Disney with a 22 Month Old?

[thebooth]

I am thinking about taking my son who will be 22 months in March on a cruise and was wondering if anyone has any experience on a Disney cruise with a child this age and the things to do with him. I know that there are nursery hours but it seems like that is really for the smaller kids, and is only limited hours. What were the actual activities that a child the age of about 2 could partake in and was it actually enjoyable? I would also be interested on any more info on the splash area for children who are not potty trained yet and what that was like/entails and if it was easy to keep your child away from the other pools/water without tantrums/etc...

 

Thanks for the help! :D

[Shmoo here]

I am thinking about taking my son who will be 22 months in March on a cruise and was wondering if anyone has any experience on a Disney cruise with a child this age and the things to do with him. I know that there are nursery hours but it seems like that is really for the smaller kids, and is only limited hours. What were the actual activities that a child the age of about 2 could partake in and was it actually enjoyable? I would also be interested on any more info on the splash area for children who are not potty trained yet and what that was like/entails and if it was easy to keep your child away from the other pools/water without tantrums/etc...

 

Thanks for the help! :D

 

The hours for the nursery aren't really that limited - typically 9:00 am to 11:30 pm. That's about 14 hours a day. And not just "small children". I've read reports of 3 year olds who were fully entertained there.

 

Any of the family activities are available to every age. And there are sometimes special toddler activities set up.

 

Here's a link to past Navigators. You can check out what's generally be available on past cruises.

 

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/

[moki'smommy]

Wow...we had essentially the same post 2 weeks ago. 22 months must be a popular age.

 

The nursery hours that you can book in advance are limited so everyone has a fair change of getting SOME hours before anyone can book extra. It is 10 hours on 3/4 night cruises, 18 hours on 7 night, and 35 hours on 14 night.

 

On 7 night and longer cruises, you are allowed to book more time starting on day 2--after everyone has had a chance to book some. The nursery is intended for children from 12 weeks to the age of 3. 22 months is certainly appropriate.

 

The splash area is a non-slip surface with water spouts, etc. It is a great place to get wet. As to tantrums/wanting to go into pool, etc....unfortunately this veers toward parenting advice. Explain to the child that when he/she is able to use the toilet without ever needing diapers, he/she will be allowed in the pool. It is a place for bigger kids. The splash area is for kids his/her age. Um...my cure for tantrums was to remove the kid from the situation and return them to the car/bedroom/whatever. On the ship, this would be the cabin. You pitch a hissie fit about the splash area vs. pool, back to cabin and no splash area the rest of the day. Bad restaurant behavior--I had the server pack up our food "to go" and took kid home. The behavior was rarely repeated as there was NO gain to the kid and no audience to play to.

 

You can also take your child to the Oceaneer's Club during open house hours (you will stay with the child).

Edited January 7, 2014 by moki'smommy

[apoapril]

We will be taking our then 23 months on board in March! As a lap child we save a bunch from airfares. We signed up for the nursery. It should be a great time since she can play with other kids still around her age.

As for the pools, they won't know there's a bigger one.... just bring him to the splash zones! He will love it!

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[ubish00]

I took my 2 1/2 year old niece on her first cruise in November. She loved the splash zone and there was always other kids for her to play with. A few times she asked to go in the pool but I told her it was for older kids and she was okay. I made sure we went to the beach on our port days so she had plenty of time to play in the ocean.

 

She also loved the character meet and greets. It seemed like we went from one to another. Another fun time for 2 year olds is the character dance party.

 

There are quite a few activities for the little ones. So much so that you can't do them all.

 

I never took her to the nursery as we were so busy and we enjoyed being together.

 

I did take my ipad to the restaurant at night. Once she finished eating she and one of her table mates played happily. This allowed us adults to enjoy our meals at a leisurely pace.

[Shelbyscout]

We cruised with our 4yo and 2yo and had a wonderful time. I wondered if the nursery would have enough activities for our 2yo, but at the end of the cruise we were presented with a folder full of art projects she had done, a picture of her having a good time, a handprint picture she did, that kind of thing. They definitely kept her entertained in the nursery, not just with a bunch of free time and baby toys. I have also seen pictures of how the characters (princesses) go to the nursery and do story time. It's very cute. Be sure to request a Diaper Genie for your room. It's free and you don't have to worry at all about diaper smell.

