How much is too much with a toddler?

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

We have traveled to WDW with our DD every year from 10 mos old until she was 5 then every two years until age 12 then every 3 years.

Our next visit is in Jan 2009 and we will have our DD, DGS and DSIL with us. It's DGS 1st trip!! He will be 21 months at time.

With DD we could go all day every day and she would sleep in the stroller when tired. Never a problem or complaint from her. Very easy going child, well at least until her teenage year but then that's another story.

Anyway I would like to know what others do with their toddlers. How much is too much? Do you try for things such as Illuminations and Wishes with early breakfast ADRs the next morning? What kind of schedule do you keep?

As I look at our plans, ADR"s and ppark hours and events I am afraid of wearing the little guy out. Right now, he tends to take after DD with an easy going personality. (Hope that remains but only time will tell.) No temper tantrums. He is just barely on 2 naps a day as of now but know this will change by Disney. Just don't know how much is pushing it. To me Illumination at 9 pm is very late especially with an early ADR the next morning? Have any of you done it with your toddlers?

Please give hints, tips, advice, suggestions andy help at all.

My DGS and I thank you

 

[Doc CW]

With my babysister we leave the room whenever she wakes up and we go until mid-day when the heat gets bad and we will take her back to the room to get her out of the heat, otherwise if its not too hot we let her sleep in the stroller for a mid-day nap. When she wakes back up is when we go bakc out until late in the evening because she will generally fall asleep at about 11:00 pm (she is a night owl girl) and thats how we handle it. My advice would be to let them go until they get tired and the when they are take them back to the room cause it is usually too warm outside to nap comfortably and when he wakes up take him back to the parks and go until he gets tired enough for bedtime and if he can stay up late let him so that he wares himself out for a deeper sleep.

 

[tzolkin]

we just had our first trip, so i don't have too much experience. we wanted to relax and didnt really have a schedule. (i made up a calendar with EMH and info. we knew there were certain days we wanted to do certain parks, but other than that we decided the day before. we did not make any ADRs-- we went grocery shopping and ate some CS meals and snacks in the parks-- because DH didnt want to worry about being somewhere at a certain time since it was our first trip and the kids are young) we were there for 9 days with DD9, DD4, and DS-just turned 2).

4 of days we got up early for EMH (3 at MK, 1 at AK). although my kids are young they don't usually wake up until after 8, so it was early for them to get up at 6:30/7:00. we went to a park until about noon and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. we ALL took a nap until about 4:00. (at home my kids are very energetic and do not nap, but honestly we were all pretty tired at Disney) we then went back to another park until about 8:30. even with the naps, we were all pretty tired by the time we got back to the room and took showers/baths. it was also much easier to leave the parks before closing to avoid the crowds. since we were only at the parks for 4 hours at a time our kids did not nap in their strollers. however, if we had tried to keep them at the park all day or night i don't know if they would have fallen asleep in the strollers or just had over-tired tantrums. we didn't attempt to find out

only once did we stay in a park later-- we took a later nap and headed to MK around 6:00 to watch the parade and fireworks and got back to the room at about midnight. the next day we slept in and just went to one park in the afternoon. i did also take my oldest DD to MK at night while the little ones stayed with daddy and went to bed on a few other days.

 

[Aliceacc]

This will be my kids' first trip to WDW, and we're beyond the toddler stage. But I'm being a lazy mom and spending the day on the computer (or at least it seems that way) so I'll answer anyway.

You have kids, even though they're grown now. You remember that "starting to get cranky" stage where they're starting to whine just a little.

THERE-- that minute-- is when enough is enough. It's time for a cold drink, a cool attraction, and the promise that he'll be in the resort pool in 15 minutes.

One thing I read on TourGuideMike that made a great impression: No ride, no attraction, no character autograph, is worth making the people in your group miserable. Your DGS doesn't know what he's missing. So if he misses the fireworks or the chance to meet Mickey or Fantasmic, he'll still have a wonderful time and so will you. Just keep an eye on how tired he seems, and you'll be fine!

 

[Dopey Rocks!]

THANK YOU, Aliceacc, for your comments!! You are absolutely correct in saying that they do not know what they are missing and will have fun no matter what!!!!

I have a wonderful, full of joy, full of wonder, and full of energy three year old little boy. I just need to sit back, relax, and let him experience "Mickey's House" at his pace.

You have helped my stress level more than you know!

 

[kloh1002]

We went when my DS was 17months. He had just started taking one nap a couple of months before we left. I thought we would have to go back to the room for a nap everyday. I was pleasantly surprised when he would just fall asleep in his stroller! We could continue touring while he slept and he would wake up refreshed and ready for the next ride!
Hope you have a great trip!

 

[familyvacay]

this is helpul thank you

we will be heading back to the hotel for naptime (my daughter is 3 pm)

 

[JNorris]

I know this may sound bizarre to some, but when DD (who is now 10) was a baby/toddler, we would do a park every other day. As she got older, we transitioned to 2 days in the parks then one day off (so in a typical week we usually had at least 2 non-park days). We also sometimes would do an early day, then the next day would be a later day (maybe until closing that night), and then take the 3rd day off.

If children are good nappers, mid-day breaks are great. Our DD would fall asleep in the car or on the monorail on the way back to the resort mid-day, but by the time we moved her to get her in the room, she was back awake, so we would just put on a movie and have a couple of hours in the room before going back.

