Input on approach to the parks please

[mshanson3121]

I'm a bit... concerned about the plans I've made for our upcoming trip, and I wanted to feel out my fellow special needs parents, before possibly changing my FP+ plans.

My kids will be almost 9 and 12, and cumulatively have EDS-H, dysautonomia, ASD, SPD, anxiety etc... I have EDS-H (and related issues) as well. They have never done longer than 8-9 hours in a theme park before. Last time we went to Disney we did shorter days (9-2) or afternoon breaks. However, this time we only have 4 days - 1 day for each park.

We're staying on site this time (All Star Movies), relying on bus transportation, so, I wasn't really sure that afternoon breaks would be worth it. Realistically, how long will it take us to get back and forth between the parks and our hotel? Is the hassle of transitioning back and forth really worth a couple hours rest? (Last time we had our own vehicle so it was definitely faster than the bus).

Our initial plans were:

Day 1: AK, Rope drop to close, to see ROL
Day 2: HS, 12-close to see F!
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: EP, 9-6ish
Day 5: MK, rope drop to close, to see HEA
Day 6: Rest

I'm second guessing my rope drop to close plans now for a few reasons:

1. Our daughter isn't really a morning person, but she does normally seem fine when going to parks.
2. I'm afraid the day will be too long - by the time we leave the resort in the morning and get back that night, we're probably looking at 14-15 hour days. I'm nervous that's not going to go well. Honestly, I'm normally even getting tired and sore by the 8-9 hour mark.
3. I am worried about so many late nights.


So now Im wondering what the best strategy is. Afternoon/evenings so we can do evening activities? Rope drop to late afternoon so we can have evenings to rest and normal bedtimes? (HEA is non negotiable, we are seeing it!!!).

I think honestly Im stuck in that place of wanting to see/do it all, so Im trying to cram too much into our park days since we only have a few days. I did consider adding 2 days to our tickets so we could just do shorter days, but both kids said they would prefer to have a day or two completely "off" from the parks.

 

[lanejudy]

We’d never be able to make it rope-drop to close. Too long a day. We do 8-9 hrs max, usually closer to 6 hrs. She needs her sleep, and even at 14 yrs old she’s in bed with lights out at 8-8:30, even on vacation. We can manage 1 or 2 “late” evenings (not closing though) by spreading them out across a week. But she’s also a morning person, so we have no problem doing rope-drop to mid-afternoon, maybe dinner if it wasn’t an EMH morning.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mshanson3121]

We’d never be able to make it rope-drop to close. Too long a day. We do 8-9 hrs max, usually closer to 6 hrs. She needs her sleep, and even at 14 yrs old she’s in bed with lights out at 8-8:30, even on vacation. We can manage 1 or 2 “late” evenings (not closing though) by spreading them out across a week. But she’s also a morning person, so we have no problem doing rope-drop to mid-afternoon, maybe dinner if it wasn’t an EMH morning.

Enjoy your vacation!

Honestly this sounds like us. On vacation they might have 1 or 2 late nights over a week. We have never tried so many late nights before. Last time at Disney we did 2 late nights, and they were a week apart.

 

[mamabunny]

I'm a bit... concerned about the plans I've made for our upcoming trip, and I wanted to feel out my fellow special needs parents, before possibly changing my FP+ plans.

My kids will be almost 9 and 12, and cumulatively have EDS-H, dysautonomia, ASD, SPD, anxiety etc... I have EDS-H (and related issues) as well. They have never done longer than 8-9 hours in a theme park before. Last time we went to Disney we did shorter days (9-2) or afternoon breaks. However, this time we only have 4 days - 1 day for each park.

We're staying on site this time (All Star Movies), relying on bus transportation, so, I wasn't really sure that afternoon breaks would be worth it. Realistically, how long will it take us to get back and forth between the parks and our hotel? Is the hassle of transitioning back and forth really worth a couple hours rest? (Last time we had our own vehicle so it was definitely faster than the bus).

Our initial plans were:

Day 1: AK, Rope drop to close, to see ROL
Day 2: HS, 12-close to see F!
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: EP, 9-6ish
Day 5: MK, rope drop to close, to see HEA
Day 6: Rest

I'm second guessing my rope drop to close plans now for a few reasons:

1. Our daughter isn't really a morning person, but she does normally seem fine when going to parks.
2. I'm afraid the day will be too long - by the time we leave the resort in the morning and get back that night, we're probably looking at 14-15 hour days. I'm nervous that's not going to go well. Honestly, I'm normally even getting tired and sore by the 8-9 hour mark.
3. I am worried about so many late nights.


So now Im wondering what the best strategy is. Afternoon/evenings so we can do evening activities? Rope drop to late afternoon so we can have evenings to rest and normal bedtimes? (HEA is non negotiable, we are seeing it!!!).

I think honestly Im stuck in that place of wanting to see/do it all, so Im trying to cram too much into our park days since we only have a few days. I did consider adding 2 days to our tickets so we could just do shorter days, but both kids said they would prefer to have a day or two completely "off" from the parks.

You can always insert some Resort time every day - maybe with a mandatory nap for the whole family! - that lasts between 2 & 3 hours; allowing an (average) of about an hour for the roundtrip back to the Resort and then over to the Park again. You may find that just coming out of the Parks and going back to the room to rest is enough - you may not need an actual nap.

