Keeping Younger Kids Up Late

[atilley01]

My daughter will be 5 during our trip next year. I can usually get her into bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9:00pm. This will be our first Disney trip and I'd hate to miss out on Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic but I'm worried our daughter will be grumpy because she's so tired. I'm wondering what other parent's experiences have been with keeping your younger kids up past their bedtimes. I don't plan on having early mornings after a late night but what other tips do you have for keeping your kids happy that late?

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Let her sleep in a bit that morning, and maybe let her take a mid day nap. Also, have plenty of ring pops on hand in case the meltdown becomes too unbearable!

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I found out the hard way that we can't. But that's just how my crew works, obviously everyone's family is different! I would definitely suggest the mid afternoon nap/rest strategy, especially combined with sleeping in.

 

[amber_cntrygrl]

I just knew my youngest DS would make it through all of the fireworks shows..he loves fireworks and he can normally hang as late as us. I don't know if it was because of the heat or what, but it didn't work out that way. He took naps in his stroller during the day, but he was OUT every night. He made it through MSEP, but fell asleep before Wishes started, and slept until we got out of the car at our resort. He fell asleep during Fantasmic and we gave up on EPCOT because it rained harder than I've ever seen it rain at WDW, all day. It just didn't work out for us with our little guy.

My oldest DS always napped in his stroller and was ready to go all night! You just never really know what your kid will do until you get there!

Hopefully your DD will be able to stay awake (and happy) throughout all of the nighttime entertainment. If not, maybe next time.

 

[ShayBells]

I take the day slower and an afternoon break for the night at wishes. Usually when I keep my DS up late at home he does get cranky but I think cause we are at Disney that it doesn't effect him the same there. I've had good luck with keeping him up later there. I hope you do too. Have fun!

 

[Trinity88]

My 4 1/2 year old won't nap and won't sleep in. The only thing she will do is go to bed a bit early if she's tired. So we can plan a late night, but the next night has to be early. And maybe even the night after. So we're going to do both wishes and illuminations, but separated so she can recover (we're doing 8 nights). I've learned though that it is never a good idea to push her past her limit, we all just end up miserable. So it really depends on your kids and what they can handle.

 

[cjbcam]

When we went we always got up for rope drop, stayed till noon then went back to hotel for a nap/swim. They were always refreshed for the rest of the day. I have two kids that will fall asleep the instant you put them in bed my other two could stay up all night. With this schedule it kept everyone happy. Mind you we haven't gone for less than ten days so felt we could "waist" time that way.

 

[msmama]

We do one nighttime show per trip. My son is 7 now and we still don't do many late nights. Sure, it stinks that we miss them, but I'd rather have a happy kid.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

We are rope drop people, so we save our late nights for later in the week when we are all rope dropped out. Our son is five and he still naps, so on the late nights we make sure to get a nap in that day. Our son turns into a holy terror if we keep him up late, but the last few years we have been able to enjoy wishes, fantasmic, and illuminations without regretting it. We make sure the next day is a relaxing morning.

 

[buzznina]

First; you have the right idea, we do the same thing, when we stay out late we let them sleep in the next morning. Believe me, at WDW our DDs slept longer because all the activities during the day really tires them out Our DD's both stopped napping at an early age, and when they did it worked best to leave them in the stroller(a lesson learned). Which brings me to my tip Take a stroller, it will keep her fresher not having to walk all day and if she does get tired, she might fall asleep in it. The stroller has never been a hassle for us, and I am also talking about the few times we had 2, it just takes teamwork.

 

[kj2mom]

I am a sleep crazy mom with my twins, even now when they are 13. That being said, I took them for their 5th birthday. Night shows were important to me so we stayed late then I let them sleep until they naturally woke up in the morning. I brought clothespins to keep the curtains closed, blacked out as much as possible and let them sleep as long as possible. It worked out great and one of my greatest memories of the trip was on the bus after MNSSHP when my son realized it was already tomorrow and he was still awake.

 

[brockash]

My daughter will be 5 during our trip next year. I can usually get her into bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9:00pm. This will be our first Disney trip and I'd hate to miss out on Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic but I'm worried our daughter will be grumpy because she's so tired. I'm wondering what other parent's experiences have been with keeping your younger kids up past their bedtimes. I don't plan on having early mornings after a late night but what other tips do you have for keeping your kids happy that late?

We have 3 kids (13, 8, and 1), we go to Disney every year and have always stayed for the night time entertainment/closing etc. We've never really had a problem. When they were young and in strollers, there were many times that they would fall asleep before them, but the rest of us were still able to enjoy. If you're going to have a stroller, I wouldn't worry about it at all, if you're not then maybe do a mid day break/nap. I also always throw some dum dum lollipops and sometimes some glow bracelets in our park bag for "questionable" times lol.

