If you have gone with a 2 yo...

[lovemy2girls4eva]

what was the good, the bad, the ugly at that age lol

my older ones will be 7 and 5.5 but youngest will only be 22 months.

I have a couple of TS w characters booked..will he sit through them at the age? I forget lol

also we will be taking hotel breaks/pool time to unwind a bit but mostly worried about the sitting at the restaurants.

thanks!

 

[Lurkerin]

We have three kids with similar ages and went last year. They did great. We took a double stroller and a backpack with snacks, diapers, and change of clothes. The youngest always took a nap at some point. The girls were non-stop until we traveled back to clean up for dinner ADRs. We always try to have them grab a power nap (at least on the bus) before grabbing dinner. They were so excited to be there, they didn't mind having to wake up a little earlier than normal. And they passed out for bedtime no problems because of all of the excitement.

The answer is yes they can make it through a TS meal, but it depends on so many factors. How tired are they. How hungry are they. Is there something on the menu they will eat. We ask\convince them in advance what they want from options on the menu. No ones wants a toddler tantrum. And finally, don't be ashamed to pull out your phone and let them watch a show or play a game. No one better disturb me at Cape May!

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

We have three kids with similar ages and went last year. They did great. We took a double stroller and a backpack with snacks, diapers, and change of clothes. The youngest always took a nap at some point. The girls were non-stop until we traveled back to clean up for dinner ADRs. We always try to have them grab a power nap (at least on the bus) before grabbing dinner. They were so excited to be there, they didn't mind having to wake up a little earlier than normal. And they passed out for bedtime no problems because of all of the excitement.

The answer is yes they can make it through a TS meal, but it depends on so many factors. How tired are they. How hungry are they. Is there something on the menu they will eat. We ask\convince them in advance what they want from options on the menu. No ones wants a toddler tantrum. And finally, don't be ashamed to pull out your phone and let them watch a show or play a game. No one better disturb me at Cape May!

Thanks for your response!!

Which resort did you stay at?

 

[HeatherL1985]

We starting taking our son at 2 years old. He was an early riser and an afternoon napper so it made rope dropping a breeze and then we'd go to the resort and nap for the afternoon. Everything got a little overwhelming for him but we brought our stroller from home so he'd close the sun shade and snuggle in if it got to be too much.

Lines....are hard. We brought cars, a tablet, pipe cleaners...none would keep his attention when we are in line and he just wants to GOOOOOO!!!! Rope dropping helped a TON and then we'd set our fastpasses for the evening to skip as many lines as possible.

The only meals our kid sat through were the ones with the characters...and even then we'd sometimes end up having to take a little walk while we waited for my husband to text "here comes Goofy!".

Bring a foldable changing pad or plush blanket. I was surprised how many of the changing tables were metal or tile and the coldness from cranked A/C would go right through the swaddle cloth we brought to lay down. And always have snacks and a drink available.

And if you don't have one already - buy a mommy hook. Best. Thing. Ever. LOL

 

[PxyShan]

The trip when we took with our then 22 month old is one of my all time favorite trips. However, he was the only kid at the time...

We go out to eat at a sit down restaurant about once a month, so our son was used to eating out when we went. Maybe a few practice runs at home before you go? I know that can be harder with the older kids sometimes. The lovely thing about Disney is they are used to kids at TS places, so they move through meal service pretty fast if needed. We also brought little quiet things for him to do while we waited for food, and we had Mickey Mouse Club House on our phones as an absolute last resort. We only needed it once, and that was on our arrival night - traveling all day then a TS meal where we weren't seated until 40 minutes after our ADR was not the best idea.

Otherwise we just went with the flow. Rope Drop, then back to the hotel after/for lunch, nap time (pool time), then back to the parks. (We stayed at Contemporary and only went to MK and Epcot, so getting back and forth was easy).

Depending on how he was doing determined if we could do fireworks. It also helped we went in January, so shorter park hours meant earlier fireworks that were easier to make happen with a little one. We had a stroller (maybe a double stroller for your 5.5 to ride in if needed too?) and the smallest diaper bag I could get away with that included snacks.