Now that she is 10, we usually just have one day off in the middle of the week, to just hang around the resort or shop. We just cannot do it commando-style, or we feel like we ran ourselves ragged on vacation!

 

[ppan77]

Go back for a nap every day! We took ds when he was 18 months too...thought he would nap in the stroller...he never did and ended up sick. Dont push it...let them set the pace.

 

[GoinToDisney]

I say play it by ear. It seems most everyone is thinking of the summer months. In the heat, I would say go back to the room. However, it looks to me like you will be going in the winter, so the heat shouldn't really be an issue. As far as late nights followed by early morning reservations, I don't like them very much. I think it is harder on the grown-ups to be honest. You grandson will probably fall asleep in the stroller whenever he gets tired. However, it can't hurt to have a breakfast reservation that you could cancel if you are too tired. then, if he is up and you feel like going, you can, and if not you can cancel.

 

[MoniqueU]

Honestly I wore out before they did. There is no way I could go to a 8 am ADR and make it to a parade or show at 9pm. My brain would be melting out of my skull by then. I would highly suggest breaking it up with a nap or a swim and a drink for YOU to regroup. Kids usually hold out better in strollers and I always required mine to ride in a stroller or hold on to the side of it til they were a little older and more aware that them running here and there was a problem for the adults around them trying to dodge out for little kids. He should be fine and rested, it's the rest of you I am worried about.

 

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

After reading all of your comments I think we are best just allowing DGS to set his own pace on our trip. Not to overthink it. He may end up being as easy going aand laid back as his mom was when she was his age or then again he may get frustrated and tire more easily. Who know? Each child is different. I can't at this stage perdict what he will do so I feel we should just see how he does each day and adjust our schedule accordingly. I have ADR's scheduled each day but they can be easily cancelled if the need arises. We just need to be flexable and see how things go day to day.

My most important goal for this trip is that everyone, most importantly our Lil' Peanut has a good time. For him that may mean just ruinning around, smiling and laughing at Mickey, playing and checking things out. So be it!

Thanks everybody for your imput.

 

[Aliceacc]

See??? I TOLD you that a mom never forgets!!

You'll have a wonderful trip, I'm sure!!

 

[badblackpug]

After reading all of your comments I think we are best just allowing DGS to set his own pace on our trip. Not to overthink it. He may end up being as easy going aand laid back as his mom was when she was his age or then again he may get frustrated and tire more easily. Who know? Each child is different. I can't at this stage perdict what he will do so I feel we should just see how he does each day and adjust our schedule accordingly. I have ADR's scheduled each day but they can be easily cancelled if the need arises. We just need to be flexable and see how things go day to day.

My most important goal for this trip is that everyone, most importantly our Lil' Peanut has a good time. For him that may mean just ruinning around, smiling and laughing at Mickey, playing and checking things out. So be it!

Thanks everybody for your imput.

Yes very smart. We don't over plan (actually other than ADR's we don't plan at all!) I iknow people would like to shoot me for that, but we go at the kids pace. If they want to see or do things more than once we let them (ToT 11 times in a row last year!) We don't set early ADR's. We have stressfull lives in the real world and we like to relax on vacation. Some days we sleep in, some days we don't. It all depends on how everyone is feeling. Just relax and enjoy!

 

[Cory's Gal]

We took my DS right after he turned 2 in Jan of 2007, it was a great time to go. Because the parks were not open as late and the weather was cooler, he wasn't super tired out. Wishes sometime went off at 7 or 8 and most days he would snooze for a bit in the stroller. It was a wonderful time of year to go and he wasn't thrown too far off his bedtime/wake-up time. We did do Illuminations (it's always at 9pm) and then played the next morning by ear, we tried not to rush and get up that next day. The parks weren't over crowded and we took short breaks at the playful spots in Mk and AK, touring WS at Epcot slowed us down some which was nice. We only went back to the room for naps 1 time on the second to the last day of our week. We had a wonderful time and so did DS, it was a memorable trip. Be flexible, that really was the key for us!

 

[Wendybird55]

We're taking our son for the first time in Sept. He will be 23months when we go.It will be Me, DH, my sister and DS. My sister and I have een to Disney many times and DH and I went in 2006.

Since this is my son's first time, we don't kno what to expect so our plan is to let him be our guide so to speak.
Since we have all been we don't care waht we see and do - everything is being planned around I think will be best for my DS.

I made breakfast & dinner ADRS based on his regular eating schedule. I am bringing his stroller so he will be comfortable and possibly nap when tired. I am bringing his favorite snacks and making sure I have plenty of water for him.

I have a basic idea of what parks we plan to visit on each day. Right now my thought is we will go back to the room in the afternoon probably somewhere betwen 2 & 3 to rest and hoepfully my son will nap. Then go out to dinner afterwards.

DS fights sleep as he likes to constantly be active. This past Saturday may parents had a family BBQ. He go up is usual time (around 7am)had breakfast and we went over early to help set up. I gave him lunch around 12:30 (his usual time) and guest arrived around 1pm. There were little girls there and he had a great time playing with them and everyone else. He went the entire day withuout a nap -it was past 9pm and we were still at my parents and he was up - he was getting a little cranky but doint OK. As soon as I put him in the car he went out like a light!

So my plan is to keep him cool and try to stick to his usual meal schedule. As far as sleep I am planning on a late afternoon nap as he usually does, but if he does and prefers different then I will go with the flow.

I think it's best to do as you plan - let your grandchild be your guide and just have fun!