 

[DaniMoon]

My son had just turned 5 our last trip. Sleeping in the next morning is not an option, he doesn't sleep in . . . he just wakes up and is not himself. We were there 11 days, we did 3 later nights, not terribly late as it was October and most after dark things were at 8-9 pm and we usually were back at the hotel by 10 pm. Twice he fell asleep on the bus back to the hotel. Worked out for us and he was fine the next day.

 

[cjparker0110]

Our kids don't follow a regular sleep schedule anyway. We start the bed time routine the same time every day! Sometimes they are out in 10 minutes...sometimes 2 hours. Sometimes our daughter won't go to sleep even longer. She never was a napper either. Our son naps and will generally go to sleep if we lay down with him for 5 minutes without being disturbed. Our youngest is too young to know yet...lol. I can only imagine that we will be keeping them up for those Fireworks when we go.

Use your own judgment with your kids. If you are planning a day where maybe you won't have to be up as early, do the late night stuff the night before. Just know that kids are unpredictable. They might be overtired from being in the parks all day, or cranky because it's hotter/more humid than they are used to. They may just go to sleep at unusual times. And they might be ready to go for 5 more hours than you want them to! Learn to "read" your daughter so you know if she will make it or not. If you have a park hopper, then don't feel bad about skipping something one night. You could always try a different night if she's in a better mood.

 

[ktlm]

It really depends on the kid? Is she high energy? Mine is and was always fine with open to pretty much close, and then back after it the next day. At 5, we did still have a stroller (they just don't quite have the stamina to walk the parks a full day yet), and she did occasionally take a nap in it if she was really tired (for perspective, this is a kid that never set foot in a stroller after 12 months old except at WDW or WL, and that gave up naps entirely on her 3rd birthday). The only time it got a little dicey, is when you are sitting and waiting for that evening entertainment to start- when they start to get tired that sitting and doing nothing while waiting, can really wear them down. It would probably help if you had something to occupy that wait time, whether it be a snack, a toy, something new you picked up in a store, etc. We never seem to have any of that stuff for the evening wait, but I know it would help!

 

[smiths02]

We do one nighttime show per trip. My son is 7 now and we still don't do many late nights. Sure, it stinks that we miss them, but I'd rather have a happy kid.

We only do one or two late nights as well.

 

[atilley01]

I really appreciate all the advice. My daughter is pretty high energy but she definitely needs sleep. I think the problem I have with her is that she holds on too long when she's having a good time so by the time it catches up with her it goes downhill fast.

 

[familymemories]

Our kids were very young in 2006, So we just arrived later into the parks so they could sleep in. They were 4 and 6 at that time. It worked out well.

 

[Shana Banana]

I'm glad to see there are a couple others who just do 1 or 2 late nights. My DS will be 8 and DN will be 6 but they are both sleep-lovers. I think I'm going to do Wishes on the first night and then play the rest by ear. I was starting to feel bad when reading touring plans, etc that say you "can't miss" Illuminations or Fantasmic! but knowing our two boys, I'm thinking they would rather get to bed at a decent time. Plus I don't think they will sleep in because they will be in the same bed and have a tendency to wake each other if past experience holds true. OP, thanks for the thread, it eased my mind a bit.

 

[cadawson]

I'm glad to see there are a couple others who just do 1 or 2 late nights. My DS will be 8 and DN will be 6 but they are both sleep-lovers. I think I'm going to do Wishes on the first night and then play the rest by ear. I was starting to feel bad when reading touring plans, etc that say you "can't miss" Illuminations or Fantasmic! but knowing our two boys, I'm thinking they would rather get to bed at a decent time. Plus I don't think they will sleep in because they will be in the same bed and have a tendency to wake each other if past experience holds true. OP, thanks for the thread, it eased my mind a bit.

Speaking from experience, you CAN miss both Illuminations and Fantasmic and STILL have a magical trip to Disney World! My DS age 3/4 is an early to bed, early to rise kinda guy. He didn't enjoy either Illuminations or Fantasmic, partly because he was nervous and partly because he was exhausted. In contrast, my DD age 10 now could rock the night away! At age 5/6 (before little bro came into the picture), we did all the late EMH and the late parades/fireworks shows. She loves them! Alas, I'll have to find a way to compromise on our next trip. Wishes is our favorite of the 3 fireworks shows. Fantasmic is pretty intense and Illuminations is pretty loud. We also love watching the Spectromagic Parade and the water boat parade.
So, I agree with those who say, it totally depends on your kid!