Balancing Kids Of Multiple Ages At Disney

I don't know about you, but when my family goes to Disney World, my 9-yr-old son wants to experience thrills, like Expedition Everest and Space Mountain, while my 5 and 2-yr-olds are happy with Dumbo the Flying Elephant and "its a small world." We've tried doing the thing where we split up a few times during the day, hitting one thrill ride at a time, but it always seemed to make the vacation feel more hectic than we would have liked. At the same time, my younger two could really use more sleep than my oldest. Put 2 and 2 together...

We finally found what works for us on our most recent trip. My son and I woke up early, took the stroller and the backpack with us, and headed off to the parks, while my wife and little ones slept in. Since park opening is such a great time of day as far as getting on the most popular attractions goes, my son and I were able to hit each of his favorites right then, in the morning. My wife is not one to sleep late at Disney, so she had gotten the girls up and out and met us at the park about an hour or so after opening. My taking the stroller really helped her here, as she had nothing to push around, fold up, or shimmy through doorways. And that extra little bit of time in the morning gave us more family-time during the day, relieved my son of the worry that we wouldn't have a chance to ride the big rides, and gave him and me the chance to spend some one-on-one time together - something that does not come by easily.

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