Trip reports with a 2-year-old?

[Cara]

My husband and I are taking our DD, SIL and newly 2-year-old GS to WDW in November. I am on the hunt for trip reports with a toddler this age? Can you help?

 

[MikeWsGirl]

My trip report includes our toddler. Also @StarWarsMomofGirls! wrote about taking littles in her older ones.

 

[Cara]

Thank you!

 

[jelona]

My husband and I are taking our DD, SIL and newly 2-year-old GS to WDW in November. I am on the hunt for trip reports with a toddler this age? Can you help?

I don't have a trip report. But I did just return from a trip with my 2-year old daughter.

We did Sunday - Sunday. 5 park Days and 1 rest day (my daughter had 2 rest days). My daughter came down with an ear infection on day 1. It's not a trip to Disney if we don't end up in urgent care!! Haha.
Advice I can give is Plan on two rest days if you are doing a lot of park days. We did two HS days, and on the second one, she stayed back at the resort with my mom. Even if they stay in the stroller most of the time, Disney world can be very Overwhelming. Things that I thought my daughter would love, Like Parades, she actually hated!

Stroller, of course, is a must. Not sure what the temp is like there in Nov, but i do live in the south, and where I'm from Nov can still have some warm days. Pack a fan to add to the stroller. Since we went last week during peak summer, We had 3 fans blowing on her.

Bring easy snacks. Squeezable apple sauce and Uncrustables were a godsend. We used an insulated casserole holder as a cooler, it worked perfectly, and we could fold down our stroller with it in it.

I know there is a lot of hate with Genie+. We're paying for something that use to be free. Ugh i know, BUT!!! get it. We went last October when there were no Fast Passes or LL. I felt like we missed out on so much standing in line and trying to keep a toddler entertained. It was so much better this time around in July with genie+.

Do either late starts or take a break.
Alot of family's take a mid afternoon break to the hotel when they have a toddler. If that works great for your family. Definitely do that! I have some grumps in my family, so I knew if we were to go back mid afternoon, someone wouldn't want to go back to the parks.
My plan was to have a late start and it seemed to work out great for us. I planned my ADRs around 1:00. we didn't leave the resort till it was time for our lunch reservations. Bus stops waits were never long or packed, and getting into the park was a breeze!! No line! In the mornings i would stay at the resort and stack our genie+ for after our meals. So we would arrive at the parks, and then head over to our reservation. This way, we were inside during peak heat hours(which might not be a problem for you) and then had rides lined up for when we got done. We also had Extra evening hours for Epcot & MK. so we were able to get a lot done during those hours.

If everyone is off riding big rides, find a play area for the toddler. This helped so much, she got to tire herself out and was entertained. Animal kingdom has the Bone Yard in dinoland, Epcot has a playground inside (air conditioned) through the gift store at mission Space. MK has one at dumbo. Never found one at HS. but all the shows kept my daughter's interest, so we did that.


Last bit of advice is to definitely plan for the unexpected (as cliche as that is.) Toddlers get sick, they get cranky, and sometimes can't handle the parks as well as a big kid. Have a backup plan on who would be okay taking them back to the room if this happens. No one likes to miss out. But if you already have a plan in place, it helps with the frustration of no one wanting to go back. We also took her when she was 1 back in october and learned the hard way from this. This past trip, I made sure a plan was in place.

Hope that helps!!

 

[Cara]

I don't have a trip report. But I did just return from a trip with my 2-year old daughter.

We did Sunday - Sunday. 5 park Days and 1 rest day (my daughter had 2 rest days). My daughter came down with an ear infection on day 1. It's not a trip to Disney if we don't end up in urgent care!! Haha.
Advice I can give is Plan on two rest days if you are doing a lot of park days. We did two HS days, and on the second one, she stayed back at the resort with my mom. Even if they stay in the stroller most of the time, Disney world can be very Overwhelming. Things that I thought my daughter would love, Like Parades, she actually hated!

Stroller, of course, is a must. Not sure what the temp is like there in Nov, but i do live in the south, and where I'm from Nov can still have some warm days. Pack a fan to add to the stroller. Since we went last week during peak summer, We had 3 fans blowing on her.

Bring easy snacks. Squeezable apple sauce and Uncrustables were a godsend. We used an insulated casserole holder as a cooler, it worked perfectly, and we could fold down our stroller with it in it.

I know there is a lot of hate with Genie+. We're paying for something that use to be free. Ugh i know, BUT!!! get it. We went last October when there were no Fast Passes or LL. I felt like we missed out on so much standing in line and trying to keep a toddler entertained. It was so much better this time around in July with genie+.

