2 year old says she doesn't want to go to WDW

[makinorlando]

One thing that REALLY saved us is that whenever we talked about going, we always talked about BIG Mickey, BIG Goofy, BIG Donald, etc. My girls will sometimes watch the Disney cartoons, and I wanted them use to the idea that Mickey is the same size as Daddy, not the size of a "real" mouse.

Good luck and have fun!

I think this is a really important thing to remember, and a great point to attempt to get across to young children going to WDW.

We as parents have great expectation and anticipation of how we want our children to react to all their favorite characters, forgetting that to a small child, someone as big as Goofy, could be pretty intimidating. All kids are different, and you may not know until you are faced with your first character how your child will react.

We want it all to be so magical, but there is so much to absorb that I think it must be overwhelming. Especially when Mom and Dad want it to be the best most magical time ever, and want the kids to experience as much as possible.

My six year old Great Nephew is coming in April for his 1st trip - really anywhere - and I plan on putting a photo album together for him prior to the trip with pictures of all the characters we have with DD. This way he can see that she does it all the time, and get some idea of the size.

We had another interesting situation with my nephew's son - when he was at potty training age - his grandmother kept promising that when he didn't need diapers anymore, they would go to Disney to see Mickey.... well, this child wore diapers until he was 4 1/2. He did NOT want to go to WDW to see Mickey or any other character... he did not like clowns, the characters at Chuck E Cheese or anything like that! Once he was able to tell them that he did not want to go, and they discussed it, he no longer needed diapers. Needless to say, even though he is almost 9, and I now live in Orlando - they still haven't made it to WDW!

We sat next to a little girl (two ish) at the Storybook Princess Breakfast a few weeks ago - all decked in her princess dress, as was her sister, but she screamed for the first 20 min they were at the table. She wanted nothing to do with the dress or any of the princesses who stopped by, the parents continued to try and force her to interact with them - finally - the mom took her out and changed her, but she pretty much sobbed the whole rest of the time - not such a magical experience for the little girl, her family or any of the people in within in earshot in the restaurant.

 

[marcyinPA]

Since when do we listen to 2 year olds??

Seriously though....December is a LONNNG time away from now....I wouldn't bring it up at all and then just go. I'm sure she'll have fun.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[GEM]

I have a two year old. I can say, "Paul, do you want a cookie?" and he'll say "No" as he sticks out his hand to take it. Saying no is just part of the way they're wired. I bet she'll have the time of her life!

 

[happilyeverafter]

Ohh go ahead! my DB was 3 the first time he went. he was so scared of the characters it was comical. he didn't want to go either but once we got there he had a great time and we go back every year.

 

[tracilicious]

What about when she says "No" to having to go to the bathroom, even though she is doing the "pee pee dance"?

Or when she says "No" to eating her green beans?

Or when she says "No" to getting dressed?

Two year olds say "No" to just about everything! It is their nature.

LOL, this made me chuckle. No, to pottying? Ok, his body, his choice. What's the worst that could happen? He has an accident? Ok, so he learns to listen to his body.

No, to green beans? No problem. I'm not going to force him to eat anything. I will keep offering, and set an example by eating lots of healthy foods myself, but I'm not worried about it. He takes his multivitamin. I hated all vegetables until I was a teen, now I eat more green food than anyone I know.

No to getting dressed? He does this quite frequently, so I usually have a naked two year old running around. Again, what's the big deal? Only once did he say no to getting dressed when we were leaving the house, but I called his bluff and let him go to the garage naked. When we got to the car I asked if he wanted clothes now or when we got there. He chose now.

We get along quite well by respecting everyone in the house's feelings and rarely force anything.

The last part, I agree with! Two year olds are learning independence, what better way to do it than by disagreeing with everything you say! While I do take him seriously, it's likely that an hour from now, he'll change his mind. I've asked him if he wants to go to DL before and he's said no. Then I ask if he wants to see Mickey and ride the train and he, of course, says yes! (Though he was adamant about his baby sister not coming with us! )

Planning videos don't make much sense to a small child. Pictures will probably work out better. Have fun!

 

[SalandJeff]

My 2 yo dd says NO quite often when she means yes. I think she just likes the control of saying no.

We are going in May when she will be 31 months. I'm sure there will be things she likes and things she doesn't or is afraid of. As long as you don't expect certain behaviors (she will like the characters, she will love Buzz Lightyear), I'm sure you'll have a great time. Go with the flow and just watch out not to let her get to the point where she is overwhelmed.

 

[amburger]

Well, if I were honest, I probably would never take a 2 year old to Disney. I'd wait till the child was older so that they could actually get excited about it and what not. Don't hate. Just stating my opinion.

But I can also see where you could stand on this. I love Disney so I'd want to go just for that so I suppose if YOU really want to go that bad, then you should take the chance and go for it and I guess hope for the best.

 

[lovethattink]

We have annual passes and my 21 month old just loves Disney. There are some characters and some attractions he doesn't like. Actually the fear factor of the attractions just recently entered the picture. The characters can be intimidating too. Heck, Goofy is over 6 ft tall and just towers over the children. My son loves the Sing Along Song DVDs we just got for him. They were made back in the 90's and they are not cartoons. They actually have park footage. They sell for about $12 at Walmart, Best Buy, and the actual parks. They are a great tool in preparing the kids for a trip to Disney. There is one sing-along dvd that is of Disneyland, but Disneyland and MK are so similar that chances are the kids won't catch the differences unless they visit the parks frequently.

