Visiting with a 2.5 yr old

[LSUmiss]

I’m interested to hear ppl’s experiences with going to WDW with a 2.5 yr old. DS will be 2.5 at our next visit. We have been when he was 7 mos, 14 mos, & 22 mos so we are familiar with the challenges of going with a little kid. Curious what changes to expect from past trips although I know all kids are different.

 

[westie55]

We took my older son at 8 months, 11 months, 16 months, 22 months, almost 3 years, and almost 4 years. My younger son has been at 3 months, almost 1, and almost 2. We are going again next month and they will be 4.5 and 2.5. As you said, all kids are different. How did your son feel about the characters at 22 mos? I'm not sure that would change that much in those months. My older guy didn't really like them until our last trip when he was almost 4. My younger son was better. He tolerates them near him but doesn't want them to touch him. 2.5 is still young, IMO, to ride the more thrilling rides even if the child is tall enough. My 2.5 year old is small for his age and won't be tall enough to get on Mine Train or anything with a 38" height requirement, but I don't think he would be ready even if he was tall enough. YMMV. I think your trip should be pretty similar to the 22 month old trip. Both my kids always tolerated all the rides well. My 2.5 year old might try the little water slide at the pool (in a life vest) this trip. His big brother LOVED the slide at POFQ at not quite 3.

 

[LSUmiss]

We took my older son at 8 months, 11 months, 16 months, 22 months, almost 3 years, and almost 4 years. My younger son has been at 3 months, almost 1, and almost 2. We are going again next month and they will be 4.5 and 2.5. As you said, all kids are different. How did your son feel about the characters at 22 mos? I'm not sure that would change that much in those months. My older guy didn't really like them until our last trip when he was almost 4. My younger son was better. He tolerates them near him but doesn't want them to touch him. 2.5 is still young, IMO, to ride the more thrilling rides even if the child is tall enough. My 2.5 year old is small for his age and won't be tall enough to get on Mine Train or anything with a 38" height requirement, but I don't think he would be ready even if he was tall enough. YMMV. I think your trip should be pretty similar to the 22 month old trip. Both my kids always tolerated all the rides well. My 2.5 year old might try the little water slide at the pool (in a life vest) this trip. His big brother LOVED the slide at POFQ at not quite 3.

He loves the characters! Good to know he may still love them. What about sit down meals. DS doesn’t tolerate sitting to eat more than about 15 min. How did yours do with that?

 

[sponica]

He loves the characters! Good to know he may still love them. What about sit down meals. DS doesn’t tolerate sitting to eat more than about 15 min. How did yours do with that?

Just based on how my daughter was at home around that age, she could tolerate it with coloring books until about that age. She did do better at breakfast though. If we go out for pancakes/waffles she's much better than lunch.

 

[westie55]

He loves the characters! Good to know he may still love them. What about sit down meals. DS doesn’t tolerate sitting to eat more than about 15 min. How did yours do with that?

We go out to eat a fair amount at home. Don't get me wrong, we always have a sigh of relief when we make it through the meal successfully, but I've only ever had 1 meltdown that caused me to abandon a meal (and it was with an 18 month old in a dark, quiet Indian restaurant). Character buffets are good for us because the characters are interesting to the kids and you can take trips up to the buffet instead of being confined to the table the whole time. We even did an early reservation at Citricos with a 2 year old and 3 month old. The server was great with the kids and I was happy to see almost all the tables had small children. We didn't feel out of place at all.

 

[HowdyHowdy]

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[2019TripIdeas]

We were just there with a 2.5 year old. He was great everywhere except Epcot. Did generally great with meals out- we didn’t use high chairs or boosters and he was fine at most meals just kneeling on chair/bench to eat.

At Epcot, he did enjoy the Frozen ride but mostly he would’ve happily played the whole time in the playground area kind of between future world and the start of world showcase (on the Test Track side, I think). While my 3 and 5 year old LOVED collecting the postcards at the kidcot stops and learning little things in each country, it didn’t hold the 2.5 year olds interest even a tiny bit. Certain spots were reallly tough like the Circle vision movie in Canada, so hard to keep him quiet in there. He was fine with the future world stuff (Figment, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, meeting characters) but he was really not into a World Showcase.

Characters went great- he did not like them on our Disneyland trip at 18 months and LOVED them on this trip to WDW. They were a highlight for him for sure.

In terms or rides, he’s probably our least gutsy kid and no tears or anything at all. We did Pirates, haunted mansion, and basically anything he was okay on height on and he liked them all. The only thing he didn’t love (but again, no tears, just said he wouldn’t ride it again) was Barnstormer. His favorite was PeopleMover and the Carousel though so maybe he’s just not much of a thrill seeker, ha!

While he really liked Animal Kingdom and the atmosphere was great, it didn’t feel like there was much he could ride there so we were done with that park in 3.5 hours. He was super afraid of the Lion King show, which super surprised me since he was fine with characters.

