What did you do on arrival day with your 1 1/2yr old?

[Eyore4Ever149]

Cast- DH and Me- HUGE WDW fans, Disers and TGM thru and thru
What we usually do- check in, go to room if possible, otherwise go to food court for lunch (there is no big food court at OKW and I hear Olivia's is bad, Im willing to try it, but not to start our trip)
Then a bee line to Epcot and Mission Space, maybe another "ride" like HISTK or the cars (forget the name of it) a stroll thru Rose Walk during Flower and Garden show, followed by early dinner in the countries and then back to resort to fully unpack and get a fresh start on the next morning.

This year we have 2 new cast members
My Mother- turning 63 on our trip, gets distracted easily, hasn't been since 1975 (before Epcot existed)
My baby girl who will be 17 months old

I would really like to "WOW" my Mom and let her see a bit of the World- to get the magic started- Im open to going to any park that would work for everyone. But I dont want to over tax my little one. We usually arrive around 11am.
We are flying in from NY, so it's 2hr flight- maybe a little more.

I was thinking we need to get some grocery shopping done at some point too. Obviously this will be different than our other trips

What suggestions do you have?

 

[Perditamarie]

Order groceries to be delivered and save yourself the trouble. We used gardengrocer.com last trip and they were great...$10 delivery fee and you can arrange for them to leave your order w/bell services.

Once you get there, I would let DD stretch her legs and play/swim and have a light lunch-- isn't there a sandy pool area at OKW? I know my kids need to be able to move about after being confined on a plane/stroller/bus, and especially once kids hit 18 mos they need to move on their own and explore everything. Maybe then you could go to Epcot for dinner, or DTD. I am sure your mom will be wowed just by OKW.

Have fun planning..I am sure your mom and dd will have a great time.

 

[SaraMc]

We try to take travel day kinda slow, simply we always have a early flight and we are tired. Plus with DS we want him to get used to the new surroundings and get rid of some steam from being on a plane and stuff for all the way. We ourselves are playing the first day by ear, we know we are not going into the parks but trying to let DS get a decent nap in and if he's not a super crankpot heading down to DTD

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

We usually arrive at MCO by 9am. Sometimes we have been able to get a room by11, other times we have had to wait.

I don't know that I want to deal with swimsuits, suntan lotion and all the paraphanalia that comes with pools and sand and no place for her to rest. For me, it's too much of a headache.
I've considered DTD, but I dont want to completely lose a day to travel since we arrive in the morning, so a park is a definite must. My DH says AK, but I think AK is a boring park, althought Everest is there now, so I guess Gram and DD could stroll around while we give that a try.
Epcot as always might work, but it's a big park if we enter in front make our way past MS and then to WorldShow Case for an early dinner.

If we do a park i wont have a touring plan it will be a leasurely pace. I guess part of it depends on what day we arrive on and exactly what time we hit OKW. So I want to have a loose plan, but play it by ear if things go totally out of wack- like not having a room til 4pm, which I have heard happen at OKW. Getting a room with an elevator in the building is important to me so it may be worth waiting for.

I am concerned that with no room theres no place for her to take a nap. But maybe the plane will be enough?? I just know when I fly, I sleep, but I dont wake up rested- ya know?
her personality right now is that not much phases her shes getting to the point where she's okay if a nap gets delayed, and she's never phased by new "scary" things like at Gymboree when all the other babies cry at some new thing- a higher slide for example, Megan has a big smile on.

I have used peapod at home a lot and for me personally, I dont really care for it, prices are slightly higher it requires a waiting period of several hours and I always feel like- Geez I could be back and done by now.
Hey! Maybe after a stroll thru the parks, Dh and I can run out in evening while Gram watches DD and we can get shopping done then. I'd like to stop on way from airport, its efficient, but impractical if the room isn't ready.....

MK is the true "essence' of Disney but might be too much stimulation for Megan.
Whatever we do, an early evening should be a part of the plan, dont you think?

I know Im nuts for thinking this far ahead, but its fun and I like having no pressure to sort of play out different senarios in my head.

