Strategy for young kids (4 and 5 yrs old)? Help please.

[MICKIMINI]

Random thoughts:

What about Festival of The Lion King? That is still a favorite!

Good point from OP regarding dark rides. We brought a friend and her 5 yo when our son was 8 yo. He was terrified of Pirates but we bribed him and he went...and came out singing "yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me" LOL! Who knows how many times we went on that ride?

Disappointingly, F & W is often filled with college students on weekends who are enjoying themselves too much. Just saying...

We often see families running after rope drop and sometimes to rides anytime. I think it sets a bad tone for kids. Take your time getting to your destination.

Crowds for fireworks are intense and make me uncomfortable. Either plan to stay towards the back of the crowd and let them disperse before making your out. Plan B is watch from another location where you have already taken transportation out of that park and made it to a restaurant where you can eat AND watch.

Have a meeting place just in case. Kids remember these things and will do what you say in the event they need to. Our son always remembered that the castle was the wheel on the spoke and from the time he was 3, would have known how to get from point a to point b if we had let him and in future years, he led the way.

Keep some snacks and juice drinks in your bag just in case. Baby wipes are good for more than their intended purpose.

Those pool breaks are worth it on days you can logistically do it and then return refreshed. Sometimes it is better to call it a day after lunch. The pool is a big part of a kid's vacation IMO.

Enjoy every moment...they are only this age once!

 

[mefordis]

Is it going to be really hard to get CRT for lunch?

Here are my recommendations for dining. I have to pull together lightening lanes.

Animal Kingdom:
Tusker House character 4:30pm


Hollywood Studios:
Hollywood Brown Derby | 4:30pm dinner


Magic Kingdom:
Cinderella's Royal Table | 12pm lunch

Epcot:
Akershus Royal Banquet 12:30pm lunch

 

[pks_domer]

Is it going to be really hard to get CRT for lunch?

It can be, yes. ADRs in general, you might not get the timing that you want, and you need to be flexible enough that if you want to eat at noon but your only character lunch slot is 1:30, how do you want to deal with that. Also, people modify ADRs pretty much constantly... so it's entirely possible that your preferred time slot might open up that same day, just a few hours before.

There's enough overlap in princesses, and character meals are enough $$$$, that to a degree CRT and Akershus are a bit redundant. The castle is cool and a fun place to eat, and there's the separate meet with Cinderella on the way up. But for pure princess interactions, I thought Akershus was better. The other thing to think about is how the kids eat. The menus/style of the two are pretty different. We will also sometimes try and book the very end of the breakfast window rather than compete for lunch slots.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

OK, so I skimmed prior comments but may have missed little things. Forgive me if I'm duplicating.

- Wine and Dine weekend doesn't have a marathon and typically doesn't go near MK. Last year, 5k and 10k were EP only, Sunday half marathon was EP and HS. For sure avoid Epcot on Sunday for the party (I know at least one other person mentioned) but MK should be fine.

- When I traveled with my five-year-old girls, we found the sit down late breakfast/lunch to be the way to go. Getting the strollers and kids out of the park for a break was hard, but lunch gave us a great break. We also found that, after a long day of park time, sitting for dinner was just a lot for them. Waiting to be served and see the characters at Artist point was one of our toughest nights. Even though the food and characters were great, they didn’t have it in them to do a sit-down meal.

- If you do go the lunch route, Crystal Palace and Tusker both have the trick where you can book the latest breakfast, pay the lower fee, fill a plate with breakfast, and then hang around while you wait for characters and fill a plate with lunch food, too. CP, Tusker, and Akershus together get you princesses, Fab Five, and Winnie the Pooh crew. Right now, you have two princess meals, no Pooh, which might be great for their preferences or CP might be the way to go here.

- I know you’re focusing on LL, but make sure you clue in the parents on what shows they can just do at each park when they need a break. Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is obviously not a LLMP I would book, but it’s really adorable at this age. Same for Philharmagic, Turtle Talk, Frozen Sing Along, Lion King, Nemo.

 

[mefordis]

You guys have such great tips! Thanks so much! They get to make their dining reservations tomorrow morning! I've been checking every day for the availability the last day possible to make them and so far it looks like if they go in tomorrow at 7am they will get everything they want!

Thank you so much for sharing your expertise! If anyone has done a trip report I'd love to read it. I'm going to check all of your sigs.

 

[MickeyMice]

there are multiple excellent shows at AK and HS for that age range:

- festival of the lion king!
- finding nemo stage show
- feathered friends in flight

- frozen sing-a-long
- beauty and the beast
- cars, until it closes
- disney jr dance party
- maybe even indiana jones
- fantasmic!

