honestly I kinda regret taking our one year old (long post)

Good idea to post your experience for others! We have taken kids at 15 months, 2 years, 2.5, 3 and on up. 15 months was awful and I would never suggest taking a mobile toddler to Disney based on that experience. It was exhausting. She wanted to run everywhere.
 
Hi there.

I'm sorry your trip wasn't as magical as you would have liked. My kids are 15 and 14 now, but we brought both of them around that age (dd was 12 months and ds was 13 months)....And I will share with you:

1) My FAVORITE Disney scrapbook page is dd from that visit when she was terrified of all the Pooh characters at breakfast. She would watch them from across the way but when they got near her she would scream and cry. I titled that page 'Don't Cry For Me'. It is hilarious now looking back on it. Don't worry about PTSD - it's good character building.
2) Again with dd, her WORST MELTDOWN EVER was when she was about 2 standing in line for a bus at our resort...She had just awaken from a 2 hour nap and was well fed, but decided to throw a tantrum because I didn't have juice in the diaper bag, only water ( I NEVER carried juice in the bag so this was likely to put on a show for everyone watching)...DH and I just let her go...No shows or anything that would distract people...I'm sure the others in line thought we were terrible parents...But, here again - LOVE reminding her of this story.
3) Yes on the having to leave dark/loud rides. I remember having to do that in several...Especially Bugs Life and F! (we didn't attempt to return to F! until the kids were 6 and 7 I think). After the second day I got smart and always sat right near an exit door.
4) Agreed on eating at off times/lines causing potential meltdowns - Until they were over the age of 8 I think I packed an entire days' worth of snacks in our bag...And at any 'down' time, would feed them something - in line, etc. I found for us that this helped tremendously.
5) For ds one of his worst behaviors was also at WDW...I can't remember the specifics but he was maybe 4 or 5 and we didn't go on the exact ride he wanted so he melted down...Proceeded to have a 'time out' on a bench behind a building...I stayed close by but away from him...Many people looked his way wondering why a boy was crying on a bench by himself and I would say 'he's with me...in timeout'....

I guess the moral of the above is that if you plan to bring your child in the next handful of years -you likely will ADD to this list. Good news is that overall if you look at ALL our trips and time in the parks - my kids misbehaved and 'ruined' the time for maybe 1% of it...Likely even less than that. Even the difficult times end up being fun to look back on...And if you keep bringing him you will learn what works best for your family to make things go as smooth as possible.
 
I am sorry for what happened to you but I hope overall you had a good experience. What you might think about doing before you next trip is what a couple in my temple did with their then 12-18? month old. They semi got him used to characters by taking him to Santa and a few month later The Eater Bunny. O course I do tease them about pictures very few Jewish households see. But it worked I remember when they got back from a trip last year talking about how she reacted to the characters.
 
I don't regret taking my kids when they were toddlers but if I had to do it over I wouldn't have gone until each of them was 5 years old. It was nothing but pure exhaustion with carrying kids, lugging strollers, pushing strollers, diaper bags, etc. Stopping for this, stopping for that. Finding this to eat, he has to drink, she needs a diaper change, etc. And we didn't even do RD to close. We did maybe 6-8 hours in a park and not even everyday.
 


Good idea to post your experience for others! We have taken kids at 15 months, 2 years, 2.5, 3 and on up. 15 months was awful and I would never suggest taking a mobile toddler to Disney based on that experience. It was exhausting. She wanted to run everywhere.

Was she the type to ever stay in a stroller?
 
I don't know how we survived doing it to be honest. Now that I'm out of the baby stage it sounds so like so much work. I think you don't realize how much work it will be till it's over. Just know that every trip from here on out will be a little easier each trip.

We went away for the weekend with friends who have a 16 month old. I forgot it's like having a tiny drunk cave person to spend your day appeasing.
 
Was she the type to ever stay in a stroller?

She would stay in the stroller while I ran errands but I guess Disney was too exciting ;). She loved the characters though. She tried to chew Mickey's nose.

That said, you may have a completely different experience. You know your child best.
 
I don't know how we survived doing it to be honest. Now that I'm out of the baby stage it sounds so like so much work. I think you don't realize how much work it will be till it's over. Just know that every trip from here on out will be a little easier each trip.

We went away for the weekend with friends who have a 16 month old. I forgot it's like having a tiny drunk cave person to spend your day appeasing.

SOs family is trying to plan a beach trip. Some of his family has small kids. I have no desire to spend a week or even a weekend in a house with toddlers, infants or little people. We usually do trips with his friends who no longer have small kids. They really are like tiny drunk cave people. Lol
 
SOs family is trying to plan a beach trip. Some of his family has small kids. I have no desire to spend a week or even a weekend in a house with toddlers, infants or little people. We usually do trips with his friends who no longer have small kids. They really are like tiny drunk cave people. Lol

I feel for you! I immediately walked into the condo we rented and flipped on the gas fireplace which promptly drew the baby to want to go touch it. I didn't even realize it until my friend was like 'uhhh can we keep this off?'. Oops. Babies and fire don't mix. Not to mention the many times I walked out of the bathroom without shutting the door and toilet lid. Also oops. By the time we left everything two feet and down was covered in sticky, slobbery, hand prints.
 
13 months was the hardest age we’ve visited with. 8/9 months was amazing. Newly 2 good, almost 3 wonderful. But 13 months was so hard! My son wasn’t quite walking but very active and not happy in the stroller/being held/ in Ergo.
 
Sorry it wasn't all you'd hoped - I think that age is tough on a GOOD day, at home, without them being over-stimulated at every turn.. lol. Thanks for sharing :)
 
We had to cancel our trip that would have occurred right after my son turned one, and I think it was for the best. He’s 17 months now, and it seems like more work than fun to go to Disney right now. I think it will be better once he’s two and he can better communicate with us and we’ve had time to work on things like him holding our hands when we’re walking.

He also has an allergy/intolerance. There’s still hope he’ll outgrow it, but it’s good to know that QS is not a great option. We still bring food for him when we’re out and about because I know places aren’t going to have things like coconut or almond milk. It’s really heavy though. Not my favorite thing to lug around, especially in a place like Disney.

Thanks for sharing your experience!
 
I'm sorry it wasn't the trip you'd hoped for. It's a tough choice--every child is different, you just don't know if they're going to love or hate the rides, the characters, the stimulation, and so on. I have 4, and not one of them would sleep in a stroller. Ever. I was so jealous, watching those parents blithely pushing sleeping toddlers, and wondering where I went wrong! But, you have to work with the kids you've got, and by and large, I do love mine...most of the time.

I hope things go more your way on future trips.
 

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