Terrified of tired kids and being miserable (all of us)

bariww

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
How do you plan your trip/days with younger kids to best avoid exhausting them? Mid-day rest time and back to a park around 4:30 or 5:00 for an early dinner, a few rides and leave around 7/7:30 or stay in the park all day but do an early (5:00 or earlier) dinner and back to the room? My daughter just turned 4 and my son will be turning 6 while we're there at the end of January. Thanks!
 
Stroller.

That's the short answer...use a stroller a lot. We did until our kids were older than yours and it was great. It really minimized their walking and kept them fresh all day. As for park hours, we vary it a lot. Sometimes it's long days starting in the morning. Sometimes it's long evenings starting after lunch. Sometimes it's short mornings followed by chilling in the afternoon.

Anyway, stroller is your answer.
 
We were just there in early September and our girls are 6 and 3 (soon to be 4). We had no problem at all with them needing a break. Only once my 3 year old wanted to go back to the resort. Every other day we were in a park from 8-9 am till close including 2 MNSSHP's. We did have a double stroller so they didn't walk a whole lot. I think that makes all the difference.
 
We just did what we could do. Only you know your kids’ triggers and reactions to being tired. We went the end of Aug with my almost 5 year old. We had a stroller. And we got up early most mornings, so we were back at our room by 7-8.

We had a few late nights and we slept in those mornings. And she ended up taking naps in the stroller.

With the heat, we just had to play it by ear. It wasn’t worth the tantrums to stay late on most nights.

We are going back next week and plan to see if we can do longer days/nights because we aren’t fighting the heat and humidity. But we know if it’s too much for her, we’ll go back to the room and relax.

Going back to the room midday didn’t work well for us. We tried it, and we still ended up back at our room earlier. So we lost more park time because of the trip back.
 
We've been going since my son was just shy of 3. I basically just went with the flow and with whatever his mood dictated. We rarely used a stroller since he hated them. We didn't rush from ride to ride and we went at his pace. If that meant stopping and jumping off a bench for 30 min we did. If he got too tired for words, we would just go back to the room and either nap (me) or watch cartoons or swim then back to the parks. You know your kids and you know when they are getting to that point, just watch for the signs and don't try to over schedule.
 
Best advice to enjoy the trip is to go with kids flow. Over the years it has made our vacations so much better to go with the flow instead of what I planned. IF they are having fun don't rush them off to fit in the next thing. Take it in and be in the moment. For example, one year it was 20+ rides on small world. NOT my idea of the best ride, but the smile on DS's face when he was 4 was priceless.

We find what works best for us is rope drop and then head back when we are getting tired (2 or 3pm). We'll swim and have dinner at hotel or drive offsite as we have a car. We've never done evenings at Disney with DS, but we know we will someday. He is up by 6am, ALWAYS so we just go with it.
 


We did breaks in the stroller and left after dinner or at the latest 7 or 8. We never did midday breaks because getting to/from resorts and parks was a pain in the you know what.
 
When the kids were little we did a few things--We would use a stroller, and take breaks in the afternoon. If we wanted to see the fireworks at night we planned for it and had a sleep in day the next day.
 
You may be pleasantly surprised. My four year old twins went from rope drop till fireworks with no break or stroller. I think they were so thrilled to be at Disney that they never complained. They had a blast and we did it all but only you know your kids. It was hot when we were there so the only thing they constantly requested was drinks!
 
How do you plan your trip/days with younger kids to best avoid exhausting them? Mid-day rest time and back to a park around 4:30 or 5:00 for an early dinner, a few rides and leave around 7/7:30 or stay in the park all day but do an early (5:00 or earlier) dinner and back to the room? My daughter just turned 4 and my son will be turning 6 while we're there at the end of January. Thanks!
On our last trip, our kids were 3.75, 6, and 7. We arrived at the parks 15 mins after rope drop to avoid lines and left the parks around 4 or so. We had planned to take a rest after lunch, but the kids refused to leave. It was 95 degrees so when we got back to the resort around 4, we went for a swim then had a quick dinner at the hotel around 6:30, then baths, and bed at 8. We did not get to see any fireworks or late entertainment, but our kids were not cranky and were ready to go early each day. We also used a stroller with glider board in the parks. Great trip. Enjoy!
 
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Yes, I'm nervous about this too and my kids will be 9 and 6 when we go! We're going in August and I know the humidity will wear us out.

