Really???

[nchulka]

You had your one year old child out until 2AM???

Yep! And he lived to tell about it! As I said in an earlier post my kids were on a super strict schedule at home (I live and die by the clock), but on vacation it is all about fun, fun, fun! My kids have grown up like this and have no problems keeping up!

 

[LuLuO]

I used to be a commando vacationer but I've had to change my ways. My kids are up early (6:30am) but start to melt down by about 3pm. They go to bed around 7pm. So we will likely be done at the parks by 3pm most days. I have one evening at MK planned for Wishes and the next day will be a late arrival at Epcot so we can have dinner there and stay for Illuminations. The day after that is DHS and I don't care if we get there at rope drop or not. If the kids sleep in fine, and if not that's okay too.

I also have some health problems that will likely still be affecting me on our next trip so we might be taking things really slow. I'm learning that taking things slowly can be just as enjoyable as go-go-go.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not a Debbie Downer, but won't you guys, especially the kids, need some solid sleep?

We have finally, as DS gets older (and so do we), realized we can't be up all night and up as early as I'd like to be.

Well, actually, I probably could (as long as I can take my hot bath with epsom salts for the muscles), but I try to give the guys *some* sleep, LOL.

For our first WDW trip, knowing how things had gone the last two times at Disneyland, I was begged to put full DAYS of resort-rest into the schedule. So I did. And who do you think was changing those plans???? Wasn't me!

We had a 17 day trip with WDW and Universal combined...and I think we took ONE day off, thanks to the guys in my family changing their minds about the rest days...

You had your one year old child out until 2AM???

Gosh, as babies they are so portable and flexible...my guy didn't know the difference between sleeping in the Moby/etc and sleeping in bed. All he knew was that he was up against me, as he was to sleep in bed, and he was happy.

As he got older, however, he got more difficult to keep out late.

Should note that DS has had had a bedtime of 9pm for ages...we are all natural night-owls (but at Disney I'm up with the sun).

 

[duffy]

You had your one year old child out until 2AM???

That is what the post said.

 

[kohlby]

Staying late wouldn't work for my family. We do make rope drop every morning. We go-go-go until someone acts like they need to leave. Then we leave. Our last trip involved an 11 month old, 3 year old, and 6 year old. The 6 year old could have handled longer but the 3 year old meant most days ended at 6pm. We made it to 8:30pm once -which meant the fireworks since we went in Jan. My middle child's bedtime was 7:30 and she desperately needs her sleep. So we made sure she was in bed on-time most days.

We do not go back to the room for naps or down-time in the middle of the day. We tried that for our first trip, with a barely 3 year old and 2 month old and it was a disaster. My 3 year old had given up naps a long time ago and giving time for them didn't mean he was going to take them! Many people insist that you need to go back with young kids. But that doesn't work for us.

*I should likely add that our last trip was 7 days of 7 different parks since we did SW/IOA/US as well. We're pretty hard-core so perhaps a more relaxed approach would mean we could stay later. Plus, we go in the off-season, so we get a lot done in a shorter time and the parks close earlier.

 

[miprender]

It is funny that some people are shocked the kids just wanted to stay at the Poly. My DS3 cried everyday that we left AKL. He would have been content to stay in the room the whole time.

Personally for us I could never go from Rope Drop to closing. Besides the kids I need a break from the park. Due to DH being a teacher we can only go on school vacation or summer which means the parks are crowded and after a while it just gets to me.

 

[imthatgirl]

I guess you'll just have to go and see if you can hang on an open to close schedule everyday.
Personally I wouldn't want too, but there are some who like too.

 

[DisGirl819]

I could go from rope drop to close-down every day of my trip but my family could not. DH would hate that and my kids would eat us alive!! That said, we don't usually leave the park for nap time, they just nap in the stroller and then we get downtime in the parks with them until they wake.

 

[disneywalkers]

Okay, on another board I'm getting advice to have early nights and early mornings, or if I have a late night have a late morning. I understand that you don't want to be over tired, but it's WDW!!!!!! Aren't people so excited to be there that adreneline kicks in?!?!?!! Is it terrible to want to see Wishes, Fantasmic, and Illuminations and want to be at a rope drop??? I'm just so with Debbie Downers!!!

