10 days in WDW with a 5yo and 21mo - our tips

[Momof3Labs]

This was our first trip to Disney with two kids. DS1 was 2.25yo and then 3yo on our prior with-kids trips. Here are some of the things we learned:

1. Start your days early. The lines were by far shortest before lunch. We walked on a lot of rides in the first few hours the parks were open, including headliners.

2. Schedule your big meal of the day for breakfast or lunch. Our kids just seemed to do better when they had their big meal earlier in the day compared to when we had dinner ADRs. And definitely don't skip or shortchange those two meals, even if they aren't table service. Your kids will be happier for it.

3. Garden Grill has the best character interaction I've seen at WDW. At all of our other character meals, they stop for a quick picture and autograph, then move right on and may not come back again. At GG, we saw each character multiple times. They played games with the kids, danced with them, you name it. We also like the food (served family-style, so comes fast but no buffet-sharing), though dessert wasn't as good this year as when we went in 2005.

4. My 21mo's favorite rides were Triceratop Spin, It's a Small World and the Mexico boat ride. He liked others too, but those were requested over and over and over again.

5. My 5yo's favorite ride, hands down, was Mission Space. He also likes Soarin, Test Track, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Rockin Roller Coaster, Spaceship Earth (I don't know why), Primeval Whirl and Peter Pan (many of those rides have height requirements, which he met for the first time on this trip). He didn't like Tower of Terror, Dinosaur or Expedition Everest. Motion didn't seem to bother him, but the scary situations in ToT, Dinosaur and EE were too much for him.

6. Let your kids wear costumes in the park!! DS1 wore his Peter Pan costume a couple of days. On the first day, in MK, he got pictures with Peter Pan and Wendy, and Captain Hook and Mr. Smee came out of the parade to duel with him. You see lots of girls in princess costumes, but not as many boys in costumes. They get extra attention - DS1 loved it!

7. Stay close to the parks, walking distance if you can. We stayed at AKL. Stayed there before and loved it, but really "felt" the distance this time. I felt like I missed a lot of park time commuting back (via bus or rental car) for DS2's daily nap (he's not a stroller napper). Had we stayed at the Swan (our original plan) it would have been easier, at least from Epcot and MGM.

8. If you have a napper, stay in a deluxe resort if you can swing it. Our room at AKL was tight for the four of us for 10 days. I longed for the extra space at BC (where we stayed in 2005), even though the theming IMO isn't as rich. Plus the deluxes tend to be closer to the parks.

9. I used to love the French bakery at Epcot. But this time it seemed so ordinary. Good thing we discovered School Bread at the Norway bakery - yum!!! Like a custard-filled coconut topped donut, but not nearly as sweet as one.

10. We really struggled to find good quality counter service food on this trip both for adults and kids. The kids often had only 2 menu choices, and one was often something *I* wouldn't touch, much less my 5yo picky eater. Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD was one exception - the food there was quite good. We found a few things here and there at other counter service places that were also fine, but I don't remember feeling this way about counter service food on past trips.

Bonus tip 11. Use fastpass!!! We'd often walk up to a ride and see a 30-40 minute wait, but the fastpass time started in 40 minutes. So we could either spend those 40 minutes in line or do something else and return (walking straight to the front of the line). It was a no-brainer with young kids.

10 days, 10 tips. That's all that my congested head-cold noggin can come up with at this point. I'm sure that I'll think of more, and I'd love for the other Disney pros to chime in with their experiences. Or if you are planning a trip and have specific questions, please ask away!

Lori
DS - September 2002
DS - February 2006

[Oregonmother]

Wow Lori! Thanks for all the great advice. We go to WDW in January for only about 3 days though, we are spending the other 7 days of our vacation with our family that lives in FL. Sounds like you all had lots of fun.

ETA: Do you think we would be missing out if we didn't do a character meal? TIA!

[dhano923]

Thanks for the tips! We leave in 12 days for our first trip to WDW (7 day trip). My kiddos are 4YO and 2YO so I liked that your kiddos are similar in age! We are staying at Wilderness Lodge, so hopefully it won't be too far from the parks so we can come back for naptime. We are doing 3 character meals and looking forward to the entire experience!

[klwa]

Thanks for the tips! We leave Jan 18 for a week with DS (2). Most of the week we'll be an extended family, with 10 people including DNieces (6, 15 months), so its nice to hear from families with a big age range.

[dotgirl]

The costume thing is a great idea! The last time we were in Disneyland (without DS - it was an 'get away from the kids' thing), I saw all the girls in princess dresses and kind of lamented that DS wasn't a DD. It didn't occur to me to get him a costume for our January trip to WDW.

[colleenfs]

Hi Lori-
Glad that you had a fun time. Billy must have had a ball dressed as Peter Pan. Meeting PP and Wendy was Julia's fondest memory from our trip last January. (She says this was the best part of the trip, even better than the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and the Sleeping Beauty Tea!)

What were your dates? We're considering the week after Thanksgiving for out next trip, likely in 2009 when Emma is about 4.25. Thanks!

[KrystalS]

Thanks for tips, we leave Jan 9th for a 7 day trip. DD is almost 4. I'm a little worried about the dining situation b/c DD is a really picky eater. How long did it take to tour Epcot and MGM? DD is really out of the nap stage, she rarely naps and even if she does its late in the afternoon, usually only if we happen to be in the car. I know she will be tired staying at the parks all day so if we need to we plan to go back to the hotel for a break even if she doesn't sleep. I know the days we go to MK we will probably need a break. But I'm thinking we could make it thru MGM and Epcot without a break, maybe AK as well.
What were your kids faves at AK? DD loves animals esp. lions, jaguars, etc, so I really want to make the most of this park.

[KBecks]

Thanks for the interesting read! I do not know if we will do Disney, it sounds great, but it also sounds overwhelming. I'm shocked you spent 10 days there, wow! Very interesting tips!

[Momof3Labs]

ETA: Do you think we would be missing out if we didn't do a character meal? TIA!

If you want character interaction, you almost need to do a character meal (though some don't offer any more interaction than random meetings around the parks). But it isn't a requirement for a good time at WDW!

[Momof3Labs]

Hi Lori-
Glad that you had a fun time. Billy must have had a ball dressed as Peter Pan. Meeting PP and Wendy was Julia's fondest memory from our trip last January. (She says this was the best part of the trip, even better than the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and the Sleeping Beauty Tea!)

What were your dates? We're considering the week after Thanksgiving for out next trip, likely in 2009 when Emma is about 4.25. Thanks!

Actually, I'm not Billy's mom, though there was indeed a Billy from our boards dressed as Peter Pan a few weeks ago at Disney!

We went 12/5-15 since we wanted to avoid Pop Warner as much as possible (we've run into them once in the past). If you want to go right after Thanksgiving, you should research Pop Warner (a high school cheerleading competition that takes over a couple of the resorts at WDW) on disboards before making your decision!