Longer Trips with Little Ones?

[wmjeffer]

Hi everyone! My FIL is graciously gifting us a 5 night Disney World vacation (at the Poly, the dining plan, Christmas party - the works!) We're all so excited and really feel so grateful for his generosity.

Because it is so cheap to upgrade our tickets from 5 to 10 days and my husband has the time off, we're considering expanding our trip to include the next week, so we would be at WDW from 12/2-12/13. This is longer than any of our previous trips, and I wanted to get some insight from those that have done longer trips with small kids (my daughter will be a young 5 at the time of the trip).

She's always been fine for shorter trips, other than that she throws up once every trip - she has always had a sensitive tummy and between the unfamiliar food and the excitement, we always expect a "Disney puke"

The plan is that after the Poly stay, we would move off-site to a condo (which is how we normally stay), so we could cook some of our own meals - I suspect that after a week of the dining plan, we'll be ready for some normal food!

If you have done a long trip - did your kid totally burn out? Any other considerations? We also looked into a DCL cruise but the only one that would work with our time off is only a three day and VERY expensive for that short amount of time!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Our last trip was 12 nights with a 7 year old and an almost 2 year old. We went in August, so we did one park day followed by a water park or pool day all the way through. With you going in December it will probably be too cold for you to want to swim. I would just plan for some down time in some way, even if it's by doing some shorter days in the parks and then relaxing at the resort or condo or checking out the Christmas decorations at the Grand and Wilderness Lodge. Your Dad would probably enjoy the free Princess Promenade at the Grand or the Wonderland Tea Party also at the Grand (though that one has a fee).

I personally don't think kids are going to get burned out no matter how long you go for as long as you aren't trying to go from rope drop to close everyday. With 10 days, there's plenty of time to take everything in, so just take it slow and enjoy the play areas and little details and things at the parks and don't think you need to spend all day every day to get your money's worth.

 

[wmjeffer]

Our last trip was 12 nights with a 7 year old and an almost 2 year old. We went in August, so we did one park day followed by a water park or pool day all the way through. With you going in December it will probably be too cold for you to want to swim. I would just plan for some down time in some way, even if it's by doing some shorter days in the parks and then relaxing at the resort or condo or checking out the Christmas decorations at the Grand and Wilderness Lodge. Your Dad would probably enjoy the free Princess Promenade at the Grand or the Wonderland Tea Party also at the Grand (though that one has a fee).

I personally don't think kids are going to get burned out no matter how long you go for as long as you aren't trying to go from rope drop to close everyday. With 10 days, there's plenty of time to take everything in, so just take it slow and enjoy the play areas and little details and things at the parks and don't think you need to spend all day every day to get your money's worth.

We've got our fingers crossed for a couple warm afternoons for a little pool time, but not banking on it! We've gone in November a couple times and it's usually warm enough to swim by the afternoon, but the temperature varies a ton I know! We would definitely be taking things slower, especially after our Poly stay (since FIL is providing that portion of the trip, we're going to try to make sure that we get all of his favorites in, of course!). We'll have a car, so I would definitely love to do some resort hopping to check out the decorations. I think we can build in enough down time - I'm hoping anyway!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I'm sure it will be a great trip! One thing I would suggest for the Christmas party is to have an easy day beforehand and don't plan on rope drop the morning after the party. We went to the Halloween party and slept in that morning, relaxed and hung out at the resort, had an early dinner at 4, and it worked out well. The 7yo stayed awake for the whole party. The almost 2 yo fell asleep in his stroller around midnight while we were watching the final stage show. The next day we slept in, then swam at the resort in the afternoon.

Also, I wanted to comment about your DD getting sick... Mine was like that too. Any vacation or car trip out of state since she was a baby and she was sure to puke. It's probably been about a year and a half since it's last happened (and had a few trips and long car rides) and we are hoping she may have out grown it. Hopefully your DD will outgrow it too!

 

[Staceycs]

I think extending the trip is a great idea with little ones. For our trip this September, we are in Orlando for 13 nights, and we have down time planned every day (our boys are 2 and 4). I don’t think they will get burnt out- quite the opposite- you’ll be able to keep a lot of routine, but still see and do everything you’d like to. Happy planning .

 

[wmjeffer]

I'm sure it will be a great trip! One thing I would suggest for the Christmas party is to have an easy day beforehand and don't plan on rope drop the morning after the party. We went to the Halloween party and slept in that morning, relaxed and hung out at the resort, had an early dinner at 4, and it worked out well. The 7yo stayed awake for the whole party. The almost 2 yo fell asleep in his stroller around midnight while we were watching the final stage show. The next day we slept in, then swam at the resort in the afternoon.

Also, I wanted to comment about your DD getting sick... Mine was like that too. Any vacation or car trip out of state since she was a baby and she was sure to puke. It's probably been about a year and a half since it's last happened (and had a few trips and long car rides) and we are hoping she may have out grown it. Hopefully your DD will outgrow it too!

Yes, you're absolutely right about the party! Definitely no rope drop the next day - mama needs her sleep

My DD has always been a puker - we actually had a whole bunch of tests done when she was younger, but they couldn't find anything wrong. It happens way less frequently now so we're hoping she completely outgrows it someday! I'm glad your DD is doing better!

 

[wmjeffer]

I think extending the trip is a great idea with little ones. For our trip this September, we are in Orlando for 13 nights, and we have down time planned every day (our boys are 2 and 4). I don’t think they will get burnt out- quite the opposite- you’ll be able to keep a lot of routine, but still see and do everything you’d like to. Happy planning .

Thank you! We're hoping for warm-ish weather for a little swimming, but either way we'll take those much needed breaks! I'm actually looking forward to taking it kind of slow and not rushing so much like we have done on previous trips. DD is an early riser, so we'll probably rope drop a bit, but have more leisurely afternoons for sure!

 

[Gussie Granger 1969]

Our longest trip was 9 days and our kids were 3 & 5 at the time. We had a stroller for them so that helped a lot with being tired. They did get tired by the end of the day and I remember dinner time they just sat and ate so quietly (they normally didn’t). We had a lot of early days and nights but they did fine. The adults on the other hand....

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Yes, you're absolutely right about the party! Definitely no rope drop the next day - mama needs her sleep

My DD has always been a puker - we actually had a whole bunch of tests done when she was younger, but they couldn't find anything wrong. It happens way less frequently now so we're hoping she completely outgrows it someday! I'm glad your DD is doing better!

I was also a puker, my brother will not ride where he sits near me to this day 60 years later. it wasn't until I started driving myself that it stopped completely but there are some rides that I can not ride

 

[NYCgrrl]

We took then 12 y/o DGD on a 11 night trip last Christmas and she currently expresses a want for a shorter trip this coming December.
Now we've also taken her on 2-3 week summer vacation trips (for 10 years) to other locales but kids close to her age came as well thus I think the problem really was no other children in her age range traveled w/ us for our long Disney trip.

Since you are staying off site for half the trip I'd spend part of the time touring Kennedy Space Center which will still allow you maximum value for an extended Disney park ticket. And yes I recall you are traveling with your DS of 5.

 

[michbaron]

We’ve taken 8-12 day disney vacations with our two that have been 5 and younger for our trips, my best advice is to be flexible, we always have a good time when we take their lead, we’ve had park plans at night that we skip for a long afternoon nap and a late night swim in the pool, we like to take a night to get pizza at the walk up window at the boardwalk and it always relaxes and rejuvenates us for the rest of the week