2 yr. old: 8 nights at cotemporary or 13 nights at Wilderness Lodge??

[Bluesky481]

Quick background info: DH and I are infatuated with Disney World. Before DD was born, we would vacation at Disney a couple times/yr. Therefore, we are incredibly familiar with the parks and the overall Disney experience.

We are planning our first trip with DD for November 2012 (can you tell we are major planners who miss the parks terribly??). She will be a little over 2 at the time. We've always traveled as just a couple in the past (sometimes with friends/family). If you were taking your 2 year old on their maiden voyage, would you prefer to stay at Contemporary (tower room) for 8 nights OR 13 nights at Wilderness Lodge?

We're very torn on this as we would love to have EASY access to MK (love that CR is within walking distance). However, we would also love to stay longer (WL seems like a good compromise for that reason)....although, having never traveled with a 2 year old, we wonder if a 13 day trip is too long for us. (Granted, we will have grandparents with us for a portion of the trip to help with our little one).

We have not stayed at either CR or WL, but have heard wonderful things about both. The main issue is convenience vs. length of trip.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your insight!

[Dulcee]

I'd go with the longer trip at WL. A 2 year old will most likely need down time mid-day and having more time will allow you to relax and take a breather.

[KylesMom]

Coincidentally, we also took our DS for the first time just over the age of two. It was our first time with a child in tow at Disney & we only stayed 8 nights . . .

As background, we've stayed at both The Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge over the years.

Either resort would be good from the standpoint that they are close to MK. However, I think BLT would be more convenience since you truly can walk back to your room from MK if your little one (or you) get tired. You aren't dependent upon a boat to get you back if DD - or you, for that matter - are ready to go NOW.

Just from a personal perspective, I think that 13 nights for our maiden voyage with DS would have been a bit too much. Since you're Disney veterans, you know everything that Disney has to offer. In the end, only you can decide if you're prepared for the "extended trip" or the "get your feet wet" trip. The other side of the coin? You could sure take your time with the 13-day stay & truly relax! A morning at the park, an afternoon at the resort, and if you feel good, back to the parks in the evening. That's how we now tour with 14 night stays at WL - but our DS will be 13 this next trip.

We were looking at our pictures from our maiden voyage this past weekend, and it truly brought tears to my eyes. Seeing DS so full of wonderment, hugging & kissing Mickey & Minnie . . . this first trip will be magical no matter what you decide! :mickey:

[JoDisney]

I would go with the longer stay. The boat ride isn't that long to WL. It is quite enjoyable and relaxing. Your child should love it. My children all enjoy the boat ride, in fact, they looked forward to it.

[mook3y]

We have stayed at WL but not CR. But did POLY with our 14 month old last year. We did like having access to the monorail as it made getting on and off with a stroller a breeze.

WL is a very nice resort and I would without a question stay 13 nights at WL over any monorail resort for 8 nights.

Staying more nights will let you take Saturday's - the busiest day of the week off to relax at the resort, go resort hopping, DTD, etc. For our family, we love having a day or 2 off in the middle of the stay to swim and re-energize for the rest of the trip.

Also with more nights, we don't feel pressured to stay in the parks all day. We take our 3 young kids back for naps and to swim almost every day.

Last year we only stayed 7 nights at the POLY and on our last day, my DW and I agreed we would rather stay at a lower cost resort and stay longer.

This year it was short because I had just started a new job and didn't want to take 2 weeks off 2 months after starting the new job.

But what a difference it makes for our family to not have the extra time to hang out at the resort as much as we normally do.

