Can your kids make it a whole day at a theme park?

[goofy4tink]

My dd was 5, almost 6, when we first went to WDW. We were up early, and out late. No naps were taken...ever. BUT...we didn't do the whole 'park commando' thing. We took our time, we just sat and watched life go by from a bench every so often. We always had a table service meal once a day. And a counter service meal for the other meal. We switched off between lunch and dinner. There was no rushing from attaction to attraction. We decided what we wanted to get done that day, and that's what we did. If we had extra time, then we did other stuff.
There is so much 'we paid a ton for this trip so we are going to see it all, do it all' mentality going on...and that's the wrong way to do WDW. Kids get tired out, parents get frazzled, so their nerves snap, then the kids get screamed at!! Yep, it's very pleasant to see this happen.....I can't tell you how many times I've witnessed the above scenario.

Take your time, do the most important stuff first, eat some good meals, wheer you get to sit down and relax. Your WDW trip will be much more fun that way.

 

[bowbat]

My son is almost 6 and so far gets tired/overstimulated by late afternoon. We generally get to the parks rope-dropish (not right at, but close) and stay until 2 or 3. We travel during non-peak times, so we're able to get everything done that we want to in that time. Then we go back to the resort and chill. We give him the option of going back to the parks in the evening, but so far he's preferred to stay put. Also, we don't use a stroller. It's a lot of walking -- for everyone -- but we try and make sure we take plenty of breaks for snacks & water. The Carousel of Progress is *great* for a rest.

We let him be our guide. We know when he starts acting a fool, it's time to go.

 

[Cap'nJack'sMum]

My kids (9, 11) have been doing full park days, and some evening EMH without going back to the room for about 3 years. As long as they're well fed, hydrated, and had a sit down meal at least once a day, they are good to go. The rides provide enough sit-down time and if the kids get tired/cranky we grab a snack and find somewhere to sit and just absorb the atmosphere.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Everybody is different, but when my kids were 6 & 7 and afternoon break was imperative. I think the parks can present a bit of sensory overload, especially for kids. Withdrawing to the resort, even if just to swim or watch TV or something, can make the whole rest of the day go a lot smoother.
My kids are 12 and 14 now. They can go all day and all night; it's DW and I who get pooped and must rest.

 

[mjp12831]

We've gone 3 summers in a row - never a stroller once

the first year kids were 8, 6 and 5

we do 14 to 16 hour days - never a break, never a nap. yup, 3 young kids walking for 7 straight 14 to 16 hour days.

The kids never asked to have a break, and we didn't offer. If we went back to the resort, they probably would have crashed. We were all tired, but we were having fun.

So I can tell you for a fact that you don't NEED to break, but our kids are pretty tough and have our go all out attitude

Fact is that they are on sensory overload when there and don't realize they're tired. Why not just go - if the kids get whiny/tired, go back to the resort for the nap, otherwise stay at the park.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We have two young kids (5 and not quite 2) and we did breaks every day, except the DHS and AK days, when we just stayed in the parks and left in the early afternoon. We also decided to get the most out of our last day and didn't do a break that day, either. But we also didn't do RD and we let the kids sleep in and wake up naturally instead of us waking them up, which seems to be key for our kids. We still got there within the first hour of the park opening, we just didn't push the kids to be there right at opening.

Anyway, it all depends on your kids. Can it be done? Sure. But whether that's the wisest decision depends on your kids. Now, I can say that typically our kids, especially our oldest, has some pretty high sleep needs. Our youngest typically sleeps 12 hours night and takes a 2-3 hour nap. Our oldest sleeps more like 14 hours a night (!) and can sometimes take a nap. But at Disney, they both slept far less than that and did great, which was surprising to me. My husband I joked that Disney is like Vegas for kids--you can party all day and night without ever feeling any of the bad effects! LOL.

 

[Mama-san]

To heck with the kids - I need to take a break for a nap!

