Hellobee Boards

We took our son when he was 2 and he hated it. We took along my mom and dad for help as well. We live in Florida which is why we chose to try it even though so many friends told us to wait. He just had no interest in anything (even seeing Mickey up close!) and the crowds overwhelmed him and that was even in the "off season." He was just not yet talking and he was definitely going through a tantrum stage. He had an epic meltdown episode in the bathroom one day where I looked at my husband and said never again. He's changed so much since then I personally wish we would have waited but that's just me. With the costs involved it's so disappointing when it doesn't work out. However I know every LO is different. I'm sure your 5 year old will love it! Maybe with your 5 year old there with your LO it will make it better Good luck!!!

I canceled our DW trip earlier this month for personal reasons. LO would have been a little less than 2.5. After taking LO to Legoland DH and I realized DW was a bad idea to begin with. LO was scared of the ride with a laser gun and just really small for the flying ride. After that LO freaked out seeing Mickey Mouse was at a kiddie party when he got close. So Character anything would have been a bust.

We took DD when she was 2 (27 months) over 4th of July and had an absolute blast. My parents and brother went with us. We drive 16 hours from Virginia to Florida. That part sucked! But DH refuses to fly with little kids so we drive everywhere. And I loved having my big suv that seats the whole family. We got there right as park opened. Like at the gate when they opened. We mapped out what we would ride and characters we would meet (Mickey and Minnie) and fast passed EVERYTHING. One adult would ride with her and as she finished another adult would have their fast pass for a ride close by. We ate lunch in the park for convienence, and watched a noon show and went back to hotel. That’s when she got tired. So we were there from 8-12. Teacups and dumbo were her favorite rides. There were plenty of rides for the 2 year old. She was not scared. We only skipped the Winnie the Pooh one. That one looked pretty dark. And meeting Mickey was such a wonder we will never forget. We did the same thing next day. We stayed in a condo in Kissimmee and did two days of magic kingdom and then the pool which had a toddler pool with an umbrella waterfall, swing set, etc.. then couple days of shopping. We wanted to go to the beach but just hung out at the resort instead. Best family vacation ever!

Any questions just ask. Fast pass or bust for us lol. Not waiting in lines was key. People thought we were crazy to go over 4th of July as it was hot as heck and super crowded but crowds don’t really bother us. The shows were amazing. My brother and I went back at night to ride the big people rides and they had an amazing fireworks show. Disney really does know how to put on a production.

We took LO just before she turned 3 so that it would be free for her, and would be her big birthday present. It was perfect timing. She still stroller napped, but had enough understanding of the characters and movies that she got the context and was excited. She LOVED meeting princesses/characters and a few of the rides. She also loved the big magical hotel and pool. We have gone a few times since (FL folks here) and they've been fun but not nearly as special as that first time and that specific age. Even the last time we went we were on the Haunted Mansion ride and she looked at me and said "It's ok mommy, they're not scary because they're just robots" It's not keeping her from loving her time there but it definitely let me know she's grown out of the "magic".
So, with that I would ask is this early 2-yrs old or late 2-yrs old? Does your LO watch the movies/shows and have context to enjoy it? These would factor in for me considering the scale of the trip you're thinking about. And - look at the timing for crowds, weather, etc. to make sure you're setting up the best experience possible with kids that age.

@Modern Daisy: When we went, my girls were 2 and 4 and they both had an amazing time. No tantrums, and our 2 year old really enjoyed all the rides and the shows. When we did rider switch to ride some of the rides with height restrictions, we always make sure to take DD2 on something equally fun.

For example, when my husband took DD1 on the 7 Dwarves Mine Train, I took DD2 on the spinning teacups. Then we switched, and I got to go back on the Mine Train with DD1 and my husband took DD2 on Prince Charming's Carousel. Anyway, both girls loved it and we didn't have any behavior issues. We went during a lower crowd time and really used our fastpasses and daily plan well, so we never really had a wait more than about 10 minutes, and in those 10 minutes, DW usually has interesting things to look at in the line so our kids were relatively entertained.

But it just depends on your kiddo-I had a friend take her 2 year old and apparently everyone was miserable. He was afraid of every single ride, even the baby friendly stuff like the carousel, and tantrummed any time they tried to ride stuff. But we had the exact opposite experience.

I think you'll have a blast!! We went with DD being 4 and DS 10 mos. It was PERFECT for DD.. DS had fun but we plan to go again when he is 4-5.. I think that is the sweet spot.

I will echo above PP and plan plan plan. Our trip went very smoothly bc I had planned everything out and use your fast passes wisely and look at the park maps when planning so you dont' plan one FP here and then lunch or something on clear other side!! That really helped us. We split MK into two days so we did one side/area one day and another on day 2.

We went when mine were 4 and almost 2. They loved it. We could do so many rides with both of them. I think we did 11 rides and she only couldn’t do 1.

It was expensive. And we only did 2 park days (I wouldn’t recommend animal kingdom.. barely any rides for little ones. We kind of ran out of stuff to do). We stayed right at animal kingdom lodge for half the trip which was fun but pricey!

ETA: they both ask to go back. We probably won’t until the third (I was pregnant when we went) is 2. It’s not some where we want to go all the time, when there’s so many more places to explore in the world, haha

Agree it totally depends on personality. We live 3 hours away and took my son for a weekend when he was 27 months (we had Florida resident tickets that were going to expire if we didn't use them!). Some of it, he loved - loved Dumbo, the speedway, meeting characters, Small World, etc. Overall, though, we did VERY FEW things and he was VERY TIRED and overwhelmed. He would not sleep in the stroller so we had to go back to the hotel for naps, so we just didn't have a ton of time in the park. It was fun but I would not do it from out of state or spend a ton of $$ on travel or a long trip.

@looch: This is a really really good point!

Our 2 year old (almost three though) LOVED it. We had low expectations tbh, but it was fantastic. Two things I want to mention:

DW doesn't charge for kids 2 and under. This is a huge bonus and part of the reason we took DD even though she won't remember it as an adult. We plan on taking her again when she's 5 because her little sister will be 2 and thus free.

I think a big part of how much a young toddler enjoys it has to do with how busy the parks are. If you go at a time when they'll have to wait in reallu long lines, that will get old fast. Going during a low to medium crowd level is that much more important with toddlers, I think.

We just booked a trip to WDW over thanksgiving. DD will be 3 years, 9 months. We are TTC next year and most of our trips are already planned for next year so it was kind of now or in 2-3 years for us.

I took my 3 when they were 18 months, 3, and 5. The older two did great. The youngest was harder but I still consider it a successful trip. We are going again in January when they are 2.5, 4.5 and 6.