How do you handle meltdowns at the park?

[Jen D]

SerinaEmily, your kids are beautiful!

I have nothing to add to all the excellent advice here.. I fly by the seat of my pants on these things but I am a big fan of the bench-sitting cool-down... good for kids and for parents.

Also, good that you recognize that hunger is a factor in your daughter's mood-- that can be fixed. With the early rising and all the walking involved at WDW, kids may need more fuel than usual. If you've gotten up early for early entry or something, 10am might be a perfectly reasonable time for a snack. It might sound like the opposite of good discipline, but we found a 10am Mickey Bar break kept everyone's energy really positive. If sugar is something you are avoiding try a healthier snack but something to keep the energy up might help.

The 2005 (and probably 2006) Unofficial Guide added an excellent section and parenting and discipline at WDW. Check it out.

 

[KimWDW]

I'm also nervous about how to handle tantrums. Bringing our 3yo for the first time in October. Thanks for this thread. I'm enjoying the tips.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Personally, in addition to some of the strategies above what we do while at WDW is put mellow things between highly stimulating activities. A train ride around MK or jumping into a show. We've also noticed that switching parks also works really well--or a sit down meal. If it gets really bad (and it hasn't ever happened) we're prepared to just leave for the day. We also DO NOT wake our kids up to get an early start at the parks. It isn't worth it if they are simply going to be in a bad mood all day. The pay off for us is just too little. We don't push our kids in other ways also. No matter where we are in line, if they start to act up about going on a ride (might be frightened or whatever) at least one of us takes that child out of line and sits it out. It's not fair to the people around us. We never make them see characters if they balk..

I couldn't agree more! This Sept. will be my DD (turning 6 at WDW) 5th trip. She has yet to have a meltdown but we don't push her. We did wake her up early on her first trip (she was 2 3/4) and with the time change from Ca. and the getting up early, she fell asleep on the first ride (Safari in AK)-Anyway, we don't do the early entry mornings any more-we adjust more to her schedule.

I've also found that anytime she can play in water, her mood improves greatly! Since it's just myself, my DM(66) and DD, we find that if we find something of interest for her during baby switch times, it makes our day better. The water play area near Mission Space is one of her favs.-I always bring her water shoes and bathing suit with us to the parks. Before she was big enough to TT we switched off in the GM car display area at the end of the ride. She loved getting in the cars-I have a great pix of her in a red Corvette. The wait area at the end of Mission Space has a great kid's play area-she has the best time there. She also loves Innoventions-she likes playing with the computers, etc. Also letting her take her own time and do things that seem to take forever (i.e. doing the mask in Epcot)

And lastly, she's the happiest when we are playing in the pool-so if she's misbehaving I can always tell her that we won't swim that day-(As Dr. Phil says-find your child's currency). If we don't push her and relax and take things easy, so does she.

21 days and counting!!!!! :
__________________

 

[irish dancer]

On the other hand--if the inevitable happens..have a camera ready.

It will be great for the future bride or groom of your kids .

With a digital camera--you can have an instant reminder--"behave like this and......(consequence)".

Nothing says Disney like a temper tantrum .

LOL we just used this one last week with our DD3. Half way through the trip when she pulled the pout and crossed arms over not getting to go where she wanted DH teased to take a pic. Of course that ended with giggles all around (and many smiles from nearby onlookers). That seemed to work for her for the rest of the trip.

My DS5 tends to handle things better if he is not hungry and if he gets stressed always calms down with a snack/drink. What I did was have a small fanny pack for each kid and I would put a few snacks (granola bar, peanuts, fruit snacks, etc) in each morning. This way they had quick access to a snack whenever necessary. I also had a small tag on each zipper with their name, our cell phone number and resort name. Figured if they ever got seperated this would help them reunite us.

We did wake them every day to be there at open but we also left every day by 2p for a nap and swim and then returned in the evening. The super hot temps of mid-day and largest crowdes (i.e. long lines) would have been disaster for us so we avoided them like the plague.

It is fairly inevitable that there won't be some sort of meltdown while you are there but remember a lot of people are there with kids and are sympathetic and I agree with other posters that most tantrums are usually magnified by the parents' response. Stay calm and take a break if they need one.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[momimouse27]

I know this page will apply to me! My dd(12) and dd(8) should be fine if they don't fight with each other, its my ds(2 1/2) im worried about. I think the stimulation will keep him happy, but he is a "runner". My son wants to run off everywhere we go. If he is in the stroller too long, he starts screaming and wrenching around and if we let him out of the stroller(weve experienced this at the mall)he will try to run as far as his little legs will carry him without stopping! I have nightmare about dh and me running around WDW looking for my lost child. He was born with a cleft palate,and has speech problems so he can't really talk much.

Just so you know what Im dealing with here...last night my ds unlocked the front door and walked down the street and we were frantic looking for him. Finallly found him standing in the street of our subdivison! So today were installing chains on the top of the doors... I just hope that since there will be so many rides and so much to look at he wont be thinking about being in the stroller. Pray for me!!!

 

[cruiserkaren]

Ugghh, I'm so dreading this. In the last week I have lost my laughing, smiling, pleasant-to-be-around 23 month old to a snippy, whiney, screaming monster. Where did she go?? I'd be lying if I said the thought of just not going hadn't entered my mind. I even took her to see her Ped. b/c I thought she wasn't feeling well! The doctor told me and I quote "we have no cure for the rebellious child"!! Talk about embarassing! Ugghhh!!

 

[HenDuck]

We took DS to DL twice last year at 3 ½ and 4 yrs old. This is what worked for us.

Distraction, distraction, distraction. The great thing about Disney is that you can always find something great to distract your child with. “Wanna go ride Dumbo?”, “Let’s go visit Minnie in her house!” Every time DS started to whine a little, we would just move him on to the next great thing.

We also indulged him (and ourselves) daily in his favorite food of all – chocolate ice cream. That snaps the grumps out of all of us.

We all took a nap every day. Well rested and ready to close the park afterwards. Enough said.

We gave him a little more leeway than we do at home but didn’t put up with tantrums. We are all a little more stimulated at Disney and we all deal with it differently. We cut him some slack since he was the newest Disney addict in the bunch.

One thing we also did for all our benefits was each go our own way at some point in the trip. Space is important for the adults. That way everyone was more pleasant and accommodating to DS’ needs when they needed to be.

Hope this helps!

Great thread!!

 

[kerry34]

One of my five yr olds had a few meltdowns on the first day at Disney this past April. She had one in Toontown and she had to sit on a bench until she calmed down (which was about 10 minutes), and then she had one when we left after lunch to go back to the hotel. After then second we planned on making her sit on the bed for a bit, she got so mad she starting screaming even more that we wouldnt let her in the pool, after crying for about ten minutes she fell asleep. That was pretty much it for the tantrums. We told her that the same rules apply on vacation as at home. If she acts up then she sit out of the fun, thats it, no discussion. It worked pretty well for us.