help planning first trip with 3 3/4 and 15 month old

[firsttimeworldlodger]

Our daughter is 3 3/4 and we have a very active 15 1/2 month old. Can you give recommendations for activites, things to do? This is our first overnight trip we just booked it 2 days ago and I have had no time to plan for it and have very little time to read boards and do research. We are going in 5 days, we will stay at WL for 6 nights. Do I sound nervous? I am and VERY excited!

For the events we take the 15 month old to she does not stay seated at dinner and she will want to run around, I don't mind so much but I don't want to be stressed because it's not appropriate for the seating arrangements or the setting/atmosphere. We have no PS at this point. No first night plans either. Activites were thinking of are: Chef mickey's, hoop de doo, ohana's (what's the big deal with this?), mickey's backyard BBQ (too cold?) or just going to MK and having dinner at CP. I also thought the tea party and pirate boat would be OK since she goes to school without me several days a week for several hours and is potty trained. Please help if you can with recommendations.

Also, any recommendations on how to not go broke on dining or should I not worry about that and just make ps for as many character meals as possible? I like the idea of seeing Mickey the first night, then maybe AK character breakfast the first morning with ps (if I can get it) for more mickey then do AK the first day. I've heard doing MK after the other parks is desirable. We can see Tiger and Pooh maybe for lunch the next day or so at MK. Any other recommendations of character meals? She's not really into princesses but might like them?

Thanks for reading the long message and your help!

 

[estherhead]

I've gone to the park with kids this age and my advice may sound radical, but we ate at very few sitdown places, including character meals. We did only one last time and it was a breakfast while the kids were not tired and thus controllable. Honestly, kids want to run around and then fall over asleep with very little "sit-down" time in between.

So my advice is to do the parks and any sit down meals in the am or lunch time. In the evening go to your hotel and order in. The kids are then free to roam about and free play without disturbing others and you are off your feet and can stop stressing about them bothering others. It also will save you money.

If you hate that idea, an alternative is to go home for lunch. Get to the parks EARLY!!! Take little finger snacks into the park to keep the kids happy through the morning and head home around 1pm. Eat pb&j sandwiches and fruit from a cooler in your room and let the kids have 2 hours or so to unwind and relax, maybe in the pool. Then head back to the parks for late afternoon and dinner.

Both of the above options work for my young family. The only thing that DOESN'T work is 3 sit down meals in restaurants and an entire 12 hours in the parks. It exhausts us all and makes me crabby about the amount of money I'm spending.

Also, don't forget about Belle's Storytime. GREAT place to chill with the kids for a bit. We always grab some french fries and water for them and they sit and watch Belle in the shade for a bit. Nice and relaxing. With kids that age any time nice and relaxing go together it's a don't miss attraction! Also, watch out for Winnie the Pooh. It scared both my kids at 1 1/2. Those hufflelumps can be more frightening than you figure. I'd test them out in it's a Small World before trying Pooh.

Finally, try one of those harnass things for your 15 month old. Some kids hate them and won't wear them, but boy is it nice when they will. I normally hold the kid's hand while we're walking, but in line holding hands gets tiresome and with one of those harnasses the kid can be a bit free to explore without giving you a heart attack every three seconds. And though at the mall moms glare, at Disney people are just thrilled to see you still have your kid in sight. Especially when a character happens by. Many a kid under 3 have I lost to a chance encounter with Buzz or Goofy. Off they go and a kid on a mission to meet Buzz Lightyear runs faster than a speeding bullet!

If you need any other tips, please ask. I've gone for the past 4 years with small kids and had amazing times every time, without going broke.

Esther

 

[Ellester]

Well, first of all, you are going to have a wonderful time! We've taken our kids when our first dd was 2 and 2-1/2 and then when she was 5 and little sis was 20 months and when she was 5 1/2 and little sis was 2. It is such a great age to see the wonder in their faces. One thing to consider, do you think your little one will do OK with the characters? When our dd was 2, Mickey totally freaked her out. She was OK with the face characters (princesses, etc.), but the costumed heads were just too much for her. You may want to make sure your little one can handle them before you try a bunch of character meals. Also, you might consider doing the buffet ones (Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, etc). That way you can get the food right away and hopefully keep the kids happy. The restaurants are so crowded and busy it will not be possible to let a toddler run around safely. If you don't think she can sit until the characters come around to your table, you might want to skip the character meals since they are pricey. I'm pretty sure kids have to be at least 4 for the Pirate Cruise and Tea Party, so you'll probably have to hold off on those until they are older. My best advice would be just to go at the pace of your kids. There's a possiblity that the thing they'll like the most is the pool at the hotel! The World can be very over stimulating for little kids, it's important to give them the down time they need. Have a great time!

 

[DisneyKeith]

How exciting!

We took my daughter at 3.5 and she had a GREAT time.

The Wonderland Tea Party and Pirate Adventure are for children ages 4 and older.

Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL is a great place to take kids for dinner. The waiters are very animated and the food is really good. No one would notice an active little one here because there is so much going on.

We love Downtown Disney Marketplace. They have a great Lego themed playground and the Once Upon a Toy Store is an attraction all by itself. Have you heard about the Fill Your Own Mr. Potato Head box deal? Your 3 year old would love that!

Good luck with the PS.

 

[henrylovespooh]

I stayed at WL two years ago with a 2 year old and 10 month old. They both loved eating at Whispering Canyon. We ate there our first night. There is a chance there to get up and have a little parade, which the kids love. We also got lots of meals at the food court there and ate in our room so the kids weren't trapped in chairs. Another idea, if you get in mid-day, is to take the boat over to the Wilderness Campground and let the kids run around the petting zoo and eat at the restaurant there. The food is great, cheaper than most resort restaurants, and it is informal so the kids can relax and be themselves.

