So what I thought was going to be a solo day will actually probably be a day with my DD 18m solo. She wont end up napping I’m sure. Long, boring backstory in here, but wwyd?
Note that other non solo park days include 1.5 MK, .5 AK, 1 HS w her, plus 1.5 UO, .5 MK, .5 AK and 1 HS while she is w sitter.
This will be on our last day at Royal Pacific.
Meet Nanny at Epcot at 10 am, take her on kid rides, aquarium, eat some great food, characters, have nanny pick her up at 5. Might be our only Epcot visit this trip. Downside is if she melts down I’m stuck.
Have Nanny drop her off then uber family to Disney Springs for lunch and a couple shops. We can get an uber back when she’s done. Never been to DS myself.
Walk her into UO, let her run around on the playgrounds, grab some butterbeer, if warm enough some water play.
Take her to magic kingdom because it’s magic freakin’ kingdom and I can. Same downside as Epcot… I’m stuck til Nanny picks her up.
That is my inclination, but I’m a little worried logistically. I will not have a car and will be coming from UO. Nanny will have a car and offsite condo about 15m from epcot but in the other direction and would be completely off duty for min. 7 hours. That’s a lot of park time for little miss.
Yes. Boys are going to legoland. The next day we switch to poly. DD is staying overnight w nanny while we are at RPR bkz it saves $800 over getting a suite w APH rate, staying w us at poly. (Nanny is a personal friend who used to be a professional nanny and now travel nannies.) But she will need a substantial break on 3/2, hence bringing tot w me.
I would stay at a universal. I don’t think trying to manage a few hours at Disney and the transportation issues are “worth it” but I am a Universal fan.
With an 18 month old, I would stay at UO. It sounds like you prefer to go to MK or Epcot and there is nothing wrong with doing one of those, but for me personally, I would want the hotel nearby in case needed if my 18 month old needed a break or rest or got sick or a weather issue (heat or rain) that would make it very uncomfortable to stay in the park with an 18 month old all day.
We did Universal with a 2 year old in 2016, and to be honest it was kind of miserable. Even at Seuss landing most of the “kiddie” rides have a height requirement.
There are5 attractions in Seuss Landing, two have height requirements of 36 inches. US has the Barney Show and a couple of attractions in the KidZone. It is not a lot but between that and the resort I just think it is less stress.
Epcot seems like a good place to cruise around. Also you could do Nemo, turtle talk with crush, aquarium, frozen ever after, and meet plenty of characters.
There is always Uber if you need to leave, easy peasy. And at Epcot there are lots of quiet areas to sit and rest if she falls asleep in the stroller. I agree that Universal is not very toddler friendly. We went with a 2 year old once and they wouldn’t even let her on some of the Seuss rides. The height restrictions are too tall in my opinion. Very little for LO’s to do there.
An 18 mo old won’t care what you do. Do what you want to do within reason. Pretty soon she’ll be old enough to have an opinion and you’ll have much less say in what happens. I ended up going off by myself with my DD7 on our last day of our last trip for several hours. It was unplanned to be alone with her. The general plan was to do as much Xmas and WS at Epoct as possible. I chucked the plan immediately when I saw that my DD7 just wanted to ride rides and had no interest at all in Xmas stuff or WS. We still had a great time, mostly riding kid rides. She was especially enchanted by the Daisy Duck meet and greet we happened upon.
Honestly I keep thinking about you having to transport an 18 mo old around Orlando and it just makes me horribly tired (I’m a mom of 3 kids now 13, 11, 8—but I remember well all the trips with very little ones). Doing what’s easiest will probably be best. There is so much at Universal for both of you to enjoy without all the extra hassle.
Prior to this last week, our last visit was a combined Disney/UO in 2010 with twin 9 month olds (plus DD9 and DS4), so I remember the complexities.
I think the advice to do whatever sounds best to YOU is spot on. Try to imagine what your fatigue level will be at that point in the trip. If you think you’ll be ready for a low-key recovery day at that point, I’d go with #3. If you think you’ll want to be more out-and-about, I’d go with #1 and have an Uber escape plan. But I never feel like I have enough Epcot time so I might be biased.
I’m not a shopper, so Disney Springs has no appeal to me, but if that’s your jam, that might be the way to go. Sounds like you already have plenty of MK time scheduled.
(I’m a mom of 3 kids now 13, 11, 8—but I remember well all the trips with very little ones). Doing what’s easiest will probably be best. There is so much at Universal for both of you to enjoy without all the extra hassle.