 

[cruising spud]

First time we took our youngest daughter to Disney she was four years old. She was a trooper. Ready to go. Fearless. I imagined that we wouldn't have any problems whatsoever. HA!!
From that experience:
1. Rent or bring a stroller. Even if you don't think you will need it. At least for the first day. A stroller gives the kids a break, plus makes it easier to keep an eye on them. Even if you think they are too old for a stroller.
2. Take afternoon breaks and go back to the park later in the day or call it quits early and get to bed early. We did rope drop and by 11:30am, my daughter was ready for a break. We went back to the hotel, swam a bit, and then we all took naps. Then, I had her get a bath before going back to the parks, because by the time we got back at night, she would have been too tired to bathe.
3. Bring food from home to eat breakfast in the room. Why-kids dawdle, and you don't waste valuable time at breakfast, when you could be in the parks. Bring food from home that the kids like for snacks. If they are picky eaters, bring food to supplement other meals.
4. Be prepared for anything. The kids might be afraid of the characters or the rides or who-knows-what. My daughter had never seen an electrically flushed toilet before. (This was thirty years ago). She would not use a single toilet in the parks the rest of our trips.
5. The fireworks might be too loud for them.
6. Make sure they have on comfortable shoes. My daughter had jellies. She wanted to wear them. She developed blisters our first day.
7.Perhaps-Push your kids a bit to try the rides. I am NOT saying take them kicking and screaming onto Tron, BUT (example) we insisted our daughter try Haunted Mansion. I told her to close her eyes if she was afraid. I promised if she did this, she would be fine. She was and then wanted to go back and try the ride again with her eyes open.

Looking at your suggestions:

1. With younger children, I might skip Epcot and spend two days at Magic Kingdom.
2. IMO- Kali River Rapids is fairly intense. Also-Spaceship Earth might frighten the girls.
3. I think Day 1-relax and pool time is a great idea.
4. The parents could do child swap and get in a few rides that they would enjoy.

No matter what-they will have a blast.

 

[Bork]

We have gone with young kids many times, but they were never nappers. What worked for us was to arrive early and do as much as possible during the first few hours, then do a late TS lunch (1PM) to rest, avoid the biggest crowds, and get out of the heat. Then a more relaxing afternoon and a quick service dinner.

We tried going back to the hotel for a nap. Spent a lot of time traveling and they never slept. It was wasted time for us.

We also try to never do more than 2-3 park days in a row without a rest day.

 

[corellianskies]

My son is 5, so here are just some observations from our trips:

The Skyliner is amazing - my son LOVES it more than literally anything else at Disney World. Would ride all day and be fully content never stepping into a park. We always rode the loop a couple of times coming back for our afternoon breaks - we always get to ride alone, so its a nice quiet way to unwind after the buzz of the parks.

Midday breaks - My son gave up naps when he was 2, but he still needs quiet downtime. We take a 3-4 hour break every day we're there. We go back to the room, do some coloring sheets, etc. as a way to decompress. We also hit the pool during this time too - if the littles love water, I wouldn't skip a pool break even if they don't need to rest.

Lots and lots of snacks. - I feed my son breakfast in the room instead of wasting time in the food court because children take forever to eat. And my child gets hangry quick on top of being a picky eater, so I keep a bag full of his faves just in case. Plus, gummies or applesauce pouches are a quick distraction when waiting.

Rides - if the littles are unsure about rides, show them the POVs on youtube. My son loves rollercoasters, but sometimes overthinks them, so this helped a lot.

Manage your expectations - my child is obsessed with Disney and loves it SO much, but he also has decided in the morning that he would rather do anything else than step into a park at that point in time. So be prepared to shift a schedule if necessary. We utilized Genie+ and will utilize the new system as well when we return, so I just modify LLs all day long to adjust our day. My son also doesn't like huge jam-packed crowds like during rope drop and fireworks, so we skip those for his benefit and having LLs is amazing for this.

 

[colleen218]

My kiddos are 6 and 8 now, but there are a few things that made our trips easier.

Breakfast in the room was key. We would have bagels, waffles, frozen breakfast sandwiches etc. H and I could eat while we got ready for the day. Kids could eat in the stroller on the way out of the hotel if they weren't ready to go when we were.

Afternoon breaks made all the difference. That way we would miss the hottest, most crowded part of the day. We would eat, nap, rest or go to the pool, depending on their ages at the time. Then we would head back to the park for dinner and more fun.

A well organized stroller and back pack were key. Sunblock, water bottles, hand sanitizer, bandaids, and small treats to distract in long queues (we brought Pez and lollipops).

Rides are going to be very individual. My daughter loved Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain at 3. She loved Everest, Space Mountain, Slinky Dog, ToT, and FoP at 5. I think you chose a lot of good, safe bets.