 

[rjb123]

My three have been going since they were in utero. At that age my oldest (now 16! sob!) liked to walk mostly but we also took a stroller with us. We generally always did the early morning/ mid day break/ back at night schedule and it worked well. Either DH or I would crash during a nap time and the other would head to the pool with the other kids or whatever. My best advice is just to take it slow and steady- you will all be miserable if you over do it (and I am always tempted to "pack it in" at Disney so I am not the one to say this! HA!) so try to have low expectations and lots of breaks planned. You may not need them but will be happier if you have flexibility. Have fun!

 

[Kdeutsch]

It worked out well for us to skip sit down meals, pack a lunch and eat at the baby centers. For me I have a little anxiety eating out with my kids (although i have a baby as well) so it doesn’t make sense for me to drop money on a meal if I don’t enjoy it really. she loved Meeting the characters mostly, Casey jr splash pad, Peter pans flight, Disney jr dance party, frozen ever after. After two or three hours it was enough and we would head back to the resort because I felt it got to be a lot of stimulation and crazy hot out (September). We only Went back to the parks two out of the six days. we didn’t have a lot of meltdowns, but I think it’s because we didn’t over do it. One day we did over do it at Hollywood studios... it was a massive tantrum when we left (holy moly) We stayed at old key west and going to the community hall, roasting marshmallows, pool time were actually some wonderful memories. It doesn’t have to be loads of park time at that age. She is three now and she remembers so much I’m surprised.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We have taken my 5 year old 5 times and my 3.5 year old 4 times. Both were there around 2.5.

Festival of Fantasy parade was a HUGE hit for both my kids at this age.

For dining, we personally prefer to just book a couple TS meals ahead of time and do mostly QS or book last minute TS. While my kids do great in sit down restaurants, I don’t really like to be on an eating schedule with them at WDW. For example, if they’re acting hungry at 4:30, I don’t want to give them a snack if we have a 5:30 ADR, etc. I’d rather just get an early QS dinner with lower crowds and a fun treat later. We also like to book TS on the go and often find great last minute options (even for our group of 8-12 people.)

Will he stroller nap? Mine did when they were younger and still did at 2.5. If we went back to the hotel for a “rest” at that age, it was not very restful They’d just get amped up when we got back to the hotel. My oldest stopped stroller napping around 3.5. My youngest who is 3.5 now still took some catnaps in the stroller on our trip a month ago. All kids are different in this department, but mine would never nap in the room. On the go worked best for us.

2.5 is a very fun age at WDW (or at least was with both my kids!)

 

[LSUmiss]

We have taken my 5 year old 5 times and my 3.5 year old 4 times. Both were there around 2.5.

Festival of Fantasy parade was a HUGE hit for both my kids at this age.

For dining, we personally prefer to just book a couple TS meals ahead of time and do mostly QS or book last minute TS. While my kids do great in sit down restaurants, I don’t really like to be on an eating schedule with them at WDW. For example, if they’re acting hungry at 4:30, I don’t want to give them a snack if we have a 5:30 ADR, etc. I’d rather just get an early QS dinner with lower crowds and a fun treat later. We also like to book TS on the go and often find great last minute options (even for our group of 8-12 people.)

Will he stroller nap? Mine did when they were younger and still did at 2.5. If we went back to the hotel for a “rest” at that age, it was not very restful They’d just get amped up when we got back to the hotel. My oldest stopped stroller napping around 3.5. My youngest who is 3.5 now still took some catnaps in the stroller on our trip a month ago. All kids are different in this department, but mine would never nap in the room. On the go worked best for us.

2.5 is a very fun age at WDW (or at least was with both my kids!)

He stroller napped when he was younger, but this past trip we tried going back to the room & he took his regular nap each time & was much happier. He is a kid who likes his sleep so we try to keep his sleep schedule wherever we go. That’s a good point about the TS vs QS. I did that this time & we just ate when I knew he was hungry. I prefer TS b/c the QS lines can be ridiculous, but then there is the schedule thing.

 

[Asnell]

He loves the characters! Good to know he may still love them. What about sit down meals. DS doesn’t tolerate sitting to eat more than about 15 min. How did yours do with that?

It will be to your advantage to look at the menus online in advance of getting to the restaurant so you can order as soon as a server first visits your table. Anything to minimize waiting time is helpful when dining with a toddler!

I also brought little toys and crayons in my bag when my kids were that age, and it helped.

 

[Orionreplay]

Around that time frame of 2.5 years, my daughter went at 2 years and 3 years. My son went at 10 months, 2 years, and 3 years.

It depends on the kid, but my daughter was always eyes-up-and-jaws-down at everything at Disney. Always fascinated by it all. Easily entertained and never crabby. Loved the characters and we have loads of fun photos of her with Tigger. She was riding all the WDW rides exactly when she was tall enough for each ride. Wanted to work at WDW since she was 3 (now 12).

My son would always rather be someplace else. His favorite was the resort room, building pillow forts when the rest of us were ready to head to the bus. He hated (and still hates) characters. Now at 10, he will still not ride all the rides. We have to take turns standing with him outside. His favorites are the TTA People Mover and SkyLiner.

