Super excited about DD2's first Disney trip.. need tips!

[disneypolybride2008]

Hi. Hooray! Our first wdw vacation w/ DD 2 years and 4 months, she'll be that age in November when we go. We're going early November so that it will be decorated for Christmas! I LOVE holiday time there! DH and I have been there tons but this is our first trip w/ our DD. We just took a cruise with her and also took her to Sesame Place. So i do have an idea for what it may be like.

We are at AoA.

I was just almost ready to leave Dairy Queen b/c she did not want to stand in line, for a minute.. we were second in line. She was tugging on my hand and starting to throw a tantrum. I said, "How can you go to Disney World if you can't stand in a line?" -ANY TIPS??? How did yours do? I figure FP for as much as we can, but there is still a lot of waiting that is unavoidable.

Anyone know if the bathrooms throughout disney world have automatic paper towel dispensers? She is still using her bjorn potty which worked great on the other vacations, just laid it out in the stall onto paper towels.

We want to go to the Christmas Party. It is 2x our week. It starts at 7pm, goes to midnight, but at home her bedtime routine starts at 7:30 and she's asleep by 8:15. -and sleeps 12 hours, no nap during the day. On our other trips we always kept the routine pretty close to normal. Travel day was late though, and she was up til midnight and did ok.

I'm a germaphobe.. and i've been wondering if i could buy white "princess" gloves for her to wear on rides. She still sticks her fingers in her mouth, and i dont want to put sanitizer on her right after, like i'd normally do for myself. Anyone do this? Any other tips for germs?

I've read through toddler tips and know the sticky note on the toilet, ziplocks for lots of stuff, extra outfit, baby snacks.

I was thinking about renting a full size crib from A Baby's Best Friend so it's not such a tight fit in the pack n play. Did your toddler do fine in the provided pack n play? She's 34 inches now, 27.5 lbs.

No more commando style disney world like our previous trips. -and only 1/2 day at Epcot.. lots of MK time

ty

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

We are going to AoA as well with DS is 2! I've have a couple of boars up about air travel, what to bring and safety stuff!

Happy Planning!

 

[disneypolybride2008]

what do you mean boars? sorry

 

[jpessa]

Last year my DD was 2 1/2, and did great! We also went in November and the lines were really short. Go for rope drop to beat the crowds and do whatever she wants to do. Sometimes that meant Ariel's Grotto 3 times in a row and stopping at every. Single. Merchandise. Cart. In. Disney. There are a lot.

We also let her sleep in the other queen bed (at CBR) with pillows on either edge, no pack and play. There was no way she would have slept in one.

For us, midday breaks to swim and nap and a TS dinner worked well, but really you won't know until you get there what's best for you.

Enjoy it! I found Disney with my toddler was even better than just as adults, because I saw the magic through her eyes and it was amazing.

 

[Petals & Pixie Dust]

what do you mean boars? sorry

No clue...I'm guessing I meant FEARS...but not sure how I typed that out b/c the letters aren't even close to each other! Sorry for the confusion!

 

[estherhead]

Hi. Hooray! Our first wdw vacation w/ DD 2 years and 4 months, she'll be that age in November when we go. We're going early November so that it will be decorated for Christmas! I LOVE holiday time there! DH and I have been there tons but this is our first trip w/ our DD. We just took a cruise with her and also took her to Sesame Place. So i do have an idea for what it may be like.

We are at AoA.

I was just almost ready to leave Dairy Queen b/c she did not want to stand in line, for a minute.. we were second in line. She was tugging on my hand and starting to throw a tantrum. I said, "How can you go to Disney World if you can't stand in a line?" -ANY TIPS??? How did yours do? I figure FP for as much as we can, but there is still a lot of waiting that is unavoidable.

Anyone know if the bathrooms throughout disney world have automatic paper towel dispensers? She is still using her bjorn potty which worked great on the other vacations, just laid it out in the stall onto paper towels.

