WDW with a Five Year Old

[BlondeAppetit]

I would love a realistic idea of doing WDW with a five year old.

For example - 8:35 Crystal Palace and a 7:15 California Grill.

Will we need a break in between?

I thought about a late afternoon trip to Afternoon Tea at GF and then back to hotel to relax before dinner.

We will have two days in MK, plus a pool day with MNSSHP that night. First day has an 8:30 BBB and 10am CRT. Park closes at 7 for a concert and we have a HDDR at 6:15.

We are also doing MNSSHP and plan in getting to park at 4pm.

Do you think I am missing out by not being in MK from sun up to sun down?

Keep in mind it will be September. Hot! I thought she would enjoy the breaks and over 3 days we would be able to do everything. Or am I wrong?

 

[KateDrake]

Every kid is different, so take this with a grain of salt. But for my DD5, that would be way too much TS dining. She is good for one TS meal a day (and she has very good restaurant manners), but asking her to sit still all that time would be a no-go. So even though the tea and everything sounds fun, I'd recommend scaling back on the scheduling a bit so you have plenty of time to let her explore. Kids this age love to re-ride their favorites, swim at the hotel pool, etc. So I would try to build in some more go-with-the-flow time if it were me.

That said, my DD5 is quite precocious and has a ton of energy, so yours may be different. If you think she would enjoy all of those experiences and be able to sit through them, I say go for it! But for most kids, I'd say a break more along the lines of swimming or running around and playing a bit would be more their style.

Hope you have a great trip! You are sure to have a blast no matter what you decide!

 

[GillianP1301]

My DS is now 6, we have been to WDW when he was 4 and again when he was 5. For us, sticking with our usual eating/sleeping pattern is key to a successful trip. At age 6 right now, he's just starting to be able to stay awake for special events after his bed time without it affecting him too negatively, but last year, staying out late would pretty much wreck him for the next day.

Because he gets very grumpy when he's hungry or a meal is either missed or later than usual, having our meals planned is very important. Young kids tend not to over eat at any particular meal, so they are less likely to be able to skip a meal. For example, as an adult, I may like to overindulge at a breakfast buffet and would be fine with no other meal until dinner. But my son, will eat his normal size meal at each sitting. That's another reason I do 3 meals a day and often TS since he's fine with being able to sit well through them. For me, I just have to remember to not over stuff myself at any given meal and then I'm able to enjoy all my meals without being too full.

All that being said, I think your meal plan looks okay. 7:15 would be too late a dinner for us, but depending on how you eat while at home, that may well work for you.

I would definitely count on midday breaks and recommend enjoying the resort pool. Young kids love it and it's a really nice way to unwind and recharge before your dinner ADR. Our touring style the last two years has always been early breakfast (we're always up around 7 - 8 m even on vacation), go to our one park for the day and tour until DS is showing fatigue and needing a change of pace. Some days that would be around lunch time and other days he could easily go until dinner time. We never returned to the parks after our dinner, if there was any time left until bed time (around 8ish), we'd swim or go to the resort arcade... both of which my DS loves.

 

[c1701h]

We have been to the parks when our son was 4 and then again at 5 both in Sept. Our son was ready to do the park all day at 5, but we opted for the nap mid-day and it turned out great. He was not happy about the nap but once we were in the room he was out within a couple of minutes. On MNSSHP you will have a long time at night in the park so I would highly recommend the nap.

 

[lustergirl]

I would love a realistic idea of doing WDW with a five year old.

For example - 8:35 Crystal Palace and a 7:15 California Grill.

Will we need a break in between?

I thought about a late afternoon trip to Afternoon Tea at GF and then back to hotel to relax before dinner.

We will have two days in MK. First day has an 8:30 BBB and 10am CRT. Park closes at 7 for a concert and we have a HDDR at 6:15.

We are also doing MNSSHP and plan in getting to park at 4pm.

Do you think I am missing out by not being in MK from sun up to sun down?

Keep in mind it will be September. Hot! I thought she would enjoy the breaks and over 3 days we would be able to do everything. Or am I wrong?

