Anyone take 2 1/2 yr old during low season?

[BellyBaby]

Help, experienced moms! Trying to plan first trip to WDW, read alot about EMH (mornings vs evening), napping, rides.

So my questions are these: Is it even possible for your family to get at the bus stop by 7:30 for EMH? Early! Do you like to hit parks early and do a character bkfst around 10 or so? Or do you sleep in a little, do a bkfst around 9, then hit the park? I've read alot about how early is key, but we're going end of Jan, so do the same rules apply when it's low season?

I've no idea what to expect from a 2 1/2 yr old, (can't remember! DS is 12!!) Are naps essential? How much time does it take away to bus it back to resort (POR) nap, then come back? I can see that strategy being fun (and practical)as to running around at nightime (lights) but we'd probably miss all the parades. Or do you nap every second day? Will napping in a stroller suffice? Ahhh! What to do? Hard to book ADR 6 months in advance when I don't know what to expect baby-wise.

Did you take turns with spouse taking baby back for nap and split up? Anyone take 2-way radios? (sure my then 13 yr old won't want to ride Dumbo)

Sorry, my questions grew like crazy, OB-COM. planner starting to panic.....

 

[Princess Roo]

Don't panic!

I think that for several things, getting there when the park opens makes a BIG difference. But, it may not be worth it to get up early every day if it causes tension in the family! Maybe get up early at least 1 day to get right to Fantasyland at MK for the youngest? And get up early 1 day to get to Animal Kingdom to ride/get Fastpasses for Mt. Everest and/or 1 day at Epcot for Soarin'/Test Track for the DS13? We were there the first weekend in December this year and still found the lines for Dumbo to be ridiculous by mid-morning and Fastpass return times for the rides mentioned above to have a long time before the posted return time.

There are a few threads on napping, that you might want to search for in this board. (Sometimes the search function doesn't work great, but you can advance page by page and do "Edit-find" for nap in the subject lines.) For *my* son, returning for the nap is essential, because he doesn't sleep well in a stroller. For many others, they don't need to return. Regardless, the young ones naptime can be a good time for the older to be "in charge" of the schedule, whether the other parent goes back to the hotel with the younger or everyone stays in the park. We would be gone from the parks for ~3-4 hours for transportation time and naps. This did cause us to miss afternoon parades most days, but there are also evening parades.

Lastly, we used our cell phones to get in touch with each other when we split up. (Which for us was usually DH going to the food court to get lunch while I put DS down for nap, or vice versa.)

Hope that helps!

 

[QueenGoblin]

I think how you handle the nap issue depend on your particular child. If s/he is used to a set naptime/routine, you are probably better off trying to duplicate that as much as possible. My kids have never followed a nap schedule and are prone on conking out on the couch, on the floor, in their bowl of cereal...so we just did the stroller nap and that worked fine for us. It just meant someone sat in the shade and enjoyed a cool beverage till the little one woke up.

 

[Samismom]

We got to the parks or breakfast early every day. My dd was so excited to be there at that age she didn't sleep in! As for naps we brought our stroller from home. If hse got tired enough she crashed in the stroller, which she tended to do at home anyway. We very often did full days and she was fine! As far as how to communicate we use our cell phones and just call each other. it works great. Have a great time!

 

[macmahony]

We only got up 3 or 4 times early for breakfast, in two weeks, our kids will sleep late, so we let them. We don't stop to nap, they would never nap in a hotel room. They would crash in the stroller (even my 5 year old), and I have NEVER seen any of them sleep in a stroller any where but disney. For us, naps, was a waste of time. We would usually get to the park at 10 ish, and then close the park, the days we got there early we left by later afternoon.
We took 2 way radios once, be prepared there are lots in the parks, and it was hard to find a clear channel, you usually picked up lots of people. I think your 13 year old will ride dumbo, and all the other smaller rides, that is part of disney.
We have been there three times, with various age kids (10 weeks, almost 2, almost 3 the first time, second time with 15 month old, 3 and 4, and the last time they were 2, 4 and 5) It is a great age, they loved it, we had a melt down here and there, but nothing bad, and usually it was because my kids were hungry, once they ate we were good to go. I would plan all your ADRs,we did, I think we only canceled one. We just planned the days where we were going to be, and we eat either in the park, or at magic kingdom we stayed on the monorail.
Have fun

