How did your elementary-age kids do with 11-1 AM extended evening at MK?

[Nutmeg2016]

Hello,

I just saw that hours for our trip the last week in April were extended, in-line with the rest of spring break (I guess it's going to be busy. . ).

We were all looking forward to the extended evening hours on Wednesday (4/27), but as others have lamented, 11-1 AM is really pushing it for my kids (they're 7 and 10).

Just curious to hear how other families have done with this scenario, i.e. did a "Disney buzz" keep your kids going really late? Did you attempt mid-day naps?

Appreciate any insights!

 

[lynzi2004]

This was my 8 and 10 year old on one of those late hours nights during Christmas week Now in context, this was the last night of a 5 day trip, that including late Epcot nights and a Christmas party. They were exhausted, we had rope dropped HS that morning, but they also didn’t want to leave bc they heard us talking about walk on rides…so we went to Cosmic rays for dinner after fireworks and while we were eating they both fell asleep. They essentially slept like this from probably 9:15-10:45 . We woke them up bc Cosmic Rays was closing at 11pm…we then proceeded to ride hard until 1am and had the best time. Our 4 year on the other hand went strong bc he had stroller napped earlier, while the big kids napped, DH and him did Buzz, Speedway, Teacups, dumbo, etc and had a blast!!!

But little legs that are really too old for strollers make for a long day!

 

[Nutmeg2016]

This was my 8 and 10 year old on one of those late hours nights during Christmas week Now in context, this was the last night of a 5 day trip, that including late Epcot nights and a Christmas party. They were exhausted, we had rope dropped HS that morning, but they also didn’t want to leave bc they heard us talking about walk on rides…so we went to Cosmic rays for dinner after fireworks and while we were eating they both fell asleep. They essentially slept like this from probably 9:15-10:45 . We woke them up bc Cosmic Rays was closing at 11pm…we then proceeded to ride hard until 1am and had the best time. Our 4 year on the other hand went strong bc he had stroller napped earlier, while the big kids napped, DH and him did Buzz, Speedway, Teacups, dumbo, etc and had a blast!!!

Oh my, that pic is priceless!!! So glad you had a fantastic experience despite the late hours. Did you take a break at the resort between HS and MK? We'll definitely head back there in the early afternoon and close the blackout curtains, etc. for some rest time, even if no one actually sleeps. .

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hello,

I just saw that hours for our trip the last week in April were extended, in-line with the rest of spring break (I guess it's going to be busy. . ).

We were all looking forward to the extended evening hours on Wednesday (4/27), but as others have lamented, 11-1 AM is really pushing it for my kids (they're 7 and 10).

Just curious to hear how other families have done with this scenario, i.e. did a "Disney buzz" keep your kids going really late? Did you attempt mid-day naps?

Appreciate any insights!

We started doing later nights at the parks when our girls were around 5 or so. We usually do midday breaks, even now that they're teens, since we all need it but they kept going strong. Their favorite memories, especially my youngest, is being so tired on the bus rides back to the resort, the bus being dark and quiet and she'd fall asleep on me. Also, my fave memories too I will say even now that they're older, it's hard to keep on trucking until the wee hours so we do pace ourselves. We're doing the EEH in a few weeks till 1am and I know we'll need a break midday and we're not planning on RD that day either.

But when they were young, so long as we had food and breaks, they were fine. We did a handful of super late nights and parties and they were troopers but we paced them for sure.

 

[lynzi2004]

Oh my, that pic is priceless!!! So glad you had a fantastic experience despite the late hours. Did you take a break at the resort between HS and MK? We'll definitely head back there in the early afternoon and close the blackout curtains, etc. for some rest time, even if no one actually sleeps. .

We did…but we were switching resorts that day and our room at Poly wasn’t ready. So we sat around in the lobby and walked around on the beach. By the time our room was finally ready 4-5pmish…we had to get to MK for some prebooked LL. We were probably out of the parks from 1:30-4:30, but yes if we could have all had a good rest in our room that would have helped!

 

[Alison S]

I did MK AH with DS7 a few years ago. It went until 1 AM and we were back at the hotel & he was asleep by 2. I was surprised at how well he did! We didn't really do anything special to prepare for it- I think we were still up for RD at Epcot (which I believe was 9 at that time), then spent the afternoon at the hotel pool, and then headed back to MK around 7. I think the key is to have a nice TS meal around 5 or 6, then head to the MK afterwards so that you aren't there too long!

 

[Nutmeg2016]

We started doing later nights at the parks when our girls were around 5 or so. We usually do midday breaks, even now that they're teens, since we

We started doing later nights at the parks when our girls were around 5 or so. We usually do midday breaks, even now that they're teens, since we all need it but they kept going strong. Their favorite memories, especially my youngest, is being so tired on the bus rides back to the resort, the bus being dark and quiet and she'd fall asleep on me. Also, my fave memories too I will say even now that they're older, it's hard to keep on trucking until the wee hours so we do pace ourselves. We're doing the EEH in a few weeks till 1am and I know we'll need a break midday and we're not planning on RD that day either.

Thanks for the input, those sound like wonderful memories!! Yeah, I'm rethinking if we should RD for that morning (although thankfully opening stayed at 9 AM, so it's not crazy early. . .).