[MizMissy]

Another consideration is a garden wing room at the Contemporary. Last year, we had a first floor garden room that faced the canal. This gave us a big grassy area right outside of our room, with a nice patio area. Very quiet and relaxing. I know you can't guarantee first floor, but you could request same. My children are older, but I do not know if I would have enjoyed being in the Tower as much, it is very, very busy and noisy. Nice to walk through, but a little too much for the stay. I felt the garden wing was the best of both worlds, a nice quiet break from the action, nice green area for the kids to run around, being able to walk to MK (not having to wait on the monorail loop was wonderful), and a short walk to the pool area (great pool and play area for the kids and they loved the beach too) and to the Tower.
The garden room is cheaper than the tower rooms, so you may be able to add an extra day staying if staying in a garden room.

Also, while I love WDW and "dream" about a two week vacation, we all love to be home too and I found that a week's vacation is just enough where you enjoyed it, wish you could stay a bit more, but since you are so tired, going home sounds good also. You may also consider that because she is so young, you will be going at a slower pace, but you will not be riding all of the big attractions with the longest lines either so you should have plenty of time to enjoy breaks in the afternoon and take in all of the attractions on your list.

Have a great trip, whichever you decide!

[mook3y]

Also, while I love WDW and "dream" about a two week vacation, we all love to be home too and I found that a week's vacation is just enough where you enjoyed it, wish you could stay a bit more, but since you are so tired, going home sounds good also. You may also consider that because she is so young, you will be going at a slower pace, but you will not be riding all of the big attractions with the longest lines either so you should have plenty of time to enjoy breaks in the afternoon and take in all of the attractions on your list.


I would argue that with a 2 week vacation, you have the time to really have a relaxing vacation.

Granted we have travelled with 2 and now 3 young kids. So, we almost always take a 2-3 hour break during the middle of the day to nap and swim.

We also take Saturday's off (read - avoid crowds) to just hang out at our resort or maybe go to DTD for a while.

When we get home from our longer trips, we feel much more relaxed and feel like we had a vacation and not just got back from boot camp. :)

[PopPhan]

Honestly, with a two year old, I would say the shorter vacation would be better, BUT you will know whether or not she will be able to handle more than 8 days.

As much as you would like the longer stay, you will need to take into account the possibility of 'sensory overload' for a young child and plan accordingly.

You can always take longer vacations down the road.........

[KennyandKim]

We would go with the longer vacaation. As previous poster stated you know how cranky your child gets so I would take that into consideration. I would think with plenty of time to relax at the restort and take an entire day off things would be fine. We are staying WL Club level in Sept and can't wait.

[Momto3littlemice]

Hi there,
Well I have to say that I have not stayed at either resort but I vote for the 8 nights at the Contemporary. Having done trips with our little ones... there is only so long that a two year old can be out of routine, living out of a suitcase, and eating most meals out. We LOVE going to Disney with our kids but for me it is more like a business trip than a vacation. You have to be always on... working to get them naps, healthy food etc and I think 13 nights would be too many for that age.

Whatever you choose -- have a great time. There is nothing like watching your kids live the magic! :mickey:

[BrerGnat]

So, basically, your daughter is a tiny infant right now, correct? I say this because there is NO way that you will have any idea what 'type' of "terrible two" your DD will end up being. :thedolls: I am voting for the shorter stay for several reasons:

1. 2 years old was the absolute WORST time for both my boys in terms of changes to routine, traveling, and being away from home. Truly, the memories of the few hotel stays we had in those times are ones that I wish I could block out of my memory. ;)

2. 2 year olds become VERY attached to "things" from home. Unless you'd like to bring along a suitcase full of toys, stuffed animals, or blankets, think twice about planning close to two weeks away from home. Your child will "miss" home and after the novelty of the hotel wears off, she will likely become bored and start acting out unless she's surrounded by familiar things from home.

3. Trips with 2 year olds are EXHAUSTING for the parents. EXHAUSTING. After about the first couple days, YOU will probably be wishing it was almost time to go home. 13 days might feel like torture.

Of course, these are "worst case" scenarios. However, until you know your 2 year old better, you might want to remember that it's not called the "terrible twos" for nothing.

