Trip In Sept 2019 with 2 year old, advice wanted

[damo]

Finding a place for the littles to just run around is very important. The Animation Building at California Adventure is a great indoor area with tons of room for them just to run. At Disneyland, the Main Street Cinema is another great place to let them run indoors.

 

[Guy in Fargo]

1. Bring a stroller.
2. Do not push it. If your child needs a break, take a break. If you don't, your day and possibly your trip will be a disaster.
a. Take a midday break
b. Play it all by ear. Disneyland is amazing place to me because of how joyful the unplanned moments are. The time we went as a family our then two and three year old loved the carosel. We rode it many, many times.
3. Get a babysitter. We've used destination sitters and couldn't have been more pleased with the exception that our then four-year-old wanted to play Sorry for the next three months.


See the trip through your child's eyes. The smiles, oohs, and ahhs are great.

Addendum to #2. remember that you brought your child. Their wellbeing trump's your desires/urges. If theyre on the verge, but you only have this one chance to ride pirates. You tell them yes let's take a break.

 

[kittyklawz]

1. Bring a stroller.
2. Do not push it. If your child needs a break, take a break. If you don't, your day and possibly your trip will be a disaster.
a. Take a midday break
b. Play it all by ear. Disneyland is amazing place to me because of how joyful the unplanned moments are. The time we went as a family our then two and three year old loved the carosel. We rode it many, many times.
3. Get a babysitter. We've used destination sitters and couldn't have been more pleased with the exception that our then four-year-old wanted to play Sorry for the next three months.


See the trip through your child's eyes. The smiles, oohs, and ahhs are great.

Addendum to #2. remember that you brought your child. Their wellbeing trump's your desires/urges. If theyre on the verge, but you only have this one chance to ride pirates. You tell them yes let's take a break.

I definitely don’t plan on doing anything that would negatively impact my child. My husbands parents and my mom are coming with us, so we have plenty of adults to help & to take him on different rides, naps, etc. we follow attachment/gentle parenting so we always follow his lead. We are going to rent an airbnb since there’s so many of us. Now my only issue is picking the dates. Based off previous years, if we go sept 22-29th we should be able to make it to one of the Halloween parties right? We have a Disney visa so I know we get to buy the tickets when they first get released in June? I just don’t want to risk waiting until May to book our Airbnb because it’s a pretty popular one that is rarely available since people book it so far ahead of time.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

I definitely don’t plan on doing anything that would negatively impact my child. My husbands parents and my mom are coming with us, so we have plenty of adults to help & to take him on different rides, naps, etc. we follow attachment/gentle parenting so we always follow his lead. We are going to rent an airbnb since there’s so many of us. Now my only issue is picking the dates. Based off previous years, if we go sept 22-29th we should be able to make it to one of the Halloween parties right? We have a Disney visa so I know we get to buy the tickets when they first get released in June? I just don’t want to risk waiting until May to book our Airbnb because it’s a pretty popular one that is rarely available since people book it so far ahead of time.

Yes, you should be able to go to the Halloween party during those dates. We went a few years ago during that week time frame and it was wonderful. The weather was warm but not horrible (well, okay, I was sweating, but I was also pregnant) and the party wasn’t terribly crowded. We had at that time a 9, 6, and 2 years old. The 6 and 2 year old ended up falling asleep in the stroller at around 8 p.m. and we were able to still have a blast with our 9 year old at the party. Our then 2 year did awesome and loved the party and woke up in time for the parade. Taking a two year old is a FUN age to take. I have some wonderful pictures and memories of taking him and we only had one very minor meltdown session in our entire 4 days there. I know things won’t be the same with our soon to be 2 year old on our next trip (special needs) but I am looking so forward to seeing DL through his eyes—it really is the best. Have a great trip!

 

[NannyBeBe]

This is coming from an old granny. Let your little one lead the way. You may think you must get to IASW because he will love it, but he may want to stop and look at a flower or some other trivial thing. On one trip with my grandkids, one of the high points of their day was giving high fives to the CMs. Let your little one do what makes him happy. And take lots of pictures.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Finding a place for the littles to just run around is very important. The Animation Building at California Adventure is a great indoor area with tons of room for them just to run. At Disneyland, the Main Street Cinema is another great place to let them run indoors.

This can work if the Cinema or the Animation Building aren't crowded (the Cinema is small; Animation Building has more room) -- but, please, supervise your little ones. Both those areas are darker, so not everyone can see little ones running around. And some people actually do go into the Cinema to watch or study the classic cartoons, so be aware of that. Tom Sawyer Island and Redwood Creek Challenge Trail are great outdoor areas where kids can run and do other fun things. And the CMs at the Challenge Trail are great!

 

[azdisneylover]

Take your little one to Toon Town and plan to stay in there for a while to explore.

 

[agamble]

Have fun!

First you know your child and they are all different. Some kids don't like the dark rides, but some love them. I have 3 kids we've been taking to Disneyland since our 8 year-old was 1. Nome of them have ever freaked on a dark ride, but it happens. Same with characters. My kids never cried about them, but they all had different reactions. Our oldest loved all characters at one, but at two she was wary of the princesses because they look like real people. Others say their kids liked the characters with faces and were scared of the big characters. So just see what your little one is into.

Tom Sawyer Island is a nice place to go to let little ones run around. It is less crowded than the rest of the park. And the train is a nice way to relax.

Rider swap is great. With your large group of adults you can use rider swap and FP together to get on the big rides. A rider swap allows up to 3 people to ride after the original party returns.