all you mamas with infants and toddlers....

[PRINCESSplazola]

how did your little one react to being at DL?

the first time we took our son to DL was on his first bday (actually when he was in my belly, but that doesnt count lol)! i thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate, and of course have made it a tradition to do DL every year on his bday. at first i wasnt sure if he would actually have a good time because he was only 1 and i didnt think he would understand or really enjoy it.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

he absoloutely LOVED it! he had a smile on his face our whole trip it was so funny because he was actually the first one up early in the morning because he just wanted to get going! (usually im up before him). he got on tons of rides, like POTC and HM and just loved every second of it. it made me soooo happy to see my son loving something that i love <3 and he loved the shows too! i thought after five min he would want to get up and start running around.....he sat through the whole show of A BUGS LIFE and left his 3d glasses on too! he didnt blink once
the sad part was when we got back home...in the morning when we woke up he thought we were still there and was all excited to go to DL. aww it made me so sad. my crazy child. hahaha


so how did your toddler or infant react to being at DL??!! and how did it make you feel?

 

[bumbershoot]

At one (~16 months) he had fun, and the enjoyment was enhanced b/c he didn't KNOW to be afraid of things. So he thought Snow White and Pinocchio were just peachy, while I realized how much I disliked them. He didn't even notice POTC, just nursed through it and fell asleep (do you know how HARD it is to get out of that boat while holding a sleeping kid?). HM was closed to put the overlay on, so we didn't get to see him on it.

That and our trip when he was 2 were just one-day trips, inside of a bigger trip to San Diego to visit my brother, so he was just having fun the whole time. When he was 2 he had more fun and was more aware. Was able to see POTC this time (he sat between us, one eye covered, with a bit of my shirt in his mouth so I had a big ring of drool on my side at the end of it) and was a bit spooked this time. There was no HM this time b/c he freaked out when the grown adults screamed their heads off in the stretching room and we had to take the chicken exit.

And the two trips while he was 3, well, he developed opinions, darn him! Went on POTC once during the first of those two trips and refused to go again. Wouldn't go on other things. Liked the teacups immensely. And all sorts of other opinions (in his opinion he could spend the whole day at the water area inside of bug's land).

And the trip for his 4th birthday, I think he enjoyed things most of all.


It's really fun to be able to take him so relatively often, to see how his enjoyment changes. If we ONLY went when he was 3, we would have a more negative feeling about how much he did or did not enjoy it (though his love of Jack Sparrow, even before he had seen the movies, almost makes up for his refusal to ride the actual ride!).

As for anticipation, although direclty after the 2 year old visit he didn't talk about it, a few months later he had a "language explosion" and started talking about all sorts of things from the trip. It was very cool; we thought he didn't think of it or remember it at all, but he did. When we got back from the trip it was chaos, b/c his grandfather had taken ill during our trip and died about a month later, a very dark time for him. But once we all got through that, he started chattering about it.

While getting ready for our September trip last year, we could get him to bed by telling him he could dream about Disneyland. When he would talk about the monsters in the bedroom, I found I could help him magically turn the room into Disneyland, which would get rid of the monsters, and it WORKED!!! It's a very useful tool.

But then on our December trip I was too gung ho, and when we got back both hubby and DS were twitchy about DLR. I was forced to go on a solo trip to get the commando-touring-style out of my system so they would agree to go with me again. There was NO anticipation after the December trip, from them, for a few months.

But the May trip went well (he really looked forward to it, thinking about what rides he wanted to go on, who he wanted to meet, and so on), and now he's been asking to go to Disneyland just about every day, not understanding the distance between WA and southern CA!

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

At one (~16 months) he had fun, and the enjoyment was enhanced b/c he didn't KNOW to be afraid of things. So he thought Snow White and Pinocchio were just peachy, while I realized how much I disliked them. He didn't even notice POTC, just nursed through it and fell asleep (do you know how HARD it is to get out of that boat while holding a sleeping kid?). HM was closed to put the overlay on, so we didn't get to see him on it.

That and our trip when he was 2 were just one-day trips, inside of a bigger trip to San Diego to visit my brother, so he was just having fun the whole time. When he was 2 he had more fun and was more aware. Was able to see POTC this time (he sat between us, one eye covered, with a bit of my shirt in his mouth so I had a big ring of drool on my side at the end of it) and was a bit spooked this time. There was no HM this time b/c he freaked out when the grown adults screamed their heads off in the stretching room and we had to take the chicken exit.

