MNSSHP for young children?

[mtemm]

I've pretty much nixed the idea of this for my kids (ages 2, 2, and 4), if only because it doesn't even start until 7pm (my kids usually are in bed by then). but part of me would love to see it. I have this little voice in the back of my head saying, see how they are, and if there are tix available that day (does that ever even happen?) then maybe, maybe. but then the other little voice says, even if they could stay up for a couple of hours, your kids will freak out because of ghosts and goblins and villains and such.

has anybody ever gone with young kids? how was your experience?

 

[Ariel8676]

We went 2 years ago..my girls were 3 and 2.. They LOVED it.
The fireworks were awesome and they loved the parade! They were dressed as Belle and Cinderella and the CM's really played it up. They would get down on one knee and kiss their hands..one saw them walking and yelled at the top of his lungs "Please make way for the Princess' please" and then bowed to them..LOL.
They loved going trick or treating....toontown had the longest path ;P. It was cool, i would suggest giving it a try.

 

[Lulu's Mom]

I second giving it a try my 18 month old, at the time, loved it. She was tinker bell and Wendy and Peter Pan came up to her and treated her like she was TInk. She loved the parade, fireworks and the candy. Nothing about the party was scary. Nothing chases you or pops out at you.

Just if you do go have a relaxing day and be ready to have a really fun and great night.

 

[reelmom]

I took my 3 and 2 year old last year. We left the park early that day so they could take a nap. They were well rested and they loved it. They were not afraid of costumes or characters walking around.

 

[mtemm]

thanks! I think we are going to attempt it. I feel a bit nuts for doing it, but hopefully it will work out. now I just have to figure out costumes...they have decided they want to be peter pan (4 year old), tinkerbell (2 year old girl), and either captain hook or one of wendy's brothers (2 year old boy). we have a tinkerbell costume that is a bit large for my daughter, and its really itchy so she usually doesn't want to wear it for more than a minute or 2. I may have to get the peter pan one while we are at disney (they would be easily found, right?). Not sure if my 2 year old boy will wear one so going to figure out either captain hook, michael, or john but so it doesn't feel too much like a costume when its on. should be interesting. lol.

 

[Sparx]

Hope you have fun. we're going to mnsshp next year. (I'm going to be sally from NBC)

 

[allisophie]

I've pretty much nixed the idea of this for my kids (ages 2, 2, and 4), if only because it doesn't even start until 7pm (my kids usually are in bed by then). but part of me would love to see it. I have this little voice in the back of my head saying, see how they are, and if there are tix available that day (does that ever even happen?) then maybe, maybe. but then the other little voice says, even if they could stay up for a couple of hours, your kids will freak out because of ghosts and goblins and villains and such.

has anybody ever gone with young kids? how was your experience?

this will be our 4th year going.. DD is now 6 .. the funny thing is it's the adults that were in our party that were tired and yes we went back to the resort for naps. We were able to enter the park around 5 :30 and they give you wrist bands,we did a few rides like the carousel (which had no waiting) they eventually sent us over to tommorrowland where we waited for the 'offical night to begin"
We had 2 back packs FULL of candy.. so much that we left some out in a bowl at our campsite, and i still had some to pass out at home.. (we camped the 2nd week of Oct) I can't recall any ghosts besides the HM people in the parade and DD loved them in the parade but will go no where near HM during the day nor night.. we just cover her eyes lol


We bought our tickets in advance (they are cheaper) Last year dd 14 wanted to go an extra night, we went right away the next am and they were sold out.. SO this year I purchased 2 nights.. DD 15 will have her best friend along so they can ride HM as many times along with Space Mountain etc.. DD and Dad rode the rides during the fireworks and parades. We did bring ear plugs for lil sis.. I used them too. ( it was the deal breaker) worked like a charm and no covering her ears and closing her eyes

yes, she did wear a costume.. one year she was pooh's honey pot, the next cinderella (which she took off cuz she was HOTand itchy last year she was Dori,, and yes it came off by at least 8 pm.. (shorts/t shirt underneath) I also had her pjs along and changed her before we caught the boat back to the campground.. yes she crashed..

It's the highlight of our trip to WDW..well at least for the kids DH loves the food n wine fest

any more questions just holler

 

[smacky1]

I thought I had read somewhere that you could enter the park after 4 pm for the Party. I went last October with my DD 13 mos and we didnt get there till after 7....and it was just too late. The park was packed and the lines to get into the park were really long and loud. This year we are taking her on 9/15 and plan to arrive as early as possible. I think getting there when it is still light out is key for the little ones. All the confusion in the dark is so overwhelming. The party itself is great which is why we are doing it again. We will just have better planning this year.

 

[revelstoke]

I think getting there when it is still light out is key for the little ones. All the confusion in the dark is so overwhelming. The party itself is great which is why we are doing it again. We will just have better planning this year.

