Disney in October with 18mo old

[WindyCityGirl23]

Starting to busily plan our October trip to Disney!! My DH and I are veterans, but will be the first trip for our DD! So excited! I have read a few posts regarding tips with toddlers - mostly, expect the unexpected, take breaks, pack snacks, etc. I have a few additional questions...

- Thinking of doing MNSSHP...does anyone have experience with a toddler during this? Obvi, she is not eating candy yet. lol Worth it? What time it usually? I looked at the MK schedule when we will be there, and the park looks like it closes at 7pm- is it assumed it starts at 7pm and goes until..?

- I read about the Tomorrowland Dessert Party, which sounds amazing, but if it is a night of MNSSHP, will they still do the Wishes fireworks? Not even sure our DD will make it that late, but hoping an afternoon nap will allow her to stay up later - she is a great napper!

- Started making dining reservations already- still looking to get a Character breakfast... maybe a day we are not in the Park? She doesn't really know too many princesses (other than Anna and Elsa, of course) - any suggestions for a Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie character breakfast not in a park?

- When making dining reservations, should I make it for 2 or 3? It will be my DH, me, and DD (in a high chair). Seems like 2 is easier to accommodate.

- Anyone have waterpark experience in the Fall? Thinking of doing this for a non-park day. Which would be more toddler-friendly? I personally prefer TL, but am open to suggestions...

Thanks for all the help!!! So excited to make this a magical "first of many" Disney trip for our little cupcake!

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

Sorry, double posted!

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

Starting to busily plan our October trip to Disney!! My DH and I are veterans, but will be the first trip for our DD! So excited! I have read a few posts regarding tips with toddlers - mostly, expect the unexpected, take breaks, pack snacks, etc. I have a few additional questions... - Thinking of doing MNSSHP...does anyone have experience with a toddler during this? Obvi, she is not eating candy yet. lol Worth it? What time it usually? I looked at the MK schedule when we will be there, and the park looks like it closes at 7pm- is it assumed it starts at 7pm and goes until..? - I read about the Tomorrowland Dessert Party, which sounds amazing, but if it is a night of MNSSHP, will they still do the Wishes fireworks? Not even sure our DD will make it that late, but hoping an afternoon nap will allow her to stay up later - she is a great napper! - Started making dining reservations already- still looking to get a Character breakfast... maybe a day we are not in the Park? She doesn't really know too many princesses (other than Anna and Elsa, of course) - any suggestions for a Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie character breakfast not in a park? - When making dining reservations, should I make it for 2 or 3? It will be my DH, me, and DD (in a high chair). Seems like 2 is easier to accommodate. - Anyone have waterpark experience in the Fall? Thinking of doing this for a non-park day. Which would be more toddler-friendly? I personally prefer TL, but am open to suggestions... Thanks for all the help!!! So excited to make this a magical "first of many" Disney trip for our little cupcake!

Hi! I can help somewhat! We took our first family trip when DS was 13 mos.

1. I can't help much in MNSSHP with a toddler. How late does she typical stay up? We decided to hold off on the party until our kids were older. We're going for the first time in Oct. If you do decide to go, I'd suggest having an easy lazy day before the party and a long nap!
2. No wishes the nights of parties. The park closes to non party tickets at 7 pm. The actual party is 7 till I think midnight.
3. For character breakfasts I'd suggest chef Mickey's or cape may. Both are non park and have the "gang".
4. I would make a reservation for the total # that will be seated, even though your dd won't be eating off the menu.
5. Can't help in the water park thing....sorry!

 

[NokOnHarts]

Starting to busily plan our October trip to Disney!! My DH and I are veterans, but will be the first trip for our DD! So excited! I have read a few posts regarding tips with toddlers - mostly, expect the unexpected, take breaks, pack snacks, etc. I have a few additional questions...

- Thinking of doing MNSSHP...does anyone have experience with a toddler during this? Obvi, she is not eating candy yet. lol Worth it? What time it usually? I looked at the MK schedule when we will be there, and the park looks like it closes at 7pm- is it assumed it starts at 7pm and goes until..?

