Parents of toddlers; best time for ADRs?

[♥ Mandi ♥]

Hi everyone!
We are heading down for our first trip with little kids this November! We've been before with my stepdaughter who was 8 when we first took her. This time, my sons will be just over 4 and 13 months old.

My (now 3 year old) oldest still needs a nap or he's in meltdown mode by 5pm. We try to get at least an hour and a half out of him. I'm assuming my youngest will either be on two naps or maybe one long nap at the same time by November.

I am trying to figure out the best time to schedule our ADRs in this situation.

Do you guys prefer doing rope drop, back to hotel for naps/pool/quiet time, back to parks for evening/Dinner ADR?
Or rope drop, lunch ADR, back to hotel a bit later?

I am assuming with all of the stimulation and activity that a mid day break is a MUST with kids this young. We are used to rope drop to EMH with our now 17-year-old.

We are renting a car and staying at Beach Club Villas, if it makes any difference

 

[DFII]

Beach Club is a GREAT spot to have toddlers and be able to enjoy parks (specifically Epcot and HS) in the evening. I recommend doing parks in the morning, come back and relax either at lunch/after lunch, then ADRs for dinner. You have all the Epcot restaurants and Boardwalk restaurants within walking distance. Relaxing back at the Beach Club in the afternoon and being able to enjoy a second park like Epcot in the evening makes for great days, IMO.

 

[KrazeeK120]

We took our son for the first time when he was 18 months (last May). We stayed at WL. We only went back to the resort once and it was a big mistake. He wouldn’t sleep in the hotel room. The other days, he did a stroller nap in the parks and that worked out wayyyyyy better.

We had him eat about the same time he does at home - 11 am lunch, 5 pm dinner. We stayed CL, so we ate dinner in the lounge every night. We did RD every day and were back at the resort by 5 PM for dinner, and put him to bed at his usual time (7:30). My son did awesome and was happy throughout the trip!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

A lot will depend on what sort of schedule your kids do at home, how close you keep to that schedule on vacation, and whether or not they will nap in the stroller/ carrier. The more I'm on these boards, the more I realize my kids have a different schedule than most.

My toddler was just shy of 2 on our last trip and hadn't taken regular naps for a while. Bed time is generally around 9 but he doesn't wake up in the morning until between 10-noon (sometimes later). During the trip, we got him up a bit early and were out of the room by 10-1030, stayed until close and got back to the resort anytime between 10-1 am. He fell asleep in the stroller (with no attempting on our part) everyday somewhere between 3 & 4 and slept for 2-3 hours. It worked for us to have a dinner ADR around 7 (usually varied between 615 & 730) as he was usually just waking up and refreshed around then. He had zero meltdowns and only ever cried when he was on the changing tables in the restrooms (he does that at home too- he just doesn't like laying on a small surface several feet in the air.) The only night he fell asleep before we got back to the room (other than the aforementioned stroller naps) was when we did MNSSHP and watched the midnight showing of the Hocus Pocus stage show. He fell asleep in the stroller while that was going on, then continued to sleep in my arms on the bus to the resort.

Our schedule probably wouldn't work for many families whose little ones wake early, go to bed by 7, and want to hit rope drop. Hitting rope drop would have been a nightmare for us. We also didn't see the value of mid-day breaks since he wasn't used to regular naps at home, so if we were to have tried to force him to lay down at the resort, I have no doubt that wouldn't have gone over well. When he was tired, he just went to sleep on his own in the stroller and we took turns riding the bigger rides he couldn't go on anyway while the other person sat with him in the shade, or walked around in an air conditioned shop. For us, it worked perfectly to have a dinner ADR for right after his nap as it helped to ease him awake with some sustenance, a/c, and away from the chaos of the parks. Had we immediately gone on rides after he awoke, I think it would have been too stimulating for him.

 

[cubed]

Our first trip was a year ago, when my second was a new 2yo who still needed an afternoon nap. We did rope drop or as close to it as possible and left the park by lunch. We stayed in the Cars Suite at AoA so we could let the little one nap and force my the 5yo to just watch tv and chill for a bit. By 4pm or so, we would had back out to a different park for the evening. The two ADRs we did for lunch were late to the park days where we stayed until almost 4pm and then called it a day after that.

