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

[Anonymous]

No for Magic Kingdom. Too many young kids to safely navigate. Older ones will be bored and question why they can't do anything.

Hollywood Studios could be okay. They have a lot of shows (at least 4 I think), Jedi Training for the older 2, and possibly a family friendly ride (Toy Story Mania?).

Animal Kingdom might be okay as well, they have some good shows (Lion King, Nemo, Bugs Life) and ride wise the Safari, Triceratops spin potentially, and Navi river. There's also the bone yard where kids can dig.

Epcot has some family friendly rides, but the older ones will get bored. Otherwise you can walk around the world and they may have a hunt of some kind for the older two (finding objects in each country). I think it's Remi right now for food and wine festival. They can also get passports stamped. The Frozen ride is a bit more exciting for the older two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can do the family rides/infant on your lap- type rides such as Small World, win is the pooh, under the sea, etc.

Or just do the shows. Or
Watch the parades.
Schedule a character breakfast

Also Tom Sawyer island was a big hit with mine. Spent over an hour there.


So, it is possible, but...
Theproblem is your older kids, if you just do the lame rides and shows, will probably be upset and annoyed they cant do anything more fun especially as they walk through the park and see the potential to have fun on the roller coasters, etc.
"Sorry, larlo and larla, we cant go on the SW Mine Ride"..."But, mommmmmyyyy, please, why not? It looks so cool. This isnt fair," etc.

And given the cost of DW, I'm not sure i could justify just doing the family rides, TS Island, and shows for $109/person.

OMG is that what your kid sounds like? Sounds like awful bratty behavior!
Older children from larger families like OPs just get used to the fact that it isn't "all about them." They learn at an early age to understand that sometimes the needs of their siblings come before their own "wants."

I'm the PP with five children. We have a mom in this thread with ONE child saying she would need a nanny to visit Disney by herself with her child. The OP has four children. I think most of us with larger families are more confident in our parenting ability, maybe? My DH deployed when my youngest was six weeks old. It sucked that he was gone. But we didn't alter our lives. We went to Disney at least twice while he was gone. We also flew to Hawaii to visit my parents. And we did all the normal day to day things people with kids do. School, church, sports, music, playdates,... I think the OP could easily handle a few hours at Disney.

PP you quoted here.
I get you. I have 4 children myself and also a husband who was active duty military when they were young (he's now retired and they are now in middle school-college.) It never occurred to me to not do things alone with my kids, because there was no alternative! It's not like I'm going to spend 6+ months completely home bound!

I’m another one with a very large family (7), husband has deployed. You couldn’t pay me to take them to disney, it’s just not set up easily for larger families, but I’ve done multiple other trips alone so I’m certainly not scared of being alone with them. I just think you’re setting yourself up to be miserable and why do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No for Magic Kingdom. Too many young kids to safely navigate. Older ones will be bored and question why they can't do anything.

Hollywood Studios could be okay. They have a lot of shows (at least 4 I think), Jedi Training for the older 2, and possibly a family friendly ride (Toy Story Mania?).

Animal Kingdom might be okay as well, they have some good shows (Lion King, Nemo, Bugs Life) and ride wise the Safari, Triceratops spin potentially, and Navi river. There's also the bone yard where kids can dig.

Epcot has some family friendly rides, but the older ones will get bored. Otherwise you can walk around the world and they may have a hunt of some kind for the older two (finding objects in each country). I think it's Remi right now for food and wine festival. They can also get passports stamped. The Frozen ride is a bit more exciting for the older two.

You couldnt pay me to go to Hollywood Studios right now. Just getting to the front through the parking lot is horrendous as it is all under construction.

[Anonymous]

Legoland or a waterpark?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Legoland or a waterpark?

Either of those is even worse than Disney.

Legoland is set up for one parent to ride with one child, period. The 6 year old, and possibly the 8 year old will not be able to ride anything without a 1:1 adult to child ratio. OP is not clear how hold the 3rd child is, but if he is under 3, there will be very few rides he can go on at all, and the baby definitely can not ride anything, even if being held by mom.

The mom doesn't feel safe bringing 4 kids to the hotel pool by herself, a water park is completely out of the question!

[Anonymous]

OP checking back in...wow, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply!

We’re going to be at DW for 6 days (3 at MK) so we can take our time. On a couple of the days, my spouse will have morning conference activities and then will Uber (or whatever) over to join us for the rest of the day.

I think I’m sold on the sitter - either those two mornings at the pool with a sitter or at MK with a sitter. Whoever made the point about a bathroom request when we’re already in line - good point! Also wrangling baby and 4 yr old in line (without stroller to contain them) - that sounds tough. My big kids are helpers and I do believe we could spend 2-3 hours looking at stuff, parades, snacks, etc even if we can’t go on the rides until spouse arrives, but in that case might just be easier to hang at the pool (weather permitting). I do need a sitter at the pool bc both baby and 4 year old need 1:1 supervision and still need to be able to watch big kids, too.

Whoever posted the list of rides that would seat us together - huge thanks! Might be working from this because depending on the sitter we find, big kids might still prefer to ride with me than them. They can be shy.

Anyway, thanks and I think I have a plan now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No for Magic Kingdom. Too many young kids to safely navigate. Older ones will be bored and question why they can't do anything.

Hollywood Studios could be okay. They have a lot of shows (at least 4 I think), Jedi Training for the older 2, and possibly a family friendly ride (Toy Story Mania?).

Animal Kingdom might be okay as well, they have some good shows (Lion King, Nemo, Bugs Life) and ride wise the Safari, Triceratops spin potentially, and Navi river. There's also the bone yard where kids can dig.

