Taking two young children

**OneLuckyLady** · 03-21-2011, 04:03 PM

I was wondring how parents handled naps on their trips. Julia will be almost 5 when we go and she does ok without naps and can go for long time on euphoria and sugar. Lydia who will be 3 when we go, is another story. When she is tired, God help everyone. I know in the end I'll end playing it by ear (or ears

). I figure she could always nap in the stroller. I was wondering how other parents handled this. Maybe I should plan 2 hour break in the day? Thanks!

**gooftroop** · 03-21-2011, 05:54 PM

When we was there in 2006, are youngest was 2, middle was 5 and oldest was 7. We took 2 to 3 hours off during the day and it was well worth it. We went back to the hotel and swam, after swimming we was rested enough to go back to the park. This is when a hopper pass came in handy. We usually want to the park that had the extra magic hours.

**Mike Fink** · 03-21-2011, 07:57 PM

I've taken four WDW trips, plus a cruise, in the past 16 months with my children who are now 2 and 5. I've made every mistake possible. The best advice I can give is to take it slow.

The plan that worked well for us is to eat breakfast at the room, hit the park du jour at rope drop, work a reasonable touring plan, eat lunch and then get out of the park by 1 or 1:30. Naps are essential. We brought in water and snacks in the stroller and having these headed off a lot of meltdowns.

Lots of times a good nap and a snack would refresh the kids enough to go back to a park in the evening for dinner and a few attractions. We had a lot of luck at a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in early November. It was not crowded at all so it allowed us to cover a lot of ground. All of the rides were walk ons.

Try to think like a small child. To them the simple water attractions in the parks (i.e. the Leaky Tikis in Adventureland) are just as interesting and fun as the elaborate attractions.

We recently returned from the Lou Cruise / WDW vacation. I asked my five-year-old son what his favorite part of the trip was, expecting to hear "the AquaDuck" or "Expedition Everest". His response: "The playset at McDonald's."

**kandjad** · 03-22-2011, 10:05 AM

My kids always napped in the stroller. If you are lucky enough to have hoppers - use them to go back to the hotel for naps. We have been taking our 5 kids since the oldest was 2 yrs. old. We made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of valuable lessons.
On our most recent visit, our kids counted how many crying kids they passed vs. how many out of control parents we passed. Wanna take a guess as to which had more numbers?? If you are relaxed and taking it slow - your kiddos will follow your lead!! Have a wonderful trip!!!

**TammiKatt** · 03-22-2011, 10:28 AM

My kids stopped napping at 2. However, I have seen many children asleep in strollers. September could still be hot and humid, and the hours of 12:30 to 3:00 would be the best time to eat lunch at the hotel and follow it up with quiet time. It will help you recharge your batteries as well.

Or if she has outgrown naps by that time, in corporate shows. I highly recommend watching the Nemo show at animal kingdom. While you see the puppeteers, you forget that they are there. It is truly amazing. And it is inside in the a/c.

My 5 year old fell asleep at dinner in February. When we were this past Saturday, my 9 year old son was so tired at the end of the day that he walked into a post in the parking lot.

While you can get lots of advice from a lot of people, you are the only one that knows your children. Some need to stick with their usual routine while others adapt to the fun of the day. I would check on ride height requirements before heading to a ride. You can also look at park maps and make a plan or agenda. Most of the rides for smaller children are in fantasyland, which gets really packed. The earlier you hit the park, the better.

**Sharon&Randy** · 03-22-2011, 04:56 PM

Great advice from everyone! Just remember try not to see everything and relax. Here is our experience with our 2 year old at Disney!

YouTube - 2 Year Old At Epcot 2009

It looks like we will be missing you by a couple of days in September! Our youngest will be 4 this trip and we will have 6 day passes. My husband and I will switch off on a couple of days to go back to the room with her. That way
one of us will have fun with the other 3 children. Plus it will kinda be nice to take a nap or relax in the room. Suppose to relax on a vacation!

Then go back and meet the others at the park.

**NC_WDW_Daddy** · 03-22-2011, 05:37 PM

My kids could sleep anywhere, so they took naps in their strollers. If yours do not like napping there, better to plan for a break than a break down.

**OneLuckyLady** · 03-22-2011, 06:07 PM

Originally Posted by Mike Fink

We recently returned from the Lou Cruise / WDW vacation. I asked my five-year-old son what his favorite part of the trip was, expecting to hear "the AquaDuck" or "Expedition Everest". His response: "The playset at McDonald's."

I could see my Julia saying that. I know I'll have to keep my expectations under control. I'm also going to try and have a daily plan in place but not be rigid with it. When I started planning all I wanted was for them to see the castle, eat there, and have them meet their favs. As long as all that happens I'll be happy. I just want them to feel their best so they enjoy it. We took them to a wedding recently and around 10 pm Lyida put a napkin over her head at the table and feel asleep. We were right next tot he dj...lol.

**HauntedGabe** · 03-23-2011, 12:08 AM

My kids are almost 5 years apart. When they were little we rarely went back to the resort. It is harder to do when the hours are shorter in the fall. They did fall asleep in strollers and they did fall asleep in rides.

If they needed a nap my favorite place was the Haunted Mansion. The motion of that ride did the trick and they were out, sadly a few more of those "nap" rides are gone now from Epcot, but Spaceship Earth did the trick too.

**eeyore79** · 03-23-2011, 01:33 AM

I'm planning on a trip for August of this year with my 4 year old, going to be turning 5 while we are in the World...so reading this post is giving me some ideas too. She still takes naps, usually about 1pm ish til 3pm ish. Although, by the time August rolls around Im not sure how she will be doing. she is starting to fight taking naps.

last year when we went to san diego zoo, she actually surprised me and lasted from 10am til around 4pm before napping on the motor safari tour and in the stroller. that was about an hour or so, and it allowed me to relax myself!!

so i am hoping that wdw will be similar and no meltdowns. i was plannin on seeing only 2 parks (maybe) during the 5-6 days we will be there, with one day resort sightseeing and maybe a adr. and during the park days, i was thinking of going back to the resort for a pool and nap around midday. i dont want us to get overwhelmed with tryin to do too much in a short amount of time.