Have I over committed with 2.5 year old? How does this itinerary/strategy sound?

[abr155]

Hi! First time poster, long time lurker. I last went to Disney over 15 years ago, so ALOT has changed. I feel comfortable with all the new changes (Genie+, ILL, etc.), but I was hoping someone who has been with a 2.5 year old could help manage my expectations if I've over booked lol

Background:
-Our 2.5 year old daughter is no stranger to theme parks. She has been going to our local theme park for the past year and is a champion stroller napper, line waiter, over stimulation handler, so we are hopefully good there!
-Staying 6 nights in 2 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs
-Bringing grandma for extra hands (who also doesn't ride big rides, so we won't have to do rider swap woo)
-Driving in so will have car
-Have 5 day park hopper
-Buying Genie+ and ILL
-Using Standby Skipper

Itinerary:
Saturday, Arrival Day:
-Check-in
-5:30 p.m. dinner at Rain Forest Cafe Disney Springs

Sunday, Magic Kingdom:
-8:20 a.m. breakfast at Crystal Palace (taking Lyft Minnie Van to ensure we get there in time)
-5:30 p.m. dinner at Chef Arts Homecomin' (may cancel if everyone happily hanging at MK or want to rest at resort)

Monday, Epcot:
-4:50 p.m. dinner at Akershus

Tuesday, Animal Kingdom:
-No family reservations
-Date night for mom and dad at 7:00 p.m. Space 220

Wednesday, Hollywood Studios:
-11:45 a.m. drinks at Olgas for mom and dad
-5:25 p.m. dinner at Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Dining Package (anyone know if under 3 is free? It gives price for children 9 and under, but a few blogs I read said that they can't imagine 2 year olds being charged)

Thursday, Magic Kingdom:
-6:30 p.m. dinner at Garden Grill (??)

Park Strategy (NOTE: not trying to see fireworks - too loud and way too crowded for our little):
-MK Day 1: Standby Skipper hopefully books early Peter Pan. Stick to Fantasyland, Liberty Square, maybe Frontierland
-Epcot: Standby Skipper hopefully books early Frozen while I book ILL for Cosmic Rewind for hubby (I will vomit everywhere); TRY to book things counter clockwise and not run all over the park
-Animal Kingdom: Standby Skipper hopefully books early Safari while I book ILL for Flight of Passage
-Hollywood Studios: Standby Skipper hopefully books early Runaway Railroad (while our daughter is maybe tall enough for Slinky, I think it's just too much for her) while I book ILL for Rise of Resistance
-MK Day 2: Standby Skipper hopefully books early Jungle Cruise. Stick to Adventureland and Tomorrowland; re-do favorite Fantasyland rides

Thanks for any advice, tips, pointers, etc!

 

[Herding_Cats]

It looks like you are buying hoppers just for 2 dinner reservations?

What time can on-site guests enter MK on your first day? Are you going to be missing out on a hard-to-get ride being almost walk-on by putting your breakfast ressie during that time? Does that matter to you?

 

[RoseGold]

H&V is my favorite character meal at this age, and the food is surprisingly good. I'd take it over Crystal Palace or Garden Grill. Garden Grill isn't at MK, and I thought it was the worst meal I had a Disney.

I'd cut Homecoming, or go the arrival night. This is a waste of park/G+ to make a whole trip to DS while you are on the clock, IMO. I'd pick it over Rainforest cafe.

You are staying deluxe and EEH isn't even in this plan. This is a major oversight, IMO. I plan all my trips around it, and bought DVC because of how much my late owl 18 month old loved it. If your kid can hack it, there's no better park experience. I'd plan food, naps, everything around EEH.

 

[abr155]

It looks like you are buying hoppers just for 2 dinner reservations?

What time can on-site guests enter MK on your first day? Are you going to be missing out on a hard-to-get ride being almost walk-on by putting your breakfast ressie during that time? Does that matter to you?

I should add, plan is for hubby and I to hop and/or go back to different parks after daughter goes to sleep (with grandma staying at the resort with her).

Early entry is 8:30 am, so yes, that Crystal Palace reservation is going to take away from that the first day, but our daughter is a HUGE Pooh fan, so, figured we could maybe make it up the second MK day or with Genie+!

 

[abr155]

H&V is my favorite character meal at this age, and the food is surprisingly good. I'd take it over Crystal Palace or Garden Grill. Garden Grill isn't at MK, and I thought it was the worst meal I had a Disney.

I'd cut Homecoming, or go the arrival night. This is a waste of park/G+ to make a whole trip to DS while you are on the clock, IMO. I'd pick it over Rainforest cafe.

You are staying deluxe and EEH isn't even in this plan. This is a major oversight, IMO. I plan all my trips around it, and bought DVC because of how much my late owl 18 month old loved it. If your kid can hack it, there's no better park experience. I'd plan food, naps, everything around EEH.

