Ages 2 1/2, 8 and 15?

[StlJoe]

I'm taking my first trip with the "whole" family in just a couple of months. My wife and I are taking my three daughters who are 2 1/2, 8 and 15. Any suggestions on how to balance out this unique mix of age groups? I've been reading a lot of great tips on here like the child swap but I'm also trying to anticipate any other issues that may pop up.

Any advice on vacationing at WDW with such an age range?

 

[Magic2000]

I have 3 DDs (now ages 25, 21, and 11). When the kids were younger, we tried to stick together at the parks. Thankfully, my youngest DD was easy going and didn't mind waiting for her sisters to ride the big rides. And we did child swap too - which the older ones loved since they got to ride twice!! As the older two got a little older, DH would often go off with them, and I'd take the little one to Fantasyland and we'd go shopping in the gift shops, etc. Sometimes, DH & I would walk around with younger DD, and the older 2 would go off on their own. (We let them go off in whatever park we were in.) Then we'd all meet up for lunch and talk about what rides we rode, show off any cool purchases we made, etc. But they always wanted to make sure they had time to ride some of the "baby" rides with the youngest DD. The older 2 did enjoy seeing their younger sister having fun on Dumbo or IASW.

Try to make it a good balance, and every body will have a great trip!!!! Have fun!!!

 

[bzzymom]

We used the child swap a few times . My kids are now 10 and 3. It worked out well for us. We got a fast pass for a ride, like Space Mountain and when DH and DS (10) got in line, we asked for the child swap. They rode the ride while I took DD on TTA or to the Pooh playground, or to the judges tent to meet characters. Then when they were done, DH stayed with DD and I rode with DS using the shild swap ticket. That way DS could ride twice. If we went by fast pass only, I would have to ride alone, because DD was under 3 and didn't have a ticket to use. We did this for the 3 mountains and stitch at MK, for Test Track, Mission Space and Soarin at epcot, RnR, ToT and Star Tours at MGM, and Dinosaur, Primevil whirl, and exp everest at AK. There was always something we could do to occupy the time with DD. At MK we rode the carosel and small world and saw the Belle show by the castle or just play in the little play areas. At Epcot, DD would play in a little play area inside mission space. You go into it through the store and there is a little play area in there. Also, we met characters, rode rides with no height restriction at epcot while the other parent rode with DS. At MGM, we did playhouse disney show while DS and DH rode some rides, plus met some characters, took in Beauty and the Beast show. At AK, she would play in dino-land or ride triceratops spin, or go to the pocohontas show. When we rode the river raft ride, there was an area where we could see the go by and we stayed there and watched the wet people. It worked out really well for us. She is 39 inches tall now. We don't have a trip planned yet. But by the time we do, she should be tall enough to ride a few more rides. We will use the child swap until she is tall enough.

When I was younger and traveled with my family, my brothers were 11 and 13 years younger than me. We went to WDW every year. It worked out well because my mom hates rollercoasters. Dad and I would ride the big rides and meet up with her later.

 

[powellrj]

I know many people don't agree with our approach, but here goes!

My kids are now 24, 16 and 11, so we have always had a huge age gap. When they were younger, we would always split up in the morning, meet at lunch time and then spend the rest of the day together.

I would usually take the older kids and do the wilder things like space mountain or RnR, while DH would take the younger kids and do the tamer rides.

We would then do things together as a family the rest of the day and evening.

There have also been times that we have even split-up and gone to different parks and then meet later in the day. When the younger kids were really young, they were worn out by mid-week and were ready for a down day, while on the other hand the oldest was still wanting to go,go,go. There have been a couple of times I have taken the oldest one to Universal or IoA and DH stayed at the hotel and had a pool day.

I know many people would never split up, but it works for us to split up for part of the day and then spend the rest of the time together.

Also, with the large age difference, we have always done more one-n-one with the kids than we would of if they were closer in age, so it never seemed strange to the kids that one kid was doing something they weren't. I didn't want my older kids to miss movies and activities that were age appropriate for them just because their younger sibling wasn't old enough to go. I know many people don't agree with the way we do things. They think its important for a family vacation, that the family needs to stay together, but I would rather have a little one on one time with the kids than to have wiggly kids waiting in a line for a ride they won't be riding.

 

[StlJoe]

I know many people don't agree with our approach, but here goes!

My kids are now 24, 16 and 11, so we have always had a huge age gap. When they were younger, we would always split up in the morning, meet at lunch time and then spend the rest of the day together.

I would usually take the older kids and do the wilder things like space mountain or RnR, while DH would take the younger kids and do the tamer rides.

We would then do things together as a family the rest of the day and evening.

There have also been times that we have even split-up and gone to different parks and then meet later in the day. When the younger kids were really young, they were worn out by mid-week and were ready for a down day, while on the other hand the oldest was still wanting to go,go,go. There have been a couple of times I have taken the oldest one to Universal or IoA and DH stayed at the hotel and had a pool day.

I know many people would never split up, but it works for us to split up for part of the day and then spend the rest of the time together.

Also, with the large age difference, we have always done more one-n-one with the kids than we would of if they were closer in age, so it never seemed strange to the kids that one kid was doing something they weren't. I didn't want my older kids to miss movies and activities that were age appropriate for them just because their younger sibling wasn't old enough to go. I know many people don't agree with the way we do things. They think its important for a family vacation, that the family needs to stay together, but I would rather have a little one on one time with the kids than to have wiggly kids waiting in a line for a ride they won't be riding.

I'd been wrestling with idea of splitting us help. Thanks for the advice...

 

[LISAVWL]

our kids are DS14, DD 5.5, DS 4 & DS2.5 -- as you can see we have quite the gap. Thankfully, my oldest DS loves his younger silblings and will play the "older big brother" to the hilt and take them on all the "kiddy" rides. For being such a good sport, either DH or I take him out while the little ones are naping/resting or later at night to a park that has PM EMH. I don't care much for the roller coasters -- that's his thing to do with DH so I take the younger ones to Toontown or Fantasyland for a while. I really don't like to split up, but for short periods of time during the day it's worked out for us. We always have meals as a family and make plans from there together.