Your Experience: How Much Can a 4 year old Take at MK?

[WaltsMartini]

We recently booked a trip for September 11 - 15; our son will have just turned 4. This is my first trip with child in tow - all my previous trips have been commando style touring using touring plans from the Unofficial Guide.

In your experience, how much can a 4 year old see at MK REASONABLY? I am looking at suggested touring plans with kids and even they seem like a lot. Some of our details:

• We are able to arrive at or before official opening time (likely 9 a.m.)
• Planning to have sit-down lunch at 11:30 a.m. in the park and then back to the hotel for a swim/nap and come back for the late afternoon/evening
• We plan on leaving the park by 7:30 or 8 p.m.
• We'll be staying on-site so can book FP 60 days in advance
• Crowds should be low, but it will be HOT.

I'm trying to prepare myself to go with the flow (ha!) I want to allow time for some character meet and greets and for him to blow off steam at the Dumbo playground, splash pad, and/or Tom Sawyer Island.

Tell me your experiences!

 

[Wubar]

We took our son in January 2018 for his first trip, he was 4.5 years old. We stayed 6 nights, hit all 4 parks. We decided against the stroller, but he's pretty active and strong and we never rented one. Took breaks when he needed them. Rope dropped a few times, and mostly stayed in the parks all day long (no afternoon breaks at the resort). Caught a few nighttime shows, but definitely also had a few earlier nights. He was great, was ecstatic about being in the magic of it all. But your mileage will vary, you know your child best. Our son isn't a picky eater, didn't need the stroller, and was happy doing a mixture of rides, attractions, and character meet and greets.

 

[G+K+W+J]

We were there last August, daughter was 4.5 and son almost 6. 7 days, the majority of the days we were up around 7-8, ate something and headed off to a park. Realistically it was 10 or so when we got there in and going. Mid-afternoon we headed back to the room for a little bit. Sometimes swim, sometimes just to lay down, usually a snack. Then we were back out in time for dinner around 5, then a few more hours and back to the room by 10-11. Waiting in line was tough at times, but they handled it all well. Tried a stroller one day but more hassle than anything else! Even after walking 7-8 miles. One think we wish we thought of ahead of time - bring some of the cooling wraps. Our kids kind of fell apart when they got too hot and these would have been a huge help!

 

[SG131]

We actually got a lot done with a 4 yr old. We aren’t morning people so we got to the park around 9:30 or 10. In 9 days we did all the nighttime shows other than fantasmic and also did the Halloween party. We used a stroller and would lay the cooling towel on the back of it. Also made sure to stay hydrated. We did very few afternoon breaks but had a table service every day usually at night and made sure everyone drank a lot of water.

There was definitely a lot of sugar involved since we had the dining plan! It really depends on the kid. If there’s a day they’re extra tired, scrap the plans and go to the hotel for a longer rest. If there’s anything that’s a must do for either them or you, plan it for the mornings when you know they will be at their best.

 

[Earningmywings]

We went with a 3 and 6 year old last September. Definitely recommend the Froogy Tog (something like that) cooling towels to keep him/her cool. Bring goldfish or some sort of portable snack to keep him occupied in line. We used our sit and stand stroller and it worked like a dream. We did not take an afternoon break at the hotel. We rope dropped everyday, had lunch around 11-1 and left the park around 4-5 for dinner (ADRs in the 5:00 hour) each day. Depending on how dinner went we would either go back to a park after or to the hotel. The 3 year old finally napped in the stroller on day 4 and the 6 year old on day 5 or 6.

 

[stace1214]

That's totally doable for a 4 year old. I would definitely plan on bringing a stroller. It's going to be so hot, he'll tire out quickly. What worked for my family when my kids were that age was a quick service lunch, then back to hotel for nap/swim, then back for a sit down dinner. By the time dinner was over the sun wasn't as hot and we stayed till fireworks most nights.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We recently booked a trip for September 11 - 15; our son will have just turned 4. This is my first trip with child in tow - all my previous trips have been commando style touring using touring plans from the Unofficial Guide.

