Best rides for 2 year old

[camac517]

Okay here's the thing my husband and I are huge Disney fans but we do not have children so we've never experienced the parks with a child. This November we are planning a trip with my husband's entire family including our 2 year old nephew. What are the best rides and shows for a child his age? Also any tips or strategies for navigating the parks with a 2 year old would be helpful!! Thanks!

 

[jillyjoey]

On our last trip, DD was 22 months. SHE LOVED EVERYTHING!!!! We were so pleased. At MK: First ride was Dumbo, she laughed, DS(8) cried. Go figure. The only show we did was Tarzan Rocks (AK)-- she loved it, DS hated it. She loved all the characters and hugged them all. She rode everything in Fantasyland. She even rode Goofy's Barnstormer and loved it. The only thing she didn't ride were the rollercoasters (exception Barnstormer).
She didn't ride anything at Epcot, and we didn't go to MGM that trip because we loved AK so much we went back for a 2nd day. I think her reactions may be atypical, however, after talking with others with children her age. She was not scared on anything and especially liked the Haunted Mansion. My kids are night and day. My ds doesn't like to ride that much and she is like me, loves to ride everything.

Make sure you do a character meal -- we did one with Winnie the Pooh and Crew == she really loved meeting all the characters. Have fun!!

 

[latexscooter]

Last year we took DD to celebrate her 2nd birthday - it wasn't her first time to Disney though. We took her on everything that we wanted and she was tall enough to go on (at the time she was 36 inches tall). There was absolutely nothing that she didn't enjoy. We had a brief moment on Snow White when she got antsy and she said she was scared but then I reassured her it was okay and she was fine. We went on the Haunted Mansion, and It's Tough to be a Bug without so much as a groan and those are two rides that I often read of others children having a tough time with. Our daughter loved everything.

That said, each child is unique so you can't really make a cookie cutter decision that whats good for one child will be the same for another. If your nephew's parents have been there before they may be the best gauge of what he likes. You can help by providing information about rides where there are dark spots and loud noises. Those are things that often cause insecurity in little ones.

But don't worry too much. You will have a great time.

 

[holden]

When we took DD, she was almost 3. We rode the following at least 10 times each becuase she loved them:

Pooh
Peter Pan
Dumbo
It's a Small World
Cinderella's Carousel

She was okay with :
Safari ride in AK
Train in MK

She loved:
the Disney Playhouse show in MGM

She did not like:

Haunted Mansion (we snuck out the exit after the "elevator")
Mickey's Philharmagic (cried as soon as it started)
The Little Mermaid in MGM (cried as soon as the eels appeared)
The big show in front of the castle in the MK (too loud/too crowded)

She really just enjoyed seeing everything (and the characters) as we walked around. When she slept in the stroller, we took turns going on:

Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
the countries in Epcot
Splash Mountain

We walked onto everything - no waits for anything except It's a Small World. We went on Sept. 9 last year.

HtH!!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[winjos]

When my DD was 2, we pretty much took her on everything except the rollercoasters. She was about 6 months old when we took her on Pirates at DL and she has been hooked ever since!

My DD just turned 2 and he pretty much goes on everything too -- when he's in a good mood.

Here's the only problem:
Both of my kids had a hard time with getting off the rides. They didn't understand that you had to leave. They wanted to stay on and go again. It's a challenge prying their hands off the vehicles!!

Some great rides for little ones:
At MK:
Pooh
Small World
The Hall of Presidents (it is air conditioned and dark --- nap time!!)
Tom Sawyer's island (they like to jump around, climb steps, etc.)
The Jungle Cruise
Transit Authority (It was called the People Mover at DL -- tomorrow land)
The cars
Dumbo

At AK:
The boneyard
The flying dinosaurs (forgot the name)
The Lion King show
Kilamanjaro Safari ride (my DS fell asleep our last trip )
The train ride to Rafiki's conservation place

Epcot:
Energy (dinosaurs)
Crush talk (living seas)
The boat ride at the Land
Imagination pavillion (the ride plus the great hands on area)
Maelstrom at Norway
Beirgarten (fun place to eat)

Studios:
Bear in the Big Blue House

Hope this was helpful!

 

[2002Disneybride]

ONe thing to remember is that every child is different!
Our son has been to Disney 6 times, tomorrow we start our 7th trip and he is 21 months old. He is definitely NOT afraid of anything! He went on barnstormer our last trip in Feb and LOVED it! He also cried when he had to leave the characters and on every trip, he fell asleep on Haunted Mansion (of all rides) I think that WDW offers a lot for this age group, but remember--don't overplan and try to go with the flow--little ones can't always keep up- but like I said you may be surprised and he'll be a trooper like my kid who can go and go!
Good luck!