Just back with a 2 1/2 year old. Any questions?

[jfranklyn]

We just returned from 10 great days at WDW with our 2.5 yo DD. If I can help anyone by answering questions about travelling with this age, let me know!

 

[honeymom]

We're about to travel with our 5 year old DD and 2 1/2 year old DS. What did your 2 1/2 year old enjoy the most? Is it worth bothering with Animal Kingdom? My sister hated it, but her kids are teenagers.

 

[jfranklyn]

Hi Honeymom,

Our daughter is a bit of a strange bird, we have determined from this trip! We probably screwed up by having the first dark ride we took her on be Snow White's Scary Adventure. She got scared - and for most of the rest of the trip, she very politely covered her eyes for any ride that was dark! However, this same child rode the Barnstormer, Dumbo, and 100 ft long waterslides without batting an eyelash. No fear of the characters either, which I understand is unusual at this age. Anyway, her favorite things were probably Dumbo, anything with water, and Animal Kingdom! I would DEFINATELY take your kids there. We really like animals, and there is plenty to do and see. The Boneyard playground in Dinoland is worth a morning there alone. They will both LOVE it, especially the dinosaur dig - which has "sand" that doesn't stick to their sweaty bodies - WAY TO GO DISNEY! Your older child would love Kali River Rapids, and everyone seems to enjoy the Safari. The Lion King show is great for every age, the Pocohontis show is a little lame for adults, but great for kids their age. All in all, we think it's a great park - I definately wouldn't recommend skipping it. I hope that helps! If you have any other questions, let me know. Are you driving down?

 

[honeymom]

Flying on JetBlue. DS is a terrible traveler and I wouldn't dream of 2 days in a car with him. How did the smoke from the fires affect your trip? I've been thinking of skipping Snow White altogether by the way. I've never been able to figure who they designed that ride for. What a shame they didn't replace that ride instead of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. That had always been one of my favorites.

 

[jfranklyn]

We drove down and our daughter did very well. We were pleasantly suprised. Good idea about Snow White. It set a bad presedent for other dark rides! I never got to ride Mr. Toad but I here it was great. About the fires - well, this is a hard one. When the smoke was blowing in your direction, it smelled like you were at a 24/7 campfire. But the wind could shift at any minute, and then the smoke just disappeared. The last day we were at AK (5/21) they were starting to cancel some of the outdoor shows because the performers couldn't breathe. About 1/2 way through our trip, I thought my daughter started with a cold. Her nose was running and her voice was getting horse. Then two days later I started with a bad sore throat and the nose thing. I didn't think much of it until someone else said they had the same thing, and I began to think it might be caused by the fires. So I started to pay attention to when the smoke was around and how we felt versus when it was gone. I definately think now it was caused by the smoke. The only problem is, it's still around. Our throats are fine now, but both of us still have 'goopy' noses, if you know what I mean. And it's been a week since we were at the parks (we were at AKL for 3 days before coming home). So who knows. Anyway, other than that, the fires were bearable. I just hope they get some rain soon so that they can get it under control.

 

[honeymom]

There have been colds going around. You could have gotten irritated by the smoke and become more susceptable to catching a germ. My daughter just had strep and my son and husband had colds and we were no where near fires. Thanks for the info. I've read a few people saying that rain is expected Friday or Saturday. We don't go until next Tuesday, so I'll just have to do a rain dance.

 

[stacie_d]

We will be going again when DS is 2.5 yrs old. I am worried thoug. We went right after his 1st b-day and he was an angel. But he wasn't walking and slept a lot! Now (Just turned 2 on April 15) he is so tought to deal with sometimes. He likes to sit on the little rides at the stores, but doesn't want them to move. Before he rode everything that he could with us. Now I am afraid that he will be scared of everything. In six months, He may be completely different. But any advice or insight you can offer? I really want him to enjoy this trip like he did the first. (Especiall since he is a complete disney nut! He loves Lady and "Chomp", Buzz and "Woowee", and "Baby" (Mickey to us!). )

 

[jfranklyn]

