Originally posted by lenshanem
GEM, how old did you say your child is? 
I wish it was that easy with a three year old!
What I find interesting is the amount of people that comment on how bad kids are then go on to say my child is an angel and I've never had problems or even those who haven't experienced the twos and threes yet! 
You have to walk in my shoes to understand...
............
I guess the odd thing to me is that we're talking about WDW! Kids, kids and kids! This isn't an adults only beach resort...
He's 16 months old, not that I see how it matters at all.
We've taken many, many vacations (WDW and others) with extended family - little cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. I have traveled all over with my youngest cousin, including five or six major trips with him between the ages of two and three. If he was hot, cranky, overstimulated, etc. we found someplace cool and quiet to cool off until he was ready to go again. What we did NOT do was go right on with our plans to ride Small World or have lunch at the Brown Derby despite that fact that he was obviously headed for a meltdown. That' where many parents make a fatal misktake, in my opinion.
And, I'll say it again, yes, WDW is for kids - but it's also for everybody else. Nobody should have to endure a dinner, show, etc. with a screaming baby or toddler. The child should always be removed from the situation. Now, if you are on a ride and your previously happy child gets freaked out or whatever, then there obviously isn't much you can do but apologize and try to make the best of it.
We take our little guy all over the place. He's probably logged more vacation miles than kids four or five times his age. You can bet, though, that when he starts to cry, scream, just generally throw a fit (as all babies/toddlers do occasionally), and we can't get him quieted down right away, one of us takes him out so as not to disturb anyone else.
I do understand what you mean about some children being more "high intensity" than others. I already admitted that my little guy is generally very easy going and laid back. The little cousin that I mentioned traveling frequently with is NOT. He tends to be very nervous, clingly, extremely particular, etc. However, that still doesn't give us the right to let him disturb other people. We can't just say "oh, he's very intense," and expect people not to care that he's ruing their dinner or they can't enjoy a show because of him.
Now, I'm not saying that children should be expected to be perfect at Disney (or anywhere else). I'm just saying that parents need to be respectful of other people and do everything they can to make sure that their little darling doesn't create a huge disturbance for anyone else - and I think that's just as true at WDW as anywhere.
. And to think I posted on that board last year.
We just try to make sure everyone's been to the bathroom and everybody seems happy before we get in any lines! 
However, on a trip a few years back we waited in a few lines only to back out at the last minute because my little cousin (two at the time we took him) was getting really fussy and we were afraid he would case a huge disturbance on the ride and we didn't want to be trapped with a screaming toddler. We've never really had that problem with our little guy. He is still nursing and that pretty much takes care of any meltdown type situation. 
