Lots of questions about bringing a 2 year old

[suesings]

Hi,
We are taking our 22 month old during President's Week (February 17-25). Staying at the Dolphin. Looking for any advice for "not to miss" items to add to our list:

- What rides in MK, Epcot, AK, MGM are good for 2 year olds (& which ones are "not to miss")

- What time does Fantasmic show during February? Would this be appropriate for a 2 year old?

- Babysitting - should we arrange this through the Concierge at the Dolphin after we arrive??

- I've booked Cinderella's Castle breakfast but are there any other "not to miss" Character meals?

- I read on here somewhere about photos taken by Disney by the Castle? Is this true, do we need to book appointment in advance?

- Any hints of things to do at the parks with a two year old (i.e. don't miss this view, boat, certain fireworks, certain parade, play area, restaurants, etc.?

- We would like to get a babysitter one night and go out to dinner with just me and dh. What restaurants would you recommend if we only have one night (which ones are fun, great food, atmosphere, good area, etc.)

- How long does it take to walk from the Dolphin to Epcot or MGM?

- Anything you can think of I should book or prepare for now before we leave? I read on these boards about shipping a box of goodies (our daughter drinks soy milk, etc.) to the hotel in advance, are hotels allowing this now after Sept. 11th.

Thanks so much!! We are very excited about this trip and don't want to miss a thing.

 

[CatOne]

Okay, I know you will get lots of replies to your questions but I am taking a shot at them:

MK: Dumbo
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan's Flight
Cinderella's Carrousel
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Our 2 year old also loved Mickey and Minnie's house at Toontown Fair and she rode the Mad Tea Party but I know those spinning cups are not good for some little ones.

MGM: Playhouse Disney Live
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Jim Henson's Muppet Vision

AK: Kilimanjaro Safari's
Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends (show)
Festival of the Lion King (show...this one is pretty loud)
The Boneyard was a great place for her to play and run and take a little break

Epcot: The Living Seas
Food Rocks (show)

We did not spend much time at all in Epcot so I don't have a lot of advice here.

As for character meals Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary hotel is GREAT! and we really enjoyed 1900 Park Fair

Babysitting services are not provided in the clubs until the children are 4 so you would want to have and in-room sitter. Both kindercare and The Fairy Godmothers provide this service for WDW guests. Yes, you will want to book your sitter in advance. I have the numbers to both of these if you want to call and check them out yourself, and I am sure guest services at your hotel can help you. There are many people on here who can give you recommendations for one of these, maybe even a name of a specific person.

You didn't mention what kind of food you are looking for but here is what I suggest, Artist Point is wonderful and I feel like this is really a place adults can get away and enjoy. Citrico's is another and you might even want to consider Cinderella's castle. We have not dined there at night but I understand it is romantic and if you time it right with a window table you can see the fireworks, if they have them that night;-) You can check out menus right here on the main page of this site or try www.wdwig.com. That is another great site that is very informative.

I don't know about photos by Cinderella's castle except the people who offer to take your photos in the parks and you are able to view them at the end of the day at the photo place beside Tony's Town Square Restaurant. We had one taken in the middle of Main Street and one further back by the castle. The one back by the castle was great. These people are just out there with cameras and they will approach you or once we asked them and they happily obliged.

I don't know the exact distance to Epcot from the Dolphin but I know the Unofficial Guide says it is a "short walk". And to MGM it is recommended to take the boat. Others might know a much quicker route.

There are great tips on these boards, ask lots of questions often and you will gain a lot of knowledge before you ever leave home.

I highly recommend getting one of the guidebooks before you go also. I like both The Passporter and the Unofficial Guide. The latter of the two is a bit on the cynical side and you should take it with a grain of salt but it is still informative. Have a great time!! Hope this has been a bit of help!


CatOne

 

[jwfla422]

Walking from the Dolphin (once you get out of the hotel) to EPCOT would normally take about 10-15 minutes as long as your 22 mth old likes to sit in the stroller. MGM will take a little longer from there, about 20 minutes or so. You may want to think about taking a boat back because you will probably be tired from all the walking you'll be doing to the park(s) and in the park(s).

When we stayed at the Swan (which is the same boat dock as the Dolphin), we never waited more than 10 minutes for a boat. We used to walk to EPCOT, but since our now 3 1/2 yr old dd likes to walk at first we're better off taking the boat. If you can sit outside (in the back) it makes for a nice ride (it's a little noisey but fun).

If your 22 mth old is not afraid of the characters you'll definitely want see Mickey, Minnie and friends at Toontown in MK. The "friends" are in the big tent. My dd now enjoys that very much. There's also a playground for them to run off some of that energy in Toontown.

