Kids energy level and touring style question

[WildReekies]

Good day!
It took me a couple months to decide when to go where to stay and what ADRS and extras magic we want. PHEW! thats done. Now im stressing about the order in which we do things. we are goin sep 5-13th. Im planning a complete rest day and a sleep in day. Also planning on hitting MNNSHP. My kiddos will be 3(ds),5(ds),7(dd). We went to Universal studios back in 2010. We hit extra morning hours and then back to resort after lunch then didnt return to the park..way to tired. kids were 18m and 3 then and i was 14 weeks along with our third bub. So here are my questions..

1. how many days in a row can your kiddos go before you need a rest day

2. Is our epcot day a good day to sleep in if we want to try to snag the jedi training thing?

3. Im worried that the kids will be way to crabby to bring into a restaurant for dinner ADRS. How are your young kids after a afternoon break?

4. Should we hit MNNSHP in the middle of our trip (tues) or save it for the last day so they can sleep in on check out day?

kids usually are asleep by 7:30 and awake by 6:00 am. All kids are figure skaters and get up early every morning for ice time. Needless to say we are much better in the morning than evening.

thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and tips! Oh and yes we will have a stroller probably a double.

 

[Woodmnky]

Each kid is so different that it can be hard to plan. My son (just under 3) did the parks 6 days in a row and didn't need a rest day, however, we rested every afternoon and only returned to the parks 4 days. If you are thinking of being in the parks all day I am sure that could create a different dynamic. My son can been hard to handle at restaurants in the evening if the day has not gone really well, so we only planned for 3 dinners at sit down restaurants. It sounds like your kids do great in the mornings, so I would capitalize on that and take advantage of the lower crowds in the mornings and plan rest periods for the afternoons if necessary.

I planned so much, but the best thing that I did was to leave a lot of flexibility in my planning so that we could sleep, eat, rest when we wanted and it kept us all happy.

 

[WildReekies]

Each kid is so different that it can be hard to plan. My son (just under 3) did the parks 6 days in a row and didn't need a rest day, however, we rested every afternoon and only returned to the parks 4 days. If you are thinking of being in the parks all day I am sure that could create a different dynamic. My son can been hard to handle at restaurants in the evening if the day has not gone really well, so we only planned for 3 dinners at sit down restaurants. It sounds like your kids do great in the mornings, so I would capitalize on that and take advantage of the lower crowds in the mornings and plan rest periods for the afternoons if necessary.

I planned so much, but the best thing that I did was to leave a lot of flexibility in my planning so that we could sleep, eat, rest when we wanted and it kept us all happy.

good point.. maybe i should only plan breakfast adrs and save the dinners for the next trip.

 

[Spunky946]

We do mostly late breakfast or lunch adrs and leave dinner for quick service. That way if we take a break we can do dinner anywhere, either the resort or park.

When we did the mnssp we were staying at the poly. We got up swam a bit, had a late breakfast at chef mickeys and went back and took a nap. We got up and got to the gates at 4 and rode rides and did a qs dinner before the party started. Our kids were 9 and 5 and we walked out of the park at 12:15. They had an amazing time and were awesome. The next am they slept until 9 and we chilled out and went to Epcot around 11.

Kids will surprise you. Our kids did really well this last trip and we kept some late hours. They are normally 8-7 sleepers.

The one thing that we found is that if we do rope drop, then in order to make a later night we do need a break. Without a break we were done shortly after dinner. Our last trip was only 6 days, so no break day, but if we do a longer trip, we take a break in the middle from parks.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We learned years ago that whole rest days do not work for us. You really don't want to do nothing and so you end of patching a day together with swimming and shopping etc, and it's really not rest and we really would rather be in the parks. We do better with more days and taking it a bit slower and shorter everyday. We rarely do very late nights with our younger guy. We can do early or late but not both and we prefer early. We try to make dinner plans for around 5ish and then can decide whether to continue in a park or head back to a hotel. If you want a breakfast ADR, I recommend the last seating so you will have that valuable am/ low crowd time to tour. An ADR an hour before park opens can work too but you really need to be done a bit before opening and there have been a lot of "unofficial" soft openings lately and we hate to rush an expensive meal.
If you want to do jedi training....you need to be at rope drop and go straight there. I really would not plan a sleep in day for early risers except for the morning after the MNSSHP. I would however, plan a lower key day with long afternoon naps the day of the party. Maybe rope drop, lunch and back to nap by 1nish and back to park about 4. I really would consider whether your little guys can stay up late enough to make the party worth the cost. We chose not to consider the party till our youngest was 7. It is expensive and you really need to stay for most of it to make it worth the money. The last night would be a great time to do the party for a later sleep in time (if they will, and less issues traveling home a bit tired.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We have never taken days off and usually only one afternoon break during a trip and that's so we can enjoy that pool in the sun. My kids have been going since they were babies (ds was 6 months old and dd had her first birthday at Disney). When they were young enough to have a stroller (this stopped when they were 5), they would nap in the stroller. After that time, they had more energy than me. This last trip, we went from rope drop until closing which is what we usually do.

