Help? Florida Walt Disney World with a 16 month old and 4 year old. Any ideas?

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ajsmommy

I love Disney World and don't want to be a downer, but I think you should really reconsider taking two small children to Disney at that time. It will be hot and muggy and very busy. If this is a once in a lifetime trip, you might want to wait a few years.

Erich-Uchiha

This is coming from a 11 year old ive been to disney world 10 times so far my favorite hotel was willderness lodge it has a good theme but the most fancy hotel was grand floridian i stayed there two years ago i hated it it was so boring willderness lodge was so better im goijng to disney world this year and me and my cousin and my mom are staying at willderness lodge with the amount of people you have you should get a moderate resort like conrado springs sorry! willderness lodge is a deluxe resort and costs about 500 doallars a night i now all about disney DO KNOT STAY AT UNIVERSAL OR SEA WORLD THEY ARE TRASH COMPARED TO DISNEY disney is the thrill of a life with young children i suggest dont go to hollywood studios because it has lots of thrill rides and go to magic kingdom go to epcot and go to animal kingdom you should buy yhe tickets at disney world .com in head of time

haggerpotter

i think your kids are too young to enjoy disney world. i went for the first time in 1st grade and my brother was about 3 or 4 and he cried the entire time and my mom was stuck as babysitter

smilingeyes_momof3

Here is the hotel we are staying at with our kiddos...comes out cheaper than staying on property (which we do love to do...but when watching budget it doesn't allow it...plus we have 4 kiddos and this gives them (and us!) our own space. We got the kid suite and it was pretty cheap for being a kid suite!

http://www.seralagohotel.com/index.html

Levi L

www.disneywishes.com may have some info

freddiew

I really would not contemplate taking children so young to Florida. Even with virgin, who are the best company, the flight is so long for them. The 16 month old will not remember a thing anyway , and the 4 year old will enjoy it, but will only be able to participate in activities for younger children and would miss so much. I think it would work out a very expensive holiday for kids of that age who would be just as happy in a caravan with a little amusement park attached and access to a sandy beach!
Sorry to be so down - but it is a lot of money - and I would definitely wait until the youngest is at least 7 or 8 to get the full benefit out of it. On the other hand, it is a fabulous experience for adults and older kids - I have been 6 times now and am in my 60's!! in fact I think kids should be banned and leave all the excitement for the grannies!! - ONLY JOKING!!

gramof6

I just returned from Disney 2 days ago. My 7 and 4 year old grandsons were there as well. I can tell you your 2 children are to young to really enjoy it. It will be hard on you and the little one can't ride many rides.It will be hot and the lines are really long most 60 -90 minutes. I really discourage you for now. When the youngest is 5 or so that would be geat. I am afraid you would be very dissapointed.It would be such a waste of money.

davidhobart47

I just released a site ten days ago for first time family visitors to Walt Disney World. The way it works is that it gives you a bunch of instructions--like on where to stay--and then gives next best choices if you can't follow the instructions. It can help with many of the questions you have asked, but is not really designed for kids as young as yours.

Take a look at this page on where to stay: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/where-to-stay/ and if helpful continue with this and its links: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/

Hope this helps!! Dave

kaz

Hi wow you are going to have a brilliant if tiring holiday with 2 such young ones. There would be advantages for you which such young childen in both hiring a villa where you will have all the facilities and the use of the whole property so you could get up when you wanted etc and in going to a hotel which offers suites like the hawthorne suites which have a few hotels in orlando but I have stayed at the one in lake bona vista and it is brilliant. It benifits from having all amenities like washing machines, dish washers and every thing else you would expect in a well equipt kitchen,

I think I would choose a villa though with such young children. And you can pick them up in June for around Â£200 to Â£300 a week. So not to bad.

With your young children you should also conciderer hiring a car or going with the one that will be offered and you just need to cover insurance. easiest way around orlando as its a huge place and really spread out. Especially if you are in a villa. the hotels offer shuttles to places like disney and universal making it easier to assess them.

All the parks are excellent and the children will love the colours and everything going on. I would recommend a character breakfast for them which is amazing.

Also try to go to see the shows, fireworks and parades as they are all excellent.

I would recommend getting to the parks as much as you can and possibily having a sleep in the day so you can stay later to see the fireworks.

Virgin are good but travelcity direct tends to be a little cheaper and they offer a excellent service. I have been very pleased with them.

