Trying to help a kiddo and their parents.

Kramerica

Kramerica

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So my best friends have recently decided that it's time to take their kid, (about 2 now, will be nearly 3 at the time of the trip) to Disneyland. Knowing that I have a Disney obsession to an unhealthy level, flying down to Disneyland from Washington state around once a month, want me to accompany them. To cut things short, I want advice on how to make the trip best for them and the kiddo. We're all staying at Paradise Pier, staying at the second most least crowded week of the year. I've set them up for the most ideal scenario there is. But those of you with kids. Help me out. I want to make this a most perfectly memorable trip for primarily the kid, who will remain nameless, and the two of them. Do you have any advice as far as this goes?
 
RandomPrincess

RandomPrincess

Keep Moving Forward
Take it slow. Do not try to go theme park commando.

Of course all this depends on the child's personality. My daughter was more apprehensive about scary things. My son loves scary things! My daughter could skip some sleep, my son needs extra sleep. So general advice.

Get up at the kid normal wake up time and put him down at his normal bed time if possible. If they will nap in a stroller great! If not I highly recommend going back to the room for a nap for the kid. I'm not sure how many days you will be in the park if it's only one or two, you could stretch the sleeping advice. But of the course of the a week you will pay the price of a kid not getting enough rest.

The parks can be very overwhelming for a child. Everything is bright, loud and big! My daughter hated load noises so we got her some Pelter Earmuffs to wear on rides and for the fireworks. My son didn't care.

Have a basic plan of what rides you think the child will like. When they are little a lot of kids are scared of rides they can't see what will happen. My daughter was always nervous for the dark rides before she got on because she didn't know what was going to happen. But outdoor things were much more comfortable for her. I recommend starting with things the least "scary" Most of the dark rides can be scary and overwhelming to some kids. Do Tea cups, Carousel, Small World type things first. Especially if they haven't been to a theme park before. Putting them on Snow White or Pinocchio first thing and you could have a problem.

We showed our kids vacation planning videos to take some of the mystery out of the scarier rides. Pirates, Haunted Mansion etc. I talked a lot about the silly ghosts and pirates. If the grown ups think things are fun and silly their kid if less likely to be scared. My kids have never had a problem at Halloween with the spookier decorations etc. So they were okay of theses ride.

Characters - some kids love them, some kids hate them. My kids were mostly okay with princesses because they were pretty girls is sparkly dresses and they look like people. My son at 4 is still nervous around Mickey and other fur characters. He literally burst into terrified tears at 3 when he saw how tall Captain America was. After spending 20 minutes in line jumping around super excited to meet him.
 
CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
ForeverAnna said:
Well, we're talking about an almost 3 year old here. And sometimes kids will be fine with a ride or experience one year and scared of it the next.
Click to expand...
For my daughter it was meet-and-greets. She LOVED the characters at six months old, then she was absolutely terrified of them at fourteen months. We'll be going back at nineteen months so we'll see how that goes.
 

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