 

[powellrj]

We like rest days, so we usually did one in the middle of the week. I guess they weren't rest days as much as non-park days because we would still shop and do other things.

I agree with changing your ADRs to late breakfast or early lunch. What we use to do is go at rope drop and then we would be ready to sit down for a meal around 10:30. Everyone was still in a good mood!

I would pass on MNSSHP, your kids are still pretty young and thats a lot of money to spend. We enjoyed it once our kids were older and could stay up later, but now when they went to bed earlier.

 

[WildReekies]

We learned years ago that whole rest days do not work for us. You really don't want to do nothing and so you end of patching a day together with swimming and shopping etc, and it's really not rest and we really would rather be in the parks. We do better with more days and taking it a bit slower and shorter everyday. We rarely do very late nights with our younger guy. We can do early or late but not both and we prefer early. We try to make dinner plans for around 5ish and then can decide whether to continue in a park or head back to a hotel. If you want a breakfast ADR, I recommend the last seating so you will have that valuable am/ low crowd time to tour. An ADR an hour before park opens can work too but you really need to be done a bit before opening and there have been a lot of "unofficial" soft openings lately and we hate to rush an expensive meal. If you want to do jedi training....you need to be at rope drop and go straight there. I really would not plan a sleep in day for early risers except for the morning after the MNSSHP. I would however, plan a lower key day with long afternoon naps the day of the party. Maybe rope drop, lunch and back to nap by 1nish and back to park about 4. I really would consider whether your little guys can stay up late enough to make the party worth the cost. We chose not to consider the party till our youngest was 7. It is expensive and you really need to stay for most of it to make it worth the money. The last night would be a great time to do the party for a later sleep in time (if they will, and less issues traveling home a bit tired.

This sounds like us.. Except we would spend our rest day touring 2 other resorts for next time. Thanks for the insight!

 

[WildReekies]

We have never taken days off and usually only one afternoon break during a trip and that's so we can enjoy that pool in the sun. My kids have been going since they were babies (ds was 6 months old and dd had her first birthday at Disney). When they were young enough to have a stroller (this stopped when they were 5), they would nap in the stroller. After that time, they had more energy than me. This last trip, we went from rope drop until closing which is what we usually do.

My kids have a red blood cells that are too small to support their bodies which is why they are wiped out by 2 pm. But some iron rich food and a good nap usually perks them back up.

 

[WildReekies]

We like rest days, so we usually did one in the middle of the week. I guess they weren't rest days as much as non-park days because we would still shop and do other things. I agree with changing your ADRs to late breakfast or early lunch. What we use to do is go at rope drop and then we would be ready to sit down for a meal around 10:30. Everyone was still in a good mood! I would pass on MNSSHP, your kids are still pretty young and thats a lot of money to spend. We enjoyed it once our kids were older and could stay up later, but now when they went to bed earlier.

Really??? I'm sad : ( . MNSSHP looks like soo much fun! My husband has never been able to be home for any of our hollloweens with the kids. He works in Alaska we live in Colorado. MNSSHP was my way of providing that experience for the kids to be with dad.... I think I'm still going Togo for it and make it the Friday one that way we leave Saturday afternoon and kids can recoup.

 

[emmababy]

FYI Jedi is at DHS not Epcot. And you need to get there first thing. I don't clutter my morning with Breakfasts as it's wasted when we could be in parks. I would rest day of mnsshp and sleep next day.

 

[amym2]

MNSSHP will likely be less crowded on a Tuesday than a Friday, plus earlier in the trip the kids are less likely to be worn out. I'd make that Tue your rest day and do MNSSHP that night. Then just make sure you don't have anything super early on Wed.

I'll admit that my kids can go longer than I can without a break. We can get through 3 solid days of touring, but then we are wiped out. We much prefer to do multiple shorter days, as others have mentioned. We never take a break the first day because everyone is too excited to rest. Then we try to alternate "mid-day rest" and "leave the park late afternoon" days. Our kids are 12 and 10 now so late nights are easier, but they were early to bed and early to rise like yours are when they were younger. We would only try to do 1-2 evening shows (Wishes, Fantasmic, Illuminations) per trip.

