Walt Disney World with a Two Year Old

I have not posted in a LONG time. Our trip to Disney in March 2022 was our second with Virginia Grey (our little girl). The first trip with her in March 2020, she was only eight months old and the pandemic closures began mid-way through that trip! To say our first Disney vacation with her was a trip unlike any other is an understatement. Fast forward two years and WOW, how Walt Disney World has changed for us since we have a child who can now really experience it! If you’re a close friend of mine, before Virginia Grey, I would’ve told you Disney is exhausting! After Virginia Grey, it is STILL exhausting but in a whole new and very exciting way. Prior to Virginia Grey, I also vowed (secretly to Greg only) that I would not take a child inside a park in a stroller. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?! The stroller in the park was the best thing ever. Sure it slowed us down compared to our pre-child selves but man, did it carry so many great things (snacks, water, rain jackets, extra clothes, etc.) and it sure beat carrying a very tired child on our hips all day long. After getting home from our trip, we were asked a number of times was it worth it? Was taking our two year old on a trip to Disney World that she won’t remember worth it? ……. Our answer…… Absolutely!

One major perk of taking your kid before they turn three is that they get into the parks for free. At two, Virginia Grey could ride many of the rides and really enjoy them. Granted we did have a very tall 2 year old at 40 inches tall and she was a total thrill seeker (we did not know that before our trip)! So we were able to ride a lot of our favorites. Seeing the joy on her face on EACH ride was priceless! I was definitely a bit nervous to take her on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but she LOVED it! Greg sat in front of us on many rides and videoed her. Going back to see those videos is so fun! There were also so many sweet little surprises. She ADORED meeting the characters. Any transportation (bus, Skyliner, monorail) were fun “rides” too! She was asking to swim in the resort pool every chance she got and thank goodness they’re heated because the week we went was fairly cool.

Sure there were tricky things about taking a two year old when it came to Disney. We did not think she could really handle waiting in a line more than 20-30 minutes, which certainly becomes problematic at Walt Disney World but we were able to work around that with some good planning, passing on a few rides, and utilizing Genie+ and Lightning Lane. Maximizing our time in the parks was also important with a child who still needed a two hour nap in the middle of the day. We strategically picked our resort and parks each day based on what we felt would work best around our sleep/nap schedule. We also went into each day with a plan of “must dos” and “would like to dos.” As parents we’ve all learned that sometimes the plan has to be flexible and when it comes to any vacation, the usual routine or best laid plans don’t always work out. So, was our trip exhausting?….. yes! Was it worth it?….. Absolutely! We have a million videos, pictures and memories to prove it!