Disney with a Toddler

We went to Disney in February when my son was 22 months old. Skip Epcot at this age since there isn't much for them to do. The Magic Kingdom is the best one and the most toddler friendly and when we were there Disney/MGM (I know it's called something different now) had a Playhouse Disney show that my son loved. Remember to take a big comfy stroller, a change of clothes and plenty of water!

Most of the parks have a kids area where rides are for the under 5's , the weather should be warm but you never know (a friend went last January and they had a few days where the temp was 32F and they needed winter coats). Hopefully your hotel will have an indoor & outdoor pool.

Have fun!

I'm in the same boat as you. We're leaving for Disney on the 15th, and we're crazy enough to take out 3 year old daughter and almost 3 year old nephew. I planned on spending a lot of time in Magic Kingdom. Like you I haven't been in 5 years or so. And this time I'm pregnant and suppose I'll have to be on stroller duty. Epcot has some neat static displays like a full sized firetruck they can climb in. Best of luck to you. I'm kinda holding my breath for our trip.

My family(husband and 4 and 7 year old girls)just went to Disney December 11th thru the 18th. It was 87 for a few days and upper 70s. I'm from Wisconsin where it was -10 the week we left for Florida. My kids were so tired after doing 3 full days at Disney. Magic Kingdom was packed and waits for rides and character meet and greets was LONG! They enjoyed it but not as much as Disney studios and Animal Kingdom. Disney studios was less crowded and we had a great time there. But for a 2 year old they might enjoy Magic Kingdom the best because of the kid's rides. Animal Kingdom has Dinoland which would be great for little kids to spend hours there. Take lots of snacks, sandwiches, and water in a backpack. We saved a ton of money doing that. Have fun.

Hi, J.!

There is a whole list of things to do with little ones at Disney here - http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/planning-guides/in-depth....

Also - check the weather at http://www.weather.com or http://www.wunderground.com before you go. When I just checked a moment ago it said that temps right now were in the 30s and were going up to the 50s. Heated pool or not - that's cold. However, in 10 days it will be in the 70s during the day and 40s at night.

No matter what - have a great time! Disney is magical! (Oh - and take a lot of pictures to help your little girl remember later.)

Hi! We just went for Christmas with our 6, 4, and 2 year olds. All of my kids are tall, and my two year old still only got to ride things mostly at Magic Kingdom (he will be three in March too!) We did all of the parks, and they loved the shows at all of the parks (Animal Kindgom has a GREAT Nemo Live show, Hollywood Studios has a cute Playhouse Disney Live - don't sit in front, and Epcot had things like HSM3 amd Gospel Singers.) The best place we found in Epcot was the Character Meet and Greet - a 90 minute wait, but the kids got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald all in one shot. So I guess it depends on what you want to do. If you want to see things, do all of the parks - if you want your toddler to ride more, do Magic Kingdom. And plan for naps. Our kids went a max of 7 hours at a park before they needed a break. Strollers are insanely expensive ($15/day for a single and 31/day for a double) so bring your own!! Also, we were able to swim outside on Christmas Eve, but it was still cold. So I wouldn't bank on it. We wore coats most days, but there were a few days we also wore shorts...just pack for both winter and spring honestly :). Have a BLAST!! And don't buy too much stuff in the parks - there are store EVERYWHERE outside of the parks that sell the same stuff for half the price. Have a great time!

When my son was your toddler's age, it was all about the shows. He loved the Lion King show at animal Kingdom. We saw it two or three times. He loved the parades too. The petting zoo at Animal Kingdom was a big hit. He loved, loved, loved brushing the goats and sheep and feeding them. There was an amazing play area at Animal Kingdom that I have pictures of him screaming when we had to leave. The ride lines were killer for us, so use the fast pass option wherever you can. We waited an hour for Pooh, but he fell asleep waiting in the no stroller area. My arms were exhausted. I found that the 3D "rides" scared the bejeezus out of him. He has only just now been able to do the 3D thing (he's 11). Toontown was his favorite at the Magic Kingdom. He still loves the autopia!
Have soooo much fun. Plan your day well. Bring lots of snacks and a couple changes of clothes. I have pictures of my son head to toe in popsicle. You might want to plan a rest/nap time midday. I took a stroller umbrella with me everywhere. If he was tired he would ride, if he wasn't, he would push with supervision, of course.
S.

