A little advice on touring with young kids and new system help?

[NicholeB630]

So I have posted a few times about my worry of crowds for Dec 7-14 and I've been assured by many that it will be a great week and crowds wont be awful. But I keep reading how lines are awful anymore because of FP+ and even rides that are normally not long lines are having really long lines now. We are traveling with a 2.5 year old and a almost 6 year old. We obviously cannot spend hours in lines. We will def wait a couple times for longer waits like 20/30 min but we can't do much longer than that. I guess I am mainly worried about MK and lines and getting a lot done. My plan for both days are as listed. Can you all look at it and tell me if you think its a good idea and if its possible with the times? Also we are hoping to get as close to 8am CP breakfast the one day and BBB the other day we are at MK. I am thinking if we can get 8am or 8:15 we should be done by rope drop and have advantage to get closer to the lands we want before the crowds?

Tuesday
8am Crystal palace (hopefully)
Aladdins carpets
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Than visit things like Aladdin & Jasmine, Swiss family tree house, Country bears - To fill time
11-12 Big Thunder Mountain
12-1 Haunted Mansion
1-2 Peter Pan
In between those fast passes grab lunch or visit other things near by attractions that may not be as busy
Late afternoon break
5:30 or so BOG if we can get it
Christmas party that night

Friday
8am BBB
Astro
Buzz
Space Mountain - DH if he wants to ride it alone
Speedway
Whinnie the pooh
Dumbo
Under the Sea
Barnstormer
12-1 Elsa and Anna
1-2 Enchanted tales with Belle
2-3 & dwarfs mine train
In between fast passes grab lunch, do tea cups, carousel or whatever else is close by.
Break
Than CRT for dinner that night.

 

[GFShelley]

Keep in mind, several little kid rides have entertainment while you wait. Winnie the Pooh is very interactive, as is Dumbo. I would get FP for Peter Pan and Seven Dwarfs Mine definitely so good move on that! Buzz rarely has a long ride. Same with Pirates of the Caribbean.

We go to WDW a few times a month and don't experience many long waits.

I think your schedule looks pretty good!

 

[NicholeB630]

I feel good about our FP selections I just hope we can get a lot done before them in the am!

 

[GillianP1301]

I think your plan looks pretty good. Especially if you're able to hit the FP times just right (like right at the end of the first window and start of the 2nd one), that will give you a good, almost hour, lunch break between the 2nd and 3rd.

I wouldn't rule out your kids being able to handle a few long lines. Like pp has said, many of the queues do have distractions for them and my DS who is now 6 (4 on our first trip), has never had any issue at all waiting in long lines, some of them over an hour. I always give him the choice to wait or not and sometimes he skips it and others he'll wait, but at least then I know he really wants to be there and because of that, he never really complains. I think the key is not to get impatient as the parent, because they feed off our reactions.

 

[bjam12]

I would really re-think your Tuesday schedule. Because of the age of your kids getting to the park at 8 a.m., staying all day and then attending the Christmas party almost sounds impossible with a 2 and 6 year old. I could be wrong though. I have kids the same age and would consider going back to the resort in the afternoon before coming back for the party.

The other thing to consider is that the park shouldn't be that busy on the day of a hard ticket event. Typically, MK will be much slower on days of the Halloween Party and Christmas Party because people who are not attending those events are going to other parks that day to get the most for their money.

Even if you left from 4 to 7 (when the park will get really busy) would be something to consider.

 

[NicholeB630]

I would really re-think your Tuesday schedule. Because of the age of your kids getting to the park at 8 a.m., staying all day and then attending the Christmas party almost sounds impossible with a 2 and 6 year old. I could be wrong though. I have kids the same age and would consider going back to the resort in the afternoon before coming back for the party.

The other thing to consider is that the park shouldn't be that busy on the day of a hard ticket event. Typically, MK will be much slower on days of the Halloween Party and Christmas Party because people who are not attending those events are going to other parks that day to get the most for their money.

