Parents who have taken toddlers

[SeeDisney]

MY almost three year took naps in his stroller and he was fine. He went with the flow with meals.


YOu're three year will be fine!! Have fun!

 

[lclark0621]

When we took our DS we would do a combination of things.

First we never woke him up in the mornings. We started our day when he woke up. Since at nights he was staying up so much later then normal, we knew he needed the sleep.

Our DS would take cat naps in the stroller or on our shoulder. When he would sleep, DH & I would do some quiet things (re: one of the shows or some shopping).

We would go back to the hotel every day for about 2 hours, but DS was usually so excited he would not sleep. But he did get some down time, and some swimming to.

We are not schedule people at home, but we do have a routine DS has kind of set for himself.

On vacation though we throw all routines out the window. I have had friends who schedule hard & they do vacations both ways. The ones that throw their schedule out the window on vacation always end up having a much better time then those who are slaves to the clock.

My DS was staying up very late in the parks, eating a lot of junk & just basically being a crazy 2 year old. It was wonderful!

When we got home, within a few days he was back to his "normal" self. Which meant he was back to sleeping 11-12 hours a night, he would take his 2ish hour nap every day & he was wanting veggies over sweets again.

So it wa not the end of the world because my DS stayed up late, or his naps were all screwy, or he ate a lot of chicken nuggets & fries in Disney World.

We had a great, stress FREE vacation.

We would also carry those indivdual packs of goldfish crackers & teddy grams in the parks. The were great for DS to play with & snack on if he got munchy.

We did all of our dinners scheduled for the trip. But if DS was getting hungry before our PS, we would stop & get hi something. I did not care if he ate an hour before our PS & just picked at dinner, or what. As long as he was happy we were happy!

 

[rt2dz]

Whenever we go on vacation, WDW or elsewhere, I don't worry about schedules for my kids. We go with the flow. But then again, I'm the type of mom who lets my kids find their own schedule rather than putting them on one.

My boys tend to be early risers. So we get up and go. When they need a break, we take one. Sometimes that's leaving the parks, sometimes that's just mellowing down (sit down restruant, play area, train ride, hall of presidents or other show). When hungry, we eat. If we have a PS, that might mean a light snack just to hold them over (if that will work).

The single, biggest, most important thing you can do is FOLLOW YOUR CHILD(REN)'S LEAD! If they are cranky, leave/feed them/whatever they need. Don't push anything. Not one more ride. Get through the meal. Stop to look in just one more store. Do what they need at the time. That is what is going to make the vacation pleasant and fun--for you and others. Not sticking to their normal routines or getting something in.

 

[bellarella]

We just got back with our DD4.5 and DD2.5. We found that they woke up just about their usual time (around 7am). We did breakfast in our room (either room service or cereal we brought), then went to the parks for opening. We stayed until after lunch (leaving between 1-3pm) and headed back to our room for a nap/rest. After that we'd go to the pool, go for dinner, or one evening we went back to the park. Bedtime was generally pretty delayed.

We kept our schedule pretty open and just went with how the kids were doing. We did find an actual rest period in the hotel was a good thing. With that, we didn't need to keep regular bedtime or meal times. We'd grab a snack if we were hungry and it wasn't meal time yet. Breakfast and lunches were our "planned" meals of the day. Dinner was dependent upon what we were doing and how hungry we were.

I would suggest making some PS for lunch at the parks. It worked really well for us. It gave us an airconditioned break and then we could decide if we still had energy for more or if we should just head back to the hotel. We also made most of our lunches character meals, which was nice because the girls were really into them and we didn't have to stand in line at the parks to see them.

 

[shellynn24]

My DS(4yrs) has been 3 times so far. Once at 4 mo, at 1 yr, and at 2 yrs. He did really well all 3 times. We are not nap in the afternoon kind of people. I found out the hard way that if I go back to the hotel, I don't want to leave again! I'm soooo lazy sometimes. My DS is too old to nap now but we will be going for DD's(1yr) first trip this August. Thankfully she can go all day without a nap. As long as she has a bottle! We will probably be doing EMH at night(we like to sleep in late, again Lazy, Lazy, Lazy!) I'll just have to see how they handle it. I know that DS won't want to leave at all. He has been talking about WDW for months now. As far as meals go, we make PS for one meal a day, and just wing the rest of the meals and snacks for the day. We just eat when we are hungry. I do agree with planning in a couple of days of do nothing if you have the time. It makes your vacation seem more like a vacation and less like a WDW marathon! Because we all know how much work WDW can be, especially with small children(and a husband that wants to see everything in the entire world!!!!)

 

[MKFan-PR]

Originally posted by 2dogmom:

Just remember not to push and try to read your kids and you will do fine.

That's the best way I can describe it.

We went with our DD at 9mos, 3yo and 4yo, and we basically went with the flow. We had some juiceboxes and water when she was thirsty. She would nap easily in the stroller, because basically when she's tired she just drops asleep no matter where's she's sitting!

You'll be fine! Have fun!

 

[castlegazer]

My son went when he was 1 and when he was just under 2. Both times he slept in his stroller for naps and we would leave the parks at around 3-4 pm for the day.

He would not nap back in the hotel room. The monorail was a great nap location for him - therefore he missed piloting twice now.

As for food, he has a wonderful tray that we hook onto our Combi travel stroller for food - I think a tray is essential for a stroller. That way they can snack while moving and reach their sippies when needed. They need to be able to drink a lot.

We ate dinner by 5:30 (a little early for us) and that would cut down on the over tired anctics at dinner by a great deal. I found if we tried going any later it was a misery fest for all.

Then you can decide what to do after dinner.

 

[DW2006]

but our plan is to have a loose schedule. Including coming back to our lodging (Fort Wilderness) and observing a daily ''quiet time/chill time'' My kids will be 7, 5, 3 (all basically newly those ages) and 6 months at the time of our trip. We are staying 7 days and only focusing on two parks with and a one day to
Epcot goal. While yes we could stay at the park and chance that the younger would nap I'd rather everyone get kind of a midday break to recharge...then head back to the parks for the rest of the afternoon.