Itinerary for Toddler

[rachael95]

Please help me plan. This will be the first time DH and I are going with a child to Disney. Our DS will be 2.5. I'm debating on getting a 6 day non-park hopper ticket so we have the option of doing a park or not on an "off" day - or if we have a sick-day or meltdown day, that we'd be able to go some other time.

I'm not planning on going back to the hotel since we'll be about 10 minutes away off property. DS sleeps great in his stroller. He naps in it fairly often on weekends since I can't get him to take a nap in his bed (argg, daycare people say he naps GREAT for them <grumble grumble>, me I have to either drive him around in the car or walk with the stroller to get him to nap.) But I tell myself this is going to be an advantage at Disney.

DS is great in restaurants, so no fears on sit-downs with him, we eat out a LOT. Since DH and I are older parents, we also plan on taking things fairly slowly and are definitely no longer commando types. We do like eating in sit-down restaurants over CS restaurants. Aside from Boma, every restaurant on my list below is new to us. We decided to try other places instead of where we used to go since several of them are now signature places and probably not great for a toddler anyway.

What do you think of this itinerary? Suggestions? Thanks!

Thurs. Sept. 18
Arrive early afternoon (will have spent a night at a hotel 1/2 between TN and FL).
Swim
Dinner Raglan Road

Friday, Sept. 19
Magic Kingdom
Early Breakfast - Any good bakery? maybe sit-down, if so where? Don't really want CRT
Late lunch/Early Dinner Liberty Tree Tavern


Saturday, Sept. 20
Break Day (can't be moved, DSis and DBIL off work this day)
9:30 or 10a.m. Late Breakfast Boma
Spend rest of day at hotel with my sister and her DH

Sunday, Sept. 21
Animal Kingdom day
8:30 a.m. breakfast Tusker House
Dinner outside parks? We like finding local places.


Monday, Sept. 22
EPCOT
8:30a.m. breakfast Akershus
Late lunch/Early Dinner Marrakesh


Tuesday, Sept. 23
Rest during the day
MNSSHP at night (DS's costume is Buzz Lightyear PJs, DH is Woody, and I'm Jessie)
Dinner in park - Maybe The Plaza? Or should we go with something quick?

Wednesday, Sept 24
Open Day - Play by ear
Optional - Maybe Later to HS?

• Sadly avoiding Fantasmic, my favorite, but don't want to scare DS

Optional - Downtown Disney shopping


Thursday, Sept. 25
Epcot - Probably WS only
late lunch San Angel Inn


Friday, Sept. 26
Magic Kingdom
Dinner: Where to eat? Not tied to MK, could be outside parks.

Saturday, Sept. 27
Morning at hotel pool
Leave

 

[MSSANDRA]

It looks really good. We too are "older" parents to our 7 year old so we get it! One thing is not to rule out signature places for a well behaved toddler. Make the reservations a bit earlier but go and enjoy. We took our little guy everywhere from an early age and he learned quickly to enjoy the nicer places we enjoy. He often got tons of attention from the wait staff.

The night of the party, i would just do CS unless you eat at like 5ish. Don't waste expensive party time eating.

 

[jms]

Hello! I just returned from Disney with my DD 2.5. She loved Fantasmic, fireworks and the parade!

Her favorite meal was at Hollywood and Vine with the Disney Junior characters.

 

[rachael95]

Thanks MSSANDRA and JMS.

MSSANDRA: We do tend to eat early on weekends to avoid dinner crowds at home. So a 4:30 or 5 dinner wouldn't be unusual for us. But CS might be better for the party night. Good idea.

JMS - That's good to know about Fantasmic with your LO. Honestly, that show is the only reason we ever go to HS. I've just seen so many slightly older kids go out of there screaming, it's made me worried about DS going. That evening where I was kicking around the idea of HS, does have a showing of Fantasmic. Maybe if we make sure to get near the back it would be ok.

