2 Adults, 3 Kids

[mort1331]

Here is the situation, Wife is going with her sister. They are taking our daughters 4&8 and her son 7.
Now we have gone as a family of 4 no issues, but since they are going and some/most rides wont let the older ones ride single, How do you best work out the FP and rides.
The swapping might work but your forever sitting out with one parent and 2 kids.
Still trying to work this out, this is why I have always loved the family of 4 scenario. For all the families of 5( i came from one, but cant remember how my parents did it) how do you do the rides?
TIA

 

[scrapquitler]

I think that for the vast majority of rides, they will be okay. Most rides that don't have a height restriction are going to fit two children of those ages plus one adult. There might be a few rides where it's an issue, but probably only a couple.

 

[juliekzp]

Most of the tamer rides can fit one adult and 2 kids, so long as the adult isn't very large. So on those rides, we split up 3 and 2. My youngest is 3, so we haven't yet had the problem of splitting up on the thrill rides that can only seat two next to each other. But if/when we reach that point, I'll just put whichever kid is most comfortable with the ride in front or behind us.

 

[juliekzp]

Some of the faster rides can fit 3 as well - for example, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. It was a little tight, but we were able to do my mom, me, and my 5-year-old on both of those. The main rides I can think of that only fit 2 are Rock n Roller coaster, Expedition Everest, and Goofy Barnstormer. Maybe Spaceship Earth?

 

[SmallWorld71]

It's really not bad at all as most rides actually fit 3 across; even ones that don't appear like they do. (Peter Pan, Thunder Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Splash, Nemo for example). On ones that don't they have a few options as 2 of the kids are old enough to sit without an adult in the seat with them (7 and up). The four year old will always need an adult with them. As a family of 5, we've had to sit apart on the following rides:
Magic Kingdom:
Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Barnstormer
Buzz - 3 can sit together, but only 2 laser guns; I would just let the 7 and 8 year old ride together on this one
Astro Orbiter - 3 can sit together on this, but depending on the size of the kids, they may have you sit apart
Speedway - 3 can sit together depending on the size of everyone, but then one kids doesn't get to drive

Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest

DHS - Rock n roller coaster
Toy Story - you can split up 3 and 2, but someone will end up on their side of the car alone

Epcot - Spaceship Earth - someone may have to sit in a seat alone, but not in the car alone

 

[mom2cgj]

It's really not bad at all as most rides actually fit 3 across; even ones that don't appear like they do. (Peter Pan, Thunder Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Splash, Nemo for example). On ones that don't they have a few options as 2 of the kids are old enough to sit without an adult in the seat with them (7 and up). The four year old will always need an adult with them. As a family of 5, we've had to sit apart on the following rides:
Magic Kingdom:
Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Barnstormer
Buzz - 3 can sit together, but only 2 laser guns; I would just let the 7 and 8 year old ride together on this one
Astro Orbiter - 3 can sit together on this, but depending on the size of the kids, they may have you sit apart
Speedway - 3 can sit together depending on the size of everyone, but then one kids doesn't get to drive

Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest

DHS - Rock n roller coaster
Toy Story - you can split up 3 and 2, but someone will end up on their side of the car alone

Epcot - Spaceship Earth - someone may have to sit in a seat alone, but not in the car alone

Just a note - on our last trip, our kids were 8,7,and 4. We were able to ride everything 3 and 2, except Buzz. We wanted to let the 8 & 7 year old go together, but the CM said under 8 they had to ride with an adult. No biggie, the 8 year old road alone. But just so you know they may tell you that. It worked out fine, just wasn't what we had planned originally.

 

[scrapquitler]

And the other thing that nobody mentioned was Space Mountain. Everyone has to sit alone in the row on that one, but three can ride in the car.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just a note - on our last trip, our kids were 8,7,and 4. We were able to ride everything 3 and 2, except Buzz. We wanted to let the 8 & 7 year old go together, but the CM said under 8 they had to ride with an adult. No biggie, the 8 year old road alone. But just so you know they may tell you that. It worked out fine, just wasn't what we had planned originally.

I thought it was 7 and up. Maybe it's over 7?

 

[Disney_Alli]

Over 7 can ride alone, anyone younger must ride with someone over 14.

 

[butterfly71076]

When we were there, 3 adults, 4 kids, ages 8, 8, 7, and 5. The only kid who couldn't ride without an adult was the 5 year old. The other three were able to ride together or without an adult. My son, the 7 year old, rode in the front of the Barnstormer by himself. He was so excited!

 

[mort1331]

Cool thanks for all the quick responses. Since we never had to worry about this, I never looked at seating before. No worries about RnR since 4 yr is too small and DW wont let DD8 go.
So looks like no issue then. |Thanks again.

 

[lizard1]

Over 7 can ride alone, anyone younger must ride with someone over 14.

This is the case. If you are 7 you can ride alone or the 7 and 8 year olds can ride together. My 8 and 10 year olds have ridden without another member of out party....just beware that they may pair the single rider with someone (like on 7dmt, tt, ee, and maybe others), so if you or your child wouldn't be okay with them riding with a stranger, it might be better to have one adult ride single and the 2 kids ride together.