Bedtimes

[ktlm]

Not at all. We have been taking her to WDW since she was 2 and we have never enforced bedtime there. She has always been a pretty flexible kid when it comes to schedules though. She is also a night owl by nature, not a morning person. She is 8 now, and during our trip two weeks ago she was at MNSSHP until midnight twice, at the Stormalong Bay pool with a new friend she made at the resort until 10:00 p.m. one night (weekday closing time) and 11:00 p.m. (weekend closing time) another. We are always at a park right around rope drop the next day too. She will whine when we get her out of bed, but once she gets moving and hits a park she is all energy again.

 

[baseballnut]

No way! In fact we usually head to MK every night or so and stay until midnight! But we also take a nap at midday, every day. And if DD3 is crabby we won't stay out, but she usually gets a second wind around 10pm and we can ride the rides with no wait.

 

[jennygirlmt]

We are going in December when DDs will be 2 and 4.5. We plan to have them in bed by 8:30. Normal bedtime is asleep by 8. DD4.5 could easily stay up but the little one wouldn't make it. I'd rather be at Rope Drop feeling rested than running on steam at the end of the night. Despite bedtime, I think we'll be leaving the parks by 4-5 each day to wind down for dinner at the hotel and bedtime.

My parents did graciously offer to keep the girls while DH and I go to Wishes. I'm honestly a little nervous about being tired! But I'll be 4 months pregnant and how I'm feeling now has me with low expectations of my energy level

I'm not as worried when we vacation at a beach house, etc. But Disney requires a bit more energy than other trips. And I don't want meltdowns. My kids also don't stroller nap, so I'm not banking on much rest during the day.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

My son is 8 and I let him stay up to watch the fireworks and the msep. My little one on the other hand stays at his bedtime. Usually what happens is my hubby (who also is an early to bed person) takes the little one back for bedtime and me and my older son stay out a little later. It makes my older son feel special to have some mommy and me time without his little brother tagging along lol.

 

[rachael95]

My DS is 2.5 and he's a night owl. It's really difficult for me to get him to be asleep by 9:30. He sleeps until 7:45 most days at the latest.

We did MNSSHP once and he was up until midnight and happy as a clam.

We usually left the park early enough to eat dinner off property though and this gave us a nice time to unwind before bed. He got upset though if we left when he could tell people were staying. But, if we waited to leave until a parade or fireworks etc, he would leave perfectly happy, even if it was only 5p.m. It "felt" like a natural time to leave to him since usually a large group of people would also be heading out.

 

[puffkin]

At home during the week we pretty much stick to kids in bed by 8 (usually asleep by 8:30). They must be up at 6:30 everyday, but sometimes get up earlier just because.

On vacation, all out the window. My kids are 2 & 8 and have no issues staying up late and/or early mornings. We do go fairly often though and don't go at a commando pace and take afternoon breaks. They just don't seem to be bothered by it at all. That is one thing I have always loved about my kids....how flexible they are. I could never imagine being stuck in the room everynight by 7-8. Nights are our favorite times in the parks!

 

[cattywampus]

We always have a stroller and little guy has never been shy about crashing out when he is ready.

I have many happy memories of watching fireworks, and immediately after, seeing a little hand pop up to snap down the sunshade and falling asleep before I had the stroller turned around to head back to the hotel. It usually ends up being 1-1.5 hours after normal bedtime. I have a very thin blanket that I drape over so light isn't shining in and he is very happy. Wrestling a sleeping child into Jammie's back at the hotel is an adventure!

The above is at DL in our own time zone. When we head to WDW next month, we plan to stay basically on west coast time and we will not be trying to make rope drop. To me, trying to be at parks at the equivalent of 5:00 - 6:00 am our time, would be incredibly disruptive and make for cranky adults and child. Instead, I booked a couple of MVMCPs, mostly for extended attraction hours. Midnight is 9:00 pm to us and very doable for child (will have stroller). We will do "rope up", enjoying the closing crowds and nighttime activities.