 

[tracilicious]

Well, if I were honest, I probably would never take a 2 year old to Disney. I'd wait till the child was older so that they could actually get excited about it and what not. Don't hate. Just stating my opinion.

But I can also see where you could stand on this. I love Disney so I'd want to go just for that so I suppose if YOU really want to go that bad, then you should take the chance and go for it and I guess hope for the best.

My almost 3 yr old has been to DL, WDW, and DCL a combined total of 9 times, so I obviously would take a small child. But, I love all those places, so the trips really weren't "for" him. He had a great time, but if you are going to be really disappointed if he doesn't love it then I would think about going somewhere else. He'll probably have a blast anywhere you go. We're doing disney trips until the kids are old enough to remember world travel, and then we'll (hopefully) quit disney for a while.

 

[lclark0621]

LOL, this made me chuckle. No, to pottying? Ok, his body, his choice. What's the worst that could happen? He has an accident? Ok, so he learns to listen to his body.

No, to green beans? No problem. I'm not going to force him to eat anything. I will keep offering, and set an example by eating lots of healthy foods myself, but I'm not worried about it. He takes his multivitamin. I hated all vegetables until I was a teen, now I eat more green food than anyone I know.

No to getting dressed? He does this quite frequently, so I usually have a naked two year old running around. Again, what's the big deal? Only once did he say no to getting dressed when we were leaving the house, but I called his bluff and let him go to the garage naked. When we got to the car I asked if he wanted clothes now or when we got there. He chose now.

We get along quite well by respecting everyone in the house's feelings and rarely force anything.

The last part, I agree with! Two year olds are learning independence, what better way to do it than by disagreeing with everything you say! While I do take him seriously, it's likely that an hour from now, he'll change his mind. I've asked him if he wants to go to DL before and he's said no. Then I ask if he wants to see Mickey and ride the train and he, of course, says yes! (Though he was adamant about his baby sister not coming with us! )

Planning videos don't make much sense to a small child. Pictures will probably work out better. Have fun!

Ok look, I dont "force" or "disrespect my child" in anyway. However, if he is holding himself because he has to go to the bathroom, yet he still says "No", then yes, I take him anyway. 90% of the time it is ebcause he does not want to miss a part of a show. Well heck, I have TIVO, so I pause it & off we go. And you know what? There is no screaming, no forcing, no crying. But he had said "No", and I took him anyway.

I dont force my kid to eat when he is not hungry either. And if he wants chicken nuggest for every meal for a week, he gets chicken nuggets. He gets sick of them & wants something else. Suck is the life of a 2 year old. BUT he also loves his veggis, so not really a problem for us. I was using it as an example. And just a tip, the body does not get as much nutrition out of a vitamin as it does food. We were made to absorb things naturally, not from multivitamins.

As for clothes, yep, most days, I have a naked 30 month old running around the house to. And no, I dotn care. Howver, if people are coming, I am not comfortable with my kid being naked in front of the dishwasher repair man, or whatever. So when he says "No" to getting dressed, that is when we have a conversation about it. And he gets to pick what he wants to wear, but you bet, I am not letting my son run naked around a person, I dont even know. Now he originally said "No". So am I wrong for negotiating this with him? He said "No", yet I made him get dressed. Oh sure, I made it fun, and in the end he thinks it was HIS idea, but he orignally said "no". Am I disrespecting him?

Look, I am about as "crunchy", "Attachment Parenting" (Dr. Sears is a brilliant man!), "Positive Parenting" of a Mom as you are going to meet. So no, I dont disrespect my kid. I dont force things on him that are not important. Heck, I cant think of anything I do force on him.

So, I think you have me wrong here. I was using some examples. The OP stated they were concerned because their 2 year old said they did not want to go to Disney. WHen in reality, the two year old, has no concept of vacation, especially something 10 months away. So I used some common place examples.

 

[Cpt.JackSpearow]

Ughh! I am in the midst of planning a trip to WDW in December. We were watching the Disney promotional video last night, the part for what to do with kids. DD, 2 years old, was watching with us. During the part with rides I asked her if she thought that looked like fun and would she like to go do that. She said no!!

So what do I do? Am I making too much out of this?? Do we still go or do I figure she knows what she is talking about and cancel the trip for now? She is our only child so we don't have any other kids to think about. I really don't want to cancel the trip, but if she isn't going to enjoy it... Help!!

Im a 10 year older and i have a little bro for my b-day we were going to go and my littkle bro say no i no want to go he is 5 anyways we went anyways and ha had alot of fun kepp going go ahead and go chances are she will enjoy!

 

[tracilicious]

Look, I am about as "crunchy", "Attachment Parenting" (Dr. Sears is a brilliant man!), "Positive Parenting" of a Mom as you are going to meet. So no, I dont disrespect my kid. I dont force things on him that are not important. Heck, I cant think of anything I do force on him.

So, I think you have me wrong here. I was using some examples. The OP stated they were concerned because their 2 year old said they did not want to go to Disney. WHen in reality, the two year old, has no concept of vacation, especially something 10 months away. So I used some common place examples.

Relax, I wasn't calling you a bad mom. It just made me giggle that you listed those things sounding like things you would force when I face those things every day and let them go. It was a "different strokes" moment, not an "UGh!" moment.

Off topic, I thought that I was a crunchy as you can get until recently I discovered Alfie Kohn and Unconditional Parenting, and Taking Children Seriously (not by Kohn). I've got a long way to go! There are people that don't coerce with anything! I will probably never acheive that, by ideals are nice, right!