 

[ktlm]

It really depends on your child. When DD was a toddler, afternoon breaks did not work for us at all. She was extremely angry when we made her leave the park, and I got a kid who refused to nap and stood behind the window curtain in the room pouting because she was too mad at us to even look at us- for over 2 hours. Turned out that stroller naps in the park were what worked for her. For us, lunch ADRs were the best. We would get there at rope drop go strong until lunch, and then she would eat lunch and that would wind her down to where she was ready to get in the stroller and take a nap after lunch. When she was a toddler dinner reservations weren't that great because she would be very fidgety-- she would be starting to get tired after a long day at WDW and was fighting it- which resulted in restlessness-- or a couple of times I recall her falling asleep at the table when we made her simmer down and not eating. If we didn't do a dinner ADR, then she would go strong for most of the evening.

 

[westie55]

YMMV, but for us breakfast was the most predictable ADR. Stroller naps worked best for us. Disney totally blew apart DS's nap schedule, so it was impossible to know when he'd sleep or for how long. We actually ended up having to cancel a dinner ADR one evening because he fell asleep early and I didn't have the heart to wake him. Breakfast was really the only meal I knew for sure DS would be awake. He is now 2.5 and has visited Disney 4 times. His younger brother went at 4 months old for his 1st trip and the same was true.

 

[TOBS2010]

I agree that you have to know your kid(s). We took my oldest at 2.5 and am taking my youngest now at 2.5 this summer. With my oldest, our plan was to try and keep him on his regular schedule as much as possible. He was used to being up by 6:30-7 a.m. so we took advantage of EMH and rope drops most mornings since we were all up anyway. At the time he was still in desperate need of an afternoon nap and would not nap in a stroller. So we had to go back to the hotel every afternoon for a bit. Now my youngest, he doesn't need a nap so badly in the afternoon (or sometimes just needs a power nap before he can be up and at em' again). He also will nap in a stroller. From our experience the first time around, I am planning on mixing up breakfast, lunch and dinner ADR's. I might have us getting up early for breakfast and rope drop one day, but then taking it easy and getting to bed early the next night. Another day I have us sleeping in and lounging at the resort most of the day so we can stay out much later in the parks and then sleep in again the next morning. The most important thing to remember is to be as flexible as you can and know that you might need to adjust your plans as you go. Also be creative with making ADR's. If you have a late lunch---don't plan on an early dinner. If you make a later ADR---make sure you use that afternoon to get a nap in and follow it up with a snack to prevent a meltdown come dinnertime.

 

[MudQueen22]

I think you should mirror their regular schedule as much as you can.
For us, our kids are early to bed and early to rise people. Rope drop worked well for them. (Ds was one month shy of 2 and dd was 7 on our last trip.) We ate lunch at 11 or 11:30. DS napped in the stroller while I people-watched and Dh and DD found the more adventurous coasters that do not appeal to me. We ate at around 5pm (sometimes earlier), and they were both asleep in the evening before anyone could say "fireworks."

 

[MamaBelle4]

This will be our third trip with kids, my fifth trip overall.
On our first trip, our kids were 6, 4 & 1.
The second trip, our kids were 8, 5, 4 & 1.
This trip, our kids will be 9, 7, 5, 2 (2 weeks from her 3rd birthday) and 5 months.

We have yet to take afternoon breaks back to the hotel. What works for us is we spend our arrival day relaxing and work another break day in. Then we do rope drop to fireworks each night. BUT, we take cues from the kids. When they're tired, we catch a show or a meal/snack or a nice, slow, cool ride. They nap in the stroller and we move at their pace. For me, it is way more stressful to load/unload the stroller and go through the entrance gates multiple times in one day.

 

[Mather50]

We have two kids and both are polar opposites in regards to when to leave the parks. We take turns bringing the cranky one back one day and swapping the next to hang with the energetic one. I would vote for going early and adjusting on the fly as necessary...when the "signs" start showing it's always best to get out before defcon 1.

Also, go pats 2019!

 

[unrequited23]

My advice is to make your ADRs 1/2 hr earlier than your child normally eats at home and pack snacks just in case. We have two early birds so we rope dropped, but planned nothing past 2pm each day. We would go back to the resort to rest and/or swim. Sometimes we made it back to the parks, sometimes we did not.

 

[TravelingTotMom]

As previously mentioned, it depends on your kids.

