Taken DC 2 + 4 to Disneyland Paris and they’re being nightmares

Glad you had fun in the end. For future reference, the best way to do trips with kids is just to accept they'll be cranky initially and not book anything big or tiring for day 1. I reckon it's about a day of low pressure activities for every 8 hours or so of travel, a bit extra if there's a time difference.

So sorry OP. I've been to dl in Florida and it was just full of kids exactly like your's and some of the poor things were being totally bollocked by their parents. It's an amazing place but completely overwhelming for anyone never mind young children. Please don't be too hard on your kids. This is really a normal reaction for kids so young. Just make the best of it and take them somewhere quiet to decompress if needed xx

2 and 4 is just too young for any of this stuff, they are hopeless on holiday until older. Very young children fundamentally prefer being at home with their own bed own toys etc. Away from home they sleep poorly, it's all unfamiliar. And how was the 2yr old ever old enough to even understand what going to Disney meant?!

I'm guessing your logic was to do it now while you could still get a cheaper price outside school hols before your eldest starts school but really they need to be for eg 5 and 7 I'd say for something like this to be worth it

Glad you had fun today!

So pleased you had a much better day today 😁

And fwiw as a mum you are allowed to do things for you too, so all those posters using "let's be honest you went for yourself" as a mean comment are being ridiculous. There's loads of things we did with our kids that they barely remember but I remember (and enjoy remembering) doing it with them.

@Cheepcheepcheep I’ve only read your comments, but i just wanted to say that you sound bloody lovely. I’m glad you had a fab day today! 😁

Are you jealous? The OP had a lovely day today with her kids.

Kids that young may not remember it, but by that logic should we just lock them in a cupboard all day except for food and changing as they won’t remember any of the nice stuff anyway, don’t be silly!

OP, glad you had a much better day today. FWIW I don’t think it’s silly at all to take kids “that young” to Disney, plenty do and you’ve obviously had a lovely time today. You sound like a great mum and it was nice of you to save and take your children on such a special trip.

You know you can click 'see all' on the OP and maybe then you wont look daft.

Ill admit Ive not read further then the OP

Why the hell on earth would you take children that young to Disney?

Be honest, you booked it for yourselves, - look at us, we took the kids to Disney

Your kids are never going to remember ever going

Much sympathy. Suggest waiting until they're older, but you already realise that. A colleague had a similar nightmare experience when they took their 2 and 4 year olds to Disney Paris. Such a sad waste of money and time for a whole load of stress .

Too young for that sort of trip. Mine went at about 8 and loved it.

You’re expecting a heck of a lot from children so young. Completely out of routine, in an environment where they are supposed to be having fun but will be ridiculously over stimulated! They’re too young to have the regulation skills to manage this or the verbal skills to properly articulate how they’re feeling.

i would really try and lean into acceptance of “however this goes, it’s okay” and make the best of it, with lots of patience and compassion for your little ones. You can have a great holiday but I think you need to lower lower lower your expectations and throw and ideas of how it “should” go far far out the window

You definitely shouldn’t have left. We took our DCs 3 & 2 in December and they had their moments but we just went off somewhere quiet or had a snack when they got overwhelmed. You need to get them on a ride and they will be hooked. Head straight for it’s a small world tomorrow. Parent swap & fast pass as much as you can afford its worth it. Also make sure they are warm as mine turned into misery’s when cold. Hand warmers, blankets & hot water bottles in the buggy. Have a lovely time.

Speaking from experience, I don't think theme park is for young kids, they got tired very quick and become cranky. We brought our kids when they were small to Legoland, they were mad about legs, the eldest was 8 and loved it the youngest was 4 and only managed 1 hour before getting cranky. For Disney we waited that the youngest was 8 before going and we all enjoyed it.

If it makes you feel better we tried a holiday when ours were really little of a boutique UK hotel. It was the worst experience. We arrived after a long drive. Walked about to lovely farmers market, kids wouldnt eat, went on the beach, tantrums and sand everywhere and buggy got stuck. Went for dinner, I drank some wine, kids kicked off in the restaurant. Went to the room at 6.30pm, kids fell asleep, then woke up at 9pm, took ages to get them off again. By that time I had a migraine from the day, had no headache tablets so downed calpol from the bottle. Finally got to sleep. The kids woke up at 5.30am and nothing was open, stuck in a tiny but beautiful boutique hotel room. We gave up and were driving home by 6am. We learnt a lot from that trip.

I agree 2 and 4 is probably just too young for Disneyland Paris. It’s a chaotic, crowded, overstimulating environment with a lot of walking. At that age the best holidays we did were all inclusive resort-based holidays where we just spent a week by the pool and let them play all day with no expectations of going out or being anywhere at a fixed time.

Glad you had a better day @Cheepcheepcheep

They are too young for Disney.
we took my (now 12) 5 year old for her 5th birthday, she liked 3 rides over and over, the hotel breakfast and the shops by the time we were going home she was into it. But it was overwhelming for her, which is why her little sister (4) has not been yet.

Those are the worst ages to go on that kind of holiday I guess. It's really overwhelming.

I waited until my youngest was 8 before going and she had a bit of a meltdown at DLP on the first day. But we had lots of fun on the other days once she settled in.

Fingers crossed everything improves for you all tomorrow. I'd go in super slow. Maybe do the train first? It goes calmly around the whole site, lots of nature etc. Lots to see.

Glad it went better today. Don't be put off holidays in future with ND kids, in some ways going back to the same place is a lot easier after they've done it once. My youngest was diagnosed at 6 and eldest at 18, so when I took them to Disney I wasn't aware - they were about the same ages as yours but we'd done alton towers twice by then and it didn't phase them (neither of them really have meltdowns and youngest is very laid back). I actually hated it myself but more from the practicalities of finding toilets with decent changing facilities, the delays in parades, train not being operative on the morning, characters being grumpy etc. I found it very French to be honest and not very supportive of kids in general, though this was nearly 20 years ago! We did florida about six years on (they were 11 and 9) and that was great - we got ride access passes due to the youngest not being able to queue for anything over 10 minutes and those really help. We also divide up and do 1 to 1 should there be disagreements. But generally we told them the plan in advance and they went along with it. They are very sensory seeking so I think that helps with theme parks, so I'm probably lucky that way.

For non theme park holidays we do a lot of activities, as long as they have stuff to do they are fine. Though it always helps to show them in advance, With a proviso things might not be exactly the same! It's worked for us anyway.

Airlines and holiday companies are generally helpful when they are aware - I. E. It helps to get on a plane first for example and we'd ask for rooms that were quieter.

I'm still going to theme parks regularly but now they go on all the rides and I sit with the bags!

Glad you managed to salvage the trip. Mine were 15 months and 4 when we first went, we went again the following 2 summers so it can’t have been too bad! It was summer though, I wouldn’t go in winter as I hate the cold. We did a Florida trip when they were 6 and 9 and again at 18 and 15! All disney’d out now until any grandkids! I agree about lowering expectations, and not having too rigid a plan with young kids

Sounds like a great day lots done. The parades are lovely.
It sounds like they were tired from the travel day yesterday.

Oh poor you OP! They’re prob just a bit too little.
ours were 6&8 and loved it but TBH we’re still exhausted and probably won’t remember half of it!