Advice for mom & 2 dd's alone at WDW ...

[fam4jc]

Hi. I am very excited about my upcoming Mommy & me trip April 3 to WDW with my two dd's 5 & 8. My concern is that there will be rides that my 5 year old won't be tall enough or brave enough to ride. What do I do then? I love the rides so I want to ride everything but I Don't think I can leave my 5 year old alone. Is there a way to switch off without a second adult? I was just wondering if the cm's would allow my 8 year old to ride while I wait with dd5 and then dd8 & 5 wait for me while I ride? Or should I just resign myself to not getting to ride some things? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[jennymouse]

That is tough. I thought I was going to be in sort of the same situation last June when I was taking my 10yo granddaughter with a couple of her friends that were sisters and one was younger than the other, but a friend ended going with us. Before I knew my friend was going, we talked about those situation and decided that we would only do rides that we could all go on together. I didn't feel comfortable leaving any of the girls alone and no one wanted to ride alone. Do you have a girlfriend who could go along?

 

[fam4jc]

I have invited my MIL to come along. My FIL just died in Dec and she has to think about it. But, you are right. I need someone else or just skip some rides. I hate that! The first two times I went to DW I was pregnant and the last time it was so crowded! Oh well, the parks aren't going any where!!

 

[jeankeri]

In Dec 2003 we went on our first trip to WDW because my DH was attending a conference. So, from 9-1 I toured the parks with my DS 8 & 6. Most of the rides my DS6 was tall enough to ride he did. Exceptions were Haunted Mansion, Rock n Roller Coaster, TOT, & Mission Space. He braved Dinosaur, but will wait to ride it again . It is the 2 seater rides (Splash, BTMRR, Barnstormer) that were harder to coordinate. I can't speak to what the rules is for kid single riders- anyone out there know? There were some rides we saved for when DH met up with us. Rides we did as 3 (all riding in same car) were in AK: Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur, KS, KRR & . MK- Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups, Buzz, Jungle Cruise, Pirates; Epcot- Figment, TT, Malestrom, Ellen's Energy adventure, Body Wars. MGM- Movie Ride, Star Tours. Rides they did togeather- without me- Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Triceratops Spin. You are the best judge of what your DD5 wants to ride. My DS6 was brave for all things but darkness/loud noises. There are so many show/ movie attractions you can easily fill a trip and not feel you are missing out.

 

[kilee]

Child Swap only works when you have another adult to do the swap with. The CM's don't watch children, I'm sure for liability issues. The good news being you'll have so many rides to pick from that you can all enjoy together.

 

[jennymouse]

I have invited my MIL to come along. My FIL just died in Dec and she has to think about it. But, you are right. I need someone else or just skip some rides. I hate that! The first two times I went to DW I was pregnant and the last time it was so crowded! Oh well, the parks aren't going any where!!

Tell your MIL that you need her to go. Under the circumstances it would probably do her good. I had a hard time convincing Dad to go to WDW last year after Mom passed, but he ended up going and enjoying himself very much. Sorry about your FIL.

 

[Terry S]

A child has to be 7 or older to ride without a parent on all rides at WDW. So, if your 5 year old is tall enough to ride on some of the 2 seater type rides, you might be able to let your 8 year old go in front and you ride with your 5 year old. But, I would only do that if you can actually still see your 8 year old.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Depending on your 5yo's personality and her height, there will be little that she can't ride. My almost 5yo rode everything that he was tall enough for, which meant only two rides in all of WDW that he couldn't go on (RnR and that spinny ride at AK). My son is very daring with few fears and has the "I'll try anything once" philosophy that I have, so your milage may vary. At the same age my 11yo would not have done everything that Jake did, even though Zachary did do a lot.

How tall is your 5yo?

T&B

 

[Sumac]

I may be in much the same situation in June. I'm hoping that either my niece (she's 22) or my sister will be joining me. Anyway, if they don't I'll still be taking my kids - ages DS-8 & DD-5.

We just went the week after Thanksgiving so I do know what they can tolerate. If it is just a "3 Amigos" trip, then we will decide ahead of time what we really want to ride and will skip anything that we can't all agree on. We will go again in November with DH so we can ride anything we may have missed. Definite rides that will be out for us: Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, Dinasaur.

They both liked Mission Space, Test Track and Rock N Rollercoaster last time so we will hit those. There will be so much that we do ride, that I don't think I'll miss the couple that we don't.

Also if you kind of 'work your way up' your 5 year old may like some stuff that you are surprised at. Try Goofy's Barnstormer, then try Big Thunder Mountain. Our 5 year old rode a ton more this year than she did a year ago and enjoyed it all. It did take her until our last day to try Mission Space. We didn't even try to get her to ride, just all of sudden on the last day she said she wanted to ride (the boys had ridden it like 6 times by this point).

 

[buzz2400]

I am a single mom with only 1 ds and have been going to disney since he was 5. I waited many, many years to go on a few rides that he was too scared to go on (like haunted mansion). I would never leave a child alone while I go on a ride. Too much can happen. Ride could break down while you are on it and you can be stuck on it for awhile. Child can wander off even though you told him/her to stay right "here". I can list all the scenarios but my best advise is if you are the only adult and one child can't go on a ride because of height or afraid to go one, bypass that ride. It is not worth it to potentially ruin your vacation.

 

[bobcat]

I too am single mom and when I took the kids when they were younger we stuck to the rides we could all do together. When my DD was a little older and wanted to try some of the rides her younger brother wouldn't ride she rode alone without a problem. She started riding Space Mountain alone around 9 and we would all wait in the line together and I would just tell the CM she was riding alone and we would wait at the unload area. Same with Rock'n Rollercoaster. Many rides you can all ride together or ride in cars right next to each other.

Now that they are a little older, 12 and 10, I will let them go on ride together without me and I just wait at the ride exit. Like the time last trip they wanted to ride TOT over and over again. I'm good for a few trips on TOT but not 5 in a row! However they have been to WDW many times and know what to do if there is a ride breakdown or some other issue.