Toddler Tips

[limace]

Do they sell plain milk that way? We don't want to give our 16 month old flavored milk....but that's a good idea (especially since I think my daughter is stopping nursing on her own this week )

We love the water area in DCA over by the farm (can't remember what it's called). We have some fabulous pictures from there.

And wow, sounds like a lot of us will be there w/toddlers around the same time. Wishing us all luck. WIll there be just you and the toddler, or another adult? If you are going w/someone, you'll need to try the child swap on rides.

 

[kuusimo]

I agree that every child is different. My older son wanted to meet the characters, and my younger son is just now warming up to them (at age 4 and after 5 trips to see characters.) I found that they just did not like waiting in lines. I would bring things to do in line with them to occupy them. Bubbles work great, or glow sticks for night.

We also had to readjust our schedules and go on our children's. Take breaks and go back to the hotel to sleep. Those are all things that adults don't normally do.

Utilize the baby swap. If there is a ride you both want to go on you can get a pass that will allow you and your spouse to switch with the baby. You can ask about it at the baby care center or do a search on these boards.

There is also a baby care center at CA. It is over by the Mission Tortilla Factory. I also LOVE Disneyland because they have huge paper towels at every baby changing center for the baby. I still love the baby care centers the most though. They will also give your young one a sticker as they leave if you ask them. Another bonus is the First Aid station is next to each one and they will then give mom and dad free tylenol and a cold drink of water.

 

[polynor]

The milk I was referring to is Horizons Brand. At our Kroger we find them in the Organic food area in the refrigerated case, but they don't have to be refrigerated. The make single carton servings of Vanilla and Chocolate milk (I think strawberry too), as well a lowfat milk (2% I think) -- no whole milk.
I believe it's about 8 oz?? They aren't cheap -- about 1.29 here (Houston, tx) per serving. It might be the same thing that Alex2kmommy was referring to.

Horizon They also produce Gallon quantities that they ultra pasteurize so it has an expiration date in like 2 months.

Our son loves his milk, so I've been investigating options for awhile now!
Enjoy your trip!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Polynor, yes these are one and the same!

(Though I have not seen the strawberry or plain 2% around here.)

 

[tinkerbelt]

They do make regular milk in boxes, but I can't remember the brand. I've seen them in our grocery store. You can also buy milk in the park and at DTD in the little mini cartons and pour it into a bottle or sippy cup - cold milk sounds way more appealing than room temp milk from a box!

When I go with DD, this is what I usually pack:
A change of clothes
Snacks
A sippy cup with ice water (at the end of the night I can dump it out and use it for milk)
A book or a toy (or both)
Sunscreen
Wipes
Hand gel
blanket
sweatshirt
pajamas

A note on the balloon - if at all possible, wait until the end of the day to buy it. We bought one for DD and tied it to our stroller handle and I spent the entire day cursing the thing because it kept flying in my face. If you head back to the hotel for a break, buy it on the way to the hotel and leave it in the room when you come back into the park.

 

[joeysmommy]

We went last Sept with my then 2 yr old and 5 yr old.
My 2 yr old was surprisingly not terrified of the characters, I made them autograph books so he was quite the autograph hound.

We did buy the $7 Mickey balloons from the vendor on Main St. on our way out of the park. It was great for our photo op in front of the Mickey floral.
Altho 1 did pop in the hotel room (the acoustic stuff on the ceiling in our room of the DLH) but I didn't have a receipt since the vendor was standing out in the middle of Main St.(no register) and I didn't know about the replacement deal. But now I do!

Also, I was really worried about losing my kids in the crowd.
So I got some white mailing labels and wrote"If lost call Charlie xxx-xxx-xxxx"
I read about other parents putting their cell phone and name on the inside of their child's shirt. But I was afraid my 2 yr old would panic and forget that it was inside his shirt.
Lots of parents commented on what a great idea it was.
I tried to buy some cute Disney id armbands from a woman on mouseforless but she flaked on me.

