MNSSHP with a 3 year old?

[lilmape]

MNSSHP with a toddler yay or nay? Though we often keep a 9-9:30ish bedtime (she sleeps in most days because of having in home child care), she does stay up to 10-11 on an off day. Especially if we have had a late nap. Is it worth it with a toddler? We would go in late September.

 

[mesaboy2]

DD10 has been to 5 of them, the earliest at 2.5yo. It's been worth it to us every time.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

In my personal experience when I went all the little ones seemed knocked out at 9 o clock we were noticing. They looked so cute in their costumes but maybe 3 is too soon for a night focused event?

 

[RJstanis]

If your kids stay up til 11 and there is characters they/you like at the event, then I think you should do it. Last year I took my 4 and for all intensive purposes 2 year old DS's. Both of them loved it and my DS4 is bummed we are missing it this year. Both of them love Jack Skellinton, Lotso, and Aladdin/Jafar so it was worth it just for that. They of course went crazy for the parade. So basically as long as you think your kids would enjoy it then I would do it.

Tips:
-Definitely have them nap prior
-Do not take advantage of getting there at 4. We did that and my night owls tuckered out earlier than we were hoping. If you want to see 7Dwarves or Jack&Sally get there by 545, and if not then 630.
-Have a good plan, especially once they announce activities and schedule
-Avoid trick or treating. I said from the beginning we werent going to do this and we did anyways. Big mistake and not worth the time and extra weight.
-Avoid Dumbo's queue (this and trick or treating foiled all of my half done sort-of-plans. My DS4 and DS2.9 decided they'd rather play on the playground instead of anything else...even when you could just walk onto Dumbo)

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We took our 2 year old last year and it was awesome, but her dad took her back to the hotel after the first parade. She was exhausted. She could barely hold her head up during the parade. It was worth it for us, but then, we didn't have to buy her a ticket since she was 2. Since 3 year olds need tickets, it might be better to spend the money on a daytime park day when she can enjoy the park for more hours.

 

[To the honeypots]

I say yay! Our three year old made it until midnight last year. Stopped and even smiled for the last photo of the evening with Mickey. We dd the trick or treating later in the night when there were no lines and got handfuls of candy.

One word of advice. If your kid takes everything very literally, don't tell her its a party. My son walked around all night asking when the party would start. For whatever reason he couldn't grasp the MNSSHP concept. To him, he was just doing the same stuff as he had done the rest of the week.

 

[Figmentmommy]

Definitely go for it! Years ago my then just turned 2 year old loved the party and was awake until about 11:30. He wore the Mickey Ears Santa hat too! We never even considered not bringing him!

 

[Imagineer5]

We did MNSSHP last October when my dd was about 2 and 3/4 Her normal bedtime at home is 7:30PM. She had an absolute BLAST trick or treating, riding a couple rides, doing the dance parties (these were a HUGE hit!!) and made it until the SECOND parade and loved that! And she was totally happy the next morning too. Soooo I say go for it!!

 

[SillySallySews]

My youngest daughter was 2 when I took her to her first MNSSHP. Definitely worth it! Best part was getting to ride all the rides with very little wait if any. She also loved the parade and still to this day talks about some of the characters we met that night. The morning of the party we slept in and spent the whole day just being lazy and resting (we were at my parent's house, not staying at Disney). We got to the party around 4:30 and she made it through the entire night and didn't even fall asleep until I had driven about halfway back to my parent's. Her normal bedtime is 8pm.

 

[collcass]

I am bringing my 2 yr old in Oct. He will be 2.9 yrs and we are going to do MNSSHP on 2 separate nights. (SInce it's just the 2 of us and he is free, I figure I might as well split it into 2 nights)

 

[nfggirl5454]

I've been twice with my nephew, when he was 2.5 and then 3.5, and he really likes MNSSHP. He loves the parade, and last year he really enjoyed trick or treating. I wasn't into the idea of ToTing, since so many people here say it's a waste of party time, but it was the first time he was really old to get into it, and he loved it, even though he's not even the biggest candy fan. I think both years he took a short nap in his stroller. So yeah, I'd recommend it for a 3 year old!