Welcome, foolish muggles - Highs and lows / first time travelling with a toddler

[nanasamboy]

I thought I'd do a quick round up of our trip too, covering the highs and lows and the tips I've got from our first visit with Alice.

Let's get the lows over and done with first!

Lows
There actually weren't many, we were very lucky!

Dealing with tiredness and tantrums - We didn't have anywhere near as many tantrums as I expected, but when we did they sucked. We found the only thing that really helped was to take her away from the situation whenever possible. I'm very lucky that G was often keen to do that, as it meant he could go chill out in the quiet and cool back home. I felt bad, but it meant Alice and G could go chill out and I could still have fun.

Character interactions - This will be in the highs too! I went into character interactions far too early in the holiday and Alice just wasn't ready for it. We had a few interactions where she cried the whole way through and it really upset me, as I thought she'd love it. She got over it though!

Frannie and G being poorly - You just can't plan for being ill, but luckily nobody missed out on too much of the trip. I know from past experience - Disney is the saddest place to be ill ever!

Highs

Seeing Alice having the time of her life - She blossomed so much over the two weeks we were away. Her speech and language came on leaps and bounds and she became so much more confident with the many overwhelming things to see and do. It was amazing seeing her little face on her favourite rides and watching her light up at the parades

Character interactions - When they went well, they were great. One of the stand-outs was meeting Chip and Dale, as it was the first time she'd gone up to a character herself and hugged them without prompting. I could have cried! Meeting the princesses was great too, as she was so in awe of them, she often couldn't speak. She remembers all of the characters she met and often tells me about it

Dining - We booked a lot more ADRs for this trip than we did for our honeymoon, as there were 5 of us, we had more dietary requirements and wanted to make sure we could eat at sensible times for Alice. We revisited some favourites such as 'Ohana, CRT, Crystal Palace and T-Rex. We also tried a few new places. I wasn't such a fan of Sanaa, but we loved 1900 Park Fayre. I was fed like a king and once again, Disney reminded me how amazingly well they treat their guests with dietary requirements.

Getting so many rides in on the Haunted Mansion - That one speaks for itself

Finally getting to go to Diagon Alley and get to experience the Potter parks with my sister - I cried on our honeymoon, because Fran wasn't with me to go to Hogsmeade. This time I was so happy to have her with me Diagon Alley was amazing and the Gringotts ride is mindblowing

Tips for travelling with a toddler

(Alice was 2 and 4 months when we went)

Don't plan too much - Even though I'd kept plans to a minimum, only booking FPs and ADRs, I'd still tried to fit too much in. Next time, I'll factor in more pool days and half days. And try not to stress too much about fitting an extra ride or meet and greet in before we head back.

Build up to characters slowly - Even though we'd watched lots of videos together on youtube before leaving, Alice totally freaked out the first time she saw a head character. We had a Crystal Palace breakfast booked for the first morning, as she loves Winnie the Pooh. But she just wasn't ready for that. She met Rapunzel and Cinderella the next day and was fine with those. So we know next time to start with princesses and view head characters from afar first, in parades etc. Character meals are probably best saved for the second week, as she got more and more confident as the holiday went on.

Screw naps and schedules - We've never had a set naptime with Alice, she's always gone when she's needed one. I assumed that would happen here too, that she'd fall asleep in her buggy when she was ready for a sleep. Nope! Some days she didn't nap at all and some days we had to go back for a lie down. Some days Alice was in bed by 7, others she was still awake at 10 pm. We didn't stress it, went with the flow and took her cues. Within a week of being home, we'd all fallen back to the normal bed and wake up times as if we'd not had two weeks of chaos. But then, if scheduled naps work for you - go with it!

Take loads of snacks in your suitcase - Yes, there's food everywhere in Disney, but we took lots of cereal bars, boxes of raisins and some crackers with us. They were handy to have to keep her distracted in queues and to keep her going when she refused to eat anything at dinner.

Be flexible (Which is hilarious, coming from me) - We did lots of things we wouldn't normally, because it made things easier. Alice only had a dummy at bedtime, but all of a sudden she wanted it for the comfort and used it every day we were away. I hated it, but it kept her chilled and quiet when she was feeling overwhelmed. We also gave her lots of sweets as it was easier then dealing with the screaming tantrums when we said no (2 year olds are jerks!) and gave her (sugar-free) pop or fruit juice with ice when we just couldn't get her to drink water. If you'd asked me before we went if I'd do that, I'd have said absolutely not.

That's all I can think of for now, but ask me any questions if you have them

Sam

[waiting4disney]

We went when our son was 2.7 so very similar age.
He'll be 3.7 the next time so hoping he might be more patient with queues (stop laughing - I can but hope).

[kadypants]

This is really useful - thank you. We have been debating whether to take our 2 year old (although he'll more than likely be 3 now as we've left it too late).

[nanasamboy]

Originally Posted by waiting4disney

We went when our son was 2.7 so very similar age.
He'll be 3.7 the next time so hoping he might be more patient with queues (stop laughing - I can but hope).

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Alice was pretty good with queues, so I'm sure he'll be fab by that age! How exciting!

Originally Posted by kadypants

This is really useful - thank you. We have been debating whether to take our 2 year old (although he'll more than likely be 3 now as we've left it too late).

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No problem. It wasn't all plain sailing (as you'll have seen if you've read the reports) but it was worth all the hard work. I'd definitely recommend taking him! Lots of people told us Alice would be too young, but she absolutely wasn't. It was now over 4 months since we went and she still talks about it all the time

[collybird]

I think Alice was a little star, even us adults are prone to tantrums on holiday!

[nanasamboy]

Originally Posted by collybird

I think Alice was a little star, even us adults are prone to tantrums on holiday!

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She really, really was. I couldn't believe how good she was. Thank you

(I am a holiday tantrummer )

[LozzaManse]

Great trip report - have really enjoyed reading it. We're going with our nearly 3 year old in May do have been taking note of your tips!

[ely3857]

Brings back memories!

Our youngest was 20m her first trip. I'm pretty sure I still have nightmares about a few of her tantrums!

Second trip was much easier when she was 3 (she turned 3 on holiday) and her sister was 4.5. One thing I'll never forget though were her epic meltdowns every time we strapped her into the car. We just couldn't figure it out why it was happening and began to dread when it was time to get in the car. When we got home we realised, she, as usual had sat behind the passenger but obviously this was the opposite side of the car she was used to so the seatbelt (she was in a high back booster) sat on the wrong shoulder! Good lord I wish we'd realised when we were there! (All kids can be jerks! )

[nanasamboy]

Originally Posted by LozzaManse

Great trip report - have really enjoyed reading it. We're going with our nearly 3 year old in May do have been taking note of your tips!

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Thank you Hope you have a great time!

Originally Posted by ely3857

Brings back memories!

Our youngest was 20m her first trip. I'm pretty sure I still have nightmares about a few of her tantrums!

Second trip was much easier when she was 3 (she turned 3 on holiday) and her sister was 4.5. One thing I'll never forget though were her epic meltdowns every time we strapped her into the car. We just couldn't figure it out why it was happening and began to dread when it was time to get in the car. When we got home we realised, she, as usual had sat behind the passenger but obviously this was the opposite side of the car she was used to so the seatbelt (she was in a high back booster) sat on the wrong shoulder! Good lord I wish we'd realised when we were there! (All kids can be jerks! )

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oh gosh, that sounds a nightmare. Kids are so sensitive!

[slow.jo]

Great tips - I agree with all of them!

Jo xx

#kidsarejerks