Tips for Disney w/ a 2 year old :)
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| Mon, 04-30-2007 - 12:39pm |
Greeting all! I am new here and very glad I found this place :) We are taking my son to WDW for his 2nd birthday. We currently have reservations at Port Orleans French Quarter for mid-September, but that is subject to change. I had to go ahead and purchase the package in order to get the free dining package :) I purchased the park hopper pass with water park option. Okay now to my questions. Thanks in advance for all suggestions and tips :)
1) Should I keep my reservations at PO or change them to somewhere else?
2) Character dining- Is it a must or will ds not enjoy it? If it is a must, any suggestions as to where?
3) Any certian must sees? DS is a dare devil. He has NO FEAR :) He goes down the 2-story slide at church by himself and laughs at the end! Boy am I in trouble :)
4) Sleeping- Do they have pack-n-plays or cribs? I don't think he would sleep in a pack-n-play. Do they have bed rails?
5) We are flying, any suggestions there?
6) Any other tips from the experts would be greatly appreciated! I have been to Disney several times, but never with a child. It will be a new, very exciting adventure!
Thanks again for letting me pick your brain!
Leslie :)


I am not an expert by any means but we did take a young two year old last year during July 4th week, and we are going back this Sept with a now 3 year old and a 5 month old. We too are staying at the POFQ, which I chose because it is smaller and more compact and should be the easiest moderate to get around.
Last year we stayed at the Caribbean Beach which was really nice but we were really far from the food court and pool.
1) Should I keep my reservations at PO or change them to somewhere else?
*** I would stay where you are since this is probably the easiest moderate to get around.
2) Character dining- Is it a must or will ds not enjoy it? If it is a must, any suggestions as to where?
***IMO this is a must. You will get to meet the characters without standing in line in the heat. My son had a blast. We did Chef Mickeys for breakfast and he enjoyed giving all the characters hugs and we got his photo with them all as well. We are eating Breakfast at Ohana this time around with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and someone else. We are also doing dinner at the Garden Grill with Chip and Dale, Mickey and others. Does your son like Little Einsteins or Jojo and Goliath? They are at Breakfast and Lunch at Hollywood & vine at MGM. I may book this as well.
3) Any certian must sees? DS is a dare devil. He has NO FEAR :) He goes down the 2-story slide at church by himself and laughs at the end! Boy am I in trouble :)
*** Everything is a must see, it is all fascinating to a two year old. The 3-D shows were a lot of fun. We saw philharmagic three times. You son may not be able to ride some of the bigger rides due to height restrictions, but there are still plenty of rides for him. My son enjoyed the Buzz space ranger spin, and we look forward to the new Nemo ride and turtle talk with crush was neat. Soarin is my favorite ride, but it does have a height restriction.
4) Sleeping- Do they have pack-n-plays or cribs? I don't think he would sleep in a pack-n-play. Do they have bed rails?
***They have cribs and bed rails, we used the bed rails. We just called Mousekeeping when we got in the room and they dropped them by within a few minutes.
5) We are flying, any suggestions there?
***Buy a seperate seat and bring the carseat. That way you can strap him in. We had a relatively short flight (2 hours) and we just brought some new toys and books to keep him amused. He liked to fly though and look out the window. We made the mistake of not buying my son a seat on a flight to Mexico and it was hard keeping him in our laps for the two hours of the flight. It is well worth buying a seat IMO.
6) Any other tips from the experts would be greatly appreciated! I have been to Disney several times, but never with a child. It will be a new, very exciting adventure!
****Just plan to take it easy and take a nap and swim during the afternoon and head back out in the evening when it cools off. Also, Walmart has the little battery operated fans with an attached spray bottle. Those work great to keep cool and my son loved playing with them. I also plan on taking a small soft sided cooler to keep water or juice cool and some snacks to keep our son occupied while waiting in line.
I hope this helps you some. And contrary to popular belief, my son does remember things about our last trip even though he was two. He has been talking about it a lot lately and I made the mistake of telling him we are going back in September. He tells us he wants to go to Disney today, every day. September is a long way off.
Carrie
I can't answer your 1st ? because I have no experience w/ that resort, sorry.
Character meals........It's hard to know if your DS will like the characters or not.
1) Should I keep my reservations at PO or change them to somewhere else? We liked the compact-ness of POFQ. There's also lots of wonderful open squares and a nice playground and a fun pool. I'd keep it.
2) Character dining- Is it a must or will ds not enjoy it? If it is a must, any suggestions as to where? My 8yo never ever had a problem with characters (she's been going since she was 2), my 3 yo has been 3 times and never had a problem - My 2 yo is terrified of the costumed characters. By the end of our last trip (her second) she was great with the face characters, and 'ok' with the characters she recognized (mickey, minnie etc) So while I think character meals are a fabulous way to meet characters and are a ton of fun, I wouldn't schedule one for your first few days. Perhaps day 3 or later, by then you'll have an idea on how your DS reacts to the characters.Crystal Palace breakfast is our favorite.
