Your Itineraries - travelling with little ones

[amystevekai&bump]

Hello again - promise to be my last request for today!!!

I am struggling to do my 'perfect' itinerary (I'm on about version 87 and still can't stop 'fiddling'!! ) - my main concern is not overdoing it with my DS4 and DS9mths.

I know some of you are travelling shortly with small children and was wondering if you could share your itinerary plans with me.

I know the key with little ones is to be flexible - but I need to book some adrs too!!!

 

[scojos]

hi we did adrs at crt, cp (which i would reallt recommend) wcc and marrakesh. My kids were 4 6 and 8 my 6 yr old has aspergers so we had to go really slowly.
They loved them all, we also did sci fi which was great and h&v which was s**t, next year we are doing ohanas and jiko and bomas.
cm was brill we have done bfast and dinner. Dont worry too much all the restaurants are very child friendly, and we had a gac which allowed us to get josh out quick if necc. as for a quieter table if you are worried how they will react, but relax, they will know if you are stressed!!
enjoy
tracy

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Impossible to plan with Joshua, we have a rough idea for our first few days but mostly we just decide when we are out there, if we planned every day in advance it would just get changed numerous times.

 

[fizz13]

I think the trick with little ones is to go at their pace. I've travelled with a 5 month old, 11 month old and now 3, 6 and 8. Most important rules:

-Do not try and do everything, you will burn yourselves out and they can't cope with that much stimulation
-Take plenty of breaks, make them have an afternoon nap if you want any chance of seeing fireworks.
-Go for buffets as there is no waiting around, and book the character meal for the first couple of days so that they can get used to characters straight away.
-Try and carry the bare minimum, it will weigh you down and annoy you,
-no strollers are allowed in the lines or pavillions at wdw, this was a shock to me! For example, you will have to leave your stroller outside the Seas with Nemo, so potentially you are holding that baby through the nemo ride queue, the turtle talk queue, around the pavillion and tanks, it could be up to an hour and your arms will be done in. I bought a hip seat for my 11 month old and it saved my arms and back, as he was too big for a sling.

So your actual question was an itinerary Basically mine looks like everyday:
get to park for rope drop, avoid EMH parks
get a fastpass straight away for something
get out of park by 1pm
lunch adr over dinner adr everytime, its more relaxing, less of a wait for the kids
sleep!!!!
back to parks about 6pm, snacks and counter service tea

Every other to 2nd day should be a rest day or rest morning.
Finally, remember that no matter how badly you want to shop or browse, or ride Everest, the kids won't care! Train yourself in how parent swap works, but trust me that the kids will have low tolerance for you doing it, so put them first and only ride the thrillers that you can't bare to miss.
I know I haven't exactly answered your question but i hope i helped none the less, sorry

 

[NicholaJP]

Our little girl turned 2 while we were away when we first took her 5 years ago, and we just took each day as it came. If you make plans you'll just be disapointed if you don't get things done, your on holiday so relax, enjoy and take some good walking shoes!! If you don't do all the attractions, then hey, you'll have to go again!!

We had late breakfasts, a few hours in the park late morning, lunch at the hotel with a rest stop and then back to the park early evening - it was perfect for us. We used to book our evening meal reservation in the morning to be sure we could eat at a decent hour.

We are heading back in 2 1/2 weeks and our plan is much the same this time round.

Happy holidays!!

 

[amystevekai&bump]

thanks everyone - your advice is really helpful!

One question, alot of you mention going back to the parks in the evening - I hadn't planned on doing that as I thought DS4 may be too tired - Also we are staying in a villa (Lindfields) - In order to go back to the parks in the evening, were you all staying onsite???

thanks again!

