How much time in each park for preschoolers?

[emma'smom]

I know that there is always more to do and more to discover in every park. However, if I have five days. How much time should I dedicate to each park with a 1 year old and a three year old. A friend of mine with young kids said she did MGM in a long afternoon because there was only so much the little ones were interested in. Also, a guidebook I was looking at says that Animal Kingdom can be done in 4-5 hours. Is this true?

Also, how practical is it to return to hotels (POR) for a mid-day break/nap session? I am concerned we'll lose a lot of time in transit and my three-year old doesn't really nap anymore (and the 1 year old can sleep anywhere-including her stroller).

Finally, at about what time have your little ones just had enough each evening? How late is too late. I know every child is different, but what were your experiences?

 

[K&KsMom]

For our two preschoolers we head out as early as possible in the morning since they are morning children between 7-8 a.m. Then we stay at the parks for about 4 hours and head back to our resort for lunch, nap, and a swim. In the evening we sight see, watch shows, and eat dinner. We try to take it easy at night. Our children are wiped by 7 or 8 most evenings in WDW. I try to stick to a normal schedule and only vary a little. It helps the children. I hope this was helpful.

 

[sleepyone]

There was no way my two youngest would take a nap at the resort. As soon as they hit the room, they wanted to explore...every day. So instead, we headed out early for the parks. Then, left to spend the evenings and have dinner at the resort. As soon as it was dark, the 2 little ones would get their baths while dh and dd8 went to the pool. I'd turn all the lights off and they would be out for the night.

Something that works for my family and may be helpful to yours is to not sit down at a TS restaurant for dinner. My kids are just so worn out by dinner time at WDW. We would get CS and eat in our room most nights to avoid a melt-down.

 

[vhoffman]

IMO, I really think you could do AK in an afternoon, or just one day. It depends on how many shows you see. Don't miss Lion King--its fantastic! You could skip Pocohantas, its mediocore at best. MGM is another relatively small park, you could do it in an afternoon.

Depending on what time of year you go, I'd forget the idea of going back for a "lunch, swim, and nap". The parks close at 6-7 pm (do check for times when you go!). They are open later during the summer, so the afternoon rest break might be a good idea then. Epcot is open later throughout the year (there again, check the times, they vary!), we always like to end up a day with a visit to Epcot, perhaps a meal, watch Illuminations, etc. then maybe stroll the Boardwalk. Of course, our children are older (8 & 9) so they have a longer endurance.

Frankly, I wouldn't take the advice of returning for a rest. You see it in all the guide books, etc. It might be a good idea if you're going during the hot summer, when the parks are open later, and afternoon can be a killer! However, I did that "rest break" once, and found once we returned we weren't in the mood to reverse the whole thing and go back for perhaps another hour. The hassle of driving, parking, getting through the lines, etc. was something we didn't want to do twice in one day.

We try NOT to hit the parks too early--really, you don't have to be there the minute it opens! We usually get up about 9 am (unless housekeeping ignores the DND sign and decides we've had enough sleep!), get to the parks around 10 am, end up our day at Epcot, and return to our room around 10 pm. always seems to work for us. However, we always go during the winter months, can't say our plan would work for summer.

 

[K&KsMom]

I didn't realize the parks closed so early. We always go at Christmas and they stay open so late. I would agree then check the park times. It is interesting to read everyone's ideas and schedules.....it goes to show you that what may work for one family might not for another.
Trust your instincts you know your children the best.
Have a great trip

 

[Minnie824]

We went in Nov with a 4 yo and 1.5 yo. We'll be going back this Nov and skipping MGM. Heres what our plan was..
day 1 - morning (opening) AK..lunch there back for nap.
evening & dinner Epcot
day 2 - morning (opening) MGM...lunch at ESPN then back for a nap
evening & dinner at MK
day 3 - morning CRT then rides at MK back for nap
evening at MK
day 4 - shopping at DD lunch then back for nap
evening at MK
day 5 - morning at EP lunch, back for nap
evening at MK

A few notes....we moved things around from our original schedule. We definitely needed naps for our DDs. They both slept a few hours...even the 4yo who never naps. Since we were staying at BC, DH & I took turns one afternoon while they were napping, finishing seeing things at Epcot. They didnt make it to Illuminations...9:30 was the max for them, and we didnt want to attempt park closing time. I would say 1/2 day am for AK, 1/2 day (if at all) am for MGM, 1/2 day - full day, split up maybe for Epcot...try Epcot in the evening. All the rest of the time at MK. Our 1.5 yo was also not that fond of sitting still for transportation or dinner after she had just napped. Once we started letting her walk more, she did better. Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[Kez250]

We found that our children are much better after naps (4 & 2) - we generally split the days into different park segments so that helps - we've tried not napping a couple of times as they didn't seem to need it but by 5pm when we wanted to start thinking about eating they were almost at meltdown and it was almost impossible to take them to a nice restaurant for dinner.

Sometimes we do park openings and then we do an early lunch and nap and an early evening meal - and then we'll do a late morning , late nap and then stay up and watch the parades and fireworks - we tend to try and scheule at least one easy morning and one afternoon as the transition between early and late days - where we don't plan on doing anything and just see how they are and let them rest and chill round the pool if they need to

 

[pezpam]

My DD had given up her nap by our first trip, so I couldn't see spending the time to go back and forth to the resort for a rest. However, she did need her sleep at night, so we usually got up at our usual 7-7:30, got a food court breakfast, and headed to the parks when we finished, then headed back to the resort at about dinnertime so she could be in bed by 7:30. (Yes, she slept a LOT back then! lol) I still think that sticking to her schedule made all the difference in making that trip enjoyable. Go with what you know about your kids and you'll be fine.

 

[susykt4]

We just returned from a trip with DD5 and DS3. Neither child EVER naps so what worked for us this time was to go to a park at opening and stay until between 3 and 5 depending on the park and then back to our resort for dinner and relaxation before putting the kids to bed at 8pm.

We park hopped right after lunch a couple of days and the kids absolutely loved the monorail ride between MK and Epcot (both bigtime train lovers.)

I'm a zookeeper and absolutely LOVE Animal Kingdom so we spend more time there than most people, but if you were really time limited or wanted to maximize your time at MK and Epcot, you could probably do AK in a half day. My 3-yr-old loved Festival of the Lion King, the safari, the animal trails and Triceratop Spin. Both of my kids could have spent HOURS in the Dinoland play area so AVOID it if you are limiting your time. DS3 was fine with the Bug 3D movie but lots of people say it scares their preschooler. AK also has lots of character opportunities.

We don't really like MGM that much so we only spent a half day there, mostly just meeting characters.

At Epcot DS3 absolutely loved Soarin', Living with the Land, Turtle Talk, the rest of Living Seas, the "playground" after the Figment ride and the jumping fountain outside the Imagination building. We spent the equivalent of 2 full days at Epcot. We were really surprised at how many characters we saw at Epcot this trip. The new Character Connection bldg across from Innoventions West is great!

 

[mkutch]

Everyone has great posts. I have a DS2 and DS4-the younger does nap but we haven't really figured out the returning for a nap routine. I am all for it but by the time we get back to the resort my son has already fell asleep and when we get to the room wakes up . So we have found that on the nights we have a AR for a sit down meal we make sure we go back to the room and rest to avoid any meltdowns later. Otherwise we just hang in the park and head back when the kids have had enough. Just follow their lead.