Starting to panic, bring me down! HELP!

[AlexandAndysMom]

OK...so we are heading down to the world for a wonderful surprise week for our two boys. It's going to be the first week of April (arrive on Saturday the 2nd, leave on Saturday the 9th) and my panic is setting in about the crowds and waits and everything.

My children are not early risers, so rope drop after the first day isn't going to happen. We have tried 3 years in a row to get them up and the one time we did for a breakfast they were positively crabby the rest of the day.

So, how do we do this?? I need help!

I have no problem getting up, so at least one day (our DHS day, I'm going to get up and be at rope drop to get some FP for TSM and possible RnR), and my DH is going to get the kids ready when they get up and I'll meet them at the gate with their tickets. I don't know what else to do!

We are also going without hoppers (at least that's the plan for now), so we are stuck with whatever park we pick for the day!

What can I do to calm down? We've been the end of Oct. twice (once for Jersey Week) and the week of Thanksgiving, leaving the day after.

Help!!

 

[cluvsdisney]

Take a deep breath! It will be fine - try not to stress about it. It's a vacation. You'll have a great time!

I am not an early riser at all - I think in 10 park trips, I made one rope drop and have managed to ride the rides I want to ride, see the shows I want to see. Make a list of the MUST DO and tackle them first then fill in with everything else. Utilize FP - since you'll be in the park all day the return times are not a big deal. You'll be able to get another FP 2 hours after you get one (unless the ride return time is less then 2 hours). Take advantage of the evening EMH.

FYI - you won't be able to go to the park before everyone else and get fast passes for everyone. The park ticket needs to be activated for the day in order to get a FP.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

As PP said, their tickets have to be activated to get fast passes. Only way I can see around it is to maybe do the DVC tour, you get fast passes that are good right away at least (and free icecream).

Do you take afternoon breaks? If you make it back to the hotel early one night will they be able to wake up earlier one morning?

 

[ToddyLu]

It is going to be OK. You have been to Disney before and the children have been before. If they kids aren't early risers that is OK. Maybe you could invest in a Tour Guide Mike plan or check out the other planning sites for info on how best to plan out your day. Easter is the third week so I imagine you are not going to hit major crowds. You know where everything in the parks are so that will help. Maybe your little guys will hit the sack a bit early and will be better getting up in the a.m. It is what it is. It is just vacation, you will go back, right. If you stress about you will not have a good time at all.

 

[dougsmom98]

If I were you, I would consider getting a subscription to the touring plans website or Ridemax or something like that. I don't know how Ridemax works, but touringplans does have some plans for arriving to the park later in the day. We always use touring plans and we always have had fantastic results. We travel during school vacation week and still get to do the headliner rides several times a day using FP and the touring plans. That being said we get there at rope drop, but I am sure that with touring plans, you could still do things you want with little wait. The only park that I have had trouble with using touring plans is DHS. The problem is you have to work in the shows based on show times and that just didn't work for us. If you could convince your kids to get up for rope drop on any one day, get them up for the DHS day.

 

[torinsmom]

You need to explain to your kids that they can ride a lot more rides if you get there early. The 3 year old may not understand how standing in line for 2 hours for TSM will not be fun, but the others should. Maybe something special if they make rope drop(an extra Mickey bar or a small trinket from a shop) would help?

Start a few days before your trip having them go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Also make sure you take a break each day and they rest. That will help make them less grumpy the next morning.

My DS loves to sleep in, but at WDW, he understands that you have to go against the normal vacation schedule if you want to have more fun.

 

[racechick8293]

You need to explain to your kids that they can ride a lot more rides if you get there early. The 3 year old may not understand how standing in line for 2 hours for TSM will not be fun, but the others should. Maybe something special if they make rope drop(an extra Mickey bar or a small trinket from a shop) would help?

Start a few days before your trip having them go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Also make sure you take a break each day and they rest. That will help make them less grumpy the next morning.

My DS loves to sleep in, but at WDW, he understands that you have to go against the normal vacation schedule if you want to have more fun.

