Help with a 2 and 3 year old

[Mouse's Magic]

Hello everyone. Quick story. I am a college student and needed to go talk to my professor but ended up only finding his secretary. I noticed she had a bunch of Disney stuff on her desk and we got to talking. We talked about how I did the CP and am doing another one over the summer and she said that she was going to Disney in a month with her grandchildren who are 2 and 3. This will be her 2nd time only going to Disney but she LOVED her first time. Moral of the story...She asked me to be like her "Vacation Planner" and I happily agreed, but I do want some conformation on certain things from you guys. I dont know exactly what a 2 and or a 3 year old could do. Here is some rides/attractions that i think they could go on...

Magic Kindom

Peter Pan
Philharmigic
Dumbo
Golden Caroseul
Snow White
Winnie the Pooh
Country Bear Jamboree
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Share a Dream Come True Parade
Ariel's Grotto
Mickey and Minnies House's
Judges Tent
Buzz Lightyear
Toontown

MGM-Studios

Beauty and The Beast
Little Mermaid
Playhouse Disney Live on Stage
Honey I shrunk the Auidence Movie Set
Muppet Vision
Stars and Cars Parade
Mickey Avenue Character Greeting
Al's Toy Barn Character Greeting


Now here is stuff Im not sure if a 2 and/or a 3 year old could do because A) it wouldnt interest them or B) Too Scary/Intese...

Magic Kindom

Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Carribbean
Mad Tea Party
Stitchs Great Escape
Speedway
Jungle Cruise
Wishes


MGM-Studios

Star Tours
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
Backstage Tour
The Great Movie Ride
Fantasmic


I didnt even put in Rollercoasters becuase I am think the kids will be to short but maybe im wrong. (Im not good at visualizing age to height) So...what do you think? I really would like some feedback on the rides I listed that might be too scary or uninteresting. Did I miss anything that the kids could definatley do? All help would be appreciated!

 

[Laura]

LOL well I disagree with your list.

My last trip to Disney my kids were barely 1 and almost 3. They went on EVERY ride except those with height restrictions. My 1 year old didn't really care either way, and my almost 3 year old LOVED every attraction EXCEPT Tough to Be a Bug - he was petrified of the spiders.

I'd have to delete almost every attraction from your "don't visit" list. Babies and toddlers will usually enjoy everything at Disneyworld that they are tall enough to do. Definitely beware of Tough to be a Bug if the kids are afraid of bugs like my son is.

I'll be heading down tomorrow and now my kid are 18 months and 3 1/2 and I plan to take them on everything without a height restriction.

 

[DisneyWood]

agreed

LOL well I disagree with your list.

My last trip to Disney my kids were barely 1 and almost 3. They went on EVERY ride except those with height restrictions. My 1 year old didn't really care either way, and my almost 3 year old LOVED every attraction EXCEPT Tough to Be a Bug - he was petrified of the spiders.

I'd have to delete almost every attraction from your "don't visit" list. Babies and toddlers will usually enjoy everything at Disneyworld that they are tall enough to do. Definitely beware of Tough to be a Bug if the kids are afraid of bugs like my son is.

I'll be heading down tomorrow and now my kid are 18 months and 3 1/2 and I plan to take them on everything without a height restriction.

We just got back from WDW in October. My son was 2 1/2 and daughter was 1. My son loved every ride and got to go on the rides with 40" height restrictions (pretty big for his age).

I would outline each park for her, and then focus on the areas especially for younger children (Toon town area, honey i shrunk the kids play area, fountains in epcot, etc) in each one.

She will definitely have her work cut out for her. Transportion + 2 young children + double stroller = headache. Trust me, we stayed at the AKL and the transportation was more difficult than I had expected. However, we were at WDW, so it still didn't really bother me.

My son, believe or not, is ready to come back for a week. I didn't think that he would remember to much, but he does.

Just a side note, I did take him on ToT (I know, I won't be up for father of the year), and he did get a little spooked b/c of how dark it was, not the drop itself. All he would say, when he say ToT on TV or home movies, was "it's dark in there".

 

[dploew]

I've been reading these boards for 2 years, I figured this is actually a topic I can speak from experience.

That age can be tough because they can be scared of things you won't expect. Last year at this time, I was with my nephew (a few months shy of 3 at the time). He's a bit scared of a lot of things, most notably the dark.

He got very scared for a minute on TTA when were in the space mountain area and again while passing by buzz. However, he loved Goofy's Barnstormer. My brother-in-law and I took him through the line, expecting him to backout and change his mind. It wasn't until we actually started moving that I actually believed he was going to ride. In fact, because it was a weekday in January, we all rode 8 straight times (sometimes without even having to get off).

Other suggestions of what he really enjoyed at MK include Dumbo, Aladdin, tomorrowland speedway (he steered for his dad), and Buzz. Between those 5 rides, he had the best time ever.

 

[Boray]

The most important thing to keep in mind when taking small children to WDW is that you have to move at their pace. Sometimes the ride that you're sure they will love, might just scare them senseless. I took my 15 mo old daughter and 4 year old son and my daughter loved anything that moved. She loved the HM, IASW (shame that's not open for her trip), POTC, Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, SSE, etc. She would have gone on anything, but my 4 year old son was scared of all of the the 3-D movies, to the point of SCREAMING, except for Philharmagic, but that took until half of it was done (although he did go on The Tower of Terror and Space Mountain, go figure...) You can suggest all of your listed rides (including POTC) but it will depend on time of day, how well they slept the night before, etc. Also, tell her to plan on spending lots of time in Micky's Toontown and Fantasyland. The parades will probably also thrill the kids more than anything else.

