Prepping a Toddler for the trip

[lighttech]

Here and there I've read suggestions about movies and videos to help get a toddler ready for WDW. We'll be taking DS (2 1/2) in the fall, and I'd like to help him see where we are going and get used to the idea of all the excitement and the LARGE characters.

I'm thinking about picking up the Disneyland Sing-A-Long, but I'd love to get something specific to Disney World. Any ideas?

Any tips at all about getting a toddler ready and excited for this kind of big vacation would be welcome.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dana1003]

there are videos on here for some rides that you can also hear the audio on..like pirtaes of the caribbean...i played for my girls so that when we finally went on the ride they recognized.of course showing them pics of all the characters helps. they loved the movie monsters, but when they actually saw mike and sully in person at mgm, they freaked out...so you never know.your toddler will love it regardless or recognition. have fun

 

[Elmo888]

DD2 liked the Disneyland Fun Singalong and the free planning DVD that you can order from disneyworld.com. It shows characters and rides. I think that just seeing the characters helps - it doesn't necessarily need to be WDW specific. And knowing the songs is a good idea, too (either from Singalongs or just from CDs).

DD2 liked Mickey and Minnie, but she didn't like the other characters, esp. Goofy and Tigger (they are huge!). And she loved the "face characters", like the princesses.

 

[brentm3]

I have taken the kids to Chuck E Cheese's prior to their younger trips, just to gauge what kind of reaction they would have to a 6 foot tall mouse (err, rat?)

It's also a great way to gauge the strength of your stomach lining...

 

[hoosiergirl7]

I don't know how to really prepare toddlers for Disney. We took DS last September when he was 2yrs9mos. He was very into Little Einsteins, still is and told him he would be seeing the characters. We also told him he would see Mickey, Minnie, etc. Once we got there he was really excited but then freaked out when he saw the characters. He was having none of the meet & greets with them. However he still loved the parks, the rides, the shows, the parades. If we go next October as planned when he's almost 5 yrs old I'm hoping it will be different and he won't be so scared.

 

[mom of princess]

We are back from my DD's first trip to WDW. She is pretty much fearless so you have to see how your child is at home. When ours was 2 she ran away from the characters at our local amusement parks but this year she ran to them... the reaction to Chuck (E. Cheese) will also help you. We kept telling DD that almost everyone would be as big as Daddy (almost 6 ft tall) or bigger but that the Princesses would only be as big as Mommy (5 ft 4) so that helped. We scheduled most of our character interactions over meals so that if she got freaked out they would just move along.

My suggestion for getting your little one knowing the songs, movies, etc. is to watch the Sing-a-longs set in Disney. (Beach party, Camping, and Flik's musical adventure are all set in WDW; It's a small world is set in Disneyland but has alot of the same look although it was set a few years back.) We also taped EVERY Disney show that was created for the Travel Channel so that she could see the parks. We already own lots of movies and CDs so she knew the music. My last pointer is to get the Disney for kids by kids book, I think it was made by Birnbaum, for little ones to look at. It has maps and pictures/descriptions of every ride in WDW - ours was able to flip thru all the pages and tell us what she wanted to ride or see. You could also go to the Photos posted on this board - that was a daily activity, there are also videos that you can watch. DD knew the words for Wishes fireworks before we even got there since she watched it so much.

Good luck on your trip! Remember that the age of your child doesn't matter as much as how they react to certain things - we also took our 10-yr-old niece and she was afraid of more than the 3-yr-old.

 

[lighttech]

there are videos on here for some rides that you can also hear the audio on..like pirtaes of the caribbean...i played for my girls so that when we finally went on the ride they recognized.of course showing them pics of all the characters helps. they loved the movie monsters, but when they actually saw mike and sully in person at mgm, they freaked out...so you never know.your toddler will love it regardless or recognition. have fun

Thanks everyone for the advice so far. Can anybody help me with where to find the video clips of rides, etc? I found the pictures, but I haven't seen the videos.

Oops, just found the videos! I must have completely missed them the first time through.

 

[dana1003]

if you go to the home page here and click on photos/video..scroll down and you should see ride names with a a little video camera log next to it. the title says -wwd videos

 

[NemoMOm]

We are taking our 2.5 yr old in Oct. and though this will be his 5th trip he doesn't really remember. So, we have tivo'd the travel channels WDW shows and watch them. He loves them. He is always yelling "I go there, I ride that , I see that, etc" It really helps.