taking toddlers

[kegobl8570]

Hey all. We are going to disney world next October and bringing our 4 boys. They will be 8,4,3,3 (twins) at time of travel. It's just me and my husband to handle all of them. Everyone seems to think it will be a disaster that the twins and 4 year old will just throw fits the whole time, and we won't be able to handle all of them in the park. Has anyone taken this many so young before?

 

[ChloesDaddy]

Hey all. We are going to disney world next October and bringing our 4 boys. They will be 8,4,3,3 (twins) at time of travel. It's just me and my husband to handle all of them. Everyone seems to think it will be a disaster that the twins and 4 year old will just throw fits the whole time, and we won't be able to handle all of them in the park. Has anyone taken this many so young before?

Not 4 kids but 3 -- ages 8, 5, and 2.5 -- and it was fine. Take breaks (not necessarily at the resort every time) and don't push things when the kids are running out of steam and you should have a great trip.

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

I haven't taken that many... but I did bring my two kids when they were little. DS was 2 when he went the first time (no fits, no issues, great time). Next trip he was 5 and DD was weeks away from 2 -- still a great time. DS did have one fit, but that was because his favorite ride was closed for refurbishment and he's a stubborn little guy. Once he finally got over it, everything was fine. We had a great trip.
If you manage your little ones like you do for normal family outings, and go at their pace (which means you won't see/do everything) you'll be fine! Just try to do something each day that your oldest will want to do - so he doesn't feel "stuck" with the "baby stuff". Hope you have a great time!

 

[MischaOz]

Well we only have one child so I can't speak to going with multiple, but I don't know why the little ones would be throwing fits? We took our daughter at 2yrs 8mos and 2yrs 11mos. Both trips were great, no fits. She had a great time. We did take an afternoon break every day.

 

[JediBonas]

We took our twins for their 2nd and 3rd bdays (and they will be just turning 4 our next trip). They did great. I had the same fears and they really did well both trips. We just have the two so no experience with so many kids, though. We just took things slowly, took breaks when needed (they took naps in their strollers a few time or back at our hotel). We really had a great time with them

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Can't speak to multiples either... but our experience was in taking our 3yo while pregnant with #2, and returning once #2 was born and #1 was 4yo.

Our experience the 1st trip was really good. The 3yo seemed to really enjoy it, not many issues.
But when we returned and he was now a 4yo, we had some discipline issues. It seemed like now that he was now experienced in WDW, he now knew what was around, and when we weren't doing one of the things he wanted, he would get upset and try to throw a fit.

The other half of the experience between the two trips was that 3yo potty trained late and was still in diaper as a 3yo. Didn't notice how that affected our Disney trip until he was a potty trained 4yo and had situations like... we've been waiting in a line for 30min... we're 4 minutes from getting on a ride... and you hear those words... "I've got to go potty". And at that age (where they've just recently learned to potty), you know you don't just have them hold it.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Hey all. We are going to disney world next October and bringing our 4 boys. They will be 8,4,3,3 (twins) at time of travel. It's just me and my husband to handle all of them. Everyone seems to think it will be a disaster that the twins and 4 year old will just throw fits the whole time, and we won't be able to handle all of them in the park. Has anyone taken this many so young before?

Yes I have, granted my kids are older now. But if you look at the ages in my signature my 5 children are 6 years apart.

My suggestions are two strollers. Not it's not fun to have two strollers but it will make transporting easier unless you are confident your 4 year old will not want to be in one. Bring snacks, take lots of breaks and know with little ones it will be a different trip than going with adults. Heck I had a blast with mine when they were little, no we didn't do a whole lot of "rides" but we did some. You will have a blast.

Oh and the worst trip we took was when my parents came with us. For whatever reason having that extra set of hands just made it more difficult, go figure.

 

[MammerJammer]

We are going just the two of us with 8, 5, and 3YOs. I'm hoping it will be fun!! We'll have to divide and conquer a lot, I'm thinking.

 

[Mikie]

Are your kids difficult to handle in everyday life? Do they throw fits or run away or misbehave at the grocery store, mall, fairs, zoo near your home? If so, then I surely wouldn't expect any *better* out of them at Disney.

Outside of that, though, it sure presents different challenges when you have little legs, strollers, early bedtimes, less flexibility with mealtimes so some people advise everyone to never go to Disney with little ones. I've never yet traveled with a group that didn't have 1-3 kids under the age of 3 and 3-5 kids total. I wasn't always the one who was best tuned in to the need for mealtimes, sit-down breaks, or to just call it a day, but there has always been someone in my group who is very good at noticing those thing before it gets out of hand. My guess is that most parents are well aware of the ebb and flow of a day with their own kids.

The worst personal stories I hear are the parents who are so much on "vacation mode" themselves or want to be the cool laid-back parent, that they don't enforce any similarity to the home routine and it doesn't work out well (if you wait until every one is 1 hour past usual lunch time and THEN begin looking for a long CS line to get into, you're going to have some tired hungry folks by the time you finally have a seat and some food!)

Disney is tiring and overstimulating for adults and kids alike! If you are prepared to take breaks and chill *before* things become a problem, you can have a wonderful time!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

"Everyone" can suck it. Go and have a great time with your kids. You'll have lots of great memories. Even the things that may seem "bad" at the time will be experiences you'll look back on and laugh at later and tell stories about over family dinner.

Keep the kids on as close to their at-home schedule as possible - schedule naps and eat frequently. Let them set the pace and you will all have an incredible time.

