Disney alone with 4 young kids - help me figure this out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never been to Disney World but we’re headed down next month with our 4 young children (all under age 8, including one baby). Unfortunately my spouse will be at a conference for part of the days. Is it possible for me to manage them on my own on rides? I’m assuming the two oldest (8 and 6) can sit together on most rides, and then would I be able to sit with the youngest two (including the baby)? Or if not would I just stand with the youngest two on the platform while the oldest two ride? I’m only interested in the kiddie type rides (no big roller coasters, etc). Is this possible? I thought about hiring someone but then that probably wouldn’t work bc they wouldn’t have Fast Passes to board with us? Thank you for any feedback!!

I also just wanted to address this part; on most Disney rides there isn't a "platform." Most Disney rides actually have you entering and exiting the rides in two different places, and there is really no way to bring a child up to a ride, stand to the side and watch, and have them meet you at the place where you are still standing. Disney rides, even the ones that are appropriate for very young children, are really not at all like the "kiddie rides" you see at places like Hershey Park or Bush Gardens.

[Anonymous]

Terrible idea. Go to the pool while your spouse is busy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Terrible idea. Go to the pool while your spouse is busy.

DO THIS!
Many, many moons ago, we went to Disney because my dad was at a conference. It as the mid '80s and Disney was not the size it is today. My grandmother came with us to help my mom. We were 10, 8, 6 & 4, grandmother was late 60's, mom was late 30's. My dad still laughs about seeing us straggling across the lobby of the hotel (hot, exhausted and DONE) and my mom thrusting my baby sister at him and saying "This is yours!" after a long day at Epcot.

Another thought would be to do a character breakfast at one of the hotels so there is a bit of "park" without venturing into the park.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids same ages as you and ended up skipping Disney when DH had a conference. I had bought the tickets and realized it was a bad idea. We went as an entire family a month later.

I have gone solo with 2 kids when DH had a conference. That was manageable and exhausting enough.

If you must go, I think you can have a good time but you will be severely limited. I was annoyed that my 2 Elementary kids couldn’t even ride dumbo alone. You would have to do your research and find rides you could ride together as 5.

That said, you could watch shows and parades, do character breakfast(love tuskar), walk around Epcot, hang out at downtown Disney and still have a good time. You will probably be going back to the hotel for a break and nap. I needed the break just as much as the kids. You would get much more out of it with 2 Parents or 2 adults.

[Anonymous]

Odd responses, OP. Assuming you are a competent parent, it's totally doable. We are from Florida. I took my kids to Disney all the time by myself. We have five. Just keep expectations reasonable. It's not like your older kids are going to be riding the roller coasters. Plan to get to the park when it opens. Ride a few rides. Head back to the hotel and let the kids rest. Swim in the pool. Then, when your DH gets free, maybe go back to the park for a couple of hours in the evening. Get a double stroller so that you can switch the older kids in and out. It's really not that hard! You certainly don't need "help". Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Odd responses, OP. Assuming you are a competent parent, it's totally doable. We are from Florida. I took my kids to Disney all the time by myself. We have five. Just keep expectations reasonable. It's not like your older kids are going to be riding the roller coasters. Plan to get to the park when it opens. Ride a few rides. Head back to the hotel and let the kids rest. Swim in the pool. Then, when your DH gets free, maybe go back to the park for a couple of hours in the evening. Get a double stroller so that you can switch the older kids in and out. It's really not that hard! You certainly don't need "help". Have fun!

Her oldest is 8. She has a baby who is going to need diaper changes and feeding. The two middle kids are young enough to wander off. If you go "all the time," then you're in a familiar place, where I imagine you went with first one child, then two, then three, etc.. She isn't even going to know what to plan for, and her kids are going to make it hard for her to stop to read a map or spend time figuring out things on her phone.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised to see posters recommending character breakfasts alone with 4 little kids! Most of the character breakfasts (including Tusker house) are buffet style.
How in the world is OP supposed to hold her baby, wrangle her other young kid, guide the older two (they are old enough to hold their own plates, but some things may be too high for them to reach for themselves) and use whatever spoon, tongs, etc. to serve food to the plates in the buffet line? There is just no way!

[Anonymous]

Lower your expectations to about zip. See shows. Go early and then get to the pool so you can recover your sanity.

If you are able to hire help, do it. It’s the only way I would do this.

I also agree that buffet character breakfasts sound like a nightmare. Unless all they eat is a box of cereal so mom can just make one round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom with one kid, and even I brought the nanny to Disney.

Get help.

Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Odd responses, OP. Assuming you are a competent parent, it's totally doable. We are from Florida. I took my kids to Disney all the time by myself. We have five. Just keep expectations reasonable. It's not like your older kids are going to be riding the roller coasters. Plan to get to the park when it opens. Ride a few rides. Head back to the hotel and let the kids rest. Swim in the pool. Then, when your DH gets free, maybe go back to the park for a couple of hours in the evening. Get a double stroller so that you can switch the older kids in and out. It's really not that hard! You certainly don't need "help". Have fun!

Her oldest is 8. She has a baby who is going to need diaper changes and feeding. The two middle kids are young enough to wander off. If you go "all the time," then you're in a familiar place, where I imagine you went with first one child, then two, then three, etc.. She isn't even going to know what to plan for, and her kids are going to make it hard for her to stop to read a map or spend time figuring out things on her phone.

Disney has created this myth that visiting the parks requires all kinds of advanced planning and purchasing. Like it's some kind of magical place where reality is suspended. It's not. It's an amusement park. That's it. You don't have to do everything in the park. She could easily focus on just one small section. Her kids are young enough that they'll have a blast even if they don't see the whole park. My oldest was 10 when my youngest was born so I certainly understand the challenges. But really, with managed expectations, it won't be that difficult.

