Traveling to Orlando with 2 Under 3 - Antioch,IL

Under 3 they will be admitted free into the Disney Parks, you could visit Magic Kingdom and go to Fantasyland. They have a very nice Baby Center in the MK, all the parks have one, but theirs is the nicest. They have rockers, microwave, family bathroom, etc.

IF your DH has a choice where you stay, look for a hotel with a zero depth entry pool, or nice kiddie pool. We always try to stay in a hotel with breakfast, one of us will run down and grab fruit, yougurt, cereal, etc and the kids can snack while we get ready in the morning. Nothing worse than packing them up and going to breakfast and having to wait for a table and wait for food. We will grab a small snack even if we are headed out to eat, just in case there is a wait! Downtown Disney is fun to go walk around, you could do a character breakfast although you need to call and try to get a reservation.

Sea World is fun too, especially with the option of going back another day.

I don't have a lot of suggestions on restaurants, but I do suggest Macaroni Grill. They have some healthier kid options, my daughter gets grilled chicken and broccoli, the other pasta and veggies. It is reasonable, and not everything is chicken nuggest and burgers on the kid menu.

Have a great trip!

Hi, my husband and I went to Orlando when my daughter was 2 1/2 and since we were only in town for a couple days and she was still so young we didn't want to do the whole Disney World thing yet. So we went to Sea World instead and had a great day! Sea world has a whole section just for little tykes which was perfect for our little girl, and I don't remember it being too too expensive for the three of us for the day. We went in October and it was so incredibly hot and humid, so be sure to dress for summer! I was wearing jeans and thought I'd pass out from the heat. Hope this helps,
chris

First of all, you will have more fun watching them enjoy the amusements than they will! Go to the Magic Kingdom and Universal's second park where they have Dr. Seuss. Many attractions in the parks are too scary for little ones. Water parks are intended for older kids. What's neat in the Magic Kingdom is that they meet Mickey and other characters and it's like their stuffed toys just grew up! You can drive an hour to Cocoa Beach and see the ocean. You can drive about 90 minutes to Tampa and go on a Dolphin cruise. There's one off of Clearwater Point that is an enclosed houseboat so you can sit inside and stil see the view. When we went, they guaranteed we would not go back until we saw dolphins or we would get a second cruise the next day. We stayed out almost two hours but did see a whole family, including a baby. Oh, in Magic Kingdon, they have a mother/baby station where you can change diapers, have little toilets and it's a quiet place to feed baby also. Have a great time. We have been there with every age and always have a good time.

I have a 3 year old and to keep them busy in the car, they always like movies or cartoons, but if you would like to find other options than tv, try travel size aqua doodle, they are great because they dont make a mess and are reusable. Puzzles with only a few pieces so they don't get lost. Kids music like Disney soundtracks or nick jr cartoon cd's even though it gets a little old for the adults in the car the kids love it. Magna doodles are always good and they come in travel size as well. Or you can always go with books, color books or their favorite toys. Hope you and your family have a great trip.

All great info so far. We went with our kids the exact same age. We stayed at one of the Marriott's that had a pirate themed pool and ship with a zero depth splash area. Working around the naps was daunting, but the whole Sea World thing worked because you get two days for one. We went one morning before naps and then a nother day later that week after naps. Then you can see the animals/shows at both times of the days.

We cooked in mostly so I can't recommend restaurants.

We also went to CoCo Beach for the morning one day (1 hour drive).

We also went to the Kennedy Space Center - Stroller friendly, but just did the main grounds b/c the bus tour was 2 hours long.

Have a great trip.

hi C.,
I haven't read any of the other responses, so you may have heard this already. We went on a family vacation when my son was 7 months and he absolutely LOVED sea world! The walk through exhibits and shows kept his attention even at a young age. The best part is, the crowds are not bad at all, so we were able to have a wonderful time. The park also provides diaper changing/feeding areas; I think there are 3 in total. Good luck and have fun!

Hi C.,

Your kids would love Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom; we started taking our oldest to Disney for the first time when she was about 16 mo. and we just took our second daughter this past Nov. for her first visit at 15 mo.

There is plenty to see and do there; my girls have always loved the character visits, many of the rides, and the themed play areas. Animal kindom is especially appealing with the many animals they have, and the park is great on hot days with its many shaded spots.

We've been to Orlando several times, and we've never even went to any of the other area attractions, because the kids love the Disney parks. ENJOY!

For the most part, I think they will enjoy the hotel pool! I would look for a pool that has a kids splash pad for your youngest (if he is walking yet) or if you even have any choice in the matter since it's a work trip.
I just got back from there with my two oldest - left the 1 year old home with grandma, but even with that for the most part disney was too much for my 2 1/2 and 5 year olds - I expected it would be, but it was a family trip that I HAD to take with the in-laws and tried to get the little ones to keep up with their older cousins.. not so much fun!
They will enjoy some things at disney if you are ok with spending money on a ticket just to go for a few hours which is what we ended up doing most days... If that's ok with you, definitely just go for a few hours in the morning and maybe back for a few hours in the evening at most. Don't try to do too much in one day as it will backfire. I'm sure they will love the parade, and there are some cute shows at hollywood studios.. one with mickey and baby einstein, another one with Nemo (that might have been somewhere else - the trip is all a blur!!). They would probably also like a character breakfast with mickey.
The water parks there are cute for little kids if your hotel pool isn't kid friendly - they have splash pads and baby pools etc. Sea world is cute too if the older one likes brookfield zoo dolphin shows, he'll like that. There's also a lego land at downtown disney, at least I think that's where it was.
We also went to a petting farm.. green meadows? Green something anyway that had pony rides and things you would find if you combined the children's zoo with one of our pumpkin fests. There's a dinosaur land somewhere where I read that you can dig for fossils if he's into dinosaurs yet.
Also just 1 1/2 hours away if you have a car is the beach -- atlantic side or gulf side. Clearwater has a pirate ship boat tour thing that is cute...
All of this is really geared more toward the 2 1/2 year old, your 1 year old probably won't know much of what is going on and doing any of this really depends on how well and how long he stays in a stroller without a fuss!
Good luck and take it easy down there.. it's a vacation for you too!