MNSSHP early in the trip-advice

[hedge333]

My family is doing MNSSHP for the first time. Our dds are 8 and 5 1/2. We scheduled our party for the second night we are there. As anyone done their party with kids early in the week? If so how did it impact the rest of your trip? We're kids tired the whole trip due to the party? Any tips for having a great party and a great rest of the week would be appreciated

 

[princessjadesmom]

We have done MNSSHP several times and we'll be doing it again this year. We usually relax during the day...swim, take a nap, whatever. Then we go to the party that night. We sleep in a little the next day. If you go, go, go all day long and then go to the party I think you'll all be tired out.

 

[utlegaleagle]

My advice on MNSSHP early in the trip? Don't do it early in the trip.

MNSSHP later in the trip usually means not wasting time on certain rides that you have already done in the afternoons of your previous MK days. That leaves you to participate in party-only events during the party. My (then) DS4 and DS2 did just fine with MNSSHP on the second to last day of our trip last time with the late night - so much so that they closed down MK at midnight the next night. This year, MNSSHP is on our final night. It's a great way to close down a trip.

 

[boltfan]

We have always done MNSSHP or MVMCP on our first night. But our kids are night people. Even at the age of 5, our youngest would stay up until at least 10 pm (usually hiding under her blanket with a flashlight and a book), so we had no problem with them being too tired the rest of the trip. I guess it just depends on your kids and what they're used to. If you go, just be sure not to force them to stay up past what they can handle and enjoy. Too many parents force the kids to stay up to make the ticket price worth it. Not only do the kids have a miserable time, but the other people at the parks have to listen to those kids cry and complain. If you remember it's supposed to be fun, and not worry about the cost, you'll all have a great time.

 

[MartDM]

We always tend to do the parties earlier in our trip, because the early days of the week tend to be the less crowded parties.

It really doesn't negatively impact us because we plan appropriately for the late hours. Typically, we will take it slow in the a.m., hit DTD for lunch and a little shopping, then lay low at the resort for the mid-afternoon hours. We arrive at MK between 5:00 & 6:00, grab a quick counter service meal, then we are ready to go for the party.

We don't bother wasting party time in line for characters (hours on line for a picture of someone in a costume...no thanks). We take in the atmosphere, shows, and dance parties, and enjoy the low waits on the rides. The later parade is always less crowded, then we hit a few more rides afterward. We almost always close the party, then sleep in the next day and chose a park we don't have to attack like commandos (this year, it will be TL).

The key is to pace yourself and you'll all be just fine

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We've always done a party on our first full day (first night is after a travel day). Our kids were 7 and 3 on our last trip, and it has worked out well. It gets the week off to a fun start. However, the day after is an absolute sleep in day...no early waking, and it's also a early night for us. Epcot doesn't hold a lot of appeal for us right now, so we typically schedule our Epcot day the day after a party. We sleep in, get to the park a little before noon, and then hang out there until dinner, eat, and head back to the resort for bed. AK would be another good post-party day park to pick, because you can have so much success there with a late arrival.

It's never resulted in meltdowns for the rest of the week, or people being tired.

 

[ariane37]

I don't see any reason doing the party early in the week should have a negative impact on the rest of your trip! As long as you do what pp's have said, and keep party day low-key (resort, pool) or just no early start if you go to a park, and don't do an early morning the day after the party. It's what we've always done and it's always worked

I also agree with not forcing kids to stay awake or stay longer than they can handle, no matter how bad YOU may want to stay lol. Our first MNSSHP youngest DS was almost 5. He fell asleep in the stroller around 8:00! Missed so much, including parade Woke up around 9:30 and got his 2nd wind but by 10:30 oldest DS (8 at the time) had had enough, so we left right before 11. Even though I wanted to stay, DH, DS8 and I had SO much fun, I didn't feel cheated or like we wasted $$ not staying till the end. Second party the following year, poor DS now almost 6 had such a bad sinus infection, he looks miserable in all the pictures and again couldn't enjoy the parade or anything else, so DH left with him around 9 while DS9 and I stayed. It would have been pointless (and not so nice) to make him stay.

Finally at MVMCP in 2012, both kids were old enough (10.5 and 7) to stay awake and make it until 11:45, so I finally got to watch a late parade I much prefer MNSSHP so this year, I'm staying till midnight even if I'm by myself

 

[disneyfantotheend]

I think it all depends on how you do it. IMO, you need a relaxing day the day after no matter when in the trip your party falls. Not a whole day off necessarily, but get up when you get up and don't go commando when you do get up.

 

[DisneyFive]

While MNSSHP was one of the highlights of our trip last year, it has it's downsides. It took us four years to finally see it, mainly for the following reasons.

1) You know you're going to be up late, so doing rope drop that morning isn't the best idea. You lose that valueable park time. (unless you plan to go back to the resort in the afternoon, and actually take a nap) BTW, taking naps at Disney has been really hard for me. Not sure what it is, just too hyped up I guess, so that option doesn't work for us.

2) It makes early park arrival the next morning a bad idea too, since will you need your rest. We found out the hard way that burning the candle at both ends isn't a great idea at Disney. You end up a walking zombie, and don't fully enjoy anything.

So it kind of screws up our plans, and we skipped it the first three annual trips, but by our fourth trip we were really looking for new things to do, and MNSSHP fit in really well for that.

My advice if you're doing it early in the trip. Don't push it. Realize that you are sacrificing some valuable park time, and just be o.k. with that. Either sleep in the morning of the party, take a nap in the afternoon, and plan to sleep in late the next day. One nice thing about FP+ is that you can book the popular rides for later in the day for the day of, and the day after the party. That way you're not rushed to wake up early either of those days.

Dan

 

[Raenstoirm]

Are your kids 8pm bed time folks? Or can they stay up late? It might actually be easier to have the party early since you are still "hyped up" and full of energy. As the week progresses, we find ourselves getting slower and needing more breaks.

 

[hedge333]

Thanks so much for the advice. We have decided to hang at the resort the day of the party, until party time. The next day we have lunch reservations in Epcot, so we are going to go to Epcot just before lunch and do some Agent P adventures afterwards, maybe some World Showcase performers (if the dds want),ride Soarin', and take it back to the resort. I'm super excited about the whole experience and just want it to go well.

 

[ariane37]

Thanks so much for the advice. We have decided to hang at the resort the day of the party, until party time. The next day we have lunch reservations in Epcot, so we are going to go to Epcot just before lunch and do some Agent P adventures afterwards, maybe some World Showcase performers (if the dds want),ride Soarin', and take it back to the resort. I'm super excited about the whole experience and just want it to go well.

Sounds like a good plan! Have a great trip