How many park days with toddlers?

[annainohio]

We are taking our two child, 1 and 3, this summer. Any suggestions for fir many dats we should spend in the park? Thanks.

 

[mrsp1030]

What dates are you going? How long do you plan to stay?

 

[Kpskyman]

Going with 2 young girls, this was our plan and it worked great. We did no park hoppers, 2 days magic kingdom, 1/2 day AK, 1 day HS, 1 day EPCOT, and 1 day in the middle to rest and enjoy the resorts. AK does not have very much for toddlers, they played in the Dino dig and rode the spinning Dino's, saw FOTLK and FN shows, and did the animal walks. IMO you could skip that day if you have a local zoo you can visit at home, and wait until kids are older. We did one rope drop at MK and went straight to FL where the tots have the most fun. All other days you can pretty much sleep in a bit if you plan FP+ right.

 

[wallskm]

We have a 2 year old an a 4 year old. This is our plan when we go in April

Day 1: Animal Kingdom, then hop in the evening to Magic Kingdom (the Electrical parade is not showing on our 2 MK days so we are going just in the evening to do a couple rides and see the parade).
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Day 3: MK
Day 4: MK
Day 5: Epcot
Day 6: 1/2 day MK, 1/2 day either HS or possibly swim/DTD
Day 7: 1/2 day AK, 1/2 day Epcot

We did a break day on our last trip and it ended up only being a half break day and we went to MK in the late afternoon. We had a similar schedule last time as well (the kids were 16 months and 3 then). We don't really do a break at the resort every day but some days we do (like days we hop we will go to the resort first). A couple of those days aren't open-close days.

So as you can see we do 2 full MK days and 2 1/2 days there. I suspect we will only do the 1 HS day, AK is 2 1/2 days (though really could be just 1 1/2 day), and Epcot is 1 1/2 days for us.

 

[Kristina4109]

My advice: you know your kids better than anyone else. We tried the "take the kid back to the resort for a nap" strategy and my daughter did NOT nap but sang "It's A Small World" at the top of her lungs for an hour. Sigh.

I really do think breaking up the day is a good idea with kids that young, but with that age "expect the unexpected" is kind of the way to go. Have a loose plan but be flexible in case they get tired, overstimulated, or surprise you by being completely alert and awake for 13 hours!

 

[annainohio]

My advice: you know your kids better than anyone else. We tried the "take the kid back to the resort for a nap" strategy and my daughter did NOT nap but sang "It's A Small World" at the top of her lungs for an hour. Sigh.

I really do think breaking up the day is a good idea with kids that young, but with that age "expect the unexpected" is kind of the way to go. Have a loose plan but be flexible in case they get tired, overstimulated, or surprise you by being completely alert and awake for 13 hours!

Ahk! I was envisioning them being tired and sleeping! 13 hours awake. Maybe I should reconsider staying at the double tree so we have separate rooms...

 

[annainohio]

What dates are you going? How long do you plan to stay?

We're going June 11th to the 17th.

 

[robndani]

Speaking from experience I would skip Hollywood Studios. It's not needed at their age. My kids are 4 and can still only do a few things. I think 2 days at MK, 1/2 day AK, and 1 day at Epcot (unless it's during the Food and Wine Festival, then I'd say a week there...lol). You may want to throw in extra pool day too!

ENJOY!

 

[smiths02]

When my son was about to turn 3, we went in June for 7 nights.
We went to each park for 1/2 day...rope drop or EMH until about lunch or early afternoon if we ate lunch in park, then back to resort for nap/swim, then a nice dinner...then bed
Fireworks/shows were just too late for us.
We did 1/2 day at DHS, 1/2 day Epcot, 1/2 day AK, 2-1/2 days at MK, 1 resort day

That is our touring style.

 

[annainohio]

When my son was about to turn 3, we went in June for 7 nights.
We went to each park for 1/2 day...rope drop or EMH until about lunch or early afternoon if we ate lunch in park, then back to resort for nap/swim, then a nice dinner...then bed
Fireworks/shows were just too late for us.
We did 1/2 day at DHS, 1/2 day Epcot, 1/2 day AK, 2-1/2 days at MK, 1 resort day

That is our touring style.

