WDW Trip with 19 month old

[mdelliott76]

Hey everyone,

My wife and I are planning a trip for April with our daughter who will be 19 months old.

We are planning on staying at Port Orleans Riverside and are looking for as much advice and suggestions we can get a hold of.

Anything that worked or didn't work for your trip with your toddler?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Jennygt]

I went with my ds who was 12months at the time. I rented a crib, stroller, cd player, high chair from A babys best friend. Everything was very clean, they deliver to the resort and pick up. I used my umbrella stroller for the airport but for the parks we needed the graco for the baby to get the best sun coverage, plus we uses the cup holders and the larger space underneath was a must for our backpack.
Some other Mom's gave me the tip to pack like items in seperate ziplock bags in the diaper bag and that was a big help when you needed to dig out something. We had a wonderful time and I know you will to, any questions feel free to ask.

 

[goofygal531]

My 20 month old has been to WDW twice, this will be his third trip. He's really pretty portable. We just ship a box to the resort one week ahead with diapers, wipes, snack crackers, juice boxes, ziplocks (all sizes), disposable sippys, etc.... Just write on the box "hold for guest "Mr. Suchandsuch arriving 11/24/08"

Oh, I would also pack some room air freshner (diapers!) and large kitchen garbage bags, there's never enough room for garbage in the hotel room, especially if you bring back food or have breakfast in the room.

You can purchase a package of Thomas' Bagels in the gift shop. These are great to keep on hand when they need a snack or toast them up in the food court for breakfast. The package costs $3.49 in the gift shop for 6 bagels or you can pay $2.50 per bagel in the food court. You can also purchase 1/2 gallons of milk in the gift shop.


If you dine at the buffets take a banana or some grapes for a snack for the baby for later (ziplocks). The waitstaff have always offered this to us, it was not my idea. They've even brought my boys two cups filled with cereal for us to take. They are very accommodating to babies.

Make sure to utilize the parks baby centers. Even just for a break and let your little one walk around or play in the playroom. AK and Epcot are our favorites as they're always empty. MK is the worst one and also the smelliest!!.

Should you little one be a good afternoon napper, I highly suggest making your lunch your big meal. You can dine with your little one fast asleep right at the table in their stroller. I've done the GF Afternoon tea several times with each of my boys on different occassions fast asleep beside me in their strollers. DH and I really enjoyed a nice lunch at the Brown Derby while our then 2 year old napped beside us.

Also try to get to the parks early in the mornings and leave midday. You'll avoid the heat and the crowds.

Regarding strollers, I've tried them all The best one is an umbrella stroller. We love our Maclaren Quest. It's comfy for him with leg rests when he's reclined and it's light enough to carry on the buses. For added sun protection, I purchased a sun canopy and a battery operated fan. Make sure to pack your rain shield and a foldable tote bag to put all your stroller stuff (the items that wind up in your basket) in when you need to fold the stroller and board the bus.


http://www.amazon.com/Protect%2da%2dBub-Single-Canopy-Sunshade%2d-Navy/dp/B0007D9RJA
(this site shows a photo of my stroller with the sun canopy)

We skipped the crib option, it smelled! We just got bedrails from housekeeping and put them on all sides of the bed with some extra pillows in between. He slept with my older son and neither of them moved they were so beat from the parks.

Make sure to pack plenty of table time toys for restaurants and emergency items for meltdowns like bubbles or lollypops (Ring pops for my DS1). He gets antsy waiting in lines or for the shows when you need to arrive 45 mins before show time.

That's all I can think of right now. Anything else your specifically looking for??

 

[DVCsince02]

Don't be surprised if your DD doesn't like the characters. They are big and can be very scary to a little one. Try meeting the "face characters" first, like the princesses, Mary Poppins, Tink, etc. If she handles them fine, go slowly to the larger characters like Mickey and Minnie.

It's an amazing experience seeing the World through their reactions.

 

[LadyShea]

Expect that her preferences and reactions will not meet your expectations

I thought DS (we took him at 21 mos) would love the shows, but it turns out he disliked being enclosed with cheering crowds (it seems to be the applause/cheering specifically that bothered him). We had to leave the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor as well as a restaurant in Morocco once the belly dancers started. We didn't even dare PlayHouse Disney or any of the other shows after that...which threw off my plan!

The CMs kept coming up to us before Wishes, explaining we had chosen the loudest place in the park and DS would be scared (in Fantasyland). We told them he was fine but they kept insisting that no toddler had ever been fine there. He was not only fine, he was enraptured. The noise didn't bother him even the tiniest bit.

Of all there was to see and do at Epcot, his fave activity the whole day was going through the hedge maze at the back of UK

So, (for my son) incredible booms are okay, but clapping crowds are not...and hedge mazes are more exciting and memorable than rides or characters. I had not expected that LOL

 

[goofygal531]

Don't be surprised if your DD doesn't like the characters.

Oooh, forgot about that! Someone on here years ago recommended the Disney SingALong DVD "Disney Land Fun" for little ones to watch before their first trip.

http://www.amazon.com/Sing-Along-Songs-Disneyland-Fun/dp/B0009X75W4

It's Disney Land not Disney World, but trust me a 2 year old won't know the difference! It shows kids in the park hanging out with the characters.

My sons have watched this DVD since birth and neither one has ever been afraid of the characters. They honestly run to them! I am a huge believer it has to do with watching this DVD. We also have the Water Park one, and Camping one. I love the music and they love seeing Disney World!

I highly recommend them before your trip!

 

[goofygal531]

So, incredible booms are okay, but clapping crowds are not...and hedge mazes are more exciting and memorable than rides or characters. I had not expected that LOL

So true!!

My younger son is afraid of heights! He hated the magic carpets, dumbo and peter pan. He was not a fan of Mickey's Philharmagic either. I would avoid all 3D shows, they're loud and somewhat scary to a toddler.

He LOVEDS Small World, Jungle Cruise, Boat ride in the Land, Mexico Boat ride, and the trains in Germany. He was fine on Pirates (we thought that would scare him).

For some reason, my boys were never afraid of the fireworks. My older son cried the first time he heard Epcots (he was 11 months old) but once he saw that the boom made the fireworks in the sky, he calmed down to enjoy them. Oh and Epcots sound system is even too loud for adults!! Illuminations is LOUD. Wishes is much softer.

Oh and expect them to be interested with the craziest things! When my older son was 2 all he wanted to do was jump into every puddle near a drinking fountain. He would rather be puddle jumping than doing anything Disney-related!!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Wow...this is all great info!

I will def be ordering that DVD next week when hubby gets paid. I've been trying sooooooo hard to get my son used to seeing the characters HUGE...and while I think he may be ok now, I would hate to be the parent that has all the pictures of the kid securly fastened around their neck while getting a character pic.