TravelerIVLife

We are staying in Orlando for 4 days (myself, husband, and toddler child). We arrive in Orlando at 11:30am on a Thursday (2-hr plan trip) and we were planning on going straight from the airport to Epcot and do a late hotel check-in.

For all of you experienced travelers, is this too much to do in one day? We are trying to squeeze in as much as possible in 4 days with a 2-yr toddler. We are planning on going to Sea World, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom the other 3 days.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

sweetsailing

I think the answer to your question depends mostly on the travel temperment of your 2 yr old. Is your your 2 yr old a go with the flow type of child who won't have a fit if the afternoon naptime is disrupted? You don't say where you are flying from, however to arrive at 11:30 am, I can only assume that you will be up early to make an early flight time. Is it likely that your toddler will simply nod off in the stroller when you arrive at Epcot making for an enjoyable stroll around Epcot for you and your husband? Or is your child the type to be hard to deal with when tired in a bustling environment?

Have you spoken to the hotel you are staying at? Is it possible to check in early? Perhaps a better plan would be to arrive, have lunch, toddler nap and get up for a late afternoon/evening at Epcot to take in the light show.

I don't think that 1 park per day is too much as long as you plan for some down time as necessary based on your families needs. Whether that is breaks back at the hotel or just finding a quiet out of the way place in the park to sit and eat.

I definitely think that Epcot is a good choice for the more abbreviated day. Epcot, IMO, does not hold much interest for a 2 year old.

Get to the parks early each day, plan for an afternoon break and pick up again in the afternoon/evening.

At Sea World you will experience more time sitting around waiting for shows to start. Consider activities to keep your childs attention as you sit and wait.

JJ5

Animal Kingdom does not require an entire day. You can get there early, do the Safari, see the "Tough to be a Bug" Bug's Life thingie at/in the Tree of Life and be out to EPCOT before 12:30 for a meal in one of the countries.

Sea World is an entire day. Magic Kingdom would be much less to my two year old- but to your two year old- that may be different.

Even when my kids were quite little they much prefered MGM park to Magic Kingdom.

But my advice would be to do EPCOT after the Animal Kingdom morning. My kids were not sleepers, but if yours needs a nap, you would enjoy EPCOT more with a napping toddler in a stroller if you overlap with some meals and do some of the riding tours (like the LAND) when the child is up.

These are visual realities (hanging hydro-farming plants etc.) and I found my kids liked them more than cartoon characters. But give yourself time for the kiddie rides in Magic K. regardless.

JJ5

And on that first day, it sounds like you are in an "outside" Disney hotel. Don't forget that it will take you time to transport and enter/exit these parks with a car if you are not using Disney transportation or coming from between the parks (already located within their system). This going through that entire process would be hard for me to envision in conjunction and right upon sequence with a flight day circa a 2 year old. But maybe you have a lot more stamina and your child more serenity than mine had.

And come to think of it, you must be having to pick a rental car as well in that sequence. Is that the case?

I would think you would need a rest and just to check out the International Drive area or where you are staying if that is the case.

ajcolorado

After traveling, I think Epcot is an excellent choice. If your toddler gets tired, head to "Ellen's Energy Adventure" which is a 45 minute seated attraction and not noisy so your little one can sleep right through it. You'll want a stroller, for sure.

Check www.mousesavers.com for discounts.

Animal Kingdom won't take all day so do it in the middle of your trip, preferably the day after Magic Kingdom. This will give you a more restful day.

What time of year are you going?

Karenpj

My children as 2 year olds, were very manageble at theme parks/ resort area. Work in naps, and breaks whenever possible. SweetSailing summed up some great questions/ ideas.

xrae

Make sure you take the 2-yr-old to see Turtle Talk with Crush in the Living Seas at EPCOT. We don't even have kids but we loved it! Crush, the surfer dude turtle from "Finding Nemo," converses with the kids in the audience. It's pretty cool just from a technology standpoint -- we types that like to figure out how things work.

mikesmom

I think Ellen's Energy Adverture could be a little intense for a two-year old.

Those dinosaurs could be scary.

Otherwise, I think EPCOT is a good choice for your first day. Personally, we always like to check-in to our hotel first and then head to a park, but that's just us.

Go to disboards.com for tons of Disney information. Anything you can think of can be answered on that board.