Most days I've planned early days, a break in the middle with the pool and "rests" and going back in the evening. If our kids were smaller I don't think we'd go back in the evening as much.

I'm trying to keep in mind that we don't need to see everything. That's kind of nice about Fastpass + is that we are guaranteed to see some big headliners and then the rest is a bonus. If we only do Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Forever Ever After at Epcot I'll be happy! KWIM?
 
I agree with all of the above - stroller definitely, for less walking if needed, and a place to take a nap if they crash. You can also use attractions like Philharmagic, Muppets 3D, Pixar Shorts, etc to have an air conditioned break out of the crowds for a short time. Don't be afraid to split up if one really wants to go to Pooh and one wants to ride the Speedway, to avoid fighting. Flexibility is key, contrary to all your advanced planning of course! As PP mentioned, some kids will want to go all day, and some will crash before the parade. And for my kids, snacks are essential to keep them happy(even still last week w/DD14! ) We bring favorite portable treats in our bag, and then stop and get the Mickey bar or popcorn to keep the hangry away!:earboy2:
 
I agree with all of the above - stroller definitely, for less walking if needed, and a place to take a nap if they crash. You can also use attractions like Philharmagic, Muppets 3D, Pixar Shorts, etc to have an air conditioned break out of the crowds for a short time. Don't be afraid to split up if one really wants to go to Pooh and one wants to ride the Speedway, to avoid fighting. Flexibility is key, contrary to all your advanced planning of course! As PP mentioned, some kids will want to go all day, and some will crash before the parade. And for my kids, snacks are essential to keep them happy(even still last week w/DD14! ) We bring favorite portable treats in our bag, and then stop and get the Mickey bar or popcorn to keep the hangry away!:earboy2:


Great tip about in the park breaks. One trip my niece was having a melt down and we planned to leave, right after doing the Hall of Presidents. A quick nap in there, and she was ready to go again. Sometimes that is all that is needed, and bit of a break. Doesn't always need to be a long one.
 
January = cooler weather and shorter hours. unless you have a night show you really want to see I'd say stay in the park,maximize your time during the day,end it all earlier.
 
When my son was a lot younger (he's 24 now), we would go to the park when it opened, head back to the resort around lunch time, maybe go for a swim and/or take a nap (nap was always done, swim wasn't). And then head back to the park around dinner time. It worked for us. The first or second time we did this, he wasn't that eager to nap, but we all napped at this time and it was wonderful.
 
We make bets before every trip on who is going to cry first (my girls are 10 now). Someone always melts down. Even when we take breaks. I agree the stroller helps. Then they can crash out and you can tour peacefully.
 
Best advice on this thread is "go with the flow". If your kids are having fun, stay and follow them. If they want to skip a FP, skip a FP. If they'd like to go back to the hotel and swim, go back and swim. We've even split before when two kids and hubby were tired and my middle son really wanted to stay at MK playing Sorcerers. He and I ran around the park for 3 hours until closing time and had a fabulous time and it was great to have some one on one time. Meanwhile hubby and other two kids laid back at the hotel and watched a movie. We all had great things to talk about at breakfast and everyone enjoyed our vacation.

Doesn't hurt to poll your family either on what you think they'd like. We prefer an air conditioned lunch to get out of the heat so I usually try to book a TS meal for lunch most park days. Gives us a break and we don't spend time looking around for where to eat mid-day.
 
I'm worried about this too with our 3 and 6 year old, but we did a test run at Dollywood over the Summer and I was shocked that they were ok from open to close of the park. The then 2 year old did konk out in the stroller for a bit, but we stayed at the park and he slept while his sister took turns riding the bigger kid rides with myself or husband. She whined a little about walking, so we are getting a double stroller for Disney just in case. That said it was a great day where we walked on to just about every ride, so I am worried what the waiting at WDW is going to do to their stamina.

They are typically early risers at home, so our first couple of days we are planning to go early and then leave when they are over stimulated or get cranky, probably late afternoon. We may or may not go back out. The only late night we have planned is a 4:30 BOG dinner followed by the Plaza Garden Fireworks Dessert Party on our 4th day. We're planning to sleep in as much as able and have some pool time and lunch at the resort that day. Probably not heading into MK until 2:00ish. Then the next day we plan to sleep in and spend most of the day at WS for a littler lower key.

Also, there will be a bottle of something in the room for us adults you can be sure. A nice glass of wine after an early bed time helps a lot with the days stresses. ;)
 

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