solo with 4 and 6 yo

[SqueakyMouse]

I will be on my own with 4 yo dd and 6 yo ds at WDW for several days after the rest of family departs from big annual get-together. I've never been at Disney with them without dh or older ds. Any suggestions for keeping my sanity? (BTW, both dd and ds are WDW veterans, having made many trips there over the past few years. Also, I already know that we won't be visiting any water parks during our "mommy & kids" time. It's hard enough keeping track of them when there are 3 of us watching!!)

 

[CastleCreations]

As a single mom of two little girls, I take them alone all the time. I definately get the double stroller, because I can't be constantly looking around for them. This way they don't run off. I also set down ground rules, right outside the gate. We have the talk about what is expected of them. So far, I haven't had any problems. They are 4 and 5, and seem to understand that even though Disney is the land of fun, there are still rules to keep them safe.

 

[brymolmom]

I did this with my 3 and 4 year olds a couple months ago while DH was at a conference. We did MK. Since I, too, was only used to doing it with more than 1 adult - I just tried to keep my expectations low. Basically, we went right at opening and I didn't have any expectation as to how long we'd stay. I figured if we got our top 5 or 6 rides in - anything after that was just bonus. I decided if any 'acting up' occurred or any meltdowns....well, then all bets were off and I told myself it was okay to bail and leave if it got to that point. I did use our double stroller which helped with my sanity (when they're in the stroller you don't have to do as much of the constant - okay - one, two - they're both with me). It was a WONDERFUL day for us - we stayed until about 5:00pm so we surpased my plan. They behaved beautifully.

One thing to look out for - if you're used to doing any child-swap OR riding with one adult/one child in your ride's 'car' - keep in mind with 3 of you - you have to either leave one child alone OR only ride things that 3 or more can ride together. We wanted to go on Goofy's barnstormer but they wouldn't let us try to get 3 across (I had read on the DIS that they let some people in the past) - so ds4 had to ride alone and he did NOT like that at all. So we skipped any other rides that couldn't take all 3 of us. It kept it a lot simpler - no child swaps or anything.

Part of my plan was to bring as little as possible with me. Usually, since we have the stroller - I'm a 'be ready for anything' type of person. But I wanted as little as possible to worry about. So I brought just the very basics and even brought a disposable single use camera so I wouldn't have to be like 'where's the camera?' all the time.

Have fun!

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I've done Disney by myself with dd and ds. They were 3 & 5 on our very first solo trip. I was prepared for the worst, but really they amazed me. They did not care about not being able to go on the big rides (they didn't know any better) and they loved the simplest things. It actually was a very relaxing time! It also forced me to take time for things I normally overlook, since I am all about commando touring when DH is with us. I brought an umbrella stroller (seems one always wanted to walk anyway so they would switch off). We paced ourselves and I had to be selective about some rides due to seating limitations (as OP had also said). I never planned on getting in as much park time as we did, but suddenly my kids had new found energy when at WDW. Mine are teens now (with exception of DN), but I would not even bat an eye over going solo with small kids...wonderful experience and Disney makes everything so easy.

 

[Stephres]

I would take advantage of the playgrounds at each of the parks: that way you might be able to sit down for a minute!

 

[VLee]

I've done solo with grandchildren--the first time, they were 5 and 2. And I have taken each also alone. This May, they will be 7 and 4 and am going solo again.

When their baby sister turns two, I will have the three by myself..By then, they will be 9, 6 and 2.