 

[lovemy2girls4eva]

We starting taking our son at 2 years old. He was an early riser and an afternoon napper so it made rope dropping a breeze and then we'd go to the resort and nap for the afternoon. Everything got a little overwhelming for him but we brought our stroller from home so he'd close the sun shade and snuggle in if it got to be too much.

Lines....are hard. We brought cars, a tablet, pipe cleaners...none would keep his attention when we are in line and he just wants to GOOOOOO!!!! Rope dropping helped a TON and then we'd set our fastpasses for the evening to skip as many lines as possible.

The only meals our kid sat through were the ones with the characters...and even then we'd sometimes end up having to take a little walk while we waited for my husband to text "here comes Goofy!".

Bring a foldable changing pad or plush blanket. I was surprised how many of the changing tables were metal or tile and the coldness from cranked A/C would go right through the swaddle cloth we brought to lay down. And always have snacks and a drink available.

And if you don't have one already - buy a mommy hook. Best. Thing. Ever. LOL

Thanks!! I'll look into the mommy hook!

 

[MSPeeler]

We just returned from our trip on Sunday. We have a 10, 8, and 2 1/2 year-old. We also took our toddler when he was 22 months old. I can say with confidence that he was much easier to handle this time at 2 1/2 then he was at 22 months!! At 22 months he was not able to stand in line with me at all for anything, without running away. But he has always been a runner. I'm not sure about your child, it is all about personality of course. He had no trouble at all sitting through meals in the high chair, especially not character meals and he is a very good eater and will try most anything food we put in front of him. We always had our iPhone with YouTube kids for such situations just in case though LOL (yep, we are those parents).
He loved all of the rides that he was able to go on, it's a small world, toy story, Buzz light year spin, people mover, hunted mansion, etc. and most of the shows except for its a bugs life and turtle talk with crush was too boring for him, he absolutely loved monsters Inc. show but he adores Mike and Sully! He hated Fantasmic!, too scary.

All in all, it really depends on your child's personality. We did take a leash backpack to put on him just in case he decided to run away this time, but did not run into any problems!

Also, we stayed offsite so we were not able to take midday brakes back to our hotel. He just napped in the stroller or we would take a quick break in an air-conditioned restaurant or the baby care center if needed.

 

[Willow1213]

We went when our son was 20 months last year. Table service we had one good and one horrible experience. Ohana dinner, he was just DONE. It was a long day and we waited quite a while for a table after our reservation time. We ended up walking through the Poly lobby while hubby paid the bill (and got my bread pudding to go ). Crystal Palace breakfast with characters was GREAT! Lots of things he would eat, characters were prompt, and he was a very happy boy!

Interesting to note, nap schedule went out the window on the trip. He was taking 2.5 hour naps every afternoon at home, and fell asleep in the stroller (or during a safari!) around 11 every morning. This threw off my plans pretty significantly, so just be prepared for change!

 

[Lurkerin]

Thanks for your response!!

Which resort did you stay at?

Thanks!! I'll look into the mommy hook!

Another vote here for the mommy hook. Give the back a rest from the backpack. We have stayed at AoA and POR with 2-3 kids and would recommend both.

 

[tigger51276]

I've been with both my kids at that age. With my oldest it was smooth sailings, however she was a very, very good baby (slept through the night from day one in the hospital). She napped amazing in the stroller or in the hip carrier I had so never needed to go back to the room, she was also a night owl and just loved being out and about. My youngest was the total opposite lol. I take my kids every summer and the year she was 24 months when we went I was there for one week with just my girls and then the 2nd week my step mom and little brother came for his first visit. I had bought the dining plan for both weeks and after the hell of sitting in a restaurant every day with my little one I just couldn't do it the 2nd week nor could I continue to put others through it so I was able to get the 2nd week switched over to the quick service plan and that worked much better. It was so incredibly stressful constantly trying to calm her down, stop her from throwing everything on the ground, and taking her outside the restaurant to calm down essentially leaving my then 7 year old in the restaurant so she could at least eat her meal hot (I don't think I ever got to). She was just so over stimulated from everything going on she couldn't keep it together in restaurants (at the time I didn't know she had multiple disorders, just blamed it on her age). As for lines, if you don't already have/use a carrier of some type I highly recommend one. It's a great way to travel the parks and especially the lines because they aren't able to run around, swing the ropes, etc. I was able to carry my oldest up to 3 1/2 in a hip carrier and carried youngest until she was almost 3.​