That sounds like the basic plan we will go with. I think we will spend a reasonable amounting time at the resort. I have reservations at Caribbean beach but I'm considering the double tree because it is a suite. I'm torn because I think our family could really benefit from the suite but also think that the disney resorts have more to offer.

 

[ktlm]

When my daughter was 2, we did 2 days MK, 1 day EPCOT, 1 day AK (really 1/2 a day because she didn't like it there) and 1 day DHS. We did not do any non-park days and we did not really spend much time at the resorts because all she cared about was the parks. In the mornings, once she was awake and moving, she would be standing at the door with her stroller telling the rest of us to hurry up. She was not remotely interested in spending time at the resort and would not have stood for an off day. It may be pretty hot when you go, so they may be more interested in the pool. We found that 1 day was not enough time at EPCOT for us which was by far her favorite park after MK, so when she was 3, we added a 2nd day at EPCOT.

We had a somewhat similar experience to Kristina4109 in regard to the mid-day break- it did not work at all for us. The first day of DD's first trip, we dragged a kicking screaming 2 year old who did not want to leave out of MK and when we got to the resort she was so made that she refused to nap and mostly stood behind the curtain in the room- for 2 or 3 hours! We then gave up and went back to MK, at which time she happily climbed right into her stroller with a big smile and took a nap. After that it was open to close in the parks with stroller naps for us! So- the advice to be flexible is probably the best advice at all with toddlers. You have to figure out what is going to work for them and you won't know that for sure until you are actually there and see how they react.

 

[momof2buffalo]

We went last year with 9 m old and 3 yet old, days as follows-- 2 mk 1 hs 1 ak and skipped Epcot, it worked well!! This year doing it all again and adding 1/2 day at Epcot - next year maybe adding one more day!

 

[laughinplace199]

When my son was about to turn 3, we went in June for 7 nights.
We went to each park for 1/2 day...rope drop or EMH until about lunch or early afternoon if we ate lunch in park, then back to resort for nap/swim, then a nice dinner...then bed
Fireworks/shows were just too late for us.
We did 1/2 day at DHS, 1/2 day Epcot, 1/2 day AK, 2-1/2 days at MK, 1 resort day

That is our touring style.

This is what we did when our oldest two kids were small. We didn't have any non-park days, but most days were half days at the parks.

We'd also plan for one late night, but the rest of the nights, they were in bed close to their regular bed time. They needed this to avoid meltdowns.

However, child #3 was a different story. There's a bit of an age gap between my older two and the youngest, so he was always trying to keep up with the big kids. Luckily, he has a very "go with the flow" personality, so we could stay at the parks later, skip rests at the resort, etc and it wouldn't matter. He'd just conk out on the stroller when he needed to.

 

[tzolkin]

We do 10 straight park days, but we never spend all day in a park. When mine were toddler/preschool age our plan was usually am EMH for 3-4 hours, back to the resort, then go to another park in the evening for a few hours (maybe 5-8pm).

Because this was what worked best for us we would not consider staying offsite. We spent a lot of time at the resort and we enjoyed using the Disney transportation. We always drive to FL so we had our own vehicle but we never used it. This was also very convenient if we decided to split up or DH wanted to take our younger two back to the resort while I stayed with older DD.

We also felt that park hoppers were a necessity for us (I know many families feel differently). I would plan part of a day (usually am EMH, but maybe "dinner at Epcot on Tuesday") and with the PHs we had the freedom to do whatever else we felt like. Our first trip we just spent maybe 2-3 hours at AK and DHS. If we hadn't had PHs so we could hop to Epcot we would have felt that we had wasted two park days.

 

[eliz603]

My advice: you know your kids better than anyone else. We tried the "take the kid back to the resort for a nap" strategy and my daughter did NOT nap but sang "It's A Small World" at the top of her lungs for an hour. Sigh.

I really do think breaking up the day is a good idea with kids that young, but with that age "expect the unexpected" is kind of the way to go. Have a loose plan but be flexible in case they get tired, overstimulated, or surprise you by being completely alert and awake for 13 hours!

YES! THIS!!

We just plan on being flexible. Some days we take breaks, other days, it just hasn't been necessary. My three kids are all quite different from each other, with of course our most spirited and difficult sleeper being the youngest! We are doing 5 days in park this year again. The most we've done was 7, and we took one of those days off for Typhoon Lagoon, then another afternoon at Blizzard Beach. However, that was also during one of the slowest weeks of the year.

