Length of Trip with Toddler?

[the1nonlysinger]

Hi everyone!

First off, I've been MIA from the boards for a while because I had a baby! We're in the very early stages of planning our son's first WDW visit. He will either be 20 months or 25 months depending on the timing we decide on.

HERE'S MY QUESTION: Can you have a WDW trip be TOO long with a toddler? We're looking at 10 days with a travel days on both ends.

DH & I have taken 3 trips as a couple but we've never been as parents before. We have generally done parks open to close, but we know that we will have to slow down to a crawling pace compared to what we are used to. We are hopeful that 10 days will give us a reasonable amount of time to be flexible.

I would appreciate input from parents who have brought toddlers before! (And no, the debate isn't whether we should bring him at all- those comments can be left off the table. Thanks! )

 

[Tinkerbell397]

First of all.....Congratulations on the birth of your son!
Now for my opinion on your 10 day vacation.....it sounds like you have it all under control. Neither one of you are inexperienced Disney guests so you will know how to navigate the parks. And, 10 days will give you enough time to explore at a leisurely toddler pace. Just remember to be proactive. You know your child better than anyone else so as parents, I am sure you are familiar with those signals that mean...."I'm 2 years old and I have had enough of this place. If you don't take me out of this park right away, I am going to have a meltdown". Watch for those signals and you will be fine. Have a Magical Trip!

 

[gooftroop5]

First of all.....Congratulations on the birth of your son!
Now for my opinion on your 10 day vacation.....it sounds like you have it all under control. Neither one of you are inexperienced Disney guests so you will know how to navigate the parks. And, 10 days will give you enough time to explore at a leisurely toddler pace. Just remember to be proactive. You know your child better than anyone else so as parents, I am sure you are familiar with those signals that mean...."I'm 2 years old and I have had enough of this place. If you don't take me out of this park right away, I am going to have a meltdown". Watch for those signals and you will be fine. Have a Magical Trip!

As a family who has traveled together since the oldest was 4 months old I second everything above!!

Congrats on becoming parents! There is nothing like seeing WDW through the eyes of your child.

Just listen to your child and you should be ok. When they are tired we nap. When they are hungry we eat. When they get grouchy we find something else to do. Sometimes they could care less about attractions and are perfectly happy just strolling around. Your touring style will definitely change, but honestly I think you will enjoy it! Just to see how they react to their favorite characters, the funny things they do when they enjoy an attraction or show, and the new things your learn about their little personalities is SO worth it.

People (our parents especially) use to give us a hard time for bringing our kids at such a young age, but we would do it again in a heartbeat! And now that they are just a little older (10, 7, 4) it is great bonding/family time!

HAVE FUN!! (And enjoy this time while he is still "free" in the eyes of Disney!)

 

[GeekDad]

We've taken my son at 1 & 1/2, 2 & 1/2, and leaving early tomorrow morning and he is 3 & 1/2. Everything mentioned above is great advise. We typically go for 10 days and I don't think he ever noticed the length of time. To him he was just with mom and dad all the time instead of spending some of the days in daycare.

It might be worth taking a mid day break to let him nap quietly in your room. Although some kids including my son and plenty of other toddlers I've seen at the parks can sleep through just about anything including rides and parades so don't feel you have to go back to your room just because your child needs a nap. When my son falls asleep before our usual break sometimes we head back but a lot of time we just stay in the park and maybe get a bite to eat or watch some shows. I've even ridden pirates while holding him and he was asleep the whole time. Again you know your child best so just follow your newly acquired parental instincts and you will be fine and should have a blast!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

On our first trip, my youngest was 23 months old. We did 14 days in Orlando with a 9 hour flight on both ends.
She coped extremely well with the travelling, had a blast on what she could do in and around the parks, but hated meeting the characters

 

[Gomer]

I actually prefer longer trips with younger children. It allows for significantly longer mid-day breaks and makes me more willing to cut out of the parks early in favor of an early bed time back at the hotel. Going at that sort of leisurely pace allowed far more rest time (not just for naps, but also decompression from the sensory overload of the parks) and made our time in the parks all the more enjoyable. With a longer trip it still allows us that freedom to take significant time away and to still get everything done that we want to do.

 

[the1nonlysinger]

Thank you everyone! I think I just needed some reassurance that we weren't crazy! lol If too many of you said your toddler could only handle a few days at a time then I would have reconsidered (but been sorely disappointed!). It's so hard to plan this far out when we have no idea what our kiddo's schedule or even his temperament will be like over a year from now! (i.e. I'm guessing lunch reservations will be easier to swing than dinner in case we do have to go back to the room. But who knows!)

 

[GeekDad]

Don't worry too much about lunch reservations vs dinner reservations. We usually do a mix of both and on the days that we have a lunch reservation we stay in the park a little longer before taking our break and then we leave a little earlier then usual for our dinner reservations or we have a reservation at the resort we are staying at. My son typically naps in the early afternoon so we would always make early lunch reservations or pretty much any time for dinner reservations. As you get closer you will have a better idea of his daily schedule and can plan things based on that.

