Help with trip with both young and older kids

[pnelson384]

Me, my DH, DS11, DD8 and DS5 are going to WDW for the first time as a family over Easter break. I have found a lot of information about what to do with younger children, and what to do with older children, but not a ton about what to do when you have an adventurous 11 and 8 yo and a 5 yo "wanna be". We will be spending 6 nights at the Poly (garden view, wish we could afford concierge!) and will be going to the 4 main parks. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also wondering what time we should plan on arriving at the Animal Kingdom on Easter Sunday. Official opening is at 8:00 a.m. What time should we be there???

Thanks in advance! These boards are really helpful!

 

[kilee]

As for the AK, I'd try to arrive 20 minutes before opening. There will surely be a line formed, even if you arrive earlier. But it's really not going to get you anywhere faster.

As for combining activities for the younger and older kids. Pretty easy to do at WDW. There are so many things for them to do together, well for the whole family to do together. I'd say 3/4 of the rides and attractions are geared for families to do together. As for things the 5 yr old may not be able to do (if not meeting the height requirement). I'd let him go to some of the play areas (boneyard, HISTK, ect) as a treat w/ one parent while the other does the ride w/ the other 2. If your 5 yr old makes the height requirements sounds like you'll be all set.

 

[jehma]

Me, my DH, DS11, DD8 and DS5 are going to WDW for the first time as a family over Easter break.

I'm going in a few weeks with DD12, DD9, and DS5. He's tall - 46 1/2" - so there's not much he can't ride. I think RNR is the only one he'll really miss. Aside from that, we'll just do everything together! How tall is your little guy? Have you looked at the height restrictions list?

 

[sk!mom]

Your kids are close in age compared to mine. On our first trip to WDW as a family of 4, my DD was 5 and DS was 16. Our solution on that trip, as on all family trips since DD was born, was for DH and I to split up. Depending on who wanted to do what we would each have quality time with one kid. Surprisingly though there is really a lot at WDW that everyone wants to do. DS got to enjoy things that he was probably "too cool" for because his little sister wanted to do them.

 

[TeresaMc]

I am wondering myself how it is going to go this time ....it is just myself, my DS15 and niece5.

 

[pnelson384]

The little guy is just 40", I'm just not sure how much he would be scared with. He talks big talk and will probably want to go on everything, but might get really scared once he's on it. I read somewhere to get a video so that he can see things ahead of time,but I'm not sure which video that is.

 

[jehma]

The little guy is just 40", I'm just not sure how much he would be scared with. He talks big talk and will probably want to go on everything, but might get really scared once he's on it. I read somewhere to get a video so that he can see things ahead of time,but I'm not sure which video that is.

OK, so he can't go on Space Mountain, Kali River Rapids, Primeval Whirl, Mission:Space, or RNR. There are a bunch of 40" rides.

My little guy loves roller coasters and fast rides, so I'm pretty sure he'll be happy on everything, but we're going to skip Stich. You know your child best, but I honestly don't find most of the rides in WDW to be that intense. We went to USO/IOA last year, and boy some of those rides are intense!

The Unofficial Guide has great descriptions of the rides in terms of who may or may not like them. The official WDW site has some videos of some of the rides. Maybe those will help.

 

[pnelson384]

Thanks for all the advice! We'll have to see how he does when we get there and be flexible!

 

[jehma]

Thanks for all the advice! We'll have to see how he does when we get there and be flexible!

I also should have told you that we went when my now DD9 was 5. We skipped RNR and ToT, but she went on pretty much everything else. I think she was too short for RNR and ToT seemed too scary at the time. She must have been tall enough, though, since she went on other 40" restriction rides (and even Space Mountain at 44").

The only one that got her was Dinosaur. She came out terrified, and was so scared that any dinosaurs the rest of the visit scared her too! When we were in the Ellen Degeneres energy ride (lol since I remember that ride in its original incarnation from when I was a kid!) she was so scared the dinos where going to pop out at her again.

DS5, then 4, was scared of the Dinosaurs in the ride at USO/IOA last year, so we may just skip the Dinosaur ride this year at WDW.

Have a great trip!