Disney World With a 21 Month Old - Need help and tips

Fergiegal

I will be going down to FL end of Sept, to visit my parents. I was planning to drive up to Magic Kingdom for my little guy's first disney trip. My plan is to take him for one day, stay that night in Orlando, and drive back down to my parents the following day. But, now I am beginning to wonder if I should do Disney for two days instead. Will it be too much for him to do Magic Kingdom all in one day? My fear is that he will get very cranky once he is ultra tired, and will just want to leave in the afternoon. 

Overall, I am not sure how exactly I should plan his first Disney trip so that it's enjoyable for him, me, and my husband. What have your experiences been like when you have taken your toddlers to Disney? Any tips, tricks for this mama? Any money saving tips?

Thanks a bunch mommies!

FemShep

Allears.net has a great section for taking babies and toddlers to Disney. My best advice to you is to abandon any hope of trying to see all of MK in a single day. It might be theoretically possible, but you'll make everyone miserable trying. And really, there's no need. Disney isn't going anywhere. Plan lots of break times. Stop for snacks, rest, and time to run around and play. Definitely plan to head back to the hotel and swim in the afternoon. If you can swing it, stay at the Contemporary so you can walk to and from the hotel. Pick just a few things to do, like Small World and another ride, and don't try to fit everything in. Be conscious of how scary rides like Pirates of the Carribean can be; some kids love it, some are terrified. Don't force anything. Take a deep breath, and have fun! (When we went with DD1 at 20 months, her absolute favorite thing was playing in a splash fountain. I kid you not. As long as everyone is happy and relaxed, your LO will have fun.)

Fergiegal

FemShep said:

Allears.net has a great section for taking babies and toddlers to Disney. My best advice to you is to abandon any hope of trying to see all of MK in a single day. It might be theoretically possible, but you'll make everyone miserable trying. And really, there's no need. Disney isn't going anywhere. Plan lots of break times. Stop for snacks, rest, and time to run around and play. Definitely plan to head back to the hotel and swim in the afternoon. If you can swing it, stay at the Contemporary so you can walk to and from the hotel. Pick just a few things to do, like Small World and another ride, and don't try to fit everything in. Be conscious of how scary rides like Pirates of the Carribean can be; some kids love it, some are terrified. Don't force anything. Take a deep breath, and have fun! (When we went with DD1 at 20 months, her absolute favorite thing was playing in a splash fountain. I kid you not. As long as everyone is happy and relaxed, your LO will have fun.)

Thanks so much for your help. Do you by any chance know if the basic one day ticket allows you to come in and out of the park? Or do you have to add on the park hopper option if I want to do that? I want to make sure that I am able to get back into the park, should I have to take LO to the hotel for a mini nap. Thanks!

imn_angel25

In answer to your question about coming/going with a one day base ticket, you can as long as it's to the same park. The park hopper allows you to go to different parks on the same day.

In response to your other questions, I think it depends on the child and how they nap in "strange" situations. We took my DS when he was 19 months old and we stayed at Magic Kingdom for the entire day without any problems. He has no problem napping in his stroller though and can nap through noise. Because he was stil

imn_angel25

Not sure why it ate the rest of my post.

imn_angel25 said:

In answer to your question about coming/going with a one day base ticket, you can as long as it's to the same park. The park hopper allows you to go to different parks on the same day.

In response to your other questions, I think it depends on the child and how they nap in "strange" situations. We took my DS when he was 19 months old and we stayed at Magic Kingdom for the entire day without any problems. He has no problem napping in his stroller though and can nap through noise. Because he was still taking a nap around lunchtime, we just let him nap while my DH and I ate in one of the sit down restaurants (Tomorrowland Terrace, so he could sleep in the AC). When we knew he had about 15 minutes left of his nap, we took turns going on Space Mountain.

He took his late afternoon nap at Mickey's PhilharMagic. Some kids probably wouldn't nap here (it's a 3D musical show) because it's loud, but he fell right to sleep. Another good napping ride is the Carousel of Progress (boring in my opinion, but he fell asleep fast on that towards the end of the night). And all these options are air conditioned. Once they were over, we just put him in his stroller asleep and went to do more adult rides.

If you are staying on Disney property, I think planning to leave is a good option. If you stay off property (as we did) I would NEVER leave. It takes a good 20 minutes to get back to your car, so not worth it in my opinion. If you plan to leave, I would really recommend staying on property.

PetuniaFeatherbottom

I wouldn't take a person on an expensive trip who can't walk all day or remember what happened. We typically wait til 5 for Disney. You will still probably have fun!

slukd79

We are going in February and I read this book for suggestions:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/24593904?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227018491821&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=26136661356&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=51530526036&veh=sem

It has specific plans (1 or 2 day) for adults with small children. It includes a built in afternoon nap or you can do the sleepyhead schedule and go in later!

