Tips for family with young kids

mom2four1

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Messages
10
Hi-this is my first post. We are leaving for the long drive from NY to Florida in 2 days. We will be traveling with twins that are almost 2 and a 6 year old. We'll be staying at the All Star Movie Resort. Any tips about the parks or hotel would be greatly appreciated. Last time we were in Orlando was 10 years ago with our oldest so it will be quite different.
Thanks
Tracy
 
Be prepared for the 2yr olds to want to walk. We went with our DDS last Nov then aged 4yr and the other was 20mos. The 20mo wanted to walk SO much...I don't know how her little legs made it that far. Also, while waiting for things, such as parades, we got snacks to take up some of the wait time. Have fun!
 
Hey - I have a six year old and two year old twins too! :woohoo

We were there in December, and all in all, it was a great trip. My girls (the twinnies) did very, very well. We stayed at SSR, so I can't help with the hotel bit, but I can tell you what helped us in the parks.

They are not big stroller babies, but I really lucked out. We made sure to let them run around for a while and then we'd throw them back into the stroller for drinks and snacks. My girls will not wear a harness - we've tried several times and they morph into demon children and apparently believe that any type of harness or restraint is a punishment. There was just so much for them to look at, I really never had much of a problem getting them to stay in their stroller, and the few times they fussed about it I either gave them a lollypop (I bought those little dum dum pops with us from home) or I would blow bubbles.

My girls had a hard time with the buses at first, I don't know if it was the noise or not being in the car seat, but they did NOT like them the first few times they rode. After that, they were fine. However, the WAIT for the bus was something that was hard to deal with. Again, we would let them walk around with one of the adults while another adult would wait in line for the bus.

In the Magic Kingdom:

My six year old is a HUGE Buzz Lightyear fan, so he enjoyed Tommorowland and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin quite a bit - he would've ridden it all day. My twins also liked that ride, amazingly enough. My DS also liked the Tommorowland Transit Authority, he thought it was neat to go above Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear.

My twins LOVED Pooh's Playful Spot (so did my son!). This is right by the Pooh Honey Pot ride. It's a cushioned play area with a slide and things to climb on, they all had a blast.

Mickey's Toontown Fair was also a big hit with all three of them.


In Epcot:

My six year old liked looking at all of the different countries, and REALLY liked the Innoventions "play" area. There are just a ton of different things you can do there.

My girls favourite thing here was the dancing fountains and Figment.

All three liked the Living Seas, we spent a loooonnnnngggg time in there. Also, the food pavilion was great! Some of the best food we had and something for everyone in one place!

In Animal Kingdom:

All three - anything with animals. We rode the Safari twice and went on every single one of the walking trails. The boneyard was wonderful, I practically had to punish my son to get him to leave.

In MGM -

My kids liked the shows, especially the Playhouse Disney, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. Even my son liked the shows, and he's usually not into any of those characters.

Have a great time - let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!
 
We've been taking our two boys since my youngest was 15 months. The only tip I have is just to go with the flow, and don't be upset when you have to change your plans. I won't wake my kids up anymore to get to the park (cranky and miserable). We go back to the hotel when they need a break. We don't do alot of table service (except character meals and fun places like WCC or 'Ohana). If they want to swim, we swim-- even if it means we only spent two hours in a park that day. That's about all I have.
 

Use a stroller!!! Even if the kids only sit in it part of the day, it's always great to hold extra bags and such. There is so much walking that they are bound to get tired at one point or another during the day, even the older ones. Have fun and go with the flow!!!

:hourglass Counting down to our next trip in May!!! :hourglass
:sunny: :cool1: :sunny: :cool1:
 
The hotel is wonderful. There are HUGE props in every section of the hotel. Try to take as many pictures as you can with these props. The pool is also really neat. I think it only goes up to four feet. We were there in Nov.2005 and it was warm enough for my DD to swim. :goodvibes Whenever you are in the parks and you buy something and do not want to hold onto it, you can have them send it to your room and the hotel. This is free of charge and usually done within 1 to 2 days.
 
Twingle said:
In Epcot:

All three liked the Living Seas, we spent a loooonnnnngggg time in there. Also, the food pavilion was great! Some of the best food we had and something for everyone in one place!

What do you mean by food pavilion in Epcot? I'm just coming up blank as to what you're referring to, and we've been to Epcot numerous times. Maybe I've missed something! :)
 
I'm thinking maybe she's talking about the Sunshine Season's food court in The Land pavillion.
 
Thanks everyone for your tips-we just got home and had a great time!! The kids walked most of the time and really had fun. We did play it by ear and didn't stay at the parks until closing because it would have been too much. The first 2 days we were there the lines were so quick. We got on everything we wanted to and my 6 year old got on her favorites more than once. Planning our next trip for about 3 years from now and going to include the cruise.
Tracy
 








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