First Disneyland Trip with a Toddler

[brittainy]

Hi everyone! We leave in 2 weeks for our first trip to Disney with our 1.5 year old. We only have 2 days in the parks (we do have hoppers). Those of you that have taken similar-aged kids, what rides did/didn't they enjoy? I want to make sure we get as much in as she will enjoy! It will be myself, DH and my mom & dad so we will definitely take advantage of rider swap on the big rides she can't go on, too.

 

[disneymouse16]

The last trip I had a 1.5 year old she wasn't overly fond of many rides. They didn't upset her but the only ones she actively enjoyed were the carousel, Casey Junior and Dumbo. She did, however, love meeting characters. Some of my favorite pictures from that trip are her hugging Daisy with a completely enraptured look on her face. I thought she would be afraid. Nope, loved everyone we met.

 

[Alex Ash]

Following

 

[figment_jii]

I went with a little one that was slightly older (closer to 2) and he enjoyed IaSW, Peter Pan, the Carousel, Casey Jr, Storybook Land Canal Boats, the railroad (it is not currently operating), the monorail, Dumbo, and the main street vehicles over in DL. In DCA he liked Flik's Flyers, the carousel, and the Little Mermaid. He also enjoyed watching the parades. He wasn't all that interested in meeting the characters, especially the "head" characters. He would wave, but not hug.

He also really enjoyed trying lots of new foods...churros...Mickey ice cream bars...popcorn...

I would also recommend using the Baby Centers (one in each park) whenever possible! They're great...they have a lower/smaller potty (if you're potty training) and pretty nice changing tables (if the child is still in diapers).

 

[DL_Forever]

At that age my kids loved the Fantasy Land rides, Bugs Land rides, Pirates. My daughter was a little nervous of the characters, but would pose with them as long as big brother was between her and them.

 

[brittainy]

The last trip I had a 1.5 year old she wasn't overly fond of many rides. They didn't upset her but the only ones she actively enjoyed were the carousel, Casey Junior and Dumbo. She did, however, love meeting characters. Some of my favorite pictures from that trip are her hugging Daisy with a completely enraptured look on her face. I thought she would be afraid. Nope, loved everyone we met.

I'm curious how mine will respond to the character! She was not fond of Santa this year however at a store grand opening she was fascinated by someone in a giant teddy bear costume. I'm hoping she likes them. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so she's familiar with the fab 5

 

[brittainy]

I went with a little one that was slightly older (closer to 2) and he enjoyed IaSW, Peter Pan, the Carousel, Casey Jr, Storybook Land Canal Boats, the railroad (it is not currently operating), the monorail, Dumbo, and the main street vehicles over in DL. In DCA he liked Flik's Flyers, the carousel, and the Little Mermaid. He also enjoyed watching the parades. He wasn't all that interested in meeting the characters, especially the "head" characters. He would wave, but not hug.

He also really enjoyed trying lots of new foods...churros...Mickey ice cream bars...popcorn...

I would also recommend using the Baby Centers (one in each park) whenever possible! They're great...they have a lower/smaller potty (if you're potty training) and pretty nice changing tables (if the child is still in diapers).

I hadn't even thought of the food! She's going to be in heaven!!!
Thanks for the baby center tip, I had completely forgotten about those.

 

[brittainy]

At that age my kids loved the Fantasy Land rides, Bugs Land rides, Pirates. My daughter was a little nervous of the characters, but would pose with them as long as big brother was between her and them.

I am so sad Pirates will be closed, but I think she's going to like Bugs Land attractions a lot!

 

[Diszona]

Hi everyone! We leave in 2 weeks for our first trip to Disney with our 1.5 year old. We only have 2 days in the parks (we do have hoppers). Those of you that have taken similar-aged kids, what rides did/didn't they enjoy? I want to make sure we get as much in as she will enjoy! It will be myself, DH and my mom & dad so we will definitely take advantage of rider swap on the big rides she can't go on, too.

