Need "MOM of toddler" park experts!

[MrsJ Henry]

Ok, I've been playing around with our itinarary since I'll be making our ADR's later this month. (We are going late April)

I have a plan but wondered how all of you mom's would do this since you have been to WDW with toddlers before. We have only been as a couple. I've never been with kids before. It's 6 months away so i can't really predict my daughter then. I can say now that she is a very easy going girl. Sleeps in her strolller sometimes but is very interested in EVERYthing going on around her.

We are staying at the Poly April 28-May2 (4 nights)
We are planning on spending most of our time in MK
We are NOT going to AK
We would like to go to World Showcase and the Seas (probably nothing else at Epcot. (dinner at Akershus)
We are going to go to MGM for Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, Muppets, and Beauty and the Beast. (dinner at 50's Prinme Time)

So this is kind of what I came up with ...

Monday-- Arrive in resort around 2:00
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare (around 5)
maybe go over to MK

Tuesday-- MK in the morning
back to resort to relax around 2:00
Over to MGM-- dinner at Prime Time

Wednesday-- MK in Morning-- breakfast at CP
back to resort around 2
Epcot-Dinner at Akershus

Thursday-- MK
back to resort to relax
dinner at Chef Mickey
evening???

Friday-- Breakfast at Kona--- head home

Is this how you experienced mom's would do it?? Anything that you could give me tips on?

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

We just got back from WDW with our almost 2 year old. He too is pretty easy going even though I sometimes see the terrible twos come out! Your schedule is pretty much what we did so I think you're on target with that. As for tips, I wrote down some notes for our trip next year and a couple of things I came up with were . . .

1. Schedule dinner about 30 minutes before your usual time. Even though we had ADRs a couple of the restaurants were super busy and we were seated after our time and then the servers were so crazy busy it took longer than expected to get our food. Which leads me to my second tip . . .

2. Always carry snacks! I packed little packs of cheez-its and cookies and always had one or two in the backpack to help us out in a pinch.

3. Bring a swim diaper and dry clothes. Our son LOVES the water and there is a play area in Fantasyland in Ariel's grotto where the water shoots up from the ground in spurts and he would just stand over them and get soaked. His shirts dried pretty well but his shorts would be wet for a while. Then the stroller would get wet and you get the idea.

Also our son hated the characters and wouldn't get within 10 feet of them so be prepared. He didn't have a problem with the face characters but the ones in full costume really spooked him.

That's all I can think of but I'm sure other people will have some good tips as well.

Laurie

 

[Disneylush]

My now 3 year old has been twice and we are going in Jan again with his 1 year old sister.

He is very easy going and it always worked better to let him sleep in the stroller rather then try to go back to the hotel. Every time we went back to the hotel we had to walk past the pool which would start tired tears and make for a long miserable break back in the room.

My son HATES the zoo so we don't speand much time at AK, but 2 of his favorite shows are at AK. Nemo the musical and Lion King.
MGM is not worth a full day to us but we stay until the parade and then go back for a rest before hitting DTD (lego land and World of Disney) that night. If you watch Playhouse Disney do not miss the stage show and I highly suggest the play and dine lunch at Hollywood and Vine. 50's is also very fun and has great food.
Epcot was great for the character connection, Figment's journey into imagination and Nemo. I think my son's fav part of Epcot was taking the monorail to MK.
You are very right about planning most of your time at MK.
Just remember to go slow and see it thru his eyes as well as your own.

Oh and ALWAYS carry spare clothes!!!

 

[Sophie_2003]

If I may chime in (just back with my 3 year old)

1- Ditto about plush characters, but she was into princesses so we did a lot of that

2- be ready to ditch the wholesome foods for the trip. DD lived on goldfish and smarties as snacks (she wouldn't eat any of the healthy snacks I packed such as raisins, apple sauce, fresh fruit). We made sure she had a good lunch and dinner

3- have some fastpasses handy for when they fall asleep, you can take turns riding the coasters and scary attractions

4- My dd gets obsessed, so be prepared to do some things many times (I read somewhere toddlers are mini-obsessive compulsive adults...)

HAVE FUN!!!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

My DD 22 months loves the O'hana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at the Poly. Since you're staying there, I would try to get an ADR for that. We've been a whole bunch of times and she's totally into it every time.

What is the "play and eat" lunch at Hollywood and Vine? We are DVC members so we don't typically eat out w/DD at Disney, but it sounds like this is something that I might make an exception for. I'd love details!

 

[oldbay]

Your plan looks good overall. I would caution though that your daughter may not like the shows. We went with our DD (18 mo) this summer and she did not watch them at all, very little interest and even scared as the lights dimmed. She also has little interest in any cartoons as well.

Also, be prepared for getting soaked in all the wet fountains, they are toddler magnets!

Have a great trip!

 

[Disneylush]

Here is what the Disney site saya about Play and Dine:
Sing, dance and play along with your Disney Playhouse pals. Join JoJo and Goliath from "JoJo's Circus" and June and Leo from "Disney's Little Einsteins™" for a magical, musical meal for kids and kids at heart. Enjoy a delicious breakfast or lunch — full of surprises. A bountiful buffet is perfect for the whole family, featuring Mickey waffles and house-made pastries in the morning, and kid-friendly and grown-up fare in the afternoon. It's a yummy togetherness treat!
Here is my description: JoJo, Goliath, June, Leo come around (like all char meals) then about every 15 mins they play a song from Playhouse Disney and everyone gets up and dances... then back to eating. Lunch kids foods were mac and cheese chix nuggets, fries, burgers, pasta cooked veggies and fruit (this was at a lower level so kids can help them selfs) Adult food was really good too. different pastas, sandwiches, all kinds of stuff plus you can eat the "kids" food if that is more to your liking. Plus a Huge dessert bar with kids make your own sundaes up to fancier adult tarts that had liquor in them.

