disneyfan1992
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2008
Just in case this helps anyone, I know when we were planning our trip, I liked to read posts about which rides toddlers liked / didn't like. The answers always seemed to be child specific and covered the whole range from loved it to hated it. We found this to be true for our toddlers too. You really have to know your kid and follow their temperament and personality to figure out if they would like a ride or not.
Luckily we decided to just play our trip by ear, see how it goes, and change our plans as needed. We did have magic bands, made FP+ ressies b4 trip for rides we thought kids might like, and used FP+ on a smart phone to change ressies as needed in park. We went in Nov 2013 to WDW with our 2.5 year old twins.
My kids are not thrill seekers, nor dare devils. Just normal and very active, very busy toddlers. They do not go to preschool. They stay at home with me. They have not been exposed to waiting in line prior to trip. They watch very very limited TV. They are used to a meal and nap schedule with lots of free, unstructured play time in between. No older siblings.
They LOVED "Its A Small World". #1 Favorite. Rode it several times and yes, we "wasted" a FP+ a few times for the ride because kids were horrible waiting in lines. Thank goodness that ride is still there. I know so many people don't like the ride, but it was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip. Their reactions on this ride is why we went to WDW in the first place. Pure magic for my kids.
They liked Jungle Cruise except for the cave. Scared of dark. Clung to us and we had to reassure them. Got antsy at the end and wanted to get down and move around. Used FP+ to avoid line.
They liked the Riverboat especially because it allowed us to walk around while experiencing the attraction. My kids like to be in motion, not sitting quiet.
We tried Peter Pan Flight and Pooh's Honey Pots on different days. Both hated both rides. Not sure what they didn't like (darkness, motion, sound level, ???), but they both wanted out, were scared, and one cried all through Pooh. After that, we didn't try any other rides except as noted above.
Loved the Train. Rode many times around the park. Kids know / watch Thomas The Tank, so they kept calling the train "Thomas". However, they didn't like the steam whistle while we were sitting on train. That was too close and loud. But they loved hearing the train whistle while we were in the park.
Loved the Monorail. Happy to ride it all day long.
Liked the Electrical Light Parade on Main Street... from a distance. Up close it was too loud. But when we backed up to the store fronts and got out of crowd, we held them up to see. They were mesmerized by the lights.
Turns out, my kids' ultimate favorite thing to do was to meet characters. They LOVED LOVED LOVED meeting the characters. They didn't like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. They really only know Mickey & Minnie from toys we have at home. But they took to the characters like ducks to water. Had many Magical experiences with the characters, especially with daughter (who is the more sociable twin). I thought before the trip that they would not be interested in the characters. I thought they would be scared to meet them. Boy, was I wrong! Walk right up, hug, kiss, squeals for Mickey and Minnie, more hugs and kisses, and high fives. We have lots of awesome pixs of the kids with characters. The only hard part was waiting in line. There were 4 adults to 2 kids on this trip. So we learned to have 2 adults wait in line, while 1 adult took 1 kid and the other adult took the other kid walking around in general area while we waited our turn. Then the other 2 adults with kids rejoined the group as we got to front of line.
So parents of toddlers - Be prepared to just go with the flow and adopt your plans to their needs as the trip unfolds. Relax and enjoy your family time in the most magical place in the world.
Luckily we decided to just play our trip by ear, see how it goes, and change our plans as needed. We did have magic bands, made FP+ ressies b4 trip for rides we thought kids might like, and used FP+ on a smart phone to change ressies as needed in park. We went in Nov 2013 to WDW with our 2.5 year old twins.
My kids are not thrill seekers, nor dare devils. Just normal and very active, very busy toddlers. They do not go to preschool. They stay at home with me. They have not been exposed to waiting in line prior to trip. They watch very very limited TV. They are used to a meal and nap schedule with lots of free, unstructured play time in between. No older siblings.
They LOVED "Its A Small World". #1 Favorite. Rode it several times and yes, we "wasted" a FP+ a few times for the ride because kids were horrible waiting in lines. Thank goodness that ride is still there. I know so many people don't like the ride, but it was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip. Their reactions on this ride is why we went to WDW in the first place. Pure magic for my kids.
They liked Jungle Cruise except for the cave. Scared of dark. Clung to us and we had to reassure them. Got antsy at the end and wanted to get down and move around. Used FP+ to avoid line.
They liked the Riverboat especially because it allowed us to walk around while experiencing the attraction. My kids like to be in motion, not sitting quiet.
We tried Peter Pan Flight and Pooh's Honey Pots on different days. Both hated both rides. Not sure what they didn't like (darkness, motion, sound level, ???), but they both wanted out, were scared, and one cried all through Pooh. After that, we didn't try any other rides except as noted above.
Loved the Train. Rode many times around the park. Kids know / watch Thomas The Tank, so they kept calling the train "Thomas". However, they didn't like the steam whistle while we were sitting on train. That was too close and loud. But they loved hearing the train whistle while we were in the park.
Loved the Monorail. Happy to ride it all day long.
Liked the Electrical Light Parade on Main Street... from a distance. Up close it was too loud. But when we backed up to the store fronts and got out of crowd, we held them up to see. They were mesmerized by the lights.
Turns out, my kids' ultimate favorite thing to do was to meet characters. They LOVED LOVED LOVED meeting the characters. They didn't like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. They really only know Mickey & Minnie from toys we have at home. But they took to the characters like ducks to water. Had many Magical experiences with the characters, especially with daughter (who is the more sociable twin). I thought before the trip that they would not be interested in the characters. I thought they would be scared to meet them. Boy, was I wrong! Walk right up, hug, kiss, squeals for Mickey and Minnie, more hugs and kisses, and high fives. We have lots of awesome pixs of the kids with characters. The only hard part was waiting in line. There were 4 adults to 2 kids on this trip. So we learned to have 2 adults wait in line, while 1 adult took 1 kid and the other adult took the other kid walking around in general area while we waited our turn. Then the other 2 adults with kids rejoined the group as we got to front of line.
So parents of toddlers - Be prepared to just go with the flow and adopt your plans to their needs as the trip unfolds. Relax and enjoy your family time in the most magical place in the world.