In your experience, how much can a 4 year old see at MK REASONABLY? I am looking at suggested touring plans with kids and even they seem like a lot. Some of our details:

• We are able to arrive at or before official opening time (likely 9 a.m.)
• Planning to have sit-down lunch at 11:30 a.m. in the park and then back to the hotel for a swim/nap and come back for the late afternoon/evening
• We plan on leaving the park by 7:30 or 8 p.m.
• We'll be staying on-site so can book FP 60 days in advance
• Crowds should be low, but it will be HOT.

I'm trying to prepare myself to go with the flow (ha!) I want to allow time for some character meet and greets and for him to blow off steam at the Dumbo playground, splash pad, and/or Tom Sawyer Island.

Tell me your experiences!

would plan on stroller esp if doing evening shows or fireworks which will have you leaving with crowds. very hard to hand hold to keep group together. even with younger kids we have found resort breaks did not work for our group as child fell asleep on way back to resort and woke up as we went to room. this made child very crabby not going back to sleep but not wanting to do anything else. they just crashed in stroller and older people took turns riding bigger rides using Rider Swap which we would had to any way. the biggest piece of advice I can give you is make sure each of you has a picture of your son on your phone each day and another any time you change his clothes in case you get separated so you while worried you don't have to try and remember what he was wearing

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think you have a good plan. As others have said, bring a stroller. My DS is 11 now, but we went multiple times a year when he was in pre-school and we did exactly as you did. Went to the parks early, ate a lunch TS, headed out of the parks soon after lunch, nap/relax at resort, then played the evening by ear. I found making dinner ADR's became problematic as I just could not predict how DS was going to feel, if he would want to nap, etc. There were some nights we simply stayed at the resort and others, when he was raring to go and we would end up seeing a nighttime show in one of the parks. What you may want to do is book your FP+ for the morning prior to lunch and then snag a 4th for late afternoon. At least then you have something ready to go if you are up to going back to the parks but you aren't on the hook for it (as you would be with an ADR), if you don't use that FP+.

 

[lookame]

So we went with my 4 year old daughter and she actually did very well. She did have her moments when she was fed up with waiting in line but she didn’t melt down. She loved the rides! Around 4:30 or 5 pm she would nap in the stroller and then she was fine

 

[Clark W Griswold]

We have taken a 4 year old twice. The first time our oldest was 4 and he got strep right before we left that turned into scarlet fever while at Disney. So on our first day he broke out in a rash from head to toe and had a fever of 102 all day every day. We left Magic Kingdom at lunch to go to doctor and got stuff to help the itching and a stronger antibiotic for the strep but not much else we could do. He begged us to go back to ride rides. The kid was 4 and if we were at home he would have been in bed but at Disney he took it like a champ. We took breaks every afternoon to go to the pool and some days we all napped. Back to the parks by 5 and stayed till close every night.

The next time our 4 year old wasn’t sick but still did great. Our 2 year old did even better. They fell asleep in the double stroller each night on the way to the car and the little one sometimes once in the park. We even got to go around the world once in epcot sampling beers while they slept.

 

[emilyrachael]

My son was 4 last year when we took him. I think the time to blow off steam at the play areas will be key! He would get tired of the waiting in line/sitting in rides after a while and really wanted time to run around and play. Also, making sure you take food breaks is key - sometimes they get so caught up in the fun they forget that they're hungry.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

One of our daughters went for the first time just after her fourth birthday. We plan to repeat this when her sister is that age! We opened the parks most mornings, had a nice sit down lunch followed by a break at our hotel. We went back to the park and stayed until close most nights. We left early one night to go to the luau. We skipped Downtown Disney that trip and spent wix consecutive days in the parks. We rented a stroller on the last day because she was beat.

 

[amberpi]

As always, it depends on your family. Mine is NOT getting up for a RD, or if I forced it, it'd be miserable. The key for us was late nights to avoid the heat as much as possible when we took 2 trips this fall with the kids, age 4 and 2.5. We'd do a few things mid-dayish and use our fps, and then back to the hotel for a nap, and stay from maybe 5-park close. It worked great and we had 0 meltdowns in the parks (at the hotel was a different story) on our second trip. Of course, this wouldn't work for everyone, but if your family is as heat adverse as mine is, it's awesome. Also, the parks are "so beautiful at night" according to the 4 year old. She loves twinkley lights though, she is all girl.