You're confirming alot of what I've been thinking. Crystal Palace is a must though because our daughter is a HUGE Pooh fan, but I suspect we'll cut Garden Grill and Homecomin'. Tried to snag Homecomin' on arrival day, but it's booked - have some dining alerts set. Chose Rainforest bc she LOVEs animals BUT, there is one a few hours from our house we could always take her too. Hmmmm.

Husband and I are absolutely taking advantage of MK and Epcot EEH, but there is no way our daughter can hang haha. She loves her sleep and will be a tiny monster the next day! Fortunately, grandma will hang at the resort so we can go back for late night!

 

[RoseGold]

You could also do Snow White Artist point arrival day, this one isn't impossible to book. But you already have Akershus, so maybe that's too much.

I'd also go in the app and really study the character appearances. Epcot has a bunch of princesses who show up for a couple hours, like Aurora in France or Jasmine in Morocco. This can vary by day, but there is a general pattern. Seeing Belle speak French in France is pretty amazing. If you think that's your kid's jam, start looking at the app to see what the options are. That is a very different experience than the castle and the line at MK.

 

[RoseGold]

Oh, and I'd really think about Bippidi for this trip. Especially if you don't think you'll be back soon.

If you have a girly girl, this is the ultimate. I would cut character meals or even G+ to get Bippidi to fit in the budget. It's my girl's top favorite thing at Disney. You can bring your own dress from eBay and they will surprise her with it in the dressing room if you are a little sneaky about it.

EDIT: Nevermind, have to be 3. Next trip!

 

[Skippyboo]

What the heck is standby skipper? Are you going to bring your little girl to Fantasmic? It can get a bit dark and scary during the villains part since you said you were avoiding the fireworks.

GuardIans has a virtual queue at 7am for when you have Epcot park reservations. You can do both free vq and paid LL if you want and a 6 pm VQ for deluxe Extra Hours.

 

[nancipants]

Oh, and I'd really think about Bippidi for this trip. Especially if you don't think you'll be back soon.

If you have a girly girl, this is the ultimate. I would cut character meals or even G+ to get Bippidi to fit in the budget. It's my girl's top favorite thing at Disney. You can bring your own dress from eBay and they will surprise her with it in the dressing room if you are a little sneaky about it.

Can you even book BBB at 2.5? I'd worry it might be too long for a squirmy kid. My 3yo would never last. Of course, all kids are different!

 

[RoseGold]

Dang, you're right. BBB is 3. you can still do Harmony, but that one is very tough to book.

 

[SLThomas318]

My advice is to have ZERO expectations and you'll have an amazing time Traveling with kids can be so unpredictable (but def. worth it). We always have a rough plan, but are always prepared to throw it out the window if it isn't working or the kids aren't feeling it. I would stick with only 1 sit down meal a day. Time flies at Disney and the sit down meals do take longer. I will say the new cancellation policy is nice, so it doesn't hurt to keep them and then you can cancel once you are there and see how things are going.

Is travel day long? I don't like to schedule anything for arrival day or at the very least, whatever I schedule is something we are ok missing. We have about a 3 hr flight so by the time we get to the resort our kids want to just roam.... the pool is usually the first thing we do.

I know Rainforest Cafe is not a fan favorite, but if your little one loves animals then I say go for it. We have 2 boys and they love T-Rex (dinosaur version of Rainforest Cafe). The few times we have tried something different, they always ask for the dinosaur restaurant. Food is nothing special, but the kids love the atmosphere.

 

[Orion Nebula]

That schedule is making my feet hurt. I am surprised you won't be squeezing in a resort / rest day. That has become a must for my family, and my kids are grown. I like adding a resort day in the middle of the trip and just hang out by the pool.

 

[ktlm]

Based on your description of your child, you will be fine. Your DD sounds like mine was at WDW at that age as far as theme parks go. My DD at 2 was much better behaved at WDW than at home. She was (and still is) a bear to wake up in the mornings, but once she was awake she was standing at the room door with her stroller telling us to hurry up so she could get to a park. There was no way she would have stood for a down day with no parks. I think the 2 year old trip we spent 6 days in a row in the parks and the 3 year old we went to 7. We also would do a little arrival day if we got there in time and departure day if our flight was late enough. It you have a little theme park lover who stroller naps, your schedule should be great.

The main thing is just to adapt to what works for them as the trip goes on. WDW was DD's first theme park so we had to figure it out-- but you might have some idea from your previous theme park visits. On DD's 2 year old trip, after attempting to take her back to the room for a nap the first day which was a disaster (angry child stood behind the curtain at the window for 2 hours and wouldn't look at us until we gave up and went back to MK and then she smiled and climbed in her stroller and went to sleep), we found that she was a stroller nap kid and could pretty well stay in the parks from open to close most days. You may find that your DD is completely obsessed with something you didn't expect, and has no interest in certain things you planned. My DD's focus in the pre-school years was the characters-- she loved them. If you gave her a choice between standing in line to meet a character, or walking on a ride with no line-- she would have picked the character every time. Also, they may not like the rides you expected them to. I was so excited to ride Dumbo with her and she took one look and said "I not ride him". We later found out as she got older she was afraid of heights.

