Few ?'s for anyone who went with a toddler

[Jill2150]

We will be traveling next year with our almost 2-year old to Disney. I was wondering of anyone who has done this, do all the resorts have cribs you can rent? What about offsite hotels? If so are they decent and big enough for a 21 month old? I am not sure she will be old enough to sleep in her own bed, will she?

Also, did you usually come back for the afternoon to nap? What did you do while they napped, since all in the same room. Thank you so much.

 

[pmiranda]

We will be traveling next year with our almost 2-year old to Disney. I was wondering of anyone who has done this, do all the resorts have cribs you can rent? What about offsite hotels? If so are they decent and big enough for a 21 month old? I am not sure she will be old enough to sleep in her own bed, will she?

Hotel cribs are on the small side, no matter the hotel. They are also a little on the flimsy side. Thats not to say you couldn't use one. I've used them with fairly good results when my son and daughter were less than 2 years old.

Also, did you usually come back for the afternoon to nap?

When we last went to Disney, and my son was over 2.5 years old (really almost 3, and obviously no crib at this point), we nearly always tried to go back to the hotel to give him a nap, and my 4.5 year old daughter needed a break, too. In fact we all needed a break!!! If you have only one child to worry about, and you don't want to leave the park, you could consider letting them nap in their stroller, because at some point they will fall a sleep in the stroller anyway. We've done this and I'll just sit down at a bench with a soda, and relax, myself. I would recommend taking a break yourself, though, it's much more tiresome doing Disney with a little one, than by yourselves.

What did you do while they napped, since all in the same room.

Now that we have kids, we always get a 1-2 bedroom suite/villa, so us adults can have some time to ourselves during naptime, and when the kids go to bed. It lets us unwind after a long day. Thats why we find it so difficult to stay on property now a days, since the price is really expensive if you want more than a studio. If you like staying on proprety, POP, or one of the All Stars (not sure which) has family suites now, I think, though for less money you could also look off site, there are plenty to choose from. If you do have a studio room after all, your little one may be really tired for that nap, and would probably sleep through anything, so you may not have to worry about that. Good luck!

 

[dayrewerts]

We visited Disney for the first time this past June with our DD who was 2 1/2 at the time. Now that we have a child, we always try to stay in a condo when we travel. DD really needs a nap everyday, and if we're staying in a hotel, those 2 hours while she naps are BORING because you can't watch tv or talk or do anything! We've found that 1 or 2 bedroom condos are very close to the same price as a hotel room. We stayed at Windsor Hills this past June, and we're staying there again when we visit in March. For 7 nights, we're staying in a 2 bedroom condo in WH for $600 total - taxes included. We also found some 1 bedroom condos at Villa del Sol for rates ranging from $400-$500 for the week. And those rates are for Easter week - a holiday period! That's no more than a cheap hotel. (If you're interested in a condo, we start by looking through vrbo.com. You can email the condo owners directly, and many of the owners will offer you prices lower than what they list on their site.)

We did come back to the condo every day so DD could get a nap. She really needed it, and so did we. It was very hot and humid at MK in June, so the rest was good for all of us. WH was only about 15 mins from MK, so it was easy to leave the park for a break.

When we do stay in hotels, we've always gotten rooms with a king size bed, and DD just sleeps in between us. We rented a crib once, but it seemed flimsy and dirty.

Good luck and have fun! Our DD is still talking - every day - about her trip to Disney World. She had a blast! That's why we're going back so soon!

 

[suzzzze]

One suggestion that we always found that helped was if we rented a crib we always brought along crib sheets from home, grandsons's favorite pillow & pillowcase and of course the must have blankie. At least then things he was sleeping on and with were familiar.