Full day with young kids?

[pa. dad]

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.

We first took our kids to DW when they were 4. They never napped when they were home so we didn't see a possibility of them taking a nap when they were on vacation either. As the day went on, we tried to do more sit down shows and relaxing things . But they never ran out of gas until their normal time.
After dinner, we'd hit the hotel pool. A lot easier than all this back and forth stuff.

 

[WooPigScientist]

Our kids were 3 and 5 when we took them for their first visit this year. We went the first week of Jan, so weather was mild and not sucking the energy out of us, which I'm sure helps. We had 7 park days with a day off in the middle. We generally alternated days of rope drop/midday break/close down the park and later arrival/leave early days.

MK days were always our long days, as my kids loved it the best and would keep going as long as we were willing to stay. Epcot and AK, not so much. We did a table service meal almost everyday - which basically forced us to stop and take a break for an hour or so each day. That helped. And honestly, our rope drop to close days were easier. We left the parks about 1:00 (when crowds were pretty thick), went back to the hotel, crashed into a family coma for about 3 hours, then got up, had dinner within an hour of getting back to the park, then rode rides during thinner crowds for the rest of the night. The nap + timely dinner was pretty refreshing. Days when we didn't leave midday, we went to bed earlier - maybe 8:00?

My biggest surprise was that my husband and I needed (and took!) the naps and early bedtimes as much as the kids!

 

[mshanson3121]

Our kids were 3 and 5 when we took them for their first visit this year. We went the first week of Jan, so weather was mild and not sucking the energy out of us, which I'm sure helps. We had 7 park days with a day off in the middle. We generally alternated days of rope drop/midday break/close down the park and later arrival/leave early days.

MK days were always our long days, as my kids loved it the best and would keep going as long as we were willing to stay. Epcot and AK, not so much. We did a table service meal almost everyday - which basically forced us to stop and take a break for an hour or so each day. That helped. And honestly, our rope drop to close days were easier. We left the parks about 1:00 (when crowds were pretty thick), went back to the hotel, crashed into a family coma for about 3 hours, then got up, had dinner within an hour of getting back to the park, then rode rides during thinner crowds for the rest of the night. The nap + timely dinner was pretty refreshing. Days when we didn't leave midday, we went to bed earlier - maybe 8:00?

My biggest surprise was that my husband and I needed (and took!) the naps and early bedtimes as much as the kids!

For us when we did the afternoon breaks, our kids wouldn't nap, or even lay down. All they wanted to do was be out in the pool swimming. So, I mean it was a break from the park, but they didn't "rest" any more than they would have in the parks. But it did at least give us the adults a chance to lay down (there is definitely something relaxing about laying on a lounge chair next to the pool, lol).

 

[ELSA711]

Every child is different and you know your kids best. We rarely see night time entertainment there. My kids just can't hang. We are typical 10-7 crowd. I hate waking up to an alarm on vacation.
Fantasmic is our only must do night time show and going in the fall, it's been fairly easy to keep the kids up for that as it's on early. Also we don't show up until 12noon at DHS.
We've only seen Wishes twice in all the times we've been, honestly my kids just don't get the hype of the fireworks. They do like the parades and shows.

 

[brockash]

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?

We do open to close and in your situation, I'd probably rent a double citi mini for them. We've found that going back for breaks was just really more of a pain for us then anything else, and having to get everyone back up etc. was exhausting. Now, we hit rope drop, usually do a leisurely indoor lunch and if kids are tired etc., we may just walk around, do things like Carousel of Progress, Ppl. Mover, Mickey's Philarmagic, MILF, maybe sit and watch the parade, ride the train etc. Everyone's able to rest (kids able to sleep) without having to go through the hassle of going back to the resort and then getting everyone back up again. We've had a lot of success with this and always stay til at least Wishes is over with kids as young as 7 weeks up through 14 years old.

 

[Tara1988]

We have done rope drop to fireworks since my oldest son's first trip at 16 months. This October will be our first time with more than one kid, besides my nephew who has gone with us twice but his parents were there too. Plus one of our younger two will be practically a newborn, so we are planning a little different. We are planning 1/2 and 3/4 days, but if it works out for us to do open to close like we are used to, we might. I don't like the idea of leaving the parks and coming back, so we will either go in at rope drop and leave when we're tired or wait until lunch time to go to the parks and leave when they close

 

[Amanda Hall]

I love hearing what works for other people. Several have mentioned that each kid is different , no one can answer that question for me and the like. I completely agree. I actually just presented what I was mulling over and asked what other people do, not what I should do. I enjoy hearing what other have done and what has or has not worked for them. It gives me different perspectives and ideas of what might be a good fit for my family. I am surprised to hear how many of your kids do great late! Mine may too, I just have not really given them that opportunity yet Maybe this year.

 

[Angel Ariel]

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?

Our DD is 3, and we took her to DLR this past November. We did full days in the park. Honestly, she won't nap if we bring her back to the hotel anyway, so we don't waste that time. She will fall asleep in her stroller rather easily, and I made a stroller cover to put around the stroller to shut out some of the light/noise for when she did fall asleep. One of us would stay with her while she was sleeping while others rode, then we'd switch so the person who waited would get to ride also. We also did things like take a ride on the Mark Twain around the ROA. Or just stop and wait for a parade somewhere. Or find a snack and a quiet spot and rest. When she woke up, she'd be ready to go until after the fireworks.

If she would fall asleep at the hotel if we went back, we'd do that, but she would fight it. Falling asleep in the stroller just happens, no fight, so we roll with it

 

[Shellyb84]

Our DD is 6. We leave the parks every day, not for naps, but for the pool and to freshen up (she enjoys the pool as much or more than the parks). Then we go to dinner, and back to the parks occasionally. When we did stay for Illuminations or Wishes, she was usually asleep in the stroller by then.

 

[Nettester]

When my kids were 9 and 6 we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We did rope drop on all our park days, and we always left by mid-afternoon because the kids got tired, and they LOVE their pool time. Only once did we make it back on the parks for the evening because we were all too exhausted and just really happy to be enjoying the resort. The time we did make it back was when we had a dinner reservation in Epcot. The kids were not thrilled about going back to the park for dinner, but they perked right up when we told them they could ride Spaceship Earth again (they loved that corny interactive piece at the end with your face in the animated story)

 

[AllieBoo]

We always go early, take a midday break and then head back in the evenings and my kids have always been fine doing that. We did use a stroller when they were younger and they would nap in that if they needed to. I remember one year, my three year old being in the MK for an EMH until almost 1 am and she loved it! Of course, we slept in the next day.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We take breaks each day, without kids. This years trip we will have my niece with us (18 months old when we go), so a break each day is a must for us. We don't prefer to be in the parks in the afternoon when the parks are at their most hot/crowded. We always go in the morning, relax at the resort midday and recharge for the evenings. This has always worked out great for us.