For tickets I like to get either the ultimate ticket which allows me access to all of the disney theme and water parks plus the disney transport and the quest in downtown disney which you will love but is a little adult for the children.

Or the flexi pass which is for universal, sea world, wet and wild the new water park next to sea world and you can also add busch gardens but with its huge roller coasters is more for older people, for a little extra. This one is the cheapest but you may feel cheated if you have not done the disney thing.

There is a sceame in the parks which will help you where you can leave the children with the second adult while the taller ones ride and then return and swop adults which can be helpful if you want to ride some of the bigger rides.

We may cross paths as we are back in june for my twins 13th birthday but with 8 children and 12 grandkids I am used to travelling with little guys and I wish you the very best for the awesome holiday.

My biggest advice...relax and go with the flow.

g_burns87

Fiona,

I am a cast member myself at WDW, and would like to give you my thoughts:

Not to disappoint you, but I truly feel that your children are too young to actually enjoy the experience. I would say the youngest children that will actually remember the experience and be able to cherrish it would be about 6 or 7 years old.

It is possible to see all of Walt Disney World in 3 - 4 days, and hit all of the major attractions and get everything accomplished you would like to do--But NOT in mid June or July. Those are really some of the busiest times of the year at the resort, and also the most expensive due to demand.

My suggestions to you would be to first and foremost would be to wait a few more years before you go, so that both of your children can remember and enjoy the experience. They would also be at the age at that point where there would be far less stress on the both of you as well--and you'd get to enjoy it more.

My second suggestion would be to go during off-peak times of the year...These are typically right AFTER major holidays...for example, The week after thanksgiving through mid december (about a week and a half before christmas), you can actually see tumbleweed throughout the parks. This time of the year will also yield the absolute rock bottom prices on hotels.

If you are still determined to go, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and MGM would all be suitable for the kids, with emphasis on Magic Kingdom. Skip EPCOT, as it doesn't offer much for the little ones. Likewise, SeaWorld and Universal are both great parks, but not for anyone younger than pre-teen or ten-ish years old. Therefor, as far as hotels go, I would reccommend staying anywhere on Disney property. The All-Star resorts are the least expensive, and are still very nice for the whole family, and will save you a lot of money. There is transportation provided as well to all of the parks.

Have fun!

**Gema**

u need at least 2 weeks if u wnt to go to florida and a lot more money, i think it wud be best ifu went to paris disney land or saved for couple more years when both kids can enjoy and remember a magical holiday.x

glenandem

hi i have 2 kids who were 1 and 2 last may when we went for our honeymoon,we stayed in a villa with a pool in kissimmee,we went for a flydrive package with virgin and it cost Â£1700 for the flight with fully inclusive car insurance and luxury car upgrade,get this insurance as you get everything included and free baby seats for the car,we took our own sat nav with a map we bought,we went to all the parks apart from busch gardens and disney animal kingdom but were going back in three weeks and gonna go there this time,we wouldnt really recommend nasa as its definately not for the young ones we was fighting with them all day!,they loved the magic kingdom,loads of rides for them and universal islands of adventure,they liked the dr szuess part if thats spelt correct!,when they got to hot and bothered we come out went back to the villa played in the pool had a kip and straight back to the parks at night to see the fireworks,i think orlando is one of the best places you can take kids if you can stand the flight with them!,the people,the parks,the restaurants are so nice and family friendly,more so than this country,and the best thing about having kids is if you wanna go on a ride thats dead busy like hulk rollacoaster you can do babyswap where you go in through the exit then one rides and then swap when the other ones done and youve beaten the quewes,who said kids dont come in handy,this yr were taking back our parents so we can get on some rides together and have a few nights out as we didnt have anyone to babysit,
we was really nervous going as we have both never been away on our own without parents,id never driven on the other side of the road and never driven lef hand drive and it was an amazing adventure and the people are so nice,as soon as we got back we realised how crap this country is now and rebooked anouther holiday straight away,were getting really excited now and cant wait,if you dont do flydrive you will be missing out on so much being able to drive about to all the different restaurants,flee markets and outlet malls,we'd recommend 3 weeks as 9 days is no where near enough,we had lazy days chilling by the pool and busy days shopping and at the theme parks,we took about Â£1400 which was just under$2800 dollars and came back with $140 left
sorry this answer is so long but i just am dying to tell everyone about this great place like many others on here,if i can help anymore please ask questions and i highly recommend browsing through all the questions coz they helped me so much,cheers glen

paul p

We just got back in Feb from over there from the uk (medway in kent) and our kids were / are just over 5 and 18mnths and also we were there again exactly year before. The little one didn't really know what was going on, on either trip but still loved the ice cream etc and the eldest one loved it both times. If you can i would advice to go in late feb early march as the heat is not so bad and the prices for everything seemed cheaper. Check out www.travelcitydirect.co.uk

We stayed in a villa as my kids love the pool more than disney so we will wait now and just go to spain etc until they are older, that said, i will certainly miss the place. Ive been four times now since 2001.