 

[Nutmeg2016]

I did MK AH with DS7 a few years ago. It went until 1 AM and we were back at the hotel & he was asleep by 2. I was surprised at how well he did! We didn't really do anything special to prepare for it- I think we were still up for RD at Epcot (which I believe was 9 at that time), then spent the afternoon at the hotel pool, and then headed back to MK around 7. I think the key is to have a nice TS meal around 5 or 6, then head to the MK afterwards so that you aren't there too long!

Thanks, that's great to hear! Yeah, we'll definitely start the evening later, probably around 7 or so as you did. .

 

[cheryl.UK]

a few years ago we took our nieces to WDW (6 and 8). MK closed at 1 am. We rode Dumbo multiple time just after midnight without getting off. Cue, "I don't want to ride Dumbo any more" with tears. We stopped and started to head down Main Street. "Let's go see Tinkerbell" says my husband was met with more tears. "One last photo with the castle in the background?" I wish I could find the photo of me being bitten on the arm by the 6 year old.

 

[Jennasis]

A few years ago we were in Epcot for EMH and it was around midnight. A loud family comes past us over by Figment (there were some drinks in hand) and they are having a loud grand old time. The mom has a kid by the hand...maybe 5 or so? The little girl is just silently weeping. Tears are running down her face but not a sound. Finally she looks up at her mom and pleads in the saddest little voice ever "Mommy PLEASE. I'm so tired." That awful lady laughed with the other adults at her kid and chided her "Now Sally, part of learning how to be an adult is learning how to stay up late!" And off they dragged her to ride Figment.

Meanwhile, DH and I were exhausted and left.

 

[Nutmeg2016]

a few years ago we took our nieces to WDW (6 and 8). MK closed at 1 am. We rode Dumbo multiple time just after midnight without getting off. Cue, "I don't want to ride Dumbo any more" with tears. We stopped and started to head down Main Street. "Let's go see Tinkerbell" says my husband was met with more tears. "One last photo with the castle in the background?" I wish I could find the photo of me being bitten on the arm by the 6 year old.

A few years ago we were in Epcot for EMH and it was around midnight. A loud family comes past us over by Figment (there were some drinks in hand) and they are having a loud grand old time. The mom has a kid by the hand...maybe 5 or so? The little girl is just silently weeping. Tears are running down her face but not a sound. Finally she looks up at her mom and pleads in the saddest little voice ever "Mommy PLEASE. I'm so tired." That awful lady laughed with the other adults at her kid and chided her "Now Sally, part of learning how to be an adult is learning how to stay up late!" And off they dragged her to ride Figment.

Lol, I knew it couldn't be all good experiences!! We certainly won't push the kids if they're not up for it (esp. my husband, who just lectured me on the "sunk cost fallacy" ;- ). And thankfully since there's two adults, one can head back with a tired kiddo if the other kid wants to stay. . .

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

We had a 7 and an 8 year old there recently and wondered if we could do the late nights.

Big no. They were EXHAUSTED after each day. We had a plan one night to wake one of them up and take them out but...they were so extremely tired that we just let them sleep. And it was fine! We still had a blast without closing the parks.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

My fondest Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming ‘One More Time Daddy’ all the way.

 

[zillayen]

We had hoped to do EE at MK last month but we didn't make it. We had a busy day bc we were coming over from Universal. We made it until 11 pm and then everyone was pooped and wanted to go back to the room. I think if we had been able to sleep in that day and/or have a nap midday it would have been fine (my kids are 5th graders).

 

[Jen81NYC]

Great Q! Im also going this month and torn about this myself. My kids are 6 and 9 . My question is also “how exhausted are they the next day??” Like if we push through it and they actually do okay with it, is the next day gonna be miserable? It’s not like there’s any guarantee they’ll sleep in!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

My 6 year old stayed up amazingly late in March for the MK (and Epcot, although that wasn’t as late) extra hours at evening. She was a trooper and went til 12:30am, and would have kept going except I was tired. The one mistake I made was suggesting we do Country Bear Jamboree. Sitting for any length of time made us realize how tired we were. But as soon as we went and helped defeat Zurg, energy levels went back up!

We don’t use a stroller at the parks but we also take it easy during the day hanging out at the resort, shopping, just generally relaxing at the pool, and normally pop into a park for the first time around 7pm once the sun is close to setting and people are heading out for the day. We never ever do rope drop.

 

[Eastern]

Generalizing, although each kid has their own clock, I would say 10 and over are good to stay up and 10 and under will probably get tired. What I would definitely consider is that you will need the next morning to recover, so don't plan on rope dropping the next day.

 

[MainMom]

We plan on doing MK late hours in June with 6, 8, & 10 year olds. TBH I’m more concerned about my 20 year old. Her natural body clock has always been early to rise early to bed. We do plan on sleeping in and doing the pool the next day.

 

[DSNY4ever]

My kids would never make it without a break. We did this once and we went back and did an afternoon nap, woke them up in the evening, ate dinner and got them completely ready for bed (Mickey pjs and all!). Went to the MK watched the fireworks, rode a couple rides and then met Tinkerbell, and then brought them back at 1 am and slid them right into bed. They LOVED it. However, now they are older and would be totally embarrassed walking around in their pjs!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

We just did the late night (1 am) last week, and both girls (ages 8 and 11) did great. We did take the next day off to recoup and swim. The next day, we had Beaches and Cream for 2:30, and T Rex/Wolfgang Puck for 7:00. Could have done with a later dinner, or an earlier B&C.