Full day with young kids?

[Amanda Hall]

We are planning our 3rd trip this Winter. We are staying at POR. Our kids will be 4 and 7. The first year we left the parks by 2 each day, one day 4 after the FOF parade and the kids were too tired (and really us to) to make it back. Last year we did illuminations and spent that morning at the pool, let the kids nap and headed to Epcot around 3:30 and they did ok with that. I want them to see wishes this year but we will be there during MVMCP and would have to go on a non party day. We would do rope drop, leave after lunch and head back around 5. I am not sure they will make it going back in and am worried about the crowds as we have never been in MK that late and I understand non party nights are very crowded. All that back story to ask how you spend your days with younger kids. All day? Breaks? Only partial days?

 

[minnie mum]

We managed a few evenings when our kids were that young, but back in those days the parks weren't nearly as crowded. We're taking DGS, 5, this year and plan on ROL and Fantasmic after afternoon breaks. But I'm not even going to attempt MK nights this year. We're going during Christmas party season, too. Our last experience with non party nights were not good.

Plenty of time for our little guy to see Wishes when he's older.

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

We did on both our MK days in March with our DS5. We stayed from rope drop (actually 1st day we had a 8:05am ADR at Crystal Palace so we were there even earlier) until about 1:30pm, went back to room, grabbed a nap, a bite to eat in the Pop food court and was back at MK by 6:30pm for a few more rides then Wishes/fireworks.

What we did as far as transportation was drove our park to the car in the morning - took the bus back to the resort for break - bus back to park in evening - car back to resort at closing.

We drove to AK, stayed there til about 3pm and was done for the day.

We took the bus to and from HS - got there about 9:30am and stayed til Symphony of the Stars was over with no break and son did great. It was our last day, so we pushed thru to enjoy as much as we could.

We also took 2 off non-park days as well.

 

[ajwolfe]

At those ages my kids were able to hang in the park all day and still be fine in the evening - they would get caught up in the fun of what was going on and not realize that the day was flying by.

 

[dkbnyc]

we stayed at the parks all day, but had a stroller for the younger one.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

Totally depends on your kids. Last May, my DS (7)was fine with 5:30 wake ups to do rope drop at DHS three days in a row (8am- we were there by 7 each day to get good spot for rush to characters and jedi training sign ups). We stayed until 7:30/8 one night, 10:00 the second night (had dessert party so it was a lot of down time relaxing that night) and 8:30 after fantasmic. No breaks outside of the park (the shows were good breaks, and we spent some time in the animation building just relaxing too). We had done a rope drop morning until 7 at MK the day before all of this too. The last day I slept in a bit but he wanted to go do jedi training one more time, so he and DH got up and I slept in and met them at 9:30. So it totally depends on the kid. We also had our 4 month old with us- but she slept wherever.

Other less commando trips, he's still able to do rope drop to night time entertainment fairly well. When he was younger he would nap in his stroller. Now we just take breaks as needed within the park. I don't like the hassle of mid day breaks and neither does my son. Now if he was melting down- I would force the issue.

 

[ktlm]

My DD started being in the parks open to close at age 2, and has been every year since then. Breaks did not work for her and when she was young, she napped in the stroller. We took the stroller through age 5, and she definitely needed it because she did not have the stamina to walk the entire day (this is the kid the refused to set foot in the stroller after she took her first steps at 12 months, EXCEPT for at WDW). . She quit napping at home by her 3rd birthday, but at age 4 still napped in the stroller at WDW. I don't really recall her napping much in the stroller at age 5. At age 6, there was some whining involved because there was no stroller and her feet got tired by the end of the day, especially toward the end of the week when she was overall more tired. At age 7, she was able to go from rope drop at 9:00 a.m., to 10:00 p.m., or sometimes later, in the parks with no problems at all. We have gone at rope drop on MNSSHP days and stayed until almost midnight more than once, and she is fine. She is a pretty high energy kid though- and a night owl by nature.

 

[MalkaR]

I have a five day trip planned, and I'm only scheduling park activities until about 2pm. My kids are 3, 5 and 6. I want everyone up and going to hit rope drop, so I know that they'll be completely pooped soon after lunch time. Even if they could manage one longer day, that would be absolutely impossible for 5 days in a row. At home, our day trips only last till 3 or 4 pm. I'm bringing a double stroller, but I'm not counting on anyone actually napping in it.

 

[Amanda Hall]

I am thinking they are old enough to handle it but the feedback is great. Now that I think about it we would probably park hop as our MK days are planned to be on party days to take advantage of lower crowds and then hop to AK for ROL one night and maybe and AK morning and then hop to MK for night time happenings. I will have a stroller for the 4 year old.

 

[WIcruizer]

All kids are different, there are no right or wrong answers. In fact, as I'm sure you would agree, it even depends on the day. One day they may need more time away, next day they can go strong all day. Only you know your kids, just see how it goes and react accordingly.

