5 day itineray with 2 year old(how does it look)Thank you

[mikenzacksmom]

Here is flexible plan that I have come up with for the 5 days we will be at Disney. we are driving from PA. I have not put too big of a time line just a general idea to keep it flexible. I am traveling with myself, fiance, 2 yo ds, 17 yo ds, and his 17 yo friend. Most of the time it will be just myself, fiance, and two year old. meeting up with my 17 year old for fast rides baby swaps and dinner, lunches.

Thursday day 1
Checking in at hotel (CBR)
Chef mickey for breakfast 10:30 am
Back to Hotel until about 2:00 or 2:30
Lunch at ESPN
Epcot
Dinner at Beaches and Cream
Watch Illumination, unless canceled by the rain. from the beach at boardwalk.
Down town disney and then CBR for the night.

Friday day 2
Breakfast @hotel
Animal Kingdom
Lunch Rain Forest Cafe 12:45
Back to hotel for break until?
Magic Kingdom
babys first hair cut
get our E-night tickets. and roam the kingdom for a while.
take ferry to FWR to the petting zoo.
Take the ferry back to MK
Around 6:45 or so have a quick dinner at the poly food court or contemp. Not sure which one yet. and Either watch the fireworks/electric light parade from one of these places.
MK for E-night ( we will be meeting up with the older ones.)
Hotel for the night.

Saturday Day 3
Spoodles 7:30 am breakfast
boat to MGM
MGM
back to hotel (Older kids are going to baby sit)
Dave and I have no set plans, we are going to just be spontaneous and do all the things we can get done without the baby.
5:55 dinner at Sci Fi ( not sure if were going to keep this one though.
Fantasmic
back to the hotel

Sunday Day 4:
EE to MK
10:30 ps Crystal palace.
Mid break at Hotel
Possibly try a water park?
PS seating at Planet Hollywood 6:45
Hay ride at FWR
Hotel for the night.

Monday Day 5
Free morning
2:30 lunch at Alfredos
Free Afternoon

Off to Universal for the next part of our trip.

Thanks for looking
Michelle

 

[milmore104]

I don't know I think you might not be ready for what your about to get yourself into. Your plan would be okay if it was just for adults and no children. You are doing an awful lot of moving around. It is difficult to load and unload children and stroller and all their bags on and off the buses. Not to mention that you really need to give yourself about 45 min. when going from one place to the next. I don't want to scare you off your plan does look good but I would try and do things in one place then move on to the next place. Don't try and cram to much into one day it can make for some pretty unhappy troops if you know what I mean.
And even though it is nice to go back to the hotel for a nap you'd be suprised at how many nice places there are for you and your little on to take a break through the parks. We just find a nice quite place to but our DD to sleep and then we relax and have a nice snack. Or this is a great time to hit some of those rides that your little opne can't. this way the other parent doesn't have to keep the kid entertained he's already sleeping.
I hope this helps. You do have a good idea of what you want to do.

 

[Gillian]

About naps, at 24 months DS was happy to nap in his stroller (smallish Graco). At 30 months we had to take him out of the parks.

The one day that I'd be most concerned about is the E-night. What time does your baby normally eat lunch? Is 12:45 (or whenever you are seated) a good time? I know that my DS got grumpy, tired & hungry all around the same time (around noon for him if we'd had a snack)!! And when he was tired, he didn't want to eat! I also had to be careful not to give a snack too close to a meal or he wouldn't eat. This was more difficult to manage than at home, because the waits and transit times are hard to control.

I think you should plan to skip the FW animals that day. It's going to be too much! Plus I think they close at 5, and if you're lucky, you'll be done with the haircut around 5. I figured 2 pm back to hotel, 4 pm leave hotel, 4:30 get haircut. You'd be getting to FW right around when the petting farm closes.

Also, on day 4, you might have time for a water park, but it could be a squeeze. You'll have to get back to the hotel to change for dinner, and get back to downtown disney by 6:40 or so. If you have a car, it's not a big deal, but the bus could take a while.

Just wondering, what kind of tickets do you have? Maybe cut down on the number of days of passes you get, so you don't feel like you have to squeeze in everything?

 

[mikenzacksmom]

Thank you for the tips so far. Please keep them coming.

Will it also take 45 minutes for transportation from the park by monorail to another resort on the monorail line? (example: from MK to poly)? Also is the time frame the same for boat and ferry travel?

I remembered reading that it could take up to an hour to transfer from resort to resort?

Since the plan is flexible, if the baby falls asleep in the stroller, I don't think that I will wake him up to go back to the hotel. Where are some nice spots to relax in the parks?

I tried to fit hotel time in also to get to take advantage of the pools and activities they have to offer.

I too think we should try to fit the petting zoo in another time or scrap it all together. I was thinking that the day we were going to try the hay ride, maybe skip the water park and do the petting zoo and the hayride at the same time and then just go to DD for dinner at planet hollywood.

He tends to be a picky eater, and will at any time eat his favorites. I am going to bring snacks for him also. His nap time varies. It is usually when I put him down for one. He tries to stay awake as long as he can.

Our tickets are length of stay tickets.

Thank you again, I'm taking lots of notes. I have taken trips with my older son 3 times before but he was 8 the first time. We had no planning and did not do a whole lot.

