Any tips for Disney with a toddler?

[mrsmew]

We're planning a weekend at Disney in a couple weeks, and I know there must be some Disney aficionados on this board, so...any tips? Neither H nor I have been to Disney in probably 15 years (if memory serves, last time we went we were newly-dating 16-year-olds who totally got busted for making out on the Haunted Mansion   ), and we have never been with DD. She's about 22 months old now.

Our plan is to drive down on a Thursday, spend Thursday afternoon at Sea World (we have free passes), then hit up Magic Kingdom on Friday, Animal Kingdom on Saturday and probably back to MK on Sunday, but we're flexible with the weekend days. Are those the two best Disney Parks for a little one? Any other recs? Any must-see stuff? Stuff we can skip? Tips? Warnings? Anything? We're not overly concerned with character meet-and-greets, especially not if they mean long lines...DD does know who Mickey, Minnie and Donald are, and has a general idea of "princess" (pretty much any woman in a long dress, frankly), but that's about it. Oh, she does know Pooh & Co and we do have lunch reservations at the place where you can meet them, but that's as far as we've gotten.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

[kimandross]

Crystal Palace is great! She'll get serious time with the Pooh characters there, plus the food is great. I don't believe any park is better for toddlers over another, they all have their advantages. But since AK closes earlier, you can get back and rest up for the next day. Plus there are tons of animals to see and they have some fun shows, if you think she can sit through that. My advice would be take things slowly, don't worry about seeing everything, because you probably won't be able. There are Fast Passes available for characters now, at least I think there still are. The new Fast Pass Plus system is in place and I haven't been since its implementation. But take advantage of Fast Pass, that will make things easier for you. If she likes Pooh, make sure to hit the Pooh ride and they have a cute little play area there for kids. Also, the new Fantasyland stuff is pretty awesome, they have a water play area, so bring her suit or clothes you don't mind getting wet if its warm enough.

I'll text Kate and tell her to come add her opinion, she was just there for Brendan's 1st birthday. I will probably come add more as I think of it. I haven't been in a while.

[mskateb]

Oh geez, I could write a book.

I'll start with Fast Pass Plus. I'm sure you've been doing research, so all I can add is my own experience. First, all paper fast passes are gone. They left on the 23rd. We were there on the 24th and the 25th, so definitely during the learning experience portion of the transition, but I thought it was really easy and really handy. I'm a fan, so far. Before we left, we all picked one "must do" thing. That really helped, especially with Fast Pass Plus. We made our choices based around those, and then anything else we did on top of it was just icing. I saw people with "magic bands," and I think those might be people who stay on property? Not sure. We renewed our passes, so we used got the old style credit card passes. Once inside the park, we went first to the FP kiosk (there are several, but at MK, we went to the one in the Town Hall Theater). There are lots of people there helping to make your fast pass choices, you pick the three you want, work out the variety of time options, and it gets loaded into your pass and off you go. Obviously, if you have some clue what you want and you pick things that are worth using a FP for, you're going to get the most out of this process. I think some people don't like that you only get three, but that was more then enough for us. In fact, both times we used it, we didn't even use our third.

Ok, next, the character thing. Every kid is different, and I will love to hear what Ellie thinks, but Lily has been a character fanatic since 18 months. We took her then, and it was very first encounter of any kind (book, movie, pictures, ANYTHING) with a princess, and she was ENTRANCED. It was insane. She has been a princess junkie ever since, lol. She still loves to visit any character she can. Character lines tend not to be too terrible, with the exception of whichever princess is brand new. Right now, the Frozen princesses have the 2-hour wait. Mickey, etc., waits tend to be muuuchh shorter, in my experience. It was crowded as hell on Saturday at MK, but the wait at Mickey, etc., was something like 20 minutes.

Rides. At that age (and still, really), Lily really loved the Dumbo ride and all of its variations. (The Magic Carpets, and the Dino whatever in AK). The teacup ride has been a fave since that first visit. Honestly, listening to her laugh as we spin around is one of the best experiences of my life. I can't get enough of it. There are several "boat ride" type things, but make sure you only do these if you're not dealing with a fear of the dark.

I actually do like Animal Kingdom, but you might want to consider Epcot, too. I know a lot of people think it's not fun for little kids, but Quinn and Lily disagree. There are a lot of hands-on interactive things that are fun for toddlers, and a nice break from lines and weather. If you want to hear more about this, I'll babble.