Sounds like your dining is all booked already, but I will say when DD was a pre-schooler we did better with TS lunches. That would wind her down from the morning and then after lunch she would easily nap in the stroller. We found that she was more restless at dinner because she was more tired by then. Also, for a Pooh fan you definitely do need to keep Crystal Palace-- my DD loved that one. You might want to see if you can pick up a lunch reservation. We typically hit the parks close to opening for a couple of hours to get the shorter line time in and then did Crystal Palace for lunch.

Also- if you do take her to Fantasmic-- you may want to sit farther back and not down in the dining package section. It is very loud and does have a villians section that a preschooler might find intense. My DD was scared of that one at age 2. You are right on the fireworks too---my DD loved fireworks at home on the 4th so we thought it would be fine at WDW, but they are MUCH louder when you are inside the park- we had to run her into a store and hold her ears.

Have a wonderful time! That 2 year old trip is one of my favorites- everything was new and magical.

 

[kboo]

Early entry is 8:30 am, so yes, that Crystal Palace reservation is going to take away from that the first day, but our daughter is a HUGE Pooh fan, so, figured we could maybe make it up the second MK day or with Genie+!

Early morning in MK is pretty magical. We used to do pre-opening breakfasts (8am before a 9am open, for example), or use Crystal Palace for a lunch or early dinner. But the pictures and the ability to walk around a relatively empty park is priceless.

Sounds like your dining is all booked already, but I will say when DD was a pre-schooler we did better with TS lunches. That would wind her down from the morning and then after lunch she would easily nap in the stroller. We found that she was more restless at dinner because she was more tired by then. Also, for a Pooh fan you definitely do need to keep Crystal Palace-- my DD loved that one. You might want to see if you can pick up a lunch reservation. We typically hit the parks close to opening for a couple of hours to get the shorter line time in and then did Crystal Palace for lunch.

Our kids, now 7 and 11, were the same way! CP was a must, but unless we could snag a breakfast an hour before park opening, and take pictures on empty main street, we'd rope drop/early open and then go to CP for lunch or dinner. My parents, who are veterans of Vegas casino buffets, used to book the last breakfast reservation of the day to pay a breakfast price for breakfast and lunch foods. (I know). I have no idea if the prices are different but a late AM lunch worked very well for our family, especially if we were up early.

 

[ktlm]

My parents, who are veterans of Vegas casino buffets, used to book the last breakfast reservation of the day to pay a breakfast price for breakfast and lunch foods. (I know). I have no idea if the prices are different but a late AM lunch worked very well for our family, especially if we were up early.

We've done that at Tusker House at AK many times-- I don't know if the prices were different back then-- our goal- especially DH's goal- was to get both the breakfast and lunch foods as there were dishes on both we really liked. LOL

 

[SueM in MN]

Also- if you do take her to Fantasmic-- you may want to sit farther back and not down in the dining package section. It is very loud and does have a villians section that a preschooler might find intense. My DD was scared of that one at age 2. You are right on the fireworks too---my DD loved fireworks at home on the 4th so we thought it would be fine at WDW, but they are MUCH louder when you are inside the park- we had to run her into a store and hold her ears.

Have a wonderful time! That 2 year old trip is one of my favorites- everything was new and magical.

I have not been to Fantasmic since the new version opened, but on one trip, we saw it with my niece and her 4 yr old daughter. The little girl was scared during the villains section - I had told her before it started that the whole show was Mickey’s dream - and some parts were good and some parts would maybe be scary. I also told her that Mickey would be fine - he would be brave and realize he could tell those scary things to get out of his dream. During the scary parts, she told Mickey to be brave and tell them to go away. My niece actually said this was perfect - her daughter had been having frequent nightmares before the trip. They pretty much stopped after the trip - her daughter told her that she was brave like Mickey and told the scary things to stay out of her dreams

 

[abr155]

Oh, and I'd really think about Bippidi for this trip. Especially if you don't think you'll be back soon.

If you have a girly girl, this is the ultimate. I would cut character meals or even G+ to get Bippidi to fit in the budget. It's my girl's top favorite thing at Disney. You can bring your own dress from eBay and they will surprise her with it in the dressing room if you are a little sneaky about it.

EDIT: Nevermind, have to be 3. Next trip!

