Theme Park and Duration of Stay for 4 Adults and a 2 Year Old

[jersam121]

My wife, In-Laws, and I are planning on taking my 2 year old son to WDW and we're unsure of which theme parks would be good for him to experience. Would all of the parks be appropriate for him? How many days would you recommend we spend at the parks?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

How long is your trip? All of the parks are "appropriate" for young kids. MK of course has the most toddler friendly rides. AK has all the animal trails and the safari. DHS has Disney Jr stuff if he's into that. And I would still do Epcot for the adults
So I would do 2 days at MK and 1 day at each of the other parks.

 

[Meglen]

Travel day + 5days + travel day. So 6 nights minimum. Traveling is usually slower with a smaller child and having to rush around would be no fun. The travel day is a great way to do resort stuff or hit Epcot and eat or not use a ticket and visit Disney springs.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

MK is great, but my kids also loved Epcot since age 1 or 2. I'd skip HS, unless the adults want to go. My 2 year old couldn't do much there. The Disney Jr. show was always at almost the same time as the Frozen singalong, and we always seemed to be walking past when there was a 30 min wait until the next show. She was too short for most of the rides, and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Train broke down after we had waited nearly 45 minutes in line, so we didn't get to ride that. Toy Story Midway Mania was too long of a line with no FastPass. Right at 2 pm, we ended up hopping to Epcot. Also, we always try to do 1 resort/character breakfast day in the middle of the trip, in addition to Disney Springs on arrival day to have some downtime.

 

[sponica]

My wife, In-Laws, and I are planning on taking my 2 year old son to WDW and we're unsure of which theme parks would be good for him to experience. Would all of the parks be appropriate for him? How many days would you recommend we spend at the parks?

I did a trip with my in-laws and my 20 month old. I'll probably get flamed for this, but we make too big a deal about what the *kids* are interested in at that age...and don't factor in the age/activity level of the in-laws.

We always have park hoppers and my daughter HATED rides, so we didn't spend a ton of time in MK. But my MIL was totally unprepared for the amount of walking and by the second day was beyond done with it.

We only did 4 park days. MK-->Epcot, DHS --> Epcot, Epcot--> MK, and then AK the last day. It worked for us, but I realize it's not the ideal for everyone.

 

[Cadiewampus]

I did a trip with my in-laws and my 20 month old. I'll probably get flamed for this, but we make too big a deal about what the *kids* are interested in at that age...and don't factor in the age/activity level of the in-laws.

We always have park hoppers and my daughter HATED rides, so we didn't spend a ton of time in MK. But my MIL was totally unprepared for the amount of walking and by the second day was beyond done with it.

We only did 4 park days. MK-->Epcot, DHS --> Epcot, Epcot--> MK, and then AK the last day. It worked for us, but I realize it's not the ideal for everyone.

Exactly especially at that young an age. The kids really just care about all the theming and characters and excited people around.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Why don’t you plan your trip around what the adults want? The littles are easily stimulated at that age and will simply be happy no matter what park(s) you choose.
You’ll have an entire lifetime to please your children and trust me in the years to come they’ll be good about telling you.

 

[tinkerjo]

Why don’t you plan your trip around what the adults want? The littles are easily stimulated at that age and will simply be happy no matter what park(s) you choose.
You’ll have an entire lifetime to please your children and trust me in the years to come they’ll be good about telling you.

This!!! Obviously, take them on some rides that are specific to them but honestly they will be just as content to be along for the ride. At age 2 it’s more about them getting used to traveling, learning to be around large groups of people, and how to act appropriate in public while the parents/siblings enjoy the parks. The rides/experiences are just a bonus and let’s you relive it through pictures until they are old enough to really enjoy it

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We took our oldest on his first trip when he was 2. There were 4 adults with us. We stayed for 5 nights and it was perfect. He did all parks except Hollywood studios (before toy story and Galaxys edge). My mom and I did that park one morning by ourselves.

 

[browneyedgirl1683]

Exactly especially at that young an age. The kids really just care about all the theming and characters and excited people around.

They might not even care about the characters. My toddler can recite nearly every Sesame Street song by heart but is scared to death of the character m&G at Sesame Place. You've never seen such a look of suspicion.