 

[Figmentmommy]

We just returned from our trip on Sunday. We have a 10, 8, and 2 1/2 year-old. We also took our toddler when he was 22 months old. I can say with confidence that he was much easier to handle this time at 2 1/2 then he was at 22 months!! At 22 months he was not able to stand in line with me at all for anything, without running away. But he has always been a runner. I'm not sure about your child, it is all about personality of course. He had no trouble at all sitting through meals in the high chair, especially not character meals and he is a very good eater and will try most anything food we put in front of him. We always had our iPhone with YouTube kids for such situations just in case though LOL (yep, we are those parents).
He loved all of the rides that he was able to go on, it's a small world, toy story, Buzz light year spin, people mover, hunted mansion, etc. and most of the shows except for its a bugs life and turtle talk with crush was too boring for him, he absolutely loved monsters Inc. show but he adores Mike and Sully! He hated Fantasmic!, too scary.

All in all, it really depends on your child's personality. We did take a leash backpack to put on him just in case he decided to run away this time, but did not run into any problems!

Also, we stayed offsite so we were not able to take midday brakes back to our hotel. He just napped in the stroller or we would take a quick break in an air-conditioned restaurant or the baby care center if needed.

This sounds like my youngest on our first trip! He was a just turned 2 year old who was a go go go type of kid and a runner more times than I care to remember. At Disney he was great! No running away, loved all rides, was a great eater so TS and character meals were easy, and he napped when he got tired in the umbrella stroller. We stayed onsite but never did breaks and we stayed late until closing most nights. His older brother was 4 1/2 at the time so I think he also wanted to do whatever he was doing - which helped. Sure glad he was a go with the flow type!

 

[Dakota731]

What is a mommy hook?

 

[cmoliver5]

We took our 18mo back in February. What we decided to do was stick with TS lunches. In her case we new that she would do better at lunch than dinner and she honestly did really well. The only meal she was a bit antsy through was Liberty Tree Tavern and I think that was mainly due to the fact that there wasn't much to keep her attention. We had also did a character breakfast and a lunch at Yak and Yeti which she did really well at because she could watch people out the window.

 

[ElenaRN]

We were there in Oct and our youngest was just about 22 months. We did breakfast @ Chef Mickeys the first morning and she spent most of the time hiding under the table. It was heartbreaking and hysterical at the same time. We decided to then only meet princesses for a while, being as they aren't as big and "scary". She did well with them and by the end of the trip was ok with all the characters (except Sully @ halloween dance party).

She had already out grown naps at home, so we never went back to hotel for mid day breaks. She pretty much fell asleep in stroller everyday for at least an hour or two.

Two 1/2 is a great age. The wonder in thier eyes experiencing everything is so great.

 

[Lupeix]

It depends at what time of the day your ADR is. I think for toddlers Dinner is not a good idea unless you know for sure the kid will take a nap. If you have tired toddler at an ADR you are asking for a tantrum. Toddlers tend to do better in the morning IMO. I don't like regular breakfast ADR because you either have to get up really early (not us) or miss some of the precious low lines time. I think the latest breakfast or earliest lunch is the best time for the under 5 crowd to do a character meal, since you will be there for ~1hour. They are neither too tired or too hungry. We went when DS was 2 and a half. We did both Tusker house and Crystal palace at that time and it worked out great. Same when he was 4 and also when DS was 5 and DD was 9 months. So I can highly recommend that strategy for LOs and ADRs. Lines.... that was a different story. I will be more concerned about that.