Our strategy with MK is when we first get there we get right on the train at Main Street at the front entrance and take it back to Toontown before it gets too crowded to see the characters. Then we go to Fantasyland, grab a Fastpass to Winnie the Pooh, go to Small World while we wait for our time and try to do some of the other rides mentioned above. My dd is more into the shows right now than the rides.

 

[suesings]

Dear CatOne & jwfla422 - I have got to say that I am truly amazed and grateful for the fabulous information. I am creating a list by Park! A couple questions, Artist Point & Citrico's; where are these restaurants (is there a list that I can find them on?). Also, are fireworks only displayed on certain nights (per CatOne's comment)? Which rides provide FastPass (is there a list somewhere?).

Thank you for the GREAT advice!!

 

[CatOne]

suesings..okay, here are some more shots

Fastpass..according to disney.com at this time:

MK: Splash Mtn.
Space Mtn.
Big Thunder Mtn.
Jungle Cruise
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan's Flight
Buzz Lightyear ride

AK: Dinosaur
Kilimanjaro Safari's
Kali River Rapids
It's Tough To Be a Bug

Epcot: Honey, I Shrunk The Audience
Test Track
Living With the Land
Maelstrom

MGM: Rock'n Roller Coaster
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Jim Henson's Muppet Vision 3D
Star Tours
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
Who Wants to be a Millionaire-Play It!

Citrico's is located in the main building of the Grand Floridian hotel and Artist Point is in the Wilderness Lodge. You can find the menus for both on www.wdwig.com, under, what's new and updates, and look under, menus around the world. This will give you all the restaurants and you can check them out to see what you might like, then I would ask on the restaurant board for opinions. On our first trip the people on these boards really helped guide us in the right direction. There were a couple of restaurants that sounded great but by unpopular opinion on the board we discovered they were not all they were cracked up to be

The fireworks and parades are running every night you are there according to www.disney.com the official disney ... time and ask lots of questions!! CatOne

 

[disney0928]

If possible, try to do the other parks before MK. Once we got DS, age 3, in there, we couldn't get him out! He loved all the other parks, but every day, back to the same whine, "Where's Dumbo? When can we go back on the teacups? I want the carousel!" If it wasn' that, he was looking for Bear and Luna!

 

[MouseLover]

We took our DD at age 2.5yo to MK and Epcot. Here is what she enjoyed:

Epcot: The Living Seas, water fountain, Spaceship Earth
She was frightened by Honey I shrunk... until I took off her 3-D glasses. We were slow moving that day. She looked wide-eyed at everything. She was scared of Illuminations.

Magic Kingdom:
She loved everything at Fantasyland. She enjoyed the Walt Disney Railroad, Haunted mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Tiki Birds. She loved the MSEP and meeting characters. The only character she seemed a little afraid of was Goofy, but she warmed up to him some. The first character she met was Alice (and had to have an Alice costume made when we returned home), and she talked about the Teacups forever. The look on her face with the characters and watching MSEP was absolutely awesome. She was a little scared of the fireworks.

We went to the character breakfast at O'hana which had Minnie, Chip, Dale, & Goofy at the time, and she loved it. I highly recommend a character meal -- I would suggest a Pooh & friends meal for a 2-year-old.

We went back last year and also went to AK & MGM, and I think the Voyage of Mermaid, Bear in Big Blue House (now has changed some), and Beauty and Beast show would all be fine for a 2yo. She probably would enjoy the Safari at AK.

Have fun & take lots of pictures.

 

[NeilPlumridge]

We'll be staying at the Dolphin for the last 2 weeks of May and bringing our 2 1/2 year old too. Thanks for all the posts, very interesting. Just as a point of note though, there have been mentions of the "unofficial Guide". I picked up a copy in Baltimore last November and it does seem to be VERY negative about just about everything. It's a vacation, enjoy yourselves. I certainly intend to.

Any more info on the Dolphin would be greatly appreciated.inkbounc

 

[suesings]

Okay, you got me. What is MSEP?

 

[disney0928]

It stands for Main Street Electrical Parade. It si the night time parade through the Magic Kingdom. There is a different version, for better or worse, now called Spectro Magic. The music can be a little loud, and some of the characters can be frightening with the lower lighting levels. It will really depend on how your own child deals with dark situations. Both MSEP and Spectro are "not-to-be-missed"!

Personally I liked MSEP better, but the first parade my DH & I saw together in WDW was Spectro, so that holds a special place in my heart too.

 

[LKS]

My 2 year old loved the Energy pavilion because he liked dinosaurs, and he really loved the "street" performers at Epcot. In Mexico he danced with the dancers. One took him by the hand and he led all the kids. He watched the chinese acrobats and the living statue in Paris for a long time. At restaurant Akershus, he decorated a troll cookie with food coloring "paint" and that was also a Big, big hit. Oh, and he played with legos in the store there too. Remember that all of the buffets will be free for him too.

