Tips for a Toddler's Mom and Dad

[Frisbee]

My husband and I will be taking our (then) 21 month old daughter to WDW the first week of June. We will be staying at the Fairfield Bonnet Creek Resort with my in-laws. There will be eleven of us in all. We have rented a car.
I am hoping some of you DISers can help me with some tips for making this trip fun and smooth for my toddler. She is very shy.
What tips do you have for each park? Eating? etc.
All tips are welcome!

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

If your in laws plan on doing full days at the park, I suggest that you have your own car, so if your tot gets tired or overwhelmed you can leave early.

Arrive to the parks at opening time, this way you can do all the rides in Fantasyland with little to no lines.

Ride Dumbo first thing, otherwise the lines are unbearable. What we do is that I get in line for Dumbo with dd, and dh gets in line about 30 people behind us. This way, when dd and I are done, I will pass her over the gates to dh and she car ride again with him.

Don´t do Snow White unless you think your tot can handle it after all of the other rides, also leave Pooh as the last one because it can be bumpy, so ride Dumbo first, then Peter Pan (when you first get in line for Peter Pan take fast passes in case you want to ride again), and then go to It´s a Small World.

There is a small play area Pooh themed and both there and in the entrance to the Little Mermaid are water jets to play, so be sure to bring a swimsuit and a full change of clothes for your little one. We always bring and extra t-shirt or two in addition to the full change, because ice cream in Florida melts at lightning speed, so dd gets really messy many times a day.

Bring your own stroller where your child is comfortable in case he or she needs to nap. If you have a stroller plastic bring it too and try to leave your stroller covered when you are not using it.

 

[Monkeyfeet]

My tip is to not put unrealalistic demands on your child. Since she is shy and there will be 11 people already in your party, she may get quite overstimulated. Don't expect to be at the park all day with one that little, she will probably need a break or two.

We just returned with our dd2, and I am still in shock at the amount of people that we saw spanking little ones. In the big picture it wasn't truly a lot of people, but seeing just one 1yo getting spanked for being overstimulated was more than enough for us One dad was yelling and swearing at his 18 month old for crying and not enjoying himself, then he slapped him on the face. It put a slight damper on an otherwise AWESOME trip.

 

[Princess Roo]

You're going to have a GREAT time! It is so wonderful to see everything through their eyes.
The last two times we went, we did get to the parks at opening almost every day (and it was SO worth it), but other than that we really just played by DS' schedule.
DS wasn't a big fan of the characters up close, so we didn't push it. We did book a character meal, and he enjoyed seeing the characters, but didn't want to hug them or anything. The characters are very sensitive to this, and won't try to hug a child who looks terrified or anything. There is TONS to do without characters.
Our son needed to go back to the hotel for a nap. We tried napping in the stroller, but that didn't work for him. It does work for a lot of people, though.

 

[surfer_ed]

My tip is to not put unrealalistic demands on your child. Since she is shy and there will be 11 people already in your party, she may get quite overstimulated. Don't expect to be at the park all day with one that little, she will probably need a break or two.

This is the best advice, set realistic expecations. We have been 3 times with out DD who is now 2.5 years old. Each visit has been different but unique. The last one, a few months ago was the best since she was brave enough to go meet Cinderella.

I know she is too young to remember but my wife and I will always cherish the memories of her jumping up and down on Mainstreet after really seeing the castle for the first time on the last trip. To a toddler, everything is real and magical.

We have never forced her to do anything and didn't take her on many of the dark rides, since they can be scary. She loved seeing the castle, Small World, Dumbo and the Pooh Play area.

I suggest you don't put yourself into a situation where you feel you are holding back the group and or pushing DD too much and you will have a blast.

 

[sptddog]

We went in June for a week with our DD, then 20-21 months old. The key things that worked for us....an umbrella stroller that FULLY reclines, 2 mini fans to hang on said stroller for air, and a Ray Shade. The Ray Shade is a stroller cover that velcros onto the stroller - and it's huge. Not only does it keep them protected from ALL the sun, but it's great for pulling down to completely block their vision (hence the fans stragetically placed to provide air under there) and make sleeping easier. For my DD (who is not good at falling asleep anywhere there is activity) this worked out well. Most days we'd have to walk her around for a half hour or more to get her to fall asleep, but once asleep, she'd sleep 2+ hours and she was great for the whole day. Once we got her asleep, we pulled the ray shade up a bit to get more air under, and we often parked in the shade or inside somewhere to just sit for a while as she slept. We headed back to our room most nights around 7-8 or so.

Try character meals rather than walking up to them in the park. My DD didn't mind them at all at a table meal, but she wasn't happy about them in the park - I think their size is more apparent when she was down on the ground looking up at them.

Changes of clothes as mentioned....a few of those mini cereal boxes for snacks throughout the day if other food didn't suit....her bink (we hated letting her have it so much there, but it was obviously comforting to her when she was overstimulated and unsure of things)....a rain cover for the stroller...earplugs if you're going to watch the fireworks (our DD didn't like them, so we stuffed them in just as the show started, and once the fireworks were in the sky, she barely noticed).

Have a great time! She went on nearly all the rides and had a blast on most of them. We gave her glow sticks (purchased at the dollar store) for those few rides which had dark spots where we thought she might get scared. It was a wonderful experience, they do find it magical and exciting even if they don't remember much of it!