Pushing Children To The Limit

[Lorelai]

I was on a post with another DISer who said that they see a lot of very young children out extremely late (10pm - 12am) and in line for rides with their parents. And that the kids are beyond exhausted & totally out of it, being up so late at night, and don't seem to be enjoying themselves at all.

Since we are not in the parks at night (we have a 12, 7 & 3 yr. old - 7 & 3 year old are in bed by 8 or 9) I don't see any of this going on. I do see (even in my own party) emotions & tiredness, but it's not usually to do with being up so late at night. Any opinions on whether this is a real problem? I always thought that the parks were full of older kids/adults during the evening EMHs.

 

[ReneeA]

We went in August when my kids were 2 & 3 1/2. We kept them to their usual schedule (up early, naps, in bed by 9 at the latest) and didn't have a problem.

I can see how pushing the kids would be too much for them to handle. We just wanted to enjoy our vacation, and wanted other people around us to enjoy themselves, too...so we didn't subject them to my kids when they are tired. It's not a pretty sight.

 

[DepCor0311]

I have seen kids being dragged around Pleasure Island at 2:00 am by parents. Most times the kids are literally unconscious and unresponsive. Parenting at its best.

 

[ckoncurat]

It depends on the kids. I have 5 ages 3-10. My kids nap daily (the ones under 5) and are in bed by 8 at home, but at Disney we make exceptions. How else can you view illuminations? Also, when we go to the Christmas party or the Halloween party, we close the parks. We have great pictures of sleeping kids being stolled out of the christmas party. We just don't do that every night of our trip. Disney is a family vacation for us, and realistically, someone is gonna be cranky/hungry/sleepy most of the time. We just pace ouselves, take days off and at Disney we ALL take good naps.

 

[Skroops]

Everything is relative. I've seen exausted kids any time of day. We went to MNSSHP last year and stayed until midnight with our toddler. He had a four hour nap in the afternoon/early evening, so he was fine. Breakdowns can happen at anytime, but we made it fine that night. We try not to judge others on this issue. Sensory overload comes easy at WDW, so kids may be exausted even if they get a long nap regardless. For the parents, it may be a once of a lifetime for some, so they may be acting a little selfish towards their children by trying to get too much into a day knowing they won't be back, and thinking the nap the kids had earlier is longer than usual so they'll be fine. Unless you have experienced WDW, it is difficult to realize how much energy it zaps from seemingly well rested kids!

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

I try not to judge the families with kids out late. It is vacation, afterall, and I have no way to know what time zone they are visiting from. That being said, I do have a huge problem with the parents who are yelling at kids who just want to go back to the hotel, have a swim, have a nap, etc. I think many of us parents (yes, I had to learn the hard way!) in our zeal to have our kids have the most awesome trip--reservations here, character meet there, etc. etc. etc., just have no idea how overwhelming all of that can be for a small child. Just walking through one part of a park can have them on sensory overload. Perhaps the entire theme park is just too much for a child to handle--whether or not he is well rested. When a child begins to behave, like...a child...I see some parents get out of sorts because..."do you have any idea how much money I spent so you could go on this trip and have a great time!"

I guess the key is to have reasonable expectations of what your child can handle, and be flexible if your child is feeling overwhelmed.

 

[la79al]

Went last year with DD4. Normally she needs to be in bed by 10 or we are ready to get rid of her the next day. When we were in WDW however, I knew that trying to leave the park anytime before 11 and get her in bed would have resulted in her screaming and crying the whole way out of the park, to the car, back to the condo and at least an hour before we could get her to stop. We stayed until at least 12 every night and she was still the one who would wake us up at 6 the next morning. Apparently she wasn't too miserable because she walks around the house chanting 'Disney World' in an attempt to persuade us to take her back.

 

[TravelinGal]

We live in mountain time zone - my DS goes to bed around 10 or 11 - (and yes, we've tried early bedtimes for him- he sleeps for a couple of hours and then is up for 4 hours if he goes to bed early). Anyway... 10 or 11 mst = 12 or 1am est.

Keep that in mind before you judge people being out "late".

Granted - when the kiddo is wiped out they should be heading "home" for the night... although, if DS is comfortably sleeping in his stroller, we might very well stay and ride a few more rides. (baby swap) I would never consider keeping him there while he was fussy. it wouldn't be fun for anyone.

 

[dwcrazee]

We go for about 7 days and atleast two nights we take our DD's (3 & 6) out late. (11pm or 12pm) I don't know how else we would see Spectro of Illum. We also take a 3 hour break in the afternoon and the days after a late night are sleep in days. It really just depends on the family. For us we try to keep to a "normal" schedule as much as possible but, it is vacation.

 

[Lorelai]

We live in mountain time zone - my DS goes to bed around 10 or 11 - (and yes, we've tried early bedtimes for him- he sleeps for a couple of hours and then is up for 4 hours if he goes to bed early). Anyway... 10 or 11 mst = 12 or 1am est.

Keep that in mind before you judge people being out "late".

Granted - when the kiddo is wiped out they should be heading "home" for the night... although, if DS is comfortably sleeping in his stroller, we might very well stay and ride a few more rides. (baby swap)

I wasn't judging people for being out late. And I certainly didn't mean for you to feel defensive.

The post that I read just made me wonder if this is a real problem that late night park visitors face - an unusual amount of in line meltdowns. Or if people feel that their kids tolerate Disney just fine in the wee morning hours after a long days nap.

