Early bedtimes at WDW!

[ppan77]

My little ones are ds4 and dd18 months. My ds does not nap and dd will just nap in the stroller while we tour WDW in January. I most likely will have my kids in bed by 8pm each night. What do those of you with young families do in the evenings?? I'm not sure how our late afternoons will be. We would like to take an afternoon break and then tour a little and pick up a CS dinner at the parks. We are staying at CR so it will be easy to go into MK. We are staying in January so parks close early anyways. What do you do in the early evenings so you can get kids to bed by 8pm??

 

[thebeesknees]

When we went in September, I planned to take an afternoon break, but the kids were doing OK, so we never wound up doing it. We would hit the parks first thing in the morning, get through our 6 or so rides that were "must do", stop for a CS lunch, and then take a more leisurely pace throughout the afternoon. Sometimes, we would get an ice cream and watch a parade, other days we would check out some new rides or re-ride some favorites. We usually stopped at about 5 for a TS dinner and then just headed back to our resort from there. The kids were in bed fairly early and we had no problems getting them to sleep!

I'd say that your plan sounds very manageable. The little ones get so tuckered out that just sitting down with your CS dinner and then riding back to the hotel will give them enough down time to transition to bed.

 

[henry72]

When we went with DS (19 months at the time) we went to one park and left after lunch. We went back to the hotel for his nap which was always a battle to get him to take. Then we would go to dinner and another park. Then back to our room and he was asleep by 9 (which would be 8 our time). This time I expect we won't go back to the park and DD will just nap in the stroller. She doesn't nap every day right now so no use battling her back at the hotel. We will probably again just return to the room after the park closes. I don't think we will have any trouble getting them to sleep.

 

[Fall1]

We just got back with 26 month old twins and they were in bed every night by 8pm. We went to dinner around 5:30ish and then walked around a resort, or went to Downtown Disney. Sometimes we did a park from 5-7ish and at a CS dinner there.

It worked well and I'm really glad we kept them on schedule.

 

[Keri]

We have never taken a nap break. The first year we went, the kids were 3 and 4 and neither were napping at home anymore. We stayed at the park all day and went back to the resort early enough to get them in bed between 7 and 8. There were one or 2 nights we were there later, but they powered through for those.

This year we have an 18 mo old to add to the mix. She usually takes a 2-3 hour nap & goes to bed around 7 ... so it'll be interesting. We're not planning on breaking, just hoping she will nap at the parks, but we'll change our plan as necessary

 

[happymommy]

We wouldn't go back to the room - the kids would nap in our stroller. After a long day, dinner at 5 or so, get back to the room, bath time, then unwind time, they are tired. We've all been asleep well befoer 9 most times.

 

[tartemis]

Just be flexible. When we took our eldest at 18 months, I thought for sure that she would just nap in the stroller and we would put her down for bed around 7:30. I even booked two connecting rooms so that DH and I could stay up later and the baby could have her own room.

As it turned out, she was so tired by mid-afternoon from all of the excitement that we had to take her back to the room for a nap. And then after her nap she would stay up until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. By that time we were all exhausted so we just went to bed at the same time. The second room ended up being totally not necessary.

 

[nicki.momof3]

On our first trip to WDW our kids were 2,3,4 and none were nappers. However, we love WDW at night - there is nothing like everything all bright with lights and spectrolight.

Eventhough they were not nappers at WDW they are 100%. Even this years trip they napped everyday (ages 4,5,6). We set the stage well before the trip that a nap is required everyday on vacation.

We start at 7-8am at rope drop and go until about 12-1pm, back to resort for a 2 hour nap. We always have ADR's at about 5:30 for a TS in a park. Stay until about 10pm and do it again.

I know everyone is big on strollers for all kids but if you let your kids walk a little (and my love to have the freedom when they were young) a non napper will quickly turn into a SUPER NAPPER.

Changing upa schedule for a week is fun - your on vacation!

 

[tmarquez]

DD (7) has always done best when we try to stick to her home schedule as close as possible. We've been taking her to Disney since she was 10 months old.

We get to the parks at opening, stay until it gets crowded (2ish) unless we need to see a parade. Then go back to the hotel for swimming, gameroom and dinner.

Her normal bedtime is 8:30, but she usually is happy staying up until 10ish when at Disney. On the downside, we've only seen the fireworks once. But she's not a huge fan anyway.

She hasn't been a napper since she was 2...no matter what. Before then, she would fall asleep in the stroller...which was nice sometimes.

 

[ShelShelsmommy]

We plan to stay in the park from 8-10 in the morning until it closes. We have done that for our past 2 trips (first the girls were 2 and 4 then 3 and 5) This time it will be 6, 4, and 1 and we plan to do the same. They each have a stroller and the normally nap on and off through the day. Something about WDW just makes them happy and gives them energy. It probably helps us that all the kids are night owls...

 

[ppan77]

I am such a scheduling freak!!! My ds4 will only do well in the evenings if he falls asleep during the day. Which may or may not happen. I know I will have to plan day by day based on how much sleep they've had. It would be nice to see some fireworks one night!!!

 

[Keri]

I know everyone is big on strollers for all kids but if you let your kids walk a little (and my love to have the freedom when they were young) a non napper will quickly turn into a SUPER NAPPER.