We want to go to the Christmas Party. It is 2x our week. It starts at 7pm, goes to midnight, but at home her bedtime routine starts at 7:30 and she's asleep by 8:15. -and sleeps 12 hours, no nap during the day. On our other trips we always kept the routine pretty close to normal. Travel day was late though, and she was up til midnight and did ok.

I'm a germaphobe.. and i've been wondering if i could buy white "princess" gloves for her to wear on rides. She still sticks her fingers in her mouth, and i dont want to put sanitizer on her right after, like i'd normally do for myself. Anyone do this? Any other tips for germs?

I've read through toddler tips and know the sticky note on the toilet, ziplocks for lots of stuff, extra outfit, baby snacks.

I was thinking about renting a full size crib from A Baby's Best Friend so it's not such a tight fit in the pack n play. Did your toddler do fine in the provided pack n play? She's 34 inches now, 27.5 lbs.

No more commando style disney world like our previous trips. -and only 1/2 day at Epcot.. lots of MK time

ty

Many paper towel holders aren't automatic, but they are plentiful and high up. So you should easily be able to get paper towels and they are mostly out of little kids reach. I carry a little pack of Clorox wipes with me. This is very helpful when my inner germophobe comes out.

I did see little gloves, I've never bought them as my kids wouldn't wear them so I don't know if they are itchy. You might have better success with getting her to keep them on if you also buy her a crown. Then she'll feel all the way like a princess.

We did put our toddler in the pack and play the resort provided. I can't remember how tall she was when we quit. Another option is to get the rails. You can request them too. Then you'd have the option of the pack and play or bed.

Our small kids loved Epcot World Showcase. There aren't lines for coloring/Kidcot station in each country. While mom and dad take turns looking around the store, kids are happily coloring.

As for tips in line, we GO EARLY. I never made my kids wait more than 10-15 minutes for any ride when they were that young. It's just too much for them. We would do Fantasyland bright and early (fastpass Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh) and then back to the resort and then switch to Epcot. Then the next day to Tomorrowland followed my Adventureland and then resort and then Downtown Disney.

You may be surprised, however, that she wants to meet princesses constantly. This can throw even the best plan off as they have the shortest lines the same time as everything else! If Merida is there I recommend doing her FIRST. Get there are 9:00 and be first in line for her at 9:15. Then quickly dash to Tinkerbell who still will have a short line. Then back track to Tiana. You can get FP's for the other princesses. And you can meet Belle and Ariel without too much trouble in their areas. If you don't do Enchanted Tales with Belle first thing we found her line to be best in the late afternoon. We did wait about 20 minutes, but it was absolutely a torrential downpour and many people came to stand in her line just to get out of the rain. So our afternoon experience might not be indicative of normal. We did her first thing our first morning and we were first in line. No wait at all.

If you do have any waits, an iphone is the perfect distraction for a small child. Or you can do what we do and sing. Yup, we sing Disney songs in line. And everyone sings with us ultimately. Kids love it.

Here is a blog post about the automatic flush trick (with pictures. )

Oh, and someone mentioned shopped carts. If you don't want asked for a toy at the end of EVERY RIDE, when the ride is done, lift her out of the ride and carry her through the store quickly. This worked like a charm for us when our kids were little. They are off the ride and onto the next before they knew what hit them.

 

[momofmaz]

We are going to Disney in November with our 2 year old as well, he will be 28 months then. He has been awful, full terrible 2's, recently and it makes me very nervous for our trip. I'm praying, wishing and hoping that the awe of Disney will silence him into wonderful "I'm so excited I can't throw a tantrum" mode and everything will go smoothly.

We are only going for 2 full days, 2 half days and staying at the Beach Club. I paid for my parents to come with us as well, thats how nervous I am.

 

[Gracie09]

First I would invest in a folding travel potty seat and not haul a full toddler seat to the parks. A good hand washing will take care or any germs. Don't overthink, go with the flow and don't load down your stroller with useless crap that you won't really need. We had two three year olds (one just potty training) and everything we needed for the parks fit in one backpack.
And leave the gloves home. All she will do is put those in her mouth nor her fingers or you will have to keep taking them on and off and then germs will get transferred.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

i forgot to subscribe to this thread, glad to see it on the first page so i got to re-read it.

