Yippee! We're taking borrowed children to WDW!

[TarraLee]

Yippee!!! I am so so so excited! We just found out we are taking my two little cousins (I'm like their aunt, but actually cousins) to WDW with us in December. I'm about to burst just thinking about how much fun it will be!


BUT, we don't have kids, and I have never been to WDW with anyone younger than 14.

These kids are 5 (boy) and 6 (girl)......and I have no idea what they'll like, where they'll want to stay, where they'll want to eat, etc. Any suggestions would be awesome. I was going to print out the pictures of Resorts from Deb's site and let them pick. But I don't know what the "perks" of the different resorts are for kids......I also need some ideas for little surprises from now til Dec.

And, I know about ride restrictions, but I don't have any clue how tall the average 5 or 6 year old is?? could you all tell me how old your 5 year olds are please?


So excited to have an excuse to go to breakfast at CRT and to hang out on the Families Board!

TIA,
tarralee

 

[MrsMud]

could you all tell me how old your 5 year olds are please?

LOL. My 5 year old is 5 years old
Okay, sorry for being a smart alec. Actually I just measured my two girls yesterday. The 5 year old is just shy of 43", and I would say she is average height for her age. We have a 5 year old boy next door who is about the same height.
As for what they will like: MK will no doubt be their favorite park, so I would plan on at least 2 days there. Fantasyland as well as Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain were my older Dd's favorites when she was 5 1/2. They also liked AK and MGM, but we didn't need more than a day at either of these. Don't miss the Osborne Lights, my kids (as well as the adults) loved them. I was surprised to find that, while I just wanted to hurry and get on the rides, one of their favorite parts was getting pictures and autographs with the characters. Character meals are usually a good bet, too; we did Chef Mickey's our first night and it was great!
Can't tell you much about the Disney Resorts, we stayed offsite at HIFS, which we all loved. Oh, another of their favorites: swimming in the pool. We probably could have spent a couple days swimming at the hotel and they would have been just as happy. All in all, you really can't go wrong at Disney, so relax and have fun planning!

 

[TarraLee]

Thanks MrsMud!

Sorry about the how old are your 5 year olds- I guess I was too excited to be typing what was in my head!!


hahaha- I meant how tall, thanks for decoding it.

43" huh? Just 1" short of Space......well, they have til Dec to grow! I'm going to call their parents sometime this week so they can measure them, but I was trying to figure it out, and I had no idea how tall a 5yr old would be.

MK is my favorite too, so that's great. Wondering if it is worth it for us to try and do MVMCP? DH and I went last year, but worried it will be too long/too late for the kiddos.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I am also taking a borrowed child !!!! I thought I was the only nut out there . He is my 2 1/2 yr old nephew . Brennan is excited but not as much as I am . We are staying at the WL and we are so happy about that ! If anyone has any tips for me keeping him busy let me know . ENJOY your trip !!!! Wishing you many Disney Days ahead

 

[Baloo]

Hi TarraLee! Glad you're here!

I think MVMCP is a great idea if you do it right.I took Erich when he was 15mth,4,5 and 6 yrs old.He's been to every MNSSHP since he was 13 mths old,he's 9 now.I never had a grouchy boy.The day of the party we always took it easy.Maybe lunch at Rainforest Cafe some shopping at the MKTPL.Then back to the room for a NAP...a MUST for you and the kiddies IMO!!!

Little ones that age seem to like the themeing at the All Star Resorts.If you're looking at Moderates PO is has a cool pool and play area.Deluxes...AKL...ya can't beat having real live animals outside your window!!

Stick around here and you'll find the answers to all your questions about kiddies!

 

[Samandmom]

I agree about going to MVMCP. Just have an off day that day. Go swimming take a nap and then have nice dinner and then do the party. We just went to MNSSHP which is pretty similar but with a Halloween theme. We just went shopping at Dowtown Disney for the morning, had an afternoon break at our resort and then had dinner at Chef Mickey's. We did not stay till the end of the party, but still had a great time. This was with a two year old. It should be easier with a 5 and 6 yr old. Have a great time and just relax.

 

[NotUrsula]

A childless relative of mine took a friend's children to WDW a couple of years ago, and the little darlings, who had never travelled anywhere in their lives, made the trip interesting, to say the least. I have to share 2 stories she told me; they are priceless:

They all get on the plane, my relative's DH volunteers to sit with the 5 yo and entertain him. The weather is not particularly good, so there are takeoff delays. Finally, the plane takes off, and it's rough. Little boy loudly pipes up with, "Hey, God lives up in the sky; are we going to see God now?" Collective gasp goes up from the nervous passengers.