Fergiegal

imn_angel25 said:

Not sure why it ate the rest of my post.

imn_angel25 said:

In answer to your question about coming/going with a one day base ticket, you can as long as it's to the same park. The park hopper allows you to go to different parks on the same day.

In response to your other questions, I think it depends on the child and how they nap in "strange" situations. We took my DS when he was 19 months old and we stayed at Magic Kingdom for the entire day without any problems. He has no problem napping in his stroller though and can nap through noise. Because he was still taking a nap around lunchtime, we just let him nap while my DH and I ate in one of the sit down restaurants (Tomorrowland Terrace, so he could sleep in the AC). When we knew he had about 15 minutes left of his nap, we took turns going on Space Mountain.

He took his late afternoon nap at Mickey's PhilharMagic. Some kids probably wouldn't nap here (it's a 3D musical show) because it's loud, but he fell right to sleep. Another good napping ride is the Carousel of Progress (boring in my opinion, but he fell asleep fast on that towards the end of the night). And all these options are air conditioned. Once they were over, we just put him in his stroller asleep and went to do more adult rides.

If you are staying on Disney property, I think planning to leave is a good option. If you stay off property (as we did) I would NEVER leave. It takes a good 20 minutes to get back to your car, so not worth it in my opinion. If you plan to leave, I would really recommend staying on property.

Such great info thanks so much! Yeah I think we will be staying off the Disney property. Since I am only going for one day to Disney, I really don't want to spend time going back to a room, even if I did stay inside Disney. Times goes by so fast when you're having fun. He can nap all day the next day lol! I loved your carrousel of progress idea for a nap. I actually love that ride....but it definitely makes me sleepy. I will save that ride towards the time he usually goes down for a nap on a normal basis. And I will give him some milk right before to get him in that snooze mode. Hopefully it all works out! 

mommymegan831

LalaMama81 said:

PetuniaFeatherbottom said:

I wouldn't take a person on an expensive trip who can't walk all day or remember what happened. We typically wait til 5 for Disney. You will still probably have fun!

Do you remember everything you did when you were 5? 

I travel b/c I want to go and I want my child to experience it. I will always remember the trip, whether they do or not. However, we'll have plenty of pictures. 

OP, I would lean towards a 2 day ticket and staying overnight in a disney resort. 

I never get that excuse "they won't remember it".  I'm paying, we'll all have fun so I'll get my money's worth, and I assume I'd have more fun at Disney with my kids at 5, maybe up to 8, then at 15 when they will remember it and probably annoy the crap out of me, all while I'm still paying

verticgm

We took DS in May at 15 months and we are taking him back in Dec. at 23 months. He LOVED LOVED LOVED it and, although he won't remember it, our memories of his first trip to Disney are worth EVERY penny so all those "won't remember" naysayers are missing out.

All the other advice from PPs is good. We did bring our stroller even though it was a little annoying to get in and out of the park but I was glad we did. I read somewhere when deciding whether to bring your own stroller or rent a Disney stroller to consider you basic trip to the mall. If LO spends most of the time in a stroller, bring your own that you and LO are familar with. If LO is outside and walking most of the time, go ahead and rent one. DS naps in our stroller even in noisy and crowded areas and we knew this so we brought our own.

Take advantage of the babycare centers at each park. They are awesome, air conditioned areas with changing tables, rockers, any baby supply you could possibly need for purchase, and play rooms with TVs for much-needed down time.

DS loved all the rides and rode everything but the roller coasters that had height requirements. He was a champ. He really loved the Jungle Cruise as he is an animal lover.

The time of year you are going is low-season so you should be able to do a good portion of the MK in a day and may be able to hit another park the second day.

If your LO has not had a first haircut, there is a working barber shop on Main Street USA and for like 18 bucks, you can get a child's first haircut that includes Mickey ears that are embroidered with "My First Haircut", a certificate, and they package up the hair with pixie dust as a keepsake. It was well worth the price and there was no wait. You can make reservations but we didn't and no trouble just walking in.

If possible, hit Downtown Disney for souvenirs if you are in the market for that sort of thing. There is a discount store with nice and reasonably priced souvenirs for under $15, maybe even less. We didn't want to buy a 15-month old anything too elaborate because, quite frankly, he has enough stuffed animals he doesn't play with.

If you want a fun dinner spot, T-Rex Cafe at Downtown Disney is awesome! My husband and I enjoyed it as much as DS did. In the MK, we just did the counter service restaurants and had tons of healthy options for me and kid stuff for DS.

If it rains, buy a poncho to put over your stroller while it is sitting outside attractions. Also, if it is supposed to rain, buy ponchos before you get there and just take them in.

Just be relaxed and you will all have a great time. I went into the trip with the only goal being that I didn't want to divorce DH while we were there. (I can be, uh, well, SUPER high strung and sometimes have trouble being "breezy".) We actually had a blast and it was a trip none of us will ever forget. The staff at Disney is second to none and will help in any way possible with whatever needs you may have.