Anybody Not Take Mid-day Breaks In The Summer?

[lisaross]

It seems most recommend taking afternoon breaks back at the hotel BUT i just think it will be more work with our two boys 4 & 6. waiting for buses etc. Also i think i might be too lazy to go back to the parks once relaxing.

My all days are MK with a break for a ts lunch and ts dnr.

AK all day

and MGM 3/4 day arriving late in the am.

Epcot i'm going to plan one morning and one late afternoon night

i know its hot but so is the summers in nyc and we go to amuesment parks for the day and stay all day.........

I am going to have down time for pools and a lazy day w/no parks as well. We'll be in Disney for 8 nights at cbr.

 

[nalabell]

I am one that feels breaks are very important. However, if everyone is still doing well I will skip a break. I think a family can have problems when they go to the park 3 or 4 days straight with no break in the summer. It sounds like you are planning down time and that most likely make the difference.

 

[Belle1111]

We were there in August- at Epcot and MGM we usually took breaks because we were staying at YC/BC. AK we can usually do everything we want to do and be back at the hotel pretty early to spend the late afternoon/eve at the pool. We really like the park hopper option- example: AK morning/early afternoon, back to the hotel to swim/relax by the pool, evening Illuminations or Fantasmic. Our kids really like time at the pool (11,8,6 at the time) so I tried to keep that in mind- maybe we don't see or do everything at the parks, but we still have an awesome vacation.

edited to add that we always plan a day in the middle of the vacation just to stay at the hotel and relax, swim, etc. There's plenty to do without going into the parks!

 

[lisaross]

Sunday arrival - swim dnr relax at CBR

Monday - Epcot in the morning go to FW lunch Garden Grill 1pm then finish anything we missed and head back to hotel for swim park dnr relax

Tuesday - MK all day - have ts lunch Plaza and ts dnr CP to break up the day maybe leave after dnr or stay for fireworks

Wed. - sleep in a bit go to MGM late morning and stay for Fantasmic - late lunch at Sci Fi


Thur - NO park sleep in swim - head to DTD late afternoon dnr at wolfgang pucks.

Fri - AK and dnr at Boma

Saturday - Chef Mickey at 6pm so either swim in the am and hit the park in the afternoon or go to another favorite park in the am back to hotel then MK evening

Sunday - coral Reef and 6p same as saturday either hit Epcot in the late afternoon to do WS and stay by pool in the morning or hit another park am relax in afternoon then back to epcot at night

Monday swim all morning - head to airport afternoon

quick question about EMH -- can you arrive in the middle for example if MK is having EMH from 9-12 on a Sunday night can i arrive in the park after 9??

lisa

first family trip

MoM Dad and two boys 4&6

lisa

 

[pepe of ohio]

I'm a believer in afternoon breaks. We took them when are kids were small, and we still take them because we're old. Just kidding, I feel that I pay alot for the deluxe resorts, and only because I enjoy the themeing and ambience of the pool and resort. When the afternoon sun comes baring down, we're sweaty and not too happy, a 15 minute ride to the resort for some cold ones, a sandwich and dip in the pool, takes the weariness out and lets us be refreshed for the evening episode of another park. We also look forward to the pool after a park closing, a walk around the resort, a monorail ride to another resorts lounge, anything to break up the the day. New sights, new smells, its like we're discovering new avenues and we always find something different around the other resorts.

I've seen tons of other guests dragging their children the whole long day, from beginning to end and some are just tired, miserable and not having fun. I feel, even with the 3 or 4 hour mid day break, that we get our moneys worth out of our ticket. I can see staying if you're only on property for 4 days, you have to go commando to see and do it all, but our stays have gone to the 9-10 night plan, and there's plenty of time to see everything plus have a down day or two and take that afternoon rest periods.

 

[sunking]

My family is one that does not take breaks during the day when visiting the World. My family now consists of myself (Dad), wife, son (16) and daughter (14). We generally do the parks from open to close during our stay. We normally need a vacation to recover from the vacation. In the heat of teh summer we generally take rests and make sure that we visit the well airconditioned attractions.

Now, I would not advise this for everyone. This can be a brutal way to spend the day, especially in the heat of the summer. You need to know your and your children's limits. You know them best. If they are super active and handling it well, skip the break. If they are at the point of a breakdown, head back to the hotel and float in the pool for a bit.

In my opinion, there is nothing worse then seeing a family dragging an overtired, crying child from attraction to attraction because they don't want to slow down. Know your and your kids limits and you will be fine.

Have a great time.

Sunking

 

[Belle1111]

quick question about EMH -- can you arrive in the middle for example if MK is having EMH from 9-12 on a Sunday night can i arrive in the park after 9??

Your plan looks pretty relaxed- I think you've got it covered
As for the EMH- don't know, we've never done it- hopefully someone else will come forward with the answer!

 

[bobcat]

Have you heard the saying "it's not the heat but the humidity"? Summers can be brutal and the last thing I ever want to do again is drag hot, tired, whiney kids through the parks. Breaks are a must for us and make our summer trips enjoyable.

You can arrive at the parks after EMH has started. I believe you will get your wristband at the entrance.

 

[Kteacher]

My kids are teens, and we still take afternoon breaks. It is really hot in the summer! We go to th parks at opening, then stay till noonish, eat lunch someplace indoors with air conditioning and stay by the resort pool until dinner time. The parks are open later in the summer, so we always head back to a park after dinner when it has cooled down.

