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Toddlers: 24 Months+
myluckypig
member
re-post about our Disney Experience.
myluckypig
member
I posted on my BMB but thought I would share here too.
I have one word to sum it up: HORRIBLE!
We thought it would be a good idea to take DD to Disney since she understands characters and rides and loves all things Disney. We live about an hour and a half away, but we wanted the full experience, so we stayed at a Disney hotel as well since my DH or I haven't been in over 15 years.
Oh, and before we get started, I will say DS was an angel. He was so good and just went along for the ride.
We got their around 10 and by that time EVERYTHING had at least a 45 min wait, some of the rides even had a 200 minute wait. I could not believe it! I knew it was Disney and I knew it would be busy...but I did not expect it to be a complete madhouse on a Wednesday. Even lines to meet a character were over 45 minutes, some of the more popular characters were a 1 hour wait.
When it was time to eat we had to search high and low for somewhere to sit. We had to eat one meal on the ground!
DD did not understand waiting in lines, and I do not blame here. We tried one thing that was only a 20 min wait when we first got there, and she screamed so loud waiting in line that we had to leave.
We got fast passes for two rides, but by the time we were able to get another one at 1 pm, they were reserving the times for 9 pm. We got to ride the little mermaid new ride, dumbo, and the carasouel of progress (at least it put the kids to sleep). So basically we paid $100 a ride!
Finally, we got both kids asleep so we just sat down on the floor and realized what a freaking waste of $500 the trip had been.
When it was time to leave it started raining. We stayed at a Disney hotel so we used their transportation system. We had to take a monorail to get to the bus...well the bus was late (we waited 40 min), we then got on the bus and the bus driver GOT LOST and it took over 30 min to get from Disney parking to a Disney hotel. How does a Disney driver get lost?!?!?!
Honestly, this just proved to us why we are taking an adult only vacation to an adult only resort in March because this was absolutely disastrous.
So whatever you do....do not go to Disney until your children are much older... HA HA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: re-post about our Disney Experience.
All of this! I'm sorry your visit was so horrible though that stinks!
I used to work at Disney Tower of Terror! and love it but going to Disney durning a school vacation time is a bad idea!
ETA: For future tips: I always pack one meal for our trip simply to avoid lines and crowded eat areas. I usually do PBH, veggie chips, carrot sticks and apple slices, and bottled water. we eat it while waiting in line for something around 11. Then we'll eat dinner there but we'll either make a reservation or eat at four to miss the dinner rush. I always pack granola bars and trail mix for after dinner hunger since we ate early and we usually indulge in a sweet treat around 67 too. sorry for the unsolicited advice :
Oh that sounds awful, we went the week before Xmas and wasn't sure how it would be. It started off rough, because I got us tickets for the Holiday party and we couldn't get into Magic Kingdom until like 5. So were friggin nuts and went to Animal Kingdom during the day. We only rode one ride, 300 bucks for one ride!!!!!!! DS didn't love standing in line either!
The Holiday party was AWESOME! Very crowded though in some spots, but we got on all the rides pretty quick. I really wanted to eat at the "Be our Guest" place in Fantasy Land but you had to have rez. Everything else that night was great.
Then we did Universal, we splurged on both parts of the park and Express tickets... It was like $700 bucks but it was worth it. DS couldn't ride a lot of the rides except for in Seus land, but it was still fun. He could ride the roller coaster in Harry Potter world so we rode it like 5 times. No wait w/Express Pass! So me and DH took turns riding the big rides LOL!
I agree though, we are planning an AI trip soon too!
Glad you survived!!
Freshie Girl 9.29.12
I went to Disney a few years ago over Christmas and it was great! I expected it to be busy but it really wasn't all that bad. Maybe I just lucked out though.
