We are planning a trip to DW this December....the same time you all happen to be going..(dec 6 - dec. 11)..No we didn't plan it that way, we just got very lucky. he he. My husband and I are taking our two children ages 5 & 18 months(when we go) with both sets of grandparents. I've been reading some of the posts to get a lot of info but just a few questions remain...LIKE
Do we pack shorts for the day time? Gloves and hats for night time?
Is fantasmic to scary for the kids?
Do you think the luau is to much for the 18 month old?

I'll start with those questions. I have a lot more but I won't bust right out of the gate with them ALL since this is my first posting.
Thanks a lot for the help. I need it :)

If you have any ideas or thoughts.. just let me know I would love it.

Do we pack shorts for the day time? Gloves and hats for night time?
Is fantasmic to scary for the kids?
Do you think the luau is to much for the 18 month old?

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Yes and Yes, you may not need the gloves/hats but I have been there when it dips into the 30's and 40's at night, and my DH hates to spend the extra $$$ on stuff like that..

Depends on your kids, I'd say try it out, take aisle seats so if you need to leave in the middle you can.

Your 18 mo many not appreciate OHana but she'll be fine and there will be plenty of other babies there.

Keep the questions coming, we're here.

Looks like there will be several of us "first timers" (and long time since we went timers!) going this December.

Thanks... Yeah my hubby wouldn't want to spend the money on that when there is a ton of other stuff to spend it on :).
Glad to hear about OHana since we'll be celebrating two birthdays that day.

Any suggestions for what are the HAVE to do's when we are there? What are the, it's good if you do them but OK if you don't things?
I'm such the planner...since this is my first vacaction in over 10 years. :geek:
I know sad isn't it?!

We were last there w/our 2.5 y.o. Be prepared for the NOISE! Many of the attractions we thought she'd be fine with ended up really bothering her because the music and SPFX were so loud. SU ended taking her out of the Tiki room, Li'l Mermaid, Food Rocks, Muppets, and Fantasmic. She watched IllumiNations from a distance and was okay for Festival/Lion King only because I was holding her over by the tech booth.

All that aside, she adored the carousel, IASW, and Peter Pan.

What is your 5 yo into? Boy or Girl? Favorite movie? Ride lover? Daredevil? How tall?

We were last there w/our 2.5 y.o. Be prepared for the NOISE! Many of the attractions we thought she'd be fine with ended up really bothering her because the music and SPFX were so loud. SU ended taking her out of the Tiki room, Li'l Mermaid, Food Rocks, Muppets, and Fantasmic. She watched IllumiNations from a distance and was okay for Festival/Lion King only because I was holding her over by the tech booth.

All that aside, she adored the carousel, IASW, and Peter Pan.
You'll have to excuse me...I'm computer and short abbreviation dumb. I don't get on the computer much..all but to look up disney stuff. What does IASW stand for?
She has never been around noise louder then her brother and the two children I watch screaming..OK so that can be loud but nothing to the extreme of what DW could do.
Would she be ok for the carpet ride (alladin)?

What is your 5 yo into? Boy or Girl? Favorite movie? Ride lover? Daredevil? How tall?
I have a 5 year old boy who is into cars, trucks, Buzz, anything Boyish, sports etc. He says he likes rides but he's only really been on the rides at the Jersey shore. He's tall enough to ride most of the rides..He's over 41 inches. I'll get tired before he does..he's got plenty of energy. Any suggestions on how he can burn off his energy but how to keep mine? Is that possible?!

IASW - It's A Small World
Aladdin Carpets - they'll love (two sets of riders on each carpet, one controls height, the other pitch) - there's also an attraction in Dinoland in Animal Kingdom with the same setup. (Kind of like Dumbo, but Dumbo you can't control pitch)

For energy burning - I'd think Tom Sawyer Island, but I haven't set foot on it for MANY years (not even sure if I ever have at WDW :eek: ) Hopefully one of the parents can confirm that idea.

There's also a toddler-oriented play area near Winnie the Pooh that the 18 month old will love (soft ground, contained, too boring for the bigger kids, 'hunny' scent piped in!)

There are a couple of 'for kids' guide books that might make sense for you to get/check out of the library (in addition to questions here and perusing the information on MousePlanet).