I guess my only real advice would be to take it slow, and start with the basics - like Small World - things that move, but REALLY slowly and no great suprises. Also, spend a lot of time at ToonTown Fair! I didn't see ANY kids who were afraid of the stuff there! My daughter just kept talking about how messy Mickey's house was! When we started on this trip, we decided that we were just going to try and find joy where Grace (dd) found it. And that really worked. She was thrilled just riding the bus, swimming, looking at stuff, the parades, etc. She wasn't old enough to hate waiting on line, because we were there with her, pretending like the line was a ride too. At this age, I think they can really be made to believe anything. And if they think that you like the sweltering heat and think it's fun to have your clothes stick to you, then they'll think it's fun too. I would definately suggest a "Mister Fan" - she had MORE FUN with that thing! Other than that, just try and have a great time. Incidentally, we took our daughter when she was 17 months old the first time too, and she was a dream too, but you will see SUCH a huge difference in how they interract with everything at this age - especially with the characters. She absolutely loved them - and honestly believes that Mickey, like Santa, can be in 3 places at once! Have a great trip.

 

[ppony]

I was getting sort of discouraged to hear so many people say I'm wasting my money bringing him there at that age. Well, it's our 10th anniversary and WE want to go.

I truely have it perspective that he won't be able to do so much although my husband thinks I'm being a kill-joy by saying that he won't be doing many things. You mentioned that your daughter was not afraid of the characters...is she very outgoing? I was just trying to guage when Nicholas might be like although I know we really won't know until we get there. Also...how do you get kids to know Mickey these days? The only time Nick watches TV are during Rolie Polie Olie, Pooh and Bear in the BB House. When is Mickey on these days?

Anything else you could think to tell a first time mom planning her first trip to the World with Kids?

THANKS!

Steph in MN

DL & Cont. 1994
PO & Poly 1997
CB, GF & WL 1999

 

[jfranklyn]

Well, you are one up on us. We don't even have Disney Channel, although I'm rethinking that now, because Grace loved Bear! She is pretty outgoing, although her first reaction to new things is shyness, but she didn't show any towards the characters at all. Other people have told me their kids were terrified of them at this age, so I guess you just won't know until you get there. Definately go up with him, or carry him up to see the first few, that will probably help. The characters seem to be able to sense when a kid is afraid, though, and they sort of "go easy" with them. Are you doing any character meals? They get more direct interaction that way.

What kind of stroller are you bringing? Are you staying on-property? That makes it alot easier, if you can just hop on and off the bus. Grace never gets to ride a bus normally, so she thought that was the greatest thing going.

Grace hasn't seen much Mickey Mouse either, but she seemed to pick up right away that he was the "big guy"!!

 

[ppony]

Thanks so much.

Right now we have a Century stroller and a Peg Perego stroller. I'm not sure which one to bring. the Century has a basket and a sun shade but it's big and the Peg is lightweight & relatively small. Opinion?

We will be staying at the Poly and most of our meals will be character ones. At least all of the breakfasts will be and 1 or 2 of the dinners too. We just LOVE Chef Mickey's! I agree, that's a great way to meet characters and at least if Nicholas hates them and cries...we didn't waste half an hour in line to see them. I guess we'll know that first morning how it will go.

I'll probably think of more questions for you as the time gets' closer. It's not till Dec. 2002 so we've got some time. it kills me to wait so long!!!!

 

[jfranklyn]

Hey PPony -
WOW - you plan ahead! I feel like I don't know what I'm doing next week it seems! Anyway, your plans sound GREAT! As for the stroller - I'd probably take the Century with the sun shade and basket. The basket is soooo useful (we had a bag that doubled as a diaper bag and lunch bag - it was insulated and it fit perfectly in the basket of our jogger, which is what we took). And the sunshade is great, although the heat will be less of a problem in december that it was in May. Don't let it's size worry you, because at least 2 of the parks you'll be using the monorail, and you can just roll it on. We used the buses all the time, and even folding up the jogger worked out fine. Feel free to email me any time leading up to your trip if I can help you at all. I have worried so much about both our trips since Grace was born, and all of the worries turned out to be unfounded.