Epcot has some family friendly rides, but the older ones will get bored. Otherwise you can walk around the world and they may have a hunt of some kind for the older two (finding objects in each country). I think it's Remi right now for food and wine festival. They can also get passports stamped. The Frozen ride is a bit more exciting for the older two.

You couldnt pay me to go to Hollywood Studios right now. Just getting to the front through the parking lot is horrendous as it is all under construction.

I'm the PP with 4 who went last year and said don't do it without help. I'm also an AD military spouse, but would not do this without at least two kids able to Goff on their own. Military tix are about 1/2 price, too, but it's not like a trip to the zoo! It's several hundred dollars a day, and for that, I want all of us to have fun, not just survive and watch other people having fun.

I found Animal Kingdom particularly difficult with a double stroller. The other parks have wider sidewalks.

[Anonymous]

Go off, not Goff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can do the family rides/infant on your lap- type rides such as Small World, win is the pooh, under the sea, etc.

Or just do the shows. Or
Watch the parades.
Schedule a character breakfast

Also Tom Sawyer island was a big hit with mine. Spent over an hour there.


So, it is possible, but...
Theproblem is your older kids, if you just do the lame rides and shows, will probably be upset and annoyed they cant do anything more fun especially as they walk through the park and see the potential to have fun on the roller coasters, etc.
"Sorry, larlo and larla, we cant go on the SW Mine Ride"..."But, mommmmmyyyy, please, why not? It looks so cool. This isnt fair," etc.

And given the cost of DW, I'm not sure i could justify just doing the family rides, TS Island, and shows for $109/person.

OMG is that what your kid sounds like? Sounds like awful bratty behavior!
Older children from larger families like OPs just get used to the fact that it isn't "all about them." They learn at an early age to understand that sometimes the needs of their siblings come before their own "wants."

Rolling my eyes at this. Yes, older kids in larger families know it’s not all about them. But they’re still kids and still selfish. Most kids wouldn’t be thrilled to see a super fun ride followed by “but we can’t ride it because of the baby”. Heck sometimes as the mother it sucks to have to sit out because of the baby.
-mom of 7 great kids

[Anonymous]

Mom of four here (also part of the military spouse club), who went last month with a 10, 8, 4, and 1 yr old. My husband and I tried to stay together, but the older ones wanted to do things that terrified the 4 yr old. Once we split up, we all had a marvelous time. I had the younger two, lowered my expectations and had a blast. The 4 yr old had several instances of having to go potty at the last minute (just as we were about to get on a ride), which I think were due to his over-excitement. My opinion- taking four is doable, but will be miserable for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP checking back in...wow, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply!

We’re going to be at DW for 6 days (3 at MK) so we can take our time. On a couple of the days, my spouse will have morning conference activities and then will Uber (or whatever) over to join us for the rest of the day.

I think I’m sold on the sitter - either those two mornings at the pool with a sitter or at MK with a sitter. Whoever made the point about a bathroom request when we’re already in line - good point! Also wrangling baby and 4 yr old in line (without stroller to contain them) - that sounds tough. My big kids are helpers and I do believe we could spend 2-3 hours looking at stuff, parades, snacks, etc even if we can’t go on the rides until spouse arrives, but in that case might just be easier to hang at the pool (weather permitting). I do need a sitter at the pool bc both baby and 4 year old need 1:1 supervision and still need to be able to watch big kids, too.

Whoever posted the list of rides that would seat us together - huge thanks! Might be working from this because depending on the sitter we find, big kids might still prefer to ride with me than them. They can be shy.

Anyway, thanks and I think I have a plan now!

This sounds like a great plan!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP checking back in...wow, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply!

We’re going to be at DW for 6 days (3 at MK) so we can take our time. On a couple of the days, my spouse will have morning conference activities and then will Uber (or whatever) over to join us for the rest of the day.

I think I’m sold on the sitter - either those two mornings at the pool with a sitter or at MK with a sitter. Whoever made the point about a bathroom request when we’re already in line - good point! Also wrangling baby and 4 yr old in line (without stroller to contain them) - that sounds tough. My big kids are helpers and I do believe we could spend 2-3 hours looking at stuff, parades, snacks, etc even if we can’t go on the rides until spouse arrives, but in that case might just be easier to hang at the pool (weather permitting). I do need a sitter at the pool bc both baby and 4 year old need 1:1 supervision and still need to be able to watch big kids, too.

Whoever posted the list of rides that would seat us together - huge thanks! Might be working from this because depending on the sitter we find, big kids might still prefer to ride with me than them. They can be shy.

Anyway, thanks and I think I have a plan now!

Sounds good! You might even be able to find a Disney lifeguard who wants to make extra money on their day off to help you at the pool. You could probably advertise on Care.com or similar for Orlando.

[Anonymous]

Hiring a helper is the right move. That’s what I did for one morning at Disneyland so I could take the older kid on height restricted rides. The local sitter agencies should be able to refer you to someone who has an annual pass.

Your 8 yo can sit alone (can even go on rides without you) but the other 3 will need to be seated with you or another person 14+. On some rides that means same row, sometimes it can be the two rows of a self-contained ride vehicle.

[Anonymous]

We just went to DisneyLand (which might be slightly different than Disney World) and they would not allow my 6 year old to ride with my 9 year old. He needed an adult in the same seat.
In order for two kids to be seated together, one had to be older (12, I think?). So any family rides that aren't bench seats would be out of the question without the sitter.

[Anonymous]

We use kids night out in Disney. They are fantastic and offer hotel and park help.