ALWAYS necessary to nap?

[ncbunnie]

So I'm reading about 800 guidebooks that really tout the benefits of the golden "afternoon nap" trip back to the resort.

My question is: would you always nap in the afternoon when the parks are at low season/crowds and close early? I can't see fitting a 4-5 hour trip back to our resort when the park closes at 7pm. I'm trying to decide the ultimate question: to nap or not to nap? We do have a 3-almost-4 yo who is NOT used to taking an afternoon nap and usually goes to bed around 9pm, gets up at 8am.

Here's our schedule:

Sunday- AK: park open 9-6 (can't see fitting a nap in there)
Monday- HS: park open 9-8 (want to see Fantasmic at 6:30 then head out)
Tuesday- EPCOT: park open 8AM (EMH)- 9:30pm (thinking a trip back is worth the effort on this day)
Wednesday- EPCOT: park open 9-9:30, EMH 9:30-12:30 (but there is NO way I can keep our 3yo out until 12:30am! )
Thursday- MK: park open 8-7
Friday- MK: park open 9-7 (we have ADR at CRT at 8:20*)

Do you seasoned park visitors have any opinions? I'm really torn on the last 2 MK days. I just can't see getting to the resort and enjoying the rest time at all without worrying, "are we going to get back in time?"

*CRT brings up another question. What do you do if you finish breakfast before the park opens? And how do you get in to the park before the park opens to make the ADR? We are staying at POP, what time would you recommend leaving (taking our own car, not the bus) to get there?

**Putting all my questions in here to save some room: another question- we have ADR on Wednesday for Cape May Cafe breakfast at the Beach Club. Since we are driving, can we leave our car at the Beach Club, enter EPCOT through the international gateway and then return to pick up the car when we leave the park ? Or do we have to go to breakfast, come out, move the car to EPCOT's lot, then enter through the main entrance? I really just want to stay in World Showcase that afternoon so it would be very convenient to leave the car in Beach Club's lot, but I certainly don't want to come out and have my car towed!

THANK YOU!

 

[rubato]

I will answer the questions that I can.

You do not "need" to go back and take a nap in the offseason. The parks are not open as long and the crowds are amazingly low. If your children are nappers, they can always nap in the strolller while watching a parade or show. When you add in EMHs, sometimes it's nice to go back to the hotel and rest or go swimming (if it's not too cold). We have never gone back for a nap. I just didn't want to waste all that time traveling back and forth. You will, however, have a car and that could help with your time. We always travel in January and work with the hours you are working with.

Breakfast before the parks open is easy. Just go up to the front gate and they will let you in. As far as being done before the park opens, I'm not sure how that works. If you were done way early, you'd probably have to leave the park and come back in, but if it's just a few minutes, I'd think you would be fine.

I've never driven, but have read that you cannot leave your car in the resort lots. Maybe you could park at Epcot and then, go over to the Beach Club. But, I don't know how early the boats are running, so that might not work.

 

[CaptainHypersock]

I usually don't nap on trips like this. I find that if I get to bed at a decent hour (like 10 or something,) regardless of when I get up, be it 6-8, I generally have enough energy to get through the parks.

Of course, this is a case by case issue. I've heard many positive things about the magical powers of the nap. But for me, a nap is not necessary.

CaptainHypersock out.

 

[LWatson]

The only times we have left the park for naps were when I was suffering from a migraine attack and wanted to nip it in the bud w/ the meds that knock me out.

At MK they have a special queing area for those w/ early morning meals and/or BBB or PL appointments.

The other parks I cant answer on as I have no clue.

 

[rnorwo1]

I'm assuming you're asking about naps for your 3 year old, not yourself, although my DH is always happy to volunteer to stay with the little ones while they nap It sounds like your child is easy without naps? I have 2 children who do fine without naps so we always play it by ear with them. My oldest had to have a nap when he was that age, so we scheduled them in. If your child will be cranky in the evenings without one, then I think it's a wise time investment, otherwise you may be leaving the parks early in the evenings b/c of meltdowns. And be careful not to judge how your child does at home with how they'll do at the parks, there is something about the excitement, change in schedules and diet, etc that creates completely different children. You can also let your child will sleep in the stroller and keep going if that's possible.

Yes, you can stay in the park after your breakfast, they'll have areas roped off within the park... you'll be ahead of the crowds who are waiting at the gates, so it'll give you a head start on the best rides!

 

[prncess674]

Friday- MK: park open 9-7 (we have ADR at CRT at 8:20*)
*CRT brings up another question. What do you do if you finish breakfast before the park opens?

I would not worry about finishing up early if your ADR is for 8:20am, that leaves only 40 minutes to be seated, eat breakfast and visit with all the characters. Remember you are paying big $$$ for that breakfast so take your time. There is no way you will be done in 40 minutes.

