Commando touring with an 8yr old

[HatboxHaint]

Anyone take trips with just one child in that age range? (I say one child because once you start adding multiple kids all kinds of craziness happens) Can your kid tolerate all-day moderate paced park touring?

 

[jerseyjersey]

I think it's super dependent upon the kid in question. My 7 y/o is happy to go, go, go while at Disney, but we've traveled with family members, and the 8 and 10 year olds with us were both dragging by day 3.

 

[Roxyfire]

So my kid is 11 but the size of a big 8 year old/average 9 year old. So physically, I would say he could do that for maybe one day out of the trip. Not multiple days. Not in the heat for sure. For MNSSHP last year we did do rope drop to close and that was kinda touch and go about 2 pm. He wanted to leave for the rest of the day. I had to basically convince him to go sit down and relax in the Hall of Presidents and have a snack after. Never again. Now that I know better, I really see no point in pushing it. He likes to swim, I like to sit down, rest, and have a drink by the pool midday. Then we can return to the park of choice in the evening.

 

[wonderstruck88]

In my experience, just about all kids seriously benefit from a middle of the day break. Although I'm 29 and I sill get pretty darn whiny if I don't get a mid-day break. Apologies to my husband, who has said that all day heat definitely turns me into a kid, and not in the good "having such a fun time at Disney" way. So my answer is probably biased.

 

[Shanti]

Anyone take trips with just one child in that age range? (I say one child because once you start adding multiple kids all kinds of craziness happens) Can your kid tolerate all-day moderate paced park touring?

My son did at that age. In fact, kids are typically so enthusiastic & ride-focused, they make ideal commando companions imo. Especially when there's only one kid & he gets all of the attention, gets to make choices, etc.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Anyone take trips with just one child in that age range? (I say one child because once you start adding multiple kids all kinds of craziness happens) Can your kid tolerate all-day moderate paced park touring?

Yes. DH can't, though... ...

But I'd agree with others -- depends entirely on the child.

 

[Tattylou]

I have a 7 and 9 year old. Commando would not end well for them...it would turn into whining, complaining, etc. They need the break. Even one on one they'd need the break. They like to swim though so they'd be harassing me to get back to the pool anyway so there's that....

 

[Shanti]

Yes. DH can't, though... ...

But I'd agree with others -- depends entirely on the child.

Same here. My 9 year-old son and I would stay up at MK past midnight, while my SO would already be soaking his feet in the resort tub by 10pm.

 

[MagicPlanningMom]

Definitely agree it depends on the kid. I have three, and the last time we went they were 13, 11, and 8. They actually do pretty well with sort of a "commando lite" style. We generally go almost full throttle from rope drop till lunch with a pretty good idea of what we want to accomplish. After lunch we try to leave the plans a little more flexible but still usually end up moving quickly and hitting lots of attractions. It's usually my husband who has a hard time keeping up! We do usually plan a sit down dinner which helps too. We've never done the midday break but do enjoy the "rest" type attractions like Carousel of Progress, Laugh Floor, etc. which sort of helps too. I think if you think your kid is up to it, you could plan on going sort of commando in the morning and see how things go? That way if you need to slow down you won't be feeling disappointed you didn't do all you wanted, but if your child is still ready to keep going you have that option. In other words I guess, play it by ear.

 

[Delirium]

My now 13 year old has always been go, go, go on multiple trips. I don't recall him ever whining, regardless of his age at the time. Meanwhile, my now 11 year old has historically been a little more on the fence. She has never outright required a break, but she has been known to take a nap during certain attractions.

 

[JerseyJanice]

My now 13 year old has always been go, go, go on multiple trips. I don't recall him ever whining, regardless of his age at the time. Meanwhile, my now 11 year old has historically been a little more on the fence. She has never outright required a break, but she has been known to take a nap during certain attractions.

I've been known to nap during certain attractions myself. LOL! A little rest here and there makes for a happy trip.

 

[dreiwhit]

My daughter had just turned 8 a few months before her first trip to WDW. We did Commando style touring and she hung with it every step of the way!