Same child, two days later, on the way to the MK in the morning. Cool, they get to ride in the cab of the monorail; isn't the view great? Boy: "Hey, what does this do?" Sccrreeecchhh ... Driver: "That was the emergency stop switch." They had to sit on the track for some time. Apparently, when the emergency stop is triggered, there is complex safety-check procedure that has to be followed before they can start up the train again. Apparently, it made for a trainload of very unhappy campers; my relatives were mortified.

Even with these incidents and a few others, my relative said that bringing little kids made it more fun, and I concur. My advice is, be prepared for just about anything, including a lot of embarrassed laughter!

 

[Baloo]

Oh so that's who that was on the monorail?!?!? LOL...kidding!!!

Kids do say the darnedest things don't they?

Thanks for the giggle this morning!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

What lucky kids, and what joy awaits you. I had been to WDW twice before my first trip with my DS. There is nothing like introducing a child to WDW. There are lots of things to think about to make your trip go great. First, are these little one used to spending long periods of time alone with you? Perhaps a few week-end visits will assure no home-sickness, missing mommy while you are gone. Spending extra time with them before hand will also give you an insite as to what they are ready to do. Many 5 year olds are 40 inches, but many of them are not ready to do the thrill rides. I would start slow and work up to the bigger rides as they become comfortable with them.
I would choose your favorite resort and then introduce it to them as your favorite and they will love it. Of course if it is in the budget, a momorail resort would be idea for the quick access to MK. MK will be a favorite but I would not skip any park. Most kids love each park for it's self.
Tour at a much slower pace and plan to take breaks even if you don't do this when you travel alone.
Don't forget written permission from their parents for them to travel with you and for emergeny medical care.
Have a ball being a kid again.


jordan's mom

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Last summer I took my daughter and my 7 y.o. grandson and 5½ y.o. granddaughter to WDW.

We stayed in a cabin at Fort Wilderness. This worked really well as we could put the kids to bed, while my daughter and I could sit up awhile reading or watching TV.

We also rented an electric cart (reserve way in advance they are POPULAR) and we all had a blast tootling around the campground!

FW also offers a sing-along each evening with Chip & Dale, followed by a movie shown outdoors. We had evening t'storms, but managed to go one night and had a wonderful time.

Wm & Cissy loved collecting autographs from the characters and locating the pressed penny machines and *smashing* pennies.

We did a couple of character meals (Breakfastosaurus in Animal Kingdom and Chef Mickey's) which they enjoyed.

Wm enjoyed the Grand Floridan's pirate cruise and taking a swim break each afternoon.

We didn't go to Epcot last summer, but the kids enjoyed AK, MK and MGM. Since Cissy was under 6 we stuck (for the most part) to the gentler rides, although she rode Dinosaur in AK and enjoyed it!

Although I had a daily "plan" of where we'd be it was pretty flexible as the kids enjoyed taking in the sights rather than rushing from one attraction to the next.

 

[TarraLee]

Wow- thank you allf or the wonderful advice! :big grin:

These two little ones are from Tennessee, we are in St Louis. So we see them quite a few times a year, and are going down to spend Memorial Day at the lake with them. While they've never been on a trip with us, they are used to traveling and being away from their parents (we have extended family, and they have traveled with other aunties and grandparents before with no problems). :wink:

And, they're both "ready for anything" type of kids. ie they aren't scared of intertubing behind the boat, four wheelers, etc. So, we'll start with gentler rides and work our way up to the big ones, but I'm betting they'll be game. if not, we'll do the child swap- Can you do this for "big" kids who don't want to ride?

I would love to stay at FW, Memaw2wm, or WL, (Dh and I have been wanting to stay there), but I think the theme would be totally lost on them- where they live is basically WL/FW, and they go on 2 big camping trips a year. Still, I think they'll like the petting zoo and the campfire night.

AKL would be great, but I worry about how long it might take to get back to the hotel for nap time. I was thinking maybe the Poly bc it is monorail, and bc it is probably the farthest thing from where they live (other than Africa, but they are used to animals (albeit deer, not giraffes) outside the windows- not knocking AKL, just thinking maybe the convenience of the Poly is more important with 2 littles.

