Both my boys still nap 1 to 3 hours in the afternoon. My 4 year old is able to get through the day without napping, but gets really grumpy in the afternoon. My 2 year old can't make it without napping. The first day they both fell asleep during the Lion King show at AK which was around 4:00 and slept all the way home. The next day was MK, we got their at 7:30 for breakfast at Crystal Palace (Excellent in my opinion, the food was great and my boys loved the characters, even though they are not really into Pooh at home). We had planned to go back and rest after our lunch at Cinderella's Palace, but as we were leaving everyone was lining up for the parade so we decided to stay. DS2 fell asleep shortly after and we walked him around for a little while while DS4 played in the water (One of his favorite things, he loved the totem poles in Frontierland that shot water, we ended up carrying swim trunks with us to the parks after that) Then DS2 and my husband sat and waited for Woody and Jesse while he slept, while DS4 and I got fastpasses for something. DS 4 stayed awake all day and fell asleep during the fireworks, even slept right through the grand finale. Then they both slept all the way home. They only had naps 2 days in an actual bed, the other days it was either in the stroller or in the car on the way to somewhere. We stayed off property and had a rental car. You may be surprised at how well your little ones sleep in the stroller when the exhaustion of Disney sets in. Sometimes when the fell asleep DH and I would just sit somewhere, put our feet up and read the guide book or talk, it was really our only time to relax, since the boys didn't sleep very well at night.
We went on Pirates, only because I got mixed up and forgot it was a scary one. It was on of the first rides we did in MK too, I was worried that they wouldn't go on anything else after, but they did ok. DS 4 is really afraid of the dark, but loves pirates. We just kept talking to him and making light of all the scary pirates. DS 2 didn't say much just sat real close to me. We didn't to SW or Fantasmic, we were going to but we went to MGM the last day and we were just too tired to wait when they might not like it. I did Hauted Mansion with my dad, it is pretty tame, depends on if your's are ok with the dark, there were a lot of screaming children in it though, especially in the beginning.
There favorites...the water, Mickeys Philarmagic was one they are still talking about, Buzz Lightyear, DS4 was able to ride Splash Mountain and said he really liked it, he was the only one with his eyes open in the picture, but he didn't want to ride it again. They like going through Mickey and Minnie's houses, they loved the boneyard at AK, would have stayed there all week, and HISTK playground at MGM. I couldn't get them out of the arcade at Pizza PLanet, (which they could do anywhere) They both liked Goofy's barnstormer, really short though. I wouldn't waste my time with astro orbiters, just dumbo only higher up, and it was a long wait. They liked driving the cars in tomorrowland. We only went to Epcot for a few hours one evening and they really liked Turtle Talk with Crush and the Nemo stuff in Land of the Living Seas, I think they would have really liked the Kidcot stations too, we'll have to go back there.
I definately recommend at least one character meal. They loved the characters there, but DS 4 didn't want to go up to them at the parks, DS2 was fine where ever they were. We didnt' try the other fun type meals.
The only thing I would have done differently is schedule more downtime. I think they would have been fine spending 1 or 2 days at the parks and the rest of the time at the pools and other stuff around the resort. But I wanted them to see a little of everything. It's so hard not to go to the parks, because you're there, we could go to the pool anytime.
Sorry so long, I guess I need to do a trip report I still have so much to say. We were so impressed by the friendliness and efficiency of the CMs, everyone we asked knew the answer to our questions almost before we asked them. Gosh, I could go on and on and on.....
Thank you for posting, I am learning as well. But can you please share with me why they didn't sleep well at night?