I'm sure I have more. Let me know if there's something you want to know more about. I'm not pimping my blog because it's just not that kind of blog (it's very sheltered), but I do have lots of pictures there from our Disney trips. Here are a few:

Disney with Lily at 18 months old.

Part 2 of that trip.

Character greetings at about 2.5

Lily will hate me for this one.

There are more, but that's enough attention-whoring for one day, I think.

I can't wait to see your blog showing your trip :-)

[mrsmew]

Thank you so much, ladies!!! This is so helpful!!!

Kate, I read through all your blogs. I think I remember that story about Lily and the "poopy" incident when you first posted!!! (Yes, I'm a blog stalker.) I die. So cute.

I was also reading your blog about Brendan's first haircut recently with interest. Ellie still has very minimal hair to speak of, but I've been considering getting it trimmed in the hopes that will help it grow better/faster (is that an old wives' tale?). So we were considering a Disney cut but I'm not sure.

We'll definitely try to meet Mickey and at least a couple princesses...we have an acquaintance who works as a princess on the weekends so we'll at least try to see her (I can't remember which one she is though!). Then we'll play it by ear. We saw Elmo at Busch Gardens in December and Ellie FLIPPED OUT - in a good way. She totally just sat herself on his lap and would have stayed there for days. But then again, Elmo is her crack. Santa, on the other hand, was a disaster, despite loving Santa otherwise. So I'm interested to see how we do with characters and princesses.

I'd love it if you ladies could share more about Epcot with a toddler. My H and I were very interested in Epcot but everyone was saying it's no good for little ones so we cut it. Should we revisit that idea?

Also, really, how IS Animal Kingdom? We have annual passes to Busch Gardens...is it better than that (animal-wise), or should we save our Disney passes for Epcot or something and just hit up Busch or a zoo some other time? Ellie loves animals so we thought it might be nice, but if we could have a similar experience at Busch/zoo, then I'd rather see another park, and I'm not sure I've EVER been to Epcot! We have the three-day single park passes (one park per day)...we're planning on 2 days at MK and one at AK (or Epcot?). If you'd recommend splitting our time another way, please let me know!

[lauren9317]

That is so funny about your make out adventure at the haunted mansion

[kimandross]

I can't compare AK to Busch Gardens, as I've never been to Busch Gardens. There are a lot of great shows at AK (Nemo and Lion King, plus a bird show I know a lot of people like), so you could maybe save that one until she's older. I think Epcot is great for kids. They have the Kidcot stuff back in the countries, a little station where they can color and get a stamp from that country. Plus they have the Donald Duck boat ride!! That's Quinn's favorite, even now. Its a silly little boat ride in Mexico. There is always a lot to see and do at Epcot, great restaurants, and the Living Seas/Nemo exhibit is always a hit with kids. They also put up really awesome play areas during Flower and Garden show, but that's not until March.

[lauren9317]

I can't wait till my kids are old enough to go to all these fun places. I haven't been to magic kingdom since my grad night in 2000! Never been to AK. I love Epcot! How old were everyone's kids when they first went to Disney?

[kimandross]

Quinn went the first time on his 2nd birthday. Hudson went to Epcot when he was 2 months and he'll be going to MK for Quinn's birthday, so he'll be 6.5 months. I'm looking for ways to make it special for him since he'll have gone so many times without remembering. Plus we'll never go on his birthday. I'm definitely doing the haircut when he's big enough.

[mskateb]

Kim, shameful. Go to Busch Gardens! Sheesh.

Lauren, Khan and I love to go to theme parks, so we started taking Lily right away, at least to Busch Gardens. She has always loved the train (and still does), and frankly, it's just a nice way to get out of the house and go do something. Love Disney though I do, BG is about 1,000x easier.

I think BG is better than AK, though it is a bit of apples and oranges because AK has all the Disney elements, characters, parade, and Disney shows. If you were only comparing one zoo to the other, BG wins hands down. I wouldn't say that I dislike AK, but it's not my favorite, either. I think it's just physically small, and so it always feels small and crowded. I don't know.

I really like Epcot. There's something about that park that feels easier and more relaxed to me than the other Disney parks, though that's probably in my head. And there is a ton to do for little ones, as Kim already mentioned. Lily also loves the Donald Duck boat ride in Mexico, and she really enjoyed the Living with the Land boat ride, too. Lily and Khan love to watch the Chinese Acrobat show, and of course, the fireworks. It's kind of fun to see some of the characters in the world showcase too, like sometimes Beast, or Belle in her "I'm singing about books" dress rather than in the giant princess garb. Plus the best food and drink anywhere in Disney.

