What to do with a 2yr in WDW??

[HPotter]

For all the parents of toddlers out there:

What did you find the must do's for a 2 yr old?
Would they wear the 3D glasses for Mickey's Phil?
How did they handle being with characters?

 

[budly]

In the MK, the favorite was Dumbo. At MGM, playhouse disney and the honey I shrunk the kids playground. At Epcot, the living seas. At Animal Kingdom, we could not get him out of the Boneyard. I think it was his favorite thing. He loved Chef Mickeys and the pool at our resort.

Budly

 

[mommystieg]

DD#2 was 26 months old when we first visited WDW. Her absolute favorite to this day is IASW!! She also still loves riding the "blue rollercoaster" (TTA). She did not like anything 3D--especially HISTA. Even now she will not wear the glasses but she will sit through Mickey's Philharmagic and Muppetvision. To get her ready for meeting the characters I purchased several Disney sing-a-long videos (these are getting harder and harder to find). The ones we have are live action and show the characters interacting with kids. They are also filmed in/near the parks so your little one will get an idea of what to expect as far as rides go. We have:
Disneyland Fun
Beach Party at Walt Disney World
Camp Out at Walt Disney World
Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal King
At that age, she also loved the free vacation planning video. She was pretty shy around the characters at first but toward the end of our trip she was chasing Goofy down for an autograph!!
A lot of the attractions are very loud and we found that that bothered her more than anything else. She loved all the parades but wanted someone to hold her ears during the fireworks. The character meals and the Judges' Tent in Toontown were probably the best way to expose her to the characters.
Have fun

 

[HPotter]

Thanks these are a great help!

 

[owtrbnks]

Bring the biggest stroller you can find so he can sleep in it while your DH or DW goes on the ride and waves to your expensive digital recorder that you're balancing with your giant diaper bag and supplies so that when you return home you can show your child where he was!

 

[SugarMomma]

The first time we took our DD she was 2 months shy of being 3. She still remembers most of her trip(she has all the makings of a Disney addict) but her favorite rides were Winnie the Pooh and Its a Small World. One night we went back about an hour before the MK closed and just hit all the things in Fantasyland. We rode some things twice and it was a night I will never forget. Some people say that its not worth it to take the younger kids......but I think its the best time........they see more of the MAGIC than anyone else and there is nothing better than watching it thru their eyes. Each time it was our childs first trip we took them on Its A Small World first to get them used to the inside ride. Just remember to take time to enjoy your little ones while they are young and have a great time.

 

[DawnaJean]

My DS is 2 1/2 and his favorites were the Buzz Lightyear ride, Playhouse Disney, and the Carousel. He would not keep the 3-D glasses on but did watch Philharmagic, Muppets, and ITTBAB at AK (but I held him so he did not get "stung"). He liked the characters at Chef Mickey's when they came up to his chair but he did not want to go up to them in the parks as much. I don't think he ever realized how big they would be....on TV they look so small!

 

[Arkiegirl]

Our first trip my DS was 25 months. I am sure he doesnt remember it but it was worth every penny we spent to have fun with him at that age. I was pleasently surprised that he loved the characters. One night we were at MK and there was not many around a lot of the characters and he had so much fun with them. He even fell once running for one to another and Chip or Dale ran over to him and held him and hugged him.

He hated the 4D movies, In "Its a Bug's Life" we finally got him to wear the glasses and when something came at him he took the glasses off and threw them. And cried the rest of the time. He was funny for us but not for him.

We had a stroller and he did wonderful taking naps along the way and it didnt slow us down a bit. He was good to sleep where ever. The stroller gets to be a pain sometimes but it comes in handy to not only carry a kids but carry all of your junk.

We are taking him back in a few months at the age of 4 and cant wait--he is our third child (and last) we we seem to savor every fun minute with him

 

[pooh4evr]

We took our 23 month old and 4 yr old im May- it was wonderful! She did really everything we did - 4 DD tried ToT but ducked out before getting on elevator, did Star Tours, Big Thunder Mnt RR- but everything else we did together (no real thrill rides of course) she loved the shows, seeing characters, parades, and pretty much everything. We rentrd a side by side stroller from ABBF so both girls could lay back and rest when needed, brought snacks and bottled water in backpack along with diapers and wipes, and took many many priceless pictures!

 

[J. Galt]

Our DD went to WDW twice before she hit the age of three. I think the key is to realize that you just aren't going to be able to see and do everything you think you might like to do. You need to slow the pace down a bit and savor the moments that your little one presents to you. Every kid is different and there is no telling what they are going to love/hate about the trip. You just need to tune into what is getting your kids excited/happy, etc... rather than doing the commando-style, "blinders on until the next ride" type of Disney trip.

