Okay, Enablers, tell me if you think I’m crazy....plus a poll!

This is the time we’ll be there if we go! Good advice. And if we do go, hope to see you and your family around!

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I think if you’re already accustomed to going on excursions like this alone with them WDW will be a similar experience as far as management goes. You probably understand what bathroom stops will look like and food stops so I think you probably know your kids well enough for this part. This is why I’ve felt ok to take mine alone - we have always done the zoo, arboretum, Museum, etc as the four of them plus me so I felt pretty prepared for the logistics of being the lone adult.

I have taken four kids solo to WDW but not that young - 13, 8, 7 and 5. My mom and I did take my 4 kids by ourselves when they were 7, 6, 4 and 2 and we had a ton of fun. Neither time was a first time trip for us so we were able to manage expectations beforehand and knew what we were going to miss - major height-restricted headliners, for example. The only thing I could foresee being a big stressor is loading/unloading onto the busses with what I would assume is a double stroller and two children. Would you be using the busses? Or would you consider having your own car? If MVs were running I’d definitely consider them for your main source of transportation if you can swing it. Way worth it as a solo-adult with kids! But I wouldn’t count on Uber as they likely won’t have the proper car seats - especially for your little.

As far as the parks, I’d totally do AK. Without a lot of rides it’s so relaxing just exploring the trails and visiting the animals. It’s big, but not Epcot big - which I feel like would be a lot of walking doing the rides you listed as well as exploring WS for food. And I just love AK in general. It’s my favorite themed park. AND with their fun water-style cavalcades you could totally entertain the kids while you sip a much deserved adult beverage at Nomad!! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Edited to add: I have a solo-adult trip booked with my 4 next month. We’re moving and I’m trying to convince DH that it would be SO MUCH EASIER for him if me and the kids left moving weekend to him and weren’t underfoot. He’s still “thinking about it” so we’ll see. :joy:

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Not all of these exact reasons, but this is very similar to why I’m taking my DS4 next month! Could you leave DS2 at home with DH and DM?

When are you going? Preschool meetup? I voted for Epcot just because it feels like there is more to do with the Boneyard and shows closed at AK.

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I will add that Kindergarten is “real” school, so you will be feeling constrained by that schedule once it starts (of course, with this whole virtual school thing who knows…). We were just reminiscing about how we took an impromptu big road trip the August before our oldest started K b/c we had the realization that we couldn’t just travel whenever we wanted to after that. Even though you can take kids out of school, it’s difficult with them missing stuff etc.

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Last year over Halloween I took DD2 and DD6 (at the time) to WDW on my own for the first 3 days and then DSIL joined us for the second 3 days. Overall it went really well. We did take a slower pace and could only do rides we could all ride together, but that was ok. DD6 got to be the the “big girl” and help me roll luggage etc. We had a policy that if anyone had to use the restroom we all tried, to minimize stops! There were plenty of things to do in Epcot and in AK, although they couldn’t do a lot of rides, we enjoyed the shows. Other things to do there are the train to the petting zoo part (if that is open) and the trails with Wilderness Explorer stops. We really had a good time and in normal circumstances I would (and probably will) take them alone again in a heartbeat.

The downside to the trip and what gives me pause on a similar trip now was that on day 3 DD2 developed a fever from some random virus. We were in MK that day and stopped in the baby care center to pick up some Tylenol - which would now have probably resulted in us getting booted from the park. She did ok the first couple days after that as long as she had Tylenol in her, but by the time we went home she was refusing any medicine and had fever, vomiting and lethargy. She basically slept in the stroller through our last half day in MK (since we had to check out of our resort) before going home. I really was a bit in a quandary over those days, pondered whether to take her to urgent care, but didn’t have a car and as it turned out in the ED when we got home it was “just a virus”, not much to do besides giving her some anti-nausea medication which immediately perked her right up. Those last few days would have been really hard if I had not had another adult along. What really gives me pause in the current pandemic climate, is that there is no way we would have been let either in the park or on the plane home on that last day in today’s situation. But then again, the same situation would exist no matter how many adults were there; kids can always get sick.

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When I traveled with my daughters when they were little (and it was always just me and them), we would all go to the bathroom on the plane together. yes, we all fit in the airplane bathroom. We would walk out and people would have this surprised look. It was like the clown car at the circus!