[mrsmew]

Okay, I think you guys have me convinced that Epcot is the way to go over AK. Like I said, Ellie loves the animals but we go to BG a billion times a year and we're going to be buying a zoo membership locally, so, we don't really need animals. And I really want to see Epcot more, anyway!

Thanks again so much for all the help!

Oh, one more question - I had a friend suggest getting to MK prior to opening so we can see the little song and dance bit that goes on to open the park. Does Epcot do something similar?

Oh wait, and another - specific food recs? I think we'll be eating at Downtown Disney on Thursday night for dinner, then dinner at MK on Friday and dinner at Epcot on Saturday. That's it, plus any snacky stuff we need during the day (planning on just doing breakfast/lunch at the hotel). Anything we MUST eat?

[kimandross]

I don't think Epcot does a rope drop like MK, but I don't usually get there that early. I've never seen rope drop actually, add that to my Disney bucket list.

Now food is something I could talk about for days. Especially at Epcot. If you guys like it, you have to make a trip back down for Food and Wine Festival, which runs September-November. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. Anyway, depending on how nice you want to go, or what you like, there are so many wonderful options at Epcot. The Chefs de France is very good, as is the Hacienda de San Angel, which is NOT the restaurant in the Mexico building, but across the street. Fabulous Mexican food. The new pizza place in Italy is great, and I've heard good things about the main Italy restaurant, but I haven't been there since its been redone. They also just redid the restaurants in Morocco, so that's something fun and new too. The only restaurant I've eaten at there that I didn't really like was the Rose & Crown in UK. Not bad, just not great.

I have to run right now, but I may jump back on as I think of more things.

[sara76]

We've been to Epcot at least a dozen times with Amelia already before her 2nd birthday. H's grandma is a retired cast member and she gets us in at the Epcot entrance. Sometimes we go over to Magic Kingdom too and ride Dumbo and catch a parade, and during the holidays always to Hollywood Studios, but Epcot is our fav. The Mexican place Kim suggested is exactly what I was going to say. We sat at a window table by the water for dinner last time and had front row seats for the fireworks. And the food was great. And the margarita.... You'll be pregnant but this was my first drink after Ben (it was his 1 month birthday). I had been wanting a margarita my whole pregnancy and this one was the best ever. H had some kind of spicy one and mine was classic. Yum! I can't wait to go back!

[babybchbum]

If you feel like bouncing around for food in down town portobello has yummy roasted garlic and bread but earl of sandwich is good and decent prices for Disney food

[mskateb]

I really like the Mexican places, too, but I haven't had anything at Epcot that wasn't delicious. One of the French places has the BEST mac and cheese. Seriously. I'm pretty sure they do have some kind of rope drop event at Epcot, though it was yeeearrrrs ago that I was there that early.

And at MK, you HAVE to get a Dole Whip. Actually, i'm pretty sure it's the float. Pineapple juice with the pineapple dole whip ice-cream-like stuff. In Adventureland by the big tree house whatever it's called. Soooo good.

[mrsmew]

I just wanted to say thanks again, everyone! We had an AMAZING trip - so fun, we extended and stayed an extra day. We took about a bajillion pictures I have to sort through, but unfortunately we all came down with colds immediately upon return so we're kind of in survival mode for the moment.

The biggest success of the weekend: lunch with Pooh & Friends at Crystal Palace. Ellie went NUTS. Hugged everybody, didn't want to let them go. She was definitely a bigger fan of the costumed characters than the "real people" (princesses), although she did really well with everyone.

Oh, and probably my favorite moment of all: when we saw the rope drop festivities at MK on our first day, Ellie literally cried her very first tears of joy when Mickey arrived on the train. She has never been so (positively) emotional about something! But she was beside herself. The pic below was her face when she saw him. The whole trip was worth it right then, before we even made it into the park!

[amellis2]

Feb 1, 2014 21:10:22 GMT -5 mskateb said:

I really like the Mexican places, too, but I haven't had anything at Epcot that wasn't delicious. One of the French places has the BEST mac and cheese. Seriously. I'm pretty sure they do have some kind of rope drop event at Epcot, though it was yeeearrrrs ago that I was there that early.

And at MK, you HAVE to get a Dole Whip. Actually, i'm pretty sure it's the float. Pineapple juice with the pineapple dole whip ice-cream-like stuff. In Adventureland by the big tree house whatever it's called. Soooo good.

That dole whip joint is where I become selectively vegan.  Heeaaavvveeennnn.