I am sorry if I offended you.

 

[orljustin]

We break for naps in the midday and stay out with 3 and 7 as long as we like. Yes, they may pass out on the way out, but no problems otherwise.

 

[DepCor0311]

Parks are one thing...Pleasure Island is another. I'm sure the 7 year old wants to stay out until the BARS close.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've seen it happen....a lot. My dd has been going to WDW since she was just 6, back in '99. If there were no rest periods that day, then it was the normal bedtime for her. To this day, and she's now almost 13 (my god, where does the time go!!), she likes to go back to the resort and chill for a few hours if it's going to be a late night...past 10 or 11.

I have heard waay too many parents saying to the kids..."Do you know how much I paid for this trip? You are going to sweeten up and at least look like you're enjoying it!!" And to think that maybe all it would take is a little more quiet time back at the resort and the kids would be fine. But for some reason, we (and I think all of us have done this) try to squeeze as much as is humanly possible into each day of our trip. I have to say that our more recent trips have been the most pleasant...much more laid back and relaxed now that we don't have that 'have to see it all, do it all' mentality.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I have seen kids being dragged around Pleasure Island at 2:00 am by parents. Most times the kids are literally unconscious and unresponsive. Parenting at its best.

That is what really bugs me. I haven't seen it for a while becasue I haven't been to PI since becoming a mom (5 years ago) but I hated seeing it before then. If you want to go to PI fork out the $ for a sitter or kids club. It is the kind thing to do.

Now my oldest normally goes to bed at 10:00 when at home. She doesn't take a nap but doesn't normally wake until after 8:00 am (afternoon preschool) so it isn't a problem for us. She tends to fall alseep in the stroller at WDW as she is so busy durning the day. We normally get back to the room around 10:00 (sometimes later if we take the bus.)

The baby has an 8:00 bed time. She does pretty well if things are "interesting" like when we are at WDW.

 

[Windy City Heather]

I am one of the people you will see with my dd3 out late at night. I have not been to pleasure island since I was 18 but I do go to downtown disney after the parks close. My dd will crawl into her stoller when she is tired. I know that if she has a melt down late at night, I can push her in the stoller she will be asleep in 10 minutes allowing me to enjoy the rest of my night. She is also one to take a 2 1/2 -3 hour nap at 5:00 or 6:00, making her wide awake at 9 or 10 o'clock. She has never had a schedule and has always been able to sleep anywhere. She is very easy going. I have also seen many time when she goes into sensory overload she will crawl into her stroller, ask me to lay it back and pull the sun shade over her. She will chill for 10 minutes and she is fine for hours.

 

[grimley1968]

I am one of the people you will see with my dd3 out late at night. I have not been to pleasure island since I was 18 but I do go to downtown disney after the parks close. My dd will crawl into her stoller when she is tired. I know that if she has a melt down late at night, I can push her in the stoller she will be asleep in 10 minutes allowing me to enjoy the rest of my night. She is also one to take a 2 1/2 -3 hour nap at 5:00 or 6:00, making her wide awake at 9 or 10 o'clock. She has never had a schedule and has always been able to sleep anywhere. She is very easy going. I have also seen many time when she goes into sensory overload she will crawl into her stroller, ask me to lay it back and pull the sun shade over her. She will chill for 10 minutes and she is fine for hours.

It is situations like this that make me really want to respond that we need to not judge parents too harshly for what times they have their kids out at night at WDW. Personally, we like to keep our kids on a tight sleep schedule, even at WDW if possible. But some kids are more flexible with their sleep schedule than ours are, and can certainly close a park down, without undue tiredness or stress. It's all dependent on the kids and parents. We've been known to stay at parks after our kids conk out in their strollers for a while. Better this than rushing to try to make it out of the parks before they fall asleep, while they're bawling the whole time, IMHO. If they fall asleep in the strollers, we just let them sleep, and when we get back to the room, we put on their jammies, make them potty and put them right to bed. They usually have smiles on their faces.

Now, keeping kids out at 2 AM at PI is a different issue. Alcohol, adults and 2 AM make for a bad mix for little ones.

 

[Nikel]

We'll be some of those people you see out late. For me, a huge part of the trip is going to be fireworks, MVMCP, etc. We have nap time planned in to our schedule. When my ds naps, he's easily awake until 11 PM or later. My dd doesn't stay up that late, but I'll just pop her in the sling, nurse her, and she'll happily snooze away.

 

[ChrisFL]

heh, when I was a kid going to WDW, after being there all day, my parents had to drag me out of there every time, I had no problem staying up

 

[Hannathy]

Plus some kids and adults are just not morning people. We are night owls by nature and like someone said with the time difference midnight is no problem. My kids are more likely to be bears at 7 in the morning than at 1 am. We love closing the park.

 

[fun2bmomof3]

I have seen parents with kids having melt downs, but I never judge, because you never know the circumstances behind the way a kid is reacting. Last September I took my then 18 month old, who was a little dream all day until we would get on a bus to go back to our resort. He would throw a screaming, kicking fit until the minute we got off the bus and then he was a little angel again. Often we let him sleep in his stroller as we continued through the parks or whatever we were doing.
I also know that sometimes it's tough with kids, because one minute they will be going strong and the next minute they're wiped and it's still a long way out of the parks and back to the resort. But for the most part I usually find I wear out quicker than the four of them do. Maybe we should pay attention to see how many parents we see kids dragging around. LOL