Need Help with plans at AK

[katieandrob]

I need your help with our plans. We are staying at WL the first week in Dec. Our plan is to visit AK our first full day there. It will be me, DH, and 2 DS, 3 and 5yrs. I would also like to have dinner at Boma that night. Do you think we should spend all day at AK without a break and have dinner right at 5 or should we plan on going back to our room sometime in the day and make reservations a little later. We will be using disney transportation and I'm not sure if it would take to much time to go back to the room. Part of me feels if we have an early dinner we can be back to our room earlier and get them to bed early that night. Opinions Please.

[Trixie1822]

Depends ! your children need a nap ? Do you travel a lot in the morning or are you Florida resident ?

If the answers are yes, I would choose to take a nap for recovering... If not, enjoy the park all the day

[WelshieLover]

My sons were never big nappers. It was always a fight to get them to nap. Their 1st trip to WDW was when they were 2 and 4 - slightly younger than your 2. Because they were not nappers the first 2 days of the trip we did not go back to the hotel during the afternoon for down time. That was a big mistake when one of them had a huge meltdown at a sit down dinner in "Mexico". We realized that we were expecting too much of them and they were being overstimulated. So after that we went back to teh room everyday for an hour or 2 and had down time whether it was splashing in the pool or hanging in the room napping or watching a little tv. We never had any problems the rest of thr trip. Enjoy your trip.

[tinksmom02]

For our Sept trip, the day I have scheduled to visit AK has morning EMH, as of right now, the plan is AK at 8 and Boma at 5. If AK keeps our interest all day, great--we're that much closer to AKL. If it gets to be 1pm and we're done, then we can head back to the room for a swim and rest before dinner. We're really just going to play it by ear.

Personally, I think that heading back to the room mid-day while using Disney transportation must eat up an awful lot of time. Loads of people swear by it, though, so it really is up to you to decide what'll work best for your family.

Good luck!

[Disney Doll]

3 years ago we went with our nieces ages 3 & 5. They were not taking regular naps by that age so we spent all day at the parks. It worked great for us, but only you know how you child will be without a nap. If you think a nap would help I wouldn't worry too much about the time. Quality over Quantity if you ask me. ;)

[jenperich]

I would definitely stay at AK all day. AK is usually the hottest of the parks due to the lack of AC. But, in the first week of December, the heat won't be too bad and you should be able to stay in the park all day without going back to the hotel. I would definitely stay in the park and opt for an earlier dinner. Plus, if you eat early, you will have some time to explore the AKL after dinner. It's truly an amazing resort.

[krorx]

I'd try to make it most of the day then head for the early dinner and early to bed for the kids. My daughter was 5 on our first trip and she made it every day until around 4 or 5, we had dinner and she was ready for bed around 7. But I would also suggest being flexible. If you see your kids are exhausted after tromping all over AK (which by the way is a lot of walking for little ones especially), you might need to head for the hotel, swimming and naps. Enjoy! ;)