Blurrysmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2009
We just returned from our first trip to Disney with our 20-month-old son. I read these boards a lot prior to coming, and I saw a lot of posts from people who, like me, were anxious about traveling with a young toddler. Therefore, I'm offering my experience with candor. Of course, each child is different, so please don't flame me if your experience was not the same. This is just one perspective. I know it sounds discouraging, but we really did have fun and are planning to return with him in a year or so. But the first 3-4 days were fraught with tears (his and mine), and I think he was generally overwhelmed by all of it and not really feeling the magic. If I had accepted a few truths beforehand, I think we could have made it a little easier on ourselves. So hopefully these points will help someone else:
1. Your child will behave at Disney like he does at home, so be prepared. Logically I knew this was true, but I was so excited for the Disney experience that I pretended he would be docile and just overwhelmed with joy to be doing whatever we wanted to do. Instead, I was upset and angry and embarassed when he consistently refused to get in his stroller at the parks without an epic struggle involving copious amounts of screeching and bucking like a bronco. He wanted to walk, but he can't endure all that yet, and besides, his version of "walking" was darting in and around the crowds at warp speed and trying to climb trash cans. This resulted in a lot of us carrying our 35-pound baby, which in turn exhausted us. This was stressful.
2. If your child doesn't nap during the day, you will have problems. we observed the mid-day retreat to the hotel for his regular nap, but the room just wasn't dark enough and he fought it and wouldn't go down. He did sleep briefly in the car coming and going. But he was not pleasant in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was 35 degrees while we were there, so we couldn't have a relaxing pool afternoon.
3. Seriously consider a 1BR if you can afford it. We did this and it was money well spent with a very active boy who runs around every waking minute. The garden grocer delivery was also a good call. And the rental crib.
4. Some of the kids' rides are plain weird. Peter Pan incorporated dead pirates laying across the ship deck and even Winnie the Pooh has a strange psychadelic dream sequence that looks like Pooh ate some bad mushrooms. I don't understand this.
5. Some toddlers, like mine, cannot tolerate wait in line for more than 10 minutes. This means that even with expert fast pass usage, you might not get on more than 3 rides all day (and that's in low season).
6. Always carry a sippy cup. Some places, like the Hoop-de-doo Review (which he loved, by the way), don't even have lids. They served his milk in a giant glass bell jar. Not good.
7. Good stuff: he loved the actual rides when he was riding them. The carousel, Dumbo, Aladdin's carpets, Small World, Winnie the Pooh, it was all great. And he loved the character breakfast (or at least he didn't cry). He also loved the Hoop de Doo Review, I think because we were so close to the stage. We had some nice moments, but it wasn't easy.
OK, that's all I've got. Good luck to all you toddler travelers - have fun!
1. Your child will behave at Disney like he does at home, so be prepared. Logically I knew this was true, but I was so excited for the Disney experience that I pretended he would be docile and just overwhelmed with joy to be doing whatever we wanted to do. Instead, I was upset and angry and embarassed when he consistently refused to get in his stroller at the parks without an epic struggle involving copious amounts of screeching and bucking like a bronco. He wanted to walk, but he can't endure all that yet, and besides, his version of "walking" was darting in and around the crowds at warp speed and trying to climb trash cans. This resulted in a lot of us carrying our 35-pound baby, which in turn exhausted us. This was stressful.
2. If your child doesn't nap during the day, you will have problems. we observed the mid-day retreat to the hotel for his regular nap, but the room just wasn't dark enough and he fought it and wouldn't go down. He did sleep briefly in the car coming and going. But he was not pleasant in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was 35 degrees while we were there, so we couldn't have a relaxing pool afternoon.
3. Seriously consider a 1BR if you can afford it. We did this and it was money well spent with a very active boy who runs around every waking minute. The garden grocer delivery was also a good call. And the rental crib.
4. Some of the kids' rides are plain weird. Peter Pan incorporated dead pirates laying across the ship deck and even Winnie the Pooh has a strange psychadelic dream sequence that looks like Pooh ate some bad mushrooms. I don't understand this.
5. Some toddlers, like mine, cannot tolerate wait in line for more than 10 minutes. This means that even with expert fast pass usage, you might not get on more than 3 rides all day (and that's in low season).
6. Always carry a sippy cup. Some places, like the Hoop-de-doo Review (which he loved, by the way), don't even have lids. They served his milk in a giant glass bell jar. Not good.
7. Good stuff: he loved the actual rides when he was riding them. The carousel, Dumbo, Aladdin's carpets, Small World, Winnie the Pooh, it was all great. And he loved the character breakfast (or at least he didn't cry). He also loved the Hoop de Doo Review, I think because we were so close to the stage. We had some nice moments, but it wasn't easy.
OK, that's all I've got. Good luck to all you toddler travelers - have fun!
We used to be a couple who went every year if not multiple times each year, got married there etc. We took our oldest ds when he was 14 months and had 10 days at WL with us getting woken up several times each night by hall doors slamming, him not sleeping at ALL, crying anytime anything even resembling a character came within 50 feet, and the impatience in line and wanting to take off like a bat outta he!! anytime he wasn't being held. Should I add that I was pregnant with #2 during all of this? Anyhow we vowed to not go back until our youngest was at least 5, and this meant giving up one of my favorite things for FAR too long. We're trying this again, this time with 3 in tow, and the youngest turns 5 on the trip, hopefully these memories will be much better!
