Planning a low key strategy for small kids?

[Surgie2]

On previous trips to WDW with older kids or all adults, we have stayed off site and had a "do it all" attitude. These were the days before no FP+, though we did go during the paper FP era. But I used Touring Plans and had a "schedule" lol and it worked for us. Very little waiting in lines and at the park from rope drop until fireworks.

We are returning in early May 2018 with our adult kids, spouses and 4 grandchildren who will be 5,5,4 and 13 months at the time of the trip. I need to totally rethink the strategy because we aren't going to burn the kids out.

We plan to stay at the Poly for 8 or 9 nights and get passes (possibly hopper) for the number of days we will be there. We will not have cars. Our priority is MK but the kids like Frozen and with the F&G show going on (which will appeal to adults, maybe kids not as much) Epcot is on our list as well as AK. Not sure about HS? Though the kids like Disney Jr. characters.

The family prefers that I do the planning for FP and ADRs with their input on priorities. Our kids are all early morning kids for the most part (baby will be ??). If I want to keep things "low key" what approach should I take? Should I forget about getting to MK for rope drop all together and just get 3 FP for the morning and if other things are too crowded just go back to the resort? Maybe plan 3 MK mornings (or longer if everyone is holding up...or shorter for those wanting to return to resort), 1 Epcot morning and 1 or 2 AK mornings? That would leave 2 non-park days.

We want to work in one character breakfast...maybe Ohana or Tusker House (if that would give us AK entry advantage). We don't plan to reserve dinners. We will do something simple at the resort or see what last minute availability there is. The 5 year old girls want to do BBB at the park (not DS).

What park strategies have others used with preschool kids that keeps the schedule "low key"? It is hard for me to shift from my dawn to dusk mentality LOL! But I definitely don't want a grueling schedule. Maybe hopper passes are a waste of money for us, but OTOH some or all of the group might decide to go to Illuminations on a MK morning so I want to keep options flexible.

 

[Chime]

I think the most important thing is to be flexible. Have a general guideline for how you'd like the day to go but don't sweat it if things don't go 100% that way.


We went when my kids were 2 and 3. We did rope drop or pretty close to it most mornings. I think we did two character breakfast.
We did some rides and scheduled our FPs for late morning or the evening.
We would have lunch in the park then go back to the resort for a nap and/or swim.

Most evenings we'd go back to the park (we don't do park hoppers) or we'd have dinner reservation at another resort.

There was one day they both fell asleep in the stroller and we just lounged around Animal Kingdom and while they slept.
There was one day they refused to nap and we had to call it an early night and miss the parade and fireworks.

And don't expect too much out of the day. We made a list of 3-4 things we wanted to do each day. Everything else was just a bonus. Take your time, kids like to explore.
Stop and have leisurely snacks. Leave plenty of time for the pool.
It's a slower pace but so much fun!

 

[Chime]

Another thing we did...if we wanted to catch an evening show we didn't plan to be in the parks at rope drop.
We would get to the park late morning/early afternoon and have our FPs scheduled for later in the day.
And like I said in my first post, it still didn't work out 100%.

But you have to be willing to miss things or change plans if the kids need it.

And the kids LOVED DHS! If you are there 8 or 9 days I'd say definitely see all the parks.
We spent the most time at MK. I think we did 3 days there and one day at each of the other parks.

 

[isabellea]

We like low-key here! We visit WDW every yer so that helps with let's do our favourites and the rest is bonus! We never rush and we don't try to fit everything in, it's impossible anyway! I have one rule, we ride as many attractions as possible from rope drop to 10:30am and I'm in charge of that list and then I let the kids decide what they want to do for the rest of the day. You want to ride the tea cups and carrousel 3 times? No problem! They love being in charge!

 

[Klayfish]

We're low key also. Don't rope drop, don't rush around. Our kids are 12, 9, 9 now, but we did the same thing when they were younger. We plan what park we'll be in on what day, so that we can get FP+ in advance, but that's about it. Once we do that, we sort of freestyle it from there. With a long trip, you don't need to rush around. It's supposed to be fun, not exhausting. I'm more of the "stop and smell the roses" person at WDW than rush around and try to briefly see everything.

I'd strongly recommend strollers for all the kids. We had ours in strollers until my oldest was 10 and my twins were 7, going on 8.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I have been taking DS to WDW since he was 1. He was also a very early riser (hello 5:00 am!) and I found, when he was younger, it was pretty easy to get to the parks at rope drop because everyone was awake! However, you really don't have to plan to be there if their schedule changes while on vacation. What worked really well for us was to get to the parks early and tour through lunchtime (we would typically do TS for lunch so we could sit and relax a little) and then go back to the resort. Evenings were completely up in the air depending on how his nap took and how everyone was feeling. I remember one night he was raring to go and we ended up back in MK for the electrical parade. Another night, he was so exhausted, we simply ordered room service and hung out at the resort. I think, if I were you, I would schedule FP+ for the mornings up until lunchtime and then play it by ear. I would also, probably, just buy base tickets now and then upgrade to hoppers for people at the resort depending on who wants to hop.

In terms of character breakfasts, we love Tusker House! But O'hana will be very convenient for you as well.

 

[Canooknic]

We're low key also. Don't rope drop, don't rush around. Our kids are 12, 9, 9 now, but we did the same thing when they were younger. We plan what park we'll be in on what day, so that we can get FP+ in advance, but that's about it. Once we do that, we sort of freestyle it from there. With a long trip, you don't need to rush around. It's supposed to be fun, not exhausting. I'm more of the "stop and smell the roses" person at WDW than rush around and try to briefly see everything.

