taking a break mid-day so not worth it for us!

[ammag]

got back 2 weeks ago, first trip since Dh and I were small, took DD5 and DS1. everything was wonderful with the exception of a planning mistake the first day. so I have read everything saying its good to take little kids to the hotel mid day for a break/nap. we planned to do RD our first day then leave at noon, return around 5 so the kids could be happy and enjoy elec parade etc.

we hated leaving, but thought it was for the best..got back to hotel and ate, treid to nap. kids would not could not na a second, they were grumps and Dh ad I even got into a fight. I dont know why but it just did not work out for our family! we should have toughed it out. lesson learned, the only good thing was that day was very crowded and our other time at MK was easy and awesome. so I guess make sure your kids will really rest or nap if you take them home...

 

[lucifie]

I suspect that's what wold happen with my kids, too. We're planning to not go back to the hotel, but we're willing to reconsider if that doesn't work out. The little one is the only one who ever naps and the more we try to force it the less likely it is to happen.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Each kid is different and you have to do what works best for your family. I've done it both ways, with and without a break at the hotel. For the most part, taking a mid-day break works best for us.

DD hasn't usually napped during our breaks, and trying to force a nap would be counter-productive, but the breaks are helpful for us during the hotter months. We will go back to the hotel, pop in a dvd, and relax on the beds for an hour or so in the ac. We also use our mid-day breaks to swim, which really helps cool us off. In cooler months, we don't need the breaks as much.

I will say that we don't take a break on our first day because we are just too excited to be there. On our first full day, I plan for us to go from rope drop until around 5 pm. Then we head somewhere for an early dinner ADR, and go swimming after dinner.

 

[tjmw2727]

We don't do well with afternoon breaks either - I find that alternating late nights with late mornings works better. If we hit rope drop we try and be back to the resort by 7ish for a light dinner and maybe an evening swim with an early(ish) bedtime. If we are planning a late night for fireworks we sleep in a bit and head out later. Of course if everyone needs a break or chooses to swim on a hot afternoon we will head back to the resort and play the rest of the day by ear.

 

[twinboysmom]

We have made 6 trips with our boys from when they were 18 months to a couple of months before age 3. Not once have we had success with a nap at the hotel. For us, it works better for them to just fall asleep in the stroller and if we want to leave the park for a break then to leave after a nap and go swim etc.

 

[carseatmommy]

We found that napping was best for our son. Last yr he was just under 3, so we had a king room. He would snuggle in with us and we'd all take a snooze. Made our evenings much better! We are hoping for naps again this year.

Susan

 

[Julie711]

We tried this once with dd on her first trip when she was 2.5, didnt work. When we got back to the hotel she wouldnt nap, so ended up going to the pool. Since then we just take breaks in the parks & if she needs a nap she will nap in the stroller. We now have ds 12 months so planning on doing the same and letting him nap in the stroller which he is used to doing around home when we visit the mall, etc.

 

[kohlby]

We do not do a nap break. Our kids wouldn't nap at home, and Disney was no different. We did try it out with different kids at 2/3 years old, and it was the same with every kid. So, we always hit rope drop and then leave when someone starts to act like it's time to leave. We plan nighttime entertainment around break days/off days and limit it. (This trip, we have a 7pm parade and seeing the Osborne lights. So "late" is late for young kids who don't nap. Not late for the normal person!) My kids don't fall asleep in the stroller either.

I do think a pool break (or nap break) can be very helpful when it's hot though. In all our with-kids trips, so about 25 park days total, there was ONCE when a pool break was helpful. It was last year when there was one unseasonable warm day that was very humid. It zapped out energy. The kids really needed a pool break to recharge. However, if it's not hot, then it work much better for us to stay in the park.

 

[lovethattink]

A mid-day nap never worked for my kids either. A swim break, now that's a different story!

 

[indimom]

We did the nap breaks when our kids were 5 and 7. Everyone napped but me (mom). I used that time to jot some notes for my scrapbook when we got home. We still tend to take breaks in the mid-afternoon, but now it's just a pool break. We get burnt out very quickly with full park days.

 

[lucifie]

Oh yeah... If it's hot I can definitely see taking a swim break, but I seriously doubt my kids would nap or if they did it would be on the way back to the resort and they'd be ready to go again when we got there. We're going in January, so I'm not counting on any swimming.

 

[DopeyDame]

That's why the number one rule with little kids is "go with the flow"
DS will NOT nap in a stroller, but he's fine with heading back to the hotel and napping and taking a swim break. Every kid is different - it sounds like you guys made a quick adjustment, and I hope you had a wonderful rest of the trip!

 

[danceintherain]

That's why the number one rule with little kids is "go with the flow"
DS will NOT nap in a stroller, but he's fine with heading back to the hotel and napping and taking a swim break. Every kid is different - it sounds like you guys made a quick adjustment, and I hope you had a wonderful rest of the trip!

We take a break for DH. He requires it. every. single. day.
On our last trip DS was 3 months old, so it wasn't a big deal to get him to sleep.
For our next trip, we'll see what happens. DS is pretty flexible with his napping, so usually if he falls asleep while in transit, we can just transfer him into his bed and he'll stay asleep for another hour or so.