 

[mammaminnie]

Congratulations on the baby!! We have a newborn in our house as well and are planning his first trip (although he will be much younger ). The best advise is to do whatever you think is best. I personally like longer trips if you can afford them because you do not feel as rushed to see so much. That leaves plenty of time to sleep in, take naps, enjoy the pool etc. Our older kids took their first trips at 2 and 4. We aren't the type that go back to the resort and nap because our kids will nap anywhere, including their stroller as we stroll World Showcase, but that is just our family, so definitely take the pace that you need to enjoy everything.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Congrats! Nice to see you back on the boards

Every child is different. Our youngest had just turned 2 on her first trip. We flew, so it was a solid 7 day trip. Let me preface this by saying that I wouldn't change a thing, but it was a lot of sensory overload for her at times. I think 10 days is fine as long as you keep a slower pace and consider nap/rest times outside of the parks if your son starts showing signs of being overstimulated. I know lots of people rely on having their child nap in the stroller, but there's just so much going on in the parks that we found nap time in the room to be more beneficial. We also didn't attempt to keep her on schedule. I know some would disagree with this, but flexibility was our key to success each day. We did have a few meltdowns, but we also went into things expecting that with a child this age. either way- you'll be at WDW and it's just so magical with a young child

 

[buseegal]

17 month old at the time grandson fell asleep on boat back to resort and woke up as we got off, still tired and cranky but would not go back to sleep. screamed for 2 plus hours that we tried to rest. he then fell asleep as we sat at the table waiting for dinner. remember there will be transportation be it car, boat bus or monorail before getting to where nap is to happen and yes after that we did just do stroller naps

 

[JCtheparrothead]

Congrats on having your child! We have going to WDW for extended trips with our Kids (now 3 and 5) since they were born. Like everyone else says just listen to your child. You might not be able to guerrilla through the parks anymore but you will appreciate the scenery more and you get to experience it though a child's eyes. Plus you have a ride swap pass now and it is very nice to have. The one thing about WDW that you know is constant is that they cater to families. We used the family centers at each park religiously for changing, feeding, or to get something we forgot. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Disneykidder]

10 days is long. We were just there with our 3 kiddies for 10 nights--boys 10, 5 and 3. It was a bit long for them but only you know your little guy. Schedules will be out of whack as well.
Snacks, naps, drinks, naps and breaks will be your best friend. Though, It seems like you have it under control. Have fun.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

Hi everyone!

First off, I've been MIA from the boards for a while because I had a baby! We're in the very early stages of planning our son's first WDW visit. He will either be 20 months or 25 months depending on the timing we decide on.

HERE'S MY QUESTION: Can you have a WDW trip be TOO long with a toddler? We're looking at 10 days with a travel days on both ends.

DH & I have taken 3 trips as a couple but we've never been as parents before. We have generally done parks open to close, but we know that we will have to slow down to a crawling pace compared to what we are used to. We are hopeful that 10 days will give us a reasonable amount of time to be flexible.

I would appreciate input from parents who have brought toddlers before! (And no, the debate isn't whether we should bring him at all- those comments can be left off the table. Thanks! )

I am all for taking kids young!!! We took our daughter at 6 months old! We also went for 10 days and it was so relaxing! We were able to do EVERYTHING we wanted to do bc of the length of the trip (we even did stuff twice). She did naps every afternoon. My advice is to get a room with a balcony so that you and the hubby can have somewhere to go while the baby naps. We didn't even think of this, but we got a balcony by default. Thank goodness bc I don't know what we wouldv'e done for 2-3 hours every afternoon if it wasn't for the balcony. We are going back for her 2nd birthday, so I'm very interested to hear how your trip goes. Please post a trip report! I look forward to reading about it if you do!

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Took our daughter last September she was 16 months and we went for two weeks going to Disney and Universal Studios she loved it and it was not too long and she did great with all the characters!!

 

[the1nonlysinger]

Sorry for the late response! For some reason I didn't get any notifications about half of your responses.. So months later, I am just reading them for the first time! Thank you for all the input!

@DiSnEyF@n - We're currently planning on 2016, so it will be a long wait for the trip report

 

[Weather_Lady]

I think with a toddler, it's not so much the length of the trip -- it's more about keeping them on their usual "schedule" in order to keep things running smoothly. We've always tried to keep our kids' normal bedtimes, naptimes and wake-up times while on vacation (adjusting well before the trip if necessary -- e.g., child doesn't typically get up early enough for a rope drop arrival). I think maintaining the "home routine" is far more important to their sense of normalcy than anything else. Also, with a trip that long, you'll obviously want to build in lots of down-time: swimming at the resort or just hanging out. You'll be amazed that with all there is to do in the parks, your toddler will be just as interested in the hotel pool or the bugs on your front stoop as they are in riding its a small world or meeting Mickey.

Have fun!

 

[PenguinPrincess]

Hubby and I are also HUGE Disney World fans (we even had our magical honeymoon there!) and are brand new parents. But we disagree about when to take our little prince to "the world"...me wanting to go sooner rather than later. DH doesn't want him to go until he can remember the trip (aka probably 4 or 5). I on the other hand, feel like a trip with a toddler would be so amazing and more about creating memories for US. Anyway...trolling the boards, looking to see what other people's experiences are.

 

[Lexie]

We went with our 18 month old and 3 year old this summer... Prepare to be flexible (very hard for an avid disney planner like myself!) but as long as you can go with the flow, naps when needed, late mornings, you will be fine! That being said there is truly nothing more magical then seeing disney through the eyes of your child... You will have a great time!! We went for 8 days and were wishing we had an extra day or two by the end of the trip

 

[BigRedDad]

The length of the trip will not matter. What will matter is the amount of time he can be in the middle of all of the stimulation. My daughter was just over 2 years her first trip. We quickly learned that nap time in a stroller was not the same as nap time at the resort. Nap time in the stroller turned into a meltdown after meltdown afternoon. The next day we went back to the resort at lunch time, played in the pool for 30 minutes, then to the room. She crashed within 5 minutes with the lights off. Slept for 2-3 hours and was ready for the early evening and fireworks at the park.

My advice: be 100% flexible and find out what works best for your boy, not you.