Admittedly, I was already a Disney World fan before we took this trip. But doing Disney with two 2.5-year-olds? A BLAST.

They were primed, of course. They had gotten hooked on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when my dad brought them a DVD of it at Thanksgiving, so they know and have developed an attachment to the main core of characters. They’ve seen a few of the movies (some Pixar, plus a recent screening of Peter Pan), and M has been reading Winnie the Pooh (the original) to them at night.  They were all kinds of excited to go see “Mickey’s castle.”

It did not disappoint.  Despite a 4:30am wake up call for our flight to Orlando, they were buzzing with excitement.  Even the bus from the airport had them absolutely ecstatic.

The Daisy & Donald Duck figures on the way to our room put them straight over the edge.

The next morning, we hit the Magic Kingdom and made a beeline for Fantasyland.  The Peter Pan ride was the first, and freaked Rebecca out, but she eventually got over it and asked to go again.  The carousel never had a wait. The Winnie the Pooh ride was an obsession (every 10 minutes: “I wanna bounce with Tigger!”).  Dumbo was a hit, regardless of the fact they’ve never seen the movie. It’s a Small World.  All of them, right there.  We parked the stroller outside of one ride and just popped over to the rest.

There’s even a train that circles the park, complete with a costumed conductor. What else could you possibly want?  We made brief trips into Animal Kingdom and Epcot, but Magic Kingdom is definitely where it’s at with this age.

I wasn’t sure how they’d react to the costumed characters. They’re rather large, after all, and plenty of kids have been known to freak out.  But mine loved them. ESPECIALLY Rebecca.  The girl nearly tackled Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore.

Someone suggested I make a reservation for a Character Breakfast, and it was totally worth the high price and mediocre buffet to see this look on Rebecca’s face:

She was so excited every time a new character approached the table, I’m impressed she managed to stay in her seat.  Daniel was not as over-the-moon as his sister, but did enjoy talking with Mickey and Goofy about what he was having for breakfast, and offering them bites of oatmeal and waffle. They politely declined.

It wasn’t a very long trip, really only three full days. There was a ton of stuff we didn’t do, either because the kids were too small or there just wasn’t enough time. But I’m really, really glad we went. The kids were absolutely enthralled, and they still get excited talking about what they did and who they saw. Can’t wait for the next time.

For anyone wanting tips on Disney World with the under-3 set, here’s the advice I came away with…

THINGS WE DID RIGHT

• Brought the double umbrella stroller (our Maclaren). Folds up much better than the BOB, but still pushes nicely. Baskets were useful, kids did a fair amount of riding. And beats the crap out of the $30+/day to rent a plastic one at the park.
• Stayed on Disney property. I know people say you can save money if you stay outside the park. But I think staying in a Disney hotel is totally worth it for the convenience. You get the FREE bus shuttle from the airport (which includes THEM picking up your bags at baggage claim and delivering them TO YOUR ROOM). The park buses take you wherever you need to go, and while sometimes you wish they were faster, I still think it beats the hell out of renting a car.
• Got two connecting rooms. A bit of an indulgence, perhaps. But it meant we didn’t have to sit silently in the room while the kids were napping. Plus, M snores like a chainsaw, best not to wake the kids up.
• Respected the schedule, sorta.  We left the parks around lunchtime every day and took the kids back to the hotel for a nap.  OK, so it often ended up being closer to 2:00 instead of our usual 12:30. But they got a nice, long nap each day. Not only did they desperately need it after all of the running around and over-stimulation, but it also meant we left the parks at the very busiest time of day.  Bedtime also ran a bit later than normal, but not too bad.
• Get to the parks EARLY. It only gets more crowded as the day progresses. If you can get there right as it opens, you’ll be able to walk right onto two or three rides before you hit your first line. We never even bothered with a FastPass.
• Respect that you’re there for the kids. If they want to go on the same ride 5 times in a row, just frigging do it. If you get caught up in the fact that YOU want to go on this or that ride, you’ll end up dragging them around and everyone will get cranky. Push them a little to try new things, but pay attention to what freaks them out and what they enjoy, and you’ll have a much better experience.

