Bathrooms/potty-training

[RememberWhen]

Hi all!

We are headed to the world in 16 days!! We are all so excited and can't wait.

I have a question for the parents of little kids. It's my DS's first trip. He was 2 in May, and we're working on potty training. He's been doing awesome, in undies all day except car rides (we've made that mistake a couple times...) and overnight. I'd love for him to wear his undies at Disney because it's more comfortable and it's going to be so hot and sweaty in a pull-up, but he hates public restrooms. He hates the air blowing hand dryers and the automatic flushing toilets. The plan is to bring undies and pull ups and see how it goes. Probably put him in pull ups the first few days at least and see what happens.

Are there any family restrooms around? Places where he wouldn't have to worry about "The Blower?" We've tried the post-it on the flush sensor, but he doesn't trust it not to flush him.

Any other suggestions for kids who are not quite potty-trained?

 

[gooftroop5]

I have been through potty training with 2 kids at WDW. There are family restrooms at every park that we used frequently. I totally agree about pull-ups and comfort. We just took potty breaks every few hours and it worked out well both times. It doesn't hurt that you are at the most magical place on earth and can use a few bribes. Both of my kiddos got brand new Disney undies by doing so well.

My little ones were always concerned with going #2 so we bought one of those fold-up plastic seats that fits over the potty and it worked very well. We also took flushable wipes.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

I have been thinking about the same thing since we are going in November with my 21 month old granddaughter and she will be starting to toilet train. I have never had any issues or concerns about family restrooms because Disney has that covered. My concern is germs....kids touch everything. So I think that my daughter plans to bring some of those disposable seat covers that actually drape the seat instead of just covering just the seat.....little ones tend to hold onto the seats when they are going and I would want her to have as much protection as possible.
Bathrooms usually have blower dryers and paper towel and lots of the toilets have those buttons you have to push to flush. I hope it all goes well for you....that diaper/toilet training transition is always a challenge when you are on vacation. Have a Magical Trip!

 

[HollyAD]

Oh I really feel for you potty training in WDW. My son was also afraid of the automatic flush! He still is at age 5. Public restrooms for us were always a problem until recently. I found that the smaller restrooms were better for us! The big huge restrooms with 20 stalls were always the problem. If you are passing through a resort, take the time to hit the restroom there instead of going at the park. These bathrooms seem to be much quieter, with the exception of the value resorts. I can not remember specific restrooms in the parks that worked best for us. I also made sure to bring one extra change of clothing with us everyday we went away from the resort. If an accident did happen then we were ready for it!

 

[Weather_Lady]

The official WDW website gives all the restroom locations in each park, including "companion restrooms" ("private" family restrooms). (The initial list it gives you is for the MK -- scroll down to the end of the list for links to the other parks.) Just jot down the locations of the many companion restrooms (or if you're an uber-planner like me, list restroom stops at these locations right on your touring plan when you plan to visit the attractions nearby, so your son will have ample opportunities to use the restroom and avoid accidents). https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/restrooms/

Age 2 and potty-training well undeway? I'd say you're ahead of the game! Good luck, and just pack a couple of spare baggies of shorts/undies/wipes in your park bag in the event of an "accident." Have a great trip!

 

[RememberWhen]

Thanks guys! The list of restrooms is soooo helpful. We kind of amble, so I can't plan our days around them, but knowing they exist is great.
We have flushable wipes, and we'll definitely have a change of clothes (or two-those Mickey ice creams can be messy!).
We try to be low stress about it, so if we're in a lot of pull ups in the parks we will just make sure he gets lots of undies time at the resort. He sweats so much in the pull ups. Would it be crazy to bring/use baby powder? We never did when he was a baby, but with the heat maybe it would be helpful?

 

[journ116]

I've taken 2 kids to WDW during various stages of potty training, and here's what I learned:

-bring flushable wipes (which was already mentioned)
-seat covers or a foldable potty seat cover (read reviews first)
-extra undies & pull-ups AND extra pants/shorts & socks (throw 'em in a gallon ziploc bag)
-take potty breaks after every meal, especially if a lot of liquids are consumed
-a plastic bag for soiled clothing
-travel Tide packets (can leave in the room)
-Vaseline & baby powder (can also leave in room, but good to have)
-Wet Wipes (because my kids were afraid of the dryers as well)

Basically, I varied my diaper bag to suit the transition at hand. We still had accidents and constipation issues all while touring the parks. We rolled with the punches and took resort breaks. I also utilized the Baby Care Centers for almost all potty breaks…just in case I would need a changing table, plus the restrooms are a bit less noisy. Lastly, before we entered any ride lines, I made them sit on the potty or they couldn't ride whichever ride we would be waiting for.

You know your kid best…watch for cues…take breaks…bring back ups!

 

[PARichards]

[QUOTE="Weather_Lady, post: 6279714, member: 82203" Just jot down the locations of the many companion restrooms (or if you're an uber-planner like me, list restroom stops at these locations right on your touring plan when you plan to visit the attractions nearby, so your son will have ample opportunities to use the restroom and avoid accidents). https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/restrooms/[/QUOTE]

What great advice! Our fam has a rule about EVERYONE going potty if only 1 person asks (with 4 kids ages 4-8 this works out well), and knowing locations near where we are by adding them to touring plans is a fantastic idea! Thanks!

 

[BobConnor]

All I can say is:
1. Have fun, dealing with potty.
2. Avoid Ellen's Energy Adventure, its long and the kid might want to go potty with the dinosaurs and I don't think they will like that.

 

[buseegal]

just remember that the 'FAMILY BATHROOMS" are also handicapped ones and the person ahead of you can take longer than normal, so might not be the best bet if time is important. they also have the auto flush

 

[seafoodbuffet]

We just did this with our mostly potty-trained kid. Biggest issue for him was that you get about 30 seconds warning before he had to go. We dealt with a few accidents but we brought one spare set of clothes everyday and it was just fine. Like others said, there's lots of companion restrooms but it's probably a lot easier to just take your kid with you to whatever adult restroom.

As far as the auto-flush, yes it's a little disconcerting but we turned it into a bit of game for our kiddo so see how he could position himself to not set it off. It went from frightening to fun pretty quickly.

 

[BobConnor]

wow, as a parent do you find dealing with potty to be fun? You don't have to go all the way to Florida to play potty games.

 

[seafoodbuffet]

wow, as a parent do you find dealing with potty to be fun? You don't have to go all the way to Florida to play potty games.

I don't think there's ever a time where I found potty training to be "fun". Thus I always tried to get our kids out of the "in training" phase as quickly as possible. With that in mind, the only alternatives I saw were: don't go to the parks or to have the kid wear pull-ups (which are basically diapers because at least with our kids, they just went in the pull-ups knowing it wouldn't cause a spill) or deal with potty training.

Our choice was to manage the degree that potty training affected "real life". Going on vacation was part of that "real life". I'd far rather do that than regress to diapers.

 

[Disvillain63]

Many years ago, 24 to be exact, we took our son to WDW during our efforts to potty-train. Not having much luck, we told him that he couldn't go to Disney if he wasn't potty-trained. Of course it was an empty threat. Imagine our shock on our first morning at WDW, when I was telling my DH that I needed to find a restroom to change our DS, and at that moment he tugs on my shorts and asked, "Does Disney have a potty?" From that point on, he was fully potty-trained. More Disney Magic!