Parks and family

[disney troops]

Hi.

We leave for Orlando next Friday... had the chat there will be grumpy times, tantrums, amazing times and out of the world times... which was explained to the... hubby lol. We are travelling with two young children... nearly 3 and 6 no doubt it will be crazy, amazing, out of the world experiences along with the heat and the usual general brats if they see a toy shop every day. We are taking two prams... How do you all cope and keep calm than drink alcohol lol. We are staying in a villa. In my head thinking park in morning, chill out in afternoon and then park at night... any other suggestions?

[coggie]

Firstly it's never as bad as you think it will be.
My only advice is accept you can't cram everything in. I think as adults we build up the expectations so high and plan to do so much when in reality the kids are just as happy splashing around in the pool

[Floridatilly]

We don’t go out in the evenings with young ones. We head out early and make the most of the cooler temperatures and quieter parks. We don’t rush around, taking lots of brakes with a iced water whilst sitting in the shade.
We generally have early ish dinner (4-5pm) then head back to villa to chill out, play in the pool then have an early night.
Mine have never bothered with wanting anything from the shops but they have enjoyed collecting the presses pennies.
My main advice is to take is easy, nothing worse than a tired, cranky child (or husband &#128521
3&6 are such magical ages! You will have an amazing time!
Drink loads, plenty sun cream, hats, get as much shade as possible, relax and most of all ENJOY 😊

[disney troops]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

We don’t go out in the evenings with young ones. We head out early and make the most of the cooler temperatures and quieter parks. We don’t rush around, taking lots of brakes with a iced water whilst sitting in the shade.
We generally have early ish dinner (4-5pm) then head back to villa to chill out, play in the pool then have an early night.
Mine have never bothered with wanting anything from the shops but they have enjoyed collecting the presses pennies.
My main advice is to take is easy, nothing worse than a tired, cranky child (or husband &#128521
3&6 are such magical ages! You will have an amazing time!
Drink loads, plenty sun cream, hats, get as much shade as possible, relax and most of all ENJOY 😊

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Drink loads of what? Alcohol lol... on a serious note though my youngest is quite a character... doesn't shut up, like to do runners and demand something out of every shop. I just want to go at their pace and get the hubby to take note what he has been told haha

[Gryff]

If the villa doesn’t have a cool box invest in a polystyrene one fill with ice and keep drinks and snacks in it in the car it’s amazing how thirsty you get on the way back to the car
Take a towel to cover the car seat nothing worse than sitting a child in a seat that may have clips or fastener that’s red hot
Don’t over pack use the villa washer and take spare clothes so they can cool down in the splash zones our Gds spent hours in them last week

[Procrastinator]

Originally Posted by coggie

Firstly it's never as bad as you think it will be.
My only advice is accept you can't cram everything in. I think as adults we build up the expectations so high and plan to do so much when in reality the kids are just as happy splashing around in the pool

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Totally agree.

Make plans, but accept they may go in the bin 10 mins after you arrive.

Better to miss half the rides and shows and have a happy family. Good excuse to return!

[Charl_bb]

Go back to your accommodation if anyone has had enough. You can go back later if you want, or you might not want to! It's better to miss a few things on your to do list than drag grumpy people (including yourself) round a park.
Also, snacks. Lots of them. And water. Lots of it.

[NeeNeeWong]

We’re going back with my nephews this time. He’s 6, but he likes to visit every toy shop. I’m thinking of creating him something visual so he understand how much money he has left. Maybe like a little colour diagram so he has a budget and every time he buys something we colour it in so he can see he’s halfway through his money, etc.
Alternatively I might do a chart where he has $10 a day, if he wants he can keep $10 to roll over into the next day and so on. But if he can’t wait then his limit is $10 and we cross it off his chart - not going to get him far in Disney! We’re giving him our $200 gift card as his spend money. So he will have left over, so we were thinking good behaviour = $5 bonus. Tantrums and say goodbye to it.

[NewtoOrlando]

Don’t over think things, just be sensible in what you do. If you notice the kids getting the grumps, then take some shade and shelter from the heat, get a cold drink and have some time out. The adults are more likely to get grumpy than the kids in my family lol. Again, if it gets too much, leave the parks and head back for pool time and some rest, and go back out in the evenings. Keep hydrated because I noticed when mine were younger they never drank enough and that would turn them into cranky little demons. You both just have to be firm with the kids about wanting to buy everything. Easiest way I found was giving them a budget every day, the youngest might not get it but the oldest will. If all else fails just keep feeding them and eventually they will fill too full to get aggy & go to sleep...hubby aswell 😂

[7SeasSailor]

Originally Posted by NeeNeeWong

We’re going back with my nephews this time. He’s 6, but he likes to visit every toy shop. I’m thinking of creating him something visual so he understand how much money he has left. Maybe like a little colour diagram so he has a budget and every time he buys something we colour it in so he can see he’s halfway through his money, etc.
Alternatively I might do a chart where he has $10 a day, if he wants he can keep $10 to roll over into the next day and so on. But if he can’t wait then his limit is $10 and we cross it off his chart - not going to get him far in Disney! We’re giving him our $200 gift card as his spend money. So he will have left over, so we were thinking good behaviour = $5 bonus. Tantrums and say goodbye to it.

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To me that is overthinking it. At 6 years old I wouldn't even bother explaining a money allowance and I reward good behaviour with a treat not money.