You will have a great time if you go but better if you wait.

If you do decide to go make sure you do as much research as possible as its a bit of an army exercise trying to negotiate it all and if you only have 9 days you will not have any time to waste.

Car = villa
No car = i drive

Get onto disneys website and get their dvd sent out to you for free and also the Orlando Flex ticket dvd is free.

They will give you an idea what you want to definatly hit.

Prioritise what is absolutely important and make sure you get a double buggy even if you have to buy one from walmart(cheap) as the parks are big and the 4 yr old will be tired quickly. Dont bank on being able to get out in the evening as the kids will be shattered and probably so will you unless you are very fit

KATHARINE B

your kids are too too young to drag them round disney etc, wait until they are older so you can all enjoy it!

Lyndsey b2b 150510

i go to florida all the time from the uk. try going into your travel agents and seeing what the best deal is. i would not go to florida for 9 nights as you are travelling for a full day each way.

i would highly suggest staying on the highway 192 in kissimmee which is right beside disney world, if you are hiring a car, which comes with most holiday packages. though it is not compulsory to accept it.

if you are not driving i would recomend staying on international drive and using the shuttles to get to the parks. the hotels all provide transport to the parks every day.

you can buy a 14 day ultimate ticket for your family for disney if you plan on going a lot, otherwise you can get 7 day park hoppers. and if you dont want to spend too much time at universal studios pay in on the day. definately check out seaworld though, the children will love it there. universal islands of adventure is more for older children.

i think you definately need a lot of time to take Disney World in and you will spend the majority of your holiday there. but a bit of advice would be go early in the morning to the parks and go home for a rest after lunch for a while. if you intend coming back for the evening shows come back after dinner. as the heat is excriciating sometimes and children get very warm and tired and it ruins the experience.

shop around your travel agents, we book ours online with airtours, which is now combined with thomas cook, you could try them for a good deal. online places like expedia are awkward as you have to connect in newark so with kids its a lot of hassle so i wouldnt recomend it.

good luck i hope i have helped.

Edit: I agree with Smilinge we have stayed at Seralago and loved it there, so close to disney and in walking distance to Old Town which you and the children will both enjoy, also there is a crazy golf place right beside it and a pizza hut and a lobster place to eat, so there is plenty going on around you.

However, if you will only do it once, maybe going in a few years would be better as sometimes the heat and crowds ruin it for children. i know as an adult it can sometimes get too much. perhaps going to salou (feaurtaventura) would be better this time and going to florida when they are a bit older.
but that is entirely up to you, you know your children to know whether the heat would be too much, in june it can be around 90 degrees everyday!

Do it for Johnny! (Maddie)

June is one of the most expensive months, so a hotel would probably be sufficient on your budget. I would try one of the moderatly priced ones on Disney property (even if you're not going to be at Disney the whole time, I have a feeling you'll be spending a lot of time there). The moderatly priced ones are both of the Port Orleans resorts, the Coronado Springs resort, or the Carribean resort. On $1000 per adult, you will need to invest some of that in Disney tickets which can get pretty expensive. My advice: if you are planning on going back any time soon, buy the 10 day tickets with the no expiration option so you can save some for next time, it is the best deal.

There are tons of things to do with young kids, especially at the Magic Kingdom. One thing that is also really fun and that we all enjoyed was the Finding Nemo musical at the Animal Kingdom park. Be sure to reserve plenty of time for resting. Many people think that since they spent so much on tickets, they must be in the parks at all times, don't make that mistake (believe me, I know from experience).

Be sure to take the monorail and the boat both at least once. Have a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary resort. Most of the resorts offer in-room babysitting, so you and your husband can try to have a night out. If you do, go to the riverwalk (in Disney) and eat at The Flying Fish. It is great seafood, though a little on the expensive side.

Have so much fun!!!

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