you will have a great time!!
we took our 3 just-turned-2 y.o.s in nov., and we'll be going again next week!
what we found out very quickly on our last trip:
my kids needed downtime and a really good nap (they don't sleep in strollers).. they also needed to stay on the same routine they have at home. we knew we'd be spending lots of time at the resort while the kids slept, so we were willing to spend some good money on our resort (ft. wilderness cabins)...the kids had room to run, we had a kitchen, and they had a bedroom to nap/sleep in where i didn't have to worry about waking them up.
this trip, we're spending even MORE money on a resort (the polynesian), because i want the ease of a monorail resort, plus the close proximity to the pool, beach, playground, food court. we'll probably try adjoining rooms at a value resort on our NEXT trip in nov (gotta go while the kids are free!!). i've heard good things about the POP.
if you do a search, i'm sure you'll find a number of posts about what to do with 2 y.o.s...i only have a few minutes but here are some of the tips that i remember reading, have used, or am planning on using:
- get id tags from the pet store (engrave with last name, cell #, and resort name), and attach to child's shoe/lace....not obvious, but noticable if a CM is looking for ID . it can't get ruined if wet or removed by child
-bring favorite snacks for waiting in line and the transportation to/from parks
-plan afternoon naps
-to prepare the kids for the characters, find the disney singalong video, "
disneyland fun" /"it's a small world". it's older, and taped in disneyland, but it 'll give your children a sense of what the characters look like in comparison to kids. i got mine from ebay. also, try and find a character mascot near your home to visit (our local children's museum has one, and my kids, surprisingly, LOVED it). is there a carrousel at your local zoo/park your kids can ride? good practice for rides. we also started watching a the disney channel in the am so they'd be familiar with some of the characters at MGM. we recently picked up a dvd of chip and dale (one of the kids' favorites at disney world, to my surprise), and we watch it A LOT. we've also been watching the many adventures of winnie the pooh religiously for the past year! lol...it's great because unlike most of the other disney movies, there are no villians. the pooh ride is made up of scenes from the movie, so my little ones recognized everything! we also did a pooh character breakfast at crystal palace and they loved it (and kids under 3 eat free at buffets!)
-my kids liked some of the rides in fantasyland, but their FAVORITE things? the monorail, train, playground, beach (same thing they can do at home, pretty much!) they loved festival of the lion king and playhouse disney, but we really spent most of our time just wandering and following their lead. i'm more relaxed this trip because i know that there are only a few rides they'll want to go on in each park and the rest of time i can plan for just hanging out and exploring.
-we also used "elmo belts" (red harnesses from
walmart with a little elmo on the front). we practiced using them a few times before we left, and the kids really liked them.
hope some of this. if you have specific ?s, just ask!
(we're driving, so can't help with packing tips!)
gotta go, naptime is over...ALREADY!?!?!?!?!?