Touring plans with toddlers?

[annainohio]

Can anyone share the touring plan they used when going to the parks with toddlers?

 

[disneyfamilyfive]

Traveling with two year old... I am curious to see what others found to work out best for their family with a toddler as well!

 

[gtpoohbear]

When we took my 2 year old last year, our general plan was to be in the park from RD until lunch, then back to the resort for a nap. We would usually go back to a park for an hour or two, and dinner in the evening. Overall, it worked well.

This year, we did the parks from open- close with no break. Being a year older (3) he seemed to do okay with just short naps and breaks in the stroller. Though it was also a shorter trip, not sure he would have kept up that pace for a full week.

I think you just have to try some things out. Have a plan, but don't be afraid to abandon it if it's not working.

 

[baldy6060]

I would go on touring plans .com website and use their plans for touring with small children. I don't know if it's as effective as it was when I had little ones but when I did we left the park early because we had done all of my first day plans and half of the second day's by 5pm. Their Unofficial Guide to WDW book is my Bible.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

My advice:

Don't have a plan at all, you will only be disappointed. Just spend time with your toddler in the happiest place on earth, and ride attractions when it seems to make sense and said toddler wont be upset by it.

 

[Grand Admiral]

We are going to have a loose outline of things we want to do, but be flexible based on what our little guy wants. My wife and I have been before. This trip is for him. As long as he's having a good time, we'll be happy.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Our strategy isn't so much tweaked by how many kids are present, as by the total of our entire party- if that makes sense.

With little kids, if you want to do any big rides, then you have to plan on doing rider swap. I think WDW still has rider swap. Rider swap slows down the group a bit, but parts of your group get to ride rides twice. What also helps is if different adults take turns with the baby. (so one person isn't alone with the kids all the time)

Generally, when we go to the parks, our general strategy is to hit nearly everything at least once. So we've always been open to the idea of doing 'kiddie' rides like IaSW. With no kids, we maybe do a few more mountains, with little kids we maybe do a few more easy rides, but basically it is the same.

We do use a stroller, that way the little one can nap. A stroller also means everyone has a place to stow stuff - which can actually be a pain with extended family (everyone wants to shove all their junk in the stroller). But it can also be wonderfully helpful to be able to stow rain jackets and water.

You will need to park the stroller. It helps if one person is in great shape, or you take turns getting the stroller. IT helps if the child is capable of napping in said stroller. It helps to have a rain cover for the stroller.

Another very smart thing to ad to your stroller is something that makes it stand out...like bright colored ribbons on the handle, stickers. you may not want to smother it in fluorescent duct tape, but that's the kind of look that would be very helpful. Otherwise the strollers all look the same.

If we have a stroller, often the little one just naps when they get tired. so truly, it is not the kids who crimp our touring, it's the (out of shape) adults. when the ADULTS get tired (or injure their foot), then a break is a must.

You would do well to exercise before you go. Walk with the stroller as much as possible. Up and down hills is good.

Maybe we are very lucky, but the little kids in our family have always been pretty flexible as far as sleep. If they are well rested when they arrive at WDW, don't have a cold, and get o catch up a little on rest when they get home- then they tend to do fine at WDW with a little more exercise and a little less rest than they get at home. That said, if someone - anyone is not happy- always do something different- maybe take a break, maybe a nap, maybe a swim, maybe get something sweet.

Kids do equal a small shift...less $ on adult beverages, more $ on toys. (not that we ever drank very much)

As I say, we often go with extended family. No trip is about what any one person wants. We all take turns and compromise. I think that's a great lesson. We are also always flexible.

Along those lines, it is smart to know the location of the little park playgrounds. To a toddler, the little playground near Splash Mtn is just as much fun as any attraction. The monorail is also a big hit. So is the bus for that matter. Know that the post ride area of many attractions have fun things for small kids-like M:S and TT. Many are also fun for the adult too.

 

[GillianP1301]

My advice:

Don't have a plan at all, you will only be disappointed. Just spend time with your toddler in the happiest place on earth, and ride attractions when it seems to make sense and said toddler wont be upset by it.

We are going to have a loose outline of things we want to do, but be flexible based on what our little guy wants. My wife and I have been before. This trip is for him. As long as he's having a good time, we'll be happy.

This, exactly. Our DS was a bit past toddler stage on his first trip (he was 4), but applied this approach. I did tons of planning so that I understood all the options, all the attractions and what I thought he would enjoy vs. not. But then, I only loosely followed that plan and let him lead the way and found that some of the assumptions I made were spot on and others not even close. I never thought he'd be into character M&G at all and he loved it! So, very quickly our touring started to get filled with M&G, but so be it, he enjoyed it.

