Trip reports with toddlers?

[toomuchtv]

Can anyone point me towards any good trip reports with toddlers? We are looking to take our little guy next May when he will be 20 months, and I want to see how this went for other people. A little older/younger is okay. I love reading trip reports with lots of pics (food pics are a bonus!)

Thanks!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Don't have an official trip report, but I just got back with my just turned 2 (so 24 month old) son. It was SO much more fun than I thought it would be. Here are some things I learned/noticed:

1. We were only in the parks for 2 days, which was perfect for a 2 year old. We probably could have done 1 more park day had we had time, but this was a trip tagged on to a longer spring break FL vacation. We arrived the morning before our first park day, and spent our arrival day having a late breakfast (lunch really) at the Ohana character breakfast. We spent the afternoon getting acclimated and swimming at our resort pool.

2. We have a big stroller that came with our car seat system, but for travel, we used a lighter weight umbrella stroller (summer infant) and it was great to have something lighter weight for the trip.

3. Speaking of strollers, I never realized before that it was slightly inconvenient for stroller parking to be far from the exit of many rides (I'm looking at you Winnie the Pooh!) We found it a better strategy to park the stroller near the exit to a ride, rather than the entrance.

4. My 2 year old LOVED the characters and we found character meals to be so. much. fun. I will say that the non-buffet character meals ('Ohana breakfast) were so much easier. Buffets are tricky with toddlers.

5. DVC villas have a bit of extra room, and the mini kitchens are great with little ones. We rented points for OKW and it was perfect.

6. The indoor playground at Dumbo is fabulous!! My son played in here for almost an hour while it was raining.

7. That's all I can think of right now - bring your child's favorite foods and snacks if he is picky bc there isn't a huge variety of baby snacks at the stores, and the ones they have are expensive!

Have so much fun!

 

[toomuchtv]

Thank you so much for your reply!

Don't have an official trip report, but I just got back with my just turned 2 (so 24 month old) son. It was SO much more fun than I thought it would be. Here are some things I learned/noticed:

1. We were only in the parks for 2 days, which was perfect for a 2 year old. We probably could have done 1 more park day had we had time, but this was a trip tagged on to a longer spring break FL vacation. We arrived the morning before our first park day, and spent our arrival day having a late breakfast (lunch really) at the Ohana character breakfast. We spent the afternoon getting acclimated and swimming at our resort pool.

That is exactly the same amount of time we are looking at right now, though I might add another day. Did you only do Magic Kingdom? That's part of my problem, wondering which other park to do. I see good points to all 3, though I admit some of the good points are for Mommy & Daddy!

2. We have a big stroller that came with our car seat system, but for travel, we used a lighter weight umbrella stroller (summer infant) and it was great to have something lighter weight for the trip.

3. Speaking of strollers, I never realized before that it was slightly inconvenient for stroller parking to be far from the exit of many rides (I'm looking at you Winnie the Pooh!) We found it a better strategy to park the stroller near the exit to a ride, rather than the entrance.

4. My 2 year old LOVED the characters and we found character meals to be so. much. fun. I will say that the non-buffet character meals ('Ohana breakfast) were so much easier. Buffets are tricky with toddlers.

That's funny that you say that, because I hear a lot of people suggest buffets. I'm not a huge buffet fan, so I'm happy to hear the other opinion!

5. DVC villas have a bit of extra room, and the mini kitchens are great with little ones. We rented points for OKW and it was perfect.

6. The indoor playground at Dumbo is fabulous!! My son played in here for almost an hour while it was raining.

7. That's all I can think of right now - bring your child's favorite foods and snacks if he is picky bc there isn't a huge variety of baby snacks at the stores, and the ones they have are expensive!

Have so much fun!

I'm sure we will, though I might drive my husband crazy planning for the next 13 months.

 

[buzznina]

We do not do trip reports, but I can tell you that we have been going regularly since our 1st DD was 6 month old and never really had any problems. We learned early that it was better for everyone not to go back for noon breaks and to just let them fall asleep in the stroller. We have taken 1 and a couple of trips 2 strollers, and really never have any issues getting around or getting on/off buses etc., it is not difficult at all. Also, loved having it to use for storage We always take a snack bag and water with us to the parks and rarely had any problems with food choices. We made sure to check the menus of places before we would go there, to make sure they had something for our DD(s). For us, other than character meals, we find it easier and faster to eat at QS places and not TS restaurants. We try and make sure they get their sleep, so if we stay at a park late, we will let them sleep the next morning and not plan anything early. At the early ages, we also would only do 2-3 park days in a row and then have a resort day to just relax and it has worked great for us.

 

[schmass]

We have taken our DS at 9 months, 16 months, and 23 months. The trip we took at 23 months was one of my best vacations EVER because he had so much fun. We brought our B-Agile stroller instead of our umbrella stroller that time, so that he could nap easier (full recline). That is one thing I am so glad that we did differently than the other two vacations. I have a TR from the trip when he was 23 months in my signature. There is also a Disney day at the end of my cruise TR.

 

[Ava]

I have never gotten it together to do a trip report, but have taken toddlers to the parks on 3 trips and am happy to answer questions! We took our older DD when she had just turned 2 (in 2011), in 2014 our girls were 5 years old and 16 months old, and last year they were 6 years old and 27 months old.

Both of our girls LOVED the characters when they were 2+, but at 16 months our younger DD wouldn't go near them until the very last day she interacted with Stitch at 'Ohana while my DW was holding her.

