1 parent, 2 kids at WDW, need advise please

[riu girl]

We will be in Florida 3 weeks this Dec/Jan and DH can only take two weeks off. Therefore, he will be with us in SW Florida but not WDW (Jan 1-7/06). A little concerned about doing disney on my own with two kids (ages then 5 and 8).

Can anyone offer me any advice. This will be just my second trip with the kids. We will be staying on site so that should help.

#1 - Can DD8 ride space mountain without me with her? She rode last year with DH and this was her favourite ride. DS will be too short to ride. She is 8 and 54 "so can handle the ride. Can we baby swap ( I don't know what this actually means ) or something so she can ride it(I don't care at all if I skip it). I would never jsut send her in a line by herself, but can I and DS5 go through the line with her and then send her on the ride? Please explain

#2 I might rent a WDW double stroller for the holiday so I will know where the children are at most times. DD8 has minor special needs and tends to wander.

#3 I have those velcro wrist bands I thought I might take along as well.

Thank goodness DD has matured as much as she has in the last year. I could never have even considered WDW (without DH) a year or two ago.

Any thoughts/ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated since this 1 parent, 2 kids is brand new to me.
Thank you
Suzy V.

 

[lovethattink]

I just spent 4 nights at WDW with my 2 children since DH had to work. My children are 11 and 1. Also, we live close to WDW and sometimes I'll take the kids to a park. Even though ds(11) is older than your kids, he didn't want to wait in line by himself.

1) For Space Mt. or any other ride your 8 year old would ride without you, I'd suggest standing in line with her. We did this for Rnr. The CM were not too happy about this, but he didn't feel comfortable standing in line by himself. If you fast pass this ride for her, you will all need a fast pass, even just to stand in line with her. (Perhaps you can stop at Guest Relations and ask them if they have a better idea.

2) Since DD8 is so tall, she may have trouble squeezing into a double stroller. Be sure to keep something on her with your cell phone # so that if she gets separated and found by CM, they know who to call.

The best solution might be to have DD8 ride the "big" rides at the times your DH is with you. Then when you are alone with the 2 kids, do rides that you all can go on together.

 

[momsully]

I took a solo trip in April with DS6 and DS3. I stood in line with DS6 for Primeval Whirl and Space Mountain then met him when he got off. The CM will not make a child stand in line alone so it worked fine. DS3 is pretty tall so he was able to ride most everything with us. We went three across on BTM, it was tight but it worked.

We took things slow and spent alot of time at the pool. We also spent a very relaxing day at Blizzard Beach. Both my boys are good swimmers but I put a life vest on DS3 and we went on all the slides.

From a safety standpoint the boys both carried my cell phone number with them and I reminded them every morning if they got lost how to find a CM to help them find me.

Have a fun trip!

 

[riu girl]

Thank you Thank you. Great tips so far. Please keep them coming.
Suzy V.

 

[deborah]

I took my two boys to WDW for 4 days last year. They were 2 1/2 and 5 at the time. We stayed on site (at POP) and had a rental car. We did use Disney transportation for some of the visit but found it very easy to get to the parks around opening time to secure a good spot and then walk to the front gates. Getting on and off the trams with 2 kids and a stroller was no easy feat! Since the car was in the lot it was easy to leave when we wanted and drive back to the hotel. The boys even took a quick nap on the way back to the resort which was wonderful.

I would suggest making PS/ARs at table service locations. It was so nice to sit and be served my meals and not have to balance a tray and drinks, not to mention having to wait in line with the kids. Also, I figured that buffets might be a little tricky too.

We had a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!

 

[Brina]

I have not done disney on my own, but did take my two sons and a friend to Six Flags.

-pick a color of the day. make both kids wear that color tshirt - they don't have to "match", just be wearing the same color tshirt

-sit down meals - trying to get food for everybody and get two kids to a table by yourself is not fun

-use fast pass for those rides your dd can ride that your ds cannot - you don't want to force him to stand in too many lines for things that he cannot get on

-make sure there is a good balance between dd stuff and ds stuff - the biggest fights in our house occur when one boy thinks the other is getting preferential treatment

-ship them out on the pirate cruise together, or check them into one of the kids clubs - you are going to need a little grown up time