Daughter #1 - February 12, 2010
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Daughter #2 - January 11, 2012
Ectopic pregnancy discovered November 6, 2012 at 6 weeks
Daughter #3 - January 19, 2014
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We love Disney and always think it's a great idea but it does require ALOT of planning. We just took DS and he's 2 and 3 months. We went in early Nov so the lines were short most 20 min or less and we booked a bunch of character dining so we never had to wait in line for characters since we saw them all at our meals. We also stayed in Disney so was close enough to go and take naps during the day. We stayed a week so didn't feel rushed and had time to enjoy everything. I HATE that ya'll had such a bad trip! Enjoy your adult only vacation and give Disney another shot in a few years Try Sept, Jan, and Nov before T-giving as those can be cheaper more "off season" months. We planned our trip for almost a year in advance.
Ditto everyone else's sentiments. Sorry you had such a bad experience, but yes, anything Disney takes a lot of pre-planning. When we took the kids to D'land (DD- 2.5 years, DS-8 monts) we made zero plans to eat at the Disney establishments and instead brought a lunch and tons of snack. If we ended up deciding to eat there and the lines were decent then cool, otherwise, we had food. We made sure we got there right before the park opened so Nemo's submarine ride literally was a 5-10 minute wait as well as other rides.
In the end, whenever DH and I decide to take the kids on a trip we know and accept that whatever and whereever we go will always be a "waste of money" in many ways. Kids can't push the limits and stay out all day like adults can and not be cranky. Kids can't hold out until mealtime or whatever to eat. We have learned to slow things down tremendously and have very little expectations. As a result, we always have a blast.
This post made me laugh... I went to Disney when I was 5 (though it was just magic kingdom back then in 1980 so not quite so much of the insanity it is now) and I remember quite a bit of the trip, so I always planned to take my own kids around that age b/c I wanted them to remember it and b/c it seems like such a huge ordeal, etc. Then I found out how many ppl take toddlers and I thought it sounded like a fun idea though not enough to make me want to do it...I think so much depends on your kid & like you said, the crowds. My DS would never, ever be able to wait in those lines, waiting in like at our local Chipotle is a nightmare (it's kinda slow there LOL) so I can't even fathom Disney World.
A friend of mine took her DD and DS for her DD's 3 yr old bday I think and DS was around 2 and she posted the cutest pix on FB of her daughter meeting the princesses, etc... I said to her, I never wanted to take my kids that young but your pix looked so awesome! She said- don't let those pictures fool you. That trip was absolutely miserable. I totally cracked up & my mind was set.
But obviously that is just me & my kids and what I would want to do on vacay so it changes for everyone. I think it also is different if you have to fly the whole family there vs ppl who are able to drive within a reasonable amt of time....
Wow, so sorry you had a bad experience. We took DD the first week of December (also on a Wednesday) and had no problems. We took turns waiting in lines while the other person did something else with DD. This was a great strategy as DD didn't have to wait in many lines that way. And on that day none of the lines we were in were more than a half hour (except for the character meets which were more like 45-60).
DD had an awesome time and begged to go back the next day. She'll tell anyone and everyone she meets all about her birthday at DL. She melted down at the end of the day but it was over an hour past her bedtime so it was totally understandable. Honestly I think it's really about picking the best day (lots of sites give you crowd predictions), not trying to do too much, and taking breaks. I figured if she had a good time, no matter what happened, it was worth it.
Always Sunny's back b-tches!
With a little bit of planning, Disney is an AWESOME trip. We just did it with 3 kids under 3 (our third trip since our first son was born). Since you live so close to the parks, just take advantage of slower times of the year. The first week in December we didn't wait more than 10 minutes for a single thing. And we did almost every ride in the Magic Kingdom.
The number one rule to having a good trip is to get to the parks early! At least one day go for rope drop - the crowd level when the park opens is so low you will get quite a few rides done.
I hope you give Disney another chance - it really is such a great place for kids. This trip was the first time my son really "got" it. After he met Mickey the first day, he turned to me and whispered, "He hugged me." That little whisper sealed what I already knew - we will NOT be going to the beach as my husband hoped in 2013. Disney will be getting our money yet again!
5/10 - Gideon 6/12 Warren
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