Testing 3.5yr old GD at local Amusment park

[popriv]

Planning a trip last week of October with DW, DD and GD who will be 4yr by Oct.
As I make plans I wonder what the endurance of this 4 yr old will be and how to plan accordingly.
DW and I took Little Sienna to Canobie Lake Park in NH yesterday. this gave me a chance to observe her with a trip to Disney in mind.
We left our house at 9:15 for the 1 hour drive. we were in the park at 10:30...
We played in the water slide/splash area until 1:00 then head into the park for lunch and some rides..
Spent the next 5 hours walking and riding various rides...
Left the park at 6:30 with Sienna not wanting to leave... 8 hours in the park.
she was asleep 10 minutes down the road...

What I learned:

Not going to count on mid day sleeping in the stroller. ( we did bring one to save her legs )
No way was she going to sleep in the middle of the day, maybe at night?

Meet and greets went great, she hugged and danced with 3-4 of the local characters.

Seems to have no fear of any rides yet. We went on the flume ride twice which has a pretty good drop.
She will be under the height requirement but I think she would handle splash mtn. no problem.
At 38" she will be able to ride 7D...

I was worried about standing in lines. after about 7 hours in the park our last ride was a 20 min. wait in line for a go kart ride. No problems other than the usual " get down off the railings " she never had a meltdown all day.

I wanted to go a little longer to see if she would outlast my wife who was running out of gas.....

Got home at 7:30 and threw her on the couch, she never woke up until the next morning... I've never seen that... so she was pushed to her limit.

So I will plan that an 8 hour day is about her limit,
either do rope drop for morning days or start mid afternoon to go late at night.
Plan for a late start the day after a late night.

 

[katyjeka]

Great idea, glad she did so well. Have a magical trip.

 

[Lilliputian]

I'm glad it went well! It's a wonderful idea to see how your child (or grandchild) does in stimulating environments for a long day before taking them on an expensive trip like WDW. It works so much better than asking other parents how their children did.

I will caution you that the first day may not be exactly like subsequent days. We all start to get a little tired after several days at WDW. You may need more breaks as the vacation goes on.

 

[popriv]

yes, it was a good test and a lot of fun.. Planning another test outing with DD joining us later this summer...

That will be the 4 of us that are going on the WDW trip in Oct.

GD is a little better behaved when its just us grandparents.. when moms along we notice a little more " acting up " which I think is normal.

I'll use any excuse to spend the day with my girls at an amusement park…..

pop

 

[katyjeka]

Wanted to add we also have a 4 year old. She did great this past Dec. was dragging a little at the end of two weeks. We found when visiting MK she did really well if we stuck to a couple lands a day. We would start the morning in Fantasyland and would finish off in a different land after lunch. On our first day we were all over and she seemed a little overwhelmed. Have fun with your little one!!

 

[dmea10]

Great idea My youngest daughter, and her 4 year old daughter and myself will be there for 10 days at the end of October beginning of November. We are bringing a cheap reclining umbrella stroller with a sun shade just in case. We went to the Memphis Zoo a few weeks back and she was wanting to be carried quite a bit. She is tall for her age and it is not easy to carry her. She did end up with a fever the next day so we think she just was not feeling well at the Zoo. The stroller will give her a chance to rest her feet and possibly take a nap.