Early to bed in Disney?

[littlebittyhouse]

We are going in November with our 5yo and 2yo they are both in bed by 6:30/7pm on most nights. Our plan is to rope drop and then head back to the resort around dinnertime. We are going to do MVMCP one night so I have a 'no parks day' planned and the following day I won't make any plans until the late afternoon.

Thoughts on skipping the midday break and just calling it an early night?

 

[Meglen]

Alot of the magic is at night, I would skip the hot (not sure how hot it is in nov) busy mid day and take naps and head out 4-5pm have dinner and hit all the light up fun.

 

[Gentry2004]

I know we are in the small minority, but midday breaks never worked for us. It wasted a lot of time to get back to the hotel, and then half the time the kids wouldn't nap/rest anyway because they were too amped up. And then it took forever to get back to a park. They are now 6 and 9 and we STILL skip the midday break and then they go to bed at regular bedtime of 8/8:30. I know for many Disney goers this is horrifying but it works really well for us. We now do rope drop until about 4/5pm (occasionally stay for early dinner but not usually) and when they were younger I'd say we left by 3pm. Had a little swim, low key dinner and bed by 7pm. For us it really helped to minimize the crankiness and meltdowns.

 

[Capang]

We did exactly that when our now 6 year old was 3. No midday break and back early. We found the midday break too frustrating. It took too long to get back and forth with very little down time in between. We did a lot at rope drop, had DD take rest breaks in the stroller and were gone after dinner. We missed out on nighttime shows but after trying fantasmic with her were totally fine missing those. It also gave us a chance to enjoy the resorts, maybe swim just a bit, and if she was awake maybe catch the nightly movie, or at least a few minute she of it.

 

[Gentry2004]

And yes I do miss the nighttime stuff but I know one day we will do the night stuff again and it will be all new for the kids.

 

[familyman123]

We went last year with 10, 7, 4, and 2 year olds. We had one day where we rope dropped MK, took a nap after lunch, and then headed back to wishes. This didn't go great. The younger two didn't really nap very well because of the excitement of the morning. Additionally, the trip to and from Fort Wilderness took a while so we lost a good bit of time. Wasn't terrible, but there was crankiness by the time the fireworks came.

We plan to go next year, and will probably not plan any rope drop, mid-day nap, late night firework days.

 

[Shanti]

Thoughts on skipping the midday break and just calling it an early night?

That can work very well.

 

[mtemm]

Honestly when mine were that young we went back for a nap AND they had early nights. Mine needed the sleep and did better with it. They were never kids to nap in strollers. But they also loved to get up early (didn't matter if we tried to keep them up at night, they got up at 6am every day. So we took advantage of rope drop and had a great time on their schedule.

 

[littlebittyhouse]

I know we are in the small minority, but midday breaks never worked for us. It wasted a lot of time to get back to the hotel, and then half the time the kids wouldn't nap/rest anyway because they were too amped up. And then it took forever to get back to a park. They are now 6 and 9 and we STILL skip the midday break and then they go to bed at regular bedtime of 8/8:30. I know for many Disney goers this is horrifying but it works really well for us. We now do rope drop until about 4/5pm (occasionally stay for early dinner but not usually) and when they were younger I'd say we left by 3pm. Had a little swim, low key dinner and bed by 7pm. For us it really helped to minimize the crankiness and meltdowns.

My goal is to minimize the crankiness and meltdowns! Nobody has fun when this happens!!!!

And yes I do miss the nighttime stuff but I know one day we will do the night stuff again and it will be all new for the kids.

That is such a wonderful way to think about it <3

Honestly when mine were that young we went back for a nap AND they had early nights. Mine needed the sleep and did better with it. They were never kids to nap in strollers. But they also loved to get up early (didn't matter if we tried to keep them up at night, they got up at 6am every day. So we took advantage of rope drop and had a great time on their schedule.

I've considered this...I know mine will be up very early, they always are on vacation! I don't know that it would be work it to leave the park at noon, head back at 3 and then leave again after dinner at like 5:30....That is really only like 90 minutes at the resort which feels too short?