I'm addicted to this website. Thanks so much for all the help. I'll keep checking to see if you all are responding. I feel like a teenager back in the day when someone you liked was going to call you. :) Dorky I know.

One last question for the day. Any great things to bring home from DW for the two little girls I take care of during the day? They are 2 and 4.

My kids (2 boys- ages 5 & 7, 1 girl-2 yr.) love the Boneyard at AK! It is a great place for them to burn off some energy! It has tunnels, slides, and a "dig site" that is just like a huge sandbox. Your younger one will love the Pooh play area. At the Studios, there is the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area.

As for Fantasmic, we have not taken our kids yet. My husband and I saw it for the first time in June and decided our kids would be fine with it. There was a younger child in the row ahead of us that was sleeping when it started. The little boy woke up from the noise and started crying because he was scared. I think he would have been fine if he was awake from the start.

As for souvenirs, you can get just about anything!! Do they have a favorite character? My 2 yr. old is Pluto-crazy. She loves her little stuffed Pluto! My niece is three and we bought her a charm bracelet. Each visit we buy her a new charm for the bracelet. It's a little big on her right now, but she wears it to play dress-up. I also buy her a box of "Princess Cookies." They are a shortbread kind with icing in the shapes of the Disney princesses.

I hope you have a wonderful time!:)

We are planning a trip to DW this December....the same time you all happen to be going..(dec 6 - dec. 11)..No we didn't plan it that way, we just got very lucky. he he. My husband and I are taking our two children ages 5 & 18 months(when we go) with both sets of grandparents. I've been reading some of the posts to get a lot of info but just a few questions remain...LIKE
Do we pack shorts for the day time? Gloves and hats for night time?
Is fantasmic to scary for the kids?
Do you think the luau is to much for the 18 month old?

I'll start with those questions. I have a lot more but I won't bust right out of the gate with them ALL since this is my first posting.
Thanks a lot for the help. I need it :)

If you have any ideas or thoughts.. just let me know I would love it.


I'm assuming that you are staying on-property, and you will have park hopper passes. We always think of the day in three (or more) parts. With our little ones, they tend to "hit the wall" after four or five hours in a park. So do we, many times. So we plan one morning park, which we hit early, then, maybe after lunch, go back to the hotel to relax awhile, and maybe swim (we were there in February and it was, usually, warm enough to swim outside), then we would go out for dinner and a few hours at another (or maybe the same) park. My younger daughter was two on her first trip. She did not like any dark rides, even if the theme was not scary. She was fine with the merry-go-rounds and thing like that. I would also be prepared to split up with the kids, and always carry cell phones. Another plus to staying on-site is that if the baby gets tired, for example, one of you can stay with the older child at the park, and one can go back to the hotel for a rest. At Epcot, your older child would enjoy visiting the kidcot tables at each pavillion, to decorate their mask (this is free). My kids also loved the play areas, such as the boneyard at AK, and the Honey I Shrunk the kids area at MGM (great photo ops here).

I have a 5 year old boy who is into cars, trucks, Buzz, anything Boyish, sports etc. He says he likes rides but he's only really been on the rides at the Jersey shore. He's tall enough to ride most of the rides..He's over 41 inches. I'll get tired before he does..he's got plenty of energy. Any suggestions on how he can burn off his energy but how to keep mine? Is that possible?!

I'd say The Studios will have lots for both of your dcs--Mine (now 8 yo boy and 4 yo girl) both love Muppet Vision 3-D, The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Star Tours, The Great Movie Ride, etc.

You can also meet the Toy Story Characters, Mike and Sully, and The Power Rangers there.

I'd check the ride heights before, some are 44" and some are 48". In my experience if they know in advance they are not tall enough it may eliminate a breakdown at the ride line.

You can also baby-swap for all the "grown-up" rides.

I have a 5 yo and 3 yo and both of them went when they were 12-18 months. We were really surprised how much they could take without being startled. We would always bring them into movies at least to try it out and we fond that with the hot bright sunny weather they usually put our kids to sleep. I didn't matter how loud it got.


By the way, 5 years is plenty old enough to go on most of the rides (not just Small World stuff) since height limits are often 40 inches. It's up to you of course to decide what/when but when presented to our kids as an adventure, they are always up to the new experience.