Has anyone been to Disney World with two little ones?

vlcoley

Hi all!  I have to go to Orlando for work in January so my husband and I decided to make it an extended trip and he and my two daughters are going to meet me down there.  We live in Western New York so I am sure by the time January rolls around we will be ready for a break away from our winter.  Has anyone out there spent a vacation in Orlando with two little ones (they will be 2.5 years old and almost 1 year old at the time of our trip).  Any recommendations about accommodations, attractions, dining options, etc. would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Doubletrouble12

Hi! We just got back from Disney World with our twins that are almost 2 and twin 8 year olds. We rented a stroller from Magic Strollers, which was a big help bc it folded up so easily.  We stayed at the Art of Animation, which we enjoyed. The little ones loved the pool area. I would recommend staying at Walt Disney World rather than a hotel nearby, just for convenience with kids.  It still took us about 15-20 mins each way to get to and from each of the parks plus any waiting time for a bus to arrive.  We requested 2 cribs- which are pack n plays. My girls slept well in them (I was kind of nervous about how they'd sleep) but they did well.  Definitely take naps and breaks. My little ones loved just swimming and seeing new things. We didn't spend too much time in the parks bc it was pretty busy and hot while we were there. Evening/night seemed like the best time to go for us.  Take ponchos as well as a stroller cover, rained alot while we were there!  

We enjoyed Chef Mickey's for breakfast and mostly utilized the food at our restort, just because it was more convenient.  Hope that helps!  

JENandJEH

We went when my oldest was almost 5 and youngest was 11 months.  We stayed at Art of Animation and it was wonderful to have the extra room in the family suite.  The pack n play fit perfectly in the master bathroom (my parents were with me so we had 3 adults and 2 kids in the room) and he slept great.  We also rented a stroller from Kingdom Strollers and it was really nice and very clean.  We went in February and while it was probably ok for swimming during the day, it was too chilly for us at night when we got back.  

Because DS2 was still pretty little and was still nursing, I just took advantage of the baby care centers to nurse him and then he would sleep in the stroller so we didn't go back to the room for nap breaks every day.  If you plan on eating at Disney restaurants, eat early (before conventional meal times) and you won't have any issues with it being too crowded.  We enjoyed the Hollywood & Vine character meal with the Disney Jr characters as well as Tusker House at Animal Kingdom to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.  

Even with little ones there is a ton they can do in the parks...do some research before you go.  Check out Disboards.com and KennythePirate.com for some good info.  

NCMichelle

We went last January for my dc's 4th bday (my ds was almost 3).  We stayed at the Polynesian.  I definitely recommend staying somewhere on the monorail.  That way you don't have to wake up a sleeping kid in a stroller!

We spent 2 days at Magic Kingdom and 1 day at Animal Kingdom.  I think that was a good mix.  We did 1 character meals every day which was a nice break from the park.  

We took my DH's mom with us - which was great.  When a kid maxed out, she easily took them back to the hotel.

The ONLY crappy thing was the weather.  It was upper 40's and raining every day that we were there.  Very unusual from what I understand, but just my luck.

vlcoley

Thanks ladies!  I am bringing my mom along to help with the kiddies.  Because the girls are so young, we don't plan on spending too much time in the parks.  We know we want to visit Magic Kingdom....my 2.5 year old will die when she sees all her favorite characters marching around!  Other than that, we will likely hang around the hotel, enjoy the pool, catch a couple character-meals and relax.  We still haven't booked a resort....it's so tough to decide which one would be best.  I think we have it narrowed down to the Bay Lake at the Contemporary (monorail is nice perk), Saratoga Springs Resort (like that it is close to Downtown Disney and lots of restaurants within walking distance) and Art of Animation (of course, price is right for this one).  Looking forward to our trip!