[Shelbyscout]

Also, to add, the Oceaneer Club had Open House hours which we were able to attend with our 2yo (supervised by us) where she got to play on the play structure and participate in some of the activities--one was where they had white superhero capes and you could color your own with fabric pens. They also have Toddler Time where they bring out toys and coloring sheets from the nursery but you don't have to pay the nursery price or make a reservation. This was on the Wonder. There really is plenty for a 22month old to do :).

[bzkdz]

My Ds had just turned 3 last summer, but one of the things we did and really enjoyed was the Toddler time in D Lounge. Most of the mornings, at 8:30am, they had music and characters in the D Lounge. Lots of babies and toddlers. My son LOVED it and I liked the fact that he could see some of the characters without waiting in line, etc. After that finished, we sat next to Nemo's Reef and had breakfast and he played in the splash area while it was not as crowded.

[STL2006]

We went on our first Disney Cruise with our (then) 15 month old daughter January 2013 and she LOVED it, including the daycare. One day we went to pick her up at the daycare and she was crying...they said Stitch had just left after visiting them and she didn't want him to go! Other than that she was happy all the time.

 

The daycare is definitely not just for smaller children. I would say the average age last time we went was around 2-2.5 yrs old.

 

We loved our first Disney cruise so much that we booked on board and are leaving for our next one in 5 days with our daughter who is now almost 2 1/2. She can't stop talking about the characters she wants to see. Enjoy yourself, your child will love it, and Disney does a great job of relieving any stress.

Edited January 16, 2014 by STL2006

[Luckylucyrn14]

On 7 night and longer cruises' date=' you are allowed to book more time starting on day 2--after everyone has had a chance to book some. The nursery is intended for children from 12 weeks to the age of 3. 22 months is certainly appropriate.

[/quote']

 

So does that mean on shorter cruises you are still limited to the 10 hours you are allowed to pre-book. Just asking as I don't know how our 2 year old will do during meals. If he is OK I won't plan on taking him and won't need the extra time. But we may want to take him after he's done eating. We have 6 hours booked for our 5 night cruise right now (2 hours during the day for 3 of the days). I don't anticipate needing much more time, but it may end up going a little over 10 hours if he is enjoying the nursery.

[moki'smommy]

So does that mean on shorter cruises you are still limited to the 10 hours you are allowed to pre-book. Just asking as I don't know how our 2 year old will do during meals. If he is OK I won't plan on taking him and won't need the extra time. But we may want to take him after he's done eating. We have 6 hours booked for our 5 night cruise right now (2 hours during the day for 3 of the days). I don't anticipate needing much more time, but it may end up going a little over 10 hours if he is enjoying the nursery.

 

My experience on cruises shorter than 7 days has been mixed. Sometimes they stick pretty strictly to the 10 hours, other times they have been very willing to add extra hours. I suspect it might relate to the number of nursery age children on the ship. I've never experienced or read of anyone refused extra time on a 7 night cruise--guests are just told to ask on day 2 or after.

 

Also, I've never done a 5 night cruise, so don't know those regulations. I've done 3,4,7,8,11,12,14, and B2Bs in various combinations...but no 5 or 6 nighters. Again, that's the reason for the careful wording in my posts.

 

If you want me to guess--you'll probably get extra time on a 5 night. They are pretty strict on 3 nights, more flexible on 4s.

[dinkydee718]

I took my son, then just over two years old, on the Wonder last February and though the whole family, including him, had an amazing, amazing time, I believe either the Dream or Fantasy would have been a little better for him.

 

For one thing, keep in mind that there is always the possibility your child will refuse to be left in the nursery. That's what happened to us. We tried leaving him there, but after 20 minutes he was still crying so hysterically that we had to take him back with us. Our second attempt was equally as unsuccessful. Though the nursery staff on the Wonder seemed completely competent, the nursery itself, is definitely nicer and less claustrophobic on the Dream and Fantasy. Now that he is 3, we are hoping we'll have better success this February since he can go to the Oceaneer's Club with his siblings (plus he has been in preschool this year so he is more used to be separated from us).

 

We had actually planned an excursion, assuming that we could leave him in the nursery. I ended up having to stay behind with the baby. Disney was nice enough to reimburse us for the cost of my excursion ticket.

 

As for the Splash area: Comparatively speaking, the splash area on the Wonder was just awful. My son played for about ten minutes and was then bored. The splash areas on the Dream and Fantasy are far superior, with slides, sprayers, "guns"... and can keep a child entertained for much, much longer.