 

[Smittolis]

Are you coming from a different time zone?

As we are West Coast, the time difference works in our favor for the most part. With 3 kids (now 6,9,13) we have been going with them all since our youngest was small. We would sometimes do RD, however, as the time difference hurts you in the morning we would often meander in around 10am, do what we could, have a bit to eat to break up the day, come back to the hotel for a wind down and then go back out in the later afternoon until they kicked us out! haha...

As the closing time was 12am, that is only really 9pm PST so for our kids it was nothing! lol talk about taking advantage of a time difference! I doubt the same can be said about coming in from the same time zone, but it is something we take advantage of when there.

You know your kids better than anyone, so you can gauge it through the day. Sometimes an enforced 'break' can be tough but exactly what they need. As above, we feel a stroller is essential with multiple young ones. So don't be afraid to take one if you think it will help you out.

 

[sponica]

Be prepared to drop the midday resort break if necessary...some kids do it, others won't nap in the room (can't say I blame them).

Be prepared for the heat to impact appetite, I don't eat when I'm hot, neither does my daughter ( who was 20 months when we went).

On our next trip our daughter will be just under 4, and I'll probably bring down a stroller. I'd rather stick a 4 year old in a stroller than end up carrying 40ish lbs...

 

[brent02139]

We woke up around 6, 7am at the latest. We were at the park by rope drop, usually losing steam by noon, grab lunch and squeeze a couple more things in before DD asks to go back to resort for the pool. We leave around 3-4, go to the pool, and spend rest of the day there. Only once did we go back to MK for the fireworks but she was nearing meltdown at that point so took things easy.

 

[ilovebassets]

You have to know your family. For one family, early rising and rope drop followed by maintaining a normal bed time is key (this is us). We can handle heat. We live in GA. If you're from Seattle, you're probably better off maintaining west coast time and taking advantage of cooler evenings and nights and staying until park closing and sleeping in.

 

[Kbosch]

So nervous about this - my kids will be 5, 4 and almost 3 when we go in late September. Days we're doing MK are MNSSHP days and the park closes at 6, so I'm hoping they will all make it from rope drop to 6 if we take a long lunch break!

 

[wendlle]

Only you know your kid, everyones kids are different.
I'll tell you this though, if you go in "commando mode" with small children you are setting yourself up for a horrible day.
Relax, ENJOY the parks, enjoy the time with your child. Watch their face/s light up and let them experience the wonder and magic without fear of being told to hurry up as you HAVE to get to the next part of the park.
You've been before so you don't HAVE to do it all.
I never understand why people can't just chill out and enjoy their day and let their kids be kids (not saying that you're like this but many are and wonder why their kid is having a meltdown)

 

[Nancyg56]

Only you know your kid, everyones kids are different.
I'll tell you this though, if you go in "commando mode" with small children you are setting yourself up for a horrible day.
Relax, ENJOY the parks, enjoy the time with your child. Watch their face/s light up and let them experience the wonder and magic without fear of being told to hurry up as you HAVE to get to the next part of the park.
You've been before so you don't HAVE to do it all.
I never understand why people can't just chill out and enjoy their day and let their kids be kids (not saying that you're like this but many are and wonder why their kid is having a meltdown)

This is how we rolled when my DGD was little. We knew the parks would always be there so we did not try to do and see everything,. We always came home having had a great time, experienced a lot of attractions and still got to enjoy the park details, watch her explore at her eye level ( you would be surprised what details ar at waist level) and still had time for the pools and dining.

I admit that I was a bit carried away on one of our MK days and my DH put up with that about 2.2 seconds, pulled me aside and in no uncertain terms made it clear that nonsense stopped immediatley. I normally do not take that tone well, however as hard as it is to admit he was right, he was right. I stopped trying to drag the fam to the next attraction on the list and never looked back. I had overlooked that there was so much to be said about seeing what our little Pricncess was seeing and then enjoying watching my DD and DSIL absorb their DD's experiences.