Enjoy your trip.

OldSouthernBelle

I strongly advise that you stay at the Polynesian as this has the advantage of the tram stop directly in front of the entrance to the hotel.

We did this when my youngest was 3yo and it was a life saver! We could just hop on the tram and go back to the hotel for a nap in the afternoon (we all took one) and then resume the fun afterwards!

Also, the Mickey Mouse Club 'day care' is located there and they allow 1/2 day sitting. We chose to use this service while DH & I went out for a relaxing dinner at the Japanese restaurant in Epcot and we took a brief tour.

The kids loved it so much that they wanted to do it again - which we didn't get around to.

I recommended this to a co-worker not to o long ago who chose not to stay at the Polynesian. Upon her return, she stated that is the ONLY place she would stay when she returns, for the reasons I stated above.

tracys2cents

4 theme parks in 3 and a half days is too much for a 12 year old, and WAY too much for a 2 year old.

MauiPigFarmer

Hi Traveler -

As a Disney veteran (5 visits so far) I would say that if you were absolutely dead-set on doing that half-day, then Epcot would be the park for you. Animal Kingdom might also serve the half-day purpose, but it's my least favorite of all the attractions so I might be biased. I'm sure other people could stay there for hours but I was ready to go pretty quickly.

SeaWorld is absolutely a FULL day, and Magic Kingdom will most likely be a full day as well as it's the park that is most geared to a toddler.

I would have to say yeah . . . you're trying to slam too much in there. Believe me I understand that you want to get the most from your travel dollars when you go see the mouse, but to envision a day of travel with a toddler makes me tired FOR you! I can't imagine flying, getting the car, finding my way around, spending time at the park, not checking in to my hotel until late that night . . . AND doing it all with a toddler in tow. By that time I would be in tears, nevermind how the toddler was holding up.

My advice would be to just go slow and play it by ear, paying attention to everyone's energy levels along the way.

TravelerIVLife

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We've decided that we were trying to do too much in a long-weekend trip. Since we know that we'll be back in the next couple of years we decided to play the first day (the 1/2 day) by ear. We'll see how everyone feels. Then we are thinking of doing Sea World and 2 other disney parks. Like I said, it's not our last trip to Disney but just a last minute long-weekend trip.

Having never traveled with our toddler, we aren't planning on doing much on the travel day. If everyone is up to going to a park then we'll go, otherwise we'll just hang by the pool or something. The main thing is to enjoy ourselves and relax not return from vacation over-tired.

Thanks again!

keymom

I'm glad you made this decision. Vacations are supposed to be fun, not forced marches through various locales. When my kids were younger, we had the "3 yells and we're out" rule. The third time you need to scold your child (and perhaps the first or second), then it's not fun and everyone should head back to the hotel to rest.
You and your husband should be aware of the "baby swap" feature of the big rides. Tell the attendant when you enter the ride that you want to baby swap. They will direct you to an area where one of you will wait while the other rides. When the first person is done, you swap. If you have a 4th person with you (i.e., another child old enough to ride the ride), that person can ride twice. As my older child heading off for his second ride on Space Mountain, he announced he was the luckiest kid in the world.

wildcat10

to jj5 who thought a half day in Animal Kingdom was enough! we LOVED Animal KIngdom! The Lion King Show is a must see and the parade is incredible. I would skip Pocohantas. We spent a day and a half at animal Kingdom in December (short days). I don't remember the name but the walk thru the Jungle was great and my grandkids rode the river rapids 5 times. Plan at least a long day!!

gail

OP - I agree completely with keymom. You do not get a prize at the end of your vacation for having gone on the most rides or having seen the most attractions. That is a guaranteed set-up to bickering parents and whining child.

As tempting as it is since admission costs are so high and you want to get your money's worth - remember idea is to have fun as a family. So when your kid sees the hotel pool and wants to play in it, it is not wasting time to do so.

By the time you arrive in Orlando, get luggage and rental car (or find shuttle), have lunch, you can probably check into hotel. If it is a 2 hour flight, then you had to be up early, so everyone gets to rest a little and then head to a Park, perhaps Epcot, in later afternoon and stay thru dinner. This might be a good night to see some fireworks if it is convenient and available, since other days you may find yourself too tired to stay for them.