Thanks, jordans mom, for the reminder about written permission and insurance info.

A million questions, but two specifically-
1) do you get a stroller for kids this age or are they okay on foot?
2) has anyone done CP with kids this age?


TIA, you guys are great!

 

[April in Disney]

TarraLee, First I have to say I admire your courage. Second, be well prepared. I have gone to wdw two Dec ago and it was very very cold. Make sure the kids have hats and gloves.
My DDwas 5 that year and we did not get her a stroller. We did CP that year and she really loved it.
For a surprise start looking for trading pins for them in outlets or Disney store.
Also you can get them a basket waiting in your room filled with autograph book and big pen,...
Don't forget to pack raincoats for them.
As far as resorts my DD'S favorite is AKL and we have been to Po,Poly, Cont, GF, AKL.

 

[TarraLee]

Thanks April.

We went last Dec to MVMCP and were suprised how COLD it was. DH and I ended up buying fleece and long sleeve shirts bc we had only packed 1 warm outfit each.....I defenitely drank lots of hot chocolate!

Pin trading is a great idea! I have never done it. But I started saving those Kellogs box tops--maybe I could send them in and get pins, and watch for sales at DS. So, is 5 old enough for pin trading??

Good idea about the basket. I was thinking I would buy some little surprises and mail them each month with a letter describing something about our trip from now til Dec.

Maybe I should give some more thought to AKL....but the Poly would just be so convenient, and maybe cheaper GV than AKL's savannah view.... hmm, guess I'll have to get in the "waiting on codes" line.

 

[BrerMom]

Maybe it's just a Michigan thing, but our kids ask daily to go swimming. We've gone twice in January and they swam almost every day. Storm-a-long Bay is incredible.

On my DS5's first plane trip, there was a mess-up with the tickets. We thought we were sitting together only to find out that we were scattered all over the plane. None of our three had flown before. Somebody was nice enough to trade so I could sit with our baby. That's when I decided that my kids would always carry their own backpacks of stuff to entertain themselves. It adds to the "big-kid" feeling, too. Soooo, we're taxiing in to begin unloading and DS says loudly to the people around him, "Oh, goody, this is the part where we get to slide down!" At least we knew he was paying attention to the safety speech!

I took ten minutes a night before they went to sleep and asked them a couple of basic questions like "What did you do/see today?" or "What was your favorite thing we did today?" I took notes while the kids dictated. (I talked to one kid while DH got the other one ready for bed.) When we got home, I was able to turn my notes into a really cute journal using their notes and my pictures.

Another fun thing to do is to give each kid a disposable camera. They sure don't take the same pictures we would!

 

[MrsMud]

1) do you get a stroller for kids this age or are they okay on foot?

I say, if they are willing to sit in the stroller count your blessings and go for it! Little legs cannot walk as fast or as far as you can, and I would much rather bring them along at my speed than have to slow down to match theirs. Also, if they are in the stroller you will know where they are EVERY minute. Even with two adults it's sometimes difficult to keep track of two little ones in a crowd, especially if they're going in two different directions! I am desperately hoping that my Dds (who will be 5 1/2 and 7 1/2) will be willing to "ride in the chariot" again for our Oct. trip!

 

[tbear]

.....Our last trip, May 2000...DW, DS7, DD5, myself.....

We stayed without the stroller....my kids thought that the kids their age and older looked "silly" riding in them...they couldnt understand why they couldnt walk around like them(this is from our journal, and their own words, not mine..LOL..so flame my kids, not me!!!)

As far as rides, my kids met the height requirements for alot of different things, and they went on almost everything..my DD wouldnt do TOT, but LOVED SpaceMT.She rode that 5...maybe 6 times.

We did 2 seperate enites.....and they stayed through till the end each night(mom was more tired than them..LOL

I highly reccomend the mid day break, and my wife says"do a mid day nap, or at least, downtime.

If the kids are up for it, and they sound like they are, I dont see anything other than hieght restrictions that would stop you from riding most things.

Enjoy the trip..the kids will!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TarraLee]

Loving all the good tips, and taking lots of notes......have started several lists (must packs, to do ahead of time, to do at parks) and a "Tips for Our Trip" page.

Somewhere I read to buy kids souveniers ahead of time and take them with you and give them one each day. So, I went to TDS and bought their first souveniers! 75% off rack has a purple and white glittery Tinkerbelle long-sleeved baseball T for Abbey (6yr old girl) and a long sleeve yellow embroidered Buzz t-shirt was 12.99 for Trevor (5 yr old boy), plus the $5 off for Mickey Monday, a total of $13.65!!