 

[mtemm]

we were there in october with our 4 year old and 2.5 year old twins. we were out early every day, since the kids got up between 6:30 and 7 it was easy enough to do. we hit the parks at rope drop, then left around 12 or 1 to head back for naps. all 3 napped, even my 4 year old did. then we swam for a while, then headed out for a 5pm adr. I kept our adr's at our normal dinner time, figured that would help, and I think it did. after, would hit another park for a bit if the kids were up for it, usually we were back at the hotel and they were in bed by 8. one night we stayed for mnsshp and didn't get back till 10, and on our last night they were doing so well so we didn't get back to the hotel till around 9pm.

one thing that helped also was keeping some food in our room...some cheerios, goldfish, raisins, stuff to make pbjs. all came in handy.

we did do 2 breakfast's. one was a late one at 10:30 (play and dine) and the other was an early one on our depature day (8am cape may).

 

[Briar_Rose]

We are going for DD's 2nd b-day in mid-Sept. We plan to skip all the EMHs except one or maybe two of the Little One's EMH in Fantasyland if they do them again this year. I've always heard regular EMHs are not worth it. We will get to the parks by rope drop, that has made such a difference for us in the past. DD sleeps easily in her stroller; any kind of motion puts her to sleep. We plan to bring ours and see if she will just take her nap in the stroller. We'll play it by ear and go back to the hotel if the stroller naps aren't panning out. We're only eating one sit down meal a day so we can work her nap around it. She is usually somewhat flexible with her naps.

 

[chip007]

We got up early, but DD,3, is a morning person so that helped.

Also she absolutely loved the wakeup call. When the phone would ring, I'd hit the speaker phone button so she could listen to Mickey and Stitch. She was very excited that Mickey called us every morning. Too cute.

 

[PoohsFan1]

The last time we were at WDW my DD had just turned 2, and we went in Sept. We made sure we had a stroller for her that could recline so if she needed to take a nap she could, also, we did tend to come back from the parks during the midday for her to sleep in a bed, and while she did that, my DH took our other DD4 to the pool for some R&R. I would say that it was really easy taking our 2 year old especially since it was in the off season, there was less crowds and it was a bit cooler. However, we are planning on going again in June with the crowds and heat, however, both DDs are 2 years older than before. Use your own judgement, every child is different.

 

[susykt4]

Our past two trips were in Jan '06 and Feb '07. While I highly recommend hitting the parks at opening most days, I'd skip EVERY EMH morning! You just don't need them! If you go right at 9 you will be able to ride whatever you want (except maybe Soarin, Space Mtn and Test Track) with little or no wait until 10:30 or later. It's a fantastic time of year to go! We were soooo spoiled with the early morning no waits, a 20 minute wait in the afternoon seemed ridiculously long.

We found that the temps were so cool and the crowds so low, we didn't need to take nap breaks at the resort. (Our son was just 3 for our '06 trip and napped very rarely at home.) We'd go at opening and stay until between 2 and 6 depending on the park and what we wanted to accomplish. At this time of year, if your child doesn't NEED a nap, I'd skip returning to the resort. Another good thing is that if fireworks are important to your vacation, they're often very early (6:30 or 7) this time of year.

 

[scjo68]

We took ds 2 1/2 and dd 9 end of Jan /Beginning of Feb, this year and it was great. Of course every child is different, but this is what worked for us.

Never went back to the room for a nap. He napped fine in his stroller about half the time and stayed awake the other days. (actually sleeps during naps only 50% of time at home, though, too, so this was normal).

