How long for a first trip with little kids?

[space_monkey]

Do you know why someone always gets sick? I always used to get sick but now I'm really careful about my food (found intolerances) and keeping hydrated and resting I'm so much better when we travel!

I wish I knew so I could prevent it. When I got sick one trip it was day after arrival so maybe a combination of lack of sleep, my travel migraine and combined with recycled air on the planes? Another trip, my brother got sick one night after eating quick service dinner at the Morocco QS (may just be coincidence but nothing else stood out). Now my daughter was a young child prone to putting her hands in her mouth no matter how hard we tried to police her or keep her clean with wipes. She got sick early morning day 2 and was throwing up so much she was weakened and dehydrated because she was so little that she had to go to the ER with my wife.
Besides people being everywhere and in close proximity, the only other common element on each of our trips to Disney is the water. Being from NY we have great water so the taste of Disney water is a shock but I'm unsure if that has any impact. We'll be having water bottles shipped and supplement them with filtered water available around the parks and resort. I also have a health conscious wife. She'll probably have us on some probiotic regimen before our trip and bring her essential oils (i have no idea I just go along with whatever she says). We've all gotten our flu shots and will hopefully have any change of seasons illness out of our system before we head down mid-November.

 

[Daniela Rose]

We just came back yesterday with our 2 and 4 year old for their first trip. We were there Tuesday to Tuesday. It was perfect. We didn't feel the pressure to do rope drop to fireworks. We did mornings in the park and pool in the afternoon. Nobody was burnt out. It was just perfect.

 

[elle21]

We did a ten day trip last May with our young kids so we could go at a more relaxed pace (though we were still going, going, going!) and also see it all. Our travel days were just travel days, no parks. The day after we arrived we hung out by the pool and relaxed and went to MK in the evening for rides and fireworks. We took a rest day in the middle where we had a late brunch at Chef Mickey's and did Disney Springs in the evening. The other days we rope dropped and left the parks by 5:00'ish each day.

 

[Lilylogan]

5 days is good for me with a 2 year old

 

[Leelo]

I am wondering the same thing. Taking 3 generations next October with a 2 and 5 year old. I don't have kids but I am the Disney World lover so I am the trip planner. I want to tour at a leisurely pace so I don't wear down the family into exhaustion. I have settled on 6 park days based on the comments so far. Worried this will be too much time away from home for the little ones but this is a one time trip for the rest of the family and want them to get to see as much as possible, especially the kids. If you are planning to go again in the near future, you might be fine to do fewer days and can see what you missed on the next trip.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I wish I knew so I could prevent it. When I got sick one trip it was day after arrival so maybe a combination of lack of sleep, my travel migraine and combined with recycled air on the planes? Another trip, my brother got sick one night after eating quick service dinner at the Morocco QS (may just be coincidence but nothing else stood out). Now my daughter was a young child prone to putting her hands in her mouth no matter how hard we tried to police her or keep her clean with wipes. She got sick early morning day 2 and was throwing up so much she was weakened and dehydrated because she was so little that she had to go to the ER with my wife.
Besides people being everywhere and in close proximity, the only other common element on each of our trips to Disney is the water. Being from NY we have great water so the taste of Disney water is a shock but I'm unsure if that has any impact. We'll be having water bottles shipped and supplement them with filtered water available around the parks and resort. I also have a health conscious wife. She'll probably have us on some probiotic regimen before our trip and bring her essential oils (i have no idea I just go along with whatever she says). We've all gotten our flu shots and will hopefully have any change of seasons illness out of our system before we head down mid-November.

A lot of times you can't...anytime you travel to a brand new area, you're getting exposed to tons of germs you haven't been exposed to...add in that you (or any of your family members) might have a slightly lowered immune system due to lack of sleep, higher stress, and changed nutrition...and it's no surprise someone gets sick...

I know in my family, I have the lowered immune system plus motion sickness, so anytime we travel, I'm usually the one that needs 24 hours at some point to recover from something...so we just plan for that (usually I get sick on the travel part between different water, motion, and the germs, and I'm good after spending 24 hours in one set place again) and never do something the 1st day except groceries and pool time/unwind time...

 

[willowthedog]

I think you'll be fine as long as you don't expect to get to everything. We've seen MANY families dragging their cranky kids around while yelling at them late at night (obviously past their bedtime) because they want to "see it all" - Yes, Disney is expensive and I get that for many it will be a once in a lifetime trip, but nothing kills the magic than a parent with unrealistic expectations.

 

[BobbyDukes]

Just always plan for breaks and naps.
Yes naps for everyone sometimes, resetting the daily clock especially on long hot days makes a huge huge difference. Doing Disney can sometimes feel like a Vacation Marathon, just make sure there are down times and decompression occurs (either with naps, coffee or a beer)
When we plan longer trips we always choose a nighttime activity. If we choose fireworks one day, we will have a late park entry and spend the morning at the hotel swimming and exploring so that way we arent at the parks for 10-12 hours (some say you have to stay that long, but lets be realistic you are with 3-5 year old children)

Another good hint when you are down there is to take the Vacation one step at a time, don't necessarily stick to the plan every minute of your day, let your vacation guide you and not your daily plan.

 

[Ava]

We've had three trips now with two children, and a 7-night trip with 6 park days seems to work best for us.

In 2014, the kids were 1 & 5 and we did 5 park days plus MNSSHP on the 6th day and we had a great trip. The following year when they were 2 & 6 we did 9 nights with 8-day tickets plus park hoppers & a water park day, and it was too much. (We also had both grandmothers with us, which I think contributed to it.) This year they are 4 & 8 and we went back to just the four of us for 7-nights with 6 park days and had a great trip again.

I think no matter how short or long your trip is, the key with young kids is to be flexible and go at their pace. If you try to "see it all" or check attractions off a pre-planned list, no one is going to have a very good time. Also, even if you think you know what they'll like best, you will probably be wrong. I thought for sure my 4-year-old would be all about meeting the Princesses this year, but NOPE. She did not want to say hi to any Princesses (her words), despite how much she loves their movies at home. Since DD8 didn't care about seeing them either, I scratched every Princess meet from my plans and moved on.

 

[Dis703]

Our first trip with my oldest he was 26 months and we did 8 days which was totally fine and we could have gone longer. Next trip he was 4 and my twins were 22 months old and we drove. We did 2 days drive each way and stayed for 10 days doing parks each day. Could have totally stayed longer if it wasn't for the cost and DH getting back to work.

We normally always shot for at least 8 park days. Only issue is that DH gets tired, lol. Me and the kids do just fine. Now we do shorter trips but we've been so many times we prefer to go down more frequently and just get a taste of it a few times a year rather than go a year or more and do 10 days like we used to.

So basically no, I wouldn't shorten your plans.

 

[Dis703]

Frankly, and it's just my opinion, 5 park days is too short. I think the first trip we did to WDW with the kids was 10 nights/11 days (10 park days). They were 4, 1, 1 at the time. We took another trip with them when they were around the ages your kids are now...7, 4, 4 and it was also 10 nights/11 days. For us, we wanted to be able to do as much as we could without rushing around like crazy. We also just enjoyed being "on vacation" so the longer, the better. They were just fine being away from home that long and had a wonderful time.

For a minute I was thinking wait, I already posted here? My kids were the same age the first time we took all three on a nice long 10 park day trip. Totally fine and for a very long time the longer the better was my thought on it. If I was doing all that planning and packing and getting on the plane with the kids (or driving the 18 hours to get there) I was staying for as long as I could manage. Now I go a lot more often and take one kid at a time for short trips and that's fun too, but for a first time I'd definitely plan for longer.