 

[mtemm]

You know, you just find your way. every kid/every family is different and you find what works for you. My kids are now 15/13/13 so we are at a different stage. They won't be little forever! It was worth it to take it easy...mine never had melt downs and really were a joy. But if we had pushed them it would have been a very different story!

Fwiw, when they were young we always went in October and we always did one night at mnsshp. We did not close the park or even come close to it, but got a fun taste of one evening out.

 

[anniemae]

I like your plan since your kids are so young. I would not do a mid day break. When mine were around that age, we tried the whole "take a nap in the day" thing. Did not work for us. My kids would NOT sleep. We would go back to the room, close the curtains, try to get them calmed down, and they would go off the wall crazy. Even thought they were dragging in the park. Lots of time wasted going back and forth, waiting for busses, schlepping stuff up the the room etc. The next day we tried and housekeeping was cleaning the room when we got back so we wound up killing time walking around the resort. The next day we went back and housekeeping was cleaning the room next to us, so we were kind of hanging around for a bit waiting for housekeeping before trying to get the kids to sleep. After that we nixed the mid day break.

I would leave and spend the night at the hotel, swimming, relaxing etc.

 

[kondjott]

I know we are in the small minority, but midday breaks never worked for us.

I don't think you're in that small of a minority, or else the parks wouldn't be so crowded in the afternoons. As much as we've tried, mid-day breaks haven't worked well for us, either. Although that may also be a function of where we've stayed (values). Next month we'll be at the Poly, and I fully intend to try the mid-day breaks there since it would be much quicker to get back to our hotel.

 

[pammydw]

My feelings are, you know what's best for your family, so do that. I think your plan for the party night is perfect! Our DD will be 13 during our next trip, and our MVMCP party night will be the same kind of day. Low key and relaxed. We want to see the Kiss Goodnight, so we plan to be there until the end! We are staying at the Contemporary, so a quick walk home and jump in bed!

 

[Micca]

When traveling with small children just go with what works best for them. If they seem like they want to keep going without a break, do that! Otherwise try for preemptive measures with respect to meltdowns.

 

[littlebittyhouse]

You know, you just find your way. every kid/every family is different and you find what works for you. My kids are now 15/13/13 so we are at a different stage. They won't be little forever! It was worth it to take it easy...mine never had melt downs and really were a joy.

Fwiw, when they were young we always went in October and we always did one night at mnsshp. We did not close the park or even come close to it, but got a fun taste of one evening out.

Oh, I don't mind slowing it down for them at all! I am kind of looking forward to it! I am sure we won't stay for the entire MVMCP but I do think it will be a fun little adventure for all of us!

I like your plan since your kids are so young. I would not do a mid day break. When mine were around that age, we tried the whole "take a nap in the day" thing. Did not work for us. My kids would NOT sleep. We would go back to the room, close the curtains, try to get them calmed down, and they would go off the wall crazy. Even thought they were dragging in the park. Lots of time wasted going back and forth, waiting for busses, schlepping stuff up the the room etc. The next day we tried and housekeeping was cleaning the room when we got back so we wound up killing time walking around the resort. The next day we went back and housekeeping was cleaning the room next to us, so we were kind of hanging around for a bit waiting for housekeeping before trying to get the kids to sleep. After that we nixed the mid day break.

I would leave and spend the night at the hotel, swimming, relaxing etc.

This is my fear! I only have one dinner ADR...it is for a 5pm dinner the day after the Christmas Party!

 

[KrazeeK120]

I know we are in the small minority, but midday breaks never worked for us. It wasted a lot of time to get back to the hotel, and then half the time the kids wouldn't nap/rest anyway because they were too amped up. And then it took forever to get back to a park. They are now 6 and 9 and we STILL skip the midday break and then they go to bed at regular bedtime of 8/8:30. I know for many Disney goers this is horrifying but it works really well for us. We now do rope drop until about 4/5pm (occasionally stay for early dinner but not usually) and when they were younger I'd say we left by 3pm. Had a little swim, low key dinner and bed by 7pm. For us it really helped to minimize the crankiness and meltdowns.