If your baby was going to be ONE year old, I'd likely vote for the longer trip. However, 2 years old is a notoriously difficult time for traveling, especially to WDW (this is the age where most kids start to have their own opinion about things, and will tantrum over stuff like staying in the stroller, holding your hand while walking, sitting nicely in a restaurant, etc.)

I love both the WL and Contemporary. I'd probably pick the WL over the Contemporary because it's more serene and a much better "getaway" from the hectic parks. Plus, it has a little playground on the beach (perfect for a 2 year old), lots of wildlife around (ducks, rabbits, etc.) and it's close to Ft. Wilderness, which has more recreational activities that would appeal to young toddlers.

[grumpypima]

I'd probably pick the WL over the Contemporary because it's more serene and a much better "getaway" from the hectic parks. Plus, it has a little playground on the beach (perfect for a 2 year old), lots of wildlife around (ducks, rabbits, etc.) and it's close to Ft. Wilderness, which has more recreational activities that would appeal to young toddlers.

I was going to say this too! Our family loves the beach area at WL and Ft. Wilderness. This is a great area for young children and tired adults to run free and unwind!! Or should I say, great area for tired adults to watch young children run free so everyone can unwind?!

[MommaMouse]

We are WDW nuts too. So much that we took our son twice last year to make up for missing out his first year of life. Our first trip, he had just turned 1 and we stayed at BWV which was nice but I can tell you at the end of the trip we were sad to leave but happy to get "back to normal" with our son's schedule.
The second time we went he was 21mths old and we stayed once again at BWV for 7nights as opposed to 5. As much as we love WDW with just DH and myself to watch our son we were content to leave at the end of our stay. Our son is very energetic and required lots of time to sort of run around before we got to the parks so he would be a little more settled. We did book dining reservations but canceled them when we got there because it was obvious that a sit down dinner would not be feasible or pleasant with just the two of us to keep on eye on our very active son.
If your sticklers for routines regarding naps, feeding, etc I would stay with the shorter time. I'm very much into keeping things as routine as I can even while on vacation but it can wear you down a bit. Best wishes on your maiden voyage with your Disney newbie!:mickey:

[nfrustaci]

we were in disney in nov of 2010 with our 2 year old son. we stayed for 7 nights and 8 days. let me tell you that was not enough time. my husband and i have been traveling to disney each year for 11 years. our last trip was with our son. did not get to do all the things we wanted to do. with dining reservations once a day you have to stop what u r doing and go to eat. breakfast was the best however the late nights meant a hard morning. we are planning our trip for oct this year and we are staying for 10 nights 11 days. originally was going to stay for 2 weeks but i thought that would be just too many days. we are also doing the quick service meal plan this year. (first time for that) i think that will work to our favor. if there is a special sit down that we want to go to i will make a rese when i get to the hotel. we do like to do at the very least 1 character meal for our son. good luck and i hope this was helpful.

[Mousemates]

My gut reaction is that 13 days is just too long of a vacation stay with a two year old anywhere. Remember with a two year old you have no guarantees about a whole lot of things....like if they will completely love or be completely freaked out by giant characters in costumes Or if they will have two, four, six or eight fuse when it comes to how long in the parks they can handle before they reach their "I have had enough for the day" point. Also remember the things that appeal to a two year old can be quite unusual (say a bird on rail of your room) and that often times the things meant to captivate their minds can be completley ignored....and thats not to mention all the places in WDW where things occasionally get very dark and very loud....which can fray young nerves.

So i would go with the shorter trip with greater convenience (and a fabulous view) on this trip. My guess is that you will have plenty of time to do all the things a two year old will enjoy (remember lots of rides will either be child exchanges or simply not done) especially since a whole lot of November is fairly small crowds. Maybe think about saving the longer trip for when your little one is older, has a bit more physical stamina, and can more fully enjoy the full range of attractions at WDW.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

1. 2 years old was the absolute WORST time for both my boys in terms of changes to routine, traveling, and being away from home. Truly, the memories of the few hotel stays we had in those times are ones that I wish I could block out of my memory. ;)
...