Universally, across both of them, meal times were always the hardest. Both needed things to do to pass the time. At the Wave once, my then 2 year old son was pitching such a fit, the CM gave him (and her) a glowy icecube and they were both delighted. He still has that icecube in his collection of stuff in his room upstairs. So think about things to distract at meal times. It makes those expensive meals at Disney seem so long and not very enjoyable!

 

[firefly_ris]

The first trip my kids were 2, 4 and 5 -- 2 year old was freshly potty trained so I made sure I took extra panties and shorts just in case. We also ate mostly all QS, just a lot more flexibility there. Nowadays you can mobile order. I was willing to modify FPs as needed. They also needed time to blow off steam -- they enjoyed dancing to different bands in World Showcase. The other two weren't napping on that trip and the 2 year old napped in the stroller. We rope dropped and we're usually done with the park at about 430. We did leave and then napped at the condo and returned to Epcot one evening for fireworks. Just stay flexible and it will be all good. Avoid overstimulation and give time to run around somewhere.

 

[Riss]

My family brought the child we babysit when he was one month shy of his 3rd birthday. Up until that point he didn’t really want anything to do with characters but absolutely loved them once we were there! He also loved going on the rides like the teacups and Buzz Lightyear as well as Alien Swirling Saucers and Toy Story Mania.

Once we knew we were going on the trip, I began turning on everything Disney for him to get him accustomed to it. I turned on videos about the shows and fireworks in particular to let him have a feel about what he might see because I knew he didn’t really like fireworks. Unfortunately he felt a little under the weather during the trip and actually missed Happily Ever After but saw Fantasmic. But even if he had been able to see it, hopefully he’ll be able to watch them the next time we go, I was glad that he was accustomed to the music, and recognized what movies some came from, and I would hype up some parts of the show to get him excited.

When it came to eating, we tried to get a schedule. We did a Disney Cruise first and our dinner was at 5pm every night so when it came to the parks portion, I tried to schedule it as close to that time as possible. Also, as a family, we aren’t really breakfast eaters, so all of our ADRs were dinners. We did The Spirit of Aloha, Crystal Palace, and Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Package. I think for him, the biggest sellers was the fact that there was always something going on around him so it was always entertaining.The Spirit of Aloha has a show and the other two are characters, so he was always spotting something new and exciting to keep him occupied during mealtime.

Before in our trips it was always just my family and the youngest child we ever took was my youngest sister who was around 10 the first time we went so we had absolutely no experience with a younger child of any age on the trip. But I like to think that he enjoyed himself. Seeing as we’ve been there multiple times and this was his first trip, we mostly revolved our planning, schedule, and ride choices around him and what he would find engaging and interesting. Of course we would throw in something we liked to do every now and then, but we had a semi-large party of 6 adults, my parents and 3 other siblings, not including me, so someone would always take him and we’d break off for a short period of time.

Also, he was almost completely toilet trained at that time but we kept him in pull-ups because we didn’t want to have any sudden accidents but did keep frequently asking about his usage of the bathroom.

 

[MinnierellaMama]

Both my girls have been going since they were babies. My oldest is now 8 — when we went with her at that age we just took it slow and did things at her pace. We limited our trip then to just a couple days — one at MK and one at Epcot. Spent a lot of time on the rides in Fantasyland at MK and she loved meeting the princesses and characters. Her favorite ride that year was Small World (aka the Dolly Boat Ride ) and the Carousel also Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, and The Little Mermaid rides. We could have done more but she was our first kid and that year the trip was really about her.

My second daughter is now 3.5 and we do things a little differently now. We spend a full week at the parks vs just a few day’s and we always buy hoppers. I find that they’re worth the money as they take the pressure off if things aren’t going well on a given day. If a park is too crowded or if one of my kids is a hot mess, we can head back another day and finish whatever we missed.

Last year when my second was 2.5 she loved everything — loved seeing the animals on the safari at AK, also the Lion King show was a major hit with her. At Epcot, she loved Frozen and the Nemo ride. We could’ve spent hours in the Seas pavilion looking at the fish. She also did great on Spaceship Earth and Figment and Living with the Land. MK was very similar to how her older sister was at that age. We used rider swap as needed for the rides that she wasn’t tall enough for so that big sister could go on more exciting things. And at HS, TSMM was a total hit for her as well as the Frozen show and the Disney Junior Show. The only thing she didn’t like was the Fireworks but we knew that going in that she’s not a fan of them. We packed protective headphones to help with that and a couple nights my husband would just take her for a walk during them while I watched with my oldest.

I think the biggest things about traveling with that age are to 1.) be flexible 2.) make sure you have a comfortable stroller with a great sunshade and that fully reclines so that your little one can take a rest and not overheat 3.) pack snacks as sometimes it may be a little wait between meals 4.) if you’re potty training (or not) make sure you know where the bathrooms are throughout whatever park you’re at and 5.) just enjoy it — I love nothing more than seeing the Disney magic through my kids eyes. And 2.5 is a great age!!