Toddler Attractions

[Emma-Jeff]

We are visiting Florida for Easter 2005 and taking our 2 year old daughter and wondered if anybody can recommend some suitable attractions in any of the parks for children of this age.

 

[tartangirl]

Hi,

There are very few attractions aimed specifically at 2 year olds.

The one that springs to mind is Dumbo in Fantasland in MK but watch out for that Q

Similar rides (with shorter Qs) are Aladdin's carpets in AdventureLand and Triceratops Spin in AK.

It's a Small World in Fantasyland used to be suitable but last time I was there it was closed for renovation and I dont know whether it has opened again.

Some of the shows might be enjoyable (Festival of the Lion King).

If your daughter is familiar with the disney characters (and not scared of an 8ft mouse) then she will enjoy the character meeting areas.

There are plenty of other rides that she will get on but she may get some frights along the way - personally I thought Small World was pretty scarey.

 

[allie5]

When my DD was 2 she enjoyed at

Magic Kingdom: Peter Pan, Its a Small World, Dumbo, Teacups, Pooh, Buzz Lightyears spin, the carousel, all the parades and shows, Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Ariels Grotto, Tomorrowland Transit, Railway round the park, Liberty Belle Steamboats, breakfast with the Princesses in the castle.

Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari, Camp Minnie Mickey, Lion King show, Triceratops spin, adventure playground, Rafikis Planet watch, Pochahontas Forest Friends, Jammin Jungle Parade.

EPCOT: Living Seas, Figment: Journey Into Imagination, Garden Grill Restaurant (character meal), making a mask at the Countries in the World Showcase, character bus, El Rio de Tempo ride (Mexico), Koi fish pond (Japan), Model Railway, Illuminations, Origami display (Japan), musical fountains, Friendship boats.

MGM: Muppets 3D, Honey I shrunk the kids play area, Playhouse Disney show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, the parade, Beauty And The Beast show.

She also enjoyed Sea World enourmously. Universal / Islands Of Adventure was a waste of money as their was very few attractions that were suitable for her age group. Other people will disagree, but personally, I think these parks are better left for when they are older.

The water parks were hit and miss. Typhoon Lagoon is a NIGHTMARE with a 2 year old. It is very, very easy to lose sight of your child here as the theming is full on with trees. One second and your child can disappear. With all that water around I foundit unerving. The main pool was a disaster as when the wave hits the wake causes all the little ones to topple over onto the rough surfaced bottom. Lots of tears here. I have heard that Blizzard Beach is a better option. We liked Wet & Wild, it has a great kids area, and its easy to watch the little ones play in total safety here.

Have a fun trip!

Allie

 

[vernon]

It's difficult to say with kids of that age, there are a lot of rides they can go on, but whether they enjoy them is down to the individual child. All you you can do is try and see how they get on.

I found my DD at that age enjoyed the shows, parades and character interactions. The best way to maximise the characters, without spending ALL DAY in queues is to attend a couple of character breakfasts/lunches. Also kids of that age can get bored/fractious if they spend all their time queueing. I found a good way to counteract this, at MK, was to make regular stops at the carousel in Fantasy land. It's rare the queue for this is more than a few minutes and my DD seemed happy to ride this several times a day.

While I understand the comments about how unnerving the waterparks can be I don't think TL is any worse from any other waterpark. At any of these, you do need to be alert at all times. Both TL and BB have some great little kiddy areas for them to play in. I do agree that care has to be taken with the little ones in the large wave pool, I found holding the little ones was the easiest option as the surface of the pool can graze the skin. There are side sections of the main wavepool that have a nice sandy area for them to play in where the waves aren't too rough. I found the area that would be on your left if you stand looking down the main wave pool towards where the waves come from is the better of these two areas, and is the closest to the kiddies area. I didn't like Wetnwild, because it seemed to have a much "rougher" teenaged crowd who charged around and generally didn't take much notice of the smaller kids.

I would agree Seaworld can be a great option for kids of that age. With USF and IOA , I probably wouldn't put these into my plans if the 2 Y old is the only child in the group( leave it for a later trip), but there are enough things to amuse a child of that age if it is already on your agenda. IOA has a really nice little kiddies play area in Suess Landing that has water sprinklers and spouts that the kids love and help to cool them down. It's a good distraction if one parent looks after the 2 Y old here for 30-40 minutes while the other parent takes an older child off for one of the coasters or more extreme rides.

 

[allie5]

Originally posted by vernon
While I understand the comments about how unnerving the waterparks can be I don't think TL is any worse from any other waterpark.

I will just clarify my thoughts on Typhoon Lagoon for very young kids (bearing in mind this is a GREAT park for older kids and adults!!). The problem I found was that the layout of this park was extremely disorientating. The theming makes each part of the park look the same, and its confusing enough for adults to know where they are. If my DD wandered innocently only for ONE SECOND then she vanished....obviously I kept my eyes on her at all times and was able to retrieve her instantly, but I did not feel at ease in this park. The kiddie rides were terrible...she cut herself on one slide and scraped her skin off on another. There was no where for adults to sit and watch the children here either.

With Wet and Wild, everything is open and you can see your child at all times. The big kids dont bother with the little kids area, so no worries there. The slides are smooth and MUCH nicer. Adults can sit and watch even the tiniest ones, paddle and splash in the lovely, SAFE pools.

That was our experience anyway! Hope you have a great time with whichever parks you visit!

Allie

 

[KayleeUK]

Welcome to the DIS Emma

We are off to WDW late April so I think we will miss you

 

[Emma-Jeff]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

We did the whole WDW thing a couple of years ago but with our nieces who were 8 at the time but we weren't taking any notice of the little rides at that time !