staying out late?

[margot31]

Do you find you stay out later than you would if at home with little ones while at Disney? Im not talking midnight or something.

For instance my almost 2 year olds bed time right now is about 730. Now I don't plan on going back to the resort at that time but not crazy either. Going back at like 9 to put them to bed. Cause they would probably fall asleep anyway while in their stroller.

 

[kimj88]

Oddly enough, we thought we would be up and out later, but most days we ended up back at the resort and in bed somewhat close to our normal times.

 

[Fosteringaprincess]

Yes! Lol we have 4 kids and are very structured, but at Disney.... Or on any vacation really bedtimes are out the window! We usually arrive close to opening and are there most days to close the parks. For us it's a treat! Plus so much magic happens after dark and none of us want to miss out. I think this is our 6th trip and we will do just the same! With that said my kids handle it well. My youngest...possibly youngest 2 will nap in the stroller. My kids are go with the flow overall ( number 4 is alittle feisty). Normal bed time is 8 to 8:30 for us. have fun! Tons of families are out all hours with their kids at Disney so if you make that choice know you are not alone!

 

[jeepnjudy]

Yes, we also arrive when the parks open and stay late until almost closing but I have been very blessed to have kids that will nap in the stroller! I cringe at the thought of paying all that money for admission tickets and NOT getting my money's worth!

 

[Crystal824]

We don't worry about bedtimes at Disney. With that being said, if my kids start acting crazy, we will go back to the room and go to bed instead of doing whatever we had scheduled. That doesn't happen often, but it has happened. My kids will also fall asleep in the stroller at times. With that being said, we don't schedule late nights up against early mornings. If we are out watching fireworks late one night, we don't schedule drop drop the next day. Generally, if we do rope drop, we don't plan to stay for the night show.

 

[jennygirlmt]

We were at park open and we never lasted past 5-6. Our two kids were 2 and 4 at the time. My 2 year old took only one stoller nap after a few days (of course it was during our AE fast pass while she was dressed like Anna.)

So no, we didn't make it late. And to be honest I was beat by then as well (then again I was 16 weeks pregnant.)

We're going again when they will be 1.5, 4 and 6 so I'm hoping we make it a little longer this time, but it's doubtful. Evening fireworks are but a dream

 

[kj2mom]

I really wanted to enjoy the night time entertainment so when they were 4 turning 5 we slept as late as they naturally could (I brought clothespins to keep the curtains shut so it stayed as dark as possible), we never set a morning alarm, never had a morning reservation with the exception of the morning after our AK day because at the time it closed at 5pm and just woke up whenever we woke and headed to the park whenever we were ready. Sometimes that was not until noon and while some may think that is not ideal, it worked for us because rested kids = happy mom and we made it to close without any meltdowns.

Last year we went again and they were 13. They were all about getting there for rope drop and staying until closing which worked fine for me. It still got us 7-8 hours of sleep at night which for vacation worked fine.

At home I am sleep crazy, almost nothing is more important than my children getting their rest but on vacation we go with what works for what we want to accomplish.

 

[happymommy]

When my kids were very young, we pretty much kept to our normal bedtimes at Disney. They didn't see any fireworks or Illuminations until they were older.

I found for us, getting a good night's sleep made for all of us to be happy. Frankly, by 7:00 I was also beat, so enjoyed getting them their baths and bedtime routine and resting myself!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Our older girls only have bedtimes during the school week. Not on weekends or vacation.

The baby is pretty predictable with his bedtime, but on vacation we go with the flow. If everyone is doing well and in a good mood, we push that for
as long as we can. If they start acting crazy, we head back to the resort.

But, our mid day breaks typically ward off the crazies in the evening.

 

[mcjaco]

We're pretty strict with the 7:30 bedtime for our four year olds. We're planning on going at opening for each park, and being back at the resort by 6 - unless they look like they can keep going. We did MNSSHP a couple years back and it was a waste. Got to MK at 4, and they both passed out by 8!

 

[monorailsilver]

yep we always did.

My oldest was 15 mo, 4, 7 & 12, middle was 22 mo, 4 & 9 and the youngest was 2.5 & 7.