Do either late starts or take a break.
Alot of family's take a mid afternoon break to the hotel when they have a toddler. If that works great for your family. Definitely do that! I have some grumps in my family, so I knew if we were to go back mid afternoon, someone wouldn't want to go back to the parks.
My plan was to have a late start and it seemed to work out great for us. I planned my ADRs around 1:00. we didn't leave the resort till it was time for our lunch reservations. Bus stops waits were never long or packed, and getting into the park was a breeze!! No line! In the mornings i would stay at the resort and stack our genie+ for after our meals. So we would arrive at the parks, and then head over to our reservation. This way, we were inside during peak heat hours(which might not be a problem for you) and then had rides lined up for when we got done. We also had Extra evening hours for Epcot & MK. so we were able to get a lot done during those hours.

If everyone is off riding big rides, find a play area for the toddler. This helped so much, she got to tire herself out and was entertained. Animal kingdom has the Bone Yard in dinoland, Epcot has a playground inside (air conditioned) through the gift store at mission Space. MK has one at dumbo. Never found one at HS. but all the shows kept my daughter's interest, so we did that.


Last bit of advice is to definitely plan for the unexpected (as cliche as that is.) Toddlers get sick, they get cranky, and sometimes can't handle the parks as well as a big kid. Have a backup plan on who would be okay taking them back to the room if this happens. No one likes to miss out. But if you already have a plan in place, it helps with the frustration of no one wanting to go back. We also took her when she was 1 back in october and learned the hard way from this. This past trip, I made sure a plan was in place.

Hope that helps!!

Thank you so much for these great tips! We're doing 4 park days in 5 days with a midday break for a nap EVERY DAY. We're renting points for a 2BR at BLT, which will make it easy and comfortable to go back to the room from MK and even from EP. HS will be one late-afternoon/early-evening and AK will be on our first day. We're also planning to play everything by ear and we'll be winning to start late or skip an afternoon/evening at the parks if he is tired/out of sorts. My husband and I are also planning to stay with him several times to allow his parents to have some adult fun.

Our plan is to arrive early in the evening on a Sunday and spend one night at the Residence Inn near the airport before checking in to BLT on Monday for a 4-night stay. We'll attempt a longer stay when he's older!

 

[jrmint427]

My 2018 trip in my signature was taken with a just turned 2-year-old!

 

[Peach026]

Do you have any specific questions? I've been brining my littles since my eldest was 16 months . They are now 7 and 9 (ALMOST 8 and 10!)

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I have 5 kids and have been to Disney every year for all of their lives. I know this is controversial but with little ones I always brought one of those backpack things they wear that straps to parents wrist so when they want to walk they can’t run off. I had runners and with the crowds (especially now) it’d be easy for a little one to slip away. That, naps and patience are my biggest advice.

 

[jelona]

Thank you so much for these great tips! We're doing 4 park days in 5 days with a midday break for a nap EVERY DAY. We're renting points for a 2BR at BLT, which will make it easy and comfortable to go back to the room from MK and even from EP. HS will be one late-afternoon/early-evening and AK will be on our first day. We're also planning to play everything by ear and we'll be winning to start late or skip an afternoon/evening at the parks if he is tired/out of sorts. My husband and I are also planning to stay with him several times to allow his parents to have some adult fun.

Our plan is to arrive early in the evening on a Sunday and spend one night at the Residence Inn near the airport before checking in to BLT on Monday for a 4-night stay. We'll attempt a longer stay when he's older!

You're Welcome!!! Of course every toddler is different. My Son was a "Go with the flow, I'm just happy to be here" type of toddler. We could do a full park day and he would sleep in his stroller and never get fussy or antsy. He fit into our schedule.
My daughter is waaaay different. we have to fit her schedule. Which is okay! just took a lot of learning on our part!

I have 5 kids and have been to Disney every year for all of their lives. I know this is controversial but with little ones I always brought one of those backpack things they wear that straps to parents wrist so when they want to walk they can’t run off. I had runners and with the crowds (especially now) it’d be easy for a little one to slip away. That, naps and patience are my biggest advice.

I bought one for my daughter! I say do whatever you need to do to keep your kids safe! Definitely not controversial with me! It was super cute and i thought she would love it since it matched her regular daycare bookbag (skiphop brand)! NOPE. I still brought it in case she would let me put it on her. But I also bought apple tags and a bracelet to strap around her ankle just in case she was to wander off. I also bought one for my 9-year-old and my Stroller (cast members sometimes have to reorganize strollers so this helped us find it!)! i never let them out of my sight, but the apple tags did give me peace of mind in case something did happen.

 

[Cara]

Oh, a backpack leash thing is on our list!! I would far rather be judged for that than for losing sight of him in a park!!