Taking a Break From Parks

[shana398]

We will be in Disney for a seven-night, six-day trip. We are thinking of either taking the fourth day off or doing MVMCP on the fourth day. If we do that, we really won't have any other time off except for during the day of the party. Is this enough downtime? We are three adults, a 12 year old and a 3 year old. The only one I'm a little worried about is the 3-year-old. Suggestions?

 

[choppee]

honestly, and i really don't know the stamina of your family, but i did something quite similar about three years ago and it almost ruined the trip. i can go-go-go, but for the others on the trip, it was too much for them. if you are trying to do rope drop each day and stay until they throw you out it can be really exhausting. there is a wall that you hit after 'running' hard several days in a row. also, it's amazing how many miles you cross when you are sight-seeing through the parks--one time i logged 23 miles!!!!

if you are certain you want to try it, i strongly suggest a stroller for your little one. there's nothing that can stop a day in its tracks more than an exhausted, overstimulated child. other than that, have fun. it is you who knows your family best, and you can prepare for whatever if you know all the things you will come across.

 

[heybravo626]

Explore the resorts especially the deluxe resorts. Sounds like you may be going while Christmas decorations may be up. That's a bonus. The most common resort for us to go visit when not staying there is Animal Kingdom Lodge. Personally, I would much rather go there for some non-park time over DTD. AKL has sites and activities for all ages.

 

[PEC]

honestly, and i really don't know the stamina of your family, but i did something quite similar about three years ago and it almost ruined the trip. i can go-go-go, but for the others on the trip, it was too much for them. if you are trying to do rope drop each day and stay until they throw you out it can be really exhausting. there is a wall that you hit after 'running' hard several days in a row. also, it's amazing how many miles you cross when you are sight-seeing through the parks--one time i logged 23 miles!!!!

if you are certain you want to try it, i strongly suggest a stroller for your little one. there's nothing that can stop a day in its tracks more than an exhausted, overstimulated child. other than that, have fun. it is you who knows your family best, and you can prepare for whatever if you know all the things you will come across.

Was the 23 miles in a day or for the trip?
100% correct on the stroller. Do that even with a day off. Children go very hard in short burst but when they wear out they are either very cranky or asleep. A stroller lets them rest.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We usually do 9 day trips. Once we did a 6 day trip, 7 night trip. We had DS11 and DD5. Since we were used to more days we did no break from the parks. We did a park everyday. 2 Epcot, 2 MK, 1 DHS and 1 AK.

I was shocked about how well we did. DD5 had no stroller and walked . We did midday breaks everyday and relaxed at the pool. Would hit a park at night. We did rope drop most mornings and even did AM EMH at MK. It was the last week of August and crowds were low.

For 6 days I personally wouldn't take a whole day off. It's too short of a trip.

It was our best trip by far.

 

[bjam12]

Hard to say. We just went last week with a 2-year-old, but she will take afternoon naps in her stroller.

We spent 15 hours at HS on Labor Day (8:30-11:30) and she slept three hours during the afternoon. She is a real good sleeper though, I took her into several different shows holding her and she slept through it all.

If your 3-year-old absolutely needs peace and quiet to settle down for a nap then you should probably figure in some mid-day breaks. I think the idea of having a morning and afternoon off until the Christmas party is a great idea. Enjoy the pool and resort that day.

 

[Raenstoirm]

We do 10 days in the parks with no break 12-15 hours a day. But we don't run ourselves ragged. We stay in the parks till as late as possible (sometimes 3am ) but have only made 1 rope drop ever and often don't arrive in the parks till noon. We always plan at least one sit down meal a day. Despite what people say, you don't have to take a rest day if you don't want to.

 

[cincystamper]

We will be in Disney for a seven-night, six-day trip. We are thinking of either taking the fourth day off or doing MVMCP on the fourth day. If we do that, we really won't have any other time off except for during the day of the party. Is this enough downtime? We are three adults, a 12 year old and a 3 year old. The only one I'm a little worried about is the 3-year-old. Suggestions?

The only suggestion I have is - if you DO decide on going to MVMCP, pay attention to what your plans are the next morning. On our last trip, we did what you're talking about....had a breakfast at 1900 Park Fare but other than that, just relaxed all day until heading to MVMCP. That worked out well for us. Our problem came the next morning when none of us wanted to get up and head out to the park we had planned to do. Two of the three of us eventually made it (a little later than planned) and our third just joined us in the park in time for a late lunch.

Moral of the story - you know your family best, but if you decide on attending MVMCP, take a careful look at your plans for the day after!

 

[Lavitz]

Only you can know what your family can and can't do. Many here would say to take mid day breaks when you go to WDW with small children, but this is the WORST possible advice possible for my family. Went last Christmas for a week with a 8 y/o, 2 y/o and 1 y/o, in park from 9-10am to about 9pm every day. Worked perfectly, and we would have had tantrums if we tried to leave mid day.

Stroller is a must have. We brought two fairly small umbrella strollers and the two little ones dozed off when they needed it and we had zero problems.