- I read about the Tomorrowland Dessert Party, which sounds amazing, but if it is a night of MNSSHP, will they still do the Wishes fireworks? Not even sure our DD will make it that late, but hoping an afternoon nap will allow her to stay up later - she is a great napper!

- Started making dining reservations already- still looking to get a Character breakfast... maybe a day we are not in the Park? She doesn't really know too many princesses (other than Anna and Elsa, of course) - any suggestions for a Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie character breakfast not in a park?

- When making dining reservations, should I make it for 2 or 3? It will be my DH, me, and DD (in a high chair). Seems like 2 is easier to accommodate.

- Anyone have waterpark experience in the Fall? Thinking of doing this for a non-park day. Which would be more toddler-friendly? I personally prefer TL, but am open to suggestions...

Thanks for all the help!!! So excited to make this a magical "first of many" Disney trip for our little cupcake!

1. I took our toddler (13 mo.) to MVMCP two years ago. We made sure to have a long nap / rest in the middle of the day and did a "don't worry about rope drop" morning the next day. It was fun, he enjoyed the parade but at that age, I'd mostly go if it was something you were really wanting to do. They won't know the difference either way. You can actually get in with your party ticket around 4pm (party events start at 7pm) and it goes till midnight. Only worth it (IMO) if you are staying at least through the second parade.

3. The only non-park Character breakfast I've done is Chef Mickey's. I also like Crystal Palace for that age (Pooh, Tigger, etc) but that is inside the MK. When making the reservation, you want to include your daughter in the numbers. So it would be a reservation of 3, not 2. Even though she isn't eating off the menu or using a seat, they want to know the number of people including babies.

4. I haven't been to the water parks but I've read that Blizzard Beach has a better toddler area. But at 18 months, she'll be thrilled with just a pool at the resort, so again (like the party) I wouldn't do that unless it's something you really wanted to do yourself.

 

[Ava]

We're doing MNSSHP this year with our 5-year-old and 1-year-old. We've never done it before, but my plan is:
I booked the party for the last day of our trip, and we have an afternoon flight, so the next day we just have to be up to get checked out by 11am. I also planned our party day as a non-park day; we're having breakfast at 'Ohana then just going to swim and hang out at our resort for the day. My hope is if I let the kids swim a lot the baby will take a good long nap in the afternoon (and maybe the 5yo will rest too!) Then we'll just get to the MK around 6pm or so.

I wouldn't do a water park at that age, unless it's something you really want to do. Your LO won't be able to do most of the things there, which means you will have to take turns going on the slides alone.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

As for the character meals, Cape May Cafe at Beach Club has a fantastic breakfast, but Mickey does not appear there. Minnie, Donald & Goofy are the only ones at that location.

I believe Chef Mickey's is the only place on property where all of the characters you listed are present together.

Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch can be found at Ohanas best friends breakfast at the Polynesian.

Mickey's backyard barbecue at Fort Wilderness has Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale.

 

[Tropics]

We've been twice now with DD (once at 11.5mo and again at 22mo). We have yet to see the fireworks, except a small bit from our room at the Poly. There is just so much stimulus that she's exhausted by the time we're done dinner (and that's with afternoons spent back at the hotel napping, resting and swimming). The first time she spent most of her time in a carrier strapped to me so that she could sleep as needed (that worked out super well). On our next trip when DD is 3 we're hoping to be able to catch one evening of fireworks. At 18mo MNSSHP might be a bit too much if you are doing stuff during the day before hand. This will also depend on normal bed time as well.

As for character meals, I'd plan one for a bit later in your trip so that you can cancel if necessary. Visit characters in the park first to see how your DS does with characters. If it doesn't go well then you can cancel the meal. DD LOVED the characters from the very first moment she saw them. Our last trip she would melt down over not being able to see them every second, over having to wait to see them. So we had crying during character meals.... but not over being scared of characters but over having to wait for them. Whether your child is crying because they are scared of the characters or crying because they love the characters too much, it sucks being at a character meal with a crying baby!