 

[fanoftigger]

We were there last year May 29-June 4, my son was 20 months old, niece was 6, nephew 10. It was hot, we felt mid-day breaks were necessary to cool everyone down. We did a park every day. Sometimes my son napped in the room, sometimes he didn't. But for him, the break from the park and the cooling down were good things. He slept well at night while we were there. He's not a stroller sleeper, but he did it at least 3 times. Our last night we stayed at MK until midnight, got lots of rides in. My son fell asleep after we rode Haunted Mansion and slept through POTC.

It gets very hot in the summer here at home (95-105 F), but we don't go run around in it all day at home. So the heat zapped us.

 

[rainspine]

Any suggestion for a 1 year old baby and 6 years old? It would be sometime July-August.

Thanks.

 

[Kpskyman]

Speaking from experience I would skip Hollywood Studios. It's not needed at their age. My kids are 4 and can still only do a few things. I think 2 days at MK, 1/2 day AK, and 1 day at Epcot (unless it's during the Food and Wine Festival, then I'd say a week there...lol). You may want to throw in extra pool day too!

ENJOY!

I disagree with this. Most toddler age kids know the Disney Jr shows better then the Disney movie characters, and HS is the only park which you can see these characters. When visiting with young kids, your day will more likely be spent visiting characters then enjoying attractions. MK has the most characters, and we try to visit the princesses and the fairies there, and maybe a couple other singles if we see them and lines are short. EPCOT is next with many characters in the WP. We see Belle and Beast in France, Mary Poppins and Alice in England, and the FW has an area to see Mickey and the gang. HS has the Dis JR characters, Mike and Sulley, Sorceror Mickey, Buzz and Woody, and a few other walkarounds, finally at AK we usually see the Pooh gang, and a few others scattered around. As far as attractions for toddlers at HS, Disney Jr live, VOTLM, BATBL,HISTKP, and MV are all favorites.

 

[mcurran]

Went last fall with my 3 DD and 9 month old DS. Every kid is different and you have to know yours. My son was just so relax and chill and was a good traveler. We tried to go back to the hotel for a nap but my daughter pouted cried, and never slept at the hotel. It was a disaster. So the next day she napped in her umbrella stroller while we walked around the park for an hour - much better!

As for # days and which parks...

AK is a waste for kids that little. It's not a good enough zoo to compete with major zoos and the rides for kids that age are better at MK. The safari was good, but it does not make a full day. It's too "sophisticated" for little kids - just my opinion.

MK has so much to offer - visiting princesses and mickey were highlights along with the carosel. You could go there a couple days and ride other stuff too, but that's what she loved the most.

HS was great for the Disney Jr. stuff. Get breakfast or lunch at hollywood & vine for sure! Well worth it. Midway mania was super fun for DD.

Epcot was a nice middle-trip day - kids napped for a few hours around the world showcase and still lots of interaction with charactors in the front.

We did 3 MK, 1 HS, 1 Epcot, 1 AK - and we should have swapped that AK for a 2nd day at HS.

We were lazy some days getting there and played by the pool in the AM and some days we went home earlier to go back to the pool again at night. For our kids, a rope drop to park close day was not in the cards. But that wasn't in mom or dad's cards either! Kids wear you out, don't forget! Add in sun and stimulation and everyone sleeps well.

CBR was a great place to stay for kids because the kid pool is the best. But the downside of getting 2 beds in your room there is they are both full - not queen like all of the other resorts. Just fyi.

 

[kboo]

I think it really depends on the kid and what they're into. When we went last summer, DD was 21 months and we did no park hoppers, and 2 days MK, 2 days EP, 1 day AK. Our daughter loved AK and we will probably spend a bit more time there next trip. 2 days, or 2 half days. We didn't make it to HS at all, and didn't feel like we missed much since DD doesn't know any of the Dis Jr characters. Epcot was ... eh. She did play around in the innoventions areas a bit, but we all would have had more fun in the World Showcase but that didn't even open until 11 and by 11 we were having lunch and getting ready to head back to the condo for afternoon nap. (DD is not a stroller napper)

Last summer, we mainly stayed offsite and it was a real drag to go back and forth, but it was definitely worth it in terms of having a non-cranky toddler for the times we WERE in the park.