 

[jiminyfan]

we have a 2 1/2 year old who was raised in amusement parks and has been going to WDW since he was 6 months old, so he might not be a normal child to compare too, but here I go:

MK: DUMBO, Pooh,Peter Pan, Magic Carpets, Jungleland Cruise, the Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz and the Wedway People mover (do not remember its new name) were his favorites the last trip. Toontown was liked as he loves any Character.. Spectromagic and Fantasy in the Sky (he abolustely loves any firework and parade)

AK: Safari, Bug (got scared to death at 15 months wanted to go again and again at 27 months), loved both Lion King and Tarzan shows.

MGM: Playhousae Disney (if your child watches the Disney channel it is a not to be missed), Muppets 3D and Fantasmic

Epcot - "BIG BALL" (spaceship earth), Universer of Energy (says Dinos scare him, but always asks to go see them), Living Seas (thrill lasts about 15 minutes), Norway and Mexico, the water fountain that splashes (he could have stayed there for hours), transportation boats at World showcase, Illuminations and Tapestry parade

His other favorite rides are the BUS, MONORAIL and BIG BOAT rides - yes, the transportation system. WE never use a car - he thinks that these are part of Disney rides *why confuse him - he likes them so we go for rides all the time)

Never used childcare, usually have a family member with us or stay with him - sorry

Character meals - we love Crystal Palace good selection and Pooh characters are attentive

inkbounc

We too our own photo in front of the castle - only once saw an OFFICIAL photographer there.

AS I said before each child is deifferent. If you post or send me through PM - some of your child's likes/dislikes - I cn give better answer of what to do or no do. My niece's children are 5 and 8 - the 5 yr old cannot (will not) do one third of the things my 2 yr old loves.

Out not to miss stuff are:
Fantasmic (MGM)
Tapestry Parade (EPCOT)
Iluuminations (EPCOT)
Playhouse Disney (MGM)
Star Parade (MGM)
Spectromagic (MK)
BUZZ, POOH and Pirates (MK)

Adult meal - Artist Point (quieter than most Great food, very good portions), Narcoosee's (love the place, little noisy but very good food - can see MK fireworks if you get the right seat), Chef's deFrance (another good food place), Bistro (upstairs from Chef's time it right ands watch Illuminations from your table), California Grille (great location/view, ecletic menu), Yachtman's Steak house (another nice meal) - once again depends on your likes - these are our favorites

Walk from S&D and Epcot is not bad at all 20 minutes with a child. MGM is longer but very nice to do - 40-45 minutes is our average (gotta stop and watch ducks <G>)


We also have a #! rule for travelling and visiting Disney with a toddler/child - Let them set the pace and choose what they would like to do as much as possible. WE are very fortunate to be WDW regulars, so we are not in a rish to see everything every time we visit WDW, so we let him set the pace. I would suggest that you make suggestions, but remembver what thrills you may be a TOTAL bore to him/her. Some of our favorite times is watching him discover Diseny and its MAGIC. I had become dis-enchanted with WDW on my last trip before the child, now I look forward to every trip with more enthusiam than ever. Watching a child explore a new world is fantastic, there are so many little things that we overlook for main attractions that they seem to fine. Try to take at least one day to let him/her explore the world at their pace. Let him walk around and discover anything and everything that is around. Keep a camera and/or video camera handy at all times - special photos appear out of nowhere at WDW.

Enjoy your trip, just ask anything else you would like to know. I just love to talk about WDW with children.

Appreciate youth and innocence inkbounc

 

[suesings]

jiminyfan, thank you so much for your fabulous response. I am going to print it and add to my "growing list"
Our daughter doesn't seem to get scared at anything yet. (but we haven't taken her to a show with loud fireworks, so I guess we will see).
We have a breakfast PS at Cinderella's Castle on the day we have planned for MK. Do you think we should try for a lunch PS at Crystal Palace too? Is there a possibility of Character overload
I've read other posts that their toddlers kept asking for Dumbo, Cinderella on the following days at Epcot, AK, MGM so I was thinking of planning maybe the 1st and last day at MK, what do you think?
Has anyone been to DisneyQuest? It looks pretty cool from what I've read online. I am assuming this is not appropriate to bring a toddler so I was thinking of maybe getting an inroom sitter (our toddler is asleep by 8:00 every night) so they could just watch her sleep and we could grab dinner and maybe spend some time at Disney Quest.
Or is it more fun to grab dinner and go to Pleasure Island?? Anyone?

Thanks for all the great help!! This is going to be a great trip.
Sue