As far as a 2nd park choice, choose the one that appeals to you & your DH most. EPCOT has the most attractions that a toddler can do, but there are good points about the others as well. AK was probably my toddlers' least favorite, but if your son loves looking at animals he will have a good time there.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

We only did MK with our 2 year old, but my husband and I went to Epcot alone one night (my parents were with us for one day and one night) and as we were walking around, we noticed a lot of things he probably would have liked, based on what he liked at the MK - the Character Spot, the Disney Visa meet and greet, the Nemo ride, Living with the Land, Imagination, and the Mexico boat ride. We took him at 12 months and Living with the Land was way too long for him. At 2 years, he was much more interested in looking and pointing at things he recognized. He loved Pirates and Small World at the MK too, which is why I think the Land and Mexico would have been hits.

I think he would ahve loved the Disney Junior show at DHS, but as there was nothing else there that we thought he would like, we didn't even consider it. I could see doing a 3rd day with maybe an Animal Kingdom morning and an Epcot evening.

Also, probably the best thing we did was leave the parks around noon (he usually naps around 1) so that he could get a good nap in the room in the pack n play. When he was 1 he slept in the stroller just fine, but at 2, he needed a legit nap away from the stimulation of the parks. It was also a nice break for us - we sat on the balcony and had drinks while he napped.

 

[xxpeplyxx]

Can anyone point me towards any good trip reports with toddlers? We are looking to take our little guy next May when he will be 20 months, and I want to see how this went for other people. A little older/younger is okay. I love reading trip reports with lots of pics (food pics are a bonus!)

Thanks!

we are going may 2nd this year with our son, he will be 22 months so not much difference and I will be doing a live trip report over on the uk trip reports thread if you wish to follow along, if not I can check back in to this thread and let you know how it goes, it'll be our first time travelling without it being just adults, and I am a little nervous but equally totally excited xxxx

 

[toomuchtv]

I have never gotten it together to do a trip report, but have taken toddlers to the parks on 3 trips and am happy to answer questions! We took our older DD when she had just turned 2 (in 2011), in 2014 our girls were 5 years old and 16 months old, and last year they were 6 years old and 27 months old.

Both of our girls LOVED the characters when they were 2+, but at 16 months our younger DD wouldn't go near them until the very last day she interacted with Stitch at 'Ohana while my DW was holding her.

As far as a 2nd park choice, choose the one that appeals to you & your DH most. EPCOT has the most attractions that a toddler can do, but there are good points about the others as well. AK was probably my toddlers' least favorite, but if your son loves looking at animals he will have a good time there.

As a toddler parent, what did your kids enjoy at Epcot?

 

[Ava]

As a toddler parent, what did your kids enjoy at Epcot?

The Seas/Turtle Talk, Journey into Imagination, and the boat ride in Mexico were favorites for both girls. I think that silly boat ride was my youngest's favorite ride in all of WDW. We haven't spent a lot of time in WS on any of our trips with toddlers, but that was more due to bad weather than lack of interest.

They also both enjoyed meeting characters at 2. If you have a Disney Visa card, definitely do the exclusive character greeting. You get to meet 2-3 characters (it varies but will be some combo of the Fab Five) with little to no wait. Just go pick up your free print (if you want it) before park closing. We made the mistake of not going until we were heading out at night and the photo place was jammed.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I think I may still have my TR from when my son was 2 about to turn 3 in my siggy. It was a very short trip, 2.5 park days. We did one day at MK, one day at AK, and one party night MNSSHP. If I had to do it again I would have skipped the party night because it was our travel day, it was very crowded, and we were all exhausted by 10pm. At AK he loved the Nemo puppet show and the Triceratops spinner ride, and he liked the Safari. But I agree with previous posters that Epcot would have been the better choice. Journey into Imagination, Nemo Ride, Spaceship Earth, the Donald ride in Mexico and the Pluto meet and greet by the entrance were all big hits on our most recent trip. They'll have the Frozen ride open soon too which is one more toddler friendly attraction. Our next trip DS will be 6 and new LO will be 1.5. Plan to go to Epcot the first day starting with character breakfast at Garden Grill!

My biggest tip which you'll here often repeated is to leave the parks at midday and go back to your room for a nap, then come back in the early evening for dinner and nighttime entertainment. Keeps the little guys from having meltdowns. And if you have a longer trip take an off day. DS loved the day we just spent at the pool. If you're paying Disney money for a resort, might as well enjoy it.

 

[Minniemoo15]

I'm working on writing a TR but it's slow going, ha.

I will say that it was much easier than I was anticipating...dd(2.5) was a ROCKSTAR and had zero (0!!) meltdowns. We went with the flow, she took epic stroller naps, and it really was a magical trip

That being said, we only did 2 actual park days ... The rest of the time we did Typhoon, Dis Springs, and hanging out at our resort by the pool. We did MK and EPcot. We chose Epcot for the adults in our group, but dd ended up loving Epcot as much (maybe more?) than Mk. She loved: Nemo, Turtle Talk, meeting Mulan (her favourite character), Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Biergarten restaurant (she still talks about getting to dance at the resto), and Illuminations. She also loved all the shows - the Chinese acrobats, Japanese drummers, Voices of Liberty and Jaminators.

Have fun!!! I would love to go back again next year, now that I know how easy she travels and how much fun she had. I would add a day a AK and another day at MK. I'd probably still
Skip HS for now.