Have a great time. Regarding the weather, the month of January in Orlando has an average high temperature of about 71 degrees and an average low of 48 degrees. This is not outside swimming weather unless the pool is super heated. Hopefully, your hotel will have an indoor pool.

We just went there the beginning of December with our 22 month old (and his 4 year old sister). My son could have gone on the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom over and over again (and there's an equivalent ride in Animal Kingdom in Dinoland). There is a toddler play area at Magic Kingdom under a bridge near splash mountain. Our kids loved the "free play" time to just run and wiggle. We went to Epcot without a good plan, and we totally regretted it. We arrived hungry and it's so huge that we were dying by the time we made it to the countries where food was. BUT, the great thing about Epcot is that you can see the characters with almost no lines (or very short lines). We saw a ton of princesses, the Beast, etc with our longest wait probably being 10 minutes (much better than the lines at Magic Kingdom). At Animal Kingdom, the Lion King show was absolutely amazing - we all could have watched it multiple times. He also loved the safari.

Other than those, just make sure you have a stroller, and that you have a plan (since you've been there before, I'm sure that will help - this was our first time), but be willing to do something again just because your girl loved it so much the first time.

Best of luck and have fun!

We were just there in September with an 18 month old, who LOVED Disney!! We did LOTS of planning prior to our trip so we had a very enjoyable and relaxing time and didn't wait in long lines. I highly suggest going to your library and getting the unofficial guide to Walt Disney World. Inside are touring plans, which worked GREAT for us. You can also join thier website for a nominal fee. The website will let you know which parks to go to on which days for the least crowds. If you need to pick and choose which parks you go to, then I would choose in this order - MK, Animal Kingdom, Disney Studios and then Epcot. The only thing my son really enjoyed at Epcot was the Character Spot, where many characters are located inside in one location. We went there right when the park opened and were the second people to see all the characters, since there wasn't a line we were able to spend extra time hanging out with all the characters. Donald even took time to play a game of chase with my son!! It really is best to get to the parks when they open for the least amount of waiting time. If you want to ride Dumbo in MK -- go there first! Most likely you will want to return to your hotel for lunch / naps -- I think we needed the nap as much as our son did!! We did not try to make him stay up for the firework shows. Luckily my parents went with us and took our son back to the hotel for dinner bath and bed while my husband and I stayed in the parks for the evening shows. If you need to pick just one, go to the evening show at Disney Studios. Also I personally feel it is worth the extra money to get the park hopper pass (allowing you to go to multiple parks in one day). Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm; but if you get there when the park opens, you can do most of it before lunch then you can go to another park in the PM.

Have a WONDERFUL time and check out "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" book - especially the touring plans, they saved us a TON of time since we didn't wait in long lines. All the parks except Epcot have GREAT playgrounds! My son really liked the one at DS -- it is really tucked away so you have to know where you are going.

I don't have any advice to offer, sorry :) I've been enjoying the responses though. Well first let me just say I'm jealous of all of you who have taken your little ones to Disney World!!! My kids and I are foaming at the mouth awaiting the day we get to go. We have decided to wait until our littlest one is atleast 4, maybe a little older. Our thinking was, we have very impatient children. If we all can't ride, one of use would be stuck waiting on the side while the other parent and kid rode it. We wanted to be able to do things as a family and thought if we waited till they were taller, we would all be able to ride the same things. Every year goes by it's getting harder to fight the urge not to just say screw it and take them anyway LOL! My kids are 2 1/2 and almost 5 now, so we've still got 2 years!!! Uggh Somebody tell me to just go and it will all be good LOL!