How long do your kids last?

[christmasmagic]

I know every kid and family is different, but I am curious long your kids last in the park if you arrive for rope drop. My kids are 4 and 2 and both go to school so they are used to long days, but I don't want to push them. I am fine with being flexible but there are some days we have meals in the middle of the day and I am wondering if we should change some.

 

[Klayfish]

There are SO many variables here. Stroller or no? Weather? Are they normally early risers or late night kids? Do they normally nap? How long is the trip?

If it's a short trip, then you may get away with more. They'll be excited and may have some of that excitement energy. So you could probably push farther than a "normal" day at home. But if it's a week or longer, then trying to do that may result in them crashing and burning by day 3 or 4. And again, things like stroller/weather/etc...will come into play.

When our kids were that age, we had a stroller 100% of the time. Even with that, if we were there around park open, usually we were done by early to mid-afternoon. Even now, with them being 13, 10, 10 we don't do commando days. If we're in the parks at 9:15am, we're usually done by 4pm. We may go back at night for a bit in that situation, but definitely not daily.

 

[christmasmagic]

There are SO many variables here. Stroller or no? Weather? Are they normally early risers or late night kids? Do they normally nap? How long is the trip?

Definitely a stroller and they are typically fairly early risers. Naps are hit or miss, but I suspect they will nap in Disney and the trip is 8 days. On and December.

When our kids were that age, we had a stroller 100% of the time. Even with that, if we were there around park open, usually we were done by early to mid-afternoon

That is kind of what I am predicting too. Thank you!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

when my nephew was little, if we were doing an early/rope drop day in the parks, we'd have a TS for lunch and bring him back to the hotel for a nap/swim. (We'd emphasize the "Swim" part so he would take a nap haha) then sometimes go back to the parks at night.
Aside from it being a lot of physical activity, the parks are pretty big sensory overload for little kids. We found if we skipped the "quiet" time, the kid was MISERABLE.

 

[Klayfish]

Definitely a stroller and they are typically fairly early risers. Naps are hit or miss, but I suspect they will nap in Disney and the trip is 8 days. On and December.


That is kind of what I am predicting too. Thank you!

Well, at least you won't have hot/humid weather, so that will be a help. For an 8 day trip, in cooler weather, with a stroller, I'd probably push them some, but not anything over the top. Even if they do crash and burn, it's not the end of the world. Kids are pretty resilient. If you push too hard, in my experience, just have one day where you're done at 2pm. Go back to the hotel/resort and make the rest of the day very low key. Nap, watch a movie, chill, early to bed. The next day, they'll be back at it.

 

[wedowdw17]

My kids were 4 and 2.5 on our last trip. We were usually in the parks around 9am and most days took a break in the afternoon for swim/nap and then went back in the evenings some nights for the nighttime shows. My issue was that it took FOREVER to get my kids to nap in the hotel room....they were ready to go and play in the parks. It felt like we wasted alot of time getting back to a dark room for a nap. They'll be (almost) 6 and 4 on the next trip later this year and I don't plan on going back to the hotel room during the day for the first 3 days of our trip. We will have our double stroller the whole time, and they can nap whenever they'd like in it. If they sleep while we walk around Epcot or while we attend the Candlelight Processional, so be it! Our arrival day will be a pool day and we will have a few afternoon pool opportunities later in our trip as well.

 

[LSUlakes]

On our last trip we rope dropped and closed the parks 5 nights in a row with a 3 year old. She is a big fan of her stroller, as I take her running often in it and has no problems taking a nap in it. DW and I would CS rides she was not tall enough to ride during these naps so she did not miss anything and all together that gave her about a hour of sleep. We did try to leave Epcot early one night and DD said she wanted to ride the "Epcot" again (Spaceship Earth) and not to leave. Of course we stayed because she was so excited about riding the ride again. lol So staying in the park is possible with at least one child if they can nap in a stroller. Going back in April with DS who will be 7 months at the time of trip, so I am expecting a slightly different experience.

 

[Dave S.]

When our son was 5, he did well from 11-10PM or so... but it helped to 1) have a break at the hotel to either relax or play in the pool, and 2) carry him on my shoulders for 1/2 the day. =)

 

[christmasmagic]

Thank you so much for all your feedback! Its helpful to hear what worked for other families!

