Afternoon Break: Yay or Nay?

[elle101me]

Yay! We take a break and hop to a different park in the evening.

 

[princessjadesmom]

To us it's much more exhausting to go all the way back to our resort for a break. I much prefer just relaxing in the park somewhere for a while. Hall of Presidents and Universe of Energy work great for those needed breaks!

 

[mshanson3121]

We think it's a total waste of time. It takes an hour to leave MK, wait for a bus, and ride to your resort, then an hour to get from your resort to MK (unless your at GF, Poly, or Contemporary).

We choose either morning or evening and the do like 6 hours of park time. Our last trip in Spring Break we had dinner at Epcot at 4:30* and then walked to Beach Club and took a bus to MK and got there about 6:30 and stayed until 12:00 each night.

*No, we're not 80. Our 4:30 "dinner" was really lunch but it was our large meal at a nice Epcot restaurant. Then we had another meal about 9:00 at MK. And breakfast was at like 10:00 AM.

Why do I feel the need to justify my meal times to you?

This is exactly what I'm thinking for next time. On one hand we liked the afternoon breaks, and you don't run the risk of getting stormed out. But on the other hand - just what you said: it basically wastes 2 hours, and as someone else above mentioned - it is frigging HOT walking back to the car/back to the park. We found the process of coming and going exhausting.

 

[mshanson3121]

We don't. my mom who goes with us says it is more exhausting the back and forth.. We usually are late afternoon to close people. An afternoon break for us would mean be being at the park super early ( for us 9am) staying for 4 hours and a break for 4 and then hitting until close.. This means not hitting the sack until 11pm or midnight usually. No way after a day like this could we get back up for another early day.

My kids, nor us nap anymore... I can see a break working for families with smaller kids who NEED a nap and can make up for early mornings and late nights.

but what we do, do is the water parks first at 10am for a few hours and hotel to shower change, rest up and then a normal park... does this count?? Here we have a car and drive to the water parks,, super fast and easy with parking, fast in and out.

How do you manage the afternoon storms?

 

[Upup4fun]

My hubby and I always take a break. He likes his pool time and the parks are boiling in the afternoon.

 

[Ensusieasm]

Curious as to what you prefer (especially those of you that travel in summer): Do you prefer to take an afternoon break, or just stay through?

Yay to the break! Allow 5 hours from the time you walk out of the Park until you want to be walking back in to a park, to make it a real break. This gives time for waiting for and riding the bus each way, getting a snack back at your resort, perhaps some pool time, and a real rest in your resort room bed. Otherwise it's not worth it.

 

[disney world dreamer]

How do you manage the afternoon storms?

i know your question was not directed to me but since i don't leave the parks for a break i figured i'd answer.

we simply have disney ponchos on hand and use them when necessary to make our way from point A to point B.

or we'll use the storm as a break time and grab a snack or watch a show.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Yes, we usually leave the parks around noon and return around (sometimes after) dinner. However, our "breaks" usually include a water park.

 

[DisneyHardin]

If it is really hot, we have to do a break or we get way too grouchy.

 

[North of Mouse]

Almost never went back for breaks, even with children - just slow the pace down somewhat, and cool it in the parks.

 

[Mintycake]

I love this thread! We plan to break at hs and epcot because our resort is an epcot one but for me I think it will be Rd until we drop. Might stop at one of the monorail resorts for lunch if we need a break

 

[maryj11]

We find that taking an afternoon break makes us more tired than just staying in the park. A break is just a momentum killer for us.

To me being a woman, it would be a hassle getting make up back on, fixing hair and dressed again after taking a swim break at the pool. Then there is the traveling back and forth.

 

[SaintsManiac]

It would depend on a lot of factors for us: proximity to resort, grump levels, weather, etc.

 

[maryj11]

We think it's a total waste of time. It takes an hour to leave MK, wait for a bus, and ride to your resort, then an hour to get from your resort to MK (unless your at GF, Poly, or Contemporary).

We choose either morning or evening and the do like 6 hours of park time. Our last trip in Spring Break we had dinner at Epcot at 4:30* and then walked to Beach Club and took a bus to MK and got there about 6:30 and stayed until 12:00 each night.

*No, we're not 80. Our 4:30 "dinner" was really lunch but it was our large meal at a nice Epcot restaurant. Then we had another meal about 9:00 at MK. And breakfast was at like 10:00 AM.

Why do I feel the need to justify my meal times to you?

This sounds a lot like our plans. I don't know why you feel like you have to justify your meals

 

[tinkerbella16]

Absolutely yes! And we always go in November, when the weather is nearly perfect. We never have kids with us and we take afternoon breaks each day. We like to do rope drop, then leave by 1pm at the latest.. enjoy the resort and swim, relax or nap and recharge for the evenings. This has always been our touring style, and we're sticking with it this year, especially since we're going in September and we'll have an 18 month old with us for the first time. We just can't do open to close anymore. We found it so much more enjoyable and we've felt less exhausted because of those breaks. I really don't like being in the parks when they're at their most crowded and hot in the afternoons.

I'd rather feel like I'm on a vacation, than in a marathon running from open to close trying to get everything done in one trip. We will always be back.

It's never taken us long at all to get back to our resort. When we leave in the afternoon, not many others are leaving, so there are no long lines at the bus stops. Staying at an Epcot resort this year will be great - we can walk right back to our resort from Epcot and DHS, so we don't have to worry about buses to/from 2 out of the 4 parks.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I prefer to take a mid-day break. My ankles really swell up from walking if I don't. My family would prefer not to take a break so when I'm with them, I will schedule a late lunch so I can get off my feet for an hour or so.

I'm going solo in July for 4 days only and still plan on taking an afternoon break to try and head off the ankle swelling.

 

[Stefecatzz]

Since I'm always staying either off property or at a value, I plan my afternoon breaks at nearby resorts depending on the park I'm in. I love heading to an MK resort for lunch & to explore before going back to the park.

 

[cdnjason]

In the afternoon, it's 110 degrees with either the sun beating down on you or the whole of the Gulf of Mexico falling from the sky, there are ten people per square yard--half of whom are families yelling at each other because they need a nap, there is a 300 minute wait at whatever attraction you want to see, and it seems entirely rational to spend $20 on bottled water for your family.

Take the break.

LOL....what a perfect depiction of events. That's why we take breaks.

 

[footballmouse]

We usually go in May or September and we only do one park a day, no hopper. For that reason, we never took breaks. When the kids were small enough to use a stroller, they took a nap there. My kids are older (teenagers) now so there is no way I would take a break. This is why we never go in the summer.

 

[Joe White]

No time for breaks! I'll take a break when I get home. My family is there from open to close.