I never once hesitated to come back for bed time. We woke up early too, out the door by 7-7:15 and would return just after lunch (by 1) for a good nap-3-4 hours. Shower and return to the park at around 5 until 10 or so, one niht we tried to do EMH at night but we (dh and I) were more tired then the kids so we left.

We do plan non park days after 2 or 3 park days depending on length of trip. When we went in 2013, we only did a park 2 days in a row. It was fabulous to spend 5 days at the pool.

Never had a crying kid in the summer heat in Disney. I have heard some at 6-7pm but thankfully they were not mine!

 

[seb65]

I think it depends on the kid. I have one that needs her sleep or she is cranky. I now schedule a "rest/pool day" in between 2 days. We recently went, and she made it through a night until 11. We left the next day, but were we still there, it would have been a pool day the next day.

 

[pixie08]

When we were there in Dec my lo was 13 months old. We were back in the room every night at &:30. He just couldn't handle the late nights. This June we pushed it a little but not past 8:30 really, and we were staying on the monorail so it was quick back. He is 21 mos now and can stay up until 9 (but is usually asleep by 8) so on our October trip (he will be 23 months) I will try and do 2 nights until 9 or 10 and see what happens. Worse comes to worse he can sleep in the stroller or our Tula carrier (he is till a little guy under 25 lbs so we occasionally still wear him).

We have some late sleep in/relax mornings planned after the later nights and a pool day too.

 

[Canooknic]

I have been "blessed" with early risers, but the time difference coming from the west makes things easier for us.
When my boys were 4 they were ready for supper and bed around 5:30-6, the next time we went it was 6-6:30. A couple of nights they were up later 8-9 but suffered the next day.
I don't mind the earlier nights tbh, we've never had to have a midday break because they've slept well and they still haven't made it late enough to see fireworks so I still have that to look forward to one day!!

 

[aliwolly]

I think you've got to just try and go with the flow and figure out what works with your family. I only have one little guy, and we've taken him when he was not quite 2 and not quite 4. He still naps during the day at preschool, but on weekends when he's home with us he doesn't nap. So we didn't plan on doing any naps at Disney World. We also knew that he likes fireworks, so we didn't plan on missing any night shows. Luckily, he slept intermittently in the stroller on both trips. And luckily, there was only one of him and plenty of adults in our party so we could manage any behavior issues pretty well. We're also not the most strict at adhering to a structure at home, so I think not really having one at Disney World didn't throw him for too much of a loop.

 

[roseaster]

We pretty much throw most rules out the window on vacation.

We don't worry about bedtimes. We call it a day when someone is exhausted, and it's usually an adult.

We don't fuss about what they eat.

It's a special occasion, so if they want to stay up until midnight and spend the week eating burgers, fries, nuggets, and pizza more power to them

I have 2 out of 6 that get up early, and 1 of those 2 is only 4 months old. The other is 10 and can amuse himself if he is up before anyone else.

 

[Tucker24]

Last time we went the kids were scaried of the fireworks so we headed back to the poly enjoyed the electrical parade and watched fireworks from the room. I'm hoping to at least catch some night parades this time but planning mid day break. We aren't on a meal plan this trip so less planned ADR which helps go with the flow a little bit. Even though my kids will be 4 and 6 we are bringing strollers so they can relax a bit and even possible nap in the stroller. Just go with their schedule a bit meaning that no matter what time my guys go to bed they wake up at the same time every morning regardless of the night before.

 

[ELSA711]

My kids can not hang past 8pm no matter where we are. I beg and plead for them to stay in the parks and have fun, but nope. Everyone is out cold by 9:30pm / 10pm mostly every night.
Hoping to do more this year, each year we push it another 30 minutes.

 

[ajwolfe]

We aren't crazy with bedtimes at home normally anyways, but keep it around the same time during school and when the kids were smaller..But at Disney that all goes out the window. We hang as long as they can and for my kids even at 2 and 3 that was until midnight or so. Some of our most cherished memories are late nights in the parks..and now that they are 12 and 9 its become a game to them to see how long we can stay in a park - the older I'm getting the harder it is on me than them lol.

 

[RachaelA]

We aren't strict on bedtimes at home and if we are out doing something or have something going on they regularly go to bed later then normal. At Disney we have tons of late nights (my kids will hang until midnight or 1am without issue). We have no rules on vacation. We do try to have them nap on the days we know we will be out late, but we don't fight them over it.