Excellent ideas, and I agree, to make the most of the time at WDW, it's important to get to the parks early!

 

[birdsmom]

Good Morning! I'm replying to this as I stand in the kitchen making Mickey pancakes for breakfast

We have gone the past 2 years at the same time and have made our ressies for the same time you're going to be there this year since it's spring break week for our DD. Yes it's crowded but with a little bit of planning you'll be fine. We've never made rope drop but have never had a problem getting to ride or get FP for all of the "major attractions". We don't do the hopper passes either, we're a one park a day kind of family

Good Luck to you all and enjoy!!!

 

[AlexandAndysMom]

Thanks for trying to calm me down everyone!

I know we will have a great time, no matter what, just starting to freak out, that's all!

I'm going to have to work in secret getting everyone's must do as it's a total surprise for the boys (we aren't planning on telling them until we are well into Florida!) so it's going to be a little harder to get everyone's must dos.

I know a couple of days we are just going to have to try our best, but my oldest won't pass up a chance to be in the MK until 2am! He's just like his momma!

 

[tina.tina]

When you get them ready for the time change back to Daylight Savings Time, start getting them up earlier & earlier. That is my plan but DD9 catches the bus at 7am anyhow!

 

[torinsmom]

Thanks for trying to calm me down everyone!

I know we will have a great time, no matter what, just starting to freak out, that's all!

I'm going to have to work in secret getting everyone's must do as it's a total surprise for the boys (we aren't planning on telling them until we are well into Florida!) so it's going to be a little harder to get everyone's must dos.

I know a couple of days we are just going to have to try our best, but my oldest won't pass up a chance to be in the MK until 2am! He's just like his momma!

So, definitely make the next day after that 2am EMH a sleep in day. We always make the morning after a late night our DTD day.

 

[Darcy03231]

You'll still have a good time if you get to the parks later. I'm a get up and get going early type of person, my sister isn't. Our families went together one year and her family just met up with us in the parks when they got up and got going. We had a blast, and so did they.

 

[vicb]

So, definitely make the next day after that 2am EMH a sleep in day. We always make the morning after a late night our DTD day.

I did just this last trip. The day after our late MK night (park closed at midnight, back to hotel by 1am) was sleep in, then a late breakfast ressie at AKL Boma. Then we strolled the grounds to see the animals and look at the lodge (we had never been there) then we hopped a bus to Epcot arriving 12:30ish. At Epcot we did not try for any of the major attactions, we did Ellen's Energy, Spaceship Earth, Figment, Sum of All Thrills, listened to Off Kilter etc... a very relaxing, enjoyable day.

 

[lilys.mom]

I really dont think your time of trip will be too bad. Last year the reason the first week of April was bad was because Easter fell of the 4th of April. This year Easter isnt until the 24th...so I think you are going plenty early enough to beat those crowds. We arent booked until 9th-15th of April and I am still not too concerned about crowds.

Enjoy!

 

[gluvsmickey]

We are surprising my two DS's with a trip april 1-7! I really havent been paying attention to crowd predictions yet is it going to be super busy? I thought maybe because of Easter being so late this year that it might keep the crowds a little lower for that week, we can always hope! Have a great time regardless of crowds you'll be at WDW!

 

[rdearth]

If you're staying on property and this is primarily about getting to ride TSM, then visit HS on an evening extended Magic Hour day. You can ride TSM multiple times that way if you wait until the regular closing time approaches and the extended magic hours begin to get in line. We almost always go in the fall and have had no problem doing this with Toy Story Mania--no fast passes needed and the line was 10-15 minutes each time.

I am one of the few around that will always argue for going to the parks that are offering EMH---especially evening EMH. The crowds, at least in the fall, are very light.

 

[YodaGirl]

We've only hit rope drop once in my trips to WDW, and we've been able to ride everything that we wanted with no problem.

Honestly, TSM is going to be your only issue. If you can only make RD once (the first day if I read your post correctly), make the first day DHS.

Have fun!