 

Keeping him out of the pool wasn't a problem because I don't know if he really noticed it. There were so many people sitting along the side of the Mickey Mouse Pool, he may not have realized it was an actual pool! I will say though that the way we potty-trained him a few months back was by telling him if he didn't use the potty, Mickey wouldn't let him swim in his pool on the ship when we go! It was all the motivation he needed!

 

As for activities, if I'm being honest, we just dragged him with us and our older kids, but he had a blast. The only caveat to that would be that because we had first-seating for dinner, he'd fall asleep before the shows started. We would just bring him with us and he'd sleep on my husband's lap. I suppose we could have left him sleeping in the nursery if we had planned it out.

 

I know from past experience that some kids are petrified of the characters, but luckily my son loved them, especially Goofy. He would run to catch-up to Goofy if he saw him walking on the deck (usually on the pool decks), and the characters were always so kind to him and would always pose for pictures with him.

 

Even though I would go on the Wonder again in a heartbeat. I would definitely consider booking the Dream or Fantasy with a two-year old, rather than the Magic or Wonder.

[Shmoo here]

I took my son, then just over two years old, on the Wonder last February and though the whole family, including him, had an amazing, amazing time, I believe either the Dream or Fantasy would have been a little better for him.

 

For one thing, keep in mind that there is always the possibility your child will refuse to be left in the nursery. That's what happened to us. We tried leaving him there, but after 20 minutes he was still crying so hysterically that we had to take him back with us. Our second attempt was equally as unsuccessful. Though the nursery staff on the Wonder seemed completely competent, the nursery itself, is definitely nicer and less claustrophobic on the Dream and Fantasy. Now that he is 3, we are hoping we'll have better success this February since he can go to the Oceaneer's Club with his siblings (plus he has been in preschool this year so he is more used to be separated from us).

 

We had actually planned an excursion, assuming that we could leave him in the nursery. I ended up having to stay behind with the baby. Disney was nice enough to reimburse us for the cost of my excursion ticket.

 

As for the Splash area: Comparatively speaking, the splash area on the Wonder was just awful. My son played for about ten minutes and was then bored. The splash areas on the Dream and Fantasy are far superior, with slides, sprayers, "guns"... and can keep a child entertained for much, much longer.

 

Keeping him out of the pool wasn't a problem because I don't know if he really noticed it. There were so many people sitting along the side of the Mickey Mouse Pool, he may not have realized it was an actual pool! I will say though that the way we potty-trained him a few months back was by telling him if he didn't use the potty, Mickey wouldn't let him swim in his pool on the ship when we go! It was all the motivation he needed!

 

As for activities, if I'm being honest, we just dragged him with us and our older kids, but he had a blast. The only caveat to that would be that because we had first-seating for dinner, he'd fall asleep before the shows started. We would just bring him with us and he'd sleep on my husband's lap. I suppose we could have left him sleeping in the nursery if we had planned it out.

 

I know from past experience that some kids are petrified of the characters, but luckily my son loved them, especially Goofy. He would run to catch-up to Goofy if he saw him walking on the deck (usually on the pool decks), and the characters were always so kind to him and would always pose for pictures with him.

 

Even though I would go on the Wonder again in a heartbeat. I would definitely consider booking the Dream or Fantasy with a two-year old, rather than the Magic or Wonder.

 

Don't dismiss the Magic so quickly. They've added AquaLab with the re-imagining:

 

Nephews' Splash Zone

An entertaining, splash-a-second play area dedicated to infants and toddlers 3 years of age and under, Nephews' Splash Zone features pop jets, squirting figures of Donald Duck's nephews and plenty of high-seas hijinks designed especially for little ones.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/magic/pools/aqualab/

[moki'smommy]

The Magic has completely redesigned kid areas for all ages--new/improved nursery, OC, OL, splash area, etc. The Wonder has not yet had her big dry dock; it has been delayed as the Panama Canal is running behind schedule and DCL wants to keep one ship small enough to go thru the canal (the Magic is now too big to fit!)

 

SO, any reports from the Wonder no longer correspond to the Magic in terms of bedding, kid areas, etc.

[aimish]

Obviously, this is about things you can do off of the ship, but if you look at the shore excursions, you will see there's a bunch of things for younger kids to do.

 

I am sure you won't do this, since you wouldn't be on here asking these questions if this was your plan, but PLEASE keep your son out of the pools if he's not potty trained. Our last cruise they closed the Mickey pool 4 different times, for hours at a time, just to clean it because kids kept going to the bathroom in it. Just gross and so irresponsible and disrespectful of those parents too.