And the two trips while he was 3, well, he developed opinions, darn him! Went on POTC once during the first of those two trips and refused to go again. Wouldn't go on other things. Liked the teacups immensely. And all sorts of other opinions (in his opinion he could spend the whole day at the water area inside of bug's land).

And the trip for his 4th birthday, I think he enjoyed things most of all.


It's really fun to be able to take him so relatively often, to see how his enjoyment changes. If we ONLY went when he was 3, we would have a more negative feeling about how much he did or did not enjoy it (though his love of Jack Sparrow, even before he had seen the movies, almost makes up for his refusal to ride the actual ride!).

As for anticipation, although direclty after the 2 year old visit he didn't talk about it, a few months later he had a "language explosion" and started talking about all sorts of things from the trip. It was very cool; we thought he didn't think of it or remember it at all, but he did. When we got back from the trip it was chaos, b/c his grandfather had taken ill during our trip and died about a month later, a very dark time for him. But once we all got through that, he started chattering about it.

While getting ready for our September trip last year, we could get him to bed by telling him he could dream about Disneyland. When he would talk about the monsters in the bedroom, I found I could help him magically turn the room into Disneyland, which would get rid of the monsters, and it WORKED!!! It's a very useful tool.

But then on our December trip I was too gung ho, and when we got back both hubby and DS were twitchy about DLR. I was forced to go on a solo trip to get the commando-touring-style out of my system so they would agree to go with me again. There was NO anticipation after the December trip, from them, for a few months.

But the May trip went well (he really looked forward to it, thinking about what rides he wanted to go on, who he wanted to meet, and so on), and now he's been asking to go to Disneyland just about every day, not understanding the distance between WA and southern CA!

haha yea i know lots of moms that just nurse their babies on POTC! my son never fell asleep on the ride, but i can imagine how hard it would be to get off the ride with a sleeping child. it seems like they gain 20 pounds when they fall asleep and you have to carry them! lol

i know what you mean about HM...my son started to cry in the stretching room too b/c some grown man decided to scream like a little girl. once we were in the halls though, he was ok lol.

so it seems like around 2 years is a really fun time for them! they'll just go with the flow, and around 3 years maybe that starts to change a bit. ill be sad if my son doesnt want to go on certain rides with me hahaha

and where is that water area in A BUGS LAND? i think ive seen it, but im not really sure, because i dont think they have the water on when we go. my son would looooove that! he is all about 'WA-WA' right now! hahaha we spend our days outside getting wet with the hose or at water parks so im sure he would enjoy that a lot

im so sorry to hear about his grandfather passing...that must have been so hard for him and all of your family. its nice to hear that even after all he went through, he still talked about DL. it just shows what a MAGICAL place it really is

i am so glad hes into DL again though! i cant believe you had to go all alone with out them...i thought for sure allll children would love DL no matter what, but thats just wishfull thinking on my part. and i love how you used DL to comfort him at home and stuff with monsters! thats so cool. i keep talking to my son about DL and he smiles when i say it, but i know he has no idea what im talking about hes still to young to remember. thank you for sharing that with me though! i really enjoyed reading what you had to say

 

[DisneyNic]

DD was 16 months the first and only time she has visited DL She LOVED it. Just being there, wandering around and checking everything out. She sat a lot better than a thought she would on all the rides. She was so excited just by everything that she heard and saw. Everything except the characters, that is. She HATED the characters. All of them. We didn't meet a single character at DL that she didn't scream at and try to get away from. The funny part was that on our day at Universal, she was completely fascinated with Beetlejuice. She talked to him for quite a while.

 

[RainyDayPixie]

I nursed DS1 on POTC both times we went. Must be a DL mommy initiations thing! We went when he was 8 months and 16 months. He LOVED it both times. Now we will go just before he turns 2 and DS2 will be 7 months. I'm anticipating it being a bit tougher (he'll have his own opinions), but more fun now. He watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I can't wait for him to see Mickey in person!

 

[bumbershoot]

PRINCESSplazola, you haven't seen the water area yet???

Well there are actually three places. One is across from It's Tough to be a Bug, and it's more of a misting area. If you remember the big yellow poles, those have water coming out of them.

If you'd like me to post a picture I will.

