ºoº Despritely seeking your help ºoº Need to wake kids at 3:30 am to leave for airport!

[SandraC]

Hi, our flight is around 6:30 am, we pre-booked our seats YIPPY! GREAT SEATS! But they are only held for one hour before flight, so about 5:30 am. There are 3 flights going to FLA on just our airline, so that's 1000 people in line for one airline! YIKES! I think we should get in line around 4:30 am, so that's leaving home around 4 am. dh and I will get up at 3 am and get kids up at 3:30 am ~ HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS AND STILL HAVE HAPPY KIDS! DOUBLE YIKES! We have an easy beach day planned upon arrival, so that's good! BUT I NEED YOUR ADVICE!

SandraC, visit our Disney family web site www.angelfire.com/on/disneyfun
º0º
1975 - off site (11 years old),
1977 - off site (13 years old),
1987 - Indian Rock Shores (23 years old with hubby, b/f at the time),
1990 - Holiday Inn International Drive/Daytona Beach (26 years old, with hubby, six month after wedding),
1998 - KIDS VILLAGE, GIVE KIDS THE WORLD, Make-a-Wish trip with 4.5 year old daughter born ill),
2001 APRIL - CBR - ON SITE FIRST TIME! YIPPY! With dd 7 years old, ds 15 mo

 

[anne60]

whenever I have had to leave early in the a.m., I put my kids in their clothes the night before..a tshirt and lightweight sweatpants, then just scoop them out of bed and into the warm car. You can brush their teeth and hair once you arrive at the airport. That way they may sleep a little longer, and even if they wake, you don't have to fight to dress them.

 

[zurgswife]

Besides sleeping in clothes, pre warming the car, we add pillows and blankets so they might snuggle down. then we try to get them resettled on the plane hoping for a short nap...

<IMG src="http://members.home.net/dunlapsdisney/images/halloween/halloweenMK1_small.jpg" ></P>
CBR Dec '95, Sept '97
BWV Aug '98, Mar '99
ASM Nov '99
BWV Oct '00, Mar 01
Zurg, Barbie, Buzz, Buzz, Jessie & Tinkerbell

Visit http://badshoe.com

 

[lorik]

We had to get our kids up at 4 am the day we went to Disney. My DS is usually impossible to awaken even at a normal hour. He woke up with no problems as soon as I whispered the words Disney World in his ear. In fact, we did EE for the entire week we were there and he got up at 6:30 every morning without much difficulty. Of course, once we got back home he was his usual impossible to wake self again. Ah, the magic of Disney.

 

[going2wdw]

I agree with the dress them the night before. One of the wonderful things about kids is that they don't mind not brushing teeth, hair or having clean clothes in the morning I have found that mine tend not to sleep again right away but since you probably have a long flight there will be plenty of time for napping on the plane.

Janette
WDW

Offsite ? - 1976, Vistana - 1988
Vistana/Contemp - June 2000, OKW - Feb 2001
BWV - DIS Convention Nov 2001
Disneyland - 1998

 

[pooh2001]

We need to do the same with our DS who is 9 and DD who is 6. Bur we have a one and half hour drive to the airport - kids will probably fall back asleep in the car.

Suggestions - bring handy-wipes or wet paper towels in a baggie to freshen up a sleep child at the airport.
Pack dry cereal, granola bars, a banana, apple, favorite snack - juice boxes.
Never know when an excited child will get hungry when their schedule is thrown off.

I will put them to bed in a t-shirt and sweat pants. We will have a rental car so no pillow or blanket. But DH and myself usually take our ski jackets off while in the car - so the kids can use them as pillows.

I bet any child will be awake at 5:30 am with the
excitement of WDW ans seeing Mickey. Same goes for adults !

Just be prepared for the little things - and your kids and YOU will have a great time !

PS- remember to set TWO alarm clocks - hate to have you miss your flight. :

* * * pooh2001 * * *

 

[jesse]

We've never had to get up at 3:30, but we have at 5:00. I like to play it's a small world after all on the stereo and then go wake them up. My BIL always seems to enjoy it too, when he picks us up to go to the airport. (THE SAINT)!

 

[kimartyraye@att.net]

Thought I'd tell you everything you needed to know and then, I read most of "my" suggestions were already posted but, with the younger child/ren, do you have to WAKE them up? What about just moving them from bed to WARMED carseat, etc.? Is that possible? Yes, have them go to bed in make-shift clothes-jammies, for sure, at all their ages! And, yes, pack some granola, etc. for the early AM munchies, should someone get them! Also, try rescheduling their week nights and days, about a week before; going to bed earlier, so they rise earlier. Sleep patterns are very important with any age child. I'm not saying to put your kids to bed after school but, I think, you'll know that I mean to try to get them the most important sleep before they leave.

You'll recover and, so will the kids, no matter what happens!

You'll also love your trip! No Matter What!

Kim

[This message was edited by KimRaye on 04-04-01 at 03:25 AM.]

 

[CindyAnn]

Hi SandraC - I was worried about getting our children up at 4:00 for our flight last November. I had read the idea of putting your children to sleep in their sweats, and I thought it was brilliant. Unfortunately the children (4 & 7) thought that was WAY too weird, looked at me like I'd sprouted a third head, and refused to have any part of it. Maybe I should have tried a dry run?? I dropped that battle and managed to get them to sleep in pyjamas by 7:00 p.m.

My worries were groundless. DD woke up at 3:30 and yelled out "Is it time to get up yet?" and when we grunted at them they both leapt to their feet and started doing their teeth, washing their faces and yanking on clothes. If only it were that easy every morning!

We had planned a flexible first day and ended up going out for lunch and spending the afternoon at Blizzard Beach. We all loved it, but they were sound asleep by 7:00 that night. I think if you plan an easy first day and early first night they'll have a chance to catch up.

Cheers, and see you at the meet on Sunday!

CindyAnn
Co-moderator - Restaurants Board & Canadian Board

 

[Jenn]

With your 7 year old, I doubt you will have a problem. She will probably jump out of bed as exited as can be. With the baby, what I have done in the past is put my daughter to bed wearing a comfy sweatsuit (cooler weather) or comfy shorts & a t-shirt (warmer weather) and I just picked her up out of bed, carefully changed her diaper while she still slept, and put her in the carseat. I would bring a blanket, juice, dry cereal, whatever I would need when she woke up. I would also bring along a washcloth and comb to tidy her up once she woke up. She usually woke up en route to the airport, so I would give her a little something to eat/drink and we are good to go.

My daughter is 3 now and we have been to Disney 6 times with her. We usually leave for the airport around 5 am for a 7 am or 7:30 am flight, so we are up at 3:30 or so. I don't wake her until 4:45. I have all her stuff laid out ready to go and I bring breakfast with us in the car. My husband and I are always completely dressed, packed, the house is picked up, luggage loaded in the car, before I even get her up. It only takes 5 minutes or so and we are out the door. She usually falls back asleep in the car and/or on the plane.

Jenn