I knowww! I was so sad to see minimum age is 3! I mean, I get it, but I know my girl would sit. I looked into some outside princess makeovers that come to the room, but didn't want to take away any more park time. Guess that means we just have to go back soon haha

 

[abr155]

What the heck is standby skipper? Are you going to bring your little girl to Fantasmic? It can get a bit dark and scary during the villains part since you said you were avoiding the fireworks.

GuardIans has a virtual queue at 7am for when you have Epcot park reservations. You can do both free vq and paid LL if you want and a 6 pm VQ for deluxe Extra Hours.

I'm not sure if Standby Skipper discussion is allowed, but its a service (app) that works with Genie+. You buy it ahead of time and they request to become friends and family on MDE. Then you can set ride preferences and it automatically books Genie+ rides when available/permitted to book. You can still do it yourself, too, but it alleviates some time on the phone!

 

[abr155]

My advice is to have ZERO expectations and you'll have an amazing time Traveling with kids can be so unpredictable (but def. worth it). We always have a rough plan, but are always prepared to throw it out the window if it isn't working or the kids aren't feeling it. I would stick with only 1 sit down meal a day. Time flies at Disney and the sit down meals do take longer. I will say the new cancellation policy is nice, so it doesn't hurt to keep them and then you can cancel once you are there and see how things are going.

Is travel day long? I don't like to schedule anything for arrival day or at the very least, whatever I schedule is something we are ok missing. We have about a 3 hr flight so by the time we get to the resort our kids want to just roam.... the pool is usually the first thing we do.

I know Rainforest Cafe is not a fan favorite, but if your little one loves animals then I say go for it. We have 2 boys and they love T-Rex (dinosaur version of Rainforest Cafe). The few times we have tried something different, they always ask for the dinosaur restaurant. Food is nothing special, but the kids love the atmosphere.

Yep, love this! We did a cruise a few months ago, and while I had alot of things planned, I was prepared for the worst and completely re-evaluate!

Travel day is about a 6 hour drive (our entire drive is 13-14 hours divided into 2 days).

I thought about TRex for her as well because she also loves dinos (very well rounded girl haha), but I worried it might scare her.

 

[abr155]

Based on your description of your child, you will be fine. Your DD sounds like mine was at WDW at that age as far as theme parks go. My DD at 2 was much better behaved at WDW than at home. She was (and still is) a bear to wake up in the mornings, but once she was awake she was standing at the room door with her stroller telling us to hurry up so she could get to a park. There was no way she would have stood for a down day with no parks. I think the 2 year old trip we spent 6 days in a row in the parks and the 3 year old we went to 7. We also would do a little arrival day if we got there in time and departure day if our flight was late enough. It you have a little theme park lover who stroller naps, your schedule should be great.

The main thing is just to adapt to what works for them as the trip goes on. WDW was DD's first theme park so we had to figure it out-- but you might have some idea from your previous theme park visits. On DD's 2 year old trip, after attempting to take her back to the room for a nap the first day which was a disaster (angry child stood behind the curtain at the window for 2 hours and wouldn't look at us until we gave up and went back to MK and then she smiled and climbed in her stroller and went to sleep), we found that she was a stroller nap kid and could pretty well stay in the parks from open to close most days. You may find that your DD is completely obsessed with something you didn't expect, and has no interest in certain things you planned. My DD's focus in the pre-school years was the characters-- she loved them. If you gave her a choice between standing in line to meet a character, or walking on a ride with no line-- she would have picked the character every time. Also, they may not like the rides you expected them to. I was so excited to ride Dumbo with her and she took one look and said "I not ride him". We later found out as she got older she was afraid of heights.

Sounds like your dining is all booked already, but I will say when DD was a pre-schooler we did better with TS lunches. That would wind her down from the morning and then after lunch she would easily nap in the stroller. We found that she was more restless at dinner because she was more tired by then. Also, for a Pooh fan you definitely do need to keep Crystal Palace-- my DD loved that one. You might want to see if you can pick up a lunch reservation. We typically hit the parks close to opening for a couple of hours to get the shorter line time in and then did Crystal Palace for lunch.

Also- if you do take her to Fantasmic-- you may want to sit farther back and not down in the dining package section. It is very loud and does have a villians section that a preschooler might find intense. My DD was scared of that one at age 2. You are right on the fireworks too---my DD loved fireworks at home on the 4th so we thought it would be fine at WDW, but they are MUCH louder when you are inside the park- we had to run her into a store and hold her ears.

Have a wonderful time! That 2 year old trip is one of my favorites- everything was new and magical.

Thank you! She's never been interested in the characters at our local theme park when at the park, but she loved them when they did a holiday dine with the characters, so who knows how she'll be at Disney when she'll actually recognize the characters!

And thanks for the Fantasmic tip - I watched a few YouTube videos, and was a little hesitant to take it her to it, but decided since it's sit down (as opposed to standing fireworks), she could cuddle/burrow into me if needed without killing my back! Fingers crossed it doesn't scare her!