Need Some Advice

[PrincessRora]

My family and I will be going to Disney this June 13-17. It will be my mother, father, brother, sister, and I, plus my 17 month old niece. We've never gone to disney with someone as young as she is and we're a bit worried that she will get tired out too quickly for anyone else to really enjoy themselves. Does anyone have any previous experience with taking someone so young?

 

[everylastbreath]

The fact that you are worried about your niece slowing your family down, tells me that the trip is not going to be geared towards her, so yes she is going to slow your family down, but a toddler adds so much to your trip if you are willing to slow down and see it thru their eyes. A 17 month old is never going to be able to keep up with 5 adults anxious to see "everything" but if you all slow down and work with her (accomodate her naps/eating schedule) you will have the best time ever. I can honestly say that the best trips are ones with toddlers, they have a way of making everything magical.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[PrincessRora]

Thanks.
I realized I worded that a bit wrong. We're all so excited to experience her first trip to disney with her. What I meant was, will she enjoy it? We don't want to overwhelm her.

 

[everylastbreath]

It will not overwhelm her if you take things slow and let her set the pace, don't try to see too much and she will do fine. When we took my 2 yr old GS last year (you can read my post http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1565254) when he fell asleep during the day (in his stroller) my husband & I took him into the shops or sat in a restaurant, while my daughter, my son & his girlfriend went on the "big" rides they wanted to see. Maybe your mom & dad will do that when she falls asleep, so you don't feel as if your missing out on the rides your niece couldn't go on anyway.

I'll tell you, I don't think anyone missed out on anything when we went last year, everyone was so focused on my GS's face that it didn't matter what they saw. Read my post and you will understand.

 

[PrincessRora]

Thanks so much. We really want this trip to be magical for everyone. My sister and niece aren't blood relatives perse. My mother and hers have been friends for years and had me and my "sister" at the same time. We grew up together, and when she got pregnant and had her daughter, my mother and father invited her to live with us because her family situation in NY wasn't great. So the trip is to celebrate our birthdays, and a new start for my sister and niece.

Do you know anything about character breakfasts? My neice is a bit scared of people in costumes (we took her to chuck. e. cheese and she clung to us to stay away from him), so we're unsure how she'd react to characters wanderering around during breakfast.

I'm going to read your post when I return from my afternoon lab. Thanks so much for you help.

 

[everylastbreath]

Definately do Character Breakfast/lunch/dinner's whatever you can get (you should call and make reservations) they are pretty much impossible to get into with reservation. What a wonderful story about your family, they sound like great people. Blood does not make family - feeling do.

The Character meals could go either way with a toddler, my GS was scared of the characters, but in the same way he was totally captivated with them. He didn't really like them coming up to him, but he watched and laughed at them from a distance. I have to say the characters are very good at these meals, they really see how the child is and they don't force it, if the child is scared, they back away. What we found was that at the end of the week he was so much better w/them, He actually let them put their hand on his shoulder and would stay for a picture. The extra plus of these meals is they are usually so loud, it doesn't matter if she acts up, everyone will get to eat their meal (which as you know - going out to dinner with a toddler is hard). I would highly recommend going- call today don't put it off, it's already very close to your date of arrival, people book these things 180 days in advance.

Any other questions you have feel free to ask, more than happy to answer. Do well in your Lab.

 

[PrincessRora]

Thanks for the advice. We're going to call tomorrow morning and see what we can get. We called earlier this week and there were still several openings for the day and time we wanted at the place we wanted, but I think we're going to try do Chef Mickey. Dad booked the trip too late for us to get Cinderella's Royal Table, although, that we're sure she would have loved. She already watches the princess movies when we play them.

Are there any must dos for a toddler? And we're struggling back and fourth on taking my niece on The Haunted Mansion. Dad said when he took my brother and I when we were little, we didn't get scared, but we're unsure if we should take her or not. We had the same question about Pirates, but it was easily answered for us because the attraction will be closed the week we go.

I tried to read your post, but for some reason, my computer won't let me open the page. I'll try again on my mother's computer tomorrow.

Thanks, lab went well.