Young kids/Halloween Party strategies

[lovethesun12]

After a recent rescheduling of our trip, I'm really excited (and scared? lol) about doing the MNSSHP with our kids! They will be ages 7 (just turned) and 9 at the time of the trip.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. Can anyone give suggestions of what worked for them?

My current schedule/plan is:

Sun - late arrival at airport (7pm). Keep kids up as late as possible (lol).
Mon - Sleep in/pool day. Go to Epcot around 5pm for dinner/fireworks. Attempt to stay for EE but leave if it isn't working out.
Tues - Sleep in/pool day. Go to MK around 6pm for dinner then MNSSHP until as late as possible

Has anyone tried a similar strategy? I know many have noted to try rope drop then nap, but I'm too afraid it won't work. Feel free to express your experiences (good or bad) on that.

I was also considering going to typhoon lagoon on Tues when they wake up and then aiming for a nap but again, afraid they'll be overstimulated and not nap, then having a bad experience at the party.

Any suggestions based on my plan or comments on what did/did not work for you with kids of this age? Thanks in advance!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

So, when mine were that age they did fine, even in summer months, so long as we took breaks. We'd rope drop and keep them in the parks pretty late, maybe until around midnight'ish.

The important thing for us was, and still is, to take breaks for rest/nap/eat/get in the air conditioning, throughout the day and never to push everyone along when they're clearly struggling or getting cranky. I had to learn to read them and see if they were heading for a downhill disaster. If they were, we'd find a way to chill and if we were all super hot or tired, we'd go back to the room and relax.

I feel like you know your kids best. What you have proposed for your schedule seems very doable for kids those ages and IMHO it's not enough park time. My kids are teens now and since they sleep in so late, we aren't in the parks as early as we used to be but from ages 5 until maybe 12, we'd be in the parks from early AM to rope drop to park close, always with breaks, and loved it. Now, I will preface this with we don't do this every day of our trip, if we did 4 park days, we'd do a full rest day in between and usually still do since that's a tough schedule for anyone of any age but we always had a great time. But the key is a nice midday break for our family and still is.

 

[lovethesun12]

So, when mine were that age they did fine, even in summer months, so long as we took breaks. We'd rope drop and keep them in the parks pretty late, maybe until around midnight'ish.

The important thing for us was, and still is, to take breaks for rest/nap/eat/get in the air conditioning, throughout the day and never to push everyone along when they're clearly struggling or getting cranky. I had to learn to read them and see if they were heading for a downhill disaster. If they were, we'd find a way to chill and if we were all super hot or tired, we'd go back to the room and relax.

I feel like you know your kids best. What you have proposed for your schedule seems very doable for kids those ages and IMHO it's not enough park time. My kids are teens now and since they sleep in so late, we aren't in the parks as early as we used to be but from ages 5 until maybe 12, we'd be in the parks from early AM to rope drop to park close, always with breaks, and loved it. Now, I will preface this with we don't do this every day of our trip, if we did 4 park days, we'd do a full rest day in between and usually still do since that's a tough schedule for anyone of any age but we always had a great time. But the key is a nice midday break for our family and still is.

That's great! I think if they were stroller age I wouldn't worry because I could just toss them in and go and they could sleep if they needed.

I think it's possible they will be really excited about the party (especially my daughter, the youngest, who is really, really excited about this trip) so it I might be overthinking it.

That's a good note about not really having enough park time. We've always done a park everyday, but usually just for 4-6 hours because they love pool time. May just go with the flow but be sure to get a few hours of break time at the hotel before the party starts.

Thanks!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

That's great! I think if they were stroller age I wouldn't worry because I could just toss them in and go and they could sleep if they needed.

I think it's possible they will be really excited about the party (especially my daughter, the youngest, who is really, really excited about this trip) so it I might be overthinking it.

That's a good note about not really having enough park time. We've always done a park everyday, but usually just for 4-6 hours because they love pool time. May just go with the flow but be sure to get a few hours of break time at the hotel before the party starts.

Thanks!

I know you said your 7 yo will have just turned 7 so if you feel like a stroller would be of benefit, you should bring/rent one. We started using an umbrella stroller up until 6 or 7, but there's kids of all ages in strollers since it's so much walking.

