My wife and I will be taking 2 small children to Walt Disney World in Florida in 2 weeks. I get to go as a bonus thru my work. We are staying at the Hilton. My question is what is the weather like down there in January? Any good ideas on what to see and do with twins that are 2 years old? I am kind of looking forward to it. A chance to get out of Iowa in January. Oh well, enought blabbing. Any responses are greatly appreciated. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Gunther_Fan:
My wife and I decided a long time ago that we would never take our kids until they were 10 or 12 years old. Any younger and it's just a waste of time and money. Sorry to bear bad news.
We took our two boys, then 6 and 8, a couple of years ago and they had a blast. They were big enough to go on the rides and do everything there. I agree that 2 is pretty young, but you don't have to wait 'til the preteens.
I agree about Epcot, too. It was great. My youngest went on Mission: Space three times (with my wife - it gave me a serious headache the only time I went). The shows in the countries are pretty cool, especially the 360 degree ones. [Reply]
I'm glad to see that some people appreciate Epcot! I'm @ WDW for the first time last year, and we've alloted like half a day for Epcot because its "the most boring." I get there and I'm like "this country thing is very interesting to me, I petition that we stay longer" so we stayed until the fireworks. Yay. [Reply]
Yeah, Epcot was my favorite because of the countries. Its awesome that they have people from those countries actually working there. We are going back to WDW in May, and I plan on going to epcot every day w/ the Park hopper option. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mmaddog:
I will disagree with one thing that seems to be a theme from some posters here.....your kids WILL remember this trip. They just won't remember it in as great a detail as you will. My kids have been to WDW 18 times in their life ( daughter is 9 and son is 13) and each time they have something special they remember about it.
I would say that your children's experience is atypical of the average Disney patron. They may be shuffling memories and assigning them to various trips. My kids went when they were 2 and 3 and again when they were 8 & 9. They have zero recollection of the 2 and 3 trip even when shown pictures. We found 8 and 9 to be very good ages because they were tall enough to get on all the rides. We had a blast. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chagrin:
and traffic's a bitch
All four times we've gone, we've stayed on property, so we miss most of the traffic. We do go out and get supplies, and usually make a trip to Universal once during our stay, but instead of taking I-4, we just cut over to International Drive, and take it there. Still lots of traffic, but most of the tourists don't know about it, so you just contend with locals... at least until you get close to Universal. I my opinion it's crazier around there, than by WDW. A lot more conjested of an area though. [Reply]
Age 2 is a little young, IMO. They can't do much and go on many of the rides. They will probably either love or hate (cry and scream) at the various characters.
Age 4 and 5 is when children can start to appreciate the whole thing. If you have a tall 5 year old they can go on most rides.
Epcot gets a bad rap. Mission Space is probably one of the most intense ride at the entire Disney complex. The test car ride is nice as well. Make reservations now, if you haven't already, for dining in any of the countries at EPCOT. They book up fast and early.
You may want to "invest" in some of the cheapest strollers you can find. I'm talking about the smallest, lightest ones you can get. Bring them with you. Tie on some colorful ribbons so you can easily distinguish them from the 984 other strollers at the park. Also, on the way from the airport to the hotel, stop at a grocery store or gas station and stock up on as much food as possible. You'll save a fortune. [Reply]
Thank you all again for the information. I know that my kids are too young, but it's a free trip, so I'm going to take advantage of it. Sounds like Animal Kingdom and Magin Kingdom are the places to go. I will have my wife call tomorrow about lining up a character breakfast. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefnj:
Make reservations now, if you haven't already, for dining in any of the countries at EPCOT. They book up fast and early.
Hmmm. I was there last year during Christmas time, one of the busiest times of the year, and I had very little wait at Matsu No Ma Lounge and Teppanyaki Dining in Japan, and I noticed (while discovering the neat boat ride) that the nice sit down place in Mexico had a good amount of empty tables (and that was around 1:00 pm.) Maybe that day was an anomoly. [Reply]
I went in May and had no waits for any restaurants. Except Rainforest cafe. :-) I'm looking forward to this next trip because it will be just the wife & I...and we'll get to do more of the stuff we wanted to do in the first trip.
Originally Posted by Saulbadguy:
I went in May and had no waits for any restaurants. Except Rainforest cafe. :-) I'm looking forward to this next trip because it will be just the wife & I...and we'll get to do more of the stuff we wanted to do in the first trip.
Reapear- boat ride?
I've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe twice. The first time, I swore to myself I wouldn't waste my money there again. Then, on a trip to WDW with my two sisters and their families, they wanted to eat at the RC as we were leaving the Animal Kingdom. I tried to tell them it wasn't worth it, but their kids wanted to go so i was overruled. It was worse than the first time. Yuck. [Reply]
Originally Posted by patteeu:
I've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe twice. The first time, I swore to myself I wouldn't waste my money there again. Then, on a trip to WDW with my two sisters and their families, they wanted to eat at the RC as we were leaving the Animal Kingdom. I tried to tell them it wasn't worth it, but their kids wanted to go so i was overruled. It was worse than the first time. Yuck.
That, and its probably the most annoying atmosphere i've ever had to encounter. I found a twistie tie in my rice. Waiters response: "Oh...sorry."