This is our style too. We all had 1 or 2 must-do rides and there were a couple of restaurants we wanted to do but apart from that we just went with the mood.

One day MK was too busy for us so we hopped to HS, got a 4th FP for TSMM then ate ice cream and watched the world go buy for about an hour. The boys were watching the storm troopers and DH and I enjoyed the sunshine.
After 2 weeks (only 1 non-park day!) we have come home so relaxed, I really feel like I had a vacation!!

 

[TwinMomEsq]

We took our girls for their first trip over their fifth birthday. They are both also very early risers so rope drop was not a problem. Most days we went non-stop during the morning and then had a nice long TS lunch in the air conditioning and just wandered in the afternoon letting them explore and maybe do a couple of rides if the lines weren't too long. We were staying at POR so it wasn't very convenient to go back for an afternoon pool/nap break (although if I had been staying at the Poly we may have). So we usually just stayed until 4:00 or 5:00 so and then called it a night and did pool time and activities and dinner back at the resort. They did manage to make it until Fantasmic at HS on our last day but we stopped for both a lunch and dinner TS and really took it easy during the afternoon.

 

[Surgie2]

Thank you everyone! It so helps to hear from people with experience. When we took our own kids at ages 4 and 1 in 1987, October was truly a slow month and FP+ had not been invented We just showed up and followed our 4 YO's lead even if that meant riding Dumbo 4 times in a row and needing to wait extra time to get the pink elephant. I want to somewhat recreate that laid back experience for the grandkids but of course just showing up would not work at all now. But your suggestions have helped me see some ways to keep it planned but simple. The kids will be happy with anything we do, except for standing in line for hours!

 

[Pesky]

I agree with the others -- RD is your friend with little ones. Be willing to divide and conquer so the older 5YOs can experience or try some rides that the younger set might not be game for. I will also say I did Tusker House for lunch instead and that worked so well. We went a little early, ate, saw the characters, and went back for a break. Loved the characters at Tusker House and they are the Big 5 so will be very familiar to your crew versus Stitch and Lilo. I wouldn't lose time though in the morning to do that. Plan for a brunch or early lunch instead before your mid-day break. Another to consider for that is Crystal Palace with the Pooh Bear and Crew. Oh and both of mine LOVED the meals at BOG for lunch. Have fun!

 

[wfjny]

For us, RD was always a good thing. While you can get a lot done in the first 90 minutes or so of the park being open, it is also nicer to walk around the park, nowhere near as crowded once everyone goes in. Again, just more relaxed.

Like several others have stated, we like going to the parks early, then taking a break around lunch time. Room/pool/nap/etc. There are alot of things to do at the resort as well.

We always park hop, so we will go to a different park in the afternoon/evening. A lot depends on temperature and weather. Also depends on how late the park is open, and how much energy we have.

Again, a lot depends on what you kids can handle. You are right, take it easy. I have seen many families with overtired kids at the end of an all-day commando run thru a park. Not a pretty sight.

To me, the biggest thing is getting into your head that you do not need to spend every last minute in the parks to get the most value for the money. After a four day ticket, each addition day is only $20 more. After seven days, each additional day is only $10 more. (I remember when it was only $2 or $3 more, and that was not that long ago). In the old days, people would take a down day and not go to the parks at all. But, when the price of an extra day is reasonable, people will spend a few dollars to go to a park for just a few hours. That couple of hours can make a difference when you can say, we did that ride the other day...

 

[ComixGirl]

Sounds like you're going to have an amazing family vacation! Having gone to Disney World the past three years with my rascals (they're now 4 and 5), we found that if we park hopped or did too much dining each day it ended up turning an exciting vacation into a hectic one- we felt like we were just running around to get to the next thing we had booked and never got to slow down and really take everything in (you really do learn something new each Disney vacation). The only way we made the park hopping work for us was going to one park in the morning, getting in that afternoon necessary nap time for a recharge (for all four of us lol), and heading to another park the afternoon and evening- but honestly, with all the running around it really did add a level of stress to the vacation that we could have avoided had we focused on one park each day and got in some quality resort downtime parts of each day too (these resorts have so many wonderful things going for them, take advantage of their offerings!).

I can't say I'd recommend going to Hollywood Studios until its completion, from what I've read people are not happy having to pay full price for the smallest park and having half of it be under construction (but hey, it's Disney- they know people will go no matter what lol).

For character dining, 'Ohana is just fantastic- we've gone three times and we came away happy every time- the kids loved the character interaction, and we all loved the family-style breakfast. It's a great mix of characters- you get Mickey, Pluto, and Lilo & Stitch- I'm hopeful that they'll add Moana to this character dining, she'd be a perfect addition! Since you're staying at the Polynesian, I can't recommend enough the 'Ohana Twilight Feast- it's 'Ohana's dinner offerings, freshly cooked and delivered right to your room- and the portions are HUGE! We all had second helpings and we still had leftovers to pick at for the next few days- you absolutely get what you pay for. We loved filling up our plates and sitting on the balcony of our room eating delicious Hawaiian-inspired food while just taking in the beauty of the Polynesian and watching the sunset. It's such a special, happy memory for our family, so I thought I might pass it along to yours to consider.

 

[Micca]

We took our DGDs (3 & 4) last June and we pretty much just went with their moods. You can't reason with kids that young--i.e. I know you're hungry now but we have an ADR in an hour. We let them call the shots and we were still faced with meltdowns, the 3 year old absolutely refused to post for a pic on Main St. with the castle in the background. She would have none of it! Who knows why?
We'll be returning for another round and they'll be 4 & 5 year olds. Hopefully this being a second trip and they being a little older it will go more smoothly this time. Still prepared for meltdowns and unplanned trips to return to the room.