Hi Jillian,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! I know that the excitement is growing in your household as you plan a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort!
When I visited this past October the crowds were manageable and the weather was lovely. We spent some time at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. The trick-or-treating and the parade were awesome although they may be a little scary for your 2-year old. When we want to get a sense of possible crowds, we always check one of the free online crowd calendars like the one offered by WDW Prep School.
Jillian, you will adore Disney's Art of Animation Resort. The Big Blue pool is AMAZING and the rooms are super cute. On that same October trip, I stayed at Disney's Art of Animation Resort in a Little Mermaid room. Bus transportation was regular but it did take a bit to get to the parks. I suggest that you use the
My Disney Experience Mobile App to estimate the travel time between locations while you are there. When I just checked on the app, estimated travel time via bus to Magic Kingdom was 43 minutes, Epcot - 39 minutes, Disney's Hollywood Studios - 74 minutes (via Disney Springs) and Disney's Animal Kingdom - 38 minutes. While I do not recall that any of my travel time between parks took that long, it certainly could take at least 30 minutes to get from the resort to one of the theme parks.
To check the travel time between locations and get directions, currently, just enter the name of one location in the search bar in the app. Then click on the icon that looks like a list in the bottom right-hand corner. Once you do that, a menu of places should appear. Click on the one you want and it should auto populate the directions field. Then enter the name of the second location.
Happy planning!
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell