Will 3 and 5 yr olds make it to WOC show?

[AnneUCSB]

I am thinking about buying the picnic boxes for our family to avoid having to rush into DCA early in the morning for FPs to see WOC. I will be with my boys age 5 yrs, 3 yrs, and 5 months (and husband and my parents). We will be at the parks for 3 days and definitely plan to see the Fantasmic show on the first day of our visit, Thursday, Nov. 18. Do you think a 3 and 5 yr old will be up for a viewing of WOC the next night at 9pm? I am hesitant to buy the picnics because if they are sleeping then I'll have wasted the $$ for the picnics when we may not even go. On a related note, am I understanding correctly that I can pick up the picnics earlier in the evening so the kids can eat them then and not have to wait until WOC to eat?

Anyone who has traveled with young kids, I would love you input on how much stamina you little ones had for late night shows and if you got FPs or picnics. THANKS!

 

[vpalmer]

If you do a midday break both days, they should be fine.

 

[skiingfast]

My son at 4yo and almost 5yo was able to Rope Drop to Closing. We took a midday break everyother day. He slept almost the whole way home both times.

 

[Mom2aJessieGirl]

My DD4 made it from Rope Drop (MM in the summer) to WoC. To this day, she tells folks that WoC was her favorite thing at DLR. She did fall asleep almost as soon as it was over, however.

 

[Cagirl767]

I suppose it depends on what time yours get up in the morning and if they're used to naps.

Mine who are 3 and 5 will start having major meltdowns around 6pm. We've never stayed past maybe 6:30 pm. My kids are up before 6 am every day though. Two days in a row is about all they can handle at this point. My 5 year old maybe 3, but I'm not taking the chance just yet.

 

[MattsPrincess]

Can't help with the kid aspect as I don't have any, but just wanted to answer the other part of your question. WoC Picnic Meals can be picked up anytime between 11:30 Am and 8:00 Pm. So, they could be lunch, a mid-day snack, dinner, whatever you want them to be.

 

[marcemc]

I would highly suggest you have them nap or at least rest for a good couple of hours in the afternoon.

Both my DS7 & DS4 still take naps while on vacation at DLR. It's the only way to make sure they stay up later & they don't get overwhelmed.

WoC it's worth the try. Good luck

 

[Shimmer]

We just returned from seeing WoC this evening with my 11 year old daughter and my boys who are 3 and 5. It was our second day in the parks.

We lined up at 9:20 at CA and were let in with the crowd at 9:30. By 9:45 we had our FP and just waited with the crowd to get into CA.

We had entered Disneyland at 8:00 and stayed in the parks until about 1:30, returning to the hotel for a nap and a swim. Then, back to the parks.

This evening, we had FP for the 9:00 show. We decided not to hang around waiting forever and didn't head over the the pier until about 8:30. We got pretty decent spots in the blue section. I'm glad we didn't hassle with arriving early (some folks had told us to standby at 7:00!) and we didn't get the picnics because getting the FP wasn't as big of a deal as I'd thought it would be.

My boys did fine having had a nap. They would have been a mess without a mid-day break.

Hope this helps! Have fun.

 

[jennym68]

For my 4 yr old son he was totally not interested in the show at all, he had an afternoon nap but was still wiped out and just was past doing anything at that point. I think i will depend on how your kids handle being tired.

 

[Slinky Dog]

Only you would really know how your kids will do. Do they normally need extra sleep or down time? Are they used to staying up that late? Do they tend to get cranky without enough rest?

 

[pixarmom]

Hi OP! As others have said, kids are so different, so it's tough to know how each child will handle the wait for WOC and the show. I'll add our experience, in case it's helpful to you!

We did not take our pre-schooler to WOC, and we were happy with the decision. He's a very active little boy, and usually goes from morning to night with an hour stroller nap. For WOC, however, my husband took him back to the GCH for some down time and movies while I took our older boys to WOC. After reading so many threads here about the wait (even with FPs, picnics or dining packages), we decided that it may be too much for our youngest. So we picked up three FPs for WOC earlier in the day, and reported to the designated spot near GRR at the report time. We waited in a holding area for at least 30 minutes before proceeding to the viewing area. We found a great spot near the railing in the viewing area (thanks to everyone here on the boards!)

Our older boys (pre-teens) commented several times that the wait would have been difficult for our pre-schooler. We could have reported to the holding area later and avoided or reduced the wait there, but I think that would have made it difficult to get a good spot for our boys near the railing. Our pre-schooler would have enjoyed parts of the show, but it would have been pretty long for him.

On the other hand, if the only way to see the show is to bring the little ones, I'd suggest the picnic or dining package, the earliest show possible, a rest in the afternoon, and something to entertain the kids during the wait in the holding area. It's really an amazing show!

Have a great trip!

 

[daniele_ut]

We did the picnics last Monday. You can pick them up anytime after 11:30am. We picked ours up around 12:15 and ate them for lunch.

We were in the park from 10am until the 8:15 WOC show and both of my kids did just fine without a break, but we had an off day the day before and they had gotten to bed at a reasonable hour.

 

[pdampier]

We were just there and our 3 year old was asleep in the stroller by 8pm but our 5 year old made it through fine and enjoyed the show...

We got there around 7.30 for the 8.15 show on Tue - grabbed a bench at the back of the yellow section.

Thur we did the same but ended up with a red fastpass - We got a place near the front of the red section but really wasn't a good show from there. You could hardly see the projection scenes - all in all the first night just blew me away but second time was a big bleh for me having seen it from the back of the yellow section first....

 

[DisneyJulieZ]

Thanks for all of the replies on this topic--I'm debating the same issue (my kids are 4 & 6--and we'll be doing our MM from 8-9 AM the morning of our WOC night--but at least it will be the 8:15 WOC on a Thursday night...)
I think we'll plan a nap after lunch to be refreshed for our evening show!

 

[MyK9Bites]

We have a 5 and 3 year old, the 5 year old was fine enjoyed it alot. The 3 year old fell asleep during the show but had a great time non the less.

 

[disneydreamer74]

My 4 yr old fell asleep in the stroller while we waited for the show to start. This was with an afternoon break....but I did see other children as young as 2 wide eyed and bushy tailed. Perhaps it is just random chance!

 

[AnneUCSB]

Thanks for all the helpful information! I think we've decided not to do the picnics and see how they do our first night there. If it seems they are up to it, we will try for a FP on Day 2 or 3 and attempt WOC. But, if they meltdown at Fantasmic, we will know they aren't ready for another late night show

 

[Cartcanuck]

we did WoC on our second day on the parks after keeping 4 year old Littlenuck up for the fireworks the night before (in bed at 11pm) and being in CA by 9:15am the day of WoC. We didn't have any real breaks in the day except for a sit down lunch and a short sit down dinner. She did just fine through the 8;15 WoC. We were more tired than she was and couldn't hold her up high enough to see it so I stood her on a garbage can so she could see and we could rest our backs. This isn't an advisable option So either get there early enough to get a good spot where they can see clearly standing on their own or be prepared to hold them in your arms or on your shoulders for most of the show. Even if you have a FP, be there early to get in line with all the other people with FP's.

WoC should come with free massages for parents LOL