Thanks for the rant!!!!

I think those people are crazy! LOL
This family will be there 30-45 minutes before rope drop and there until closing every day we are there. We did this 3 years ago and had the best time ever. We've added two more kids since then, but they will fall in line with the rest of us. Nap time will be in the strollers! My kids would throw a fit if we left before they closed or took an afternoon break.

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

Adrenaline plus a 4 year old equals LOL!

Early mornings and late nights with no rest periods at midday results in whining, crying and temper tantrums, at least for my kids. We want to be at rope drop in the mornings (we are early risers anyway) and we want to see the fireworks at night so that pretty much requires a nap for my 4 year old and some down time at midday for the rest of us. Plus, we all have to go back to work and school after our vacation and we definitely don't need to be completely exhausted from running around with no rest from early morning to midnight. Our clients probably wouldn't appreciate that too much...

I'm with you on this one. We can't do both! And my 5 y/o does better sleeping in and staying out late. So we skip rope drops, except for DHS for Toy Story Mania of course! haha! We just take a long enough trip that we can go to each park 2X and we've never had an issue with not being able to do all the rides we want to do! I know it's WDW, but we don't want to be tired and cranky all week. If we are up and moving by 10, I'm happy! Haha!

 

[ktlm]

It really just depends on your kids and your family. We found out when DD was 2 that she was a mini commando. The first day of her first trip, we attempted the afternoon break, and it was a disaster. We dragged a kicking, screaming child out of the park, and when we got back to the resort all we had was an angry kid that refused to sleep for 2-3 hours, until we gave up and went back to MK where she promptly became a happy kid and crawled into her stroller and went to sleep. We stay for a week each trip, and we are in the parks every single day from pretty much rope drop to close. DD is 5 now, and we have done that on 4 trips and she does just fine. She cat napped in a stroller here and there at 2 and 3, but there wasn't even much of that at age 4. Last year during MVMCP Aladdin invited her to come back at 11:00 P.M. and ride the Magic Carpets with him , and she wasn't about to leave the park before that. We were at TH in AK at 9:00 a.m. the next morning for our 9:15 ADR. She did take nap in the stroller that day, which was perfect for DH and I to take turns single ridering EE. She does fine with it. It is what works for her. She is a high energy kid though. Our niece could have never done that at that age- she is a pretty slow paced kid. She tires out easily. Just be flexible and see what works for you.

 

[disneywalkers]

Ultimately it is your vacation and you need to do what is best for your family. I think when you ask for advice from people though they are going to give you it and for most families, with a 4 year old (or really any younger kids), it's just not a good idea to be up at 7am and not get in bed until 11 or 12 at night. If you don't want their advice or don't want to heed it then don't do it or ask for it. Do what you want.... but know that people that give you the advice are giving it to you from experience. It may not be what works for your family... but it is what will work for most.

With that said we could probably go all out for 2 days... then I would be paying dearly for those first few days. It's one of those burn out things... the adrenaline eventually wears off in our family and then I have a very cranky 4 and 2 year old and it is not the most magical place on earth. In the long run I end up missing more when I've tried to do this.

PS- the recommended sleep guidelines for a 4 year old is 10-12 hours a day.... that may be more than your child needs but people go on what is recommended for most.

Yeah but it's only , a short time, they can get those 10-12 hours when we get back home. I have 6 kids ages 13, 11, 6, 4, 2 and 11 weeks (at the time we go this upcoming weekend). They will sleep in the stroller when they get tired, they will sleep on the drive to and from the parks and they will sleep once we get back to the house each night. We will be there for 16 nights and I can't wait. But we are a on the go kind of family too.

 

[disneywalkers]

Yep! And he lived to tell about it! As I said in an earlier post my kids were on a super strict schedule at home (I live and die by the clock), but on vacation it is all about fun, fun, fun! My kids have grown up like this and have no problems keeping up!

I have to laugh cause it is after midnight and my kids just started a movie. We're homeschoolers so we have a crazy schedule.
When my older kids (now 13 and 11) were 3 and 4 we used to be up until 3-5AM every night.
My 2 year old has been on the go since noon today without a nap. I think she will pass out in a few minutes though.