THINGS I’D DO DIFFERENTLY

• Hotel upgrade. Normally I’m of the persuasion that you don’t go to Disney World to sit around in your room, so the low-end resorts are just peachy. And they are. Perfectly comfortable, kid-friendly, etc.  The flaw in my logic is that, with kids who nap and go to bed (somewhat) early, you actually do spend some time sitting around the hotel. We were at the All-Star Movies, and the down-side is that the low rates tend to attract large travel groups (there were several teenaged dance teams and at least one high school marching band) and an otherwise… interesting clientele. Without quite as many perks and amenities as some of the other resorts. This might have been the time to spend the extra little bit of cash and go up a level. I mean, really, we didn’t go into this one as a bargain vacation. Who are we kidding?
• Plan meals ahead of time. That’s one area where my planning really fell down. I didn’t scope out restaurants enough, or make hardly any reservations ahead of time. So we ended up kind of scrambling/winging it for each meal. And at 7:15 on a Saturday night, you ain’t getting in anywhere. Enjoy the lukewarm quesadilla from the quick-service vendor while you attempt to find a place on the sidewalk to sit. I think I hesitated because I didn’t feel like I knew where we’d be in the parks for each meal. But even making a call earlier in the day for dinner that night will yield better results.
• Bring more snacks from home. While I don’t advocate doing what some friends of ours once did (an ENTIRE suitcase full of food), I can say that reasonably healthy and toddler-friendly snacks are not super easy to come by. A few more boxes of raisins, bags of goldfish, and juice boxes would have been smart. You can even request a mini-fridge in your room if you want to bring something perishable.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Kids under 3 do not have to pay to enter the parks. They will not charge you for kids under 3 when you eat at a buffet, and if you want to have them eat off your plate at a table-service restaurant, you are welcome to do so. So if you’re debating whether to take the kids now (at 2.5) or wait until they’re 4? There’s a reason to go now.  (Not that they ask for proof of age…)
• Taking the shuttles from hotel to park and back eats up a LOT of time.  Think a minimum of 30 minutes from when you get to the bus stop to when you arrive at your destination. Often more like 45-60.  You really have to think ahead on that one. That was a big factor in our consistently late naps and bedtimes. You just can’t get anywhere all that fast. Plan accordingly and accept it.
• Cast Members (Disney employees) are your friends. Be kind to them, they work hard. And most of them are super sweet, and often have a little stash of goodies to give to kids who look like they need a treat. A man at the Peter Pan ride handed us stickers, the cashier at the All-Star food court gave us beaded necklaces, and a bus driver gave Daniel a pirate scarf and Rebecca a little green ring.  Yes, it’s their job to be nice to you, but return the favor.
• There are designated meeting places for different characters, but the lines can be outrageous. Especially in the Magic Kingdom. But there was no waiting to see Pooh and his crew at Animal Kingdom, and the big names come right to your table for the Character Breakfast. Beats wasting half an hour in line to get a picture with Pluto.

Edited to add responses to questions asked in the comments!

I thought I read somewhere that grandparents were involved? What would you recommend the kid-to-adult ratio be?

My in-laws did come with us, and it proved very handy to have the extra adults. Especially when it allowed M to get up at the crack of dawn to come with me to my race, and we didn’t have to drag the kids. That said… I think it depends on the adults. My in-laws are nice people, but they often move entirely too slowly for my taste, especially when everything at Disney takes a while. So sometimes I felt they slowed us down. And with both me and M there, we were easily able to split the kids up if they wanted to do different things. So, evaluate your kids and your available adults. More people can be great, but it can also be more to coordinate.

What about potty, how did they handle it over there?

My uber-potty-master Rebecca did spectacularly. Used the bathrooms with no trouble (we always had our travel potty with us, so we just put it right on the seat). The industrial toilets were a little loud and scared her a teeny bit, but nothing too traumatic. I insisted on mid-morning potty breaks whether she asked to go or not, and she managed to have only a single accident our entire trip. Daniel had already gone back into Pull-Ups full-time before the trip, so we left it as-is. I would not have wanted to do it with an unreliably potty-trained kid, to be honest.

What did you do for the sleeping arrangements? Did they provide two cribs for you?

Yep, we requested two Pack & Plays when I made the reservation. They weren’t in our rooms when we checked in, so I had to make an extra call. But once I did, they were delivered promptly. I’m glad I brought PnP sheets from home, as the ones they provided were a little threadbare.