The lightweight water area fully inside of bug's land is tucked away across from the "bumper cars". We haven't been in there b/c it's just not wet enough for DS.

The really wet one, though, is across from the bathrooms, before you get to Flik's Flyers. It had spouts in the ground that spray up randomly. Oh boy...you can see some serious wet-kid pictures in my Sept trip report, or I can post one or two here if you'd like. It's best to put the kiddo in his swim trunks and a shirt (we just use DS's Pirate Mickey trunks and "rash guard" set), with some sandals with a nice tread, then change kiddo back to normal clothes (remember extra diapers if he's in them when you go, remember extra underwear if he's wearing them when you go, and extra socks if he's wearing them that day, and bring a towel!) once he's either too cold or too tired. Or in DS's case, once he's been smashed into by a big 12 year old who shouldn't have been in there in the first place, grr.


There's also water in the Redwood play area in DCA across from Grizzly. I went on Grizzly while DH and DS played in there, and while we were prepared and DS, I hear, decided to lie down in the little stream...DH watched some other children get screamed at by their parents b/c they merely *touched* the water. Preparation is everything!


My January trip was more of a "vacation after our vacation", b/c in December my son and I spent 9 more days in San Diego with my brother, after hubby had to go back home for work. We still hadn't totally figured out my son's issues with corn syrup and related products, so he had too many behaviour problems and rages, and I was trying to keep him a perfect little kid, when it turns out my brother never needed him to be perfect. For example, my brother keeps furniture *forever*. They are quite well off, but part of the way they got that way is that they don't replace things just to replace them. So they have this coffee table that DS wanted to play on and in, stand on it, and such. I nearly killed myself keeping him off of it, and one day before we left, my brother said that he was actually hoping DS wrecked the table, so they could replace it. Hello, TELL ME THAT, and I'll let him!

Anyway, I was frazzled after that and just couldn't wait for the ladies only trip that was taking place in April, so hubby spent some one on one time with DS for two days while I ran around by myself. DS got to camp out in the living room, which was far better than running around Disneyland with his crazy mother at that point.

So I worked that out, and then during our May trip I went and got feet full of blisters the night before we went to the parks by walking in brand new heels from HoJos to Paradise Pier, to meet a Dis'er for a DVC presentation. Ouch ouch ouch. So there went any rushing around I wanted to do, b/c I could barely walk!

 

[disneydreamer74]

well, my little princess will be two in Aug. when we go for our first trip! I am not sure how she will do, but am excited to see how she reacts. I have resigned myself to understanding what scares some children may not have any effect on others. They certainly have their own personalities! So if she happens to refuse to go on rides I will be fine with that and just let her meet characters, view the parades, shows, and fireworks. Either way I am determined to have a great vacation.
I do have hope though bc I was watching samantha Brown on Travel Channel the other day as she walked through WDW and DLR. When they showed Fantasmic and the light parade my DD immediately put down the toy she was playing with and jumped up and down with excitement! OOhs and aaahs for several minutes! This is a good sign! Not to mention she is crazy about Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, and CInderella. I think she will be okay. Wish me luck! I will post a trip report when I return. I have not posted a pre-trip report yet bc I have changed hotels twice and have been known to change my mind quite a bit!

 

[bumbershoot]

I have not posted a pre-trip report yet bc I have changed hotels twice and have been known to change my mind quite a bit!

Well that's just silly! One of the points of pre-trippies is to show everyone how many times you change, so that they feel normal when THEY change their minds!

Before our big trip last year, when I knew that DS would likely be meeting characters (we just skipped them on our one-day trips), we were fortunate to go to a zoo event where they had characters. Curious George, a big dragon, some other varied ones, and it let him see how big they are, compared to a normal human in normal clothes. The heads, especially. If you notice any event in your area between now and when you're going, try to go there, b/c it will give her an idea of how large the characters (other than princesses) will be compared to her.

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

DD was 16 months the first and only time she has visited DL She LOVED it. Just being there, wandering around and checking everything out. She sat a lot better than a thought she would on all the rides. She was so excited just by everything that she heard and saw. Everything except the characters, that is. She HATED the characters. All of them. We didn't meet a single character at DL that she didn't scream at and try to get away from. The funny part was that on our day at Universal, she was completely fascinated with Beetlejuice. She talked to him for quite a while.

you know, thats funny, my son hates the charactors too! hes weird though...he is totally scared of the ones that he can tell are 'people' (like aladdin, cinderella, etc) but he looooved the others like pooh and mickey. i guess he just thinks the others are random people trying to get him lol but the fuzzy ones are fun to him thats so funny that your DD liked beetlejuice though! hes so scary! haha thats cute though. im really glad she liked DL too and all the rides! thats great to hear!