We tend to only do breakfast ADRs on our check-out day when we are not hitting a park. If we're leaving later, we do some shopping at DTD before we leave. Obviously that limits us to non-park breakfasts, but we love Boma and Cape May Cafe for breakfast anyway. We have done pre-park opening breakfasts, and those are nice also. I just wouldn't do breakfast between park opening and say 10:30, since those are prime "no line for rides" times.

Otherwise we find that lunch ADRs work better for us than dinner. Or we'll do a couple of each. When we have a lunch ADR we often leave the park for the day by 2pm or so and don't return. When we have a dinner ADR we head to the resort to rest/swim after lunch.

Not sure what EPCOT and Jedi Training have to do with each other. As others mentioned, Jedi is at DHS, and you need to get there before rope drop. If you want to hit the more popular EP attractions and don't have FP+ for them, you need to be there early. If you just want to hang around World Showcase, you're fine to get there later.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We went June of 2012 for 7 straight days - no breaks, no rest days. I have limited vacation time as well as limited funds, so we really have to cram as much into our vacations as we can. My kids were 11 and 6 at the time. Honestly, I was worried about the oldest one as she sometimes struggles with extreme heat. But, luckily it only topped 90 one time while we were there so heat was never a factor (unlike the 105 degree day we had in Silver Dollar City ). The youngest one is a dynamo. We've often joked if we could bottle her energy, we'd make a fortune. She's one of those kids you see going through theme parks turning cartwheels

 

[squirrel]

When I took my nieces (they went one at a time) to WDW we would go for 14 nights and get a 10 day ticket. We did a rest day every 3-4 days.

I learned after the first trip to do nothing on MNSSHP day. We try to sleep in and would go for a late sit Charater breakfast at one of the resort hotels and then come back for a swim at our resort and a nap. Then get ready for the party.

The next day would be a later start as we would be up late at the party.

 

[SEA333]

We just did a 5-day trip, with park days for the middle three. The first day we didn't arrive until about 2pm and the last day we left for the airport around 4:30pm.

We found that with our 7 year old (the youngest), he was exhausted halfway through the 2nd park day. With our kids being somewhat older (7 1/2, 9 and 13) and being night owls, I thought our 6-8pm ADR's and waking up at about 7:30 to get to the parks early were going to be no problem...I was somewhat wrong LOL

The first day was a 8pm ADR at Ohana...DS7 ate his weight in chicken wings and meat (then didn't end up eating more than a cupful of food the rest of the darn trip!) I took the boys to DHS the next day while DH took DD to AK - we ran ragged until about 5:30pm when it was time to bus it over to AKL for Boma at 6:30pm. DS7 was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the bus and was way too tired to want to sit at Boma and eat. Luckily we were seated on that front wall of one long continuous half-booth/half-chair seating, so there was plenty of room for him to lay down and rest.

Next day, up and at 'em again to Epcot, where we planned to spend the day until park closing. He did OK there, but was tired. We did the princess dinner at Akershus, so the movement to the buffet and the princesses coming around were enough to keep him awake.

Next day, bright and early to MK. DS practically refused to go, he was SOOO tired. Luckily, we had a 4:30ADR for LTT, so we scooted out of MK at about 6:30 (closed at 7 that day anyway).

The last day, we slept till about 8:30, then the kids hit the pool outside our room at POR for a few hours while DH and I packed up, then we went over to POFQ for lunch and more swimming. DS7 was in heaven. That was his "perfect" day, according to him.

DH and I definitely decided that 3 days in a row from open to close with a later dinner ADR was too exhausting. Next time, we will stay longer and probably do every other day as a park day, and the in-between days will be pool days with a ADR at a different resort just so we feel like we actually went somewhere that day. We don't feel the need to be in a park every day - one day at each park per visit is enough for us.

 

[mom2cgj]

As a PP said, all kids are so different, so you have to do what is best for your kids - only you know how they will do with no rests, or if they'll be cranky after a nap.

My kids were the same ages as your's when we went last year (3,5, and just barely 8). We did 4 days in the park, starting with a pre-opening breakfast so we were there for rope drop each day. We stayed at the parks until closing. Granted that was in January, so shorter hours, but we were typically on the go from 7am-9pm. No breaks, no rest day. I was worried about my 3 year old, but he did great. We also didn't use a stroller at all. My kids may be the exception, but the excitement kept them going. The little 2 would be half asleep on the bus on the way back to the resort in the evenings, but were fine while we were busy. Even at late ADRs. Every kid is different, so go with your gut and your trip will be great!

 

[MomofIndigo]

Each kid is so different that it can be hard to plan. My son (just under 3) did the parks 6 days in a row and didn't need a rest day, however, we rested every afternoon and only returned to the parks 4 days. If you are thinking of being in the parks all day I am sure that could create a different dynamic. My son can been hard to handle at restaurants in the evening if the day has not gone really well, so we only planned for 3 dinners at sit down restaurants. It sounds like your kids do great in the mornings, so I would capitalize on that and take advantage of the lower crowds in the mornings and plan rest periods for the afternoons if necessary.