 

[LadyLuc361]

We we were at WDW last year when DD was 15 months. ADRs were tough...it is so hard to predict schedules when on vacation with little ones. She did ok, but I found myself stressing out about making to the ADRs on time, canceling them 24 hours in advance, etc. We are headed back in early May (she will turn 2.5 while there) and I am mostly planning quick service. We are going to do a couple table service, but I am finding it less stressful to not have to worry about making it to an ADR at a certain time, or canceling 24 hours in advance. I figure when she is older we will hit up the TS restaurants again.

 

[LaBelleVie]

Our youngest had a meltdown basically any time he wasn't eating or on a ride. He did great at Crystal Palace (he loved the characters!), and enjoyed the rides (he cried because he didn't want to get off small world), but he just could not handle going from point A to point, with or without a stroller. We're crossing our fingers that he'll do better on our next trip (though thankfully we feel better prepared to handle everything now...that first trip with kids was a doozy!).

 

[pennylane16]

The first time we went to WDW, DD was 2 and DS was 7. It actually went really well. She was either in the baby carrier or the stroller, and she just napped in either one whenever she was tired, so she was pretty well rested. She liked the TS (character) meals, so she sat through them pretty well, although she almost slept through all of Tusker House, lol! I think my DS would have had a hard time waiting during TS meals when he was 2 - it took him quite awhile to be able to sit through a sit-down restaurant meal. We probably would have stuck with mostly CS meals if we took him to DW at that age. I hope you guys have a great trip!

 

[kboo]

The trip when we took with our then 22 month old is one of my all time favorite trips. However, he was the only kid at the time...

We go out to eat at a sit down restaurant about once a month, so our son was used to eating out when we went. Maybe a few practice runs at home before you go? I know that can be harder with the older kids sometimes. The lovely thing about Disney is they are used to kids at TS places, so they move through meal service pretty fast if needed. We also brought little quiet things for him to do while we waited for food, and we had Mickey Mouse Club House on our phones as an absolute last resort. We only needed it once, and that was on our arrival night - traveling all day then a TS meal where we weren't seated until 40 minutes after our ADR was not the best idea.

Otherwise we just went with the flow. Rope Drop, then back to the hotel after/for lunch, nap time (pool time), then back to the parks. (We stayed at Contemporary and only went to MK and Epcot, so getting back and forth was easy).

Depending on how he was doing determined if we could do fireworks. It also helped we went in January, so shorter park hours meant earlier fireworks that were easier to make happen with a little one. We had a stroller (maybe a double stroller for your 5.5 to ride in if needed too?) and the smallest diaper bag I could get away with that included snacks.

This was our experience as well, except we were staying offsite. Even so, we enforced midday breaks and naps (yes, we drove back to the condo for a nap every day). We did dinner ADRs around 5pm, so pretty much we'd bring her back after nap and we might have time to do 1 ride or walk around, and then eat. Our ODD was a good eater, always, and we go out often to a sit down restaurant almost weekly (the local diner, which doesn't mind when they toddler makes a mess), so our kids knew what the drill was when it was time for meals in a high chair. Our YDD will be 21 months when we go in August, so we shall see...

I will also add/agree that the best thing about WDW and TS restaurants when the kids are young, is that the food comes quickly and even the signature restaurants have enough stuff to look at/do that they can usually keep the baby entertained long enough to eat. I'd also bring some finger foods (cheerios, goldfish crackers) while you wait in case the baby gets hangry.

I don't think my ODD got into characters until she was almost 3. They were a little big and scary. Princesses (the "face" characters) should be fine, though.

We didn't even try to do fireworks until recent trips, when ODD was 4.5 - we'd make her nap so she could stay up to watch fireworks. We also stayed close - monorail resorts - so we could get back quickly at the end of the day. And strollers even though she didn't spend too much time in them until she was really tired.

 

[kboo]

Oh, and in preparation for August with YDD, we are working gently on using utensils and eating more neatly (less banging of things, less throwing of food). Day care helps because they eat lunch sitting at little tables so she gets lots of practice.