Single Parents With Kids Riding Rides????

[goofydadof3]

Has anyone ever gone to the World as the only parent with multiple young children? I find my self going with three (9, 6, & 2-1/2). How do you ride rides that the 2 yo can't ride? I would like any feedback you might have. Thanks,

 

[mbcary]

Bumping back up for you!

 

[Macca1111]

I can't imagine you would be able to, unless you dumped the kids at one of the care centers...there's got to be someone on here with a real answer.

 

[sandym718]

I could be wrong, but I think I remember reading that there are cast members who will ride with your OLDER children so you can stay with the youngest. I don't think there's anyway you could ride with them other than using one of the child care centers as someone else mentioned. Luckily, it's not that many rides, plenty for all of you to do!

 

[kendzee94]

This past trip we allowed our kids DS9 and DS7 to ride the tea cups by themselves and no one questioned us. We waited by the entrance and once the ride started went over the the exit. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving them like that on other rides where they're actually out of site, but it worked for us on that ride.

 

[livndisney]

It is my understanding that CM's are not allowed to ride the rides with someone elses children. Not that I agree with this, but I think Disney says a child as young as 7 may ride by themselves (think that was a thread on here).

The only other thing is the Child care centers or I think there is one that will come to your room and watch your children.

 

[mrzrich]

The company below will send somebody to spend a few hours at the park with you, this may be helpful to you:



Kid's Nite Out
1-800-696-8105 (press 0 for reservations)

Kid's Nite Out Caregivers are at least 18, are insured and bonded, have hands-on training and childcare experience, including child/infant CPR and basic first aid. They will provide one-on-one in-room childcare in a Walt Disney World Resort room, and will provide a variety of activities, including reading, coloring, or games. A sitter can also be hired to accompany children to area attractions or act as father's/mother's helper.

Hours: Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at all Walt Disney World Resorts

 

[vicceja]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is much you can do as you will need to leave the baby with someone if you do babyswap which you can't do and as for me I would never leave my kids go on the rides by themselves...tough situation. I was at Disney in December with the boys (hubby was in Mexico) and we rode every ride that all of us was able to ride...mind you my youngest is 6 1/2....Good Luck!

 

[gower525]

I am going alone with DS6 and DD3. I have already explained to my son that he will not be able to ride Star Tours or Soarin ( unless DD grows 2 inches before June). I didn't see any way that we could ride those rides. I hope you find a solution.

 

[NikkiNwonderland]

I don't know about how you would ride with them. But for the rides the 2yr old can't ride I would thin you could wait in line with them until it's time to ride and then you and the younger one would have to use the chicken exit and meet your other kids at the exit of the ride. They would have to be willing to ride by themselves though.

 

[shellynn24]

This is a question I have been asking myself too. I am also uncomfortable letting my son go on a ride by himself and my middle daughter isn't old enough (but tall enough) to ride by herself. I like the idea of the Kids Night Out helper at the park if I could afford it. Now that I'm done having kids, I can't wait for them all to be big enough for a visit to Disney by ourselves. I'm sorry I can't offer any advice

 

[hematite153]

Like the others, I suspect that you will have a tough time getting on the rides with height limits.

However, the vast majority of attractions at wdw have no height restrictions.

If your 9 yo is 52", the 9 and 6 yos could ride the Indy Speedway together while you drive behind them with the 2 yo.

Otherwise, the attractions with height restrictions will not allow your 2 yo into the queue unless s/he is tall enough to ride. (If she's tall enough to ride, you can walk through with her even if she's not going to ride.)

The other idea I had was to post your travel dates here and see if you can make a friend who will be at wdw during the same times. You could arrange to meet up for a couple of hours once or twice and hit the attractions that were a problem without a second adult.

(Although others will disagree with me, I think a lot of your decisions around this ought to depend on the maturity of your kids. When I was 9, my father stayed with my 4 yo sister while I took my 6 yo sister onto rides. We always knew where he'd be when we got off and he made rules about how we were supposed to exit (if there were multiple exits) and what we were supposed to do if anything went wrong. I always felt competent and didn't worry about it. However, another 9 yo might not feel this way.)

 

[mrzrich]

Do you know if how tall the 2 year old is? There isn't that much she can't ride.

Another thing I've heard Disers doing is taking a trusted friend or relative along to act as a mother's/father's helper. (Perhaps a cousin?) You may have to research if its cheaper to bring an extra set of hands or hire Kid's nite out to act as a mother's/father's helper.


Animal Kingdom
Kali River Rapids 38"
Dinosaur 40"
Expedition Everest 44"
Primeval Whirl 48"

Epcot
Soarin' 40"
Test Track 40"
Mission Space 44"

Magic Kingdom
Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacres Farm 35"
Splash Mountain 40"
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 40"
Stitch's Great Escape 40"
Space Mountain 44"
Tomorrowland Indy Speedway 52" to ride without an adult. (As a pp stated you can ride with her, perhaps right behind the 9 and 6 year olds)

MGM Studios
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 40"
Star Tours 40"
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith 48"

Blizzard Beach
Chairlift 32"
Summit Plummet 48"
Downhill Double Dipper 48"

Typhoon Lagoon
Humunga Kowabunga 48"
Bay Slide 52"

DisneyQuest
Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam 48"
Buzz Lightyear's AstroBlaster 51"
Cyberspace Mountain 51"

 

[goofydadof3]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a cell phone just for my 9yo incase we get separated. My 2 yo is only 36 inches so we will just have to see if she grows 4 inches in 2 months.

 

[hematite153]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a cell phone just for my 9yo incase we get separated. My 2 yo is only 36 inches so we will just have to see if she grows 4 inches in 2 months.

I'd recommend that you also discuss other contingency and safety ideas with your 9 yo.

I see a lot of people these days who rely on cell phones, but, what if the emergency is that you left your cell phone in the basket on Kali?

All of the CMs wear the same name tags and they are happy to have you take a minute to familiarize children with them. That way, your kids will know how to go to a 'safe' person if anything goes wrong.

 

[becca123]

I, too, am going alone with three (10,8,5). Dec13-20th .Finally someone has started this thread. Subscribing for information.

 

[tjmw2727]

Has anyone ever gone to the World as the only parent with multiple young children? I find my self going with three (9, 6, & 2-1/2). How do you ride rides that the 2 yo can't ride? I would like any feedback you might have. Thanks,

I travel with my dd's as the solo adult and have since they were 2 and 4, they are now 11 and 13 so we have been in a similar situation.

Your going to be fine on anything without a height restriction as you know.

The issue with the height restricted rides is that WDW requires children under 7 be accompanied by an adult. So your 9yo can ride alone but not accompany the 6yo. So that rules out the height restricted rides for your 6yo and your 9yo would have to go alone. Unfortunately you can't even accompany your 9yo through the queue with the baby due to the height restriction.

Depending on the lenght of your stay perhaps you could have each child pick a couple of "must do" height restricted rides and use a babysitter for an afternoon?

Have fun,
TJ

 

[pilgrimr]

Last year my wife had a convention in Orlando, so we went as a family to WDW. I had two kids, DS age 5(autistic) and DD age 2. I don't know when you are going, but you might look at how busy it is going to be when you go. It was not to bad for us because my kids did not care about going on the big rides, but also it was not too busy at the park. Also, the double stroller was great for controll (but I know they are more expensive now.)
Good Luck.