 

[anthony27]

my family usually doesnt take afternoon brakes. the reason is that once we are at the parks we never feel like leaving and then coming back. even though last year i stayed on site we thought it was still too much of a hastle to walk all of the way to the buses take it back to the hotel and then do the same thing at night especially at magic kingdom. we stayed at the hilton and it still took about an hour to get from the hotel to the mk gates

 

[lisaross]

input............

guess i'll have to wait and see how the kids are acting

lisa

 

[alien]

Be flexible! We've been going in July for the last several years and the humidity can sap the strength right out of you. It's great to have a plan, we all do, but be prepared to change it if needed. Do a lot of air conditioned attractions, pace yourself, drink lots of water, and bring a spray bottle (our kids really love this). Enjoy yourselves and remember if you don't get to do it all, you can always plan to come back in the future!
Cindy

 

[traviesojmt]

We always take the afternoon break and then go to a different park in the evening. DS8 enjoys either swimming in the pool or going to the arcade in the afternoon. Now, we take long vacations - 10 days this August so we feel we have plenty of time to see everything that we want to see. The breaks aren't just for my kids as I always feel more refreshed after coming back to the room. For myself, it just makes vacation more relaxing when I don't spend the whole day in the park. My suggestion would be to just be flexible. If anyone looks like they are ready to drop, take a break.

 

[Jackmonkey]

I live in Bakersfield CA. where we normaly have a large number of days in the summer that are over 100 degrees. Not meaning to boast, but I am in what I would consider good shape. A few years back I made a trip to the Disney Sports complex to referee a paintball tournament. After about 3 hours, I had heat stroke for the first and only time in my life Needless to say, I'm going to reccomend taking the breaks, but who says you have to go back to the hotel. As spread out as WDW's parks are, there should be many places to take a shaded 30 minute break with a frozen bannana or cool drink.

 

[Toulouse]

When we went in 2000 we didn't take afternoon breaks and I actually found the trip absolutely exhausting. Slept in, hit the parks around 10:30-11 - never again.

This time we're doing parks at opening with afternoon breaks and a return in the evening, I have a feeling it will be much better doing that.

 

[Toulouse]

Oh.... and to answer your question - yes you guys, you CAN go to the park during the evening EMH after it "starts" (and the parks officially close). What happens is resort guests need to have a wristband to be able to ride the EMH attractions, however anyone can actually be in the park (or enter it) during the 3 evening EMHs, they just can't ride the EMH rides (and the rest are closed but you could still shop/people watch/eat etc).

 

[lorli]

In the past 2 years dd was 3 and 4 and we never took a break from the parks while we were in the world and both trips were for 10 days in August. DD never was a napper and really enjoyed the parks. We also felt that once we left we might not go back. We did however take breaks in the parks, let dd play at water spots, enjoyed air conditioned eateries, took our time touring, and let dd dictate the speed. Sometimes we slowed things down for ourselves too. This has worked for us, but doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Deb & Bill]

On our first trip, our son was 4. His greatest thrill on that trip was going to the hotel pool. We have gone at least 20 times in the past 8 years. We always take a break and our son is now 12. We wouldn't skip the afternoon break ever again.

We did it once. We arrived at the MK on Christmas Eve when the park opened. We did the Family Magic Tour, we ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We stayed in the park until about 9PM and then headed back to our hotel. We were so burned out. The next morning, we had planned to go back to the parks for a few hours before we headed home. But we were so tired out, that we just headed home.

It is very tempting to stay in the parks all day to try to get your money's worth out of that ticket. But try to think about your children.

We always get to the park when it opens and get as many attractions done as possible. Especially those that wind up having long lines to wait in. You know those rides - Space Mt, Splash Mt, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pooh's Hunnypots, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Caribbean. If I have to wait longer than 15 minutes, I'm not waiting. It's just not worth it.

You'd probably be better off going to the park in the morning when it opens, eating lunch and then heading back to the pool. It is so refreshing to just lie out at the pool, play with your kids in the water for a few hours. Then we head back to the parks for dinner.

It sounds as if you plan on doing EMH in the evening. The morning EMH is the best time to accomplish riding those rides that get the long lines. But during the evening EMH, the lines are very long and the crowds can get pretty bad. With your two small children, I don't think you really want to attempt those times. It just isn't worth it.

Finally, the worst part about staying all day. The heat will get to so many people that there will be so many really, really unhappy people in the park suffering from "I paid a lot of money for this trip and I'm going to get my money's worth" syndrome. There will be pushing, fighting, very un-magical situations.

 

[nataliz]

We're planning on taking afternoon breaks this year. I want to get to the parks early in the morning, take a break in the afternoon (eat lunch, swim, and rest at hotel) and come back in the evening when we don't have the full force of the sun on us.

However, we may adapt our plans for our AK day by staying until we're done for the day and having a low-key night at the hotel.

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

I'm a commando type tourist who believes in the importance of breaks. This trip, I'm going to try building my breaks into the parks, such as watching Mickey cartoons at Main St. Cinema, but I'm experienced enough with DL to know that sometimes you just need to really rest out of the park.

I think that with little kids, it's very smart to take breaks in the sweltering heat of the afternoon. Disney has some really magical things at night, and it would be a shame to miss out on them because you pushed too hard earlier in the day and now have people in your party who just can't go on anymore.

When I was little, I always complained about having to take a nap, but mom made me do it anyways. She says I fell asleep quickly and was then good to go for the rest of the day, including all the nighttime festivities.