Kids and difficult park days?

[duchy]

In all honesty they probably would.
I said only half jokingly that we could have skipped the parks as the kids preferred the pool last year . The vote for the things they liked best was pool for the two bigger ones but the four year old decided for her meeting princesses just won it ove! Second best came ... Typhoon Lagoon. Vote taken on the way to MCO on the last day.
We tended to do half days in the parks , frankly in the summer heat , that's more than enough.

[mouskevik]

Mine are 13, 13 and 15 and the heat, humidity and queueing has got a bit much, so we have only done half days. Kids need space to play and let off steam which is why they prefer the water parks or pool - plus it's cooler.

[Procrastinator]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

We are here with the 8yr old Granddaughter and she is fine with our usual 9 to 4 routine. We are walking circa 8 miles a day.

She is loving the Parks but she does like pool time. Probably even more.

I see it time after time on here with people doing planning to the nth degree and I do wonder if it's for the Parents benefit or the child's.
A happy child is a happy day. If that means a pool holiday then so be it.

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Last year, our first family holiday to wdw we fell in to that trap. Had plans to hit 20 odd rides per day and it all went wrong the first day or 2. We solved it quite quickly last year by scaling back our plans and getting them both "strollers". We then had happy children the majority of the time.

But our eldest is almost 8, he is not having a stroller this year. Trying to manage it with a gentle pace and long air con lunch instead. But that did not work today!

Will try again with a shorter day tomorrow, but i totally agree with the happy child happy day comment and we are not going to keep repeating the same mistakes. If things don't work we will change things. I guess that is part of the point of this post. If we do change things from here the option is reduce the park time - but then we are going to a park to basically do our 3 fp and then leave, or flip things around so we spend most days either in the hotel pool or a water park and only the odd day in a park. Think i am just having a public debate with myself about which is the better option if we do change things.

[Bob1025]

I share the pain! We’ve had some long days - in Orlando at present. I do agree shorter days are better for the kids with the heat and humidity - just fit in what they want and the rides / shows you all want to do. My kids are 7,7 and 10. They get bored in any queue and then start to argue and wind each other up! We head to Sanibel and the beach next week, so to relax and chill after the parks! Hope all goes well!

[Myakka17]

We’ve been doing 9-2 and that’s enough for us. We’re not bothered if we miss anything just lovely to get back to the room and relax for a few hours.
Mine are older so go to the pool or the gym during this time.
You’ve got loads more years to come back and do the things you miss if shorter park days are easier fir your children.

[Loopylooloo]

We only ever do half days, often spending the day at the pool and heading in late afternoon for a few hours, or getting there in the morning and leaving mid afternoon to go swim/chill. Just the words 10 hours made me feel tired!

My kids are older teens, and openly say they prefer the pool or water park days, and they always argue too. Its all normal!

[Blue nose]

I'm another that leaves the park after lunch and back to the pool. Or arrive later if doing an evening show, meal or FP.

I'm not convinced the kids are tired more bored. To them 10 hours can be spent doing so much more. Once you've done a few rides it gets boring to them. They'd rather be playing and having their type of fun.

[arielrocks]

I would defo say that half days are the max for parks when they are young. If they don’t nap at home then they may need it out there so early start, rest at hotel/villa, lots of snacks and drinks then out again later on. It’s a huge sensory load for them

[Rac20]

My kids fight/argue/ irritate each other whether we do long park days or not. I’ve come to the conclusion that they just don’t like each other. Yet bizarrely have to stand within 5cm of each other. 🤷🏼
I’ve decided that when we go next year we will utilise single rider now that they are older so they have less ‘bickering’ time in the queue.

[BevS97]

If you get to the park for opening you can do a few rides with a short queue. Do your three fastpasses quickly. As soon as you tap into your fastpass move the next one sooner. So you can do three in an hour to hour half if you’re on it. Then pick up some more fastpasses after your three. By about 1pm start thinking about heading out. A few hours in the pool or just relaxing and then consider coming back in the evening when it’s quieter and cooler.


I find we tend not to go back out in the evenings as once we are back we get comfortable. However whenever we do it I remember why it’s such a good idea.


We also like to have a lazy pool morning and then arrive at the park around 3 and stay late. This works well for us if we are wanting to see fireworks etc.