Early Mornings...Late Nights

[Aunt Dani]

We're planning a family trip for May 2016...me, my sister, BIL, niece who will turn 5 on the trip, nephew who will be 20 months, and our mom (Grandma).

We've been a few times in recent years, but this is our first trip with kids since our first childhood trip 35 years ago!

Our plan (at the moment) is for early mornings - rope drop if not every EMH - a break back at the hotel from around 1-4ish, then back to the parks for dinner and fireworks. We've got a water park/rest day scheduled at day 4.

Knowing every kid (and Grandma) is different, how late could/should we expect to be in the parks...and still be functional the next day?

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

We're planning a family trip for May 2016...me, my sister, BIL, niece who will turn 5 on the trip, nephew who will be 20 months, and our mom (Grandma).

We've been a few times in recent years, but this is our first trip with kids since our first childhood trip 35 years ago!

Our plan (at the moment) is for early mornings - rope drop if not every EMH - a break back at the hotel from around 1-4ish, then back to the parks for dinner and fireworks. We've got a water park/rest day scheduled at day 4.

Knowing every kid (and Grandma) is different, how late could/should we expect to be in the parks...and still be functional the next day?

I know everyone is different, but for us we just don't plan to be up and about early the next day if we do a late night in the parks; especially mid-way or towards the end of a trip when we're all tired from being on the go all week. I like to plan two "late" nights during a trip to see night parades and fireworks and the next day we'll do a pool and Downtown Disney day or we'll sleep in, go out for brunch, then have a leisurely, "do what we can do" afternoon at a park and stay until dinner (Epcot's World Showcase or a bonus day at MK would be great for this). Another thing to keep in mind is that a day at a water park can be just as, if not more, tiring than a day at one of the main parks.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I think that might be a little too ambitious. I would recommend trying and hitting as many early mornings as possible, taking a break if you feel it's needed, and stay as late as the 20 month old can handle. I would plan a late night before your rest day or plan a late night prior to a day where you don't need to be at rope drop that morning.

 

[Spunky946]

So we are here now and we were in the parks until 11:30 on Sunday and then slept until 9 on Monday morning and did a later short day at animal kingdom. We went back to the resort around 3 and swam/ate dinner and early to bed around 8:45. Today we were at rope drop at mk before 8, took an afternoon break and were at the parks again late. Tomorrow is Epcot and we have a soarin fast pass from 10-11, so that's my goal. We shall see how the day plays out.

I wouldn't plan at late night back to an early morning. You have to remember that you can't do it all.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We as a family, are all about the late nights. It is very rare for us to get to a park before 10 am though, lol.

 

[Caseheidi]

If your nephew will sleep well in the stroller, you may be able to do some days at that pace. We took DD around that age, and she napped great in the stroller. Slept right through fireworks several times, but never missed a parade. However, we run on the two days in the park, one down day out of the park scheduled. This allowed for a good sleep in on our down days, and early to bed. She also took a real good nap that day. It is really going to depend on how that little one can handle things.

 

[nat8199]

With my kids, we stick as close to their normal bedtimes as possible. They go to bed at about 6:30 at home, so the latest we do at Disney is 7:30. They are going to be up at 6am no matter what we do. Messing with kids' schedules can really make them cranky. My DD might have been fine with that schedule at 20 months, but my twins would have turned into terrors, and still would at 4.5.

 

[myrtleturtle]

I think you have to know your kids and go at their pace. We just did a "practice" day at the fair, arriving at 4pm after a typical day at home with a 2 hour nap. By 7pm their behavior (2.5 year old twins) went down hill and they were done. On a normal day, 7pm is bedtime, so I think for my family, pushing past that isn't a good idea yet. But we are all up by 7am everyday, so I see no problem making rope drop every day. Just know their natural rhythm and go with that. Some kids have no problem staying out late and being up early!

 

[luvmy2babies]

For a trip in May, we do more along the lines of what 2Pirates2Princesses stated. We probably have 2 late nights per trip. One may be a rope drop day where we take a break and head back out for a dinner ADR and a little park time; but dinner for us is around 6; so that day is likely AM EMH to noon, then 4:30 to 8pm including dinner. If we are talking fireworks at MK though, that won’t be a rope drop day and neither will the following day.

For us, 90% of the time we are out early and are in early. So it's rope drop to 2-3pm at a park and then pool time and dinner at the resort. When we want to do the night time stuff at Magic Kingdom, we start out later; so I might let them stay up later watching a movie that isn’t over until 10, then we sleep in a bit the next day, have a late breakfast and hit the park around 2 or 3pm. Then they can make it through Wishes. Although my son usually tells me how great it was when we begin applauding at the end and has passed out before we finish clapping. The following day we do Epcot because it is the one park we don’t rope drop. We sleep in and get there around 10 or so and stay until dinner…either having dinner there or heading back to the resort to eat.

So we aren’t really midday break tourist. My son when he took naps though would nap in his stroller; so I could work around it. If I tried bringing him back to the room to nap, he’d either pass out on the bus and wake up as soon as we got to the hotel or he would just bounce around the room with me pleading with him to lay down. So bottom line I’d say at least that your sister and BIL need to take the cues from the young ones. It could mean some splitting is necessary.

I haven't taken my mom yet; but going by other things we have done with her most important for her is enough time off her feet to balance things out, keeping very very hydrated (important for everyone; but especially little ones and grandparents) and balancing time in the sun with time out of the sun. May is a good month I think.