Leap08

We went for a few days (my husband was working in FL) when my oldest was 3 and the youngest was just over 1. We only did the Magic Kingdom and that was perfect for us. We stayed at the Polynesian, which was very convenient with small children. I think a monorail resort when they're little is worth it for the convenience. We did a dinner with Cinderella at the Grande Floridian (my oldest LOVED it) and we did a breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Pluto at the Polynesian. We also spent a lot of time just hanging out around the resort. We were there at the end of January and the weather was perfect (80s), but I've also been there in December and it's been cold (50-60s), so you never know.

myjohnsonboys

We went this past July and stayed at The Walt Disney Swan Hotel. My boys were 4 and 1.5 at the time and I was the only adult. We went to Disney and Hollywood Studios which they loved because the resort offered a boat to take you there. The biggest thing that made our time more enjoyable was leaving the parks mid day for naps and swim time. Good luck have fun!

mexicolombiana

We just went to Disney world for the 1st time with my 2.5 yr old and 4 yr old. It was so much fun! But I disagree w/some people.  

We did 1 day at Magic Kingdom (MORE THAN ENOUGH for us).  We couldn't go on any "big kid" rides like the Seven Dwarfs mine train, Barnstormer, or Space Mountain and stuff. 

Here's what we did: 

Cinderella Breakfast: pricey but cute and they get to meet and take pictures of all the cool princesses.  The food was alright but you're not there for the food.  

Bippidy Boppidy (sp?) salon: pricey but my girls LOVE THIS.  We lied and said my 2.5 yr old was 3 so she could get her hair done too.  The Latina hairstylists totally knew we were lying but didn't care.  They seriously LOVED the hair and makeup.  Again, really expensive but worth doing once in your life. 

Dumbo ride: It was ok, and there no line. 

Enchanted Tales with Belle: This was kind of dumb but there was no line. You just go in different rooms and finally meet Belle and you play out some story.

Haunted Mansion: My 4 year old hated it and was terrified but my 2.5 year old loved it.  You decide.  You just go into a mansion and it gets dark and scary.  It's kind of dumb. 

It's a Small World: Very cute ride.  Not much to do just look around at the cute attractions with that catchy music. 

Jungle Cruise: We had a fast pass for this: It was nice.  Corny but cute.  You take a boat ride and see fake animals, accompanied by a corny tour guide. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: this was like the Peter Pan ride or Small world Flight.  You just sit in a boat and go around and see all the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions.  It was really dumb IMO.  Our kids aren't really fans of the Pirates so it wasn't worth it.  

Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid: My girls both loved it.  Same as the rides above (pirates and it's a small world) where you sit on a boat and see attractions.  This was fun IMO.

Meet Ariel in her Grotto: we had a fast pass and the girls got to hug and kiss Ariel.  Not bad.  Not great. 

That's all we did other than that we visited the Country bears (really funny old country animated drunk bears singing about love and booze). 

We had a great time but we were DONE with Magic Kingdom by 7 pm.  I guess you could stay for fireworks but not with 2 small kids who wanted to go to bed.  They napped in their double stroller at 1 pm and that was great. 

They also don't serve any booze in Magic Kingdom except at Be Our Guest for dinner. 

We then went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom the other 2 days.  We could have done without Animal Kingdom, it just a big overrated zoo.  Hollywood studios was fun but for bigger kids I think.  We did: 

Indiana Jones stunt thing: AWFUL for small kids, we left early.

Honey I shrunk the kids: I wanted to do this but it was closed due to rain. 

Toy Story Mania: SUPER fun ride where you get to shoot things.  Both kids loved it. 

Disney JR on stage: HORRIBLE AWFUL show.  You have to sit on the floor and the kids can't see so they stand up, then the people yell at you for standing up.  You can hardly see the characters anyway.  We almost left half way through. 

Best meal though was at Hollywood and Vine.  You get to meet Sofia and Handy Manny and all those guys and the food is good. 

Animal Kingdom had good Indian food at Tusker House and you got to meet the classic Disney Characters like Minnie and Mickey.  Other than that I didn't like Animal Kingdom (for our 2 kids at least). 

All that said we liked the Disney Boardwalk (for one night only then it was boring) and Downtown Disney is fun for shopping. 

We are totally done with Disney for years. We might take the girls back when they're like 10 or something.  Hope that helps!

vlcoley

I am VERY curious about this David's DVC??  I have never heard of it before but just visited the website.  You have had good experiences booking through David's?  Is it just a reservation service for Disney Vacation Club?  

mexicolombiana

LalaMama81 said:

We just went to Disney world for the 1st time with my 2.5 yr old and 4 yr old. It was so much fun! But I disagree w/some people.  

