Planning WDW with 2 young children...

[golden1]

I am planning on a trip to Disney perhaps this fall with a then 4.5 and 2.5 year old. I have been lots of times before but never with children so I am pretty clueless.

What are your best tips?

I am thinking of going late Oct/early Nov and staying either at Caribbean Beach or AKL.

I am on a bit of a budget here so I am curious if it is worth getting a non-Savannah room at the AKL. Can you still see the animals from other places in the hotel.

Is the Dining plan worth it? I noticed that there is no plan for my 2.5 year old. Does he eat free or do I have to buy regular kids meals for him?

I assume that I'll be spending most of the time at AK and MK with a little MGM thrown in. Should I just skip Epcot altogether? Maybe we could plan a half day there.

I'm guessing kids this young won't be able to spend too much time walking around without getting tired. This is my feeling:
Spend 8am -12 pm in the parks
Return to hotel for lunch/rest/swim 12-3
Back to parks from 3-7
One adult babysits while kids sleep while the other hits the parks.

Is that a reasonable plan?

One last question: How much is in-room babysitting? Is it available at all the resorts?

Thats it for now! TIA!

 

[liamandcaili]

We went in the spring when my children were 6 and 3 and again this fall when they were 6 and 4. You should definitely plan on strollers for both children, first of all.

As for breaks, my children did not want to spend any time at the hotel. My youngest did not want anything to do with swimming in the spring, and in the fall it was too cold. She hasn't napped since she turned 3, so if she snoozed, it was in the stroller. We had some later evenings that she happily slept through.

Every child is different. My children, particularly my older son, happen to be very energetic. They don't need much down time. However, if your children are used to that, take regular naps, need breaks, then build that into your day.

I am sorry that I can't offer better advice. I know with my children, it doesn't matter where we stay. We are hardly there anyway. We do try to pick places that are most convenient to the parks to avoid lots of travel time.