All day without break for Toddler?

[jrandall]

If you do not take a mid day break at a hotel how long do you normally stay at the parks with a toddler? I am trying to plan my days to leave the park by 3:00 each day but it may be difficult to get all of Epcot in during this time.

 

[jk2006]

It depends on the individual kid. There are many times we planned on leaving mid-day and one of our kids fell asleep in the stroller, so we kept on going and they had their entire nap in the stroller and we didn't need to return to our room until late at night. Have fun!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If you do not take a mid day break at a hotel how long do you normally stay at the parks with a toddler? I am trying to plan my days to leave the park by 3:00 each day but it may be difficult to get all of Epcot in during this time.

Our toddlers nap in strollers. So we tend to stay. But that means we are usually done by about 8 or 9. We aren't late night people so much.

 

[Quellman]

At 17 months we still got a few naps out of him during the day in the stroller. We usually left the parks by 6-630 in the evening. This helped facilitate keeping bed time routine closer to schedule

 

[Shmily01]

When my kids were toddlers they both would nap in the strollers and we were able to go a little longer in the park. I found that most times they would fall asleep on the way back to the room and then wake up while I was trying to get them transferred to a bed and it was just better to let them be. That said, we now do mid-day breaks for swimming and rest for me and my hubby!!

 

[ariane37]

When mine were toddlers we'd leave either after the nighttime entertainment we wanted to see, or after dinner. Neither of mine napped regularly much after age 2 but both would fall asleep in the stroller while at Disney. We never went back to the room; just planned on being there until we were done, which I realize isn't going to work for everyone.

 

[nat8199]

We let them nap in their strollers, but ended our park days immediately after or before dinner depending on where we were eating. We keep our kids on their regular schedule, though, which is up at 6am and bed at 7pm.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Even when they were little, I found it much easier to let my kids stay up late vs. making them get up early. Each took their first trip to WDW during the summer after their first birthday and we've generally stayed out until the last park closes. We don't arrive for Rope Drop since that's way too early and we don't do breaks back to the resort. However, we always have hoppers and use travel time between parks in the rental vehicle as break time. Nap time in the stroller was also a daily ritual when they were younger.

To this day, my favorite Disney memory is chasing my then 3 year-old daughter back to the entrance of Space Mountain moments before midnight with her screaming "one more time Daddy" all the way.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

on our last trip my one year old slept in his stroller and my two year old refused to rest when we tried to take a afternoon break so we stayed at the parks all day. Twice during a 7 day trip the two year old had a melt down during dinner and leaving DHS.
Half way through trips I'm always ready for mid day breaks. I think the day is rougher on me and my husband than the kids

 

[disnut8]

If you do not take a mid day break at a hotel how long do you normally stay at the parks with a toddler? I am trying to plan my days to leave the park by 3:00 each day but it may be difficult to get all of Epcot in during this time.

If you are going with a toddler, then all that planning you are doing will probably not work very much. Because going with a toddler means the toddler "is in charge" of things. Base your day on your child's normal routine. Is he/she an early riser? Then look at resort things to do until the parks open and then go for rope drop. Is the toddler a late riser? Then just go when he/she normally wakes up.

But, you will be in a new environment for that toddler and he/she will react differently and no one, not even your toddler, will know what that way will be until you are there.

My advice - get your FastPasses for times you are reasonably sure your toddler will be available and then just do the rest of the day as you can.

 

[tlmadden73]

my 2 year old (26 months) napped for about 90 minutes in a stroller mid-day in October .. We left the parks at around 8:00 pm (before the night shows) and he was remarkably fine.

 

[Angel Ariel]

DD napped in her stroller at 15 months, and she's always been a late riser (with a naturally later bedtime), so staying out wasn't usually a problem. On nights we weren't seeing one of the nighttime shows, we'd start heading back to the room around 7-7:30. On the night's we stayed for fireworks, she might fall asleep during the fireworks - we always carried her PJs with us on those days so we could change her into PJs before the fireworks to make the transition from stroller to crib easier when we got to the hotel.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Oh, and I should say that now, at almost 3, she's starting to give up naps...so we likely won't take midday breaks. But if she needs a sensory break, we'll be prepared to do something like bring her to Tom Sawyer Island, Hall of Presidents, riding the Train around the park, chilling in the baby care center, take a ride or 2 or 3 around on the boat on the rivers of america, or plan a long mid-day table service meal somewhere to get that break

 

[starsweeper]

I just got back from a trip with a young 3yo & 4yo. We were up at 6am, in parks by 7-8am, left parks around 3-6pm, kids showered and in bed by 8-9pm. My 3yo tended to fall asleep for at least an hour in the stroller after lunch but 4yo stayed awake all day most days.

When my DH comes along, we usually take a mid-day break, return for dinner and a few rides, then DH takes the two young ones back to the room around 7pm while my 8yos and I stay out late.

 

[Blubarchetta]

Often I find that we adults, need the naps as much as the kids.

 

[Spoiledraf]

Our little ones have never done well but we have always gone in the heat of the summer. They would rather spend time in the pool.

 

[ktlm]

From the time DD was 2, we have stayed in the parks from open to close with her. She was a stroller napper at WDW (she gave up naps at home right at her 3rd birthday, but continued the stroller napps at WDW at age 3 through 5). We would get there right at rope drop and we would usually leave around park closing (assuming close was 9:00 or 10:00). If she got really tired we might leave an hour or so earlier. She always did really well. When she was 2 and 3, she might fall asleep in the stroller before we left the park in the evening, but there were nights she did not even do that.

 

[tinkermomto3]

We went rope drop to 7 or so most nights. (Usually not in bed til after 9) One night we stayed until close. My kids were 1, 2.5, and almost 5. midday breaks are a disaster for us, much easier for us to do something quiet and let them pass out in the strollers

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We go open to close with a toddler. She naps in the stroller when selecting needs to. We have been there as late as 1 am with her. She handles change pretty well, and doesn't really follow a schedule. She is also a night owl, so that helps.

 

[cakebaker]

Most trips of ours are in the summer and we discovered last year our toddler can't take the heat so we get out at rope drop, break for the heat of the day and back to the parks in the evening. There's no way we could leave him napping in his stroller. We always liked midday breaks anyway, but they're a must now with him. At night, we stay out as late as we want and when he's tired, he will sleep in his stroller but there's not the horrible heat to deal with.

We enjoy the nights at the parks too much to leave early- it's just a week and his schedule is off anyway due to traveling. He handles it pretty well as long as we keep that afternoon nap in.