Over 15 visits, but first time with < 3 yr olds

[MaxsDad]

We are taking our grandsons next month. Trip was going to be in June, but in the last week had to be moved up to next month! I am a planner, and am in a bit of a scramble. One of the areas I am concerned with involves our in experience taking small children (2 and 1.5). I have not done child swap, not taken strollers, the whole nine yards.

So in essence, I am just asking for any and all advice, tips, input.

 

[Master Yoda]

The best piece of advice I can give you is to realize that you will be on their schedule, not yours. This is often a hard thing to take when you are use to planning everything and keeping a schedule. You need to take out time for naps, meals and just plain old sitting around watching the kids run around one of the many playgrounds in WDW.

If you try to go commando mode, the kids will eventually snap and take everyone with them.

 

[Gabe1]

I'd take a couple of cheap umbrella strollers. That is a lot of walking for 3 year olds. We had a lot of fun every year bringing our kids at that age and younger. We did things that they wanted to do. We had them take turns picking from things in the area. Giving little ones choices even if it is prepackaged where you know what the outcome will be puts them in good moods. Even plain or chocolate milk, cookie or cupcake, fries or apples is fun for them to have a tiny bit of freedom.

If this trip is not over a January holiday, yay for going in January not June. You'll be able to do so much more with much shorter wait times for restaurants, attractions, transportation and the tykes won't be over heated.

 

[GeekDad]

I haven't done rider swap before but may be doing it on my upcoming trip starting Friday. As for strollers make sure it is comfy enough for them to nap in but folds up easily and not too bulky if you are using disney transpiration.

If you are doing the dining plan they can eat off of what you order and they get their own drink usually.

If staying on property going back to the resort for afternoon naps is great.

 

[MaxsDad]

I posted the original quickly, thanks for the responses.

We are driving and staying on site for first 4 nights in an AKV 2BR. We are planning on bringing our own strollers. We have 2 singles, but we also have a double. I am thinking the 2 singles is smarter. The last three nights are still unsettled, as it is Marathon weekend and pickings are slim at this point. I am seriously considering calling in the cavalry for those nights, aka Kingdom Konsultants!

My wife and I are blessed in that the boys each stay with us during the day during the week. So we know their schedule, and it frankly matches our typical WDW daily MO of park/resort nap/park.

I have been 2 weeks a year for several years, so if I have to sit and miss every E ticket all week long, I can live with that as long as the kids are happy!

 

[minniemickeyfan]

First a big plus for you is that you've been many times so that will help tremendously. But most important that was already mentioned, keep their schedule. We toured for many years too (over 25 trips) with our now 17 yearold and now we have a 1 year old we've taken twice. It worked great to tour in the morning, lunch, nap, and then out for the evening. Make use of baby care centers. There's even a movie going and a play area if your little ones just need to get down and play.
For a stroller I would bring 2 if you have enough adults. It's not always easy navigating strollers there.

 

[stevehousse]

Is the older child only 2? If they r 3 then they will get FP picks with their ticket. What we did was my youngest son was use his band to schedule FP for the e tickets he wouldn't go on, and just grab his band and use it ourselves. If the kids only 2 he will still get a band but won't be able to choose FP selections. We also would utilize the baby swap a lot. Just go up to the FP attendant and ask for a child swap pass. It's basically acts as a free FP to come back a at whatever time you want so you can save it for later if u need to. Going with small kids is so much fun and I hope you and your family have a great time!

 

[DisneyDad0056]

With the young ones I would advise getting to the park early and head back to the hotel around 2pm. Relax, nap, eat, and go back to the park in the evening hours refreshed. This will help keep their energy up and avoid the worst crowds of the day. The kids will appreciate this broken-up day.