Disney world with 2 year old

BeccaP1512

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
were planning on a trip to Disney world for our sons 2nd birthday. What's everyone's experiences like with a 2 yr old. Did they watch the fireworks too?
 
We took our youngest son at 15 months. He watched MSEP, but fell asleep in between that and Wishes, and slept right through them. He did stay awake for Fantasmic! though. :)
 
I was wondering the same thing. My sons will be 16 months and 3 years. Not sure if Fantasmic would be too much for them.
 
We took my daughter at 20 months and again at almost 3 - at 20 months, she did not see any of the parades or fireworks; she never slept in her stroller so we were always hustling back and forth for naps and bedtime. At almost 3, we had a few late nights, and did get preferred seating at Illuminations once so we didn't have to stake out a spot. She loved it. When she was 20 months, favorite rides were Small World, the carousel, Dumbo, Pooh and Little Mermaid. Peter Pan was a little scary for her. There was one day it was really really hot and the line for Small World was short, we ended up riding it over and over again (groan). She was wary of the characters at 20months, LOVED them at almost 3, and for this upcoming trip (3yr 8 mos) is all about seeing the princesses.

As for seeing fireworks, it depends on whether your LO will sleep in the stroller. Mine would not, so even at age 3, we made sure to have an extra long nap that afternoon and no plans for rope drop or EMH the next day. We also had a FP for wishes that we didn't make because she had a crazy meltdown about half an hour before and we just had to go. It was pretty awful. I guess just be prepared for even the best laid plans to go awry, and hopefully it will still happen.
 
We took our ds a month before his 2nd birthday. I had planned to go back to the resort early afternoon for naps everyday but he ended up napping really well in the stroller. We just went with it and one of us would stay with the stroller while the others (we also have teenagers) would go on rides. We'd end up leaving around 2 or 3pm to cool off and enjoy the pool (it was July) and would then make the decision if we wanted to go out for the evening. We did watch fireworks twice (Wishes and Illuminations) but slept in the next mornings after those late nights. He was terrified of the characters so we avoided any character meals. He loved Triceratop Spin at AK. I can't tell you how many times we rode that one...He also liked the Disney Junior show at DHS. Be prepared to be flexible. If you are going in the warmer months, I highly suggest getting a small battery operated fan that can attach to the stroller.
 
We took our 5 year old and 2 year old grandsons in October (along with their parents of course). The two year old was great for the first three days. Day four he fell asleep in the afternoon while we were having lunch. Back to the hotel for a nap. We were in Bay Lake Towers and could watch the fireworks show from our balcony. That being said the 2 year old fell asleep most nights before the show. We stayed in the park one night for the show and the two year old held up for most of the show. He did fall asleep while walking back to the towers. Seeing WDW through the eyes of a two year old is special.
 


My two and a half year olds refused to nap, and we never made it long enough for the fireworks, except for the one night of MVMCP. One fell asleep to them going off, the other was way more interested in going on The Little Mermaid, seven times.
 
My son went at 2.5 and he did see both MSEP and Wishes that trip. He had taken a nap prior to us going to the park. It was our travel day and we had an early flight. He napped for about an hour before we started touring around 4. He loved the night time stuff at MK. He was waving at all of the characters during the parade and loved the music. We have not been to Fantasmic. Maybe show the video on YouTube. My son’s reaction to the YouTube video let me know He wasn’t ready for that.

He does pass out cold right after the last firework goes off though. The two times he has seen Wishes when it was at 10, he went out during the applause. He also has some headphones that block out some of the noise. He has sensitive ears though and wears them most of the trip. His sister also has sensitive ears but only needs her headphones during fireworks.

My son was a good stroller napper at 2; plus that trip was 9 nights so we were out later either at a park or at the pool. At 3 not so much; so we were in bed early every night. We actually didn’t see Wishes on that trip; but not because of him. My 10 year-old didn’t want to go back to the park after our break.

He loved all of the rides he could go on and we did everything without a height restriction in MK except Astro Orbiters. Still haven’t gotten on that. I’ve never been willing to stand in that line.

We haven’t been on the Ellen ride at Epcot or Spaceship Earth at Epcot. No particular reason for not going on the Ellen ride. He has issues with the dark so we haven’t done Spaceship earth. He enjoys the other rides and shows at Epcot. I think his favorite country in World Showcase is Germany because of the train display. He also loves the splash pad at Epcot. He got soaked there at age 2.

At DHS his favorite thing was Toy Story Mania even though he just sat between his sister and me and didn't play. He enjoyed all of the shows; but of course loved the Disney Jr. show the best. We also do the Disney Jr. meal there. I think his favorite thing in AK is seeing all of the animals roaming around.

At 2.5 he was good with most characters; but he was nervous around a few of them; but all that meant for him was that I needed to be in the picture too. At 3 he was all in and didn’t even need me at all. Below he's with Sorcerer Mickey at 2. His sister preferred to play on the computers in the room; so I had to go with him. We had a tropical storm that week so I was a mess; but he looked good.



A year later with Sorcerer Mickey at 3. Didn’t need his sister or me.



Goes to show a lot can change. He was a blast at 2 and 3 though.
 
We took DS for his first trip at 2.5 and attempted Illuminations. He really does not care for the noise of fireworks and is not a night owl, so we ended up heading out. Did not attempt any other fireworks or late night shows.
Went back at 3.5 and he is more or less the same. Had DN (6.5) with us who loves fireworks and she was practically climbing the rails during Illuminations while he sat in the stroller and covered his ears. We did Wishes from the ferry boat one night and that was a good compromise.
 

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