CONGRATULATIONS!!! First, I think 2 is a great age to bring your child...the World is really magical to them at this age. I brought 2 1/2 year old twins this year (everyone thought we were nuts) and we enjoyed it so much we are planning to go back at the end of JAN 2007. I don't know what time of the year you are planning to go, but I think the weather in late JAN/early FEB is perfect and the lines are practically non-existant - so a great time to go with small children. We stayed in ASMovies resort and utilized the buses for transportation...brought our own umbrella strollers since there was a good deal of walking involved just getting from bus stop to park or hotel room. I think for the little ones bringing your own stroller instead of renting is the way to go. I'll rent when they are older and have longer legs!
About characters---mine were not afraid at all from across the room or a few feet away, but as soon as a character walked up they cried. I had several character meals booked, which I almost cancelled. We decided not to cancel them because when the characters see that your children are afraid they basically just wave from a few feet away and move along. This way the boys really enjoyed the meals. By our 4th character meal they were high-5ing Mickey Mouse, touching Pluto's tongue, and playing with all the characters...I love the pics and video I got for that meal! This last meal was at Garden Grill in Epcot, which is a pretty quiet restaurant...I think the way it's set up really helped them to not be "overwhelmed" and they really enjoyed it. I would just say take it slow...maybe give them 2 or 3 days to get used to the parks before you book a character meal.
About naps: Mine would never nap in a stroller. They are just too curious...it will never happen. So, we had to go back to the room for naps. I brought their air purifier with us and put it on in the room...this helped them go to sleep. If you have any kind of musical item or white noise type of item for your child, I would bring it. Mine went to sleep within minutes of laying down every single time. (BTW---white noise is a great helper to get them to sleep at home as well).
Every child is different when it comes to attractions. I had one son who was game to go into every attraction we tried. The other was afraid of every 3-D movie and Fantasmic. For 3-D movies, I just made sure I knew where to exit and sat near that area...if my son got upset I immediately removed him from the theater. I would usually walk him around the area outside, play, get a mickey ice cream bar, etc...so we still enjoyed our time. My dh would stay in with my other son. For Fantasmic we just left the park completely. I think the darkness and the loud sounds were just too much for them. We'll try again this year, maybe with ear muffs/plugs, but if they still don't like it we'll just leave. We just made sure to avoid anything we thought was not age-appropriate or that we couldn't get out of if we needed to. The boys were interested in way more than I imagined. Their favorites were Small World, Pooh's ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pirates, Pooh's Playful Spot, Triceratop Spin (AK), Spectromagic Parade (they LOVED this), fireworks show at MK.
Another tip: I bought things on sale at the
Disney Store for 5 months leading up to our trip and kept them hidden in a bag. I brought them with us and pulled toys out at different times during the trip. It was much cheaper than having to buy stuff at the park. For nighttime when you're waiting for parades or shows any light-up toy spinners work great as well as glo-sticks (which you can find at a dollar store).
Have lots of FUN!
(My DS loves these smilies!)