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I picked Epcot even though AK is my favorite park. I was thinking about your daughter’s love of characters. At AK the characters cavalcades are in boats and they feel far away. At Epcot by Figment, you can often see Pooh or Joy. Maybe others. They’re much closer and you can talk to them and get a picture. I think your daughter might really enjoy that! Also we didn’t see it, but the Anna and Elsa cavalcade is there.

Plus, you have the Seas which will give your son some of the animals he loves!

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I love to travel. I love amusement parks. I have six kids. The first four were pretty close together, and I could manage things like the zoo and aquariums, but preferred to do it with other families so there would be at least one other adult.

@disneygirlmama did a great job of highlighting possible hiccups. Bathrooms were really the hardest part when my kids were little, but these days the potential to use family bathrooms would help that to a large degree.

I have such a limited amount of vacation dollars, that I would hesitate, personally, to spend them on any “less than” experience. As this is not a road block for you, I think my best encouragement would be to just go slowly and have low expectations. I am sure you can walk away saying it was fun. Understanding it wouldn’t be what it would be with two kids and FOUR adults is probably the key.

The idea of traipsing around and around EP without DH to help would tip the scales to AK for sure.

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I am exhausted just remembering my solo days to our local amusement park. But - then they slept well. :wink:

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Some of my best memories were spent with my 2 year old solo at Busch Gardens while my husband was at work.

We were in Tampa for 6 months and I’d lug the baby and the stroller down to the park every weekday. We’d spend the mornings laughing at how big Big Bird’s feet were, dancing in line for Elmo and chasing each other around the trees in the water play area.

When he started getting cranky I’d put him in the stroller, grab a favorite coffee and walk around the park while we both chilled out. I’d head home about that time (but on Disney Days, I would head back to the room, rest and go back after nap time/time in the air conditioning).

Family bathrooms are a huge sanity saver. Any of the 100 other little issues are usually easily amendable. If you think the kids will legitimately have a good time…go! Don’t wait for the rain to pass…go out and DANCE IN IT!

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That was meant as a regular response to OP, not @qwerty6, sorry!

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love this story :revolving_hearts:

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I think each adult has a ratio of kids:adult they can handle. I could do the 4:1 better than my friend could do 1:1. Her kid was high maintenance and mine were embarrassingly chill.

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I think this is true. And different kids are different. My oldest was extremely stubborn and difficult for a very long time. That probably colors my opinion, as I didn’t even want to go to WDW with her at 3/4, another DD2, and 2 grandparents. It would not have been worth it, ha.

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My kids are now 16 and 13; however, I traveled to WDW when they were 6 and 3 and their favorite parks were Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. When they were 8 and 11 we loved Epcot the most and now they are teens they like DHS the most. For them, animals > science and world culture as littles.

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Also I will say I traveled to DLR solo with them at 5yo and 2yo and much preferred it to our 6yo and 3yo trip to WDW where I was also the solo adult. Taking buses with sleeping littles, breaking apart strollers, etc…was exhausting and that is my least favorite Disney trip. But no way, would I have not taken my own double stroller to use to get around the huge resort with 3yo feet. Too bad DLR isn’t an option right now for you because it’s so much easier with littles. You never have to take your stroller apart and you are so close to a bazillion hotels for nap time.

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I’m really starting to think we might be soul mates.

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Looks like we’ll be there 10/11-10/13 in the parks. What are your dates?!

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We’ll be there too. AK on the 12th and MK on the 13th.

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Yes! The best memories often come from unexpected or difficult situations because it forces you to approach things in a different way. So I say go for it.

Once I dragged my 3 kids (ages 6 to 2) to YNP by myself because either DH or I were on call all the time, and I finally got tired of never seeing the scenery that we moved back here for.

We drove down in October just before a blizzard hit, and I vividly remembering the ranger at the North Entrance raising one eyebrow at me and saying “You know where you’re going, right?” I should have turned around right there. We slid off the road but got back on it again, and of course there are no lights, no people and no cell service- when we finally got to the Old Faithful Inn it was completely dark on the outside but inside the fire was roaring and it was full of people, it was like we coming in for a rendezvous. I never let on how scared I was, but I really was- and I grew up out here.

The next day there was snow over our ankles but the sky was brilliant blue and it all melted away. We had the place to ourselves. To this day the kids talk about “being mountain men”. I was a bit terrified at the time but it makes for good stories. :smile:

Sure, there is a potential you could regret this, but if you go in with a good attitude it could actually be one of the best trips ever, just because it’s not routine. You might have to improvise a little but if you all look at it like an adventure, it will be fine! And you won’t have to worry about someone finding your little frozen bodies in the spring, either. :rofl:

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