That is an awful a lot of food for one day, especially so close together. September is very hot and you may need to take a break in between. MNSSHP is a great party and you will enjoy yourselves. You will probably get to see characters that you don't normally see.

Is your five year old up to all the walking? I would start a program now and try to walk with the child every day until you go to Disney. It will build up your stamina pretty quickly. Number one thing for me in the heat is to keep hydrated.

Good Luck

 

[HM]

When my kids were around that age, we did our big meal at lunchtime. We ate a quick breakfast of granola bar and fruit juice in the room, had lunch TS before 12 (and it got us to relax out of the heat), and then ate QS whenever we got hungry at night. We did not take breaks back in the room. We took our time in the parks and went at the children's pace. We generally ended up back in the room before 9pm. Fireworks had to wait until they were older (actually our first two trips they only had parade and fireworks at MK on Saturdays...not all week anyway).

 

[whitney37354]

We went on our first family trip when DD was 5. We had a TS breakfast, toured a park or DTD, CS lunch, then back to the room for a few hours break. We had hoped for a nap, but instead we all just rested and watched tv during the heat of the afternoon. We would go back out for a TS dinner & a different park in the evening. No stroller & DD did fine. The only time she even hinted at complaining was walking around WS to get to US pavillion for CS lunch. It was hot & she was tired. Once she got lunch & cooled off, she was fine.

 

[sydneysmom]

Our first trip to Disney, our DD was 4 1/2 years old. We went back and forth about bringing a stroller, and in the end, we decided we would bring one. If for nothing else, it was awesome to have in the airport, but it was a Godsend in the parks. We brought a Jeep collapsable stroller, so it wasn't huge, but it did the trick. There was many times that she rode and napped. We also wiretied a cheap backpack on the arms of the stroller to hold a change of clothes for her, a washcloth, baby wipes (refreshing in the heat) and some other incidentals.

We stayed at the GF so that we could hop the monorail and go back mid day for a nap. That was key. We would go back for a few hours and head out. We also did the deluxe dining plan because we knew that we wanted to do as many character meals as possible. And while 3 meals a day sounds like alot of food, what it comes down to is this... you don't have to eat all of it. For us, it was a great break to sit in the air conditioning and have some down time. There's alot at Disney and it's overwhelming for the little ones.

We also did MNSSHP. At first we didn't know if we'd do it, would she stay awake long enough? But we decided to go ahead and do it. Well, that little girl pretty much closed the park! We had her take about a 2 hour nap that afternoon, then headed back to MK at about 4:00. We ate dinner in the Castle and were ready to go. She had more fun that night at the Halloween party than I can even tell you. It is absolutely worth the price of admission, in my opinion. The rides are all walk on, you meet all kinds of characters, the Haunted Mansion is all dressed up in it's finest scariness...along w/ the CM's!!!

The best advice I can give you is take it slow. It's ALOT to take in. Use your stroller to keep them going and use midday for naptime.

I'll never regret doing deluxe dining... we did CRT twice and also did 3 of the 2 ts restaurants (LeCellier/ Flying Fish / Narcoosee's) On the days we did a 2TS meal, we skipped lunch and used snack credits for lunch. It worked out fantastic for us. My DH loved the deluxe plan so much that we're doing it again on the next trip.

We also did a couple of fun things for our DD to kind of 'pump up the pixie dust'. We got her a "first visit pin" when we checked in. We also brought 2 princess dresses with us, that she didn't know about. The first night, after she went to sleep, we layed the dresses out with a "glittered invitation" inviting her to Cinderella's castle for dinner. Can you just imagine the look on her face after we read her the ivite and she saw the dresses ? Yeah, it was even better in person!! She thought Tinkerbell brought everything while she was asleep. It was a priceless moment that I'll never forget.

Also, when we were walking in the MK the first time, my DH went ahead of us in the tunnel.... he waited on the other end as we walked in....and he was taking a video to capture her reaction the first time she saw the castle.... well, it made me cry. She walked in, all tiny, and saw the castle and pointed and said "look, it's real, it's really real!!". Oh boy. But that was my sister's idea to do that and I'm forever thankful we have that on video.