Now for us, this slower pace was just fine. We go to Disney about every other year and I have been there about a bijillion times since I was a kid. To us, it was kind of fun to slow down and see what our little one thought was cool. Cancel dinner plans and spend the evening in the pool? No problem. Spend our entire morning at MK seeking out characters, never even actually making it down Main Street? Sounds like a perfect plan. If your mentality is that "this is the one and only Disney trip we are ever going to take and, by gum, we are doing it all", you are probably going to be very disappointed in your trip and your kids reactions.

 

[loles]

Thanks for all the insight - planning first trip with 2 DD in spring 2006, who will be 18 mths and nearly 5. I was worried they were too young, but now I am even more excited. There is nothing like the sparkle in a child's eyes to lift your heart!

 

[JennaTX]

Hi, we just got back with a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 year old also. They both loved it and had a great time.

Here's what my two year old loved:

At the MK:
Dumbo
Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan
It's A Small World
Mickey's Phillharmagic (he did wear them, once he finally "saw" something come at him)
Teacups
TTA
Buzz Lightyear
Jungle Cruise
Magic Carpets of Aladdin

At Epcot:
Journey into Your Imagination with Figment
Living Seas, especially Turtle Talk with Crush
El Rio del Tiempo

At MGM:

Playhouse Disney
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Loved the Stars and Motorcars Parade
Muppets 3-D Vision

At AK:

The Safari
Dinosaur Ride in Dinoland (not the roller coaster, the one like Dumbo)

These are great ages to take your kids! Just be sure to go early and take an afternoon break every day!

Hope you have a magical trip!

 

[pbharris4]

We just got back with our 25 month old DD and her 9 yo sister. There's a ton of things for them to do! All the other posters pretty much nailed it on the head. You will all have a blast! My 2 yo is a huge Toy Story fan and we took her on the Buzz Lightyear ride. SHe LOVED it! I rode in the front car and her , DH and my 9 yo rode in the other..I kept spinning the car around to see how she was and she was just giggling up a storm! My DD wouldn't wear the glasses at Philharmagic, but she liked it anyway.Have fun!!

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We went with our DS 5 and DS almost 3 in May. DS 3 said he was scared of a lot of the rides but I think he still liked them. He had to keep up with big brother. His favorites were: It's a sm World(he rode this like 7 times and could have rode it all day), Dumbo, Tea cups, Barnstormers, Donalds Boat, The play area under Splash Mnt., Indy Speedway(he drove), Buzzlightyear spin, Playhouse Disney, Muppet 3-D, the Coke Mister, Fantasmic, Journey with Figment, Festival of Lion King, Triceratop Spin. I just started my Scrapbook and DS pointed at a Pic of Epcot and said " Go there, Go there." so he must have good memories. Oh, I forgot, he absolutely LOVED meeting the characters too. We probably spent more time altogether with that then riding the rides.

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

Hi, my daughter was 2 1/2 months under age 3 when we went last year, it was the TIME of her life, she rode everything, well almost everything, wasn't tall enough for some things,
she rode: everything in fantasyland, loved the jungle cruise, liked the haunted mansion (although the first time she rode with her hands over her eyes, but the second time eyes open except I covered them when the ghosts pop out, she was fine with that) loved the pirates of the carribean, she thought maelstrom was ok--held her breath in the drop in that one, but came off laughing saying it was her fav. although i'm not quite sure i believed her on that lol. but she didn't cry or anything, the older ladies behind us were screaming though lol. she loved buzz lightyear, the teacups even spinning them around! they loved this blue ride by buzz lightyear I have no idea what they call it now but it used to be called the people mover lol its blue and lets you view from above, they thought it was so fun when it went a little faster lol, i have some precious pics from on there, she liked the magic carpets, etc, they loved absolutely everything, she would not ride the barnstormer though lol. she's not really into fast rides, although her big sister was bummed she wouldn't! anyhow I think she had an absolute blast!! this is also the kid that hated the easter bunny but LOVED the disney characters and actually now will go by ANY character! so it helped her conquer that fear! those disney sing along tapes I also would highly suggest, we just had the disneyland fun one and watched it everyday lol for about 3 months prior to the trip, I got lucky garage sale find. anyhow it got them excited and they couldn't wait to do the things they saw on it!!
Becky, Paige and Hailey

POR Feb. '05

upcoming trip Feb '07

LOVED going in feb. NO lines!

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

oh she liked philharmagic kept her glasses on, honey I shrunk the audience was the first one like that we went in though lol she took them off for that, and the bugs like one she took them off in some parts and then would quick put them back on, if I anticipated something intense I lifted them for her and then of course she'd put them right back down. my 5 year old LOVED those types but even she took hers off during honey I shrunk the audience lol
Becky