Jet Lag Is A Drag - Tips?

[cobright]

Another thought on this... I went back through some of my early travel logs reading about horrific my jet-lag was...

In my experience, the trips back don't seem so bad. But something to add in the 'Better living through pharmacology' subheading is Modafinil. Talk to your doctor and express your concerns about severe jetlag. Modafinil (sometimes pro-vigil) is a not-narcotic, non aphetimine, wake-you-up-er (that's a word now ... because I say so that's why.)

Basically, even after being awake all night, you take one and in 30 minutes you feel the same as if you slept 8 hours. Not caffeinny or jazzed up, just really well rested. Set your alarm clock to 30 minutes before you need to be alert and functional and take a dose. Then fall back asleep and when the alarm goes off you'll be wide awake and clear headed.

Take an ambien at bed time the first day and after that you should be fine. Until you get home anyway.

Should say again ... not really a good option for kids. You wanna get the stink-eye from a pediatrician, ask what the right dose of ambien is for a 4 year old. Yeah ... ha ha ... He didn't think it was funny either.

[csummerlin55]

Originally Posted by JustAKid

Yes but...how might one do that? Have them wake up at 2am and sleep at 7pm for a week? It seems...impractical.

Hey, thanks for the link. I didn't think of melatonin (for me, not them)

Not sure what age your kiddos are but my older two take melatonin. (They are 10 & 14 now but have been taking it for a few years.) If you're open to the idea you could speak with their pediatrician and see what they suggest. Do your little ones take allergy medicine like Benadryl? If so you could change the time you give them that so if it makes them drowsy it is when you are wanting them to go to sleep.

[akaler2010]

My biggest suggestion is a mental trick. Once you are in the new time zone, only use that time. Don't say, "it's 9am but at home it's only 5" or "it's 9am here but your body thinks its 5am" etc. Don't fall into the trap of allowing your mind/body to acknowledge the time difference. For me, this has really helped trick my brain into the new time quickly.

[Gamegrl1]

I haven't used melatonin personally but my cousin & her husband use that when they go from the West Coast to Europe and it seems to work for them.

The tip I'll second is about sticking like glue to your new time zone when you arrive. When we flew from the west coast to Paris, France, we arrived early in the afternoon (their time) and right away made ourselves stick to it. That meant staying up for about 7-8 more hours until it was their bedtime and getting up at the "normal" time the next morning (around 7-8 am) to sightsee. With the 9 hour difference it took us about 3 and 1/2 days to be fully adjusted.

Thanks for the tips...I'm considering going to bed an hour or so early the week before the trip and getting up early too...my boss is a WDW fanatic so she'll understand if I want to show up for work an hour early...it's all for a good cause!

[DebbieB]

Originally Posted by bleeps

We're usually in our regular school/work routine right up until the day we travel, so we aren't able to adjust our schedules ahead of time (when we travel cross-timezones).

But we do find that it really helps to change your watches to the new timezone the MOMENT you get on the plane, start behaving as though it is the time on your watch, and NEVER do the "so what time is it 'our' time?" translation because it just reinforces to your brain/body your "old" timezone.

There's a certain amount of excitement/adrenaline that first day and we've found that it can really carry you through the adjustment.

This works for me. I used to travel frequently from PA out to the west coast for work and have more recently flown out to Disneyland, never had an issue with jet lag.

[danceintherain]

Originally Posted by JustAKid

Are there any tips for how to beat the Jet Lag? I'm afraid that when I try to get my kids up at 5am EST (2am our time) they won't be able to do it! That, my friends, would be a real drag!

Why are you trying to wake them up at 5am? That just seems a bit extreme to me as you're banking on at least 3 hours of prep time before Rope Drop.
We just don't take that much time to get ready. I know some people do...

My days are planned as such:
Everyone up by 7am
Breakfast at 7:30 at the latest.
Wait in line for bus by 8am.
Get to parks by 8:30.
Usually we end up ready a little earlier than that, and the buses can be a little unpredictable, but it's a far cry away from 5am!

Along with some of the other advice, I'd recommend making your first few days the most flexible. Don't plan on any early morning ADRs or extra magic hours. That should give you at least an hour buffer.

[Superspectral]

Originally Posted by JustAKid

Are there any tips for how to beat the Jet Lag? I'm afraid that when I try to get my kids up at 5am EST (2am our time) they won't be able to do it! That, my friends, would be a real drag!

I gather you will be flying from the Pacific Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone.