 

[fizz13]

A couple of times i was on onsite, but our villa was in such a good place on the 192 that it was no hassle to go back to the park You only pay once a day for parking, so just keep your ticket that they give you displayed in the window and they will wave you right through. And you may get a better parking spot at this time as many people will have left so you can look for one nearer the front.
I can't imagine going to wdw without seeing spectromagic, wishes, fantasmic etc, although i'm thinking fantasmic is ging to be too much for your two, but there is such a charm to the parks at night that it would be a shame to miss it. thats why i so strongly suggested leaving early afternoon, make the kids (and you!) have that nap, and then you will be ready to go for more. Its amazing how much energy kids have on reserve when they are stimulated by sights and sounds and they will get a second wind. Also there is something very magical about riding dumbo at night or seeing world showcase at dusk etc.
Think i will shut up now but you get my point lol

 

[JohnnySharp2]

thanks everyone - your advice is really helpful!

One question, alot of you mention going back to the parks in the evening - I hadn't planned on doing that as I thought DS4 may be too tired - Also we are staying in a villa (Lindfields) - In order to go back to the parks in the evening, were you all staying onsite???

thanks again!

Doing a morning session and then going back for the evening is a popular thing to do. Especially for many who don't want to spend the entire day at a park, must admit we never do that.

I don't think anyone can truly advise whether you should go back in the evening or not, only you can decide that and it can depend on your children.
Joshua often doesn't want to go out in the evening at all.

Lindfield's is well located for the Disney parks and just a short drive down the I4 from Universal, so certainly location wise it is definitely feasible to go back in the evening. It would only take 15 minutes or so drive for you.

We stay in villa's a lot although these days we prefer a few days too at a DVC resort or timeshare type. Most of our park visits are in the morning mainly because we get up very early and also after 4 or 5pm or so Josh has had his fun for the day and prefers to play in the pool or just watch DVD/videos etc

I would just see how you go when you get there, having a plan is a good thing but it's common for these to change especially if you have children.

 

[Soprano]

We learned over the years to eat at buffets! They can be hit and miss quality wise, but there is not waiting around if the kids decide to have a meltdown!

Itineraries turn into rough guides when kids are involved!

 

[T16GEM]

Impossible to plan with Joshua, we have a rough idea for our first few days but mostly we just decide when we are out there, if we planned every day in advance it would just get changed numerous times.

I have never been with the kids before but to be honest I haven't planned anything - I don't know what they will be like, how they will react to things etc so I am just going to take every day as it comes.

We have no ADRs or anything either as Shelby doesn't really like eating in restaurants at the best of times and it just causes stress!

We are planning on taking it all slowly and just enjoying seeing them seeing everything, no race to do stuff like usual!

 

[T16GEM]

Meant to say we have a villa too, on the 192 so we will be going back for a nap in the afternoon, much easier than meltdowns!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have no ADRs or anything either as Shelby doesn't really like eating in restaurants at the best of times and it just causes stress!

Neither does Josh, eating out can often be a non-starter for us.
One of the main reasons why we need cooking facilities and part of the reason why we like to stay at a DVC/timeshare style resort for part of the holiday, also just gives us options for the evening if he doesn't want to go out anywhere.

 

[T16GEM]

Neither does Josh, eating out can often be a non-starter for us.
One of the main reasons why we need cooking facilities and part of the reason why we like to stay at a DVC/timeshare style resort for part of the holiday, also just gives us options for the evening if he doesn't want to go out anywhere.

We are usually ok as long as there is an outdoor seating area, I think it's being enclosed inside that she dislikes, we joke that we can only eat out in the summer!

 

[amystevekai&bump]

thanks ever so much again for all your good advice Its good to know that we do have option (children permitting!!! ) of going back to the parks from the villa!!

thanks again!!

 

[Denisebrum]

Some great advice here, but I wanted to add that one of my best memories of Disney (my kids were 8, 4 and 4 months) was my 4 year olds face at Wishes firework display. It was real magic and certainly not to be missed!
Denise

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Some great advice here, but I wanted to add that one of my best memories of Disney (my kids were 8, 4 and 4 months) was my 4 year olds face at Wishes firework display. It was real magic and certainly not to be missed!
Denise

Hi Denise - we are staying a few nights at the poly so if nothing else we hope to catch Wishes from their beach - although not sure the children will wait up until 10pm for it!!