We did 1 day at Magic Kingdom (MORE THAN ENOUGH for us).  We couldn't go on any "big kid" rides like the Seven Dwarfs mine train, Barnstormer, or Space Mountain and stuff. 

Here's what we did: 

Cinderella Breakfast: pricey but cute and they get to meet and take pictures of all the cool princesses.  The food was alright but you're not there for the food.  

Bippidy Boppidy (sp?) salon: pricey but my girls LOVE THIS.  We lied and said my 2.5 yr old was 3 so she could get her hair done too.  The Latina hairstylists totally knew we were lying but didn't care.  They seriously LOVED the hair and makeup.  Again, really expensive but worth doing once in your life. 

Dumbo ride: It was ok, and there no line. 

Enchanted Tales with Belle: This was kind of dumb but there was no line. You just go in different rooms and finally meet Belle and you play out some story.

Haunted Mansion: My 4 year old hated it and was terrified but my 2.5 year old loved it.  You decide.  You just go into a mansion and it gets dark and scary.  It's kind of dumb. 

It's a Small World: Very cute ride.  Not much to do just look around at the cute attractions with that catchy music. 

Jungle Cruise: We had a fast pass for this: It was nice.  Corny but cute.  You take a boat ride and see fake animals, accompanied by a corny tour guide. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: this was like the Peter Pan ride or Small world Flight.  You just sit in a boat and go around and see all the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions.  It was really dumb IMO.  Our kids aren't really fans of the Pirates so it wasn't worth it.  

Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid: My girls both loved it.  Same as the rides above (pirates and it's a small world) where you sit on a boat and see attractions.  This was fun IMO.

Meet Ariel in her Grotto: we had a fast pass and the girls got to hug and kiss Ariel.  Not bad.  Not great. 

That's all we did other than that we visited the Country bears (really funny old country animated drunk bears singing about love and booze). 

We had a great time but we were DONE with Magic Kingdom by 7 pm.  I guess you could stay for fireworks but not with 2 small kids who wanted to go to bed.  They napped in their double stroller at 1 pm and that was great. 

They also don't serve any booze in Magic Kingdom except at Be Our Guest for dinner. 

We then went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom the other 2 days.  We could have done without Animal Kingdom, it just a big overrated zoo.  Hollywood studios was fun but for bigger kids I think.  We did: 

Indiana Jones stunt thing: AWFUL for small kids, we left early.

Honey I shrunk the kids: I wanted to do this but it was closed due to rain. 

Toy Story Mania: SUPER fun ride where you get to shoot things.  Both kids loved it. 

Disney JR on stage: HORRIBLE AWFUL show.  You have to sit on the floor and the kids can't see so they stand up, then the people yell at you for standing up.  You can hardly see the characters anyway.  We almost left half way through. 

Best meal though was at Hollywood and Vine.  You get to meet Sofia and Handy Manny and all those guys and the food is good. 

Animal Kingdom had good Indian food at Tusker House and you got to meet the classic Disney Characters like Minnie and Mickey.  Other than that I didn't like Animal Kingdom (for our 2 kids at least). 

All that said we liked the Disney Boardwalk (for one night only then it was boring) and Downtown Disney is fun for shopping. 

We are totally done with Disney for years. We might take the girls back when they're like 10 or something.  Hope that helps!

You are broken. Pirates, small world & haunted mansion are Classic Disney. J/k, but you seemed to have very different expectations about Disney & the attractions than I do. I'm surprised your 4 year old couldn't ride more stuff unless they're super petite. I don't know, I guess I just do Disney a lot differently. Though, as a side note, I think it's crappy to lie about your kid's age.

She's like barely 40" so she couldn't go on Splash Mountain, Stitch's great escape, Big Thunder Mountain and a bunch of other rides in Hollywood and Animal Kingdom, also we had our 2 1/2 year old with us so it would have been hard/annoying to go on these bigger rides without the smaller child.  I'm sure the experience would be much different when the kids are older.  We might give Disney another try in a few years.  

I didn't mean to be so cynical, we had a great time! It was just so expensive and I feel like we saw everything there was to see.  They loved hugging princesses and taking pictures with them.  

And I lied about my kid's age so I could pay $75 to get her hair done.  How is that crappy?  Anyway i'm just not really into Disney World, but I'm glad we got to go.