Same here. We took DS on his first trip in May, at 18 months. We did a midday break one time, and he wouldn't nap in the crib. He took good stroller naps the other days. We always got back to the resort before 5 and put him to bed at his normal time (7:30). Someday, he won't be a toddler and will want (and be able) to stay out late and do nighttime entertainment.

(Although I did sneak out one night to see the final showing of Wishes, thanks to my amazing hubby!)

 

[Dis703]

I think you'll never know what works for your kids until you give it a try. We had mixed reactions with naps from age 2 on, so I didn't stress too much when it didn't happen. Sometimes they passed out in the stroller other times we went back to the resort and they just would not sleep no matter what. Other days they napped just fine. Their bedtime at home was around 8pm, but at Disney I never put them down before 9pm. And I alternated a later night with an "earlier" night at least every other to minimize the impact. But I did try and fit in every firework show at least once which meant at least 3-4 late nights getting back between 9:45 and 11pm. Often, they would fall asleep as we left the park or on the bus. And I'd get up before everyone the next morning and get ready quietyly allowing them to sleep in a little bit. We've had very few meltdowns in the parks so it seems to work fine for them. And they go back to normal schedule at home without any issues.

Leaving the parks early for us and skipping naps usually was done at AK and would be more like a 9-7 day in the park with some planned quiet time inside the park.

 

[littlebittyhouse]

I don't think you're in that small of a minority, or else the parks wouldn't be so crowded in the afternoons. As much as we've tried, mid-day breaks haven't worked well for us, either. Although that may also be a function of where we've stayed (values). Next month we'll be at the Poly, and I fully intend to try the mid-day breaks there since it would be much quicker to get back to our hotel.

We are staying at POP so I feel you there!

When traveling with small children just go with what works best for them. If they seem like they want to keep going without a break, do that! Otherwise try for preemptive measures with respect to meltdowns.

I am all about the preemptive measures ha!

I think you'll never know what works for your kids until you give it a try. We had mixed reactions with naps from age 2 on, so I didn't stress too much when it didn't happen. Sometimes they passed out in the stroller other times we went back to the resort and they just would not sleep no matter what. Other days they napped just fine. Their bedtime at home was around 8pm, but at Disney I never put them down before 9pm. And I alternated a later night with an "earlier" night at least every other to minimize the impact. But I did try and fit in every firework show at least once which meant at least 3-4 late nights getting back between 9:45 and 11pm. Often, they would fall asleep as we left the park or on the bus. And I'd get up before everyone the next morning and get ready quietyly allowing them to sleep in a little bit. We've had very few meltdowns in the parks so it seems to work fine for them. And they go back to normal schedule at home without any issues. Leaving the parks early for us and skipping naps usually was done at AK and would be more like a 9-7 day in the park with some planned quiet time inside the park.

Def going to plan for some quiet time in each of the parks! They will be 5.5 and 2.5 and I am kind of thinking that the 2.5yo is going to say NO WAY to an actual crib nap once she knows what fund Disney is! The 5yo I am not even worried about, he will tell us he is tired and willingly nap if he needs it.

 

[GillianP1301]

That's pretty much what we did when my son was 4 and 5 years old. We would go all day until we had enough, sometimes that was early afternoon, other times it was after dinner, but we almost always had him in bed around his normal bed time of 8:00. We booked the dessert party for one late night. Once he was 6, I upped the late nights to 2 out of our 9. Last year he was 8 and was able to handle multiple late nights with no issue, so we did 4 late nights in total.

Every child is different on how they deal with fatigue, but for me the number one "trick" to ensure a virtually meltdown free vacation with a young child was to keep eating and sleeping times as close to home as possible.

 

[Jadeey]

Sticking to normal bedtime is my plan for our 2018 trip (with a 3.5 year old) too. My daughter is a bad enough napper at home, I can't imagine I'd ever be able to get her to nap at Disney.

If it isn't your once in a lifetime trip then I agree with the poster above that you can enjoy the nighttime stuff with them when they are older. The party will be a good test of how they cope with a late night.