As for me, it takes a few days to unwind enough to enjoy our Disney vacations, let alone get close to sleeping in the middle of the day. I'm actually a little excited for when DS is a little older, so I'll have a hotel exploring buddy, while DH sleeps in our room. For this reason (and others) I'm not sure if we'll ever stay in a value resort. At least the Moderates and Deluxes have places to explore, and are a little less stimulating for a "break."

 

[dsneprincess]

We also never leave for a nap. We leave to swim, park hop, shop, eat, whatever, but never for a nap. We usually leave room early am & return late. We put everything including change of clothes/shoes in car trunk and go where the day takes us. DS2 has done this 4 times....

 

[ktlm]

got back 2 weeks ago, first trip since Dh and I were small, took DD5 and DS1. everything was wonderful with the exception of a planning mistake the first day. so I have read everything saying its good to take little kids to the hotel mid day for a break/nap. we planned to do RD our first day then leave at noon, return around 5 so the kids could be happy and enjoy elec parade etc.

we hated leaving, but thought it was for the best..got back to hotel and ate, treid to nap. kids would not could not na a second, they were grumps and Dh ad I even got into a fight. I dont know why but it just did not work out for our family! we should have toughed it out. lesson learned, the only good thing was that day was very crowded and our other time at MK was easy and awesome. so I guess make sure your kids will really rest or nap if you take them home...

Same thing happened to us when DD was 2 on her 1st trip. I was convinced by these boards, that we just had to do a mid-day break. We tried it the first day. It was an absolute disaster. It was the only meltdown she had the entire week. We dragged a kicking and screaming 2 year old out of MK, only to have her so furious when we got back to WL that she did not nap for the 2-3 hours we stayed at the resort (she is a stubborn one). She spent a good part of that time standing behind the curtain in the room sulking. Clearly, she got the commando gene from her parents. When we finally just gave up and went back to the park, she immediately got a huge smile on her face and crawled right into her stroller and napped for an hour. After that, it was the parks open to close with stroller naps in the park for us and it worked great. She would crawl right in the stroller and go to sleep when she was tired, and we would take turns riding the big rides while she slept.

She is 6 now, and we have had 4 WDW trips since her first one, and we never take a mid-day break. We've started at 9:00 a.m. and gone until 11:30 p.m. before and been just fine.

 

[lucifie]

I had to laugh at this because I can totally picture my 2 year old doing that.

 

[married2mm]

i think it's whatever works best for you and your family.

we never stay in a park all day. i have various health issues and simply don't have the stamina to keep going all day.

we return for tv/ipod time, pool, reading,shopping,food but no naps either- just some time out.

 

[diamondpixienc]

Same thing happened to us when DD was 2 on her 1st trip. I was convinced by these boards, that we just had to do a mid-day break. We tried it the first day. It was an absolute disaster. It was the only meltdown she had the entire week. We dragged a kicking and screaming 2 year old out of MK, only to have her so furious when we got back to WL that she did not nap for the 2-3 hours we stayed at the resort (she is a stubborn one). She spent a good part of that time standing behind the curtain in the room sulking. Clearly, she got the commando gene from her parents. When we finally just gave up and went back to the park, she immediately got a huge smile on her face and crawled right into her stroller and napped for an hour. After that, it was the parks open to close with stroller naps in the park for us and it worked great. She would crawl right in the stroller and go to sleep when she was tired, and we would take turns riding the big rides while she slept.

She is 6 now, and we have had 4 WDW trips since her first one, and we never take a mid-day break. We've started at 9:00 a.m. and gone until 11:30 p.m. before and been just fine.

I didn't actually find the Dis until after 2 trips with my older 2 and did no mid day breaks they were great stroller nappers so the afternoon break thing was one of the tips i found to be not necessary for us too.

 

[katie111]

We don't do the mid-day breaks either. Just seems like way too much work. Everyone comes back from the park sweaty & dirty so we have to wait forteh bus, ride the bus, take showers, change clothes, get into bed, then try to sleep, then get up, get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, repack for the second half of the day, go wait for the bus again...etc. Just too much! We just pack everything we need for the day/night & head out. We often do an early ADR (around 5-6) and assess where everyone is at. If everyone wants to keep going, we do, otherwise we head back, sometimes for a swim, sometimes just to bed. Luckily my youngest (now DS5) has always been a great stroller sleeper so this plan has always worked for us. We don't always get to see the nighttime parades & fireworks but have seen them all least once or twice. We also don't go in super hot weather so we can usually muster up enough energy to last for a full day.

 

[kohlby]

Another plus of not doing out-of-park breaks is that I can tell the kids that we'll stay as long as I think they can handle. And let them know that I'm using their behavior to figure that out. They don't want to leave, so they're extra good! I still make sure to leave in time for good bedtimes since they won't sleep in, but that's all I care about. Once my kids get to 5, they behave perfectly every single day since they want to stay! (At 3, it's not as much of an incentive, but they certainly try!)