2 year old in WDW?

[krys&cory]

Hello,
We're doing a grand gathering in March and all if us are adults except for my little cousin that is 2 (almost 3). It will be her first trip and everyone else is pretty inexperienced as far as planning for a wdw trip. I'll be planning the itinerarys for everyone does anyone have suggestions about how many hours to keep a small child in the parks? If your child has an early bedtime, do you keep them awake for fireworks? Do you do all of the parks? Do you take full day breaks in between parks? Is 7 days too long for her?

Thank you!

 

[tanyaandallie]

Honestly, you need to get on the phone with the little one's parents. IMO all of your questions are very dependent on the child and the parent. My kiddos were both still napping very regularly and could not survive without a nap at 2 years of age. We always get to the park for rope drop, tour until just after lunch and then go back to the hotel for naps. Wake up, go back to the park or to dinner and then back to the hotel at a decent hour. In March the parade's/fireworks shouldn't be too late so I am sure you could push it and keep the little one out for the fireworks. We did keep our kids out late enough to see fireworks/parades but that was not every night and we go in the off season when both are early.

Now, some kiddos are super portable, will sleep perfectly fine in a stroller and can be carted all over the place without having a melt down. My kids are not those kids. They will sleep in the stroller once in a blue moon. In addition, some parents are sticklers for nap times and bed times. Some are not. For the most part, we follow my kids regular schedule when we go to Disney. The are best in the morning so that is when we do the most. We push them to stay out late once or twice but not every night or they will just be impossible to deal with.

I'd call up the kiddos mom and dad and talk to them about their kiddo and talk to them about their expectations for the trip.

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

I agree call the parents and get their thoughts. Some kids get too excited at Disney to do much sleeping. Others just sleep when they want. I have one of each. and one too old to nap. or so she thinks. our last trip to DLR was 3 days over 4th of july with a 2 1/2 yo and 7 mo old. (I know its smaller thats why we only take 3 days for the 2 parks) but we found that it was much nicer to get up, be there for rope drop, maybe eat lunch in the park, most times it was back in our room, head out of the park before 12, normal nap time is 11:30ish at home. and go back to the room, lunch if we didnt already, and everyone, including the 8yo took a nap until 3-4ish depending on our dinner res. Then we'd head back in. I *think* we only stayed for fireworks on the 4th and we we're back the other nights around 9-10ish. Went swimming and went to bed.

My 2yo has never been the sleep anywhere kind of kid so she was pretty difficult when we took her at 18 months. She did learn to sleep in the stroller this last trip usually when we were waiting for the tram. the baby however can sleep anywhere, anytime so if she needed more sleep, say after dinner she would just nap in the stroller.

Hope that helps. but then again these are just my experiences.

 

[star sweeper]

You really should call the parents and get some info on their child's habits and tolerance of activities, naps, bedtime, etc. Plan as best you can, but anyone with toddlers knows you never can guess how they will react or handle being in a new environment, especially one as stimulating as WDW.

We have two toddlers and are visiting in January for a week. DS will be 2-1/2 years and DD will be 2-1/4 years. They have to nap from 1-3pm each day or they are horrid for the afternoon, and bedtime is usually 7-7:30pm. We plan to get to the parks early, only do character breakfasts, leave parks by 12:30pm each day, return to the parks by 5:00pm for dinner, and call it a day around 8:00pm. We may do fireworks and see how it goes. We also may luck out and have them sleep in their strollers, but they haven't done that in a very long time.

 

[d1sneyf4n]

We were just there with my 5 year old and 2 year old. My son age 2 still takes naps but he falls asleep when he is tired. He does not have a nap time just when he is tired he goes out. We brought our stroller and he would sleep in there if we were in the parks and as far as the nights go...........I think if the little one is tired the little one will go to sleep if a stroller is available. For me, my kids go to sleep if they are tired no matter where we are. We stayed out most nights till about 9ish and then went back to the room. Because we just got back the nights were a tad chilly there in FL. Last Aug when my son was 1 just about 2 and we were in Disney, we did stay for one or 2 parades at the magic kingdom and one he fell asleep and stayed asleep but the other he saw and was amazed by all the lights.