I WISH! My son walks almost the whole time we're there, and barely sleeps at night. There's no way he'd sleep during the day -- even when he was 4. It's amazing how stubborn my kids are about sleep!!

 

[hillview]

We do a 5/5:30 dinner and then hang out at the resort. At DL we walked around the park. I vote early dinner and have a bottle of wine in the room
/hillary

 

[dmank]

I know everyone is big on strollers for all kids but if you let your kids walk a little (and my love to have the freedom when they were young) a non napper will quickly turn into a SUPER NAPPER.

Changing upa schedule for a week is fun - your on vacation!

TOTALLY agree on this. We are debating a single vs double stroller for this reason. 18mo old def needs to stroll mostly, but he likes to walk sometimes too - DD4 and DS6 can definitely walk... my husband gets upset when his feet are killing him and the kids still have a bunch of energy!

 

[Zeebs]

Our kids were 2.5 years and 10 months and we pretty much stuck to our normal home time schedule as well. We would go for opening, and stay til about 3.00/4.00 before heading away for dinner and bed around 7.00/8.00

This worked great for us. They would if they wanted to nap in the stroller but were still significantly tired to sleep when we got back to the condo.

We did 1 late night for the MNSSHP, the youngest slept through the entire event in the stroller. (including the fireworks display)

As we knew that we would be back in the future we just didn't feel that pushing our kids into late nights would be a good idea. They get grumpy when tired, I get grumpy when they are grumpy and during our 7 days we had no major meltdowns and we all had a fab time.

We did try on a recent trip to Disneyland to have a good nap in the afternoon and return in the evening only to find it sooooo busy that we didn't see the advantage, whether this is like this at WDW I don't know.

But as I said this worked really well for us.

Kirsten

 

[Drusilla]

I'm probably in the minority but most rules from home get thrown out the window at WDW. I of course still expect dd5 and dd8 to use their manners and be polite, no whining, etc. but rules such as bedtimes, breakfast foods, etc. don't exist at WDW. We just go with the flow, stay up late for the fireworks, get up early for rd, napping in the stroller if needed, we eat ice cream for breakfast some days, etc. To me it just makes vacation that much more special when the girls get to do stuff that they don't at home.

Now that won't work for all kids or families so I really think that you have to do what is best for you and your kids. I probably wouldn't do that with an 18 mo. old like OP has, but maybe I would if the baby would sleep in the stroller... IDK.

If baby would sleep in the stroller, OP is probably not stuck in the hotel room. You could take your 4 yr old swimming while baby slept (of course 1 parent would need to sit with baby poolside), OP and her dh could take turns taking dd4 to MK after dinner while the other stayed in the room with the baby, etc. There are all kinds of possibilities.

I think what ends up happening is what works best for each family, something that works for one is a failure for another. Great to get ideas but bottom line, you'll only figure out what works best for you once you are actually at wdw and are doing it

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Drusilla]

I know everyone is big on strollers for all kids but if you let your kids walk a little (and my love to have the freedom when they were young) a non napper will quickly turn into a SUPER NAPPER.

I agree with this 110% - we get a stroller at the park and probably 1/2 the time I am pushing around an empty stroller b/c the kids are walking, but mine still manage to go from ropedrop to past the fireworks without going back to the room for a nap during the day, if they got tired they slept in the stroller and the stroller was great to put them in in crowds so they wouldn't get lost or trampled but they walked quite a bit!

 

[bdiddy]

Our kids were 2.5 and 4.5 when we went. The 4 yr old really didn't nap anymore but the 2 yr old did. Luckily - he fell asleep in the stroller every day around 1pm for a few hours. We were just going to play it by ear and follow the kids leads. Because of that we never really had to cut a night too early. We were back in the room almost every night between 9 and 10. Our 4 yr old was really tired but we had the stroller for her to ride in and she isn't the type to get cranky. The only night we were out late was at MK late hours -we stayed until 11. We had a late morning so we let DD sleep in so she stayed awake and the 2 yr old fell asleep around 10 and we were actually taking him on rides asleep! LOL...We rode Peter Pan, Pirates and Small World with him on DH's shoulders!

It's hard to plan out what to do because you really don't know how the kids will react. I think *most* kids are very flexible and adapt easy so let them lead you on how they feel and go with it!

 

[happymommy]

One common theme that I have to agree with is that you do need to be flexible! Maybe someone is cranky and that dinner ADR turns into a snack on the run. A few times, my DD surprised me with falling sound asleep in the room at 3pm, and she was in 2nd grade! So, we watched tv for an hour and let her rest. No big deal.

If we went back to the room with the intention of getting a nap in, trust me that only one resting would be me! But even at 8, my daughter fell asleep in a rental stroller a couple of times.

 

[Red_Rider]

I'm curious to see how my kids will do next year when we go, the kids will be 4.5yo and 14mo. The 4.5yo consitantly goes to bed now at 6:30pm and sleeps until 6:30am. I wonder how he'll sleep at Disney. I'm not too worried about the 14mo, just the 4.5yo..hehehe...... I'm sure we'll be at the parks 1st thing in the morning and end up back at the hotel in the early evening......