 

[danielocha30]

Commando Mom here and have done it with 2 kids and it worked, but obviously not all kids can, mine are up for it and a sit down meal, and having a break here and there to enjoy a snack is enough rest, no need to head back to the hotel and we had toured the parks from rope drop to fireworks without a single meltdown
Edited to add that we had never done it on summer, the heat can beat the best commando crew

 

[maltdizzy]

Mine was doing 15-hour days walking the parks at age 4 (going on 5), I have a pciture of him at 2:30 a.m. in the MK still going. By trips when he was 6 and 9, he couldn't be stopped (not even by the august heat and humidity). Sure, he loved pool breaks and the water parks as well, but he didn't need them.

At that age, he had friends who could hike or park tour all day and ones who would have quit by hour 2, so your mileage may vary. If I were to generalize from my observations, single kids on a trip usually "push harder" since they don't have to accommodate to the schedules and whims of others.

 

[GillianP1301]

I travel alone with my DS9 yearly to WDW and last year at 8 was when he really started being able to handle long park hours and was starting to outpace me on many of the days. When we first started going, he was only 4 and I only did 1 late night in our 10 day trip. At age 5 & 6, I upped it to 2 night. At age 7, he was good with another night added and at age 8, he was going from morning until midnight on a few of our days (we did MNSSHP) and we had no issues with fatigue, sore feet, etc... We do generally have 2 or 3 TS meals a day though and that does ensure we are getting regular rest/cool down throughout the day and I think that makes a huge difference.

 

[HatboxHaint]

My daughter had just turned 8 a few months before her first trip to WDW. We did Commando style touring and she hung with it every step of the way!

Did you utilize a stroller?

 

[HatboxHaint]

I travel alone with my DS9 yearly to WDW and last year at 8 was when he really started being able to handle long park hours and was starting to outpace me on many of the days. When we first started going, he was only 4 and I only did 1 late night in our 10 day trip. At age 5 & 6, I upped it to 2 night. At age 7, he was good with another night added and at age 8, he was going from morning until midnight on a few of our days (we did MNSSHP) and we had no issues with fatigue, sore feet, etc... We do generally have 2 or 3 TS meals a day though and that does ensure we are getting regular rest/cool down throughout the day and I think that makes a huge difference.

Did you mean quick service meals?

 

[dreiwhit]

Did you utilize a stroller?

No stroller. She walked the entire time, and didn't complain.

FWIW, she outgrew a stroller years ago.

 

[GillianP1301]

Did you mean quick service meals?

No, TS meals. We always do breakfast and supper at TS and on many days lunch as well. We travel in late August, so I really like having the built in breaks. We do breakfast before the park opens usually (or close to it) and then do most of our attractions we want in the morning before resting at a meal at lunch. Depending on the day, we generally tour right through until dinner time, but the odd day if we are just too tired, we head to the resort pool. Most days after dinner we are back in the park, but on a few days I plan for being back in our room early so my son can get to bed close to his normal bed time (by 9:00). I try to plan things so that a really late night is not followed by a really early morning, that also helps.

I would not want to attempt the number of park hours we do over a day 10 trip with only having QS meals, it just wouldn't be enough of a rest for us.

 

[ldymcbth]

It also really depends on time of year. We went for the first time in June this year (we've had some changes and can't tour in the "off-season" anymore) and the heat was tough. My kids, who could happily rope-drop and close down MK in other months, were exhausted by 3p. We didn't see a single nighttime show this past trip because I had booked fastpasses from 2-5p each day, and by the time those were over everyone was just done. I was so disappointed, but I didn't want to force them to stay in the parks when they were so clearly over it. We took plenty of breaks and ate plenty of snacks but it just didn't work out.

If I had it to do over again, I would book early morning fastpasses, leave right after lunch, and come back around dinner time - because we found rope drop was not as useful as it had been in the past and we really didn't get as much done during those first two hours as in previous visits. Then we could recharge at the hotel, swim, whatever, before heading back into the parks for the evening.