Rethinking taking DS to WDW after Ontario Place visit!?

[Jo-Anne]

We were at Ontario Place this past weekend with DS who is almost 3 and DD who is almost 6. My DD just loves the rides and characters and has been to WDW twice. This Sept was going to be the first visit for my DS. However, at Ontario Place, he refused to go on any rides, wouldn't go near the "Arthur" character and was just plain happy watching his sister go on all the rides! I fear that our WDW trip will consist of me sitting at the ride exits with my DS waiting for my DD and DH!!? He doesn't get hysterical, but he's obviously nervous. I did trick him into going on the small, enclosed ferris wheel and as soon as he got on and settled on my lap, he was ok. He actually went a second time and sat beside me and was quite happy. I think he'd be ok on most small rides once he got on, but I don't want to force him on anything. Any advice? Should I take them to a day at Wonderland prior to visit to try to ease him again into some rides? I don't want to leave him at home again, but I don't want to ruin the trip for DD or spend all that money to sit on benches!!

 

[hawt1]

Joanne,

We've taken our 3 1/2 to Florida a couple of times and have NOT gone to WDW yet. Stuck to Universal IOA the last two times. We were impressed by the availability of the characters for photos and the entire Seuss-ville is full of rides that are perfect for a 3 year old.

Just a thought....

 

[DSNY FN]

We took our daughter when she was 3 and don't regret it one bit she absolutely loved the place we started off by getting her to watch the sing along videos. They have the actual characters in them not the cartoon version so she got to see what they would really be like along with some of the rides etc. We had a great time and she rode quite a few things and we didn't make her go on anything she didn't want to that was key. When she saw other kids doing stuff she felt like doing it to after a bit and we would come back to it start him out on small stuff like the Pooh ride etc and It's A Small World then you can build him up to the rest of the stuff. He will love you will see.
Darren & Lisa

 

[Jo-Anne]

Thanks for the encouragement! We're actually going to US/IOA the last two days of our week visit, so hopefully he'll have adjusted and enjoy Suessville to the utmost! We have the sing a long video which we'll start playing again, and we'll haul out our video of Katie's first visit two years ago. I'm sure we'll be taking him, but I'd like to get him as prepared as possible so we can all enjoy the trip!

 

[MikeJ]

Another thing to consider is the baby swap. What this allows you to do is for everyone (except DS) to ride the attraction without having to wait in line twice. The logistics are a little different on the different rides, but basically what happens is everyone gets in line for the attraction. When you get to the ride, adult A and DD ride the attraction while adult B and DS wait near the exit. Once the first group is done, adults A & B "swap" children, so A now waits with DS while adult B and DD ride. Be sure to mention you want to do the baby swap to the CMs when you enter the attraction as well as at the loading area. The big advantage for DD is that she gets to ride twice.

Some of the attractions separate your party as soon as you enter, and the second group goes to the exit. If the ride has a 90-minute wait, it can get very boring for the group waiting at the exit - so you might want to take that into consideration.

We made extensive use of the baby swap when our kids were younger - it works very well. For more information check out this link.

- Mike