Small Children and # of hours in the Parks?

[Disney1977]

How many hours do you take your children to the Parks for?

This weekend we went to a local amusement park for 9 1/2 hours. Boy was that a mistake. My three children ages 3, 6, and 10 were wiped out the next day.

So what do other parents do? Thanks.

[disneygeek84]

I don't have kids yet, but I went when we were little, so I can tell you what we did when we were little.

We ALWAYS took an afternoon break to take a nap/rest. It was not an option. My mom would make it as dark as possible in the room and make us lay down for at least an hour, if not more. This helps out SO MUCH for the rest of the afternoon/evening. Even if you do go for 9 1/2 hours in the park, if you break it up with a nap then you might be better off. Otherwise, just call it a night early (around 8pm or 9pm) and head back to your room.

With younger children, I would take advantage of AM EMH instead of PM EMH and just avoid the parks that have PM EMH. If you're going to bed earlier your kids may wake up earlier and that would make AM EMH easier.

That's just my and I'm sure that someone else will be able to help out more.

[spb]

There could be a million answers to this question, because every child is so different... As for us, we were just in WDW in May and our four year old Son did so well with a ten hour park day (11:00-9:00)! He would get a bit edgy around 4:00ish and then completely revive after dinner. We figured if he was okay, we weren't stopping. It's only a week, after all.

[LittleLady]

During a 6 day stay we usually spread out the park time to an average of approximately 5 hours a day. When my son was four we would spend one morning and early afternoon at one of the parks, then go back to our room and play it by ear. If he took a sufficient nap or at least rested for an hour or two then we would go back to the park around dinnertime. If not, we would just wait until the next day and spend our morning swimming or relaxing, then go back to one of the parks in the afternoon and stay until closing. We are going again in November and since my daughter is now four, we will try to follow the same type of routine.

[ParkMan]

I agree with the earlier poster - this will vary greatly based on the child.

Last time we went our kids were 3 & 4. We'd leave the hotel around 9:00 and get back to the hotel around 10:00 at night. A couple times we'll get back around 8:00 and call it an early day.

We don't do naps or breaks in the afternoon.

I think you really have to gauge your kids. We go on a lot of "treks" with our kids. A 10 hour day on a trip for them is something they've done all their lives.

However, we will get together with friends with kids of the same age and we'll see them have a much different tolerance.

The big thing we learned - just make sure to allow time during the day for them to unwind. Find a play area or a place for them to have fun.

[cal5755]

I agree that it depends on how your children are. I have 3 children age 5,9,13. Last year I wore out before they did. We opened and closed the parks most of the time we were there with no naps or breaks. Of course all 3 of my children are Disney addicts as well. There is not a car ride where we don't play 20 questions Disney style or are talking of past trips. They even sit around the computer watching slide shows of Disney pictures over and over again. Then there is Disney princess monopoly and Disney trivial persuit and Disney scene it. Last week my youngest informed me that there was only 25 days left until our next trip so we need to only watch Disney movies now. Once we get to WDW they need to go go go and absorb every bit of magic and fun they can. They said resting in the rides and shows was enough lol.

My cousins children needed breaks and they are around the same age as my kids. They would go to the parks in the morning with us then after lunch go back to the hotel to relax in the pool and nap and then joined us back at the parks later on.

[ryca1dreams]

Afternoon break

It may seem like a waste of time, but it's not. We lost a whole day when the boy was 5 because of a low grade fever - we just kept pushing and pushing until, wham!

Kids (some kids) will keep going until they hit that breaking point, even though they are tired. I guess mine was one. (now that he's a tween it's hard to get him moving at all!!!)

The afternoon break is a must.

[yjgirl32]

It really all depends on your children. My ds can go early in the morning and not stop to take a nap on some days and then othersx he may need a nap. Most of the time he took a nap in my lap when we park hopped. Good luck.

[Dyanna]

We went last year for 5 days when DD was 10 months old. Did full days & nights in the parks with no breaks. She just napped when she got tired. Will be going back in Nov for 7 days & plan on doing the same thing.

[MNNHFLTX]

We lived near Disney World for much of my son's life, so were able to make frequent trips there. Because of that we never felt the need to go full-speed all day long. When he was younger we would typically get there as soon as the parks opened and stay until late afternoon or suppertime without any breaks. Sometimes we would sleep in and stay later at the parks so that we could see the fireworks and night-time shows. By the time my son was 10, I was the one asking if we could back to the resort at a decent time in the evenings, lol!