 

[nicki.momof3]

We always go back to the resort to nap. Our kids will be 5,6,7 this trip and they have not napped at home for years but with all the walking at WDW they will sleep every afternoon.

We have 2 reasons for napping:
1. We love to stay up late and enjoy WDW at night (leave around 11-11:30pm). The only way that is possible is for the kids to nap.

2. We hate grumpy kids. Even though they never nap at home they use so much energy at WDW that they are tired. We make rope drop daily so by noon they are ready to rest.

This is our typical schedule:

Up at 6am - make rope drop at whatever park has EMH
Back to the resort to rest and nap -noon until 3-4pm
Dinner ADR at a park at 5-5:30pm - whatever park has EMH
Stay late at the park and enjoy the magic of WDW at night

Now I understand your issue with early park closing. We always travel during peak times (I am a teacher) so we generally are never there durign slow times. We do however get park hoppers so we can stay at the parks late. We always make our ADR's at the park that has alte night ADR's.

If you use EMH at night you can avoid the early closure issues.

We never rent a car and only use WDW busses and traveling back and forth is not an issue. I find the WDW busses much more efficient than parking and so on.

 

[Chelley00]

Only you know your kids. I knew my youngest son would nap in his stroller if he got tired, so we rarely left. On days I had a late night planned (MNSSHP or late hours for fireworks) we might have taken that afternoon nap. Or, on long trips we'd take an afternoon off in the middle of the trip. On our last trip we all napped on MNSSHP days.

Now, had we gone when my oldest DS was little, NO WAY we would have made it without a nap. He was a strict schedule child, and he set it. He HAD to have a nap.

I think if you go, listen to your child's cues, set a plan but be willing to scrap that plan if your child is getting tired, then go back for the nap. Leave the flexibility in your schedule just in case. You won't see it all whether you nap or not

 

[Lglchick]

We thought about planning time for naps, but we are so glad we didn't. The time it would take to get on a bus, travel back to our resort, nap, get on another bus and travel back to a park would have been wasted time, in our opinion. There were times when we waited for over 30 minutes for a bus. We were so glad we trudged through the days and got the very most out of our trip.

 

[Lglchick]

But I also agree with PPs - only you know your kiddos and if they need naps, better to give yourselves some wiggle room with time so that you can get that nap if necessary.

 

[dizmom2mwjk]

If your child doesn't nap in the stroller, they might just get too much "magic" in the parks all day....On your MK day/s, I would not necessarily take my kids back to the room for a nap, but I would take them out of the park, and do something different...like a monorail ride around the MK resorts and back just to get away from the same old atmosphere...maybe stop at one of the resorts and have a quick snack just to see the decorations at the Poly or Contemporary....this would only take an hour or so, and would break up the day.

Our kids (we have 4 and have been going to WDW since our oldest was 18mos), have all been big nappers, so we could not go without an actual nap, and I felt it ate up alot of our day, as well, and we always went during offpeak season, so I just always did ParkHoppers and utilized EMH....but I could nopt stand the thought of being one of those parents/families with whining/crying kids at the end of the day...I also realize that what worked for us might not fit your plans, and your child might not be a big napper (mine took minimum 3 hour naps until they were almost 5, then it was 2 hours)...so I thought an alternative might work better for you.

now, with some older and some still in nap mode, we divide and conquer....

I also sent you a PM...so check that out as well.

 

[MHSweb79]

We always have park hoppers, so we'll typically hit the morning EMH park very early, then head back to the resort for an afternoon rest/ swim. Then back out to another park, usually Epcot, for dinner and evening touring.

It's always good to have some down time even if nobody is actually sleeping. With shorter park hours, you can just leave the park when you're done and have some quiet time back at your resort for the evening. Getting up early and touring for the entire day gets to be exhausting- you'll hit "the wall" if you don't have a break now and then.

 

[KerTggr]

If your child doesn't nap in the stroller, they might just get too much "magic" in the parks all day....On your MK day/s, I would not necessarily take my kids back to the room for a nap, but I would take them out of the park, and do something different...like a monorail ride around the MK resorts and back just to get away from the same old atmosphere...maybe stop at one of the resorts and have a quick snack just to see the decorations at the Poly or Contemporary....this would only take an hour or so, and would break up the day.

Agree with dizmom2mwjk. We have never gone back to the resort to take a "nap" and have been over multiple visits with a 18 month old; a 3 year old and 3 month old. Our next trip will have a 7 year old, a 5 year old, and an 18 month old. What we have done and what we plan ever trip are some activities that are low key or find areas of the park that are less populated and just take a break. Beyond the baby centers, some areas we have found & enjoy are:

• HS: The bakery area kinda behind the Brown Derby ("Starring Rolls")
• MK: The railroad & the railroad mainstreet terminal/steps area
• EP: Many of the lands areas including the morrocco fountain when there aren't characters or the walkway by the baby center
• AK: Any of the walking trails - most have benches every so often

Though I will caveat with the same statment as above - only you know your child. Just plan to change your plans if needed.