 

[ktlm]

DD is not a morning person, but we are always in the parks within 15 minutes of rope drop. We are never those people standing outside the gates for 30 minutes or an hour before the park opens. We've done fine that way. I go get FPs for TSM and Soarin immediately once we all get in the gate. The way I have gotten her there that early, is that we do not do a sit down breakfast. DH and I get up and get ready. Then, DH goes down to counter service and he grabs breakfast and brings it to the room. I start waking her up while he is gone and then when he gets back we sit her down to breakfast, then throw clothes, sunscreen etc. on her and brush her teeth, and out the door we go.

As far as evening EMH at DHS being good for TSM, don't count on that being the case, as we didn't get as lucky as rdearth. We did EMH at DHS on our last trip, but the TSM line was still an hour every time we checked. We were doing it for the Playhouse Disney Dance Party and the Osborne Christmas lights anyway , so we didn't care, and those were great. I've never seen the Osborne lights so empty, it was very enjoyable. Of course, that doesn't make much difference to you, since you aren't going at Christmas Time!

I'm sure you will have fun no matter what!

 

[JLR]

OK...so we are heading down to the world for a wonderful surprise week for our two boys. It's going to be the first week of April (arrive on Saturday the 2nd, leave on Saturday the 9th) and my panic is setting in about the crowds and waits and everything.

My children are not early risers, so rope drop after the first day isn't going to happen. We have tried 3 years in a row to get them up and the one time we did for a breakfast they were positively crabby the rest of the day.

So, how do we do this?? I need help!

I have no problem getting up, so at least one day (our DHS day, I'm going to get up and be at rope drop to get some FP for TSM and possible RnR), and my DH is going to get the kids ready when they get up and I'll meet them at the gate with their tickets. I don't know what else to do!

We are also going without hoppers (at least that's the plan for now), so we are stuck with whatever park we pick for the day!

What can I do to calm down? We've been the end of Oct. twice (once for Jersey Week) and the week of Thanksgiving, leaving the day after.

Help!!

First of all - deep breath! You are going to Disney and you will have a great time. You will enjoy it more if you give yourself permission to have a fun vacation, even if that means missing TSMM! There are lots of fun things to do in every park even if you miss those attractions. In the other parks you will just have late return times on the FPs and you won't get to gather as many, but it may be worth it just to ride Splash and BTMRR once each and enjoy other things.

The pps have given good advice:

1. you cannot go into the park and pick up FPs for others. Each ticket much go through a turnstyle with the fingerprint to be able to pick up FPs.

2. The UG (unofficial guide) has a late riser plan for many of the parks - that can help you enjoy the parks with your family. Ride max can help you put together the best plan for your expected arrival time. I used it last year for my evenings at parks, but you could use it for later mornings.

Now - you have plenty of time to work on your kids' sleep schedules. (I do have training and do this for a living) How old are they and what time do they get up now?

Most elementary school kids need 10 - 12 hours of sleep at night for optimal functioning. Ideally, you should never have to wake your kids up.

If you could slowly change their clocks to coincide with waking at 7:30 am ET, avoid EMH mornings, you could potentially do RDs.

Changing biological clocks
Rule #1 Get up the smae time every day Sats and Suns included (this is the hardest
Rule #2 Bright light, physical activity, and food in the morning
Rule #3 It shouldn't be too painful if you do 15 mintues change per week.
Rule #4 Go to bed early enough
Rule #5 No TV within 1 hour of bedtime (this is pretty hard for people too)
Rule #6 Start dimming lights about 1 hour before bedtime

There is some evidence that melatonin (avialable at health food stores) can help this process in adults, but it has not been studied in kids.

 

[vicb]

I really dont think your time of trip will be too bad. Last year the reason the first week of April was bad was because Easter fell of the 4th of April. This year Easter isnt until the 24th...so I think you are going plenty early enough to beat those crowds. We arent booked until 9th-15th of April and I am still not too concerned about crowds.

Enjoy!

I sort of dread my next trip because we are going to watch DS's high school band perform and it will be the week leading into Easter 2012. Yikes, I've always said I would never go at Easter but now I will. We will just have to adjust our expectations and not be commando.