DS is not necessarily sensitive, but he is going through a phase where everything is "too loud" or scares him. Though I don't think it actually scares him because all he does is calmly ask me to pick him up and says "___scare me." So not sure if it's more just wanting comfort than anything else. We do plan on having some noise headphones though if he's still in that phase when we go down. We have an adult pair he likes playing with so we'd get a child-size one for him. But I know he'd like to see the Disney Jr. characters at HS and we could do that if we went that day.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

my younger grandsons loved Fantasmic, it was the 5 year old who was afraid. the toddler was fine.

 

[Frankiemack]

I agree with you on skipping hopper passes. We didn't get them with my daughter - more than one park was too much for her to take in.

The Bakery right on Main Street in MK has awesome Cinnamon Rolls and other goodies for breakfast and a Starbucks right there as well.

I think your toddler would enjoy some things about HS that would make it worth at least a half day on your open day.

My daughter turned 3yo the first time we brought her and she enjoyed Toy Story Mania as one of her favorite rides when we went. (Toy Story was her favorite movie at the time!) She also loved and understood Pizza Planet for lunch.

Other considerations for a HS visit, Beauty and Beast on stage, Little Mermaid, Great Movie Ride is good for the adults, not scary for the kids but could be boring and a bit scary at 1 or 2 parts. Also Muppets 3D and Disney Jr Live on Stage. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playset is also fun for them to have a little free play time.

As for dinner on your last MK day, I highly recommend Chef Mickey's..kids love the character interaction there and it's where you can see the big 5 all in one.

 

[Anthony1971]

2.5 is a great age for eating out as they get older..... not so much..
At that age and now we do sit down lunches as Dinner was maybe awake maybe asleep... asleep up to and including 6 (yes at 6 bring a stroller or you will rent one) means staying in a stroller and the general rule is no strollers but some will allow it....
Around that age we also did a trip with Dinners in the 6 range and every night he either was sleeping or fell asleep.
The best I will say is if you plan... plan on being very flexible as things will NOT work out everyday.
Also remember the heat will make him tired and cranky some days I would suggest going to the parks every other day.
My son is almost 8 we started taking him at 6 months and since has been to Disney 9 times and on 3 Disney cruises not counting our trip this July.... It was a learning curve as what you do will greatly revolve around him...
the good news is once he is around 6 things will get easier as far as planning and 7 he should walk through all...

 

[ebradley23]

Wait?! Did I write this post? We are older parents going to Disney for the first time since having our son. He'll be 2 yrs 9 months when we go. We'll be at the same MNSSHP, and I was thinking of doing Toy Story as a family. We're opting for Fantasmic. I figure we can escape if need be. We can't miss DHS, because of the Monsters attraction. He is obsessed with Monsters.

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

To the OP: I hope you have a nap scheduled between the swim and dinner at RR on your first day, because RR is not all that big and if they are playing live music can be a bit (ok maybe alot) on the loud side. You're getting the 'pub experience' there

 

[rachael95]

Wait?! Did I write this post? We are older parents going to Disney for the first time since having our son. He'll be 2 yrs 9 months when we go. We'll be at the same MNSSHP, and I was thinking of doing Toy Story as a family. We're opting for Fantasmic. I figure we can escape if need be. We can't miss DHS, because of the Monsters attraction. He is obsessed with Monsters.

Thanks all for the tips, please feel free to keep the advice coming!

Ebradley23 maybe we'll see you there!

I think we might try Fantasmic. It would be great to see it again.

Our first day, he'll have napped pretty well in the car on the way down. He sleeps in the car great, so we'll need some exercise to get all the kinks of two days of driving out.

 

[laughinplace199]

My thoughts in red:

Please help me plan. This will be the first time DH and I are going with a child to Disney. Our DS will be 2.5. I'm debating on getting a 6 day non-park hopper ticket so we have the option of doing a park or not on an "off" day - or if we have a sick-day or meltdown day, that we'd be able to go some other time.

I'm not planning on going back to the hotel since we'll be about 10 minutes away off property. DS sleeps great in his stroller. He naps in it fairly often on weekends since I can't get him to take a nap in his bed (argg, daycare people say he naps GREAT for them <grumble grumble>, me I have to either drive him around in the car or walk with the stroller to get him to nap.) But I tell myself this is going to be an advantage at Disney.

