How do you manage whole days with kids?

[cari12]

We were there over Christmas and did early entry (7:00am) everyday. We would have muffins and fruit in our room before we left. Then around 10:30am would have a sit down breakfast at someplace like Flo's or Carnation Cafe. We went hard for the first few hours while the parks were emptier to ride all our favorite rides so later when it was busier we could just go with the flow or take in a show.
My kids are a little older 10 & 12 this trip and definitely don't nap. On a couple of days we went back to the hotel just to relax and recharge and had dinner in DTD or Goofys kitchen then went back to the parks. But we never stayed until midnight closing. If Fireworks were at 9:30pm, we would watch them then head back to the hotel for the night. Same for WOC and Fantasmic. We did each of these on a separate night.

I reiterate the pay attention to hunger pangs and stop for a meal or snack. Make sure to take in a show or ride the train around the park for a bit of a break.

 

[emmybee]

Even when they were little, we found it was much easier to let the kids stay up late than to make them get up early. My fondest Disneyland memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "one more time Daddy" all the way.

We're not morning people, so we've never been to Rope Drop or morning EMH. We tend to arrive about 11 am or so and stay until the last park closes. We find that theme parks in general tend to empty out during the last few hours of operation. Those that stick it out are rewarded with some really short lines on the headline attractions.

Yes! When my girl was a toddler/preschooler, we often joked how much we enjoyed the park when the "good parents" had left the park. We would close the park down w/ our kid going strong because we woke up whenever and showed up around lunch time. The lines are indeed much shorter later at night. We tend to take our yearly trip w/ 5-day park hoppers so that we don't feel rushed or feel the need to arrive early. Sleeping in is definitely a part of our vacation!

 

[TrySomethingNew]

All the suggestions for food are probably the best suggestions- keep the kids fed! Just was at DL a few weeks ago with 9yo and we did EE 3 days in a row and stayed late every day. We snacked quite a bit and I was happy to find a lot of healthy snacks available -grapes and apples and bananas, for example, to mix in between the other snacks like the amazingly delicious Ghirardelli chocolate shake....
However, this child is waaaaay better at handling lack of sleep and hunger than older sib (age17 now). Older sib could never have handled EE to late night -ever -irregardless of snacks, as child always needed a lot of sleep and is an introvert and so needs to have some time each day to recharge.
Good luck to you as it will be fun at DL!

 

[Eosphotog]

Make sure to take in a show or ride the train around the park for a bit of a break.

Or... I suppose you could just go stare at the trains instead

 

[Skiton]

Thanks, everyone, it's great to hear how other kids handle (or don't handle) full park days. I'm coming to the conclusion that it really is just about your kid(s), and mine are not equipped to do 12+ hours in a theme park, lol. Like an earlier poster said, we're probably going to have to choose between fireworks or EMH some days, but we have 5 day passes so that's not the end of the world.

On the other hand, this is also reminding me that when we were at Universal Orlando for a couple days earlier this month, my oldest started whining right after lunch that he wanted to go back to the hotel and my husband was ready to give in. I said, no, he has a full stomach and he's hot, and we only have today here and I don't want to miss out when it's only noon! So we went on a water ride and got soaked, and that perked him right up. So that day we did 7:00 a.m -4:00 p.m., which is better than we've ever done at DL!

 

[meggles]

Lots of great ideas here.
I have kids aged 9 and 4. We tend to play by ear- trying to utilize EMH if we have it. We don't close the park down ever.

Tips I have to add:
- limit the sugar or at least try to have protein before sugary treats. (For instance, get a Bengal BBQ skewer before that dole whip float).

-if you have another adult with your group, take advantage of that and trade off nights in the park. Have them take the kids back to the hotel for bed when they are tired and enjoy the parks at night alone!

 

[Skiton]

-if you have another adult with your group, take advantage of that and trade off nights in the park. Have them take the kids back to the hotel for bed when they are tired and enjoy the parks at night alone!

How funny that this never occurred to me! DH and I were talking and he flat-out refuses to push our kids to stay up at night. They're VERY much morning people, and while they can stay up late, we always pay for it the next day (they are incapable of sleeping in). But I would love to go see Radiator Springs when it's dark or catch the fireworks, so maybe we'll do that!

 

[meggles]

How funny that this never occurred to me! DH and I were talking and he flat-out refuses to push our kids to stay up at night. They're VERY much morning people, and while they can stay up late, we always pay for it the next day (they are incapable of sleeping in). But I would love to go see Radiator Springs when it's dark or catch the fireworks, so maybe we'll do that!

Exactly. My husband is usually "done" and would rather relax in the room while the kiddos sleep than go go go. It's a nice trade off and also a reminder that it's a vacation for everyone and even moms deserve to get what they need/want out of the trip!

 

[texasgingerbread]

I have the same issue (twin boys ages 7) they will not nap if the sun is out! We watch night shows the first day we are in the park! That first day the excitement is still in them and they seem to do better. This is also the only time I have given my children caffeine. However, we are still taking an afternoon break.

Our schedule: We go to parks for rope drop, take an early lunch at sit down, power thru til lunch energy fails and then go back to hotel, come back to parks around 5:30 and power thru. The rest of the nights we are in bed by 8:30 no later. It seems to work if they can get in their 10 hours of sleep. If they want to swim we limit it to one hour. The other time is electronics/reading time laying down in bed.

We got lucky this next trip is the first week of March and WOC is at 7pm one night! Which I know everyone else will groan about because the park closes early but it works in our favor.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We don't close the park down ever.

Thank you. There are a lot of guests that follow this same rule. This is why a late night touring plan works so well.

 

[OneThree]

Or... I suppose you could just go stare at the trains instead

True. I wonder if the monorail will get more people aimlessly riding it just for a break.