 

[juxtapose]

That schedule would work well for my kids who are similar ages. We'd probably go to the parks around 2/3pm though just to get more time. My kids will not nap during a break no matter how tired they are so if we want late nights we have to do late days and then try to sleep in. My kids usually go to bed around 8pm at home but can hang until 11pmish at Disney for at least 2 nights in a row. My 6 year old can't go much past that, my 10 year old now can.

 

[craedaisy12]

A reminder for the MNSSHP you can get into the park at 4pm. So I would try to get to the park a little earlier if you want to eat there. So you can maximize the party time! Once it starts it seems to fly by! Haha also if you’d like to last most of the party try to make it a late sleep in and relaxing day.

 

[lovethesun12]

A reminder for the MNSSHP you can get into the park at 4pm. So I would try to get to the park a little earlier if you want to eat there. So you can maximize the party time! Once it starts it seems to fly by! Haha also if you’d like to last most of the party try to make it a late sleep in and relaxing day.

That's a great idea. I think I might try to book dinner for 5pm or so, so we will be ready to go when the party starts. I'm assuming the overlays, treat stations, etc aren't available until exactly at 7?

 

[craedaisy12]

That's a great idea. I think I might try to book dinner for 5pm or so, so we will be ready to go when the party starts. I'm assuming the overlays, treat stations, etc aren't available until exactly at 7?

Correct because they start getting regular admission out around 6 I believe. And everything party should be available at 7. I know people do start to line up before that depending on what special thing it is.

 

[Average Joes]

That's a great idea. I think I might try to book dinner for 5pm or so, so we will be ready to go when the party starts. I'm assuming the overlays, treat stations, etc aren't available until exactly at 7?

If you had any notion of seeing one of the more popular characters you will want to get in line for one of them well in advance. I do not recall when but we may have been in line by 5:00.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

My then 5 year olds surprised me and made it though the whole party in August 2019. We did a lazy pool morning, Chef Mickey at 2pm, then started touring right at 4. We're doing the same this year with our now 8 year olds except it's Steakhouse 71 for linner because Chef Mickey isn't running a midday meal. These are not kids who had been allowed to stay up late when they weren't in Disney, but the party atmosphere provided enough energy to see them through!

 

[ktlm]

After a recent rescheduling of our trip, I'm really excited (and scared? lol) about doing the MNSSHP with our kids! They will be ages 7 (just turned) and 9 at the time of the trip.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. Can anyone give suggestions of what worked for them?

My current schedule/plan is:

Sun - late arrival at airport (7pm). Keep kids up as late as possible (lol).
Mon - Sleep in/pool day. Go to Epcot around 5pm for dinner/fireworks. Attempt to stay for EE but leave if it isn't working out.
Tues - Sleep in/pool day. Go to MK around 6pm for dinner then MNSSHP until as late as possible

Has anyone tried a similar strategy? I know many have noted to try rope drop then nap, but I'm too afraid it won't work. Feel free to express your experiences (good or bad) on that

How big is your time change from where you live? Do you have high energy kids? Sounds like your kids are really early bedtime kids at home?


At those ages, we would use a regular ticket and go to a park a little bit after opening- usually by 9:30 if the park opened at 9:00. We did not go for rope drop or pre-rope drop. MK is usually really nice on crowds those days. We would go back to the hotel after lunch to get some air-conditioning and change into costumes (often 1 hour and at most 2), and then we would plan on being back by 3:30 at the latest to enter through the regular line and avoid the party crowd lines (you can get a wristband at the in park station). We entered as early as 2:30 or 3:00 in costume telling them we would get our wristbands at the in park station when it opened and never had any issues. But- I will say DD has always been high energy and she was never a really early bedtime kid. We also only have a 1 hour time difference.

Mine would probably be more worn out from a water park that day (constant heat and sun)- than from just being in the regular park.

I should probably also note that Disney trips at age 6 and 7 were our roughest in general (not the party- just regular days)- especially 6. She didn't quite have the physical stamina for the open to close walking all day. She would complain about her feet and legs- especially if it was a hot day. She was always hyped up on party nights though. Never had any issues there.