Even if you left from 4 to 7 (when the park will get really busy) would be something to consider.

We are def taking a break I typed it on there after we use our last FP probably. I am thinking we'll leave the park 2/3 and then stay at the hotel until our dinner reservation if we can get one around 5:30. I def know that will be a long day for them and I really hope they can make it. I want to see the parade and from what I've read we really want to see the 10:30 one because there's no way I am staking claim for a spot hours before a parade. Wed will be our off day so we'll get to sleep in ( who am I kidding my kids dont) but we wont have to get up and out super early on Wed and after a long night I think its good we will have a day off. I plan on doing Chef Mickeys that morning, later time like 9:30 and then maybe do downtown Disney. I know 8 is so early for breakfast too that day but I really want to experience the park before the crowds and want to be in there before RD too. But even if we didn't do breakfast we'd still have to be there by 8ish to be up close to RD anyways and I'd rather just avoid the herds.

 

[NicholeB630]

I think your plan looks pretty good. Especially if you're able to hit the FP times just right (like right at the end of the first window and start of the 2nd one), that will give you a good, almost hour, lunch break between the 2nd and 3rd.

I wouldn't rule out your kids being able to handle a few long lines. Like pp has said, many of the queues do have distractions for them and my DS who is now 6 (4 on our first trip), has never had any issue at all waiting in long lines, some of them over an hour. I always give him the choice to wait or not and sometimes he skips it and others he'll wait, but at least then I know he really wants to be there and because of that, he never really complains. I think the key is not to get impatient as the parent, because they feed off our reactions.

I know that I can be a spaze and impatient so I really need to be aware of how I am acting and my attitude while I am there so my DD almost 6 is calm and we can all enjoy it. I def know they will feed off me. I am just praying we get there and say ok these crowds are not to bad and we can totally enjoy it still. Unlike the last time and we were like Holy Hell we can't even see anything.

 

[MouseOfGold]

Last Dec. we did MK all day and the MVMCP the same night. Needless to say, it was a VERY long day with 2 young kids. On our upcoming trip this Dec. I have decided to do the MVMCP on one day and visit MK itself on another day. Since we can get into MK starting at 4pm with the MVMCP ticket we will have a nice late lunch somewhere after sleeping in a bit and then head to MK for the party. I learned my lesson last year!

Otherwise, your plans look good. I've learned to take it easy & not over plan with the kids.

 

[NicholeB630]

Last Dec. we did MK all day and the MVMCP the same night. Needless to say, it was a VERY long day with 2 young kids. On our upcoming trip this Dec. I have decided to do the MVMCP on one day and visit MK itself on another day. Since we can get into MK starting at 4pm with the MVMCP ticket we will have a nice late lunch somewhere after sleeping in a bit and then head to MK for the party. I learned my lesson last year!

Otherwise, your plans look good. I've learned to take it easy & not over plan with the kids.

That seems like a good idea too but I dont know what evening we would because I def want a full day off I think everyone will need it. Then we are doing HS one day, AK one day and then Epcot the night we arrive and another full day. The Christmas party will be the two days we are already planning on being in MK and then the day we planning on being in Epcot. I think I really want to spend a whole day there and see illuminations. I really hope my kids can handle it I know its asking a lot of them lol

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I know that I can be a spaze and impatient so I really need to be aware of how I am acting and my attitude while I am there so my DD almost 6 is calm and we can all enjoy it. I def know they will feed off me. I am just praying we get there and say ok these crowds are not to bad and we can totally enjoy it still. Unlike the last time and we were like Holy Hell we can't even see anything.

I think you'll be happy with the crowds in the mornings in early Dec. You'll get a lot done, even if you don't use an ADR to get into the parks early.