The key for a successful trip for me (and I think most with young kids), is to maintain your usual eat/sleep schedule as much as possible. We ate our meals at the same time as we did at home and he went to bed at the same time, most nights. I made one exception for seeing Wishes one night. That meant he was always well rested, avoided meltdowns due to being over hungry, etc...

 

[AndreaA]

We've been twice since our boys were born, at ages three and four.

Both times, we made rope drop every day at MK and actually had pre-opening ADRs most days. We would go straight to FantasyLand and ride Pooh, Pan, Speedway and Dumbo before things got busy. Then we'd grabs snack and take a ride on the train (quite possibly their favorite ride) and swap at BTMRR (they actually rode with us at age 4) and then a quick stroll around Frontierland, possibly CountryBears or on to Adventureland for a ride or two there, and then back to the train and Fantasyland. We'd ride a few more things there and/or possibly have lunch and hit Tomorrowland Transportation on the way out and be out of the park by 2pm.

We never went back to the parks after our break, and at age three, one of the boys would konk out on the table at dinner almost every night! I can see that if your kids are the types to nap in a stroller that you might have more success with going back for the evening.

We did have one day which was our "down day" and we ended up going to MK in the late afternoon and staying for the fireworks.

I think the most important thing is to leave before everyone gets cranky! The kids' favorite part of the trip is going to be the hotel pool, so don't stress about getting on every ride five times. Also, if characters are important to you, then Character meals like Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, CRT, and Donald's Safari are well worth the price to avoid long lines to meet individual characters.

 

[Fratthouse]

We've taken our son twice (he's now 2 & 1/2). The first time, he was 1 yo and it was a disaster. The second time, he'd just turned 2, and it was FABULOUS! I can't say we changed our "touring plan" all that much - both times we got to the parks early, took an afternoon break, and went back in the evenings. But we were doing that before we had a toddler, because it was always so hot and crowded in the afternoons!

The biggest change was in my expectations. Instead of going in with the attitude of "I want to see and experience AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE" (which will inevitably leave you disappointed when traveling with a toddler), I went in thinking "I want to enjoy EVERY MOMENT as much as possible". I let go of the checklist, and instead just focused on having as much fun in whatever we were doing. (Note - I didn't always achieve the perfect attitude. There were definitely some disappointing moments. But I tried)

A good touring plan doesn't hurt - touring plans has some specifically for families with toddlers, or you can use their standard plans to make sure you hit all the highlights. But don't be afraid to DISCARD the plan if necessary. Toddlers can't be fit in to a one-size-fits-all plan. Plus, it can be very hard to factor wait times for the character M&Gs, but those can be some of the MOST MAGICAL MOMENTS. So don't count them out

 

[annainohio]

With a lose schedule, how do you schedule fast passes? Are they needed if you make it there by rope drop and leave noonish?

 

[Fratthouse]

With a lose schedule, how do you schedule fast passes? Are they needed if you make it there by rope drop and leave noonish?

It depends on when you're going and what rides it's important for you to ride. We ended up not using a lot of our FP+ reservations when we went. I would recommend making them for the morning. If you end up not needing them, you can always reschedule them for later in the day.

 

[Tremblay Family]

We are going to MK with a toddler for the first time next month. I was going to just "wing" it until I started doing my homework on all things Disney and my Type A personality kicked in. My sister-in-law gave me Unofficial Guide to Disney World. The biggest thing I found helpful is their website touringplans.com and their app WDW Lines.

You have to subscribe (but if you scroll all the way down on the home page, they have a 20% discount code). On there you can make up a touring plan. What I did was picked the top rides I knew my toddler probably wants to go on, added in a 4 hour break in the middle of the day, added a 45 min break for supper, and then let them do the rest. They set up a schedule that sinks with the app on my iPhone. They take into consideration walking time (you can pick fast walking or slow walking) and forecasted wait time over the years.

Once I'm in the park that day, I can take out my phone and see what I should hit next AND it has the wait time on the app. So if I feel like it's too long of a wait (or just don't want to go on it at the time) I just mark the ride as "Done" and "Optimize" and it will rest the schedule on it's own.

On our first day of MK, with the list of rides we wanted, it suggested hitting Buzz twice, Magic carpets, and the jungle cruise in the morning before our 4 hour break. If I make them, great, if not I can try to reschedule them for the later part of the day or the following day.

I feel like it gives me a plan going into the park. It also helps me keep track of the rides he'll want to go on. I like how if we decided to not do a ride, but want to do it later, it will tell us the best time of day (lowest wait time) to go back to the ride.