Two weeks with young children

[gadgetman]

Just found this site and would welcome peoples suggestions for itierarie for 2 week holiday. Fly out May 14th. Husband wife and 2 children under the age of three. None of us have ever been before and not sure quite what to expect. I beleive it may be dificult with the age of the children. We are buying a 5 day hopper + not sure parks etc to use. The only thing we will want to do is see the rocket launch on the 19th MAy. (How lucky am I)
Suggestions please:

[2BoysMum&Dad]

Gadgetman - although I have not been before myself, I have spent virtually every day on this website for nearly three months. The following information will be useful to others when they give you advice -

(1) Are you staying on-site (a Disney owned hotel) or off-site?
(2) Are you renting a car?
(3) Are you happy with the 5-day hopper & KSC ticket or are there some other places you want to visit too?

When you spend a day with lots of activities or lots of walking (especially with an early start), you will almost certainly need to go back to your room/villa for a rest after lunch (or for lunch) even if the children don't actually sleep. It's worth thinking about this. You should be able to re-enter the same park again after your break - just remember to get your hand stamped.

Zoe

[gadgetman]

We are stopping on international drive.
We have car hire for the duration.
I have looked more and actually fancy a 4 dya disney hopper plus but understand cant buy this in this country I would then hopefully link it up with a few days in universal.

[paulac]

Try this site for 4 day hopper passes.


http://www.mapleleaftickets.com/disney_tickets.htm


Paula

[jasonlisabradle]

Hi
This is a great site all the info you need and more!
please look at the price of a ten day pass it is worth every penny.
Jason
ps have a great time on holiday and being a big kid

[2BoysMum&Dad]

I would certainly agree with Jason about a ten day pass, this might be a good option for you, especially as you might not want to travel out of Disney much with young children.

A ten day pass seems good value for money and you get unlimited visits to Disney's water parks and Downtown Disney. It's probably best to get out your calculator and do a few sums with the different prices of the different sorts of tickets.

I have often heared that children look forward to returning back to the pool and comfort of their hotel (or villa), despite the amount of effort and money parents spend on organising and paying for theme parks and attractions! So, despite what I've just said, a ten day pass might be too much!

Zoe

[rusty30]

I have taken both my two when tiny (they still are, this year they will be 2 & 4). You need to be FLEXIBLE, so I would recommend you go for the 10 day Disney Pass and forgo any thoughts of Universal / IOA as they are just not geared to under 5s. There are only one or two attractions here that will suit, so personally we have given these a miss the last few years.

Little ones are very unpredictable, and if you only have a precious little time at the parks (such as 4 days) then chances are at least one of these days maybe lost to a "toddler meltdown situation"!!! By that I mean you plan a whole day at Epcot and one of the kidlets gets a runny tummy (happens often, especially in the early part of the holiday when they are adjusting to the rich food) and you have to leave after 2 hours. I find it much less stressfull, knowing we have 10 days to play with (and if need be, one or two can be lost without being out of pocket).

In my experience, the key to successfull holiday with tiny ones is to be very, very flexible. The heat can wear them down quickly and generally, you probably shouldnt expect to spend more than 5 hours at a stretch at one park. Its best to go back to the hotel to chill out or swim. Go back later when its cooler and you will have much happier bunnies!

They will enjoy it, but dont force them to! Its all too common to see parents pushing round screaming toddlers in strollers muttering about "how lucky they are to be here"!!

[jojj]

Yes
I agree with the 10 day ticket
We are going with our 2 who will be 5 and a bit and nearly 4 when we go and I think a 10 day ticket gives more flexibility to do half days and give them a little rest and not feel like you are losing too much of your days - 4 or 5 days are not much at disneyworld - there is so much to see and little ones do not go at a very fast pace!!!

[BevS97]

I'm also going to vote for the 10 day pass - if you compare the prices it's not that much more than a 5 day pass and it's going to make a HUGE difference to your trip.

I would forget about universal completley - it;s not suitable for under 3's, and KSC is not great although we did do it with our 3 1/2 year old. (you can see the rocket launch from the beach -no need to visit KSC, in fact it's closed on launch day I believe)

with the 10 day pass you can pop in and out of the parks as often as you want (well more or less), which means lots of short days which will be much easier with little ones than 5 long days.

I would suggest planning either early starts and quitting the parks after lunch, or arriving at the park around 2 or 3pm and staying late for the nights you want to see the fireworks.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consider the 10 day pass - it is going to make a HUGE difference.

Bev