One adult with three young children

[MalkaR]

Are there any rides one adult with a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old can go on? Or would it be pretty much a show and people watching trip?

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I would go to Fantasy Land a lot of rides there are ok and so is Jungle Cruise. People Mover is ok. But even though you may not do a lot of rides, lots of shows, character greets, etc.

 

[robinb]

The list of what you can't do is shorter!

In the MK:
Space/Splash/Big Thunder
Buzz
Speedway
Dumbo
Maybe Little Mermaid & Haunted Mansion
Barnstormer (thanks pbb322!)

Epcot:
Mission Space/Test Track/Soarin'
Maybe Nemo

DHS:
ToT/R&RRC/Star Wars

AK:
Everest/Dinosaur/Primeval Whirl/Kali

ETA: I don't know what the exact rules are for "riding alone". You may be able to do Buzz if they allow the 4&6 year old to ride in a car together with you in the next one but all 4 of you won't fit together.

 

[pbb322]

Actually, you may have an issue on a few more. For most rides, even in Fantasy land, there are either age or height requirements for a child to ride without an adult in the seat. We just got back from a trip with DS who is 7, but very short for his age, and DD 3. DH gets bad motion sickness so he could not ride several things, so it was often me with the 2 kids and on several rides they questioned how old DS was to make sure he was 7 and could ride by himself (Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Buzz, Barnstormer). On others like Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Nemo you will probably be ok, but will have to put the 2 year old in your lap, they will fit 3 plus children in adult laps which we discovered when DS and DD insisted they wanted to ride with both of us on Peter Pan, so DS sat in the middle and DD sat in my lap.

 

[tjmw2727]

That is a tough one with the ages of the children as none of them are old enough to ride alone (the min age is 7). I have done the parks many times as a single parent with 2 kids and we were able to fit three on most rides they could ride at that age so "if" the two year old is small enough to sit on your lap and the ride doesn't have a lap bar you may be able to do more of the fantasyland rides. The rides with bench seats will be fine - IASW, Jungle cruise, TTA and the railroad in MK come to mind. Even without a lot of rides you still have many shows, character events and parades you can enjoy with your kids

 

[drnp]

I believe i rode PP with my wife and both DDs when they were 4 and 2, so and adult and 3 kids should be okay. If I recall correctly, they allowed my 2 yr old to be on my lap. Have you checked to see if any of the VIP tours or packages would be feasible for you? With them you may be able to get the tour guide to ride with one of your children on the rides, or with the premium one I know for sure the guide will watch your children as you swap them out, or watch the ones who don't meet the height requirement when one of the older kids wants to ride something.

 

[mummabear]

Actually, you may have an issue on a few more. For most rides, even in Fantasy land, there are either age or height requirements for a child to ride without an adult in the seat. We just got back from a trip with DS who is 7, but very short for his age, and DD 3. DH gets bad motion sickness so he could not ride several things, so it was often me with the 2 kids and on several rides they questioned how old DS was to make sure he was 7 and could ride by himself (Dumbo, Magic Carpets, Buzz, Barnstormer). On others like Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion, Nemo you will probably be ok, but will have to put the 2 year old in your lap, they will fit 3 plus children in adult laps which we discovered when DS and DD insisted they wanted to ride with both of us on Peter Pan, so DS sat in the middle and DD sat in my lap.

Frustratingly they often don't allow lap sitting even with a 6month old baby.
Had this multiple times across 2 visits with small kids

 

[pbb322]

The four rides I mentioned, Peter Pan, Nemo, Little Mermaid and Haunted Mansion each have a sign that shows that it can seat adults with lap children, the cast member even pointed it out to us at
Peter Pan when my son was insisting on us riding together and she overheard me tell him I thought we could not do it so then I started looking for it on rides. Any ride with a height requirement will definitely not allow it, nor will dumbo and magic carpets. The others I did not look/try.