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

I nursed DS1 on POTC both times we went. Must be a DL mommy initiations thing! We went when he was 8 months and 16 months. He LOVED it both times. Now we will go just before he turns 2 and DS2 will be 7 months. I'm anticipating it being a bit tougher (he'll have his own opinions), but more fun now. He watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I can't wait for him to see Mickey in person!

how exciting! i cant wait to hear about your trip...and you're going to have double the fun with two kiddos! i love that your DS watches the disney channel...thats awesome! true disney fan right there!

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

well, my little princess will be two in Aug. when we go for our first trip! I am not sure how she will do, but am excited to see how she reacts. I have resigned myself to understanding what scares some children may not have any effect on others. They certainly have their own personalities! So if she happens to refuse to go on rides I will be fine with that and just let her meet characters, view the parades, shows, and fireworks. Either way I am determined to have a great vacation.
I do have hope though bc I was watching samantha Brown on Travel Channel the other day as she walked through WDW and DLR. When they showed Fantasmic and the light parade my DD immediately put down the toy she was playing with and jumped up and down with excitement! OOhs and aaahs for several minutes! This is a good sign! Not to mention she is crazy about Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, and CInderella. I think she will be okay. Wish me luck! I will post a trip report when I return. I have not posted a pre-trip report yet bc I have changed hotels twice and have been known to change my mind quite a bit!

im sure shes going to LOVE DL..that was definitely a good sign and shows shes a true disney princess! no matter what, you will have a great trip b/c theres just so much to do. and take her on the POOH ride for sure! im positive she will love it if shes into tigger and all them...my son sat through the whole thing with his mouth all open yay i cant wait to here how she does! good luck, but im sure you wont need it

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

BUMBERSHOOT, i really havent seen them lol! but now thanks to you i will totally go look for them! ive actually seen the one with the yellow poles, and the one across from GRIZZLY too. maybe its b/c when we went last time it was raining and probably had them all turned off hopefully we get to see it this next trip b/c my son LOVES the water and would have a blast!

so you went on the ladies trip?? thats so neat, how was it? i bet you made lots of new friends!
(and i feel for you with the whole kids and other ppls furniture thing....that can be sooo stressful. at least you got to blow off some steam at DL right! haha)

oh and i must say...you are BRAVE. wearing brand new heels??!! your poor poor feet! i bet they looked good though!

if you have any pics of the water areas i would love to see them! thanks so much!

 

[wazowskiLOVER:)]

you know, thats funny, my son hates the charactors too! hes weird though...he is totally scared of the ones that he can tell are 'people' (like aladdin, cinderella, etc) but he looooved the others like pooh and mickey. i guess he just thinks the others are random people trying to get him lol but the fuzzy ones are fun to him thats so funny that your DD liked beetlejuice though! hes so scary! haha thats cute though. im really glad she liked DL too and all the rides! thats great to hear!

You know I used to be terrified of characters when I was little all the way to about 8 yrs old. It used to be dressed up ones, not the real looking ones. I don't know why. I think maybe because of size and irregularity in anatomy. I don't know. But being a person who was afraid of characters, I TOTALLY sympathize.

 

[disneydreamer74]

Well that's just silly! One of the points of pre-trippies is to show everyone how many times you change, so that they feel normal when THEY change their minds!

Before our big trip last year, when I knew that DS would likely be meeting characters (we just skipped them on our one-day trips), we were fortunate to go to a zoo event where they had characters. Curious George, a big dragon, some other varied ones, and it let him see how big they are, compared to a normal human in normal clothes. The heads, especially. If you notice any event in your area between now and when you're going, try to go there, b/c it will give her an idea of how large the characters (other than princesses) will be compared to her.

