2yo- on or off site?

[asmit4]

The AGE OLD question! ...we've stayed both routes but REALLY love onsite. The thing is we've never taken a child so young before and I'm thinking it might be worth just renting a condo or a house so our 2yo has a place to sleep.

My mom and I want to take my son when he's about 22 months or so- leaving hubby at home. We already have our tickets from a last trip and he'll be free. We normally go during free DDP but I can't see him sitting at Narcoossees enjoying a meal so I don't see the DDP being a great option this time around. If we did stay onsite we'd do a family suite so we had a place for him to nap separate from us.

I'm wondering what others have done with a young child? When they are this young and need naps- is offsite better? We are figuring on a 4 night trip-and we are going to try and keep it cheap. (saving the expensive trip for when LO is 40 inches!)...

Guess I gotta look into some costs for condos/houses and car rentals for the month of November! We haven't done offsite in forever- do Garmins work to get around? I'm afraid we'll get lost! 2 women with NO sense of direction!

 

[twinboysmom]

We have taken our boys 4 times in the past year at 18 mos, 23 mos, 25 mos, and 2.5. We have found that for us, returning to the resort for naps was a complete waste of time. Getting them to settle down never worked well for us. We found that they did better to fall asleep in their stroller when they were ready. Schedules seemed to fly out the door for them while at WDW.

I haven't stayed offsite with them but we stayed in a dvc 1 bedroom villa, a THV, and then 2 regular rooms. As I said previously, no luck with them having their own room or in a regular room either. I completely agree with skipping the ddp. For us, having set adr's didn't work well. Sometime the boys were tired and crabby and the last thing we wanted to do was go to a restaurant, other times they were having so much fun we didn't want to stop.

As for offsite, the condo has it's advanatges for sure and we drive a lot on property and have no trouble getting around but if you are nervous about it, I think onsite will be a better fit.

 

[spiceycat]

onsite then everyone does not have to leave when your little one gets cranky.

you could also look at the nursing stations when your child needs a rest.

will this be his first trip - does he like to do a bunch of different things or only a few at a time?

if a few - then would go with CR wing room if you can afford it - you can easily walk back to the room from the MK if you need too. no waiting on buses or monrail or boats. the rooms are pretty big - so think he will be okay (okay that is hoping). the wing is a pretty quiet area of CR.

would not go with a value - although love them - that might be too much excitment for him. Do a value resort when he is older.

the offsite pools do not have lifeguards - so if you think he would swim would go onsite.

the value resorts have lifeguards at all the pools.

the moderates and deluxes only have lifeguards at the main pool area.

 

[Vixster]

I would stay onsite easier to get to and no new to worry about a car.
our daughter was 18 months when we went and we just let her settle in buggy when she felt tired as they will sleep well at night from the late nights anyway

 

[Carrie in AZ]

On-site at a monorail resort if possible! You can roll your stroller on and of that monorail -- what a dream! We didn't have the luxury but I dreamed about it every single time we were folding up strollers to get on the buses!! We have finally moved up to deluxes but our girls are no longer in strollers.

Another thought is an EPCOT area resort where you could walk to both EPCOT and HS and not have to deal with the stroller on the bus for those parks at least.

Good luck!! LOVED being able go when our DDs were still under 3yo with no charge for them.