DIsney World with a 21 month old....

[Monkeygi]

....are we mad? I'm just having a quavery moment. It's a moot point really cos we booked the hol back in Dec so we're definitely going.
I made the mistake of reading one of those travel guides (Disney World with the kids or some such) and it says don't even think of taking infants there in the first two weeks of August (too hot. Too busy etc etc). Well guess when we're going!?!
Anyone got any tips on how to get the most out of it? We're staying in a villa about ten mins away from the parks so will be able to get out for lunch/naps and so on.

Monkeygi - Typhoon Lagoon (imo) is far superior to Blizzard Beach. It has sand (like Aquatica) and lots of shadier type areas if you need them with the little ones, we used to head for a little cove called Blustery Bay and get the front beds whereby the water was just lapping up. This is the park with the big big wave.

There is also Katchakiddecreak for the little ones to play in.

As you are walking into the waterpark, they will be selling big plastic mug type things with swivel lids. They have a barcode on the side which enables you to free cold drinks all day. There are little stand type places, you scan the barcode, put the mug under whichever drink you want and press the switch - you can go back as many times as you wish - for that day only though, but it does save you lots of money on cold drinks.

Fab. I don't know how we missed those last time. BTW- has anyone used the 'switch off' system?

Never heard of the 'switch off' system, sorry! I like Blizzard beach and Typhoon Lagoon but Aquatica was by far the best out of them all.

We had 14 day ultimate park tickets for Disney so we could go in and out as much as we liked. We also bought the same type of ticket for the pther parks, which included, Universal, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld, Wet & Wild and Aquatica. We get a good deal from an online ticket company, have used them a few times now. We went to busch gardens last time but gave it a miss this year.

Bellavita, my friend went to Aquatica last April and had an awful time, exactly as you described, closed by 10am and no sunbeds. She gave me such a dreadful description of it, I was dreading our visit. We went for an afternoon in the first week we were there and loved it, ended up going back for a whole day the second week. Luckily, we chose the hottest day, as it went a bit cooler the next day!

We also went for a boogy creek airboat ride this time, never done that before, it was fantastic, would definately recommend it.

We went to Aquatica last year and hired a cabana for the day. Price included sunbeds, towels,locker and drinks. Was a godsend.

Hmmm, I was just going to mention about the cabana meadow6

Not that we had one, but I did see people using them and in the height of the season (especially with little ones) I think they could be the way to go.

I just enjoyed being able to get away from the crowds evey now and then. With 4 kids it was useful to come back to for drinks, loion top ups etc. Also when it rained, everyone ran to the same places to keep covered. We were able to sit it out very comfortably in the cabana. I had a 7month baby with me and he had his nap in it and because it had a ceiling fan he was kept cool. We also bought a food pass for the day. This meant we didn't have to queue at any time to get into restuarant which again, with 4 kids just made life a little easier. We had breakfast,lunch and dinner while there so was worth the money.

Yes, I can see with 4 children (one being a baby) how useful it is.

My boys were 11 and 8 last year and constantly on rides (or queuing for them), so I would not have got the most use out of one. However on one of our days, we did have a great big bloody thunderstorm and I ended up with DS2 in a different place to DS1 and DH.

Monkeygi - we are going on 27th March. Five weeks yesterday!!! I am so excited