 

[kerri0616]

My "kids" are 15 and 12 and we are all planning to go back to the resort early afternoon. We arrive at rope drop, and we find that we are all more relaxed after taking a break from the parks. We'll either nap, swim (?) or just chill.

Our break helps keep us sane.

K

 

[MainMom]

My kids are 6 & 10. I am not planning on many afternoon breaks. We recently went to a big zoo. After a few hours my 6 year old started complaining that his feet hurt and that his legs were tired. We happened to be right by a carousel and train that took you around the park. First we rode the carousel, then grabbed a snack and hopped on the train. It was a nice break he was ready to go again after that.

My plan is to take afternoons easy. See the afternoon parade, watches Philharmagic, ride the monorail to the GF and see the gingerbread house and eat a cookie.

 

[PHXscuba]

I think it really depends on the kids (temperment, stamina, sleep patterns) AND the parents (commando? planning, stamina)

My kids (DS6, DD9, DD12, DS15) lasted all week at WDW without midday breaks. DS6 is a natural early riser and needs less sleep than a lot of kids. I was actually more worried about how my petite DD9 would do! They were a little grumpy in bus lines at night (me too!), but did very well overall. They are used to doing Disneyland all day without breaks when we go and have never used strollers from age 4.5 and up -- so they know it's just how we tour.

I think the biggest keys to our success were 1. alternating late days and shorter days, 2. big sit-down lunch on long days 3. mostly shows in the afternoon 4. lots of snacks -- my kids get hungry long before tired.

Here's our October schedule:
MK 7 p.m.-10:30 (MSEP; flying/time change in our favor)
EP 9-9 (Teppan Edo lunch, stayed for Illuminations)
AK 9-5:30 (swam that night)
HS 9-8 (50s Prime Time lunch, stayed for Fantasmic)
EP 9-5:30 (swam/relaxed)
MK 9-10 (Crystal Palace lunch, stayed for Wishes)
Blizzard Beach 10-2:30, plus DTD
HS 9-1, flew home

PHXscuba

 

[robinbutterfly]

Yeah, my kids were 8 and 5...we did an 10am to 2am day in August - 16 hours!! How?

1. At least two big breaks at Counter Service places where we could grab a table and KEEP it for a while, in air conditioning. We stayed long enough to get our bodies' cores cooled while having food and drink.

2. We focused on rides early and late, shows/experiences in the middle of the day.

3. Stroller.

4. Flexibility: when they were cranky, we stopped, rested and refueled.

5. The next day was an "off" day

I find that the midday nap idea is great in theory but that getting in and out of the parks is such an effort that it isn't worth it. The extra walking and extra time, for me, negate the whole concept, even if staying onsite.

THats a really good point about the extra walking. We are staying at Boardwalk and will more then likely be walking to Epcot and HS. That would defeat the purpose of a rest! Hmmmmm....

 

[kaligal]

Stroller or no stroller, the average kid could get through a whole day.

But not two, three, four whole days.

 

[summermac]

On our first trip in 2009 my kids were 5 & 2 and an afternoon break was absolutely needed for my daughter to nap. Plus we went in June and let me tell you - it was HOT by 1:00 so quite frankly *I* needed the break too. My 2 year old would nap with an adult (we had 6) in the room and the rest of us would hit the pool. Then we'd eat a sit down dinner and go back to a park.

This time my kids will be 8 & 5 and we're going in May. I figure we'll get through at least the first two days w/out going back for a break but probably by day 3 we'll head back for afternoon swims & to refresh. For what we pay for the hotel, I feel like we SHOULD use the pool at least a couple of days.

