You guys think this would fly????

[apirateslife4us!]

We loved our afternoon breaks with our 2 and 5 year old. When we got back in the late afternoon we felt refreshed and ready for a fun evening. It was our first trip, so maybe we had lower expectations, but I thought we saw tons of stuff. I didn't mind missing whatever parade or rides I was missing from one to five pm, all I wanted was for my kids to have a good time.

The monorail to the Poly idea sounds like a nice way to work it out for commando families who don't want to leave. Napping in a ride wouldn't have worked out for my 2 year old because taking him out of the stroller, riding the ride, then putting him back in the stroller he'd wake up and be crankier than before, but maybe some of you have little ones who sleep deeper than mine, or who need shorter naps? Truthfully though, nothing except going back to the hotel would have worked for our family because DH and I wanted to rest and have showers, so if that isn't the case for your family then just go with the flow and do what you like!

I just wanted to add that the amount of time spent taking breaks was totally great for us, we never begrudged the parks the minutes lost to them. My 5 year old liked them because she always wanted to go to the pool. We all took a nap some days, some days we took turns watching DD in the pool while the other shopped for souveniers or did laundry or whatever else needed doing, and the second-to-last day we used his naptime to pack, freeing up our last day. I can see how it would drive a commando family nuts to spend so much time back to the hotel, but I wanted to go back home feeling like I'd been on vacation Whichever way your family has the most fun is the way to go, I'm sure you'll all have a blast!

 

[Goofy's Sis]

We have adhered to the "get there early-- leave by 11:00ish--lunch in the room & take the nap--return for the evening" philosphy since our first trip with little boys in 1990. Now, with teens& 20s, I find they are all still willing to "take the nap"! The college crowd is adept at staying up all night and napping suring the day! That's what I love about teh long hot summer days at WDW--there's time to do it however you want. I agree with whoever mentioned not doing both the early entry and late night hours. For us, we can do one or the other, or both in one day [with a nap], but not on back-to-back days. It's all about being felxible, and wathcing both your kids and your selves, to be sure everyone is having fun.

 

[Princess_Michelle]

Still working on this! I have scrapped the tent idea. I remember from last year that I LOVED the Baby Care Center in the Animal Kingdom. It was great b/c it had the individual rooms with rocking chairs in them. So we will do that after lunch on AK days. I didn't like the BCC in Magic Kingdom...it was small and there was nowhere dark and quiet where the kids could nap, so on those days, if he doesn't sleep on the stoller we'll just head back to the hotel. So, now I have this question. Can anyone tell me about the Baby Care Centers in MGM and EPCOT? We nenver used those and would like to know how they are...Anyone have pictures???? I going to try to remember to take pictures of all of them when I go, to post on here

 

[Smartykat]

Don't forget that you can ride round and round on the monorail. The resort one is the best for this because its quieter and you get an excellent view of the resorts, the landscape, and free a/c. The monorail's good for kids who always fall asleep in the car. Also, I love to get off at the Contemporary. It has lots of dark quiet corners for adults and kids to rest in and plus I love its gift shop.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

if your angel does fall asleep in the rental stroller we purchased a beach towel right then and used it as a sun blocking screen -hanging down over stroller roof...and then sat on it for parades, used it as a towel in fountain soakings, pool towel and as a souvenier too, warm blanket at night in stroller....etc, it got lots of use!