What to do with one child when riding with another ... no other adult in party!

[AprilDreamsOfDisney]

Hi Everyone,

I am taking my kids (DD6 and DS9) to WDW in March. DH won't be joining us this time, so it will be just me and the kids. I'm really excited about our trip, but am wondering if there's any way to figure out some rides without anyone missing out.

DS likes all the rollercoasters and DD doesn't. I'd like to ride the mountains with DS, but don't know what DD would do while we are on the ride and she isn't. I know how rider swap works, but this time around, there won't be another adult around to wait with her.

I'm wondering if we can bring DD along with us in line and then - can she wait at the loading zone for us? Can CMs watch her? I doubt it but thought I'd see if anyone else has experience with this.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks, in advance, for your help!

 

[PatMcDuck]

You simply cannot ride the big rides without another adult to stay with the 6 year old. No matter how friendly and trustworthy they may seem, you cannot leave her with someone you meet at the park that day. The CMS cannot and will not watch her.

 

[AprilDreamsOfDisney]

You simply cannot ride the big rides without another adult to stay with the 6 year old. No matter how friendly and trustworthy they may seem, you cannot leave her with someone you meet at the park that day. The CMS cannot and will not watch her.

That's exactly what I thought. I would absolutely, never in a zillion years, ever ever leave her with a stranger. While wonderful, the world can be a scary place!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Snyders22000]

I was there with my 8 and 6 year old by myself last week. We had to skip the rides my youngest wasn't tall enough to ride (mainly just CA Screamin and Indiana Jones) even though did loves them. It just isn't possible to leave either one alone. There were plenty of other rides for us to do together and none of us were bothered by it in the end. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[HopperFan]

If she is tall enough she can enter the line with you. Close to loading she can exit via the chicken exit and wait where ever that is .... would I do that? No.

CMs absolutely can not watch her nor can she stay in the loading/exit areas.

Your DS is old enough to ride alone while you stay with DD, and that is the only option I see if she won't ride as well.

 

[vcr]

You could always pay to drop your youngest at one of Disney's kids activity centers. If you plan your fastpasses for the mountains during that time, you can get them in during that time frame. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/lilos-playhouse/

 

[lovethattink]

This may be one trip you'll have to do things differently.

Can you bring a friend for your ds to ride with or another adult for your dd?

 

[mrzrich]

I believe Kids Nite Out has "Mother's Helpers" that will go to the park with you.

 

[anniemae]

CM can't watch your kids.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that this is not going to work. You probably should plan attractions all of you will enjoy on this trip.

 

[Hikergirl]

In that situation I would wait in line with ds, then take dd out the chicken exit and let him ride the ride.

 

[prprincess]

Yeah, I think it's all or nothing.

I experienced this exact situation when I went in August with DS11 and DS9. Hubby couldn't make it and so I had to go it alone. There were definitely hurt feelings and little arguments when they couldn't agree on rides, but in the end understood that if we all didn't want to ride, then we all just weren't going to ride. You may be surprised, as I was, because they did compromise for each other (if you ride this for me, I'll ride that for you), which was great. The only ride my DS9 wouldn't budge on was ToT, which my DS11 loves. But he at least rode it once for him.

 

[kelmcg]

If there was a ride that DS really wanted to ride, I would have all 3 of you go through the line together and then when he is about to load you and DD go through the "chicken" exit and wait for him at the unloading area. Make sure he has a phone on him just in case.

 

[Poohsmommi]

That's exactly what I thought. I would absolutely, never in a zillion years, ever ever leave her with a stranger. While wonderful, the world can be a scary place!

Thanks for your help!

A CM is a stranger.

 

[tjmw2727]

As a single parent (widow) I understand your dilemma, my kids are 2 years apart and we had several years where we didn't ride anything we could not all ride together. While the oldest would have liked to do a few more rides we focused on family fun and the fact that we were enjoying 90% of the rides and didn't focus on what she wasn't going to ride.

Unless this is a one and only trip I would just skip the rides your youngest isn't tall enough for and save that for another trip - it will be all that much more special.

To answer - if your youngest isn't tall enough to ride they can't enter the line. Your oldest could ride alone but at 9 it can be iffy and totally depends on the kid/parent. If you are considering this take into consideration what the child will do if the ride stops/breaks down, we were recently walked off Splash Mountain and Spaceship earth for example. Your 6yo isn't old enough to ride alone therefore I would assume not old enough to be left alone at a ride and no a CM can't watch her.

The suggestions of a few hours in a kids club for your youngest or a kids night out helper on an hourly basis would work / alternately if you could afford a VIP tour I think in that case the tour guide could either ride with the oldest or stay with the youngest.

 

[Klayfish]

At the age of 6, that would be tough (i.e. I wouldn't do it) to let them wait at the exit. But I don't see any issue with letting the 9 year old ride alone, if he's OK with it. Our kids are 12, 9 and 9 and we let them ride alone quite a bit this summer. We even let the 12 year old "babysit" the twins...we got FP+ for them on SM and my wife and I did Buzz, which is right next door. We did things like that several times. But at 6, I don't see myself leaving them at the ride exit.

 

[msp2mco]

If my suggestion would work, you would have already thought of it, but...

Over the last 5 or 6 years, I have known at least 4 families who have a child in the Disney College Program. I wouldn't hesitate to ask these young adults to babysit in the park for me, and I would pay them well.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

If my suggestion would work, you would have already thought of it, but...

Over the last 5 or 6 years, I have known at least 4 families who have a child in the Disney College Program. I wouldn't hesitate to ask these young adults to babysit in the park for me, and I would pay them well.

That's actually a good idea- perhaps you could meet a DCP participant & arrange for them to watch your child. Since DCP gets free admission into the parks, I'm sure you'd be able to find many people willing to do it for a reasonable fee.

 

[cosmicmommy]

I am having a problem with this too, but my problem is that my youngest (4) CAN'T ride because he'll be too short for Rock N Rollercoaster. However, my oldest won't WANT to ride while my middle son will. I am considering riding with my middle son while my oldest and youngest go through the chicken exit and wait for me there. My oldest is 8 going on 18 and is very protective of his younger brothers, often buckling their seatbelts, holding their hands in stores, etc. I have entrusted my 8 year old to watch his youngest brother for 15 minutes at a time before, so I feel like this situation would be similar. I know you don't have that option though. Maybe the DCP participant would be a good idea.

 

[texasroni75]

Dealt with this dilemma on my last trip with my two young sons (11 and 4 at the time of the trip). While my oldest DD and her fiance did do some park touring with us, for the most part it was just me and my sons.

Basically, I missed out on some of the "big" rides. But, it gave me an opportunity to let my 11 year old be a little more independent. On the rides that my 4 year old couldn't go on, I let DS(11) go through the line himself while I waited with younger son at the ride exit.

If you really want to be able to ride more stuff with your older child, as others mentioned you can get a babysitter for an afternoon or bring along a relative that is 14 or over to help out.