 

[christmasmagic]

When our son was 5, he did well from 11-10PM or so... but it helped to 1) have a break at the hotel to either relax or play in the pool, and 2) carry him on my shoulders for 1/2 the day. =)

Ug I am not sure my husband will like the shoulder part!

 

[Dave S.]

Trust me, it's easier than the stroller! =)

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

My kids have the Disney Fever gene and last trip went about 12 hours before they were worn out, ages 4 and 7. I brought one stroller and a wrap for the little one and my older one walked.

 

[kagmypts]

Our kids definitely don't have the stamina of most of the other kids in this thread. We normally visit in May and September (still extremely warm), and our youngest is toast by 1 (he normally is ready to leave MK by noon... so much stimluation). We normally go back to the room for 2 to 3 hours, and then return for the nighttime festivities. There is no way my youngest could make it from rope drop until close.

 

[squirrel]

At 4 and 5 both my niece's could do my touring. Up for rope drop most days and stay until park close. They would nap in the stroller. The older one needed more rest so some days I would let her sleep in. I took them each separately but did similar touring for each trip. I would do EMH in the evenings (back then it was 3 hours). We would have a 10 day park ticket with a 14 night stay. I would try and have a day off after a late night.

 

[luvmy2babies]

With a stroller in December you can get away with more, especially if they are good about napping in the stroller. My two were good stroller nappers. We went on a trip when my daughter was 8 and my son was 2. We toured (slowly with breaks and a lot of shows) from open to close to 10 hours each day of a 4 day trip. My son took 2 hour naps in his stroller.

On the other hand, we tried the back to the room to nap on a trip when he was 3. It was 8 days and in June. He wasn't much on napping so we just rested in the room until he drove my daughter and I out again or to the pool. I think it was day 5 or 6 when we left DHS. It was about 5:00 and were on the bus back to the resort for dinner and he was talking about all of the stuff we had done. Then he asked to sit on my lap. He fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7am the next day. He took naps after that; but only if he fell asleep on the bus back and I managed to get him off the bus without waking him. If not, he had his second wind.

I have always been jealous of folks who could get their children back to the room to nap.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

My two have always been fine rope drop to close (they're 9 and 2). My 2 year old will sleep in her stroller for naps or at night if she's tired. My 9 year old did the same when he was younger. By the time he was 5, he wasn't sleeping at night in the stroller but he'd fall asleep on the bus back. Some days we would be done around 8 or 9 depending on our plans for the next day or how we were feeling. We go in June/August and November usually. Last year we did Sept.

We don't do mid day breaks at the hotel, but just plan food/afternoon attractions that are indoors for an extended period of time. With my DD napping in the stroller, there's no reason to go back when I know she won't sleep in the room.

 

[christmasmagic]

My kids have the Disney Fever gene and last trip went about 12 hours before they were worn out, ages 4 and 7. I brought one stroller and a wrap for the little one and my older one walked.

I can definitely see this being my daughter but I am not so sure about my son!

 

[christmasmagic]

On the other hand, we tried the back to the room to nap on a trip when he was 3. It was 8 days and in June. He wasn't much on napping so we just rested in the room until he drove my daughter and I out again or to the pool. I think it was day 5 or 6 when we left DHS. It was about 5:00 and were on the bus back to the resort for dinner and he was talking about all of the stuff we had done. Then he asked to sit on my lap. He fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7am the next day. He took naps after that; but only if he fell asleep on the bus back and I managed to get him off the bus without waking him. If not, he had his second wind.

I can definitely foresee my son being this way!

 

[buzznina]

We loved having a stroller and our DDs had no issues sleeping in their stroller (one that reclines), so we were able to close the parks if we wanted too. We tried taking afternoon breaks and going back to the resort but that was an utter failure and made everyone grumpy. We now rarely do RD, because we much rather stay late then arrive early. We would never do RD if we were out late the night before, so this way everyone still got decent sleep and, for us, it led to zero melt downs

 

[Jess_S]

We took my son at age 3. He's normally full of energy, no naps at home, etc. But the heat really got to him at WDW. We were able to do long half days (RD to 1 or 2 or lunch until early evening). After that, he needed to relax. That seemed to be standard for small kids. Because of the time of year we went, most of the families with kids had preschoolers. The parks started to empty around 2 and never really filled back up. It had the odd effect of making the standard advice to rope drop irrelevant. We actually did the best on days where we slept in and went to a park after lunch because the park would start to empty within an hour of us getting there.