Any tips on taking a 2 yr old DD at Disney ?

[ADEALINGMUMMY]

We are planning on taking our 2 yr old DD to disney is a few months time. Is there any tips, advice anyone offer me ?

What would be the most suitable hotel ? I am thinking Newport Bay club.....

Which restaurants are suitable . I really like the sound of the ''cinderella restaurant'' , cannot remember actual name, i think it's in fantasy land. This is something I'd really like to do , but use DD as an excuse to be there.
Would it be frowned upon if she gets down from the table a bit ?

What is there to do in the evenings?

Thankyou

 

[mommy2ash]

hi and welcome to the board

i have taken my dd who turned two in december twice. your dd will have a great time. my biggest tip would be make use of extra magic hours. the park will be open two hours for hotel guests before it is opened to the public. its great to just walk onto the fantasyland rides.

i havent stayed in the newport but i know people that had. they loved the hotel but said it was too big and had a really long walk from their room. i would suggest requesting a room in the middle of the hotel.

i also want to do the princess meal lol but havent gotten round to it. there are some great pics in the restaraunt review thead under auberge de cendrillon.

my dd is desperate in restaraunts but i would say they are fairly tolerable as not every child is going to behave all the time. we ate in the rainforest, great food and it was good fun. loads of people like annettes. i love the silver spur. before buying a childs meal in these restaraunts i would make sure the menu is what your child would eat. i wasted so much money last time as ash just didnt eat for the week. apart from pizza. they do a pizza kids meal at a counter service place called pizzeria belle notte. oh and i would highly reccommend cafe mickey. its great fun and i got a pizza so ash was fine and happy and ate more than i did so a very successful meal lol. of course if your dd doesnt eat a whole lot you can always just feed her off your plate.

hope that helps.

if you have any more questions just ask

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi ADEALINGMUMMY,
Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to the DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

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http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038,
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Enjoy planning your trip

 

[dixonsontour]

Hi we went last June with a 2.5 year old. Stayed on site at Cheyenne.

Yes i'd also vote for an early start using EMH meaning you can go into the park from 8am not 10am like non disney guests.

If you can't face a v early brekkie at the hotel to get to the park by 8 then you can exchange your breakfast for a good morning fantasyland brekkie in the park at say 9.45 after EMH.

The main area for little ones is fantasyland and these rides are open during EMH. We rode dumbo multiple times each morning with minimal wait - there is no way DD could have waited an hour plus which was the wait after EMH.

DD aslo loved the parade and the shows we saw.

Can't help with the princess meal. I'm debating this in june for my now 3.5 year old. Showed her pics of food and she was not keen although your DD under 3 would be free if you don't order her a seperate meal.

Evenings well remember you are all in one hotel room so if DD is alseep we tended to sleep. If you have been up since 6am and walked the parks all day with more of the same to come tomorrow you will be tired! One night I left DD asleep with DH and browsed the shops in the park and village and watched the nighttime show (then it was Candelebration -) at 8 I think.

Park may be open until 10 with fireworks etc if you are going in July/Aug.

Staying at Newport bay this June. swimming pool appeals - another evening idea is to swim and the fact it is a little nearer than the cheyenne. i'm planning on walking to the park rather than the bus.

 

[joolz1910]

Have you considered staying in a standard room at the DLH? You can't get any closer to the parks and it makes it really easy to nip back for a rest/break with a little one. You also have the added bonus of the characters at breakfast without the park scrum.

 

[princess vicky]

Hi

We got back on Tuesday and took my DD for her 2nd birthday. I def recommend the early magic hours like previously said as we managed to walk on all the rides in fantasyland without queing at all which was perfect for her. I don't know what your DD is like but if anything like mine she wont stand still for a hour in a queue!
We did a character lunch in Cafe Micky which was fantastic for character interaction and not as busy as a dinner. We pre booked this and for us it was a complete waste of time as DD freaked out everytime a charcter came near us.We had to keep sending them away so such a shame. They were v good though especially minnie who tried to come back 3 times to see if she calmed down. My DD loves watching playhouse disney everyday and knows all the characters so it was a shock that she hated being near them. I would say dont expect a 2 year old to love everything they are still very young and the whole disney experience is a lot for them to take in.
I was surprised how many rides she was able to go on there was a lot more than I thought there would be. She loved Dumbo and we went on it loads. I even took her on Phantom manor and she laughed!!!
We watched the parade and had a really good spot but she was more interested in playing with her toy from a mcdonalds happymeal lol.
We stayed in the New York which I loved and couldnt find any fault in and when we go back I will hopefully stay there again.
A good tip is to eat in the buffet restaurants like plaza gardens and lucky nugget as I read on here under 3's dont pay!!! and when we ate in plaza gardens we wasnt charged for her. We didnt do the half board vouchers and Im glad as one night DD was so tired she crashed out early and we had a takeaway for annettes.
If your hotel has a swimmingpool or gym you are able to use these at night but if like us you will be fast asleep by 10pm as it really is tiring. Dont forget they are 1 hour ahead of us so when you get up at say 7am its really 6am to us.
Hope this helps - if you have anymore questions just ask away

Vicky

 

[ADEALINGMUMMY]

Thankyou for all your lovely replies. Thanks to you all i'm feeling confident that's it's okay to take my 2 yr old. I'll let you know when we actually book up.

xx