 

[leebee]

First year we took kids to WDW, they were 1 and 4 1/2. We were at WDW in March, hit the parks by 9am and left around 6pm each evening. By fall, when they were 1 1/2 and 5, we were hitting the parks by 9-10am and staying straight through until closing. Both kids had umbrella strollers and would just crawl in and nap when they were tired. We couldn't justify the time it'd take to go back to our hotel, try to rest, and then return. We did 2 park days, a day off, and 2 more park days. That's pretty much been our M.O. for the past 18 years!

 

[AshleeH]

We always take breaks - more for my sanity, than for my kids. They enjoy the breaks though - I usually take a nap with the youngest, while my husband goes to the pool with the oldest (or two oldest now). I like being out of the heat midday and I hate the 11-3 crowds. Typically we plan a very late breakfast ADR, do the parks from rope drop to ADR time, then eat and head back to the hotel for a break. Then we go to a different park that night. It works for us. It's just a matter of juggling and finding out what best fits your family. There are some that absolutely hate getting to the parks before 11:00 and others who only go from evening to close.

 

[lovethattink]

My son can't handle full days, and he rarely naps. If we went back to the room for a rest, he'd be asking to swim or something else. Then he'd be even more tired. We either do all early day, all mid day, or all evening at a park. He and my husband are night owls and they do much better staying up late than getting up early.

 

[sweetcarolinamoma]

My kids first visits were when they were 2 and 5. They both stayed in the parks with us all day long. We had a stroller and they napped some off and on during the day. My kids weren't huge nappers so maybe they did better than most.

 

[gorkt]

We went when the kids were 7 and 5 and we were able to see Wishes and Illuminations. We generally did 3/4 days when they were that age, having late mornings on days when we wanted to see fireworks. We also used one light stroller for the youngest.

 

[Dis703]

Our kids are 4 and 7 and we've been going with them pretty much every year since around age 2. For family trips we go for at least 8 days and plan on seeing each evening show one time. Those are our late nights and we try to stagger them and plan for a later night the next morning. We also take afternoon breaks in the days we know we will stay late.

So far this has worked out fine. Sometimes we are carrying sleeping kids onto the bus but they usually make it through the evening just fine.

 

[Minniemoo15]

We usually take a mid aftn break. But this year we stayed off site, so full days it was. MK was 7:30am (pre park BOG bfast)-10:00pm. DD3 was a TROOPER. She took a big stroller nap in the aftn and honestly was nothing but smiles the whole day.

Same for our Epcot day - though it was slightly shorter (10am-930pm). Stroller naps for the win

 

[mshanson3121]

We are planning our 3rd trip this Winter. We are staying at POR. Our kids will be 4 and 7. The first year we left the parks by 2 each day, one day 4 after the FOF parade and the kids were too tired (and really us to) to make it back. Last year we did illuminations and spent that morning at the pool, let the kids nap and headed to Epcot around 3:30 and they did ok with that. I want them to see wishes this year but we will be there during MVMCP and would have to go on a non party day. We would do rope drop, leave after lunch and head back around 5. I am not sure they will make it going back in and am worried about the crowds as we have never been in MK that late and I understand non party nights are very crowded. All that back story to ask how you spend your days with younger kids. All day? Breaks? Only partial days?

None of us can answer that for you. It's going to depend on your kids, the day, the moods etc... They might be fine, they might not. The only thing you can do is plan to try it, and if you see they can't do it, then.... don't do it. You might want to plan on the next day being a resort day for some R&R, the morning at least.

We did a very similar plan with our 5 & 8 year old: we were at MK at RD, stayed till noon, went back for a rest. Were back in the park for a 5:00 CRT, followed by CRT. And my daughter (5) was passed out in her stroller by the time Wishes rolled around.

One thing I learned on our trip last time, I think I would prefer to do RD to 3 or 4, or if there's something I'm going to do in the evening, I'd rather just have the day free for R&R, and then head into the park around 4 or 5 and stay for the evening.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Last week we took my 3 and 9 year old girls to MK. Got there at 9 am. Stayed in the park all day. Took a few breaks like going to HOP and COP, riding the train, sitting at Town Square Theater, and sitting in the shade near Sideshow Pete's. At 10:30 pm, they were full of energy and begging me to let them ride BTMRR one more time.

I think a lot of kids can handle RD to close in the parks, but it is very important to have a rest day the day before and after. We spent the day before sleeping in and doing a half day at AK then going to bed early. We spent the day after sleeping in, seeing a couple of shows at HS, relaxing at the resort pool, then visiting Epcot for a few hours in the evening.

 

[Kathryn777]

This year we did full days, but took entire days off in between. It wore us out. My kids are 9, 5 and 3. The 5 & 3 year old did great but it was too long for the 9 year old. All depends on the kid