We shipped a box of food and diapers to our hotel before we left, so we ate breakfast in our room most mornings to save money and time. With the littles ones having no understanding of waiting in lines, our goal was to get to the parks as soon as it opened and in MK, get to Fantasyland so the kids could enjoy their favorite rides first thing. After that, we wandered around the park at a leisurely pace.

I would encourage you to call now for Priority Seatings at Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace. Hoop dee Doo sells out quickly too, so call as soon as you can to see if there is availability. I would suggest lunch at Crystal Palace so you can get the most out of the park in the morning when (hopefully) the crowds will be smaller. A sit down lunch can be a nice break for everyone. We often ate a late lunch there and then went back to the room for downtime.

If your younger child likes to run around, I would encourage you to go to Toon Town Fair at MK, where they can climb and play in the playground area by Mickey and Minnie's House. It's a great place for them to play and get out of a stroller for awhile. My kids also loved the train ride around the park.

There is dinosaur playground at Animal Kingdom that is great for kids too. If you go there, go to Rafiki's Jungle Trek - kids like the train and there is a petting zoo. There are also other areas in AK where kids can walk around and see animals.

We also liked taking our kids onto the beach at WL. There is a playground there too, and they can watch people taking boats out.

 

[maja36]

I too have a 15 mos old going with my dh, my 6yo dd and I on our trip in 3 weeks for 7 nights at pop. What we decided to do is that my dh will spend 2 days with the little one around the hotel etc while dd and I go park hopping for 2 days. My dh doesn't really have interest in the parks.

The little one in my opinion is much better off just walking around the resort and riding in his stroller, while my dd will be just fine with me at the park for a few hours. Both my dh and I will be less stressed.

I have been to the parks many times now and can't count how many times little children (under 3) are just freaking out because they are tired, too noisy, too scary, whatever it might be. So I would suggest ask your dh to flipflop on days in the parks and that way both of you can get complete enjoyment in the park because the almost 4yo will really love it no matter what. Let the little one have proper rest and your vacation will be great.

As for dining, well we have booked numerous character breakfasts. Dinners will for sure not work because the little guy won't sit for more than 3-4 minutes, as you surely understand. The breakfast plan is to feed him first thing in the hotel room, and then enjoy an hour or two with him while my dh and dd go to a peaceful character breakfast. After all, he certainly won't care about the characters and that way the 2 eating breakfast aren't rushed to leave because the baby is all over the place. We will flipflop the breakfast seatings each day so we both get a taste of it, and otherwise will eat at the food court in pop where running around is not a problem with the little one.

There is a good chapter in the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World which discusses these ideas specifically for parents with young children. Ideas like it is very expensive to go to disney, so try to make the best of it by having children nap when they need to. Believe me, I remember my dh when my dd was 2 and we were in the park. She was tired, he was hot and frustrated, it was tough. So now we are wiser. The little one can enjoy the hotel, monorail rides, etc, the older one enjoys the park with one of us at least.

Ask your dh if he is up for that. It is not easy to really have a great time on holiday with little kids, but you can make a hard situation ok by planning ahead, so good luck, and enjoy your trip.

 

[justhat]

We're going in April with our daughter who will be 14 months old the day we come home. I have to disagree about a child that age not caring about characters though. Unless something changes between now and then, my daughter loves them and enjoys interacting with them at every opportunity. We've taken her to WDW at 3, 4, and 9 months and DL at 6 months and except for the trip at 3 months she has loved seeing characters. She starts jumping up and down and squealing everytime she sees one. She's normally pretty friendly, but doesn't like strangers to hold her, but she has let every character hold her, in fact she reaches her arms out to them. I also think kids that age can get a lot from the parks too. Even at 3 months my daughter has enjoyed going out in WDW. At 3 and 4 months she loved anything with lights, especially Spectromagic. At 6 months, lights were still popular, but she started liking 'kiddie' rides, like Pooh, Small World, etc. Last month (she was 9 and 10 months) she loved all the Fantasyland rides, Buzz, the Tiki Birds, Playhouse Disney, Conservation Station (really just the petting fram), and other attractions too. Of course she loved the character meals we did (breakfast at AK, CP, Chef Mickey's) and even did fine in nice dinners too (CG, FF, YS). She had a great time everyday and had no trouble sleeping in the stroller when she got tired.

If you're worried about the 15 month old staying seated at dinner, maybe you could try eating quick, counter service dinners. If you do a character breakfast that will keep you filled most of the day (or at least I am usually filled for a long time), and your baby should be entertained enough by the characters to make it through the meal. Then you could just eat a late lunch/early dinner, and you'd only need to worry about 2 meals a day. Or better yet, eat breakfast in your room or the food court at the resort, then do a character lunch, then a light dinner. I know that's easier without kids, as they should eat better than adults tend to, but if you just plan to sit and eat twice, with healthy snacks in between I'm sure you'll be okay. Also, if your little one really won't stay still, maybe you could time a meal during a naptime and she could sleep in the stroller?

Whatever you end up doing, you'll all have a great time. I do think you'd regret not taking the baby to the parks and character meals as my daughter loves them and (probably) still will in 3 months.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi firsttimeworldlodger,

I know it isn't long until your trip, but if you are running out to Target or somewhere pick up a video called "Beach Party at Walt Disney World". It is a Sing Along Songs video. There are about 5 of them. DD loves them and it will help prepare yours for how big the charaters really are. (It is fun to wacht too, if you don't let the kids with the shacky heads while they sing get to you. )