 

[amber_cntrygrl]

Starting to busily plan our October trip to Disney!! My DH and I are veterans, but will be the first trip for our DD! So excited! I have read a few posts regarding tips with toddlers - mostly, expect the unexpected, take breaks, pack snacks, etc. I have a few additional questions...

- Thinking of doing MNSSHP...does anyone have experience with a toddler during this? Obvi, she is not eating candy yet. lol Worth it? What time it usually? I looked at the MK schedule when we will be there, and the park looks like it closes at 7pm- is it assumed it starts at 7pm and goes until..?

- I read about the Tomorrowland Dessert Party, which sounds amazing, but if it is a night of MNSSHP, will they still do the Wishes fireworks? Not even sure our DD will make it that late, but hoping an afternoon nap will allow her to stay up later - she is a great napper!

- Started making dining reservations already- still looking to get a Character breakfast... maybe a day we are not in the Park? She doesn't really know too many princesses (other than Anna and Elsa, of course) - any suggestions for a Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie character breakfast not in a park?

- When making dining reservations, should I make it for 2 or 3? It will be my DH, me, and DD (in a high chair). Seems like 2 is easier to accommodate.

- Anyone have waterpark experience in the Fall? Thinking of doing this for a non-park day. Which would be more toddler-friendly? I personally prefer TL, but am open to suggestions...

Thanks for all the help!!! So excited to make this a magical "first of many" Disney trip for our little cupcake!

We took our youngest DS back in September when he was 16 months. SO much fun!!

- We didn't do MNSSHP because I knew there was no way he'd make it through that, so I can't help with that one.

- The night of MNSSHP, there will only be Hallowishes, during the party.

- We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's on our departure day, and DS loved it! Well, towards the end of the meal he seemed to get a little irritated that he had to stop eating because there was a character at the table. We have quite a few pics of him shoveling food in his mouth while characters are posing for their pictures.

- Make your reservations for 3. They want you to include babies on reservations.

- We went to TL and he seemed to love it. We played in the wave pool while DH and our older DS did slides. We also did the lazy river, and he was NOT happy when we got out. He loved it!

Hope y'all have a blast!!

 

[Lupeix]

We went last year when DS was 2 1/2 and he never made it to a firework. He was a great napper at home but over there there was so much to do that he kept going until he passed out in the stroller. I am not sure I will do MNSSHP unless you really wanted to go yourself.
Dining reservations should be done for 3, but you should put a request for a high chair so they know it is really two adults.
I know it is the parks, but in my opinion the best character Meal for that age is Crystal Palace
Have fun!

 

[purrpletulips]

We took DD to Disney when she was 18m (9/30-10/7/11). We viewed it as a trip to WDW for DH and I with DD along for the ride but she did awesome.

We didn't use a stroller but opted to carry DD in our Ergo. This was awesome because we didn't have to worry about stroller parking, space on boats/monorail and she was easily contained during lines. This also allowed us to enjoy the park/fireworks/etc while she napped. With exception of maybe one or two rides we weren't required to take her out of the carrier; however we usually did because it allowed her to get the full effect of the ride and stretch a little. She liked getting her own pair of 3D glasses but didn't usually wear them during the shows.

We attended MNSSHP; she feel asleep around 10 however we just did the party things and rides while she slept. We started the day at rope drop and stayed until midnight with breaks for table service meals and a quick diaper run to the hotel.

You need to include her in your meal reservations because they need to know the number of bodies for fire code (regardless of how many are paying); plus you'll want to make sure they have a highchair reserved for her. We did a lot of buffets since we were on the DDP and she was sharing our plates. We scheduled a lot of character meals - she really liked the face characters and had warmed up to the others by the end of the trip. We were on the deluxe DDP so we used our table service meals as a break from the parks and crowds. We did Chef Mickey's, Cape May and O'hana for breakfast; I personally liked Cape May better than Chef Mickey's as it was quieter but really like O'hana (but Stitch is a family favorite).

While we didn't go to the pool, we walked around it our first day there and there were many people enjoying it. Early October was still pretty warm so I'm sure that helped. We didn't do any water parks because DD was afraid of water at the time.