Disney w/2yr. olds...questions

We are thinking about planning a vacation to Disney Florida in Dec. 2011...the twins will be 2 years and 3 months old. We'd also be taking our 5 year old.

I'm concerned because of the twins age...they will need their own seat on the airplane--how will we ever keep them in their seat when they need to be in it? Do we have to bring some sort of booster for them to sit in their seats on the airplane?

Are we crazy for thinking about this?????? Maybe we should wait another year.

Thoughts....opinions...experiences....

 

Well, if you are crazy...so are we! :laughing:

I don't have much insight as this will be our first trip there as a family. But we have Italy to tackle first before we book any Disney vacation. LOL!

My thing for going now is... they are FREE. Well-your twins are at least. Children under three are free. It's why I want to go this year as well, and at the end of November, right after Thanksgiving. Weather is decent, crowds are low, and Annabella is FREE. LOL! She turns three in June, and dh is an accountant, so going there Jan-April is out of the question and I don't want to go when it is hot.

As for the seats, we are not taking carseats with us. I know people have mentioned CARES harnesses. It's something I am wondering about investing in-we would have two big trips this year...but that would probably be it for a long time.

Lastly, if you do plan and decide to go....keep it simple. Allow for some downtime. We are hoping to go for five nights/six days. Two days are for traveling, three days for the parks, and one day for some rest. Oh, and my boys will have just turned four :cry; and Annabella will be 2 1/2.

Happy Planning!

 

I have no advice on Disney (I've never been there!), but don't worry about the airplane ride. CARES harnesses are fantastic and easy to use. They're not cheap, $80ish each, but you can sell them for $50 or $60 when you're done.

 

I'm not a Disney person, but wanted to chime in with another vote for the CARES harnesses. It's astounding to me that there is actually no requirement for restraining toddlers on an airplane :woah: , but at the same time, bringing a car seat is a huge PITA. The CARES harness is a good compromise.

 

We're crazy too, my bro in law has a membership in the disney vaca club so he's paying for a 2 bedroom suite/house rental for us this fall, in august. I'll have a 9 yr old, and almost 5 yr old, and the twins will be 2.5 yrs old! We're also travelling 2 days, and will be there 3-4 days I can't remember for sure.

Skip Epcot and probably MGM studios is my recommendation, they are great, but there isn't a ton to occupy your twins. We're going to do Magic Kingdom probably 2 days, 1 day at Animal Kingdom and 1 day to chill

We're not flying so I'm not help there.

Good luck to us all! :lol:

 

We just went with two year olds. I disagree about Epcot. There was more for the kids there than Animal Kingdom IMO. We had a great trip. They can ride a surprising number of things.

 

EPCOT is amazing for little ones ! Mine can spend the whole day in the aquarium if I let them. I say we spend a good 5 hours just in The Land before we even hit World Showcase.
As for flying .. really .. my boys (even at 2yrs old) weren't really interested in getting up from their seats. I think they thought they were in a car and sat (and slept) through the whole ride. Just bring lots of snacks.

 

Us too. And then in the afternoon when they are ready to chill in the stroller, we explored World Showcase.

 

Not a disney person at all here, but just took the kids last month. Epcot was by far the favorite for every kid. The little spray park and the aquarium and nemo stuff for the little girls. Soarin' was a big hit for my 7 year old (8 times in two days!) Test Track for my 10 year old. We spent all of about 60 minutes in the World's showcase one day, and didn't go near it the second day in Epcot. All the other parks we did for just one day.

We didn't rent a car (used the shuttles running from resort to parks) so we didn't use car seats on the plane. We own, but didn't use the CARES harness. They don't work on all planes and my spouse (a commercial pilot) gives me such grief about them that I didn't bother. My kids have flown enough that they are seat hoppers. Plus we fly with just one adult and 4 kids so they like to take turns sitting near me or sitting near the laptop/ipods which I use as a babysitter.

I'd say think twice about disney (not worth the hype imo) but not the traveling aspect.

Our next trip is 4.5 weeks camping/hiking/climbing (for older kids and adults) in northern california. A MUCH different experience from disney!

 

Wow Epcot has changed then!! :lol: That's good to know, because david and I would like to go, but last time we went (oh, about, 10 yrs ago...), there was really nothing there for the little ones! I'm glad to know there's stuff for them to do, we may have to go this year then!

 

I went last year when mine were almost 2. We had a blast. They did great on the plane. We purchased an extra seat and they took turns sitting in it. They liked sitting on our laps. They actually slept most of the flight. I had a dvd player and lots of new, small toys and snacks. I say go for it! We are going again when they are 3.5.

 

I also wanted to mention that in EPCOT they have (at least they did for the past few years) little playground type areas throughout the park. The first one is right when you enter World Showcase on the right (across from the water) and then another as you exit the butterfly exhibit. These little playgrounds were awesome pit stops for my guys and gave me an opportunity to relax and enjoy seeing the boys play ! There was at least one more further into the Showcase as well (like half way around). I say take full advantage of these .. we always do !