How do you get your kids to leave a park for food?

[princesspiglet]

I guess I am questioning all of my ADR's after this weekend with my daughter. I took her to a local chiildren's museum and she refused to leave to go get lunch. I literally had to drag her out of there because I was starving and was getting sick from not eating. To say she was pissed was an understatement. She threw a massive tantrum and pouted for about an hour. It was not fun, and I was by myself with her. I tried to pick resturants that I think she will have fun in, but how do I get her to leave a park without throwing a fit??? I tried everything with her. I bribed, I promised ice cream, I even told her we could come back (which we did) and she still didn't want to leave. She would have rather fainted from starving then leave. BTW, she is almost 4.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Is she always a strong willed child or was this an exception to her normal behavior? If this is typical behavior, then some dicipline changes now might be needed if you hope to avoid these fits at WDW.
If this was the exception, perhaps she was just so overwelmed by everything she saw that she could not handle the overload. Chances are she too was hungry or thirsty and that added to the meltdown. I would have a plan of action and make sure that she knows what it is and then keep reminding her of it as the day wears on. Eating breakfast in the room is great with small children because there are less distractions. TAke her favorites from home and make it a rule that everyone must eat before you can leave the room. Carry water and light snacks to be certain she stays hydrated and her blood sugar stays level. Tell her that after you visit a certain ride, that you will be having lunch at a certain location. REmind her several times as that time gets closer. When that last ride comes, state that now it is lunch time and we are all having lunch. Perhaps you can let her help decide which ride when you return. If she starts to scream, just pick her up and carry on with your plan. If this happens, perhaps she needs a nap back at the hotel anyway. I would avoid all the bribes. Do not let her think she has a choice, it is lunch time. End of story. I would put some routine into place for the entire stay. A few hours, lunch a few rides, a nap, and then perhaps some more park time. Try to stick as close to her meal and bed time as possible.
Once she sees how much fun resturants at WDW are, it might be a non issue!!

Good luck

Jordan's mom

 

[WantToGoNow]

We head for the exit.

We go to zoos, museums and amusement parks all the time. My children have never questioned when I said it was time to go – whether to eat or for the day.

Since she is only 3 and may not understand fully, but I would explain to her how the day is going to work – we eat breakfast, we ride the bus to X park, we ride a few rides, we leave and go to lunch, we go for a nap and/or swim, we return to the park for a few more rides, we leave for dinner, we return to the hotel for bed. Don’t give her an option of whether she wants to do what the rest of family are doing (like eating) – and I would strongly suggest not using bribes – at home or on vacation. She is old enough to know if she screams loud enough you will give in with the bribes just to quiet her down.

My children are 22, 5 and 2 – so I’ve been through every thing once before and my little ones don’t have a chance at pulling off things my older one may have gotten away with.

 

[princesspiglet]

Thanks guys for the responces. She is usually a very compliant child, and this was an exception. I didn't quite know how to respond, because she has never acted like that before! I was just getting worried about her acting like that at WDW. I would be mortified. Like I said, she is usually a very good child and I have never had to bribe her before. I did the plan of action thing with her, I told her how long we would be staying and I even give her a countdown for at least 30 minutes prior to leaving. Usually after I say " you have one more ride left, or one more exhibit" she says ok and is ready to go. She was like Jeckly and Hyde and I was just beside myself. Where did this child come from and where is my little girl???? I know she was probably overwhelmed and I am worried this same thing will happen in Dis.

 

[KristinU]

We've had some luck with our 2.5 year old in the countdown thing like you mentioned as a "heads-up" for him, but then also when it gets close to time to leave we talk about how if we leave nicely without crying or yelling that means we get to come back and do fun things like this again, but if he has a problem then we just can't do things like this. I'd say it works a good 85% of the time. Then of course, when he does leave happily we give lots of praise and tell him how happy we are that we'll be able to go again! We then do a big "bye bye park, thanks for letting us play!" type of thing. It also helps to remember and talk about what a good job he did leaving the last time as we arrive for a repeat visit to somewhere. Of course this all hinges on mommy and daddy remembering to start the whole countdown and discussions while he's still happy and calm.

Good Luck!

 

[glass slipper girl]

We haven't had an issue with this. My sons seem to understand the concept of leaving the park doesn't mean leaving Disney. They know when we arrive how many days we are staying for and they count it down ("this is our 3rd day? and we have 5 more?"). Of course we also usually leave mid-day for a break (and often to swim which makes them too) and then go to dinner from there so we are usually leaving for dinner from our room rather than from a park. This is coming from a Mom who for 4 years left the pool in the afternoons completely embarassed because my kids were both throwing fits about wanting to leave so we've had issues with leaving places before! For some reason, it's never been an issue at Disney. I guess they are just doing SO much and they know our plans. We talk about it in the morning "today we are going to the Animal Kingdom for a while then we'll come back and swim then take a little rest before we go to Epcot for the evening. While we are there we will have dinner at Daddy's favorite steak place and then we will watch the fireworks!" So all day they know we will be doing this. They often ask if we are going back to a park after but they don't protest.

I hope your experience was just a fluke! I can totally relate to how it feels dragging a kicking screaming child out of somewhere they were having fun!

 

[marlynnp]

Absolutely do not bargain or bribe ~ you're the boss. Give her a 10 minute warning and then I'd only tell her twice that's it's time to go. You're bigger, pick her up and leave.

Once my daughter tried that with me and never again.

 

[Jenn]

Well, where are your ADRs? Too me and my kids, half the fun of Disney is the restaurants. Make the meals part of the fun by eating at character meals, or fun restaurants like Rainforest, 50's Prime Time, etc.

If I told my girls we had to go because we were having dinner with Pooh, they would run like the wind!