OMGosh--what a night! Will this happen in Disney?

[ms.ojo]

We went tonight to see the Toy Story 2 edition of Disney On Ice w/ our children age 2 and 5. Show started at 7pm and went til almost 9pm. Figured this would give us a good idea of how the kids will do in the evenings at our upcoming vacation. OK....I'm scared!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sure some of you will be able to relate....

First, the show was GREAT! Music was fun, costumes were good, both kids really enjoyed it!!!! OK, so it's not like watching the Olympics, or even Icecapades, but it's Disney, and it was a lot of fun.

Shortly after intermission my dd (2) started to get restless and was jumping around in the seats. (Thank goodness we had no one in front of his) She then began to torment her brother who surprisingly showed incredible restraint and stayed focused on the show, not getting dragged into her misbehavior. It was a long show, and past her bedtime, so all and all, she really did pretty well.

BUT....then we get to the car, and she falls apart. Wants her shoes off, hat off, hat on, mittens on, mittens off, needs juice, not juice, where's pillow, cold feet, wants blanket, forget blanket, where's pillow again...LOL you get the picture! She was melting, just didn't know what she wanted, and was impossible to please. We get rolling, she listens to tunes and settles down. whew.

Get home in about 20mins....ds (5) is asleep. Transfers easily to his bed. dd is wide awake. DH has to go and dig us out as there wasn't time when he came home from work before we had to leave for the show. (we got another 7" today. All I could do was the end of the driveway so he could pull in!) Anyway, he's outside snow blowing...and I've now changed dd, read some stories and put her into bed....when suddenly she starts screaming again for different demands. At this point I know she is just waaaaaaaaay over tired and I try to keep calm, tell her she has all the things she needs (about 6 fav. things for bed) and after 2 trips of walking away, and coming back in 5 mins to calm her again briefly, she thankfully conks out.

She will be 2.5 at our trip in April. Same age we went w/ ds and thought it was a fabulous age for a visit! We always were sure to keep him hydrated, full tummy, and rested. That was the key.... One night dh left to get some ice and came back to the room saying wow, I just walked by 7 doors of screaming children! Our ds was fast asleep at 8:30pm. We'd sit and watch a bit of tv quietly and call it a night ourselves.

We're going to need lots of pixie dust to keep our little pixie happy this trip. Guess we won't be doing any EMH at night!!!! She needs to be in bed early. I'm just hoping w/ the clocks changing in April, we might be able to do Fantasmic, or Spectromagic & Wishes. They're both such great shows. Thanks for letting me vent. These boards are soooo great!

 

[Jillpie]

Oh boy, I think we have all been there at least once or twice. Just reading this brought me back. I have three boys, but never went thru the terrible twos. But the terrible three's, now there's a story!
Anyway, I think you nailed it. She needs her rest. Especially at Disney. She was probably over stimulated tonight. So at least you'll know to make sure to leave the parks at noon and go back for the nap. If she doesn't sleep, turn the tv off in the resort room and just have complete silence so there's no stimulation at all for at least an hour or two every afternoon. That way she can recharge. I'll almost bet she'll fall asleep if your DH and DS goes to the pool.
She'll do just fine, no worries. Hey, we'll be there in April too! Have fun! Enough snow already, right?!

 

[ms.ojo]

Ah yes, the snow just keeps on coming!!! And now we have bitter cold again, so no playing out in the snow tomorrow either! Poor kids, everyone wants to build snowmen & go sledding but it just hasn't been good for that. Too much ice &/or cold!

Yes, afternoon break is a must and w/ ds and dh at the pool I agree, she should nap, or at least be able to get away from it all for awhile.

Funny, she was so cute standing and clapping along at the finale. She was grinning from ear to ear and just LOVING the characters....then, less than 15mins later....the meltdown. ouch. My ds never went through terrible twos, in fact I think he skipped terrible threes, it was more like fearsome fours when he had to find a way to deal w/ some of his sister's attention. Guess I was lucky it didn't hit til later...and was shortlived!

 

[eeyore0062]

No two kids are alike and where he was fine, it may be a little too much in big doses for her.

Take lots of breaks from the parks and don't keep her out late. She should be OK.

 

[kerry34]

Oh god, LOL, i feel your pain. I myself, was in this very same predicament in Disney world with my 2.5 yr old twins. Things overall went well, but as the day turned to night things went downhill very fast with one of my twins. We decided to stay for the fireworks one night, and I mean only one night, as we never did it again. As the fireworks progressed, one of my darling little twins started getting a little cranky; however we were able to distract her enough to get through it. Things changed quickly though when it came time to leave the park. Her temper was flying a bit on the way
out of the park, but when we got in line to get on the monorail, she melted down in a big way. I was so embarrassed. My whole family wanted to pretend they didnt know me. Now I was deceived because when I took one of my older daughters when she was 3, she was fantastic, not a whimper or a complaint. Silly me thought it would be the same thing all over again. That being said I learned two things on that trip. 1. Never assume that one child will be anything like any of their other siblings, because mostly this isnt true. 2. Don't stay all day and all night. Naps are the way to go.

