. This time might be different since we're leaving later.

 

[amyhughes]

Don't know when you are going but here is what I learned in May with our youngest son.

The stroller unfortunately will not suffice for sleep. Our older son passed right out after the fireworks, not so much with our 2 year old! He screamed the entire way across the Ferry. Partly due to the fact that he had peed through his Pull Up, and I could not take him out and change him right there on the dock with all those people pressing in on me. I felt so bad but changed him immediately when we got back to the van.

Get away from the fireworks. Go to the Poly and watch there on the dock or beach. They are beautiful, you can hear the music in the speakers on the beach, and it is less noisy. Also the PUSH to get down Main Street is horrible with two screaming kids and a large stroller! And people will cut in fron of you like you are not there, yup I nicked quite a few ankles!

Read their signals! Big Time! Go back to the hotel, swim, nap... Go back when it's cooler and less crowded. A lot of folks with older children, and Florida passholders go all day then leave at night. The parks are cooler, less crowded and you can just enjoy the place more at night versus 2 o'clock in the pm. You may miss the parade but it is a good sacrifice considering the amount of money you put into this vacation. You want to make it as enjoyable as possible not only for your kids but for you!

If they want to play in the fountains at EPCOT, or 100 Acre Wood. Let'em. I was a big pusher the first day of our trip. Had to go on everything, I mean there are rides right there let's go on them. But my kids wanted to make friends and play on the playground with them. Slowly I realized that is what it is about. That's what made it magical to them was those nights playing in one of the coolest playgrounds in the WORLD! And making friends to boot, and having MOm and Dad play with them. You can't make a lot of friends on a ride, nor can they run out alot of that excess energy!
And several of our pictures from that night show a couple of smiling very happy children b/c they were doing what they wanted to do and having a blast!

Make a character buffet a part of the early days of your stay, preferably before you go in the parks the first day. The reasoning is the characters can sometimes frighten small children and nothing is worse than waiting all day in a line only to have your child FREAK OUT when they finally get their chance to meet Mickey! The only way I have found to test this, and get a meal in as well, is to go to a character buffet. The kids can see the characters before they are right there, so they have time to prepare themselves for how LARGE they are in real life. Also, the autograph books are a cool tool to help your kids have a purpose in meeting them and break the ice with face characters!

Bring snacks in your backpack. Every security officer there will not mind. I took popcorn, fruit snacks, raisins, goldfish, and other little things. Plus flavored water for the boys juice cups. This helped us stay longer, spend less money and the kids were happy and HYDRATED!!! We found we could do more with them if they were satiated!

If its nap time, its NAP TIME.

Pack their clothes in Zip Loc bags, the gallon sizes. Each outfit gets its own bag. Take a change of clothes with you every day. There will be accidents!! No Pull Up alive can withstand that much water and juice! Also comes in handy if you spill during lunch or if the Ice Cream they are sure to want goes all over!

To keep them entertained while waiting for our ADR or in line for an attraction we brought bubbles! Nobody minded and it kept other kids entertained as well!! We also brough some small etch a sketches, flash cards, and Doodle Pros for the lines and they did help keep them going during the wait. Also Peek-A-Boo will never get old until they are like 5! My oldest likes I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE. USE THE FAST PASS!!

I think that is all I can come up with right now. If I think of anything else I'll holler!

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

I travelled with DGS in 11/06 age 2.6, went back 3/07 and returning 9/07 for MYW+Free dining (he is 3 now & we are bringing his sister for her 1st trip age 18 mos). First trip he wanted to see all characters from distance. March trip, he wanted pictures with all characters at character meals and select characters outdoors. He talks about upcoming trip and has paper countdown chain for upcoming trip. He can't wait to go back to H&V to see Einsteins and Jo-Jo! Tips are to view Disney videos with your child, the sing-along ones have the characters to familiarize your child. Book buffet meals, with under 3 being free (always) buffets work perfectly (Hollywood & Vine/MGM; Crystal Palace/MK) or family style meals (Garden Grill/Epcot). All 3 listed here are character meals too. Respect that your child knows how much is enough...and how much is too much. If they are afraid let them stand back & tell you what is comfortable for them. My DGS decided to not ride Dumbo after waiting approx. 15 minutes in line (we only had about one group ahead of us at that point.) I respected his decision and we went back to ride the Golden Carousel again. Lunch early and return to hotel for much needed rest. We are going in September for free dining and Lil Ones Magical beginnings/early magic hours in Fantasyland. Their memories are more postitive and longer lasting if they are able to accomplish this at a pace that is comfortable for them. Be prepared to change plans if necessary...DGS spiked fever during 3/07 trip; Celebration hospital (great service) diagnosed ear infection and we scrapped the plans for the next day, stayed in room relaxing, went to playground in afternoon and short walks around the grounds during the day. We enjoyed that day so much that we have planned for one day of doing "whatever" with no parks involved for our September trip. You know your child best so go with what you know...and be open to what you will discover about your child during this most magical experience. Enjoy!

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

Oops! Almost forgot. I froze a couple of small juice boxes and maybe a single serve gatorade and a bottle of water each night in our rented fridge (request one with freezer compartment) or I believe, if you are doing a fridge swap they usually buy the ones that have them. I believe all moderate and deluxe resorts already have refrigerators in the rooms at no charge, at least I know Shades of Green and Coronado Springs do. I brought a sippy cup and a couple of other small juice boxes placed in between the frozen ones. I had a frozen bottle of water and one refrigerated bottle so I could dilute the juice when putting it into the sippy. As a side note, I started bringing an extra frozen water for myself because there was nothing like it late in the morning when it is getting hot and there is still ice in the bottle of melting water...YUM!! and refreshing. I always dilute it to keep the sugar content lower and thus encourage more water into the body. The frozen juice boxes will keep the other juice boxes cold all morning and then can be used if more is needed. He also would pick a couple of snack choices to bring each morning. If going to parks early pack a ziploc bag, covered plastic snack cup or extra sippy cup of dry cereal and another with some fruit such as sliced apple or one of those natural juice single serve packs of mandarin oranges or peaches (bring plastic spoon for these). This worked perfectly for breakfast and then he had one or two snacks for later in the morning.

 

[kerrybrown]

Thanks for sharing this forums

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

We are taking our kids in oct to Disneyland. We will be driving and I'm already stashing away stuff for the trip. Books, activities/toys for the car. I am going to give the. 'Goodies from Mickey' each day so I've found Disney light up spinner toys at Walmart for less than $5...disney shirts at jc lenney for $6, Disney books at Costco for great prices. I'm also going to give them Disney Jammie's on our first night there.

With small kids (my daughter went when she was 14 weeks and 17 mos) I've come to realize that at this season in my life I may have to forego fireworks or fantasmic. Or any late night show. And I'm okay with it. The trip is about them. Not me. We will have plenty of opportunity to see the nighttime shows on future trips.