Most of all, have fun. Take your cues from your child... if they get hot and sweaty...stop, grab a Mickey bar and relax. Most of all, have FUN!!!!!

 

[Amirah95]

This will be the first time we're going w/o a stroller and my DD is 6 years old (too tall for a stroller now, we're all giants in this family). This means that we will HAVE to break in the afternoons for her nap. She still naps right now and I cannot forecast if she will still be needing naps in June 2015, but I am planning for them anyway (June in Orlando can be HOT). She gets antsy and restless between 1-3pm when we're not on vacation so with lots of energy spent at WDW she may need naps. If you have a stroller I wouldn't worry about breaks as we never did...DD knocked out in her stroller during nap time while we continued on vacationing which was perfect.

Also, I was never one to plan back to back appointments like BBB and then CRT. It was either one or the other because I could never predict DD mood. She's a good kid, but she can get out of the wrong side of the bed sometimes. In our case, less is more.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

My kids have been 2 & 5, 3 & 6, and 4 & 7 on our trips. We've never taken them to a signature restaurant. Frankly, after the excitement of the parks and character meals, sitting down for a refined meal would be a let down for them. All of our mid-day breaks have involved the pool, especially the year we went when it was super hot. Have you thought to include that in your schedule? But above all...it's always hard to get them to leave the parks. There is so much to do! For their sanity, and ours, you do need a break, especially when it's hot, but I would personally find it stressful to chase after so many ADRs on a trip with a young kid. On our first trip, I remember how stressed I was trying to make an Akershus dinner ADR. I just didn't account for how long it was going to take to travel from resort to park, and I didn't anticipate the kids refusing to nap at the hotel and then falling asleep on the monorail instead!

Like a previous poster, we typically do one ADR a day, at lunch, and then use CS credits for dinner. We don't really like early breakfast ADRs because we're not early risers and they can cut into prime touring time, and by the time dinner rolls around, the kids are either too tired to sit through a sitdown meal or just aren't hungry enough to justify a big meal. Plus, with dinner, we like having more flexibility...if we're having a great time, no one wants to stop to eat. With CS you can eat whenever, with ADRs you're locked in. And with ADRs outside the park, you have to leave at least an hour early to make sure you get there on time. Lunch gives everyone a nice break especially if we're not going to leave the park for a break that day.

Kids aren't going to Disney for the food.

 

[maryandtyson]

My DDs, now 12 and 10 love signature dining. We took them to Flying Fish when they were maybe, 5 and 7 and they loved it! They've been to Ff twice and to JIkO. Loved both and appreciated the niceties. It really depends on your child. Every restaurant at Disney, with the obvious exception of V&A, handles children very nicely. The waiter at JIKO cut their meat for them! DH and I like to treat ourselves to a nice meal and it's our trip too.

I definitely recommend walking practice for her!

 

[ChgoMusicGirl]

Each kid is different, of course, but with my DS5, we rented a stroller and took our cues from him as far as how to take breaks. A couple of days we went back to the resort and took naps (our last day we did RD, left MK at 12:30, went back to pack/swim/nap and then returned at 8 and stayed until 2 am, which was a ton of fun!), one day we went to Kona for lunch and used that as our rest time, and the other days we stayed in the parks until 6 or 7 and DS napped in the stroller or on one of our laps (we sat through 3 hall of presidents shows one day)
We were there from 6/7-6/16.
We were at RD every day except for one. We also had a rest day in the middle of our 10 day stay. We had minimal ADRs, and all were for lunch time.

We really enjoy getting to the parks at RD, so that was part of our decision to leave the parks prior to closing/fireworks on most nights. We were in bed by 9-9:30 every night except 2.
Good luck with your planning and just make sure that you make time to enjoy your child's reaction to everything. WDW is a truly magical place and IMO, 5 is the perfect age for them to experience it.