How tough is it w/a 2 yr old?

[duck_adoo]

Hi,
I'm sure there are many of you who have travelled w/2 yr olds..but this is our first time w/the baby (we're going in Aug). Our older 2 dd's are 9. We usually will go into the park early, leave in the afternoon, then go back late afternoon. We're staying at POR. I know we can do the parent swap, but which rides will we be able to go on? I'm thinking pretty much all of fantasyland. There will be 5, but I'm figuring the baby can sit on one of our laps. Any other tips or suggestions?
Thanks!
Cheryl

 

[Loops]

I'll let you know next week.....we are leaving on Monday with our twin 2 year olds. We took them when they turned 1 and they were able to go on rides that didn't have height restrictions. We went on dumbo, magic carpets, tea cups, carousel, it's a small world. They can also ride on Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz lightyear. I'm sure there are a few others.

Have fun!

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

We went last year with our disney son who was 12 months at the time. We were able to take him on everything that didn't have a height restriction, which is really quite a bit. He did great. This year we are going in Dec. He will be just over two.

 

[jwfla422]

Our first trip to WDW was when dd was 2 (we've been there more than 14 times since!! How spoiled are we!! or is she, he he)...anyway...

I'm guessing your 2 year old is a girl? It will probably be helpful having your older dd's as well. Your 2 year old can sit on your lap for any of the shows or movies. Just keep in mind some of the movies or shows or even attractions can be loud and intense (which can be frightening for a young child), but if that doesn't bother her then you can take her on many of the slower rides:

Fantasyland-
Pooh
Small World (definitely)
Cinderella's Carrousel
Dumbo
Peter Pan's Flight
Mickey's PhilharMagic (this can be very intense-my dd had to be taken out of here when she was 5!)

Toontown-see the characters and there's a great little playground there

Adventureland
Jungle Cruise
Enchanted Tiki Room
Pirates of the Caribbean (if she's ok with that type of atmosphere)

Frontierland
Tom Sawyer Island
Country Bear Jamboree (if it's still there)

Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Buzz Lightyear
Carasoul of Progress

and the WDW Railroad

Have fun!!

 

[cbs]

As you're paying for your 9 year olds and the 2 year old is free, you'll appreciate the 2 year old more. We took our 2 yo daughter on all of the rides mentioned a post or two above. You may have to split up a little with the 9 year olds to keep them happy, but I don't think it should be a problem. We're going back in a few weeks with our now older daughter and our 2 yo son.

 

[kaydoggy]

We went to Disneyworld last year with our 2 year old twins, and Disneyland this year. You would be surprised, there is more that they can ride then they can't. One thing I learned on the first trip is that you have to temper your expectations about how much you can do. My two never made it much past 2pm during the day, and we never seemed to have any energy to go back later in the evening. It was funny to watch what things they enjoyed the most. We had to stop and watch a music group by Mission Space for what seemed like forever because they just loved it. But now I have two "junior jamitars?".

 

[taximomfor4]

We took our 4 kids (11/6/5/2) over Easter week. CROWDED and hot. Well, the 2yo enjoyed every single thing we did (3D shows, Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, EVERYTHING!) She never got crabby really. She dropped right to sleep every night.

Now the older kids, OTOH, never agreed on what they wanted to do. The 6yo wanted only to go to AK, the 5yo only wanted rides which meant MK or Spaceship Earth at EPCOT (he called it the ride in the big golf ball). The 11yo liked to lord her greater age and size over the younger siblings. All in all it went great, but the 2yo was by far the easiest, happiest, best behaved. And oooooooh, the extra attention she got from characters and during parades!!

Beth

 

[henrylovespooh]

We have taken a 2 year old there twice and had a great time. We rode everything we wanted and did the swap when we needed to. We had a great time and would do it again.

 

[PratersloveDW]

We have taken our DS2 4 times starting at 6 mos old. Each time it was a joy. At 2yrs, DS loves Mickey Mouse and many of the other characters. It is so much fun to watch him run up to them - since he doesn't seem to have much of a fear yet. Also, as otehr posters have said, it is amazing at how many things you can do with a small child. I have never felt that we missed out on anything, especially due to the child swap.

A couple of things we are always careful of...

Beware of the heat. If it starts getting too hot out, our DS gets very aggitated. We are always careful not to let him overheat - it can ruin the day for everyone.

Be sure to keep him/her hydrated. DS drinks a lot of water anyway but in Florida, he drinks almost twice as much, so we always take a water bottle to fill up at fountains.

And we found the most important to be sure to keep your child on their routine. Our DS wakes up pretty early so it was easy to get to the parks at opening (or close to). This helped us get plenty accomplished before his nap. Since he always takes a nap at noon (1 PM Disney time), we would leave the parks no later than 12:30 PM, in order to give us ample time to get him to the room and settled down. Even if he didn't sleep, we would keep him calm by reading a book or taking a quiet swim (that usually tired him out). We would head back to the parks when he woke and then either head home before his bed time or there were times he would fall as leep in the stroller and that would give us more time in the parks!!! But Ionly give this bit of advice because we found out the hrad way what can happen if you take your child off their routine - it wasn't fun!!

Enjoy and have a magical time!

 

[Robin's Mom]

We took our princess when she was 2-1/2. Since she is an only child, we just planned to do what ever she wanted to do. We did not set any goal that way there were no disappointments if we missed something.

We had only one major eruption and that was when Mary Poppins had to leave. Otherwise, she was a happy camper!

We made sure that she got plenty of rest and I think that was the key to our success.

 

[Spartan]

At that age, the only things my son didn't like were Fantasmic and Illuminations (because of the loudness). We also took him when he was about 17 months, and he liked them at that time, and liked them again when he was 3. Just something about being 2 where they scared him.