DD always made it from open to close at parties--- I distinctly remember at MVMCP at age 2 at 11:45 she was furious that we made her get off of Barnstormer after riding it 14 times in a row (there was no line and they let her stay on) to go back to the resort. At age 6 we went to MVMCP (she was scared of Halloween stuff when she was little)- age 7 is when we switched to going to MNSSHP. Going back to the room for even an hour to sit a few minutes and change helped a lot on party days those 2 years her physical stamina wasn't quite there. Age 2-5 were great because of stroller- we found out quickly she hated going back to the resort and wouldn't nap- so she was an open to close stroller napper. By age 8, she was going from rope drop to park close with no issues.

 

[lovethesun12]

How big is your time change from where you live? Do you have high energy kids? Sounds like your kids are really early bedtime kids at home?


At those ages, we would use a regular ticket and go to a park a little bit after opening- usually by 9:30 if the park opened at 9:00. We did not go for rope drop or pre-rope drop. MK is usually really nice on crowds those days. We would go back to the hotel after lunch to get some air-conditioning and change into costumes (often 1 hour and at most 2), and then we would plan on being back by 3:30 at the latest to enter through the regular line and avoid the party crowd lines (you can get a wristband at the in park station). We entered as early as 2:30 or 3:00 in costume telling them we would get our wristbands at the in park station when it opened and never had any issues. But- I will say DD has always been high energy and she was never a really early bedtime kid. We also only have a 1 hour time difference.

Mine would probably be more worn out from a water park that day (constant heat and sun)- than from just being in the regular park.

I should probably also note that Disney trips at age 6 and 7 were our roughest in general (not the party- just regular days)- especially 6. She didn't quite have the physical stamina for the open to close walking all day. She would complain about her feet and legs- especially if it was a hot day. She was always hyped up on party nights though. Never had any issues there.

DD always made it from open to close at parties--- I distinctly remember at MVMCP at age 2 at 11:45 she was furious that we made her get off of Barnstormer after riding it 14 times in a row (there was no line and they let her stay on) to go back to the resort. At age 6 we went to MVMCP (she was scared of Halloween stuff when she was little)- age 7 is when we switched to going to MNSSHP. Going back to the room for even an hour to sit a few minutes and change helped a lot on party days those 2 years her physical stamina wasn't quite there. Age 2-5 were great because of stroller- we found out quickly she hated going back to the resort and wouldn't nap- so she was an open to close stroller napper. By age 8, she was going from rope drop to park close with no issues.

Thanks for the response! Lots of great suggestions.

The time change from where I live is 1.5 hours; my daughter is definitely high energy, and both kids are use to lots of physical activity (they hike, ski, skate, play hockey, etc). That said where we live they are not use to heat, at all, which is why I'm not sure how being out of the stroller + hot days will affect them (compared to last trip). They are generally early bedtime kids as well, but they can stay up late when they're off schedule (summer!).

I was initially considering doing a park morning, but I don't really want to use a park day since really we'd only get a couple hours out of it, so I might add some morning time at the park the day before. I agree they may be too worn out from a water park - thinking now it might be a good morning to go to Disney Springs for souvenirs/etc? I could always add an extra park day to our ticket. It's already 5 days so not a huge difference to add a 6th.

Something to think about. Thanks for your response =)

 

[lovethesun12]

Update: Thought I'd update the thread for anyone else with kids this age

They did awesome. Our flight was a couple hours late, but they still wanted to wake up Monday to do early entry. We stayed until just after lunch. We went on to do epcot and stayed for extended evening.

Tuesday we did sleep in, had breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe, did lots of pool time and headed to the party as soon as it opened (we were at MK at 4pm).

They LOVED the party (so did I) and we ended up staying until 1230am (waiting on the parade). It was amazing, they were too excited to be tired =)

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

They LOVED the party (so did I) and we ended up staying until 1230am (waiting on the parade). It was amazing, they were too excited to be tired =)

Yay!!!! I'm so glad to hear you all had a blast!

This will definitely be something they remember, too! My girls have been getting such a kick out of telling anyone who will listen that they were up until 1am at MK EEH this summer.