[Anonymous]

I agree that some people are being way too dramatic? Leave baby at home while the rest of family goes on a trip?!

I think your best bet is to hire a sitter to help you while you are there, even if you just take kids to pool.

[Anonymous]

I went last month with two kids by myself and it was doable, but I wouldn't want to do it with twice as many and at least one of which is in diapers (and not capable of walking). I had rented a jogging stroller for my 4yo and my 7 yo ended up sitting with him 1/2 the time because it's a lot of walking and it was easier for everyone.

I second the recommendation not to use the buses with 4 kids by yourself (especially if you have a stroller). Maybe try using the Minnie Van (through Lyft, but they have car seats) or renting a car. That would make life easier.

If you do want to do it, here are the things that have no height restrictions and that I think would allow you to ride together:

Magic Kingdom
Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station: Any height
Country Bear Jamoree: Any height
Enchanted Tales with Belle: Any height
The Hall of Presidents: Any height
It’s a Small World: Any height
Jungle Cruise: Any height
Liberty Square Riverboat: Any height
Main Street Vehicles: Any height
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Any height
Mickey’s PhilharMagic: Any height
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor: Any height
Pirates of the Caribbean: Any height
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel: Any height
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom: Any height
Swiss Family Treehouse: Any height
Tom Sawyer Island: Any height
Tomorrowland Arcade: Any height
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover: Any height
Walt Disney World Railroad: Any height
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress: Any height
Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room: Any height

EPCOT
Living with the Land
Frozen Ever After
Gran Fiesta
Spaceship Earth
Turtle Talk with Crush
Walking through World Showcase

Animal Kingdom
Navi River Journey
Kilamanjaro Safaris
Rafiki's Planet Watch (and the train to get there)
couple different animal viewing trails
Boneyard (a big playground)
Lion King Show
Finding Nemo Show

I wouldn't bother with Hollywood Studios on a day by yourself. I can't think of a ride there that would work. They do have a number of shows though (Beauty and the Beast, Frozen Sing a Long, Muppet Vision, Little Mermaid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised to see posters recommending character breakfasts alone with 4 little kids! Most of the character breakfasts (including Tusker house) are buffet style.
How in the world is OP supposed to hold her baby, wrangle her other young kid, guide the older two (they are old enough to hold their own plates, but some things may be too high for them to reach for themselves) and use whatever spoon, tongs, etc. to serve food to the plates in the buffet line? There is just no way!

If you want to do a character breakfast, decent options would be Garden Grill (brought to your table family style) or Akershus (mostly brought to your table with an optional buffet for pastries/fruit/etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Odd responses, OP. Assuming you are a competent parent, it's totally doable. We are from Florida. I took my kids to Disney all the time by myself. We have five. Just keep expectations reasonable. It's not like your older kids are going to be riding the roller coasters. Plan to get to the park when it opens. Ride a few rides. Head back to the hotel and let the kids rest. Swim in the pool. Then, when your DH gets free, maybe go back to the park for a couple of hours in the evening. Get a double stroller so that you can switch the older kids in and out. It's really not that hard! You certainly don't need "help". Have fun!

Her oldest is 8. She has a baby who is going to need diaper changes and feeding. The two middle kids are young enough to wander off. If you go "all the time," then you're in a familiar place, where I imagine you went with first one child, then two, then three, etc.. She isn't even going to know what to plan for, and her kids are going to make it hard for her to stop to read a map or spend time figuring out things on her phone.

Disney has created this myth that visiting the parks requires all kinds of advanced planning and purchasing. Like it's some kind of magical place where reality is suspended. It's not. It's an amusement park. That's it. You don't have to do everything in the park. She could easily focus on just one small section. Her kids are young enough that they'll have a blast even if they don't see the whole park. My oldest was 10 when my youngest was born so I certainly understand the challenges. But really, with managed expectations, it won't be that difficult.

I'm the poster who responded to the original post in this set. I have four, we went in November last year, my oldest was 7. I have a really good idea what the OP is in for, and even reading the damn map is difficult if your 6-year-old may wander around the corner to look at something while you're also wrangling a baby. Even at off-peak, the parks are crowded, there are not a lot of places for kids to "play" that aren't walking paths and lines, and this poster is going to have at least two in a stroller, which means her hands will be full. If she were very familiar with Disney, this would make sense, but, no, I don't think she'll feel like it was worth $300 to take her kids to the park and have them cry because all they did was wander around.

Another adult will make this enjoyable, OP. OF COURSE you CAN do this, but it's not going to be fun.

And, FWIW, my 6 and 7 year olds wanted to ride every roller coaster they were tall enough for (the 7 year old was tall enough for all of them). They would have been really disappointed to not do any of the rides the very small 5-year-old and the 2-year-old couldn't do. They aren't so young that they'll be "thrilled" just to be there. Her 8-year-old can read, for god's sake. With another adult, you can do rider swap if you have fast passes.

After all the money you'll spend on tickets, spend some more on a sitter. You will be happier, and the kids will be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Odd responses, OP. Assuming you are a competent parent, it's totally doable. We are from Florida. I took my kids to Disney all the time by myself. We have five. Just keep expectations reasonable. It's not like your older kids are going to be riding the roller coasters. Plan to get to the park when it opens. Ride a few rides. Head back to the hotel and let the kids rest. Swim in the pool. Then, when your DH gets free, maybe go back to the park for a couple of hours in the evening. Get a double stroller so that you can switch the older kids in and out. It's really not that hard! You certainly don't need "help". Have fun!

Oddest response yet and contradictory. Yeah it’s totally doable but keep your expectations low? It’s a whole lot of money to ride a couple rides and go back to the hotel. That doesn’t sound fun at all or worth it! Most of your suggestions are going back to the hotel.