 

[dotcomguy]

Our girls are 6, 4, 3, and 18 months. We've been every December the past 4 years and have never gone back to the room mid-day. Here's why that works for us:

• Always on dining plan, deluxe when its free dining.
• Always breakfast before park opens
• Often late lunch or early dinner/BBQ or early HDDR
• It's December so parks close early
• Usually don't stay for Fantasmic
• We take a double stroller and 2 Ergo baby carriers
• Kids nap in stroller or carrier
• When we stayed at Poly, would get girls in PJ's before Fireworks/EWP and watch from Club room
• Only stayed up for fireworks one night

I'm guessing when our girls get older, maybe they'll need a break if they want to stay in the park later for MVMCP or EMH. This December our latest day is a 7pm reservation at Jiko. That reservation was made before Oct 26 so we can abort without penalty if the girls are fussy.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Forget the kids, I can NOT make it a whole day in a park! Seriously though, we don't go back to the room to take naps but rather to unwind, take a dip in the pool, enjoy the resort, and then shower and get ready for our evening. On the rare occasion we stay at a park past 2pm, it is usually because that evening we are spending it at the resort or doing a non-park activity. But everyone, and every family, is different. What works for one family may not work for another. And what works for one child may not work for another.

 

[waynesgirl]

They better keep up!!! Just kidding!

When my DD's were young (8 and 4), we went all day but left early so they could sleep at night. But we didn't gung-ho it, either.

Our DS5 has been going since he was 1.5. We had to make him take naps but we found it was a good thing. Now that he is in kindergarten, he doesn't take naps at school so we can probably make due but I don't feel ready to try that yet.

I think this trip next week we will use the excuse of changing clothes (weather is going to be an iffy thing, I think) to try to get him to take a breather if not a full-blown nap. He usually doesn't melt down but each trip brings a new and interesting twist to his personality.

He'd go all day, I am sure, but I don't think WDW is ready to see that kid commando.

 

[dragonfly08]

Nope, my kids don't make it a full day in the parks. I'm not sure I could, although I can certainly go longer than they can. Things might be different if they would nap and we could return to the parks rested, but they simply won't so it's not an option.

We're there for rope drop and do as much as we can first thing. Then we take a snack break. More rides/shows. Lunch break. Back to the attractions until they give out and ask to go back to the resort, which usually happens some time between 3 and 4 PM. We go back, change into our bathing suits, take a snack down to the pool, and hang out there for a while. After our swim we shower, change, and choose a place in DTD or one of the resorts for a quiet dinner. Hang out for a while, and lights out around 9:30/10:00 PM so we can start again in the morning.

 

[MylilTink]

We were very lucky to get a free stroller on our first trip (a Canadian family gave us their stroller as we were walking into the resort!)... the stroller was the best thing on the trip.

Our DD was nearly 4 on her first trip (it was also my first trip) and we took breaks during the day and went 'home' for naps (I needed them too!) and to cool off because it was so freaking hot when we visited (September 2010).

Only twice did we stay at the parks the entire day - when we went to HS and last day at MK. DD did great on both days because it was so much cooler (rained while at HS and nice cool breeze at MK), but at night she fell asleep in the stroller which was fine for us.

 

[Suellen]

Well... it depends how you tour! Our kids can stay longer than us most days! So we are SLOW tourers. We walk slow, we look at everything, we sit and talk, we people watch. We don't wait in lines pretty much ever. We stop and let the kids play. They are 6 and 4. They would EASILY make it a whole day with no nap and no stroller.

Every family is different and like I said... we move very, very slowly.

 

[preschoolmom]

On our last trip, our kids were 6, 6 & 7 - So exactly what you'll have...

This is how our trip went down. It was extremely hot (96° every day). We would hit rope drop, go all morning, have a table service for lunch, hit a few more attractions, then leave the park to swim. We only made it back to a park at night one time after our break. After touring hard all morning, having lunch, traveling back to Pop, swimming, and eating dinner, they were DONE. Really Done. Exhausted. Done.



We did a couple all days with no break. Sea World - no break (because we had to travel there and back). EPCOT - We did rope drop to our 5:00 dinner reservation at Coral Reef, after dinner we were DONE. All of us, LOL.

It was a longer trip (8 days - 6 Disney Days, 1 Sea World Day, 1 rest day), so we didn't sweat on missing the evenings too much.

I fully intend to see the Magic Kingdom at night on our next trip, though!