We're making the switch right now. My 16 month old daughter had actually been giving us signs for a while, bringing us to her bed when she was tired, that sort of thing. She never climbed out, though. We are 8 months pregnant and so when we realized what her behavior indicated we were actually pretty excited.
She has a lifetime crib so the toddler bed level is only about 5 inches off the floor. So far, she seems to LOVE it. I think she enjoys knowing that sleepy time is more in her control.
I will let you know, for us naptime has been a little more challenging than before, as she gets out of bed and brings toys back into it but we very, very calmly just take her back to bed and she even helps us put the toys away before laying back down. The first two days she didn't sleep but now she will after a little while.
Nightime, though, we have been extremely careful to change NOTHING about her bedtime routine. Tonight makes night 5 since our switch and every night she has gone right to sleep.
We put the baby gate up at the hallway separating our bedrooms from the house instead of at her door so if she needs us she can find us but won't be able to get to anything dangerous. Yes, she has fallen out of the bed once but she won't hurt herself at such a low height. We, again, just very calmly put her back in bed and tuck her back in.
I am so glad we did this. My daughter isn't a big talker yet, either, though we do some baby signs but she knows her bed so she figured it out pretty quick. We just have to be sure that "bed" is a positive space. Actually, we had a wonderful moment a couple days ago when she woke up quietly in the morning, instead of the usual "ugh the sun is up" complaining she likes to do, and came and cuddled with her daddy. I wouldn't have traded that moment for all the world. GOOD LUCK!