I second putting a bandana on your stroller. I only brought one bandana and tightly tied it onto one of the rental strollers..guess which one was stolen.
Thank goodness I got blankie out of the stroller before we went to eat or we would have been in for some tough bedtimes.
The bandana definitely deters the lazy crook from taking the time to untie the knot. There is a name card that slides into the roof of the stroller but it's easy to take out and throw away.
I couldn't stop looking at every stroller I passed to see if the idiot forgot to take that out.
A stolen rental stroller is replaced when you show your receipt but it's still an inconvenience. And they stole my 4 new unopened $2.75 waters!
Bad karma will get them I'm sure.

Most importantly go at their pace, nap in the stroller if you don't want to go all the way back to the room.
You can't make a cranky kid have fun.

 

[limace]

I love the strategy suggested in the Unofficial Guide re stolen strollers: pour a little rootbeer or lemonade on a cloth diaper and tie it to the handle in a transparent plastic bag

 

[foleyfun]

We took our 22 month old to DL in June. The best advice that I can echo from a lot of other posters is to take a break midday for a nap. We got to the park before opening everyday and stayed till about 11:00 am and went back to the hotel, napped, ate lunch and returned to the parks around 3:00. It worked out great.

The other thing that I found is that it is best to go at your child's pace. I used Ridemax and had a plan of all of the things we were going to do, but that went out the door after riding the carosel 3 times in a row. I realized that it was most important for our daughter to have a fun and magical time doing the things she liked best. Our agenda isn't always what our child is going to have the most fun with.

I was pretty impressed with all of the restrooms with changing tables at DL. They were very clean and they were all stocked with disposable changeing pads.

We did the Minne and friends breakfast which was a huge waste of money for us. Our daughter was TERRIFIED of the characters. She loved them when they were across the room. She waved and yelled hi to them, but as soon as they came within 10 feet of our table she freaked. I hope she grows out of it!

The last thing I wanted to mention was one of our favorite parts of our trip. It was our last day to spend in the parks. We had planned on going to the beach in the morning then my mom was going to come down (she lives 45 min from DL) and she was going to take our DD overnight so we could ride all of the big rides. Well, we got up that morning and my DH and I were talking about our plans for the day and we were having so much fun with our DD at the parks that we decided to skip the beach and go back to the parks. It was 10 am by the time we got there and DL was already getting crowded so we decided to go over to DCA. When we got there we let our DD out of the stroller and we let her go wherever she wanted to go and we followed. It was so fun because the things that I would not have normally noticed completely facinated her. For instance, that park is so beutifully landscaped and our DD loved the flowers. She also loved the waterfall in Sun Plaza. It was so neat seeing everything thru her eyes.

I hope you have a magical time with your little one!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I love the strategy suggested in the Unofficial Guide re stolen strollers: pour a little rootbeer or lemonade on a cloth diaper and tie it to the handle in a transparent plastic bag

LOL! I knew I'd read that somewhere, but couldn't remember where. I was not brave enough to walk around with a "dirty" diaper hangin' from the handle... But I bet it works!

 

[Lori00789]

Take breaks, let your child play in the room, play at the pool, if you try to do too much it won't feel fun. When my daughter was turning 2 the first ride we went on was pirates of the caribbean and it scared her from going on rides the rest of the day and 1/2 of the second day, my six month old was happy but the almost 2 year old was scared. Choose your rides carefully. You want to keep it all fun. We learned to start with cute, slow rides so the kids were comfortable on rides and if we went on a ride that was loud, dark or quick moving they thought it was fun once they mastered the slower rides. Be careful of the sun and the heat. I now have 4 kids and they have all spent many days at WDW and DL and it has been a lot of fun for all of us, and we have wonderful memories and great photo's.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

One more tip to maximize your child's enjoyment (or minimize their fear) in meeting characters:

I began letting my kids watch as many Disney movies as we had in our collection a few months before our trip. This was to familiarize them with the characters they were about to meet. I also had requested a Vacation Planning DVD, which is basically a 10-minute long commercial. The kids came in the room while I was playing it, and were enthralled! They wanted to watch it again and again, and it was pretty cool! It showed rides in the parks, and kids meeting characters (and giving them an idea of the size of the characters in relation to them!)

I can't say for sure, but I think this may have helped my DS2. We encountered Goofy on our way past the DLH pool shortly after arrival, and DS2 squealed and squirmed until we set him on the ground. Then he ran full-throttle toward Goofy, who knelt down, and DS2 launched himself into Goofy's arms. It was sooo sweet!