That's a really good point I hadn't thought of...we arrived last year @ 4:30, no waiting, nice and bright and sunny out(DD23mos. DS 5 & DS7)

They LOVED the party...we started with a ADR @ LTT and it was a great ice breaker for the little one to see the HUGE characters in costume (only 2 months previously at our local mall she wouldn't have anything to do with the various "mascots" wondering the mall)...but by dinners end she was hugging them all!

It was such a good time we are going back twice this year!...but we have a 2 hour time change in our favour...by midnite FLA time it's only 10pm to us (we're going right after we arrive to take advantage of this for sure)...last year we closed the place and could have kept going...

 

[maxtomsmom]

thanks! I think we are going to attempt it. I feel a bit nuts for doing it, but hopefully it will work out. now I just have to figure out costumes...they have decided they want to be peter pan (4 year old), tinkerbell (2 year old girl), and either captain hook or one of wendy's brothers (2 year old boy). we have a tinkerbell costume that is a bit large for my daughter, and its really itchy so she usually doesn't want to wear it for more than a minute or 2. I may have to get the peter pan one while we are at disney (they would be easily found, right?). Not sure if my 2 year old boy will wear one so going to figure out either captain hook, michael, or john but so it doesn't feel too much like a costume when its on. should be interesting. lol.

We went last year. One DS was 4 and the other DS was 15 months. The only thing that might scare them is the parade, which is really cute, but there are some villsins. The villains don't come up to you and you can always walk away. The fireworks could scare your children if fireworks in general do so. Otherwise, they should be fine. As far as the costumes, they were too hot to wear them. They wore them for a few pictures then I brought really cute halloween shirts for them to wear. It gave me an excuse to buy them. There is a lot of candy giving so get ready and that would entice any child. We stayed to about 11:30 which really surprised me. We left the park early to take a nap even the four year old took a nap. THe next day we slept in and hung around the pool until about 4:00 and spent time in EPCOT. Hope this helps.

 

[pixiewytch]

I definitely wouldn't worry about it being too scary, unless they are just plain afraid of the park at night.

My only concern would be the time of the event. DH and I have gone twice without the little one and were glad we did since we saw so many cuties either passed out in strollers or crying from being tired. I noticed many parents leaving early because of this.

I don't think it's completely unrealistic if you plan ahead of time. In other words, I think if you take it easy during the day, get plenty of naps and rest they may do fine. Personally I don't think it's wise to drag them to any of the parks all day and then expect them to enjoy the event that night. I think even getting there at 4p.m is pushing it. You could have a fussy child by the time the event starts and miss out on so many festivities that way. Of course some parents have kids that are troopers and can endure just about anything. Only you can figure that one out.

 

[DVCinderella]

That's a really good point I hadn't thought of...we arrived last year @ 4:30, no waiting, nice and bright and sunny out(DD23mos. DS 5 & DS7)

They LOVED the party...we started with a ADR @ LTT and it was a great ice breaker for the little one to see the HUGE characters in costume (only 2 months previously at our local mall she wouldn't have anything to do with the various "mascots" wondering the mall)...but by dinners end she was hugging them all!

Hi revelstoke,

How did your 23-month-old handle being in the park that long? I would love to get to the MK early the night of MNSSHP, but my twins will be 20-months-old at the time, and I'm worried that by the time the festivities begin, they'll be cranky. I haven't planned anything for earlier that day...figured I would just make it a pool day, and a long nap day, and get them rested up for the evening.

 

[revelstoke]

Hi revelstoke,

How did your 23-month-old handle being in the park that long? I would love to get to the MK early the night of MNSSHP, but my twins will be 20-months-old at the time, and I'm worried that by the time the festivities begin, they'll be cranky. I haven't planned anything for earlier that day...figured I would just make it a pool day, and a long nap day, and get them rested up for the evening.

She was in excellent spirits all nite...we picked up a free stroller first thing when we arrived to keep her from having to walk too much...We felt that would burn her out too quickly walking from ride to ride (they have double stroller too for FREE)

I was really surprised at how all 3 kids managed...it was their first time at MK so I think alot of it was just adrenalin and excitement that kept them going...but even when the park closed at 12:00 we could have easily kept going...sprinkle in the characters all over the park in costume, the parade, fireworks, the CANDY (sugar helped keep them going too I'm sure) and the rides which had absolutely NO wait...it was dream come true!

But we slept like logs the next day...so don't have any big plans then either...I think we all slept until at least 10am (which is REALLY late for us!)

Oh, an easy day before you go is a GREAT idea...we took it easy went shopping a bit, swam for a bit (but NO one napped...the kids were too excited about Disney to nap....which worried us a first but turned out just fine)

Good Luck!

 

[Em_in_FL]

We took my (then) 7 month old and 2 1/2 year old to MNSSHP last year... so it's definitely age appropriate.

One thing to consider is the heat... they were dressed in their long sleeved matching Mickey costumes... and they were sweating like CRAZY... we had to take off the costumes... WAY too hot... even in late October.