I planned so much, but the best thing that I did was to leave a lot of flexibility in my planning so that we could sleep, eat, rest when we wanted and it kept us all happy.

this was us. We took DD at 2 and then at 3.. she was great in the mornings... we would do a meal at the park for lunch and then head back to the resort. Rest and then come back in the evening. We had zero problems. We took snacks just in case and kept things super flexible. Resting too didnt always mean sleep. One day we had an early night so we came back to the resort and DH took DD swimming. She had a bath and then watched a movie while I combed her hair.

 

[amylevan]

My last trip, we had DS2.5 and my niece (4.5) and my nephew (3.5).

We hit rope drop every morning. My son is an early riser anyhow, and we wanted to avoid as many lines as possible.

We left the parks every afternoon for a break. Not everyone napped, but it gave us all down time.

We went back to the parks in the evening. Most nights we had TS reservations, but only with DS, my SIL/BIL ate at their camper before joining us. DS did fine, it was like a continuation of our break for him.

We did not, however, keep the kids up past their normal 8 pm bedtime except 2 nights: for MSEP/Wishes and Illuminations. (And they slept in their strollers during Ill.)

We also took 1 rest day mid trip. (8 day trip) It happened to be the day after Illuminations, so that we could all sleep in.

By the end of the week, the kids were tired, but they did really well with this plan. It does end up being a lot of time out of the parks with an afternoon break every day, but it was a low season and with a touring plan we still got to see everything we wanted to. And we didn't have any melt downs due to exhaustion. We are set to follow a similar plan in 9 days(!!!!) with my now 4.5 yr old and my 1 year old.

As for MNSSHP, we went back before we had kids with my 2 nieces aged 3 and 6 at the time. They couldn't hang past like 8, so it was definitely a waste of money for them. So, keep that in mind.

 

[Canooknic]

Last year we did 8 days of parks without a rest day and our boys (then 4yrs) were absolutely fine. That being said, we tried to stick to their home schedule as much as possible - they were always in bed within an hour of their usual bedtime - this meant that we missed all the evening parades/fireworks but that just means when they are older they will still have something new to experience when we go back.

On our upcoming trip I would expect that we'll do the same, we go by them - if they're hungry we eat, if they're tired we rest (and usually eat!!) - we don't do afternoon breaks/naps and just take it easy

 

[monorailsilver]

Good day!
It took me a couple months to decide when to go where to stay and what ADRS and extras magic we want. PHEW! thats done. Now im stressing about the order in which we do things. we are goin sep 5-13th. Im planning a complete rest day and a sleep in day. Also planning on hitting MNNSHP. My kiddos will be 3(ds),5(ds),7(dd). We went to Universal studios back in 2010. We hit extra morning hours and then back to resort after lunch then didnt return to the park..way to tired. kids were 18m and 3 then and i was 14 weeks along with our third bub. So here are my questions..

1. how many days in a row can your kiddos go before you need a rest day

We do 2 park days then an off day. We have done 3 park days but I prefer 2. We don't do a park on arrival or departure day either. Last summer, on our non park days, I was up and had laundry, washed, dried and folded by 8 and then headed to the pool to get a spot. As the kids woke up and ate they came out-closer to 10. My kids are 12, 10 & 7... And yes my dh sent my 7 yo alone to the pool! He texted me and she knew the way infront of the Hawaii longhouse.

2. Is our epcot day a good day to sleep in if we want to try to snag the jedi training thing?

Never did it the Jedi thing. We don't sleep in on park days.


3. Im worried that the kids will be way to crabby to bring into a restaurant for dinner ADRS. How are your young kids after a afternoon break?

We always do a break. Heck I did a break when I went with my parents at the age of 18/19. Never too old for a break especially in the summer months. And thankfully my kids were not crabby. We go in for early entry, return for a nap at lunch time, not a swim, shower and head back at around 5 til closing. But we do CS and not the dining plan. I only make adrs for non park days and I like to do no more then 3 a trip.


4. Should we hit MNNSHP in the middle of our trip (tues) or save it for the last day so they can sleep in on check out day?

I have no idea!

kids usually are asleep by 7:30 and awake by 6:00 am. All kids are figure skaters and get up early every morning for ice time. Needless to say we are much better in the morning than evening.

thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and tips! Oh and yes we will have a stroller probably a double.

My kids did fine with staying up later since they took a 2-4 hour nap in the afternoon. Everyone basically passed right out at bedtime and nap time.