Other rides I suggest are Spaceship Earth, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and The Living Seas.

Hope she has lots of fun and takes lots of pictures. The kids will love to look at them when they get home.

One more suggestion - have her make a special memory book of pictures for each of the kids after the trip, that they can hold without fear of destroying. Buy a little 4X6 album and fill it with pictures of their trip. My kids have albums like this and they pull them out all the time.

 

[shoppingnut]

It depends on the child. When we took my nephew at 3, the Snow White ride he was terrified of because of the witch, but yet we went on Pirates and he loved it. Don't forget the Tiki Room, I love that show and, besides, it will give grandma a chance to sit and be cool.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

A very important thing to consider with toddlers is that for a 2-year old, EVERYTHING is new.

They will become fixated on something that an adult will pass by.

Next time any of you go, watch the kids at the sparkly sidewalk in Epcot. Kids will easily and happily spend 30 minutes there. Most of the time--too often, in fact--parents will yank them away long before they are ready. To me, this is a classic example of a time when you need to slow down.

The jumping fountains at the Imagination pavilion have the same effect.

Until you get a child in them, it is hard to predict how they will react to a dark ride--Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Pirates, etc. Same with the movies.

I am not a big fireworks fan (sorry about that), and I don't think I would take kids that young. It is waaaaay too late for them, even with a nap, some kids hate the noise (mine did), and the crowds after the fireworks negate all of the pleasure you get from the show. (Just my opinion. I know that most of you disagree. But I have seen far too many adults carrying lifeless toddlers out of the parks. I can assure you that those parents are NOT having fun)

I wouldn't even attempt Fantasmic--too long of a wait, and the show can be scary.

Kidcot is a lifesaver in World Showcase. It gives kids a chance to sit down and rest a little, and they love doing the crafts. The kidcot CMs are just wonderful.

 

[Mouse's Magic]

Thanks everyone for the help. I also edited my original post to make it unserstandable lol. I would have done it earlier but I had class. I am also going to ask the secretary how tall the kids are so I can get a better feel for height restrictions. I think I will make a list with all of the rides listed above but for the one's that could cause a problem I will put a side note of why a proplem could occur (Dark, witches, etc..). Ill update you with the info on their heights. Thanks again!

 

[Mouse's Magic]

I've been reading these boards for 2 years, I figured this is actually a topic I can speak from experience.

That age can be tough because they can be scared of things you won't expect. Last year at this time, I was with my nephew (a few months shy of 3 at the time). He's a bit scared of a lot of things, most notably the dark.

He got very scared for a minute on TTA when were in the space mountain area and again while passing by buzz. However, he loved Goofy's Barnstormer. My brother-in-law and I took him through the line, expecting him to backout and change his mind. It wasn't until we actually started moving that I actually believed he was going to ride. In fact, because it was a weekday in January, we all rode 8 straight times (sometimes without even having to get off).

Other suggestions of what he really enjoyed at MK include Dumbo, Aladdin, tomorrowland speedway (he steered for his dad), and Buzz. Between those 5 rides, he had the best time ever.

Thanks for your first post and Welcome! Be aware, posting because addictive.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I would have to agree with your list if it was

Don't miss

and check out 1st or think about what kind of kid you have before riding.

My kids love Tea cups and the speedway.

Don't forget TTA, kids love TTA (and so do I.)

The 3 year old might be able to do goffys barn stromer.

I think hints on how to do it with small kids is more important then rides.

Kids like to just hang out and play some too.

Don't miss Tom Sayer Island.

Cover every part of the child in suncreen and bring water bottles.

for the 2 year old (and even 3 year old) don't potty train before going if are are thinking abou it. Much better for the kid to be fully trained, or not at all. Too hard inbetween. If potty trained bring some post it notes and cover the electric eye so it doesn't flush while the kid is on it.

Bring your own stroller and rain cover.

Bring a soft cooler, juice and water with you in the parks.

Get the kids a toy to play with at the parks (like one of the spinning toys or light up ones.) A small flash light or lighed toy can help in dark rides.

Start of on eaiser rides and work your way up. My friend went on HM as like their 3rd ride and the kid won't do any the rest of the day. Some kids can do HM fine, just start them off easy and see how they do.

Naps, Naps and more Naps.

I have more but I can't think of it at the moment.

 

[dizneeboy]

I've been to the World with both of my nephews when they were those ages. They both seemed to have a problem with ITTBAB around the 2-3 age range. Everything else they loved. Not sure if her children love water, but both my nephews are waterbabies and an afternoon nap and pool time at the hotel really made them happy and breaking up a long day at the parks allowed them to enjoy it more I think.

 

[GenerationX]

At that age, my youngest son's favorite attractions were the playgrounds - Tom Sawyer's Island, Honey I Shrunk the Playground, The Boneyard, and The Viking Ship. There were several others he really enjoyed (Pooh, Buzz), but the playgrounds were at the top of his list.