We thought it was well worth the cost and we will be doing it again this trip.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Are you going back to the resort at 2 or headed to the next park at 2?

We always tried to head back to the resort sometime right after lunch. My kids usually nap at 1 so by 1 we are headed back. The only concern I would have is that if you want to do Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid, etc. you will need more than just one evening. Or you may need more than just one evening. Check the times guide for show times, but it was tough for us to see all the shows we wanted to see when we went at 9 and stayed until 1 so I imagine if you are going just for an evening, it would be hard.

I think focusing on MK is a great idea with little ones.

ETA - different strokes for different folks, but we HATED the H&V Play and Dine. It was by far the meal we enjoyed the least. Every 5 minutes it seemed like the characters were up singing. Then they would take a break. Then they would start circling the tables again. The 5 minutes later they were singing again. We waited FOREVER and never saw all the characters. My kids were 20 mos and 3.5 at the time and they just cannot sit for 2 hours waiting to see Jo Jo. The place was just mass chaos. Also was not a big fan of the food. But, not a big fan of buffets either.

 

[esk]

I would back up your time a little, and be headed out of the parks by about noon...that is when they get busy, in my opinion. If you can, eat a nice, easy lunch in the room (PB&J or maybe CS at your resort) to avoid the long lines and then get into bed for a nap right after lunch.

We always make sure we are at park opening, or right after....you can really ride so much in Fantasyland before 10 am, and then find somewhere else to go before Dumbo takes 2 hours to get onto. Be prepared to ride the rides (if possible) again and again.....I swear, we rode the carousel 15 times in a row one December morning because DS (2 at the time) wouldn't get off and since the place was emtpy, the CM let us stay on. We also rode Spaceship Earth about 4 times in a row, and Goofy's Barnstormer.................get ready for tears when you can't ride that again and again!

DS loved CP breakfast at 2, 2.5, 3.5. He was slightly scared of the Beast but really liked the Princesses and Timon/Rafiki. Had no use for the lesser known like Baloo or Mary Poppins.

If your toddler is a napper, you must nap -- we find that we simply can't push it, or "ride just one more ride" because meltdown occurs. And don't be afraid to take a time out, or give a time out; sure, other people will look at you like you are the cruelest parent in the world because your child is standing in the corner at WDW but some children really need the reminder that the normal structure and rules are in place, even on vacation. To each their own, though.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Sounds well thought out!! I would however caution that Little Mermaid can be SCARY for little ones and many toddlers do not like the 3-d stuff at all. Seen lots of toddlers carried out crying at both. I find MGM the least toddler freindly. Great to plan down time! I would add a few thing that mom and dad want to see. You will be amamzed that she will be interested in just about everything. Perhaps add a few of the things at Epcot that you both would enjoy but would be fine for her!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Thanks everyone. I'm getting some good ideas here.
I think we will leave the park a little earlier than 2. Probably eat lunch around 11:30 and then go back to the resort after that.

Also, We have been to WDW quite a few times so we have done many of the things that we like . Yes I would like to ride Splash mountain (my favorite) but I'm really looking forward to being on the Carousel for the first time with my daughter!!!!!!!

Yes I'm afraid about the times of things at MGM. I'm thinking that we will probably go over there and just do playhouse disney and maybe go back again and do Beauty and the Beast. Those are the two that I think she would like the most. I have heard that Little Mermaid can be pretty scary for little ones. we may just skip it.

 

[tanyaandallie]

I forgot about THe Little Mermaid being scary! And you can get a bit wet in there. My dd is 4 (3.5 last time we went) and she was a little freaked by the show but since she loves Ariel, she stayed through the whole thing. DS was 20 mos. He had no idea it was scary!

Enjoy your first ride on the carousel with your little one!!! That's so sweet!!

 

[LisaFB]

We're taking the kids on their first trip in 2 days (YIIPPEEE!!) and we did a lot of researching and discussing to figure things out. We went in March and did all our big rides then, plus I'm 22 weeks PG so I can't even do those rides now, that makes it easier for us with the big rides the kids can't do!

Our kids get up fairly early and we have 2 character breakfasts planned, so we'll be in the parks when they open. We're not going back to the hotel for naps, but our DS (2 years) easily sleeps in the stroller and DD (4 years next month) is outgrowing her naps so she probably won't nap anyway. Because of DS's multiple food allergies, we had to plan out every single meal (which we kinda hated doing since who wants to plan which counter service to go to at what time since yo don't know exactly where in the park you'll be at that time. But we had no choice).

We are planning on only staying late for fireworks at MK and missing the nighttime stuff at the other parks (the kids won't know they're missing anything and we want them to get to bed no later than 1 - 1.5 hours after their normal bedtime of 8 pm).

As for shows and rides, they've been to amusement parks before and both have been on tons of rides so we know they'll want to go on everything they can. They've sat through 20 min shows before and we have a DVD of all rides and shows at WDW that they've seen several times. This way they are very excited to see them all in person. They've also seen characters before so we don't see that as a problem.

Now this is all in theory. We know things can change at any time if one of them gets cranky or changes their mind about something. The only thing we can't change is where and when we're eating every meal since the chefs have something allergen free prepared for DS and they know when/ where we're going.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

take loads of video and pix, u wont regret it!
Have a dream time