I still am unsure about the crib situation but i think we'll go with renting a full size crib and we have a blow up toddler bed we can bring to cushion around the crib. Hopefully she stays put and doesn't climb out. She's 35" and the crib all around is 21" so if she wants to she can climb out.

I can't sleep with DH so i need the other bed, and if i put DD in it she'll for sure keep me awake worrying or nagging me for milk.. so she needs her own place. I was thinking of buying a pack n play mattress and having it shipped to the hotel, they're like $30 but it would still be cramped for her.

My DD and I play "loud/quiet," "fast/slow" games and it helps with going out in public now b/c before we get to the restaurant or the doctors i explained that you have to be quiet in these places, and nice reminders kept her perfectly behaved. She loves to scream for fun and be super loud, so maybe this will help others.

When my DD is comfortable in an area she refuses to hold my hand, which worries me at Disney b/c she can't just run off on her own. We are going to MK a lot so she'll feel comfortable by the end for sure.

She will still go in her Slip On diaper during the day.. she doesn't even ask for the potty now, she just goes in her diaper. Guess she is too busy for that now. She was doing so well. However, i was wondering about BM's for all the people who go to rope drop and are up so early.. i would not want to go w/o DD doing her business first in her potty. She normally gets up at 8:30 and if we go somewhere by the time she nurses, uses the potty, eats, we are out the door to the store or a walk awhile later. She gets crabby when she has to go and doesn't say what's wrong, she'll just demand milk b/c she knows she gets to go have milk in her room and go to her upstairs potty afterwards. I'm nervous about her not going in the morning, we leave for the parks all day, and she has a meltdown when she has to go and we are out. She did fine and only went when we were back in the room on our other trips, but still worries me. First time mom here, lol.

Hopefully everything will work out. Just reminding myself that the bottom line is as long as nobody is sick or injured that is all we can ask for!

 

[maxiesmom]

First I would invest in a folding travel potty seat and not haul a full toddler seat to the parks. A good hand washing will take care or any germs. Don't overthink, go with the flow and don't load down your stroller with useless crap that you won't really need. We had two three year olds (one just potty training) and everything we needed for the parks fit in one backpack.
And leave the gloves home. All she will do is put those in her mouth nor her fingers or you will have to keep taking them on and off and then germs will get transferred.

That is a great point about the gloves. Most likely if she is used to putting her fingers in her mouth, she will just put her gloved fingers into her mouth. Probably easier to just wash her hands as often as you can. I don't think I would use hand sanitizer on someone who is used to putting their hands into their mouths. Ick!

They make some really neat portable toddler beds that are like a fancy air mattress. You could buy one of those, maybe even get a princess themed one, and make it her special Disney bed.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

I have an inflatable toddler bed with built in rails and pump, but i just can't see how she would stay put on that, all night having the freedom to get up. Today actually I am going to get it out and put it next to her crib and see if she will nap on it.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

i opened and set up her inflatable toddler bed and she was so excited and loved it.

Now i'm pretty sure that I will just use that for her to sleep on. I'm still concerned though about her getting up during the night having the freedom of a bed.

 

[Gracie09]

If you're in the same room won't you hear her

 

[caselaw3]

Does she climb out of her crib at home? how tall is that? How big is your room? Where will she go if she gets out of bed?
I think you will be fine with the toddler bed - I don't think there is anywhere for her to go if she does wake up - but really - she is probably going to be so exhausted from the excitement each day that she will sleep soundly through the night...

 

[1000HappyWishes]

Some of the lines are interactive, and those that aren't should have plenty of things to catch her eye anyway.

 

[maxiesmom]

i opened and set up her inflatable toddler bed and she was so excited and loved it.

Now i'm pretty sure that I will just use that for her to sleep on. I'm still concerned though about her getting up during the night having the freedom of a bed.

If you are worried about her getting out of the room, I don't think she would be able to reach the door latch towards the top of the door.