[purple_a]

LOL We are arriving in Disney on May 25th & staying till June 1st!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! First time with kids age 11, 9, & 2. We have reservations to eat at the California Grill Monday afternoon!!!!! What I was wanting to know is how are the crowds at this time????? Also where to eat??? We are staying at the Caribbean & say they have wonderful food choices for breakfast!!!!!! So many choices to choose from it is crazy!!!!!! LOL Any help is appreciated!!!!! Also I was reading about rides I know our 2 year old can't do the roller coasters but can she ride with us on Small world rides & such????

[MissDisney]

OK, our kids loved thepancakes at CBR, so start there!

Your 2-year old will have plenty of options for riding fun rides with you. Maybe not Expedition Everest or RocknRollercoaster, but there is a lot more than just Small World for her!

Kids that age will love going to Toon Town, where they can explore Mickey's House and Minnie's House. Meet characters, play in a squirting boat, etc. She will also love Mickey's Philharmagic, the Dumbo ride and Peter Pan's flight. Actually, there are a zillion attractions and other things she will enjoy! Wow, I wish I could watch her enjoy her first parade!

At EC, be sure to hit the Finding Nemo ride in the Living Seas pavilion, and at Studios, she will adore the Muppetvision show.

Aaahhh, those were the days... taking little ones to WDW! Enjoy!

You might enjoy a character breakfast at Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom, or at Chef Mickey's.

[lisalovesmickey]

Originally Posted by MissDisney

OK, our kids loved thepancakes at CBR, so start there!

Your 2-year old will have plenty of options for riding fun rides with you. Maybe not Expedition Everest or RocknRollercoaster, but there is a lot more than just Small World for her!

Kids that age will love going to Toon Town, where they can explore Mickey's House and Minnie's House. Meet characters, play in a squirting boat, etc. She will also love Mickey's Philharmagic, the Dumbo ride and Peter Pan's flight. Actually, there are a zillion attractions and other things she will enjoy! Wow, I wish I could watch her enjoy her first parade!

At EC, be sure to hit the Finding Nemo ride in the Living Seas pavilion, and at Studios, she will adore the Muppetvision show.

Aaahhh, those were the days... taking little ones to WDW! Enjoy!

You might enjoy a character breakfast at Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom, or at Chef Mickey's.

Ditto. Welcome to Mouse Buzz!

Lisa

[Jennatrz]

You will have so many options for your two year old. We took ds for the first time at 18 mo. He was able to go on most rides with us. It was great. Just a couple that he won't be able to go on. I would do the Character lunch/Dinner at CP. Your 2 year old will love it and the food is really good.

[tonyksl]

Originally Posted by purple_a

LOL We are arriving in Disney on May 25th & staying till June 1st!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! First time with kids age 11, 9, & 2. We have reservations to eat at the California Grill Monday afternoon!!!!! What I was wanting to know is how are the crowds at this time????? Also where to eat??? We are staying at the Caribbean & say they have wonderful food choices for breakfast!!!!!! So many choices to choose from it is crazy!!!!!! LOL Any help is appreciated!!!!! Also I was reading about rides I know our 2 year old can't do the roller coasters but can she ride with us on Small world rides & such????

Okay, one issue at a time here. You are going during a holiday weekend that is notoriously busy. May 26th is Memorial Day. So, the 25th and 26th are going to be very busy. The 27th through the 1st is slightly lighter. Just slightly because there are still a lot of people who take their trip at this time as well. The following week is a little less busy before the crazy summer crowds. Don't fret, good planning will help you through it. Since it's your first time, it may not seem as bad it would to those of us who go all the time. Use your Fastpasses wisely.

There are actually more rides that your two year old can ride than the ones they can't. The important thing to remember is to not try to get them to ride something they don't want to ride. They have child swap at the rides so your older ones can ride with each of the parents without the major waiting.
If your child doesn't want to ride or gets fussy, just go with the flow. It's going to be a lot for your two-year old to take in and when a child gets fussy, nobody is happy. Plan a lot of breaks throughout your day for her. Even if it means taking the older kids to one of the other rides or doing something else while she gets the time she needs.

Disney dining, for the most part, is fantastic. Plan a sit down meal at least once a day for cooling off and winding down. There is going to be so much you want to do and it will appear that you won't have enough hours to do it all. Prioritize your wish list with your older kids. Yes, this is a good thing so that you aren't running all about trying to get everything in. Sit down with the park map and plan your days. 11, 9 & 2 year old children will make it impossible to please everyone all the time. It might be a good idea to split the family in the evening on a day or two. One parent stays at the hotel doing something with the little one, while the other one goes to a park in the evening so they can do the things they want to do.

Plan the nap times of the 2 year old near a ride that has an air-conditioned waiting area. For instance, when my youngest was near nap time, that was a good time for us to go ride Space Mountain. Get your fastpasses so that the time to ride coincides with nap time. Get a child swap pass from the CM, one parent hangs out inside in the ac with the baby while the rest of you rides SM. When they come out, you use the child swap, the other parent goes on the ride with the 9 and 11 year old while the other sits with the baby.

By planning your trip accordingly, you will have a much better time than just expecting things to fall in place.

[MissDisney]

One other thought that helped us when our kids were little -- we did the afternoon nap also. We'd hit one park, go back to the room for a nap around 1 p.m., then go TO A DIFFERENT PARK in the afternoon. The change of scenery kept the little kiddos even more enthusiastic!

[BuzzLightyear]

We had brought our youngest at 18 months his first trip and he had a blast. There is so much stimulation for the little ones at WDW.

We have also been there a few times during memorial day, and the weekend does get a little busy but still managable.

Ditto what MissDisney said about the afternoon naps. They are a vacation saver!