 

[hattrickmom]

My youngest will be one on our next trip. On our late nights I plan on bringing pjs and disposable washcloths so I can do bedtime prep at the park. And wether she falls asleep in park or not she's ready for bed as soon as we walk into our hotel room! This has always worked well with my kids!
Some nights bedtime will be relatively normal. Some not!

 

[Daldea]

My youngest will be one on our next trip. On our late nights I plan on bringing pjs and disposable washcloths so I can do bedtime prep at the park. And wether she falls asleep in park or not she's ready for bed as soon as we walk into our hotel room!

I love this tip! Will definitely use it on when we go next month!

 

[jeepnjudy]

No way! In fact we usually head to MK every night or so and stay until midnight! But we also take a nap at midday, every day. And if DD3 is crabby we won't stay out, but she usually gets a second wind around 10pm and we can ride the rides with no wait.

This sounds like my kids...no bedtime enforced at Disney. Afterall, we are on vacation!

 

[robndani]

My kids are almost 5 and we've never stressed about bedtimes at Disney. For sure all the adults are wiped out before the kids! Our bedtimes seem to get later each night of the trip and we wake up later and later! No rope drops for us! It also depends a little on where we stay. If we are taking a bus back, one of them will usually fall asleep, but if we are walking or on the monorail that obviously won't happen.

 

[Feberin]

Our plan was normal bedtimes and that didn't really happen since normal bedtime is 7 PM. However they didn't stay up that much later and a couple nights they were in bed at their normal bedtime. We stayed out latest the first night (we were all having too much fun!) and the last night we intentionally stayed up even later since we had to drive back to Maryland and wanted the kids exhausted so they'd sleep in the car.
I don't think my kids would have survived a complete lack of bedtime. Even trying to stick somewhat to bedtime they were exhausted and we had to wake them up in the mornings.

 

[laughinplace199]

It really depends on the kids.

We started travelling to WDW when our oldest kids were 3 & 1. For them, sticking fairly close to their regular bed times (and meal times) was important and necessary to prevent meltdowns. Each trip, we stayed out late one night, usually for a party or fireworks.

When our third baby came along, the older kids were 7 & 5 and were able to handle late nights better. Thankfully, our youngest was (and still is) a very go-with-the-flow kind of kid. We'd pack some pj's and head out for the parks in the evening. When it got close to his bedtime, we'd put his pj's on him and he'd fall asleep in the stroller when he was ready. It's truly amazing to me that anyone can fall asleep during fireworks, but he could!

 

[Willabea]

Thanks everyone, for the different perspectives! I'm sort of a stickler about bedtime for my 3 and 5 yos at home. Our first WDW trip is a little over a week away and this is one of the things I've been wondering (worrying?) about. In particular, I'm considering whether to do MVMCP or if it's just too darn late, especially with daylight savings time. I think we'll wait until we're there and see if we think they can handle it. Anyway, it's helpful to hear how different people handle bedtime!

 

[Dragonfly_34]

We just got back and for the most part, we stuck with their usual bedtime....a couple of nights it stretched until 8pm/8:30pm. My daughter napped in the stroller every day but my son only napped a couple of days. As expected, they woke up bright and early every morning....the latest they slept in was 6:30am, so the afternoon naps were needed. We did have a late night with the MNSSHP and they were wiped out - I thought for sure my twins would fall asleep in the stroller while DS5 was riding Haunted Mansion with DH (they were scared of that ride) but they didn't.....HalloWishes really scared my son, to the point that he was shaking and his heart was racing even after they ended. Once we got on the bus and he felt safe that there wouldn't be any fireworks, he fell asleep. I wish I'd thought to bring their pajamas and change them at the parks - I'll have to remember that for our next trip.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Kids have been going to wdw since ds13 was 6 months old. We never returned to the hotel for a normal bedtime (which was never before 9 anyway). Before age 5, they had strollers if they needed to sleep. Never had a problem with meltdowns or tired cranky kids on vacation. My first grand baby will be about 4 months old on our next trip and I sure hope dd doesn't plan for us to all be back at the resort at an insane 7-8 every evening but I can't imagine that she will because evenings are her favorite times in the parks.