Disney World with the addition of our son (22 months)

[xxpeplyxx]

So we will be going to Disney world for 2 weeks from may 2nd 2016, it is usually just me, my mum and my fiancé that go, but this time we have the addition of our wonderful son Toby, we are from the uk, so it'll be a long flight for us but we have paid extra for a seat for Toby. Anyhow I was wondering who has been with a nearly 2 year old, how was it? we usually do all the parks in Orlando, however this time we are only doing Disney world, sea world, and a morning at the outlets, as we want to keep it very much child friendly for Toby, we will be staying at the Animal Kingdom lodge for the 2weeks we are there, our son is obsessed with farms and zoo's and animals in general so Im fairly certain he will love the resort, just as I am sure we will as it will be all of our first time staying in anywhere other than international drive or a value resort at Disney, and we love our value resorts so I know we will love the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we have the dining plan for 2 weeks and have picked all the places we wish to dine, i'll give you the list now, feel free to tell me what you think, as the only places we have ate at in Disney world before are the Chinese restaurant in epcot, chef mickeys and ohana, as we don't usually have the dining plan, so we have made our choices after looking at numerous menus, but we are open to changing them to, we also now have to hope that we can reserve them all to *fingers crossed*

So the Places we have decided to eat at are:

Breakfast at Tusker house
Dinner at Be Our Guest
Dinnner at Mickeys Backyard BBQ
Lunch at Garden Grill
Breakfast at Ohana
Dinner at 50's Prime Time Café
Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Lunch at T-Rex
Dinner at Biergarten
Lunch at Rainforest café
Dinner at California Grill
Lunch at Coral Reef
Lunch at crystal palace

as I said above we have basically gone for places we like the look of, food we like the sound of and we love a character meal but please tell me if you would personally recommend differently (a lot of people have already questioned why we are chosing not to eat at our resort and the reason being is because my mum is a plain jane, she wont eat anything even slighty spiced or highly seasoned, so we have had to look at places that we will all enjoy the food at).

Lastly please feel free to give me any do's and dont's with an under 3, this is all new to me so I am willing to listen to any advice that you can offer me

 

[DisneyObsessed87]

We took our son last November at 19.5 months and it was a wonderful experience. (So much so that we are headed back to the world for his 3rd birthday!) All toddlers are different but our son loved all the rides and characters. Even through long days, early mornings or late nights he was a trooper. I can tell you that what may work for other people may not nessasarily work for you. Every one suggested taking afternoon breaks and naps, but for us this seemed to be more trouble than good. By the time we got back to the room and settled and back to the park... It felt like a lot of wasted time. It was much better when we just let him sleep in the stroller. Just try to be flexible and go with the flow. Also use rider swap for attractions with height requirements.

Seems like you have some great choices for dining. Tusker House is my favorite character meal and T-Rex is a must for every trip as well. Boma at AKL would be a great option for you at your resort. They have African foods as well as your normal breakfast items.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

We took our then 20 month old son last August, he wasn't really sure about it all (although VERY well behaved the whole time) up until he met Mickey at his meet n greet in Town Square. I still get teary eyed remembering how the magic hit him at that moment and he has been a Mickey fanatic ever since. He's going back for his 3rd birthday in January!

 

[msmama]

My son had been twice by that age. It's a very different trip experience, but I ave to say I enjoy traveling with a child way more than my commando touring days!

The only thing that strikes me is that T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe are LOUD!! My son wouldn't have been okay with them at that age (heck, he's barely ok with them now and he's 7) but he did/does have sensory issues also so you may have a different experience. He wouldn't have cried or been scared or anything, but he also wouldn't have been able to sit and eat a meal.

Also, since your Mom is going, I'd try to make sure you and Dad get at least one free night (and have a girls night, too, and leave the boys to themselves)!!