One of the more difficult things to figure out, is how to pace yourself, even if you live in the Eastern Time Zone, without burning out. It is simply not possible, for more than a day or two, to wake up early, get to to the rope drope, stay all day in the park, and see the evening parades and fireworks without a break. I'd advise spending no more than 6 (max 8) hours per day averaged over all of your trip. Here is a possible schedule:

Day 1: Travel from pacific - Arrive late afternoon or Evening (don't even think about the red-eye). No parks this day. Leave the curtain open so you can get light into your room at sunrise.
Day 2: Get up whenever you feel like it. Swim. Arrive at park 1 for afternoon parade and stay through evening fireworks. Get to bed promptly. Say you get to bed at 11pm EST, that is like 8 pm PST, which is "early" for most adults.
Day 3: Again, get up on your natural clock. Arrive at park 2 for afternoon parade and stay through evening show. You should be getting up a little earlier.
Day 4: Again, get up on your natural clock. Arrive at park 3 for afternoon parade and stay through the earliest evening show on the schedule. You should be getting up a little earlier still.
Day 5: NO PARK; try to wake up at nearly the correct time and get to bed EARLY. Note that DAK does not currently have an evening event; so no park 4.
Day 6: Wake up early enough to get to the latest entry park for rope drop. Leave no later than 2pm. Nap only if you must.
Day 7: Repeat for park 2
Day 8: NO PARK - you will burn out
Day 9: Repeat day 6 for park 3
Day 10: Repeat day 6 for park 4
Day 11: Travel back to pacific.

A lesson of this itinerary is if you want to visit all 4 parks thoroughly it takes more than 7 nights/8 days. If you have less time, delete day 4, day 8 and day 9 which is: travel, night park, night park, rest day, early park, early park, early park, travel. With the key being that you must leave the parks early on the early days (2pm) or you will pay the price.

Good luck - YMMV

[JustAKid]

Originally Posted by danceintherain

Why are you trying to wake them up at 5am? That just seems a bit extreme to me as you're banking on at least 3 hours of prep time before Rope Drop.
We just don't take that much time to get ready. I know some people do...


Usually we end up ready a little earlier than that, and the buses can be a little unpredictable, but it's a far cry away from 5am!

Our family is in the "some people" category. There are 4 of us girls, and we all shower in the mornings. It's not a stretch for us, we're up at 6 here on a daily basis!

Originally Posted by Superspectral

I gather you will be flying from the Pacific Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone.

One of the more difficult things to figure out, is how to pace yourself, even if you live in the Eastern Time Zone, without burning out. It is simply not possible, for more than a day or two, to wake up early, get to to the rope drope, stay all day in the park, and see the evening parades and fireworks without a break. I'd advise spending no more than 6 (max 8) hours per day averaged over all of your trip. Here is a possible schedule:

Day 1: Travel from pacific - Arrive late afternoon or Evening (don't even think about the red-eye). No parks this day. Leave the curtain open so you can get light into your room at sunrise.
Day 2: Get up whenever you feel like it. Swim. Arrive at park 1 for afternoon parade and stay through evening fireworks. Get to bed promptly. Say you get to bed at 11pm EST, that is like 8 pm PST, which is "early" for most adults.
Day 3: Again, get up on your natural clock. Arrive at park 2 for afternoon parade and stay through evening show. You should be getting up a little earlier.
Day 4: Again, get up on your natural clock. Arrive at park 3 for afternoon parade and stay through the earliest evening show on the schedule. You should be getting up a little earlier still.
Day 5: NO PARK; try to wake up at nearly the correct time and get to bed EARLY. Note that DAK does not currently have an evening event; so no park 4.
Day 6: Wake up early enough to get to the latest entry park for rope drop. Leave no later than 2pm. Nap only if you must.
Day 7: Repeat for park 2
Day 8: NO PARK - you will burn out
Day 9: Repeat day 6 for park 3
Day 10: Repeat day 6 for park 4
Day 11: Travel back to pacific.

A lesson of this itinerary is if you want to visit all 4 parks thoroughly it takes more than 7 nights/8 days. If you have less time, delete day 4, day 8 and day 9 which is: travel, night park, night park, rest day, early park, early park, early park, travel. With the key being that you must leave the parks early on the early days (2pm) or you will pay the price.

Good luck - YMMV

I'm sorry, but what I'm seeing here is that, essentially, you are suggesting that we do 8 days of only being in the park 1/2 of the day? Yeah, that's not going to happen, not with this family!

[Princess Katherine]

I never really get jet lag, but my mom takes Passion flower for nerves while flying, if you needed to sleep you can just take some Melatonin. I like flying though.