 

[milmore104]

mikenzacksmom,
It shouldn't take you 45 min. to go form th MK to the Poly. Depending on when you arrive to the station if a monarail has just left or not and how long you have to wait. I'm not all that familiar with the monarail system but I know that there are two different monarails one takes you from park to park and another takes you to the resorts. Keep in mind that the resort one stops at each of the three resorts with about a 5 min. stop to load and unload at each one. As for the boats they're like the buses.
Nice places to rest. They're everywhere. I don't know when you are going so I don't know how crowded it will be but you can find a nice place to sit and relax just about anywhere. Our normal spots to stop and relax are as follows:
MGM- we stop and sit at the tables outside the ABC Com. and have a little snack. Lemom Merg. Pie. It's nice and quite and shaded so it's cool. Also at MGM if your into ToT ther is a nice stone wall with benches in the very back near the exit to the ride. There is also a nice little stand there for ref. and a snack. It is my favorite place to rest. It is like walking through a garden and it is very cool in there. also around the Big hat in front of the great movie ride there is anice shady area.
EPCOT- you could pick any table along the world showcase to sit. I like Mexico you can look at the lagoon and have a margaritta.
MK-I like to sit in front of Tony's at the tables there or around that area there are pathways to the water way with benches here and there and there all pretty well shaded by the trees so that's nice.
AK-If your one for Dinasour at the exit to this ride there are nice shady benches to sit and relax.
Don't worry about Naps my DD NEVER takes a "regular" nap it's when shes tired (if she takes one). One good thing is in WDW thery are so stimulated that they do take naps so. When your son gets tired and starts to fall asleep check out where you are there is bound to be a nice place near by.

 

[Libbysmom2000]

Obviously every child is different and as his mother you know his temperment best. I'm assuming that this is your 1st WDW trip with your 2yo.

However, from my own personal experience with my 2yo DD last year I think you're trying to squeeze too much in and may be setting yourself up for a huge meltdown. Maybe you could scale back the number of parks you take him to so that he's going to one everyother day. That would leave more time for Ft. Wilderness, DTD, resort character meals and the pool. Since you'll have the 2 17 yo with you maybe you could plan more switch offs.

LOL and have a great trip.

Kate

 

[amjl]

With 5 days and a 2 yo I would try to stay in one area as much as possible each day. Going on and off transportation is a lot on the little one also all the new stuff they are seeing and hearing and experiencing. To go from park to a restaurant somewhere else to pool to park to restaurant is just way to much stimuli IMHO. As people have said every child is different but I know my 3yo and probably my 6yo would not handle that very well. I usually plan one park in the morning, include a meal there and then take a break at the hotel for a swim and naps if needed. Then we head to another park for the evening and have dinner there as well (or DTD). I would try and keep things simple. The day your older child babysits is yours and do all the exploring you can. Have fun!

 

[tidoublegger]

Hi, I'd be a bit concerned with burning your 2 y.o. out due to the large amount of things planned in your 1st couple of days. A couple of suggestions: Day 1, skip Downtown Disney and call it a night after Illuminations. After such a long day, it'll still be a late night after Illuminations, probably close to 10:30 before bed in an unfamiliar environment! Day 2: I'd totally skip the petting zoo, and maybe even consider skipping e-night if the parks are open very late. You could just stay at MK from the time you arrive after your afternoon break and eat dinner there. I wouldn't leave to have supper elsewhere. I don't know what your child's normal bedtime is, but too many late nights in a row can spell *disaster* even for the biggest night owl! Day 3 looks good. Day 4: I'd incorporate the Downtown Disney trip this afternoon, not a water park. Since you have a PS for dinner there anyway, this would make sense. I'd think about skipping the hayride. Even though you have a ps for 6:45p, you may not even get seated until closer to 7:30, then ordering, waiting for food, eating, etc may not get you out of there until 8:30p. Again, I don't know what your child's bedtime is, but it may not be worth it to do the hayride. Day 5: free morning could be used for a water park and free afternoon could be used to check out FW petting zoo, etc. Or maybe the afternoon could be used to go back to Downtown Disney and the older ones could do Disney Quest or something. Keeping a young child on or close to their normal bedtime can make the difference between a happy child and a very overtired miserable one! Good luck!!

 

[mikenzacksmom]

I have revised the plan with your suggestions. Obviously this is just an outline, according to the way things go it will probobly be changed often. That is okay, we are on vacation (YEAH). If we can't fit it all in we will just do it next time. LOL.

Thursday day 1
Checking in at hotel (CBR)
Chef mickey for breakfast 10:30 am
Back to Hotel until about 3:00
Epcot
Lunch at ESPN (via)walk through the WS
Epcot
Walk from epcot to Desert at Beaches and Cream
Watch Illumination, unless canceled by the rain. from the beach at boardwalk.
back to hotel for the night. ( My son usually goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:30, I have tried to put him to bed early but he is a night owl).

Friday day 2
Breakfast @hotel
(Morning)
Animal Kingdom
Lunch Rain Forest Cafe 12:45
Hotel for break until about 5:00
(Evening)
Magic Kingdom
babys first hair cut (might do this one on day 4?)
get our E-night tickets(we are leaving in two days) The MK is only open until 7:00 so E-night is until 10:00 ?)
Around 6:45 or so have a quick counter service dinner and then watch the fire works from the train station, Maybe they won't be as loud from there?
MK for E-night This is the time I plan to go on rides with my older son while Dave watches the baby.
Hotel for the night.

Saturday Day 3
Spoodles 7:30 am breakfast
boat to MGM
MGM
back to hotel (Older kids are going to baby sit)
Dave and I have no set plans, we are going to just be spontaneous and do all the things we can get done without the baby.
5:55 dinner at Sci Fi ( not sure if were going to keep this one though.
Fantasmic
back to the hotel

Sunday Day 4:
EE to MK
10:30 ps Crystal palace.
Mid break at Hotel
Down town Disney
PS seating at Planet Hollywood 6:45


Monday Day 5
Free morning
2:30 lunch at Alfredos
Free Afternoon

(we will leave the hayride and petting zoo up in the air to do if we find the time)