 

[Mainemama]

Breakfast at Tusker house
Dinner at Be Our Guest
Dinnner at Mickeys Backyard BBQ
Lunch at Garden Grill
*Breakfast at Ohana
*Dinner at 50's Prime Time Café
Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Lunch at T-Rex
Dinner at Biergarten
Lunch at Rainforest café
Dinner at California Grill
Lunch at Coral Reef
Lunch at crystal palace

as I said above we have basically gone for places we like the look of, food we like the sound of and we love a character meal but please tell me if you would personally recommend differently (a lot of people have already questioned why we are chosing not to eat at our resort and the reason being is because my mum is a plain jane, she wont eat anything even slighty spiced or highly seasoned, so we have had to look at places that we will all enjoy the food at).

Lastly please feel free to give me any do's and dont's with an under 3, this is all new to me so I am willing to listen to any advice that you can offer me [/QUOTE]
I took my youngest (now 3) at 20 months, and also right after her 2nd birthday. Two weeks at one resort will be lovely. Lots of time to relax! I starred the 2 restaurants we went to (and enjoyed) at that age. I found our 2year old unpredictable with reactions to rides/characters. She handled meals beautifully, and generally enjoyed everything about the parks, but she often did not want characters to approach her. (Just noticing you have 6 character meals planned). Also, we find buffets challenging to juggle with a toddler, and tend to prefer family service or traditional service seatings. Course, you have a good adult/kid ratio! We are always juggling. 2/3 ratio which does not work well with buffets. I do think planning a meal at AKL would be nice. Maybe take a 2nd look at Boma? Their buffet is so extensive, it seems they would have something she likes... Roast meats, salmon, soups. I like exotic and spicy food, but I found it more homey than I expected.

 

[xxpeplyxx]

My son had been twice by that age. It's a very different trip experience, but I ave to say I enjoy traveling with a child way more than my commando touring days!

The only thing that strikes me is that T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe are LOUD!! My son wouldn't have been okay with them at that age (heck, he's barely ok with them now and he's 7) but he did/does have sensory issues also so you may have a different experience. He wouldn't have cried or been scared or anything, but he also wouldn't have been able to sit and eat a meal.

Also, since your Mom is going, I'd try to make sure you and Dad get at least one free night (and have a girls night, too, and leave the boys to themselves)!!

We have decided to only do t-rex and not rainforest cafe, im fairly sure he wouldn't mind the noise, we are always at stay and play and even in the summer holidays when it was over crowded and extremely loud he didn't mind it and we have been to airshows, he won't wear the ear defenders and laughs his head of at the louder planes lol so fingers crossed he will love it there, we wouldn't want to seperate either, even with my mum there, we all get on too well we would miss each other's company so have decided we will stick together as for boma we have looked over and over at the buffet menu, there is no way my mum would eat there sucks but its all good we have adjusted our dining list slightly still have most of r choices above on there but have amended a couple.

Me and my partner want to marry in 2018 and we will go back for our honeymoon, so we can do boma then

 

[BOST99]

We took our DD at 23 months and stayed part of the trip at AKL. It was a great trip. We loved the resort as did dd .She really loved the pool and seeing animals. We loved the food.

Tusker House was a hit for us. It was our first meal of the trip and my dd fell in love with Donald. For us buffets worked a little better but we had some bad luck with very slow table service .

When we went back for her 3rd birthday she loved the Disney Jr breakfast at Hollywood & vine.

 

[xxpeplyxx]

We took our DD at 23 months and stayed part of the trip at AKL. It was a great trip. We loved the resort as did dd .She really loved the pool and seeing animals. We loved the food.

Tusker House was a hit for us. It was our first meal of the trip and my dd fell in love with Donald. For us buffets worked a little better but we had some bad luck with very slow table service .

When we went back for her 3rd birthday she loved the Disney Jr breakfast at Hollywood & vine.

Thanks for the reply we also have tusker house booked for our first meal, we will be going for breakfast, my son is already obsessed with Donald so im hoping it'll be a good start to character meet and greets glad to hear you all enjoyed the resort, we are very excited about staying there, we recently went to Chessington and I couldn't get my little guy away from the zoo there, so its a good sign that he should love watching the animals at the resort every day

We have actually planned quite a few buffet style meals so that's good to hear that they worked better for you, we do equally have a few non buffet meals, I'll make sure I take some fruit for my son to snack on if we are waiting a while for good, so thanks for the info x