I do have to agree with the post about it all depends on how often you go. We haven't been back in 3 years. We may not be able for another 3 years so we will be going strong every day. We are scheduled to take two days off to go to the beach or something, but only because we only have 10 day Disney tickets, LOL We are doing both Universal Parks and Busch Gardens too

 

[crisi]

It really depends on your family. That's something that rather annoys me about a particular subscription based planning site that shall remain nameless - the almost religious adherence to certain elements of touring planning that really aren't universal truths. We've done rope drop to close, 3am EMH, and all sorts of craziness. I plan sleep in days only to find that sleeping in is 9am instead of 7 because we're all so excited to get going. And I do plan some down time between vacation and return to work, sometimes just a day at home to rest and unpack, other times what we're doing on our next trip - a night with no parks, just pool time at the Beach Club following the weeklong parks part of the trip.

Universal advice bugs me, too - naps NEVER have worked for our family. What works for our family is rope drops, and when the kids were little early evenings. We STILL haven't seen Spectromagic with our kids - we've taken them eight times and they are tweens now.

But I also know that you have to be willing to listen to your body and watch your kids and your family. Adrenaline will get you through a day or two - but it usually won't get you through the whole week unless you have an unusually energetic family. If they are up early on a sleep in day and want to go, switch your schedule and go. If they are too tired for Fantasmic, go ahead and skip it.

You WILL NOT fit everything in. Unless you stay for a month (or longer!) with an unlimited checkbook, there will be things you miss. You just have to accept that.

 

[Sandi12404]

Last time we went my youngest was 2 so we always headed back to the resort in the afternoon so she could nap. It drove my crazy. I know she needed it so my husband would usually nap with her while I wandered around the resort waiting for her to wake up so we could go back.
Now she's 7 and my oldest is 13. We're thinking we'll take it day by day, hour by hour. If it's really hot and we're tired we might head back for a while but knowing we don't HAVE to is so nice. I could go open to close everyday. We don't get to go often so I'm always afraid I'll miss something. Things would probably be different if we could go more.

 

[MommyBell08]

Adrenaline plus a 4 year old equals LOL!

LOL! yep. first thing I did was ck the signature for ages... It would be different if you didnt have a little one with you, but melt downs are not worth it.

 

[no capes darling]

LOL! yep. first thing I did was ck the signature for ages... It would be different if you didnt have a little one with you, but melt downs are not worth it.

Even grownups have meltdowns...

 

[shaylyn]

Whew! Just reading some of these posts is making me tired! Seriously though, how do you manage when you return to the "real world" after running full tilt and on little sleep for a week or more at WDW? I know I would be completely worthless. We are going in October so the fireworks and park closing won't even be that late (and we are taking a midday break) but I am already worried about needing another vacation when we come back from our vacation! We have demanding jobs and my eldest daughter's class load is tough and there are extracurricular activities for both her and my little one and... and... and... We pretty much run around like chickens with our heads cut off all week so I really don't want to come home completely spent and exhausted. So how do you do it?

We always need a vacation after we come home from our Disney vacations

 

[badblackpug]

I have 4 kids. 14, 10, 3, 22m. The 10 year old and my husband are the only morning people in the group. My 14 year old will get up and moving if pushed, and the 22m old is hit or miss. Some mornings he sleeps in, some mornings he's standing next to the bed at 7 AM saying "Guys?" but..... the 3 year old is an absolute BEAR if she does not get her sleep. We have never seen a rope drop. Some days the little ones are worn out early and we go back to the room early and let the big ones go swimming, some days we are all out late and we get up late. My 22m old will nap in the stroller, my 3 year old will if she is really tired. She is about 1/2 and 1/2 on naps now. Some days at home or preschool she naps, some days she doesn't.

 

[wendypleakley]

Why does anyone care if someone goes to disney and never leaves the resort? Whats wrong with that?

:
I was thinking the same thing. It's not like they asked anyone else to pay for their vacation. It's kind of their business!
I have a hard time understanding why people get so worked up on these boards over how other people spend their time. I have more important things to do. Like finish packing for Saturday!