 

[Elliesmommy]

All but one of my WDW trips have been in Jan when it was cool out and low crowds. I would say that a nap is not needed during these times for adults. A 4 year old will almost always need a nap no matter what the crowd level is or temp outside. I am hoping you are bringing along a stroller so your three year old can relax and fall asleep in it. I know you said he/she does not take an afternoon nap, but all the excitement can wear a kid out.

When I went during a busier season and it was warm outside, I was ready for a nap by early afternoon.

 

[SplashMo]

I usaully nap between 3AM and 7AM When I am at the parks...

 

[hsmamato2]

we've always gone off season...and never went back for naps,not even when the kids were babies! they always slept in the stroller when needed,and we the parents still know how to slow down and take a break,say mid afternoon,stop,relax,have a coffee,or snack,even take off the shoes and just people watch for a while till we feel like going again!
Since we always 'conserve' our ticket and use days,when we go in the park,we're in till we leave!
IMO there are about a million places all over WDW to find a quiet spot for the kids to chill out for a while,and we've never had any issues with meltdowns or anything else either.....
we rarely go in super early,unless we have a reason......
If you;re at WDW and see a family hanging out with their shoes off like it's the livingroom at home,it might be us!

 

[musclemouse]

We don't nap. Of course this is going to be our second trip with the boys and we didn't do this before.

I am not going to make them suffer through the fireworks. I don't mind if I miss them. We can usually see Illuminations from our resort, so I can catch them then.

My boys like to swim. So that is what we plan to do after we leave the parks. They also have to get their reading in. Homework in the morning before we hit the parks.

Oh also, I don't make any ADR's at unreasonable times. We don't eat after 6pm at home, so no ADR's after 6pm.

We take our time through the parks. Whatever we miss "this" time, we will hit "next" time.

 

[Tltorrez]

I was just thinking about this topic. My DS8 is ADHD so although he doesn't nap on school days, he sometimes naps on weekends. The combination of being tired and over-stimulated makes it harder for him to maintain control. Plus i'm a napper. I often nap on weekends; even just 20 minutes gives me a huge boost.

So we went in October for one day at Discovery Cove and two days at MK and we knew we would nap. It was low crowds but we were there for full days (9-12 for MNSSHP and 8-10 the next day). We were staying at ASM so getting back meant riding the bus, but it was still worth it for us. We left the park at 11:30. DS napped for an hour. Then we ate at quick lunch at ASM and headed back to the park. We arrived both times in plenty of time to catch the 3:00 parade. In the mean time, DH and DSis took the monorail to Poly/Contemp and had a nice relaxing lunch.

The back and forth was a little stressful on me (worrying that we would just miss the bus), but really the buses were great. And the second day I got my 20 minute nap in and that helped. And everyone else was much more relaxed for the experience. Honestly, I think even the quiet bus ride was a mental break for DS from the over-stimulating park.

Having said that, on our next trip in Jan I am thinking to skip the nap on a couple days. We'll be staying at BWV for 8 days. So nap for our Epcot days is a no-brainer. But i'd really like to skip it for AK and not have to do the extra bus trip. Also, we're planning a late start to DHS one day so we won't nap on that day. The biggest thing i'm unsure about is the impact of the earlier park closings. Plus since we won't have to worry about the bus most days, we'll be able to sleep later and still make rope drop. I know that has to be much better in terms of all of us getting enough sleep but I just don't know how much it will help DS. And honestly, even with the naps we were all totally exhausted after the two days at MK so maybe i'm being overly optimistic about the shorter days. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Mostly my plan has a lot of flexibility in it so that I can adjust as needed without feeling like we're going to miss something. Of course, that has me making multiple variations for every park plan, but, hey, I have to have something to do for the next two months.

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was little (now she is 21) she was not a napper normally, but when we went to disney she was she would sleep around an hour, also not so much sleeping but just some down time might help. I would use this time to get her to eat, which with a picky eater is so important. It would give me a few minutes to get myself together and rest as well. I would not schedule but you can tell if a meltdown is coming.

But if we going to the world when the park hours are 8am to 1:00am - it was a must.

 

[VACAMPER]

We never nap...once we were at the parks from 8am until 1am with a 1 yr old. She never once got cranky, she ust napped in her stroller. She was an easy baby though. Going back for a nap takes to much time. Plus, we tend to feel worse after a nap. I do generally schedule a day in the middle of our vacation as an "off" day to sleep in and just chill out all day.