2 adults 3 kids and how to manage rides

[Calee]

We are planning our first trip. It's my husband and I, and our three boys who will be 4.5, 6.5, and 8.5 when we go. Our oldest is a bit fearful of rides. The younger two, not at all.

Having not been there since I was 8 myself, I am trying to imagine and plan what rides we will be able to do (sticking to MK and AK). I noticed in another thread that someone mentioned no one under 7 can ride alone-so my two "braver" kids can not ride together-this leaves my oldest as the only one who can ride alone, and the least likely to be willing to do so. Are we going to have a lot of trouble being able to ride things? Anyone else have a similar situation or recommendations? Will most rides accommodate 3 in one seat (1 adult and 2 small children) and 2 in another (1 adult and 1 child)? Anything we should anticipate having to skip completely?

 

[TravelingTotMom]

The majority of the rides shouldn't be an issue.

At MK, the rollercoasters (Thunder Mt., 7D mine Train, barnstormer, Space Mt. and Splash Mt.) most likely will be an issue for you. With the exception of Space Mt., they are typically 2 per seat. But keep in mind the seats are extremely close, so your oldest can actually touch you. If any of those are on your list, maybe show the oldest YouTube videos ahead of time and see if he's okay sitting immediately in front or behind you.

I'm also not sure if Tomorrowland Speedway or Dumbo will let one adult and 2 small children ride, and everyone probably wants their own blaster on Buzz Lightyear, but everything else you should be good to go.

At AK, Expedition Everest is two to a row. Also, don't know if the Dinosaur spinner (like Dumbo) will let the three go.

 

[juliekzp]

Most rides do accommodate 3 in a seat, especially where two of them are little kids. Exceptions:

Space Mountain - single rider seats, one in front of another (so no one sits next to anyone!)
Barnstormer - only two to a seat, but it's lame anyway so skip it
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - only two next to each other. Maybe take the big one on it by himself the first time (next to one of you), and then hopefully he'll be brave enough to ride alone the next time?

Expedition Everest - only two to a seat. Little one might not be tall enough anyway, in which case you could use a switch pass.

Edited to add -- I have ridden three-to-a-seat on Dumbo, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Triceratops Spin.

 

[juliekzp]

Also, maybe try to convince the 6.5 year old that he is actually 7, so he can ride next to a stranger on 7DMT.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

Edited to add -- I have ridden three-to-a-seat on Dumbo, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Triceratops Spin.

Good to know! I wasn't sure about those, as DS is still too small.

 

[LisaCM614]

We have 3 children too and when they were little and we didn't bring one or two grandparents with us the biggest challenge was Tomorrowland Speedway. Everyone wants to drive! Skip it if you can. We couldn't so we'd have to ride it 2x right around park opening!

The Safari was a pain because they each wanted to sit on the outside. If we had talked about it we would have had a plan about switching so no one got stuck on the inside for the whole ride.

As long as you or your husband don't care if you play - you can fit three across for Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear. I never minded not playing and would 'help' if someone got frustrated.

 

[quagmire0]

How tall is the 4.5yo? If he's not tall enough to ride, you could use child swap in that case. Your oldest *might* surprise you. In general, Disney rides are fairly tame compared to other theme parks. He might get in the groove and get over his fears.

 

[hakepb]

It still seems odd that Disney may not accept the 2 oldest riding together, mom rides with the youngest and dad gets the single rider.

 

[Pinkos]

Do not skip barnstormer!! My 3,4,&7 year olds love it! Plus it's tamer and might help your oldest warm up to rides

 

[Pinkos]

Also, maybe try to convince the 6.5 year old that he is actually 7, so he can ride next to a stranger on 7DMT.

^^ this is a great idea!

 

[skuttle]

I've done three to a seat on Splash, BTMR, Pooh, Peter Pan, Haunted mansion, Mermaid, Dumbo, Triceratops Spin, Toy story, and Nemo.

On both BTMR and 7DMT, my older son (11yo) was allowed to ride with my middle son (4yo) as long as we were in the same car and I was right behind them. We tried to do that on Toy Story but they wouldn't let us so I just put the two little ones with me and my youngest sat on my lap to shoot the gun.

 

[DisGin]

My 6 year old has ridden by himself this week on barnstormer and btmrr. My husband rode in the car behind him with our 4 year old. Maybe your 6 year old could do that? No one has said he can't ride by himself. On triceratops spin, he rode in the same dinosaur, but the row in front of us. Dumbo only has one seat per car, but you could probably fit an adult and 2 small kids in one.

 

[JPKnapp]

You must take advantage of rider swap. When used in conjunction with FP, your kids can get 2x the rides without the additional waits. The CMs are trained not to question "why" someone doesn't want to ride. They just need to see an adult waiting with another kid.

Also, we did the 6.5 as a 7yr old thing as well. It still kind of bothers me about trying to explain an "ok lie". But we did it anyway. What I wish I did was find a solo rider near us in line and ask them to ride with my kid. That way there is no lying and no breaking of safety based rules.

 

[DavidNYC]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe on rollercoasters if you're in the same "car" (not necessarily right next to them) it's not considered riding alone. So you should be able to arrange things fine for 7DMT and EE. And that's somewhat logical since otherwise no one under 7 could ever ride Space Mountain since you're not next to anyone. (And as others have mentioned, some can accomodate an adult and 2 kids as well so rides like BTMR won't be a problem.

Believe it or not the one you may have the most trouble with is Toy Story. Because you're back to back out of sight of the others, you can't have anyone under 7 without someone older next to them. But since that one isn't scary, your 8.5 year old may be fine going alone on that one.

 

[ArielSRL]

Edited to add -- I have ridden three-to-a-seat on Dumbo, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Triceratops Spin.

Glad to hear this as there may be times I have to ride with both my 2 yr old and my 4.5 yr old.

 

[JJsmama]

Do not skip barnstormer!! My 3,4,&7 year olds love it! Plus it's tamer and might help your oldest warm up to rides

This is what i was going to say. At their age, the Barnstormer may very well turn out to be a favorite. And if you go at RD, you can do it a few times in a row without lines. On that one, probably the two older boys could together if neither wanted to go alone.

Toy Story can be difficult, but not too bad. When youngest was 2-3 he would sit on my lap (with another DS) next to me and i would let him do the shooting, to the best of this ability. I
Didnt mind not doing it. That is one option if needed.

 

[SmallWorld71]

FWIW - I've either done or witnessed 3 in a row on the following rides that often 'appear' to only fit 2:

Splash Mountain, BTMRR, Nemo, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion - these all fit 3 easily; I've actually done them all with 2 adults + older child so 1 adult and 2 kids would be easy; the funniest thing I saw was 3 young men (probably college aged) all together on BTMRR - they were squished but looked like they were having fun!

Astro Orbiter, Dumbo, Speedway - I have seen 3 on these plenty of times, but it can depend on the size of the people in question

One of my favorite things about Disney has always been that as a party of 5, we rarely have to split up.

 

[PSULion]

Just echoing what others have said.... We always sit 3 across (2 adults and one child) on BTMRR, Splash, and even Dumbo (although that one can be tight). You'd definitely be fine on those 3 with 1 adult and 2 kids.