 

[jenseib]

I hate to say this, but I think alot of the stuff you used to do will be out of the picture this time. With MOM and Baby, you will be much slower paced. And it won't be a very fun trip for mom if she is stuck watching baby all day while you guys ride the big rides. I think you should plan on NOT riding them and if you do then it is an added bonus.
I am taking my 2 year old next month, and I'm used to riding all the great stuff too, but this time we are going to plan on more of the shows and smaller rides. I am looking at it as I'm doing sutff I wouldn't normally do at the park, and seeing things I have overlooked in the past. I am not usually a show kind of person, but I know that will probably be what my DD likes most. And alot of time at The Mickey's toon town area as well. I expect we won't see a whole lot, as our pace will be much slower, but we are really going to enjoy how much she enjoys it. WE are also doing the dining plan, so we can try some of the resturants out. I have never done that either. I was always a fast food person at the park.

I think Animal Kingdom is a nice start. it will be relaxed for your DD ,and she won't be too overstimulated. But EPCOT would nice as well.
But like I said, I think you have to change your way of thinking this trip. You will most likely go back again, and she will be older and can do more stuff then.
Also there is the parent switch thing too. So you can do that for rides that are too big for her.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

We just got back with my then 17 month old and newly minted 5 year old dds. We arrived @ 3:30pm, so the girls and I just poked around the resort while DH watched a playoff football game! (Hey, he HAD to see the Pats!)

We kicked off our trip with dinner at Chef Mickey's. It was a really nice way to get things started. I was surprised that my little one was not one bit afraid of the face characters. She had lots of fun touching their nose, kissing them, and trying to feed them.

The next day we jumped right in with Magic Kingdom, and both girls had a blast.

Here are picts - http://mcschwarzdisney2007.shutterfly.com/action/

 

[NHBelle]

I wouldn't overwhelm everyone with a park on the first day. We always unpack head to the food court for lunch and then to the pool, BUT then I try and pick a great first dinner. Something to get us in the Disney mood, like a character meal. Chef Mickeys is my first choice because you get to ride the monorail and can see MK and get excited about what tomorrow brings. If your child is afraid of the characters this could be a nightmare so my second choice would be Ohana. You still get to ride the monorail and see MK (maybe even fireworks if you time just right) and no characters, but a yummy fun meal. Whatever you do you'll be in Disney so it will be great.

 

[Denine]

We are seasoned veterans traveling with a small child, both driving and flying. DD who is not yet 4-1/2 has been to WDW 11 times and DL 1 time.

We arrive at our resort (usually OKW) and hopefully get a room. They usually try to get you a room when they see you have small child. Then we unpack our stuff. If we get there early enough, we usually head to Epcot. It is nice and relaxing. We go straight to WS. If we arrive later, we go grocery shopping. DD is ready to get to a park of any kind once we are there, but she likes Epcot, so that is where we go.

You will be very limited on what rides you can do unless your mom is willing to watch the little one. We are just now able to go on "big" rides again. We really didn't miss anything by not going on them. We just enjoy being there.

You will want to utilize the baby care centers. There is 1 in each park. DD likes to play in the one at Epcot.

We find that DD usually does not sleep on the plane, she is too excited. But, she will sleep in her stroller in the park when she just can't stay awake anymore. Once in a while, we make her go back to the room for a nap.

 

[NotSoNewMommy]

We just got back from WDW. It was our 19 month old's first trip, but DH and I are seasoned Disney goers. We are from FL so we always drive and we were meeting my parents there at a house we rented so things are a bit different. We arrived at the house around 4 pm. Let our son run around and explore the house a bit while we got settled and unpacked. We then got back in the car and went out for dinner and then to Disney Marketplace to walk around and soak in some of the magic before going to the parks the next day!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

The first time we went DS was almost 2, we arrived late in the afternoon, had dinner at POR, then next morning we hit MK and it was HORRIBLE.

The next year we decided that the day of arrival and the NEXT day are resort days with character meals, monorails, resort hopping. Then the 3rd day (yes you read it right), we hit MK. The kids are acclaimated to their surrounding and feel comfy.

You will find that your trip will be much different than what you are used to. The youngest person in your group will be the dictator of what you do

My advice and experience is to let the kids ease into. As someone said there is alot of stimulation and it take the young one a while to get used to it.

You know you're family best, perhaps they are able to jump into a park upon arrival. I'm just giving you my experience.