 

[richmo]

Its hard to do both. Our experience with small kids was that relatively early starts with night time ends worked fine early in the trip, but we noticed they slowly wore down as the trip went on. Grandma will let you know what's up, but when the 5 yr old and 20 mo hit the wall your day may well be over. The trick is keeping that from happening...

 

[PollyannaMom]

Every kid is different, and families have their own patterns, but when DS was little, we rarely did any late nights. We would get to the parks for rope drop, but be back at the resort in the evenings.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We are a family of night owls, so we stay out late and sleep in. I don't see us ever making more than 1 rope drop in a trip. Too early for us. We are all about the night time entertainment though.

 

[buzznina]

We are a family of night owls, so we stay out late and sleep in. I don't see us ever making more than 1 rope drop in a trip. Too early for us. We are all about the night time entertainment though.

This is also us, our family loves Disney a lot more at night then in the morning
OP, I would not plan on both. we learned early not to have an early morning after a late evening. There is a LOT of stimulation for children to handle and a lot of energy is spent. When we stay out late, we let our DDs sleep in and I can honestly tell you that in the 20+ trips (that we have been lucky enough to have taken), I do not even need one whole hand to count the number of melt downs we had. We also learned to have a non-park day after 3 park days, just to re-energize ourselves. Taking a break in the middle of the day did not work for us. People try and jam as much in as possible and end up messing up their vacation and in the end having less fun.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

This is also us, our family loves Disney a lot more at night then in the morning
OP, I would not plan on both. we learned early not to have an early morning after a late evening. There is a LOT of stimulation for children to handle and a lot of energy is spent. When we stay out late, we let our DDs sleep in and I can honestly tell you that in the 20+ trips (that we have been lucky enough to have taken), I do not even need one whole hand to count the number of melt downs we had. We also learned to have a non-park day after 3 park days, just to re-energize ourselves. Taking a break in the middle of the day did not work for us. People try and jam as much in as possible and end up messing up their vacation and in the end having less fun.

Disney is really a fascinating place at night. I would love to do a trip with mostly nights in the parks. I read a trip report years ago where a family stayed at one of the All Star resorts and did only nights in the parks for their summer trip. They didn't head out to a park until after 4pm and stayed until closing. They slept in late the following day and spent the late mornings/early afternoons in the resort pool before heading out for another night in the parks. Gives me something to think about for when my kids are all older. My teenagers would love a trip like that but it's definitely not something I would attempt to do with a toddler that is up everyday at the crack of dawn

 

[Aunt Dani]

So much to think about. I had been leaning towards the mornings because normally the kids are up early, plus everyone says how it's so much easier to get around the parks and on rides soon after rope drop. Both kids nap during the day, so I thought the midday break at the hotel would be a good idea. We're staying at the Boardwalk, so at least on Epcot and DHS days it's not hard to go back and forth. We're going to be there for 7 nights, so even if we did the 3 nighttime shows, we can still have 4 early nights. Guess I'll keep trying to shuffle the schedule.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Disney is really a fascinating place at night. I would love to do a trip with mostly nights in the parks. I read a trip report years ago where a family stayed at one of the All Star resorts and did only nights in the parks for their summer trip. They didn't head out to a park until after 4pm and stayed until closing. They slept in late the following day and spent the late mornings/early afternoons in the resort pool before heading out for another night in the parks. Gives me something to think about for when my kids are all older. My teenagers would love a trip like that but it's definitely not something I would attempt to do with a toddler that is up everyday at the crack of dawn

That sounds fun. Our first time going was in November at Thanksgiving; so it got dark pretty early and the parks are very beautiful at night. The whole place is really. I especially love MK and Epcot after dark. Haven't been able to go at that time of the year since then so we are only out after dark maybe 2 times each trip.

 

[mandis77]

I would check the park hours and times of the night shows so you can get an idea of how late you would be out. Remember when it is over you have to give yourself AT LEAST an hour to get out of the parks and get back to your resort. Every single time both kids would fall asleep before we even got out of the park.

 

[DisneyCAL]

You know the kids best or their parents do.... But in general and IMO going at rope drop is best for most children as they are most attentive and "happily" active at that time. The break in the middle will be a "must do", don't miss it. We will be doing this in September with our 5 yr old twins and they've been told there will be naps everyday but its so that they can stay up late to see fireworks. We won't be staying up late every night but out of the 7 nights, we've planned 3 late nights. The other nights they will go to bed around their normal time with naps in the middle of the day every day.
We did a "test day" with july 4 where we were up around 7am, gave them a nap around 2pm, and then did fireworks around 9 plus the drive home from my SIL's house. We told them about the nap and explained why and they went down for the nap without a fight. They did really good but I think sometimes the excitements of things like rides and yummy treats, and fireworks keeps them up and awake for longer than usual. Try a test ride.

 

[mkla2015]

Like others have said- it really depends on the family and the children- our Disney routine is hit the parks around 10am - 2pm, naps 3-5pm, back to the parks 7pm- close. As long as the kids get a nap, they are good to go until 10-11pm.

 

[leahgoogle]

You will have to feel it out. We were all ready to do the rope-drop, nap, late night schedule with our then 11, 7, and 4 year-olds. It was their first trip so they were very excited and very over-stimulated...lol. That plan lasted a day, especially for the 4-year-old, who would melt down by 8:00 pm. We ended up sleeping in most of the time and substituted some pool days instead of park days for down-time.