just back, after trip with a 13 month old and 17 month old, long trip report!!!!

[mickerbaby]

Traveled to WDW with dd 13 months old, sil with her son 17 months old and mil. Over all it was a great trip but a bit more work since our husbands did not come.
We stayed at ASMu and here's what we did (tried to keep the trip low key so the babies wouldn't get too overwellmed):

Sat-arrive at 6pm-dinner, set up packnplay's, get things ready for next day and then bed!

Sun-Character breakfast (brunch) at Cape May's (great!) then back to hotel for naps. Spent the afternoon exploring ASMu and ASMo. Dinner at food court.
AT Character breakfast my 17 month old nephew was terrified of Goofy, screamed! But my dd was in awe!

Mon-arrive at MK at 8:30, spent entire day. Babies did really well on all rides, wide eyes the whole time! Luckily there weren't many lines at all. Lunch at Cosmic Rays, good for toddlers because of the animated show (distraction!), made lunch a bit more pleasant for adults Napped in strollers. Favorite attraction for my dd was the playground in Mickey's toon town. Also, you must check out the baby care station, it is wonderful!!!
I used my baby borjn while riding rides in Fantasy land, that way dd didn't squirm as much to get down and run around as we moved from ride to ride, also easier on my back!

Tue- Food court breakfast, shopping at downtown Disney, lunch at Rainforest Cafe. This place is full of distractions so it was great for the kids. The free crayons helped as well! My dd also enjoyed the train ride. Naps at the hotel, play at the playground, dinner at Ohua in the Polynessian. I loved this place! Also good for the kids because the meal went pretty fast and the fire was a good distraction.

Wed-food court breakfast, arrive at Epcot at 8:30. Overall I would say that Epcot was not a good choice for toddlers. My dd has just started walking and once she is out of the stroller, she does not want to be held. She wants to walk. And because just about all of the pavillions at Epcot (Future World) do not allow Strolllers it was kind of a nightmare. After letting dd run around the Health pavillion for 45 minutes while my mil watched the movies/road "body wars" (sorry can't remember the correct pavilloin name, even though I love this place!) sil and I decided to give up on visiting any other pavillions. We walked around innovations while mil visited the Living Seas.
After having lunch at the Rose and Crown (which was very kid friendly) we took the kids on the Mexico and Norway rides before they napped in their strollers. We then got to spend a bit more time checking out the rest of the worlds.
And even though Epcot is my favorite park, it was a totally different experience with a 13 monthold versus with other adults! I think that MGM would have been a much better choice!

And that's pretty much it- we came home today (Thursday) so we didn't do as much as people usually do on a trip to WDW but with toddlers you really need to go at their pace (just my experience) And with the amount of time we were able to stay at Disney, we decided to pick just two parks over 4 days, since I'm not sure the kids would have done well if they had to spend two straight days at the parks in strollers. But all kids are different, some might be perfectly happy in their strollers!!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!


Also, we rented an SUV while we were there, and it was a great decision! Trying to lug two strollers on and off the buses would have been really tough!

 

[susy]

Epcot is no picnic with teenagers, either!

We took my nece adn nephew an all they watd to so was ride TT- not my cup of tea. I do like the ride, but it's not the relax mode I like to be in at Ecpot. My 4 year old does great!!!!! I say you did great for having two toddlers with you!

 

[susy]

I just realized- I just postred a reply to you about white noise!

 

[riggins]

Hi Mickerbaby-
Thanks for the info. We are leaving tomorrow with DD who is 16 months, so it was nice to read the things your babies enjoyed. DD was 9 months on the last trip and I know that now that she's walking it will be a very different vacation! We have days planned at all 4 parks and I'm nervous about Epcot. DH really wants to spend the day there. If she gets too bored, maybe she and I will go back to MK and let DH stay at Epcot alone.

Thanks for the report!

 

[MandaMom]

Thanks for the trip report. I think you did great!!!

MandaMom

 

[pixiechick]

What did you think of ASMu? We're planning a quick and cheap trip, and would love your feedback. Glad you had a good time!

 

[mickerbaby]

I thought the ASMu was a perfect resort for our purposes. With little kids it's nice to have the ease of the food court as well as the "larger than life" decorations at the All Star resorts. The rooms were large enough for our purposes and for the money we paid ($55/night) it was a great deal! And for $55 you get a lot, for one thing, you get to stay on Disney property. The room was clean and nicely decorated but not elaborate. The grounds were emaculate and very well done. If you want to save money on the room so that you will have extra spending on other things I would totally recommend ASM. We also walked over to the ASMo and that looked like a great place as well. The pools were great. We did rent a SUV which helped a lot, if you are traveling with just adults or older kids the buses would probably be fine. But it was nice to just throw the strollers in the car and go. Toddlers aren't patient little people, so I'm glad we didn't spend time waiting for buses.

I did stay at the Beach Club for my honeymoon and that was spectacular. There is a different feel to the place, more classy. And the rooms were larger, but not by that much. When we go back in 2-3 years we will stay at the Boardwalk villa's since we will be going with more family and need the extra space. Also, the rest of my family loves the ability to walk over to Epcot for dinner each night.

But for a quick inexpensive trip I would recommend the ASM resorts 100%!!!

 

[pixiechick]

sounds like ASMu "fits the bill."

My 6 yr old is pretty good about Disney transportation, but for the first time, we'll be renting a car, so we'll have both options. Thanks!

 

[hygienejean]

I enjoyed your report. On our next trip in May we will have a 23 month old(we'll see how long he wants to stay in the stroller too!) and an 11 month old(should be interesting!).....We are going to BWV's and plan to have plenty of breaks. I'll post when we get back.