Four year old bedtime - is this normal?

We're on vacation with my sister, her husband, and their two kids. Bed time for her four year old is a nightmare. It involves lots of screaming and crying, and one of the parents has to lay with her until she falls fully asleep. If she wakes up while they're tiptoeing out, the whole thing starts over. The process takes hours.

As a FTM with a baby, I'm terrified that this is what I can expect when my LO hits toddler age. So I'm curious -- is this normal behavior? How did you set good bedtime routines with your toddlers?