My kids pretty much loved all the rides they could do at that age. It is a funny age because with both of our kids things like the Haunted Mansion didn't bother them at all when they were that young (since they probably didn't understand what was going on) but when they got a little older they became more cautious of "scary" things. Fortunately that didn't last long for them though. Also they liked the parades (especially MSEP, which was at WDW at that time) but they really liked the fireworks. Fantasmic was actually the only thing that scared my daughter, but she fell asleep during WOC.

 

[coaches24]

My DD when she was 2 LOVED the carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Small world, playing around in toon town at Goofys house and Donalds Boat. She loved ALice also. Casey Jr train, and the DL train were big hits as well. She loved Bugs land rides but that was about it in DCA at that time (Before Ariel and Cars land).

She liked Buzz but didnt really know what to do, she just rode and looked around.

 

[agamble]

At that age my kids loved everything they went on. They don't have the fear sensors that older kids do so Snow White and Pinocchio aren't really scary for them in the way they might be at 2.5 or 3. We've never had one of our kids be scared of any theming at any park. Our three year-old son was afraid of the log flume type ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain this summer, big bummer since it was one of the few rides that even the baby could ride. I think outside rides like the Carousel, Dumbo, and Casey Junior are pretty big hits with most tots. If she's having a blast and you think she's braver, try the teacups. My kids loved those at all ages. And if she's tall enough Mater's is a lot of fun. Mater and Luigi are both 32" rides.

My daughter loved meeting characters at that age. She wasn't afraid of them, and unlike Santa you won't be asking her to sit on anyone's lap. Around two she became timid around the Princesses and other "real" characters, but Mickey and Pooh were still favorites. My mother's favorite part of our trip when our oldest was one was watching her toddle over to Pooh Bear and give him a hug.

 

[brittainy]

Your responses are making me 100x more excited!! This trip was initially for me because I'm turning 30 next week, but I wanted it for her! It's going to be magical!!

**edited to correct grammar/spelling

 

[ClaraOswald]

We took our son when he was not quite 17 months (trip report in my signature if you're super bored...ha!) He held onto us kind of tight on the dark rides but he did okay. Honestly, it was hard to tell what he actually liked. But he tolerated everything we took him on. (We chose to skip things like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates since they are kind of long. Also skipped Storybook boats and Jungle Cruise for basically the same reason.) I think his favorites were Monsters Inc. and It's a Small World. He loved the characters. We weren't sure if he would so we hadn't really planned to meet any. But we went into Big Thunder Ranch (RIP) and he ran right over to Jessie. So after that we made sure to meet some more.

He enjoyed watching the parade at California Adventure.

He was still sort of unsteady on his feet so he was kind of stuck in his stroller a lot. By the end of the day he was bored so we didn't really stay in the parks late. It was hard to find safe places for him to run around. But our favorite place was probably the area where the Tinkerbell meet and greet was. At night, there was no meet so it was pretty empty in there.

Definitely use the baby care centers. They are great!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

You can preview lots of the rides on YouTube to get an idea of what your daughter might really go for or not. (Plus, watching the videos will get you even more excited for your trip!) At that age, our oldest liked pretty much everything he was tall enough to ride, especially anything he could "drive" (like Dumbo). He loved riding teacups to watch other cups spin. Youngest only liked Toontown and Bugs Land at that age. Anything dark was a no go. It took a long time to get him to try IASW because he couldn't see where the boats went once they entered the building! He thought it might be like POTC. But he loved, loved, loved waving at characters and eating food. And any parade was total magic!

 

[MacMama0930]

http://dlrprepschool.com/a-toddler-focused-disneyland-trip/

 

[DLfan4]

check out the Dis teams podcast on Disneyland with babies/toddlers
http://www.disboards.com/threads/di...-episode-index-live-show-sundays-7pm.2855816/

listen to the one called 1/25/2016 Disneyland is MY land: the Free years.