DS is great in restaurants, so no fears on sit-downs with him, we eat out a LOT. Since DH and I are older parents, we also plan on taking things fairly slowly and are definitely no longer commando types. We do like eating in sit-down restaurants over CS restaurants. Aside from Boma, every restaurant on my list below is new to us. We decided to try other places instead of where we used to go since several of them are now signature places and probably not great for a toddler anyway.

What do you think of this itinerary? Suggestions? Thanks!

Thurs. Sept. 18
Arrive early afternoon (will have spent a night at a hotel 1/2 between TN and FL).
Swim
Dinner Raglan Road

Friday, Sept. 19
Magic Kingdom
Early Breakfast - Any good bakery? maybe sit-down, if so where? Don't really want CRT We love Crystal Palace (buffet with Winnie the Pooh guys).
Late lunch/Early Dinner Liberty Tree Tavern You may already know this, but lunch at LTT is a la carte and dinner is family style, so if you prefer one over the other [we prefer lunch], make sure you time your ADR accordingly.)


Saturday, Sept. 20
Break Day (can't be moved, DSis and DBIL off work this day)
9:30 or 10a.m. Late Breakfast Boma
Spend rest of day at hotel with my sister and her DH

Sunday, Sept. 21
Animal Kingdom day
8:30 a.m. breakfast Tusker House Another one of our favorite breakfasts!
Dinner outside parks? We like finding local places.


Monday, Sept. 22
EPCOT
8:30a.m. breakfast Akershus
Late lunch/Early Dinner Marrakesh


Tuesday, Sept. 23
Rest during the day
MNSSHP at night (DS's costume is Buzz Lightyear PJs, DH is Woody, and I'm Jessie)
Dinner in park - Maybe The Plaza? Or should we go with something quick? On party days, we usually do a sit down TS meal for lunch and then quick service for dinner in order to maximize party time.

Wednesday, Sept 24
Open Day - Play by ear
Optional - Maybe Later to HS?

• Sadly avoiding Fantasmic, my favorite, but don't want to scare DS

Optional - Downtown Disney shopping


Thursday, Sept. 25
Epcot - Probably WS only
late lunch San Angel Inn


Friday, Sept. 26
Magic Kingdom
Dinner: Where to eat? Not tied to MK, could be outside parks. If you want to be close to MK, try Grand Floridian Café.

Saturday, Sept. 27
Morning at hotel pool
Leave

If your DS is good in restaurants, don't necessarily shy away from Signatures. My youngest is 7, but he was 5 months old on his first tripto WDW. Over those 7 years, he has eaten at Jiko (another favorite of ours), Artist Point, Hollywood Brown Derby, Narcoosse's, and Citrico's.

 

[GWhitten98]

If your 2.5 is anything like my LO, there will be quite a few things he loves at HS. H&V characters include doc mcstuffins, sofia, jake and handy manny; all of which are on our LOs characters to see list. Ours also loved the muppets and disney Jr. shows and of course toy story. I definately think you could easily make at least a 1/2 day out of it. And my LO were 15 months, 31/2 and 5 and all three were mesmerized by Fantasmic(we were up near the back row Just in case it didn't go over well)

Make sure you don't miss turtle talk with crush and Living with the land, that was our LOs favorit 2 things that day.

 

[blackpearl77]

We went last year with our 2.5 year old. And he only napped from rides in the car or walks in the stroller. He hated napping in his crib so I feel your pain! So he loved napping in his stroller. So that was great for disney since we never had to leave the park. I found a few good napping places for when it was pouring raining and he was asleep in the stroller. Noise never woke him up but I didn't want him to get soaked! At Magic Kingdom next to the POTC ride where the bathrooms are (next to the POTC gift shop) - it's covered and there are benches. It kind of hidden back there. At HS - the ABC commissary allows strollers inside. Not too many restaurants allow them inside. But that was perfect!