Advice Needed - Travelling Alone with Kids

[Dani's First Time]

Hi everyone,

I have a tentative trip booked for four nights over Labor Day weekend, staying at the Contemporary. My boys will be 7 and 5. Originally, my best friend was going to come and stay while we were there but her plans have changed. This means, if I stick with my trip, I will be solo the whole time.

I've taken my kids to the beach by myself, the zoo, and things like that. However, I've never done an amusement park or flown alone with them.

I'm at the Contemporary and would use only Disney transportation (Magical Express, monoline, buses, etc.). Is this anything here I should be concerned about?

My biggest worry is about the rides. I have two main concerns. How do you handle a ride that one kids wants to go on and the other doesn't? They will both be over 40 inches and I think we'll skip HS. That means the only rides we can't do are EE in AK and Space Mtn in MK. However, what if the youngest doesn't want to do Splash but the oldest does? It's his favorite ride!

Also, are there any rides I will not be able to take both kids on by myself? I'm thinking about Astro Orbiter, for example. Will they let the 7 yo ride in a car by himself and I ride with the 5 yo?

What are your thoughts? Advice welcome

Thanks, Dani

 

[bentopher]

If you go to the "Family" area, there is a lot of info there!

I went by myself last year.. my boys were 4 and 5 at the time.
Unfortunately if one didn't want to go on a ride, then we just couldn't go on that ride. Not much you can do about it... other than trying to convince the youngest real hard! LOL

All the rides we went on easily accommodated the 3 of us. On something like TSM or Buzz Lightyear, I just put my youngest on my lap and helped him with the shooter. We never did Astro Orbitor so I'm no help there. FWIW, we had a BLAST a Hollywood Studios.. The boys loved Indiana Jones and the "Lights Action" show. We went on TSM, Backlot (much to my disappointment), Star Tours (a few times), Muppets Show, did a variety of M&G, the Hollywood & Vine lunch etc. We did not to ToT or the RnC and we were there from 8am-7pm!!

I'm going again this May (50 days!!) and this time my mom has decided to join us. Part of me thinks that it'll be more difficult to manage her than the boys...

Enjoy your vacation!!

 

[Annie78]

Your 7 yo can ride alone. Since the 5 yo meets the height restriction for Splash (40"), you can walk through the line all together and then you and younger DS can ask for the chicken exit.

Edited to add: Is the older one tall enough for EE and SM? Because younger DS does not meet that height restriction, he won't be allowed in the queue at all, so you will need to send older DS through the queue alone. Just ask the CM at the queue entrance where you should go wait for DS to exit.

 

[Anniefrances]

I take my now 7 and 9 yr olds by myself each year and we manage. We haven't encountered any rides yet that we cannot ride together (other than ones with height restrictions), including Astro. For the situation when ones wants to ride and the other does not, we deal with this one of several ways. The first is that I try to hire a mother's helper for some of the days we are there and plan carefully so that each child gets to do the things that are "important" to them. For this, I have hired from local agencies (pro: reliable, screened; con: expensive since you also have to purchase a park ticket for the helper) as well as from SitterCity (pro: you can screen for persons with APs; con: not always screened and not always reliable). On the days when we for whatever reason do not have a helper, then we do one of two things. The first is to get fast passes for the ride (this works with Splash and BTMR really well) and then at the return time, look for 1-2 people who are getting ready to enter the standby line. I then politely ask if they would consider taking my son with them through the fast pass line and offer the fast passes. The other option is to walk the non-riding child through the line and ask a castmember to divert them to the gift shop/exit area where they wait for ~ 5 min while my other child and I ride. Of course there are pros and cons of these solutions, too and I have no idea if the fast pass option will work once the system changes are in place. Anyway, hope this helps and that you all have a fabulous visit.

 

[AVDisney]

Here's an idea! Let one child choose a ride and then the other child chooses the next ride. If one child doesn't like the ride then remind them that they can pick next. It's a give and take.

I hope this helps you and have a great tip!!!

 

[Dani's First Time]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Love the idea of Fast Pass bribery. Very nice.

The oldest is around 47" and the youngest is about 41". We've been to Disney twice before but never when the 5 yo was over the 40" mark. The oldest has experienced Splash, BTMR, Soarin, TT, Dinosaur, etc. He hated ToT and has not done EE, Mission Space, Space Mtn, or RnRC. Splash Mountain is his favorite ride ever and we've done Disney, Hershey Park, Dorney Park, etc. He often comes home with school work / journal entries and drawings all about Splash Mountain. It's a bit obsessive. The 5 yo swears he will NOT ride Splash Mountain when we go to Disney again because of that big hill.

This trip will be a surprise. However, I've been asking about their favorite parks. MK and EP are always tops followed by AK. HS is always last so it's a natural skip. We'll be focused on MK and EP and may do an afternoon in AK. Transportation from CR will work out great that way.

Thanks again for your thoughts. I feel better about it now.

Dani

 

[TiggerBouncy]

You'll be fine. Disney makes it easy, remember.

As for rides, the best is to always work with negotiation I have found. "If you agree to ride this ride now, we can go on your ride after". Just make sure you follow through with the deals you make.

Have a great time!

 

[butterfly71076]

Your 7 yo can ride alone. Since the 5 yo meets the height restriction for Splash (40"), you can walk through the line all together and then you and younger DS can ask for the chicken exit.

Edited to add: Is the older one tall enough for EE and SM? Because younger DS does not meet that height restriction, he won't be allowed in the queue at all, so you will need to send older DS through the queue alone. Just ask the CM at the queue entrance where you should go wait for DS to exit.

Actually, we were told our DS had to be with someone 14 or older to ride. We tried this on the tea cups with my cousin, who is 12. I was told the younger child needed to be with a person 14 or older or they couldn't ride, even though I was in the line with them and was going to wait right at the exit gate. This happened on Dumbo as well.

 

[Annie78]

Actually, we were told our DS had to be with someone 14 or older to ride. We tried this on the tea cups with my cousin, who is 12. I was told the younger child needed to be with a person 14 or older or they couldn't ride, even though I was in the line with them and was going to wait right at the exit gate. This happened on Dumbo as well.

How old was your DS at the time? My understanding is that kids 7 and older may go through a queue and ride unaccompanied (but may not enter the park alone). Kids under 7 must be accompanied on rides by someone 14 or older.

 

[pickles]

first time we went our kids were 8..we made the rule that every ride had to be tried at least once..didnt matter a persons opinion. Once they tried it if they didnt like it they didnt have to do it again.
They were well versed in this rule before we ever went to disney to ensure no debates while at disney

I know some folks disagree with making someone ride a ride, but not riding isnt fair to the rest who want to ride when dealing with a group of kids. There were 5 of us altogether. We had a few times a kid was less than happy and tears ensued, but they knew they didnt have to do it again and they survived.

 

[desireechance]

I'm a single parent that travels with boys 13 and 9. On several occasions in DLR I was asked if a child could come with me and my boys, then the parent took the chicken exit with a younger child, or child that didn't want to ride. I'm always happy to do it since we are an odd number and often have a spare seat (aside from the single rider line rides). It's an option for your older child and then you can wait close by to be there when they get off.