3) Any certian must sees? DS is a dare devil. He has NO FEAR :) He goes down the 2-story slide at church by himself and laughs at the end! Boy am I in trouble :) I'd just play this one by ear and see where the day takes you. he can go on *almost* everything at MK, and if he's 35 in he can go on Barn Stormer, the mini roller coaster. I bet he'd love Buzz Lightyear though, it's fun and full of things to look at.
4) Sleeping- Do they have pack-n-plays or cribs? I don't think he would sleep in a pack-n-play. Do they have bed rails? Disney has Graco Pack n Plays. They do have bed rails, just request them when you make your reservation and when you check in. Unless you or your dh are sleeping with your son at the resort you'll want 2 - the beds don't move against the wall.
5) We are flying, any suggestions there? Use Magical Express, take a lolipop or some other sucking treat in his sippy cup for the take off and decent, bring his seat for comfort (his, yours and everyone elses) - Stickers will occupy a toddler for a l o n g time
6) Any other tips from the experts would be greatly appreciated! I have been to Disney several times, but never with a child. It will be a new, very exciting adventure! Take it easy, go at your sons pace, if he needs a snack, stop and eat, if he needs a nap, go back and take one. Disneyworld isn't going anywhere and you can always come back later, but you'll have a horrid time if you try to force him to do 'one more' of anything and you won't have good memories. It's going to be hot in September. Dress light and in layers you can take off. a water misting fan is a good accessory. There are lots of play places if he just needs a break from the over stimulation. Some are more shaded than others and some are water enhanced so bringa change of clothes - and sunscreen. Everyone needs to drink lots of water.
Greeting all! I am new here and very glad I found this place :) We are taking my son to WDW for his 2nd birthday. We currently have reservations at Port Orleans French Quarter for mid-September, but that is subject to change. I had to go ahead and purchase the package in order to get the free dining package :) I purchased the park hopper pass with water park option. Okay now to my questions. Thanks in advance for all suggestions and tips :)
1) Should I keep my reservations at PO or change them to somewhere else? We haven't stayed here but we stayed at the sister resort of POR.
I've been to Disney with 2 year olds quite a few times. :) You've gotten wonderful advice already! I can only add....
Take familiar snacks for the parks, because you never know how long you'll have to wait in a line when your little one gets suddenly hungry.
Have lots of wet wipes in your bag....maybe some hand sanitizer. The foaming kind is fun for little ones (I get it from Bath and Body Works).
Use the baby/child care stations at the parks for a break if you need one. They are quiet and air conditioned. There are cartoons for the little ones.
Try to catch the light parade at MK if you can....nothing like watching a 2 year old's face while that is going on!
Take it easy and slow and never lose your temper. Not that YOU would do that, but it's always sad to see a little one "getting in trouble" at WDW.
If you will be at a park on your son's actual birthday, be sure to get him an "It's my birthday" button!
Laurie in OH, mom to
Alex, 12 years old
Julianne and Leah, 10.5 years old
Audrey, 3 years old
WDW visits in 1973, 1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
Hoping for December 2007!
LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:
Alex, 1
Off topic, I love your siggie.
-jamie
Jamie,
You are going to have so much fun.
Hi,
I am a SHAM of and 2yo DS and a 6yo DD. We went to Disney last June, it was great, my two year old was about 1 and a half at the time. We drove so I can't give any advice on the flying, but we did stay at the Port Orleans. We really loved it, the property is covered in trees and plants, really pretty. The pool was great, they had a really cool water slide, and a smaller pool for the little ones. The room was very nice, but the beds are kinda high off the ground. They do have pack in plays which we used for my DS, he did fine, but he also was used to sleeping in his crib at home, and he was soooo exuasted by the end of the day. The only draw back was the room was far from the parking lot and the bus stops. I would request before you go that you get a room close to the parking lots, and on the ground floor. The scenery is really great, it's like you are in the forest. The restraunt there was just as good as any that we had at Disney. They don't do character meals there though. I would definatly suggest the character meals, especially if your little one isn't scared of them. We did a Princess Dinner for my DD, and we also did a Donald Duck breakfast at Animal Kingdom, it was really neat, very much recommend. Your DS can go on several of the rides like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carriban. I would suggest that you buy the book "The Unofficial Guide to Disney World," it has tips for taking young children and tells you what they can ride, it tells about all the hotels and restraunts including character meals, it is just a really helpful book and it tells everything, and it's independent from Disney. Have a great trip, we can't wait to go again.
Jill
Hi, Again,
I should say that we stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside, which is connected to the Port Orleans French Quarter. Which one are you staying at? The French Quarter isn't woodsey, it's more like Colonal Times, the rooms there are more fancy, just by apperance, they accidently put us in one of those rooms at first and then they switched us to the Riverside, we were supposed to have a room with a trunnel bed. The rooms in the Riverside are like a log cabin, very neat. I liked Riverside better than French Quarter, but it may be more spread out. Anyways, hopes this helps.
Jill