Depending on the time of year, and our overall schedule, we often retreat to the Resort for a time every day; just getting out of the crowds at the Parks is nice, and we often find that the Resort is much less crowded during the day when everyone is at the Theme Parks. Even just hanging out at the pool might be enough of a break to recharge your batteries

Don't know what you are planning on your days off, but there's tons of free things to go and do/see around WDW, including riding different boat rides, the monorails, visiting the horses out at Fort Wilderness, Disney Springs (and the riding the water taxis) and more.

 

[mshanson3121]

Don't know what you are planning on your days off, but there's tons of free things to go and do/see around WDW, including riding different boat rides, the monorails, visiting the horses out at Fort Wilderness, Disney Springs (and the riding the water taxis) and more.

Basically some of that Friday plan to go to Fort Wilderness and do the Chip & Dale Campfire, possibly dinner at HDDR, too. Monday we have a late breakfast at 1900 PF, and then plan to rent a boat from the marina.

 

[Starwind]

What entails "rest" during the day ?

Do you need naps ? Or just a downtime break somewhere less hectic, with comfortable seating in air conditioning ?

Instead of going back to your resort, would visiting a near-to-the-park resort work ? For example, from Magic Kingdom you could take a relaxing boat ride or monorail ride to one of several resorts, grab a meal at one of their restaurants, explore their grounds, and relax in their lobby on comfortable couches and chairs -- even rocking chairs at WL ! I recommend Wilderness Lodge or Polynesian, but am biased

Epcot and DHS have the Crescent Lake resorts to choose from.

Animal Kingdom has Animal Kingdom Lodge nearby [a short bus ride]. It has many cultural and animal activities throughout day which you may want to take part in as part of a relaxing break there. See
https://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/AKLCalendar.pdf for a copy of the current monthly recreation guide for an idea of what is on offer.

SW

 

[mshanson3121]

Rest for us means basically not doing anything. Being out of the parks, crowds, people etc... Laying down (or at least feet up) watching TV etc...

We decided to sacrifice one of our full rest days and add a 5th park day, so we can split MK into two half days instead.

 

[OurBigTrip]

I would have a hard time with 14-15 days, so adding a day for MK sounds good.

I understand the temptation to try to “do it all”, but I also think of all the families I’ve seen dragging their kids around, hot and tired, and no one is really having a good time. I remind myself that short days where we don’t do as much make better memories than long days trying to force in everything.

 

[cmwade77]

We usually do a minimum of 10 park days per trip, (yes, I know not everyone can have that luxury, but I am going somewhere with this), some will be full days and some will be partial days and we plan at least a couple rest days where we do what we want when we want and if we want. But we are also from California, so to go that far for anything shorter is really hard. Due to DVCs pricing we got APs for our next trip, so we probably will end up with some shorter trips over the next year and we might not get to everything each trip. I think on those trips we will have to make a list of what is a must see for us and what we would like to see as well as what we can skip.

I am thinking you may need to do something similar for this trip, but just my thought.

Of course being from California means we are far more likely to close the park than to do rope drop at Disney World, so that factors into things for us as well.

 

[Trinity88]

We both driven offsite and used Disney transportation for mid day breaks. I actually find the busses faster. By the time you wait for the tram, find your car, drive back to your hotel/house, it's no less time than waiting for a bus and taking it back to your resort. So I would do mid day breaks if you want/need them without worrying about it taking any longer.

 

[Disneylvr]

I like your approach and I think adding a 5th park day was a very good idea. For our next trip we have 6 park days planned but we usually cannot spend 8-9 hours in a park at a time. We usually go from about rope drop to 1 or 2pm and then return to our resort for a sensory break (swimming, just getting away from the heat and crowds...) and most of the time return to the parks in the early afternoon for another 3-4 hours. We do use a rental car as Disney buses are just too loud and crowded for our DD in the mornings. For MK, we will probably take a Lyft to the Contemporary and then the monorail to MK.

 

[kylieh]

My DD16 has h-EDS, etc as well. This trip we’re planning on going back to the room most days to have a break and see if she’s up to going back. There’s a good chance she won’t be. She also uses a wheelchair and walking stick/cane combination. We’ve found that the bus is the start of her unwinding time so when we get back to the room she can just flake on the bed. The other thought to save time going back and forth is perhaps to Uber/Lyft. It will be far quicker than the buses.

We’ve also proritised what she wants to do in the parks, done our FP around those, plus to minimize walking.

At AK there is the Nomad(?) lounge which looks pretty quiet, air-conditioned, and will give you all time out and you could buy a nice drink there too.

 

[DisneyOma]

When we brought my 12 yr old niece (ADHD, sensory issues, and other issues) we took breaks pretty much every day. We'd start our day in one park, take the bus back to Pop Century, rest, eat, then head out for a late night.

 

[persimmondeb]

We rope drop to close, and did from our first trip when DS was 11, but... He's a trooper, despite sensory issues, ASD, and some minor developmental delays. I've started using a cane since that first trip, but I'm fortunate in that my energy levels are pretty high. We DO find it absolutely necessary to have at least some down time in the parks, usually inside and involving food, somewhere quiet and civilized (not necessarily table service, but NOT a huge food court). Even so, we've visited with friends or family members who were just not up to that schedule. and you know your family. It sounds like that extra day should work for you.