I have an almost four year old, and we found that arriving at parks early and having a lunch ADR worked best for us. After lunch, we kept things flexible. Some days we would go back to the hotel and he would nap. Other days he was too excited to be at Disney and would refuse to nap - which usually resulted in early evenings. Based on this unpredictability, there's no way I would make dinner ADRs... but again, every kid is different.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Personally I have gotten so that I like lunch adrs so that your day can be more flexible after that.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

DD is 3 and has been to WDW twice - for her first birthday and at 2.5. Disneyland at 15 months. DS is 1.5 and went shortly after his first birthday. We are going back in a couple months.

For ADRs, we either do an early character breakfast (both kids are very early risers) or an early lunch around 11am. Dinner ADRs do not work for us at this time and here’s why.

We get to the parks early because the kids are up early. We use our 3 FP by 1pm. Then we decide based on how the kids are doing if we will take a break or keep going and book more FP. Sometimes a nap in the stroller in the park works best. Sometimes a break in the room works and we head back later. Sometimes we stay until late afternoon and go back to the resort. It really depends on the day.

Bottom line is, for us we don’t like anything planned after lunch unless it’s a 4th, 5th, 6th FP. We wing from lunch on based on how everyone feels. So all our ADRs in this phase of life are early breakfast or early lunch.

ETA: The room nap at WDW has not worked with DD. She would rest but on the couple days we went to the room for a break, she never fell asleep there. Her nap was usually in the stroller or in transit. DS was similar on the last trip. We’ll see how naps go on the next trip in a couple months!

 

[sponica]

I'll find out in a little over 5 weeks how well my plan will work out. We have 2 character breakfasts planned around 8 AM (which is late for her, coincides with her AM snack at daycare). Any lunches I have booked are around 1130 (which is her lunchtime at daycare). Dinners are all around 5ish which is when she eats dinner at home (except BOG dinner, that's at 4 PM....the adults will probably need a second dinner later that night)

I'm not planning on going back to the room for a nap, because I know she'll fall asleep on the bus and then be a nightmare.

 

[Tenacious K]

Do you guys prefer doing rope drop, back to hotel for naps/pool/quiet time, back to parks for evening/Dinner ADR?
Or rope drop, lunch ADR, back to hotel a bit later?

My last trip when kids were 14 months & 3.5 years, we did Rope drop, early lunch ADR, then back at resort for the rest of the day. We were at parks about 5 hours each day, leave park by 2pm, back at resort before 3, and kids would be passed out by 6 or 7pm. My 14 month old would nap for a few minutes here and there in the stroller in the park, but not more than 15/20 minutes at a time. Oh my goodness, I got sick of the all star sports food for dinner every night.

This year, kids will be 2 & 4.5 and our schedule will be almost identical.

The biggest issue with my kids.. they love each other, but they're always bugging each other. If one would be sleeping in the double stroller, the other one would reach around and wake up the other kid. But.. I kind of like how they don't nap because I look forward to them going to bed early at 6pm and giving my husband and me a few hours in the evening to have a drink and relax in the resort room.

 

[moose81]

This is tough! We've done 2 trips with little one(s). First time, our daughter was 2.5. We mostly stuck to Rope Drop or even pre-opening ADRs, a few hours in the parks, then back to the resort for a quick service lunch and nap, then we did another hour or two in the parks and finished the evening with an early ADR (usually 5:30). She was great in restaurants so having 2 sit down meals per day was fine.

Second time, our daughter was almost 4 and our son was 9 months. For that trip, the baby was really not good in restaurants, plus our oldest no longer napped, so we switched things up a bit. I think we only had 2 ADRs the whole time (one was lunch at BOG, one was brunch on our last day at Ohana). We still did Rope Drop and spent the mornings in the park (baby did first nap in the carrier while we walked around). We were able to stay out a bit longer and do lunch in the parks, then return back to the resort for baby's afternoon nap (and one of us would go in the pool with the 4 year old). Then we generally would do about 1 hour in the parks in the evening and another quick service for dinner.

Both times we stayed at the Poly and we only did non-MK parks in the morning (when we had more time) and then we always did MK in the evenings.

So I think you will need to balance what your little one's needs are at that point (1 nap vs 2 can really change your strategy) and also determine for yourself how capable they are of enjoying a sit down ADR vs just a quick service. In our case, I had actually made a ton more ADRs for our 2nd trip and just cancelled most of them once we realized they wouldn't work for our little guy, and we had no regrets.