 

[cart-mom]

I have done it. I have four that right now are 20,17,15 & 13. Came just about every year when they were little. You just have to have a basic plan like we are going to mk today and I want to be there for fireworks. Be flexible. Go early if the kids are really risers and get in what you can then go back and rest. Let the twins take a nap while hubby and the oldest go for a swim. (Middle child could be sleeping or swimming) then go back to the parks and have a great night. I made sure my kids always looked out for each other, knew where we were staying and if they got separated they knew to look for a cast member. We even made tags for them one year that had our info on them. Even a year later on our next trip they wanted to take them again.
I've been to wdw with a 3 month old and even 8 months pregnant ( my middle son who weighed in at 10lbs even) . Just go at a pace that fits your kids, get a stroller and let them take turns in it. It will be one of the best memories you'll have. Take lots of pictures and talk about it when your kids get older.

 

[Kathryn777]

Are your kids difficult to handle in everyday life? Do they throw fits or run away or misbehave at the grocery store, mall, fairs, zoo near your home? If so, then I surely wouldn't expect any *better* out of them at Disney.

this! My kids behave the same at Disney as they do elsewhere. We have done many practice trips this summer so we can work on our "problem times"

 

[Mikie]

"Everyone" can suck it. Go and have a great time with your kids. You'll have lots of great memories. Even the things that may seem "bad" at the time will be experiences you'll look back on and laugh at later and tell stories about over family dinner.

Keep the kids on as close to their at-home schedule as possible - schedule naps and eat frequently. Let them set the pace and you will all have an incredible time.

LOL! I love this post, especially the bolded. I'd like to make it a quote in my signature line, but I think it *might* get taken the wrong way!

 

[TravelingTotMom]

I only have one, so I can't speak from experience with your numbers, but I also follow the thought of "If you can handle them at home on a daily basis, then why wouldn't you be able to handle them at Disney?"

You know your own children, and sure, it will probably be a little more work (like wrangling them b/c they are so excited and want to do so many things!), but it will be worth it.

And if one or more of your children have an uncommon meltdown b/c they are hot or overtired, you are at Disney, surrounded by parents who have also been there, so don't worry about it.

 

[DisMom1981]

We've traveled with 2 young children in Disney. I say you won't know until you try. And you should definitely try! I just can't imagine getting on and off rides with two small children as you will have to do, right? But I'd imagine in your life there are lots of things you do all the time that would prepare you! Definitely two double strollers.

 

[jacknsally19]

My hats off to you for managing 4 kids every day - I have one and I often feel like I will lose it lol. People criticize us for going to Disney too often and with a kid that's too young.... So I definitely subscribe to the theory everyone can suck it! I have actually found WDW to be less stressful then other vacations because you are surrounded by other families that can empathize with your issues and you can always find help if you need it. like cast members than can help you with trays if you have too much, help finding an emergency diaper or clothes, a cast member that notices your kid is sad & cheers them up, etc. It's one of the reasons I really like traveling to WDW as a parent!

I have found that the best advice is make sure you have more than enough down time. I think it helps you recharge and prevents kids from being overtired and overstimulated. Don't try to squeeze every ride / experience in.... Also, I know that every one here really recommends rope drop but I have never woken my daughter up in the morning. I always let her sleep as long as she needs. The other thing is - when she does meltdown or even just get really grouchy, we usually just leave bc we realize it's time for a break. This is a more difficult tactic with four kids. It perhaps if one child is acting out, you could have 1 parent take the child some place for a break. The baby centers would probably work for the youngest or one of the nearby hotels (MK -'Contemporary, Epcot / HS a boardwalk hotel)

The other thing that seems to cause meltdowns in our house is hunger and sometimes there can be a long wait for food.... So I suggest bringing snacks!

Good luck - I know you will have a wonderful trip.

 

[Nata]

We went to Disney with 6, 4 and 1.5 year olds and we had a blast! Don't forget to use rider switch so older kids can ride twice - once with mom, once with dad. Pack a lot of snacks for toddlers. Reserve early ADRs (11 -11.30), take afternoon breaks. It will be fun!!!

 

[RustManFan]

Frankly glad I only have 2! How do the kids behave in other situations? Throw fits at grocery store? Disruptive when at restaurants? Have difficulty around strangers or in crowds? Cause other airline passengers to give you the evil eye or make rude comments?

How they react on a daily basis will give you some clue how they will act at WDW.

 

[jwolfpack]

It will be fine! Advice like that always drives me nuts. Disney World is hand down THE MOST magical for kids ages 3-5. It's all still so real to them. Good advice above for bringing 2 strollers. I have 3 kids, and we couldn't have functioned without having 2 strollers on our last trip.

Rally your crew to get there for rope drop to minimize waiting in line. Those first 2 hours are always our absolute favorite because we can do so much. Late breakfasts (~10:45) have worked great for us too - it lets the kids ride a bunch first thing, then gives them a break when they need it.

For us, we always have to choose between staying through mid-afternoon (to see afternoon parade, etc) and leaving early OR taking an afternoon break and returning to the park for evening festivities. After 3 trips with young kids, we know we will be setting ourselves up for meltdowns if we try to make it from rope drop all the way through to Wishes.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

Of all the replies to your post, I was fully expecting a half dozen dealing with taking the kids on rides or into attractions. God only gave each of you adults two hands. And that's usually not enough once you have 3 children. And the youngest ones will probably be too young/too small to ride some of the things that your 8 year old will surely want to ride (and maybe even the next older one). That's where I always thought grandparents came in handy. We saw many grandparents acting as sitters at rides that younger children couldn't ride on while parents took the older ones. We also saw hundreds over the years of children sound asleep in their strollers in the middle of the day or even late morning because they were worn out. The parents often looked frazzled. We only ever had two guys and they're long since adults. But we lived in FL and had AP for years and got to do a lot of people watching. I'd say keep your expectations low and be prepared for all possibilities............for all four. I hope you have a wonderful time, but honestly glad it's not me.