BrerMom- thanks for the disposable camera idea, added it to the list!

Mrs Mud- I'd be happy with the stroller thing, but DH says he's not pushing a stroller bc if he wanted to be pushing a stroller we'd be making our own "little souvenier" sometime soon (wink, wink)......guess he'll get used to piggyback rides then

Tbear- a mid-day nap sounds great for me! hoping the kiddos will go for it too. And glad to hear your little one could handle the late e-nights.

TIA, and keep the ideas coming Anyone have Littles who pin trade?

 

[BevS97]

So, is 5 old enough for pin trading??

my dd (4 1/2 on our last trip) was very into pin 'collecting' - she was not into giving her precious pins away - under any circumstances....

what we did was get 2 lanyards, one for me and one for her - when we traded, I gave a pin away off my lanyard, and she added the new pin to hers! Not exactly fair, but it worked pretty well...

I have to say, I can understand her point of view, unless you buy pins specifically with trading in mind, then I would normally think I've bought that pin because I like it, so why would I want to give it away.

In Disneyland Paris they had some packs of 4 identical pins that were pretty cheap, so we bought those and traded them with CMs (who will trade for anything), I have never seen those packs at WDW, so I will probably go to the character warehouse this time and pick up some cheap pins just to trade.

It's not that the pins we get from the CMs are any more valuable that the ones we buy, and we do buy a fair few of the carts because we like them - but it's so much more fun to go over and chat to all the CMs and look at their lanyards and see if they have anything good, to me it's all part of the experience.

bev

 

[Gilligan]

Having just come back from WDW with DH, DD 5 and DS 9, I could not have managed without our old tattered stroller. It does depend on the child of course, but my DD couldn't cope with the size of the theme parks, and having the stroller sure saved on bellyaching Still, if you don't take one, and DH's shoulders give out, you can always rent a stroller there.

I prepared a little 'welcome' bag for them, including mickey & minnie beanies I'd got off E-bay. a book for autographs, mickey 'fat' pens - I only put them in because of reading about collecting autographs on these boards - DD (and DS) have always been wary of the characters, and I didn't think they'd want to participate - boy, was I wrong! DD wanted to get 'all the Princesses' autographs as well as everyone else, and I have lovely photos of her with Snow White and Cinderella, especially.

DH wasn't keen on character meals, but on Easter Sunday, we had a character breakfast at the Dolphin, and Chef Mickey's in the evening. Glad we did - they were great fun.

My children enjoyed the hotel swimming pool as much as the theme parks!! Hadn't expected that, either, so we did try to get into the pool when we could. We never got around to going back to the hotel for midday rests - too much to do! We got to the parks early (in itself a bit of a killer), and made good use of Fast Passes (one adult goes with the children to a minor attraction, whilst the other adult rushes to the next Fast pass to collect the Fast pass and then rejoin the rest of the family) (also note the time when you can get the next Fast pass before having used the first pass - and go get it!) Yes it's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for the adults, but if you're going at a busy time like we did, it was brilliant, and we found we could do a lot of the rides with minimal waiting in lines)
Gosh, I've gone on, but we had a great time - hope you do too!

 

[Baloo]

I have two places I recommend as must sees for this age group.Both at DTD/MKTPL so that will be easy enough!

RainForest Cafe...Erich's favorite place to eat while at WDW.

Legoland...the kids could spend HOURS building stuff and playing around here.

They might like getting the Passports at EPCOT...you can purchase this in about any shop in EPCOT and at DTD too.My boys Erich, 9 and Jonathan 10 still like to do this.It's a nice way for them to interact with people from other countries plus they usually come away learning a new word or two.They're actually LEARNING something while having fun!! shhhhhhhhh!!!

A not too expensive sounenir the boys like to get is smashed pennies.They are EVERYWHERE on WDW property! Joe and I even started our own collecton!!I have the boys bring some of the change from their own savings.They don't even complain so I think this is a favorite of theirs!!!


I'm not sure about the stroller.I was watching some video this weekend of the last trip we took the stroller.Erich was 5.Erich was NEVER in it! It was just a "stuff" collector by the looks of the film!! You can always rent one if needed.Considering the time of year you're going it shouldn't be so hot which is a big factor in wearing little ones out!