Orlando Florida - Anyone been with 2.8 year old??

[shiningstar]

Hello looking to go in July 07. Anyone been? What were the queues like? was there anything for small people to do? Any info appriciated! Thanks

We went when ds was 2.6 and dd 4.2 and it was great! We did go in March though, when the queues may be less? After a bad experience early on, we never went to anything with a queue more than 1/2 hour.

We only did the Disney parks and my main piece of advice is TAKE A REST IN THE AFTERNOON. I initially thought this wasn't for us but it was so worth it; the kids had a rest in the afternoon after a morning in a park and were refreshed for an evening meal/somemore time in the parks/parade/fireworks.

I can't recommend this book enough - detailed but so useful

There was plenty for ds to do, the things he talks about now are the boneyard at the Animal Kingdom, shows, including Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Fantasmic, anything in Fantasyland, Animals on the Kilimanjaro Safari, Buzz Lightyear's spin, Belle's storytime, fireworks etc.

HTH!

Forgot to say that the Disney water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) were major hits too. Can't recommend enough getting there as they open (we got there at 9 as we were staying in a Disney Hotel) and then we left at 12:00, when it started to get hot and crowded. Kids' area at Typhoon Lagoon was especially good.

thanks for that! Anyone anymore info please! Anything appreciated!

We went in April last year, the queues were no where near as bad as we expected. My dd's were 6 and 4 at the time and loved every minute. It was the best holiday we have had and we are now saving so we can go back within the next couple of years.

We bought our theme park tickets before we went. The disney tickets gave us unlimited access to all parks for 14 days, they were well worth it as we spent most of our time at the disney parks. We also bought another ticket which gave us unlimited access to both universal parks, busch gardens, sea world and wet and wild. When we go again I don't think we would get this ticket as we didn't really use it that much.

Universal studios - was good, we went twice as it was so close to our hotel, but I think it could be done in a day.

Universal Islands of Adventure - wasn't really suitable for young children, most of the rides have height restrictions and there was only 2 rides dd2 could go on.

Busch Gardens - about an hours drive from Orlando, but worth a visit if you have a car.

Sea world - was okay, but not as great as we expected it to be, we only stayed about half a day.

IMO the disney parks are best for young kids. When planning our holiday before we went, we underestimated the amount of time we would spend in the parks, We though we would do magic kingdom park in a day, but ended up going about 5 times as there was loads to do.

One of the best things we did was have dinner at Cinderella's royal table, it is at the top of the castle and really was magical, if you want to do that or any of the character dining in the parks, book before you go. We waited until we got there and were really lucky that they had a cancellation.

Also, there is lots of walking, dd2 was 4 and at home never used a buggy so we didn't take one. The first day in the magic kingdom park we ended up hiring one, but it cost about $10. The next day we bought a fold-up buggy on International drive for $25.

We stayed on International Drive which was nice but is about 20 mins drive from the disney parks. When we go again we are hoping to stay in a disney hotel.

I agree with kslatts - you will definitely need a buggy, lots of walking.

Also on the booking in advance - I rang a couple of months before we went and booked evening meals for 5pm or 5:30 so that we could eat after the afternoon rest and then go to a park for the evening. You don't have to leave any deposit so can not turn up if you don't feel like it but we found it useful to have a reservation if we needed it.

Plan lots of shorter trips to parks rather than whole days. We ended up doing 2 mornings at the Animal Kingdom, a morning and afternoon at the Studios, one morning and 4 evenings at the Magic Kingdom, a morning at each of the water parks and an evening at Epcot (least there for young children IMHO).

Use the FastPass system to get tickets for popular rides. We also used switch off so that me and dh could both ride on the runaway train and space mountain.

We had the 14 day unlimted passes too, great for flexibility. Got them from Travel City Direct .

We stayed in Disney Hotels and they were great.

One thing my youngest did not like was character encouters - he liked to look at them but not get too close!

thanks for this! Do they have any soft play areas where we can chill out for 1/2 hour or so? went to Alton towers recently and it had a great soft play area!

The have a huge MacDonalds on International Drive with a indoor soft play area. You don't need to eat there to get into the play area.

Can't remember any soft play areas but we used lots of the outdoor play areas when we wanted to chill such as The Bonyard at the Animal Kingdom or Fantasyland play area in the Magic Kingdom . Our hotels also had play areas we used.

Hi,
We went in Mar 05 when our twins were 22 months and had a great time. We didn't do many of the major parks as we felt that they were a bit too young but did visit Seaworld which they enjoyed. There was a huge bouncy castle type thing there which they went on twice as well as other play equipment.
One of their best days out was to a petting farm (think it was called Green Meadows, it was near Kissimee) which was ideal for their age group.
We stayed in a rented house rather than a hotel and this meant that they had plenty of room to run around and then in the evening we could put them to bed at their normal bedtime and we could then have a takeaway or a quick meal ourselves without disturbing them. We also had a pool. Other advantage was a washing machine and dryer!
We're planning to go again this year when our youngest will be 2 and the twins will be 4½ and this time we will do the Disney parks etc.

thanks for this everyone. the petting farm looks great, perfect for an afternoon! Anyone else??

my friend took her 3 yo. The DC was scared the whole time by the giant figures.

She was only used to seeing either a toy or on the TV so spent the whole 2 weeks looking at the floor to avoid the scary giants !!!

Went to florida in april with a 4 yer old dd abd my ds turned 2 on the day we went i was also 4 months pg.

The flight was ok we had to keep gatting up and walking around the plane more so with ds.

The queues were horrible they were very long but i think it could of been the time it was easter so the americans were also on hoildays.

Everything else was fab but very late nights if you stay for parades and fireworks.

We went to Olando in Feb 05 when DS2 was 2.8 years. As someone else has said the flight out was difficult because all he wanted to do was wander around the plane! We visited all the parks while there and would agree that magic kingdom, animal kingdom and mgm have more for little ones to do. There is not much at Epcot for them, ds2 spent a lot of time running in and out of water jets whie the older children went on the rides! Universal has a section for younger children as does Islands of adventure but are mainly aimed at teenagers/adults. Ds2 loved Seaworld and we spent a couple of long visits there. We are returning to Florida next month and can't wait. hth

We've booked a last minute trip with dd aged 2.4-any further tips?