Disney experience for a 2 year old?

[Halfpintmg]

I'm looking for suggestions on food styles and experiences for a two year old? A lot of this is a lot to take in off the bat and I thought I was prepped for my 180 day mark but looking at the boards....wow. I am not prepared for my first day at school it seems. I'm lost. Help?

 

[rwdavis2]

I do not think it will matter what you do with a two year old. You will be limited to what rides can take them due to ther size. They will probably like almost anything you do unless they are afraid of it. You know your child best. Do they recognize disney characters? Can they name them yet?

I suggest you look up what attractions are In The Magic Kingdom and then Google videos for anything you find interesting.

You can be sure they won't remember anything in a year or two. You will probably really enjoy your child's reactions to things in the park but they may not understand anything at all. IMHO, go to enjoy yourself

 

[chloelovesdisney]

My son goes crazy for the parades. He's enjoyed all of the rides except the Haunted Mansion, that did not go over well. This trip he really enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Island. The resort pool is always a big hit.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

DD was about 19 mos old on her first trip to WDW. We had grandparents with us, so they watched her while we went on the bigger rides and one night when DH and I went to Victoria & Albert's. We chose restaurants based on our personal preferences (she's always been a very easy child - she's thrown one tantrum ever and it lasted about 30 seconds). If your child is generally 'good' in restaurants, I'd feel comfortable taking them wherever (every restaurant we've been to at WDW, aside from V&A, have had kids at them).

We took DD on most of the rides without height requirements; she particularly loved the teacups (still does). We found taking an almost-2 yo to be quite easy - she stayed in her stroller a lot of the time, including for naps. She also LOVED the world showcase (especially when grandpa got her some chocolate from Germany!). For the next year after, until we visited WDW again, she got VERY excited whenever she saw a pic of Spaceship Earth.

 

[Halfpintmg]

We planned the initial day to be pool at the resort with maybe a dinner of some sort (enter food dilemma) and then the next day will be full on MK day with just snacking throughout the day and then ending our trip with the next morning being a character breakfast and then a few hours at a park until she drops. We live in tampa so we have a bit of the florida life luxury to leave whenever, but we wanted her to have an easy fun first family vacation away from home (but not too far!) I guess I was hoping to see how many people chose what restsursnt over another based on toddler experience. She's okay with rides at BG so she will definitely do ones we will go on with her, and we are currently working on characters. So far, they need to stay at least 3 feet away, preventing us from having to make any meet and greet a requirement but the breakfast will be okay as long as we meet them with her too. We just don't want to be corralled into eating junk food when we can have a nice meal with her.

 

[GatorMama]

We've take both of our kids at that age and its a great age! Oldest DS was 22 months his first trip and he was a pleasure the entire trip. We stayed offsite most of the trip (except two night at Wilderness Lodge). He loved Toy Story (still does), Great Movie ride, Mike and Sully (his favorite movies at the time were Monsters Inc and WallE), everything! And he was happy to dance around while we waited for Dad to ride big kid rides.

he shared all of our meals and has never been a picky eater (except oh dear god don't try to feed him a hot dog or the world will surely end) so meals weren't a concern at all.

 

[Halfpintmg]

he shared all of our meals and has never been a picky eater (except oh dear god don't try to feed him a hot dog or the world will surely end) so meals weren't a concern at all.

So far not picky...oh boy do I hope that lasts! I'm getting excited now! So many choices!

 

[GatorMama]

The only onsite meals I recall eating on that trip were Tangierine Cafe in Morocco, Chef Mickey's Breakfast and Pecos Bills in Mk...

 

[RJstanis]

We have been taking our little ones since 2 and they, and we, have loved it. My DW and I didn't care about things for us and just enjoyed seeing them love the things they knew and the things they were just discovering! Fantasyland, Characters, Parades, and Character Meals were our focus with them younger. Other than 7DMT and Barnstormer they can ride everything in Fantasyland with you. My soon to be DS5 loved Belle and Merida at 2+ yr old so we made sure to include Enchanted Tales and Merida M&G. DS2 has loved Its a Small World before he knew what Disney really is. Stimulation Extraordinaire in there! Two meals I would strongly recommend (not for the food, its decent at best) is Chef Mickeys for breakfast at Contemporary, and Crystal Palace inside MK for any meal, but especially for dinner. With those two you get the Fab 5 and Winnie the Pooh characters respectively.

 

[msmama]

I liked buffets when my son was little (well, still do actually). They take a little bit longer, but they're broken up by the characters visiting the table so I feel like he would eat more overall. Plus, they have a mix of foods if he was being particular picky that day.

If you're going to order a kids meal, many of them have the same kid friendly stuff - mac n cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets/fingers, etc. If she's going to eat off of your plate, then you can check menus at allears.net and see what you might like to eat.

 

[jason10mm]

Remember that your child won't miss what they don't know about. Just because you couldn't score that Mickey Bfast meal doesn't mean the kid will be disappointed and broken up about it, they won't even know it was an option. So they will have as much fun playing at a jumping water feature in EPCOT as they would being IN a parade or whatever.

Take breaks! Probably the biggest issue I've seen with 2 year olds is overtaxing them into a meltdown. If the heat is an issue, the stress mounts, fatigue sets in, etc, before you know it everyone is yelling at each other. So a few hours in a park followed by a nap, then some pool time, then a low stimulus meal might work better than an all day park blitz, especially for a long stay. Not forcing them into an experience YOU think will be fun is another one. If they are scared of an attraction/character (my 2 year old gets scared of some odd things) I wouldn't push it no matter how sure you are that they will love it in the end. Do something else and try again another time.

Be flexible. Disney allows for a lot of pre-planning (some would say it REQUIRES it) but you need to be accomodating of the family mood. Have that reservation cancellation number on speed dial in case you need it. Talk to customer service if you need help getting fastpasses or reservations moved around because the kid was sick for a day. That is what they are there for (fielding complaints isn't really their prime task).

If you are bringing a stroller then read up on some of the threads here about stroller security. DO NOT leave valuable things in your stroller, DO mark it in some obvious way so you are sure you have the same one (and so OTHERS can be sure this isn't their stroller!).

EDIT: Some restaurant recs. The Seas in Epcot is a sit down place with big aquariums. My kid loves that stuff. T-rex cafe in Downtown Disney, Rainforest Cafe in AK. Biergarten buffet in Germany has a music show and allows kids to come up and dance. Sci-fi cafe in HS shows old 50's sci-fi movie trailers. Pretty hokey, may or may not scare your kid or make them really happy. The 50's cafe place in HS is a pretty good sit-down place for kids as well. Also, it may go without saying, but you CAN bring in your own food and drink in a small cooler, just no glass/alcohol. Water can also be gotten for free if you ask.