3. Trips with 2 year olds are EXHAUSTING for the parents. EXHAUSTING. After about the first couple days, YOU will probably be wishing it was almost time to go home. 13 days might feel like torture.


Yep, that's me too! My wife and I had already planned our son's first trip 3 months before he was even conceived. My son was 28 months when we took him back in June and it was a DISASTER 45 minutes after we left home and NEVER got any better until 2 months after we got home! My son hit the terrible twos at Disney and the misery is just unspeakable. I spoke to the front desk about checking out 60 hours after my arrival (but we did end up staying all 8 nights).

Based solely on my experience I would stay 8 nights (which is what I stayed) and hope things go better than me or BrerGnat. Maybe girls behave better than boys. Longer than that seems to be asking for trouble IMHO. I think the fact that your daughter is only a few months old right now may cloud reality of how hard it MIGHT be when she is two (goodness know my judgment was clouded, but what do I know, it might be a breeze for you).

However, I also have two cents about where to stay. I stayed at the CR Tower Room and it just wasn't worth the money IMHO. The ONLY great thing about the CR in terms of transportation is the walk back to the hotel from MK. Walking to the MK wasn't much fun because of the morning heat (may not be a problem in November) so the only time we walked was at night on the way back (which was a must because the line to board the Monorail was always backed all the out to Main Street at park closing.) The Monorail was not anywhere near as convenient as I thought it would be since to get to the MK you had to make 3 stops at TTC/Poly/GF first, and to get to EPCOT you had to ride the resort train over one stop to the TTC then exit all the way down one ramp and run all the way back up another ramp to switch trains. While it was nice to push the stroller straight onto the Monorail, it wasn't nice trying to keep a squirmy two year old in his stroller for 3 stops ("Please stand clear of the doors" meant nothing to him!)

I returned to Disney twice after my June trip (left DS2 at home with grandma in Oct and brought him back in Dec after the terrible twos had mostly passed) and stayed at Pop Century both times, and nothing beats Pop IMHO. However I did spend quiet a lot of time at WL in June & December and I really enjoyed my time there and think it would be a good place to stay if I wanted something more than a Value resort offers. We rode the boat and bus to & from WL at one time or another and WL transportation was always super convenient with plenty of seating (unlike the terrible bus transportation at the CR).

So to condense my two cents: stay 8 nights at Wilderness Lodge.

All IMHO!

[VWL Mom]

Depending on the rates at the time maybe you could do 10 days at the Villa's at Wilderness Lodge in a 1 bedroom. IMHO, the extra space, full kitchen, and in room laundry would really come in handy with a 2 year old.

I spent a lot of time at the WL beach when my kids were young. Walking the pathways and following rabbits was big on their list too!

If you will be going to the park each day just remember that 13 days would make you spend on either extra tickets or AP, 10 day would be one ticket.

[Bluesky481]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank each of you for your thoughtful input. After reading all responses, we're definitely leaning toward a shorter stay (no more than 10 nights), but will most likely go with WL after all of the great insight provided on both resorts.

We will wait as long as we can to make final plans (thankfully we have time on our side). The variable I left out is that my sister may well be a full-time employee at Disney when we go down (she's currently seasonal, but working on moving down to Florida in the coming months). Since we live in Indiana, we won't get to see her much, so a portion of our trip will be spent catching up with her--my DD LOVES her auntie! We also absolutely plan to have non-park days to just relax and take in the beach/pool/playground/scenery. Can't wait!

Thanks again!:mickey:

[tdk316]

Here is another vote for staying in a Villa! The first time we took the kids my oldest was 2.5 yo and my youngest was 5 months. Having the kitchen and laundry was heavenly! We booked a 1 BR and rented a crib for the baby. We haven't stayed in a non-Villa room since! Check it out, it's nice for the little one to have some room to run around and having in-room laundry was amazingly helpful.