[FriendsofMickey]

We have taken our girls for the past 3 years (this year is coming up). So, they were two weeks shy of 3, 3 3/4, and 4 turned 5 while there.
Each time, we stayed at the park all day (most days), but then let them sleep the next day until they awoke. They are usually early risers, but would sleep until 8:30, 9:00. We would then get up and go to the park.
Now when we go, the parks usually close earlier, we have always been back to the room and had them in bed around the 9:00 hour. We also have never stayed to see fireworks at EPCOT because we felt they were too late for the girls.

We have (I think each visit) taken them back to the resort for a 'rest' each visit at least once during our visit. It always ends badly with them not falling to sleep and dh and I stressed over it. It is not worth it.

I know for some it would not be an option, because their kids are wired differently. Our girls have never had a melt down at the parks (knock on wood ) So, it works just great the way we do it for us.

[Goes4FastPass]

Afternoon breaks sound good and are good - if they happen. I once scheduled an afternoon break where a parent and small child in our party shopped at the resort all afternoon then annouced to us they were tired and 'done' an hour after arriving at MNSSHP ().

And in warm months, the MK is a much cooler place at 11pm than 11am, let alone 4pm.

And some of the best experiences in WDW - Wishes, Spectromagic, Illuminations and Fantasmic - happen only at night.

I guess one approach could be play 'til you drop but be prepared, have you ever noticed how small kids. when they decide it's time to sleep, it doesn't matter how much light and noise and everything else is going on, they're done (and I think a child's weight triples and their temp goes up 10 degrees when they sleep).

[DawsonAR]

We are always at the park around opening and we leave around 4 or 5 pm. We have a nice dinner at the resort, relax and get ready for the next day. This works well for us. We did each of the evening parades, fireworks etc. previously and they don't have the desire (yet) to do them again. We tried the afternoon break thing and it didn't work for us. The kids wanted to play or swim and didn't get any rest. It is different for each family, but you can try a few different things until you get what works best for everyone.

[Lizzie]

It really depends on the kids. We stopped for breaks last year when our twin girls were a year and a half and we would go back and jump in the pool and than nap and they both naped.

But we took them to DL when they were almost 2 and stopped for naps one of them would nap the other didn't. But the one who didn't always napped in the stroller later that night.

[Mousemates]

There is not a car ride where we don't play 20 questions Disney style or are talking of past trips.

We too get to enjoy DisneyWorld even when we're not there by playing 20 questions WDW-style.

[Sharon1026]

Great question. I see so many families going to Disney and being theme park commandos. The kids are miserable by the time it's dinner time. Parents need to remember that it's about the family time together... Parents tend to get hung up on the "I paid X $$ to be here, we are going to see everything!" and lose sight of the bigger picture, which is too bad.

We go at our own pace. Sometimes we take breaks, other times we don't. We gauge it by how we feel and make sure that we are all having fun!

[bigbabyblues]

My boys are 7 and 5, and we've taken them 3 times to WDW.

We usually get to the park at opening, sometimes a character breakfast before opening. We stay until lunchtime, and then go back to the resort and rest. We go back around 4:30 or 5, in time for dinner and things. We usually stay until closing, but if they (or we) are too tired and can't make it, we go back to the room. We also take our break earlier if it's starting to look like we need to.

Last year, DH and DS6 (at the time), stayed at DHS all day, while I took DS3 back to the room to rest. We didn't end p staying for Fantasmic, so it worked out ok. DS6 was really tired, but he really, really wanted to see all of the Power Rangers, and they ended up having to stand in the lines 3 times the PR ame out.

There is no way we can go all day, from open to close.

[Mickey91]

We have taken our kids as young as 15 months and have stayed all day. When they are tired they rest in a stroller. We are only there a week out of the year. One week being off schedule won't hurt them. They always did very well. Now they are 10 and 14 and they know, we get up at dawn, go to bed after midnight, and stay in the hot park all day in between.

[MickeysEars]

our kids weather parks about everyday we are there. we make sure we have strollers. last year our 2 year old sat in the stroller we brought from home and we rented one for the 5 year old. it was money well spent. and the length of stay stroller ticket was a good deal, but don't lose it like we did

[momof3+twins]

With 5 kids it is all about breaks. We usually skip early mornings ( except MK) and just go at 9 am. Then we leave right after lunch between 11:30 and 12:30. Then take a long afternoon break and return at 5 pm and then stay until 9 pm.
Don't stay late. And take a whole day break if time allows. Just don't push it. Decide which rides you want to see and don't worry about the rest.