It sounds like your kids are early risers like mine, so I would keep in mind that they really might be dragging in the evenings. With little kids, we've just had one or maybe two days in the week where we stayed out past 4 p.m. I've gotten them to bed and then gone back by myself if I felt like I was missing out. Instead of having a full day off, we'd have one day where we relaxed and then went to MK after dinner, so everyone would be in good spirits for the evening parade and fireworks. Just something to think about.

 

[bshawcrew]

Here now with a lite one that turns 3 tomorrow and our older 2. Our original plan, on this week that we thought would be light, was to do our 3 FP first, which I made mostly for the older kids, and then do some standby fillers for little one. It didn't work because standby for the little rides were up to 30 and 40 min each. Our lite one cant go much past 1 so we are doing our 3 FP before lunch, then back to room. Then we go back to the parks around 5 and are able to get on what we want for our little one. It's working best so far. The only issue, is we are now having to get in the parks early and leaving them late the night before. One good thing for you is it wont be so hot and maybe you could stay in the parks for longer stretches. Its in the 90s this week which I wasn't expecting. The humidity seems decent though.

 

[GillianP1301]

Some good points are being made about the length of day. We're only seeing 2 days out of your week and 1 of those has an evening planned. If your kids are early risers anyway (like mine), then the 8am stuff is a non issue, but it could become a problem when it's followed by a late night and followed by a full days activities. If it's just the one late night you have planned for the week, then it's likely fine, but if you're stacking in several night time shows/events, then you could start running into some fatigue issues.

I've never been in early December, but from everything I've ready, the crowd levels are very manageable, so it's really going to come down to how much energy everyone has. Go with your plan but stay flexible enough to have to take some things off the list, especially on the day after the party.

 

[NicholeB630]

Thanks all! This is my plan as of right now. Hoping the days we choose for each park stay the same and EMH wont effect the ones we've chosen because we dont want to do EMH.

Arrive Orlando late morning on Sunday
Epcot Sunday afternoon/evening (dinner at Arrekhuesh) Spell?
Monday Hollywood Studios, get there in time for RD prob 30 minutes before 9. With the lack of rides at HS I dont think this will be a late night at all. We are not doing fantasmic so I can't imagine we'll be there late in the day. Giving us a break for the evening and down time.
Tuesday as above will be our latest night
Wed off day
Thursday will be at Epcot. Will arrive again just before RD at 9 will probably try and take a mid day break and return in the evening to finish walking the worlds and than have dinner at Garden Grill. Shouldn't be a late night again
Friday as stated above will be an early morning we will prob take a mid day break again and then return for dinner at CRT hoping around 6 but then we will leave right after because of party.
Than Saturday our last day is at AK.

I dont think that seems to bad. Only two early morning where we'll need to leave the hotel before 8. Were staying at Bay Lake Tower so we can walk to MK both days so I am thinking if we leave at 7:30 to walk over we'll be fine to make 8am reservations both days. Than the other days since RD is at 9 we will prob shoot to be at parks by 8:30. My kids are def early risers especially in hotels. They dont sleep in.

 

[bjam12]

We are def taking a break I typed it on there after we use our last FP probably. I am thinking we'll leave the park 2/3 and then stay at the hotel until our dinner reservation if we can get one around 5:30. I def know that will be a long day for them and I really hope they can make it. I want to see the parade and from what I've read we really want to see the 10:30 one because there's no way I am staking claim for a spot hours before a parade. Wed will be our off day so we'll get to sleep in ( who am I kidding my kids dont) but we wont have to get up and out super early on Wed and after a long night I think its good we will have a day off. I plan on doing Chef Mickeys that morning, later time like 9:30 and then maybe do downtown Disney. I know 8 is so early for breakfast too that day but I really want to experience the park before the crowds and want to be in there before RD too. But even if we didn't do breakfast we'd still have to be there by 8ish to be up close to RD anyways and I'd rather just avoid the herds.

Gotcha, I missed that break when I read through the first time. Definitely a good idea. Like others said, be flexibile with your schedule. Best advice I can give! Have a great time!