 

[HopperFan]

Last few trips (May, March, January, December) noticed them getting more strict about 7 year old age to ride in a seat without their parent. Many times at 7DMT seen them refuse younger with parents behind them making the parents split up to sit with the kids. In your case with none 7 you will have to stay focused on rides you can stay together.

There are new signs up all over with all kinds of rules in place now and as always it may be implemented differently by different CMs depending on their following the rules. Just be prepared for different results at different yet similar rides. There are reasons for the requirements at each ride. DD worked at a popular ride that seemed benign with a height requirement that many guests fight. No the ride is not one that you would think the height matters during the ride, the issue is that if it goes into an E-Stop, the abruptness of the stop could do damage to a smaller person just like a seat belt could on young ones.

These are the only signs I have seen at Haunted Mansion other than the increase in signs and reminders to "Supervise your children." The second sign is Disney's rule for kids riding alone on all rides.

 

[ilovefh]

Frustratingly they often don't allow lap sitting even with a 6month old baby.
Had this multiple times across 2 visits with small kids

Is this very new? DS is 4 and we lived 15 mins away until he was 2.5 and he always say on my lap( and we went a lot!) I know Universal and Sea World do not allow lap children. There they have to be able to sit on their own to ride with you. I think the sign said no hand held infants.

I remember hating it because on One Fish, Two Fish DS could not reach the up/down knob because he had to sit in the seat. On Dumbo, which is the same thing, he could ride on our laps and reach it.

We went in February with our extended family and our 10 month old nephew rode on their laps too.

 

[100AcreWood]

Are there any rides one adult with a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old can go on? Or would it be pretty much a show and people watching trip?

Do you have another adult who could join you? I think you're brave for even attempting a trip alone with kids those ages.

 

[mummabear]

Is this very new? DS is 4 and we lived 15 mins away until he was 2.5 and he always say on my lap( and we went a lot!) I know Universal and Sea World do not allow lap children. There they have to be able to sit on their own to ride with you. I think the sign said no hand held infants.

I remember hating it because on One Fish, Two Fish DS could not reach the up/down knob because he had to sit in the seat. On Dumbo, which is the same thing, he could ride on our laps and reach it.

We went in February with our extended family and our 10 month old nephew rode on their laps too.

2012 and 2014 which come to think of it were DLR trips, most specifically I can remember Ariels, Roger Rabbit and Astro Orbitor

 

[ilovefh]

2012 and 2014 which come to think of it were DLR trips, most specifically I can remember Ariels, Roger Rabbit and Astro Orbitor

That makes sense! Disney World is pretty accepting of kids on laps.

 

[kwdw]

I'm in favor of trying to find another adult to go with you. Alot of the rides appropriate for kids that age allow only 3 across - or require one over 14 to be paired with a younger kid. Also - that's gonna be exhausting. A responsible 6 yo at home who is exhausted due to alot of walking or little sleep - isn't going to always be the perfect angel at Disney. And with the crowds - unless the two younger ones are tucked into a double stroller most of the time - you could turn your head for a second and not be able to see one of them - even though they may have wandered just 5 feet. And unless you do table service meals - getting them and the food to table will be a balancing act.

So - you could do it. You can ride a handful of rides - IASW, People Mover, Pirates, Jungle Cruise. You can see shows and characters. You could have fun if you take it slow with a plan and organization.

But - a second adult would make that alot easier in the parks. Even if your temporary "plus one" is a co-worker/friend staying in a different hotel room - as long as they get along with your 6 or 4 year - now all kinds of rides open up for you. Meals get easier. Bathroom breaks get easier. Shopping gets easier. Even if that person isn't going to be the one giving baths and putting them to bed - it makes touring around the parks much easier!

 

[MalkaR]

You've all been really helpful. Thank you so much for all of your advice and suggestions. I think I'm going to wait an additional year until my DH can go with us. It's too much money to put out to be restricted so much. Unless I can convince my mom... .