With dd wanting to ride lots of "big" rides, dh and I split up often. Walkie-talkies were a huge help. I recommend them, or cell phones. We took turns with each child, so that whoever was with dd for that turn got to ride things. Some things we did do together. My dd9 has no problem going on Dumbo, and even went in Playhouse Disney with her brother (but didn't get up and dance!) Actually, it was nice because those type of things she would normally feel too old to do, but since she was there with baby brother, it was OK.

Anyway, we usually would have an early supper together at the park, then one of us would take ds back to the room, to bathe and go to bed early. DD would stay with the other parent in the park. He did fine in a pack and play (hotel provided). At POFQ (like POR) there is a curtain between the main bedroom and the sinks/vanity area. So I would put ds to bed, then take a chair into the vanity area, pull the curtain and sit quietly in there reading a book until he fell asleep. Then by the time dd got back, he was asleep.

DS liked some real attractions, like Pooh, Peter Pan, Safari Ride, Triceratop spin, shows. But he loved more free play type things, like the playgrounds, also the display cars at the end of Test track. Spent lots of time in there, waiting for sister. Actually, there is so much to see there, just letting him wander freely (closely watched, of course!) was fun for him, too. His only grumpy times were when we would keep him in the stroller for too long of a stretch, so he could go here, there, and everywhere, keeping up with us. So you need to plan times for him to just play, and let rest of family go on.

We always go during slow season, and still always get there at opening. If we do early emh, it is with the plan to tour as much as possible till about noon, then hop to less crowded park. After that emh park seems really crowded. (relatively so )

Probably the simpler plan is to carefully avoid emh parks and get there at regular opening. If there is a popular ride that is a must-do (Dumbo) head right to that first thing. Even though it is a slower time, the lines for several rides will get long later in the day. My 2 1/2 year old does not like lines. If there is a line, get a fast pass, if available. For you older child, the baby swap will be great. He will get to ride twice, once with each adult.

As far as making ADR's, for most of the restaurants, you can cancel. Even the ones that require deposits (princess meals for example), you can cancel up to 48 hours ahead. You should have an idea if it will work by then. I can give you more meal tips I used if you are interested, but I feel like I've written way too much already. Sorry to write a novel, I just saw that my toddler was the same age mine was and you are going the same time of year.

You'll have fun!

 

[bennythepug]

My son was 2 yrs old when we were there, he was always the last one up when we all getting ready in the am. But, we managed to get the 1st boat out to MK every morning. He went with the flow, napped in the afternoon, back at the campground- and was up for more fun in the pm.

 

[BellyBaby]

God, I love you people!

Thank you EVERYONE for SO MUCH great info! Love, love, love the novel, scjo68! It's exactly the same scenario! I can feel my heart rate returning to normal......lots of info I didn't know before from everyone, thanks! Now I have to change my dinner spreadsheet so I don't miss the fireworks!

 

[noname70]

Just did this- (2 1/2 y/o in early Dec). We pretty much went the whole day in the park with no return naps. DD was out cold in the stroller on the way out of the parks at night. She was too excited to go back for naps.

Cell phone are better however we have encountered dead spots (Verizon) in some parks which made me yearn for my walkie.

 

[2mickeys1minnie]

We went this past September w/ out 8, 6 and 2.5 yo. We got to the parks early for the first few days...midweek the kids were very tired so we just let them sleep when they felt like sleeping. They still got up around 8:30 (late for them) and we'd eat and head over to the parks. I think it depends on the child. My 2 year old crashed everyday about 3pm in the stroller. I usually took her into an ac store while DH and the boys went on rides. It actually worked out great - I got to shop, she slept and the boys had a blast on some of the rides she was too small to go on anyway. We are headed back again this year at the same time and I hope it works out just as well

 

[bennythepug]

Owen's FAVORITE thing was the monorail !