I know every family has different favorites and I should 1/4 to 1/3 at DCA and 2/3 to 3/4 at DL, but what would you suggest for a if-you-don't-do-anything-else-do-this itinerary? :confused:

With 7, 5, 3,and 1, my advice is.......to stay home. ACK! Are you crazy, woman?!?!?! I cannot imagine taking four kids that young to DL at the same time. You must be a simply amazing mother.

I don't have kids but I'd suggest allowing for more than one train ride around the park. This way, it's a rest for everyone, but especially for you. The kids will like going past the dinosaurs and other animals (keep in mind some parts of this ride are in the dark). The train encircles the entire park and for an aerial view, take a ride on the monorail.

I hope you have some help with your kids, 4 of them is a handful. You can do DCA in half a day or under with that age group. Take it slow, have a big water bottle in the stroller (you can rent double strollers near the gate i think) and have fun. It's going to be busy, people are going to cut you off in your stroller, and your going to wait in lots of lines.

I suggest waking up early and getting there for rope drop for smaller lines for an hour or 2. Head to fantasyland, do all the kiddie rides their 1st, then head to poohs corner or towntown. Make sure you watch the parade, get their early to get spots next to the street so the littles ones can watch without big people in the way. Do the not so busy things like the tiki room, poohs ride, animation building, train around the park. You can even go on Pirates, jungle cruise and haunted mansion with a 1yo.

Sometime around noon or before lunch, head out of the park to the hotel and find lunch. DL is really busy starting around noon. Go swimming/shopping/napping/lunching/resting during the that time and come back later in the day if you have enough energy.

I second the idea of taking a mid day break. We went last summer with our two sons (then 3 and 1 1/2). The mid day break was just enough for everyone and got us out of there during the hottest part of the day.

I also agree with getting there first thing to ride the attractions in Fantasyland. Also if you take a long enough break mid day, you can stay late to see the fireworks and Fantasmic. Also if you want pictures with Mickey Mouse you can often find him by the entrance to ToonTown before it opens or standing near the exit to It's A Small World (again before ToonTown opens). Last summer we saw him and several others and there was a very short line to get a pic with him.

Also don't forget to get Fastpasses first thing in the morning too. If you are traveling with another adult, one of you can take the kids for a bit while the other one collects some FPs.

Have a wonderful time!

Our 4 year old loves the little theater on Main Street that shows all the old Mickey Mouse cartoons! It's nice and cool in there, and never crowded.

The train ride is a great idea.... You could also take them over to Tom Sawyer's Island.

Have fun! And I thought I had a handful, just with one toddler!

Do you have someone else with you to help? We take my boys and my little brother when we go and they are all 4 years apart, so when we first started taking my youngest we had varied age ranges like you do(1, 5, 9)

We just split it up and I took the older ones on the bigger rides and hubby stayed with my little one and vice versa. We also ALWAYS have each kid pick a certain # of must do's(less if it's peak season more if it's off season) and we make sure and it those first.

Take your midday break, try a character meal(the entire age range should do good with a character meal) and take FULL advantage of fastpass!!

And most of all Have a wonderful trip

With 7, 5, 3,and 1, my advice is.......to stay home. ACK! Are you crazy, woman?!?!?! I cannot imagine taking four kids that young to DL at the same time. You must be a simply amazing mother.

How sadly ironic. I'm a mom with six kids--16, 12, 5, 4, and 3 year old twins. I just posted on the WDW board about how I get comments just like this one all the time. It doesn't matter if it's a Disney trip or trip to Walmart.

Tink-We just spent 4 days at WDW and the majority of the time we did whatever the little ones wanted to do. We spent a LOT of time in Toontown and Fantasyland. We gave the older two one of our cell phones and let them go on the rides that they wanted. It worked out great for us.

One thing that really helped us were the two sit/stand strollers that we took with us. The four and five year olds stood on the back of the strollers, so they didn't feel like "babies". We made it through all four days without taking time out for naps (which I know you probably can't do with a 1 year old).

Have a great time!

I think it is cool that you are taking everyone, otherwise, you would regret it. I would say that if you hang out in Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom more, the kids will love it. I would avoid Epcot at all costs, MGM is so-so. My 8 year old was bored to death at Epcot and he was OK with MGM. We are going back with our 2 year old and 8 year old in October and plan on spending most of our time at Magic Kingdom where there is more for our toddler to ride and to enjoy- Storytime with Belle, Cinderella's Celebration, Winnie The Pooh RIde- Afterall, it is the Magic Kingdom that really IS Disney and holds the memories for myself and the rest of my family members. I read earlier on a post that DISNEY IS FAMILY and I agree with that. Word of advice, you will ride Buzz Lightyear more times than you can count and, honestly, that was the ride that our family most enjoyed because we could all do it together. Fantasyland is THE place with little ones.

Lastly, my son was amazed by the Merlin and Sword in the Stone show, he still talks about that.

Definitely do a character meal such as Winnie the Pooh at the Crystal Palace or Donald's Restaurantosaurus at Animal Kingdom or I have heard wonderful things about Chef Mickey's too but have never eaten there. A friend of mine has and she and her boys loved it!

If you have two parents, it might be wise to split the family up. I know some people feel the need to be together all the time, but it's a vacation, and it's ok to do things differently. Get some walkie-talkies or some cell phones. Meet up for meals and Fantasmic and such.

And I see that ccola has already advised my advice.