Oh thank God, its not just me! Now I feel normal. Maybe I will do one then bc it will also help me pass the time until the trip.(can't wait!)
My lil one has had one experience with a character meeting. At Easter, (April) we took her to the mall to get pictures with the easter bunny. He has a very large head. Well she waved to him and was excited until she and I sat next to him for pictures. She didn't cry, but was quite ready to leave, But my thinking is that she is much more familiar with mickey and friends so maybe she will behave differently. That was her first time seeing the easter bunny. ANd at this point I must confess that I have pics to prove that I was terrified of the easter bunny as a child until age 8. I loved seeing Santa, but the rabbit? No way! lol.

 

[disneydreamer74]

im sure shes going to LOVE DL..that was definitely a good sign and shows shes a true disney princess! no matter what, you will have a great trip b/c theres just so much to do. and take her on the POOH ride for sure! im positive she will love it if shes into tigger and all them...my son sat through the whole thing with his mouth all open yay i cant wait to here how she does! good luck, but im sure you wont need it

Yes, I think she will love the Pooh ride! I went shopping yesterday for some Disney gear for the trip. was pretty hard to find. Finally at Sears I found a few things. But her ultimate fave character right now is Tigger and for some reason they assume that only little boys like Tigger. Could only find him in the boys section. So I am going to the DIsney site to shop today. (Ilive in a small town which for some strange reason does not have a Disney store) Imagine how painful that is,lol. But anyways, thanks for the encouragement!

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

Yes, I think she will love the Pooh ride! I went shopping yesterday for some Disney gear for the trip. was pretty hard to find. Finally at Sears I found a few things. But her ultimate fave character right now is Tigger and for some reason they assume that only little boys like Tigger. Could only find him in the boys section. So I am going to the DIsney site to shop today. (Ilive in a small town which for some strange reason does not have a Disney store) Imagine how painful that is,lol. But anyways, thanks for the encouragement!

oh my goodness....no disney store? that is painful! we go to our disney store here at least three times a week (im a stay at home mom, and have nothing else to do really lol) but my son loves it. and its a brand new one, so its GORGEOUS inside...the floors are red and sparkly! i love it a disney store should be a MUST at every mall i think
and thats so sad that they only had tigger for boys! tigger has always been my favorite too you could customize a shirt or something for her on the disney site and put tigger on it..that would be super cute!

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

You know I used to be terrified of characters when I was little all the way to about 8 yrs old. It used to be dressed up ones, not the real looking ones. I don't know why. I think maybe because of size and irregularity in anatomy. I don't know. But being a person who was afraid of characters, I TOTALLY sympathize.

haha i totally understand how they can be terrifying to a kid. my child just happens to be odd...have you seen isaiah's santa and easter bunny pics?? on his santa pic he is SCREAMING his head off (i still bought the pic cuz its hillarious! haha) and on his easter bunny pic hes got a HUGE smile on his face. i would think that ugly easter bunny is more scary than poor little santa right!

 

[wazowskiLOVER:)]

haha i totally understand how they can be terrifying to a kid. my child just happens to be odd...have you seen isaiah's santa and easter bunny pics?? on his santa pic he is SCREAMING his head off (i still bought the pic cuz its hillarious! haha) and on his easter bunny pic hes got a HUGE smile on his face. i would think that ugly easter bunny is more scary than poor little santa right!

HAHAHA I KNOWWWW. Well it does take Isaiah a bit to warm up to people so it kind of makes sense. I love getting pics of babies screaming their heads off. It is funny. I like to show my cousins how they were when they were little. He'll look back at the picture and laugh

 

[heatherleigh]

My son was 2-yrs old the first time he went. My daughter was only 16-months old. She fell in love w/ Minnie and everything Disney on that trip. She loved the characters. We did two character breakfasts at the PPH just so she could spend time w/ Minnie. She stood there and hugged her for about 15 minutes. Fortunately, we were the only ones in the place, and Minnie didn't mind. I have tons of pics. Disney even took pics of it, and gave them to me free of charge. It was cute.

 

[PRINCESSplazola]

My son was 2-yrs old the first time he went. My daughter was only 16-months old. She fell in love w/ Minnie and everything Disney on that trip. She loved the characters. We did two character breakfasts at the PPH just so she could spend time w/ Minnie. She stood there and hugged her for about 15 minutes. Fortunately, we were the only ones in the place, and Minnie didn't mind. I have tons of pics. Disney even took pics of it, and gave them to me free of charge. It was cute.

thats sooooo cute that your daughter hugged Minnie like that! does she still like her?? too cute

is that your son in the water area in A BUGS LAND? looks like fun!! hes a cutie