 

[MsLeFever]

<<She was melting, just didn't know what she wanted, and was impossible to please. >>

First of all - how did you get MY daughter???

Second - she won't have to sit still that long in any Disney show! There isn't any way that my DD could calmly sit for anything for a couple of hours but she was fine for the 20-30 minutes of most Disney shows!

We had "quiet time" every afternoon - she usually didn't sleep then but she did conk out in her stroller most evenings!

You'll have a great time.

Barbara

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Ah, we love Disney on Ice but it's QUITE different (atleast in our experience with our children, especially the younger ones) than going to Disney World. Disney on Ice is exciting, gets them revved up and excited but nowhere to go to use that energy. Just sitting... and usually talking you into SOMETHING sugary (be it a snack, candy or snowcone... something is usually given by the end of the 2hrs just to keep youngest happy and still for a few moments LOL).

Quite different than WDW. Our youngest is pretty wound up after an evening at Disney on Ice- but WDW is a different story. Even if in the stroller the majority of the day... it's still a lot of in and out to ride rides/eat/etc. and USUALLY not a real true "nap" (dozing for 10min here and there until they need to get out of the stroller for a line, to eat, etc. does not count). Our littlest one is ENTIRELY different at the end of a day at WDW, regardless if it's late or not, than after an evening at Disney on Ice... or say for instance the first evening we arrive at WDW usually late in the evening (ie: had to sit for the hour drive to airport, then hours on the airplane, then the ride to the resort). Always hyper in both of those instances, but NEVER hyper on the nights at WDW after going to the parks that day... (all of them usually crash into deep sleep either on the resort bus back to the resort from park or immediately upon their little bodies hitting the bed at the resort) nor on the airplane ride home afterwards either. LOL

I say no worries... totally different.

 

[golfgal]

My first thought when you said your DH was shoveling snow what when was the last time the kids were able to play outside? I can tell the second my kids walk in the door after school if they had recess outside or inside because of bad weather. I think you will find with the amount of activity, walking, etc. you will do in Disney that you won't see these unexpected meltdowns unless you push the kids past their limits. Make sure they eat well and on the same schedule they have at home, take a break in the middle of the day to nap or even lay in bed and watch a couple cartoons to relax (my kids would have fallen asleep even if I said they just needed to 'rest'). When they first start getting whinny, either feed them if it is that time or switch your activity.

 

[ms.ojo]

Thank you for the support. I knew some of you would be able to relate!

 

[ms.ojo]

you are right on the snow too golfgal! We haven't been able to play outdoors forever. Most of our storms have been snow followed by ice...and these last 2 were just snow...and bitter cold. It is 8am here and the temp has just risen about 0. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Brian Noble]

ms.ojo: I have a DD6 and DS4, and we've been taking them to amusement parks since they were 3 and 1. The best advice I can give you is to keep the kids on their normal bedtimes, and be sure to take mid-day breaks. You'll not "see as much" as you would if you tried to stay up late/all day, but you will have had a much better vacation!

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

The last time we went DD2 was 22 months. We opted not to do any night time stuff. As much as I wanted to see some of the fireworks, it just wasn't realistic. We also did the midday nap/swim which was hugely beneficial. We were all (mom and dad too!) in bed by 9pm. We needed it.

This upcoming trip DD2 will be a month shy of her 4th b-day, while DD1 will be 2 months shy of 7th b-day. We are hoping to catch one of the fireworks shows, but I am not going to count on it.

 

[snoopy5386]

i don't know if this is feasible for your family, but if you can maybe start moving her bedtime later and later as you get closer to the trip. start doing it 10 mins a night for a week maybe?? just an idea. this is my plan for when i have kids, but i can't say for sure since i don't have them now.

 

[minmate]

As a mom of four (ages 2-6) -- all I can say is... just remember to pack your sense of humor and your patience too! All the tips here sound key (namely paying close attention to your dd's mood and keeping her on her regular routine if it will avoid the meltdowns!). Best of luck and I'm sure you'll have fun!

 

[christinou]

At least you will not have to worry about snow and clothing, just make sure that she has a nap during the day. We took my first one when she was 4 month old, then went with a 1 and 3 year old, and all had a great time, just adjusted the schedule. I should add that we have every year since then, and have done all ages at WDW....

 

[Brina]

we took our boys at amost 3. our decision was not to let them stay up past their bedtime on the trip, except for one night, and that night they were only up a half hour late. it was a little easier for us, as we live on central time, and kept them on that, so their 7pm bedtime was an 8pm bedtime in FL. Yeah, we missed some nighttime stuff, but it made life much more bearable than it would have been if we tried to keep them up and then paid the price with their bad behavior.

 

[erikthewise]

The short answer: Yes, it will happen at Disney.
You just need to have a flexible agenda and be ready to leave the park when it's necessary.
Five years from now you will remember the good times and be glad you did it!