3 young kids, 1 parent, doable?

[KalamityJane]

Wondering if this is doable and worth trying to finagle on my own since DH has limited vacation days. Kids would be 7, 4 and 2.5.

Doable and any tips to make it easier? We've done DL before and will be touring slowly.

 

[SMD]

The minimum age to ride alone is 7, and the minimum age to ride with a child under 7 is 14. So for example on TSMM, Little Mermaid, HM, Buzz, Peter Pan and Dumbo, you'd have to ride with the younger ones, and the 7 year old will have to ride alone. It's doable if you either want to skip some rides or if your 7 year old is comfortable riding alone.

 

[starshine514]

I agree with SMD, the ride age rules are going to get in the way. It would be much easier if you had another 14+ with you. I'm not sure if I would attempt it alone with my 3 (9, 7, and almost 4 months), even though my two older kids are old enough to ride without me.

If you do decide to go alone, I think you'll be allowed to stay together on HM and PP, as long as the 2.5 yr old sits on your lap (at least, they've let us ride 4 together with a lap child on those).

 

[pharmama]

I don't know if I'd do it either. Mine are 9, 5 and 3. I decided it wasn't worth it to do this just last Monday. As I thought through the logistics I had a hard time seeing how it wasn't just going to be fighting all day. My older 2 would have wanted to go on the >40" rides but the 5yo isn't old enough to go alone and the 9yr old couldn't take her alone. So I would have had to tell everyone they couldn't go on those which would not have gone over well.

At the same time, I don't think my 9yo would have been happy limited to the no height limit rides all day.

Is your 4yo over 40" (and interested in those rides)?

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I only have 2 kids so what do I know? but yes, it is doable.
How many days? Just DL or parkhopping? There are a zillion things to do and not riding some of the rides should not be even a small turnoff to going!

IME kids are allowed to ride together on many rides before age 7 - or 14.

I'm assuming OP's little 2.5-yr-old is under 40" so I left out the big rides....

Of the ones mentioned so far,

For Ariel they were calling for people to divide their parties into 2s, 3s, and small 4s on our last trip, so all 4 of you should be able to fit in one car. My kids have almost always ridden this together - I just looked up when this opened and my kids were 4 and 7. I go in the car behind them, no issues ever.

My kids have been riding Buzz together for years - way before my oldest turned 7. Again, I go in the car behind them.

Same for Toy Story.

I agree with Starshine on HM and Peter Pan - DH, myself, and both kids used to fit in HM buggy and Peter Pan ship, and they do allow lap sitting, so you should all fit in one buggy/ship for both.

Other rides my kids have ridden together in a car on: Mater's, Luigi's, Jumpin' Jellyfish, Gadget Go Coaster.

The only 2 I can think of that may not work for you are Astro Orbitors (but doesn't hurt to ask!) and the bumper cars (where they are consistently picky about a kid under 7 riding with older sibling - that's probably why you see a lot of awfully tiny "7"-yr-olds driving. )

Anyway, I believe the 14 age requirement is applied more often when kids want to ride with a younger sibling with no parent on the ride at all. In our experience CMs are happy to let little kids ride in their own car.

Go! Have fun!

ETA: OP's 7-yr-old may be very excited to be able to ride in his/her own car, so it may not matter at all!

 

[KalamityJane]

Thanks!! You all brought up a lot of good points!

My kids are tall, my just turned 6yo is 48" and my just turned 3yo is 40" so by the time we go, I'm not concerned about height limits. My youngest was 34" at 15mo, so I have no idea how tall he will be at 2.5. Doubtful he will be 40" though. This would be for next year.

We would have APs - so now I am trying to decide between Deluxe, Premium or Premier APs. There are some Saturdays I wanted to go that are blocked out, but if I'm dropping that kind of money for a Premium, I may as well get the Premier because I can take the kids to FL where my family lives and grab one of my siblings to go to WDW with me to help kid wrangle vs doing it by myself. I have siblings that are much younger than I am, (the youngest 2 are 13 and 16) and they would love to go to WDW.

Does this sound like a better plan? We also will be on the WBPC cruise in May and will be in Orlando for a few weeks before hand, so I would definitely get good use out of the Premier.

 

[SMD]

Consider your travel costs to DLR and WDW. It may end up being more economical to do CA passes for a year, then FL passes the next year. That way you'd be taking say, 3 trips to DLR and 2 to FL over 2 years, as opposed to cramming 4-5 trips into a single year on top of the more expensive Premier AP.

 

[KalamityJane]

Good point! I've been saving up miles and we have a Southwest companion pass valid through the end of 2015, so 1 of us flies free. I've got enough miles for 15 1 way trips as well, so that should cover a lot of it with the companion pass.

 

[Skpnw]

I just came back from a solo trip with a 7yo and 5 yo. The 5 yo does not like "scary" rides -like RSR, Goofy's sky school, etc. We used the trip to go on rides we don't normally do (Casey's Train, Storybook Canal), seeing shows, watching parades. I also bought my 7 yo the Hidden Mickey's book so he was involved in walking around finding those. I prepped him ahead of time that he wouldn't be able to go on some of the rides because his sister wouldn't go. Some rides he rode alone in his own car right behind mine.

 

[rentayenta]

I took mine alone when I had 3 all under 7 and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Its Disneyland and very catered to all ages. Just know you'll spend a lot of time in ToonTown and Fantasyland. There's also the Disneyland RR, Buzz, HM, POTC, Jungle Cruise, Monorail etc... In DCA Bugsland is awesome. My kids could, and have, spent hours in there. The Animation Academy is brilliant too. Remember too that not long from now, they won't want to step foot in ToonTown or do any character meals (my three will all officially be teenagers next week) so take advantage of that now. Character photos are a thing of the past too unless I beg and bribe.

Pack lots of snacks and stay as close to on property as possible. You know you'll miss the E ticket rides and thats okay because you'll be back when that's all they'll ride.

Have fun!

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

With the crowds nowdays I would be more afraid of losing one the the kids in the hoards of people. One of mine gets distracted easily. One stop to look in a store window while I was directing another kid and the crowd might "swallow" her.