taking a 1 year old...any good play areas for really little ones?

[Wendy*Darling]

We are heading down for a trip in December and will have our 14 month old with us. We've been many, many times but not with a child this age. Our middle son was 21 months on his first trip and our baby went at 3.5 months but he wasn't mobile at the time so it was a different situation. With our middle son, he was big enough to run around more confidently and things have changed quite a bit in the years since he was a little guy. This little one has just started walking and walks about 50% of the time. He is getting in to that "I want to get down and play" age and gets quite fidgety so I know we will need to plan for some play time during the day. DH and I were talking last night about that. We know that Pooh's play area will be good for him in the MK as would the playground in Toontown but I am not sure about the other parks. At Epcot there are plenty of out of the way little gardens we can walk with him in and not be in everyone's way but what about MGM and AK? From what I remember MGM just has the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground but every time we have been in there it has been WAY too crazy for a 14 month old. Same with the boneyard in AK. Are there any out of the way little areas you would recommend for letting a little one stretch their legs a bit?

Thanks!

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

double post, sorry

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

They have a fairly new play area called Pooh's Playful Spot in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, right across from the Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh attraction. I've always lots of little tykes running around it enjoying themselves, so I would imagine it is quite fun for them. It is also very safe, padded ground and all that.

There is also a specific guidebook for families with 1-5 year olds that you'll want to keep your eyes out for. You can find them at any of the parks or resorts.

 

[Coree]

DD was 14 months old when we took her last year. Yep, MK had Pooh's playground so she had a lot of fun there. It was also blazing hot so we took her into the movie theater in Exposition Hall for a while and let her run around there and cool down. At Epcot she just walked around on various walkways where it wasn't crowded. We didn't do AK. MGM didn't have anywhere in particular that was great for kids to run around so again we just found spots that weren't crowded and let her walk. She had a great time just exploring and interacting with CMs.

 

[NewfieFan]

My daughter was 14 months when we took her too! She enjoyed PPS but not when it was packed. I found at night the playground would be less crowded - so that was a good time for her to stretch her legs! I also let her walk through Mickey's & Minnie's houses in ToonTown - also when it was not crowded! The key here is finding places that do not have many people around. Too many people means little baby gets trampled! My daughter really enjoyed The Seas pavillion. We let her loose and she ran from window to window pointing at the fish etc. And again this was at a time when the pavillion was not that busy! If you can get on the trails at AK early enough in the morning they are good as well. We went on the Pangani Forest Trail first thing in the morning and it was practically empty. The trails are so beautiful and peaceful early in the a.m. I wish I could give you more advice but that's about all I can think of right now. My daughter did spend a lot of time in the stroller but she got to run around in the hotel room - we would go back in the middle of the day for a nap. She just enjoyed the sights and sounds around her!

 

[coltow]

I agree that Pooh's is much less busy after dinner. We let DS run wild for about 20 minutes before finding a parade spot. The Toontown one is mainly just a slide, but it was shaded.

AK there is a nice little fountain for kids to splash in just at the exit to Kali. DS had a great time sticking his hands in and splashing himslef and his cousin.

MGM, HISTK playgound was crazy busy and very hot when we went, we pretty much walked in, he went down 1 slide, and then we walked out. DS loves dinos so after dinner we took him over to where Gertie's Ice Cream place is. I have video of him running around so excited to see the dino's footprints and the dino eating grass....ahhhh the little things.

EPCOT does have some very nice spots. I know there's a garden in UK across from Rose & Crown. There's also trains & tracks set up to watch in Germany that DS watched for awhile.

How we handled it was we tried to let him walk in between attractions that were next to each other, which is easiest at MK. When we had to go a distance we put him in the stroller. We found this helped him from getting too tired and too fussy being in the stroller all the time.

 

[mouselvrmom]

You've got some pretty good advice so far. I just wanted to add that the resorts have nice playgrounds too for little ones and they are usually less crowded than the parks. I don't know if you are planning on staying on site or not, but if you do it might be a nice mid day break to head to your resort or check out a different one and just let the little one walk around and explore.

 

[Fievel]

My major advice is make sure you give any young one time to run. We'd always stop at Pooh's spot, or in an open area to let my daughter run for 10-15 minutes. Being trapped in a stroller all day would get to anyone.

Also, most of the resorts have great kiddie pools. Pop century has 2 zero depth entry pools that either have no standing water, or less than 6 inches, so a little one can play while you don't have to be more than ankle deep.

Make sure you share your dole whips and frozen lemonades with them also. My daughter learned in a hurry where those two stands were in the MK.