Anyone take afternoon breaks, staying offsite

[3princesses+aprince]

I will be going in March , staying off-site for 4 nights. We'll only have one day in MK and one day in MGM. I was wondering if we should go around 11am and try to stay as late as we can, or go for 9am and take a break then come back. Didn't know if it would be more of a pain though , leaving and coming back, never tried it before.
I of course would be tempted to try a whole day, but know it's not wise my youngest would be 2 weeks away from her 3rd birthday. I'm sure she couldn't manage. I just want to make the most out of this trip, i'm in school, that's why we are taking a small trip, and we will be back, but my kids are waiting so badly to go back, and I want it to be a nice trip.
Thanks for any advice!!!

 

[crl]

For our family, (DD age 3) it's best that we take a break for a nap. If not, we can count on lots of meltdowns throughout the afternoon and we'll have to call it an early day. So we take a mid day nap (mom and dad too). By the time we head back to the park, we've missed the mid day heat.

 

[justplaingoofy]

we've taken breaks mid day before while staying off property...

However... Did you say you only had one day in MK, and one day at MGM? I am assuming you've already seen & done most everything at those parks? Not much time to see things, and when we have been in March there have been lines!

Good luck what ever you decide!

 

[vpalmer]

Take the break! You will do more from 9 to noon that you could do in six hours if you showed up at noon. And arrive at 8:30, not 9:00. You can do so much in FantasyLand first thing in the morning and actually move throughout the parks rather than getting stuck in line. Those lines are torture for little ones. Take a break and go back in the evening for Fantasmic and SpectroMagic. We did this with our 2.5 year old and we were actually refreshed after a week in WDW. It was amazing!

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We went w/ our DS (turned 3 while we were there) and DS5. Most of the time we went back to our condo to nap. They were unbareable by lunchtime. Although, there were a couple of times when DH didn't want to leave so I rode the monorail line to Epcot and back to MK a couple of times with DS3 so he could take a quick nap. I would recommend going first thing in the morning.

 

[tacomaranch]

We stay onsite because we need access to our hotel so DS 3 doesn't melt down from missing nap.

I did try the train and monorail but it is not the deep rem sleep the little ones need. I have heard to try the hall of president or the one where the show the kitchen from decade to decade is also good for naps.

Good luck, nap when you can.

 

[justplaingoofy]

We stay onsite because we need access to our hotel so DS 3 doesn't melt down from missing nap.

I did try the train and monorail but it is not the deep rem sleep the little ones need. I have heard to try the hall of president or the one where the show the kitchen from decade to decade is also good for naps.

Good luck, nap when you can.

Thats the only way my husband can get me to go into the Hall Of Presidents. When its 85+ degrees & I need a nap

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Thanks, I think we will arrive early and take the break
A previous post said they assumed I have been and done everything before seeing how I am only spending one day in each park, yes we have been before, but never to MGM. I am in school for Radiography(x-ray) and will have to wait for our "real" trip to Disney for when I graduate in 08, but the kids and I and dh, really want to go back, so this little trip will be just enough to keep everyone happy til I finish school. Thanks again

 

[Hannathy]

When you stay off site it really is a hassle to go back mid day-IMO. We tried it one time and found it more tiring (walking to the car, dealing with traffic, returning in traffic, going through parking again, another trek from the lot, in MK another ferry or boat ride) than staying in the park and taking a break. I doubt the older kids will appreciate loosing that much time from the parks,3-4 hours, with such a short trip. We always just let the little one nap in the stroller if needed. Most kids will sleep anywhere when tired and you don't have a very long vacation that you will be worried about their lasting for 10 days. Whatever you decide GO early don't wait till 11.

 

[MikeyA50]

It depends on where you are staying, we always stay somewhere on or off the 192. Traffic is reasonable, usually less than 10 minutes fro m Disney.

 

[Holly]

We used to stay offsite at the Doubletree DtD and it was never a hassle to go back for a break, especially to MGM.

 

[KittyKitty]

I am guessing that if you are going around spring break, the hours will be longer. So you could go back after a break, and still get in 5-7 hours.

Have fun no matter what you decide!!

 

[fcrouch]

the bets advice I followed from all the guide books and the Tour guide mike program and ridemax.com was to be there when the park opened - we were there on a saturday and monday in late july - so busy days, I would presume, we went directly to Fantasyland the first day and hardly had a wait for over an hour - rode everything our daughter wanted to ride. We did the same thing our second day and went straight to tomorrowland - rode Buzz lightyear three times without waiting more than a minute. We did leave after lunch for a 3 or 4 hour break (we were staying off property up by Seaworld) - we were back at the hotel room aoubt 1:45 and left again about 6 - so had a couple of hours in the park before the night-time parade - then left and watched the fireworks from the boat back to the parking lot. Essentially followed the same routine the second day - but instead of the nighttime parade, rode some rides during the parade when lines were again short. Made good use of Fastpasses as well. But getting there before the park opened was the best thing we could've done.

 

[Fainfamily5]

I would not worry about planning a break or not. We stayed off site in July and it really was more hassle than it was worth to leave and come back especially to go get on the tram leave and then wait again. We just planned really well. We knew which rides to get a FP for and which ones to go straight and get on first thing or come back b/c lines were smaller in the afternoon. We did do a break the first day but it was a lot of trouble so we just took each day at a time and tried to plan so we were not standing around saying "ok, what do you want to do next?" Most days we could stay until @ 3 or 4 and we had a huge party of 13 with 6 of those being kids from ages 5-11. So my suggestion would to be take each day as it comes but I would definitely go early b/c we rode most all the things we wanted to with no wait and I think it was b/c we went early and planned very well!!! Have fun!!!

 

[babiesX2]

We stay off-site at Liki Tiki, and we go early and wait for the "rope drop." We usually leave at about 1pm then go back in the evening around 6pm.

 

[MichelleChell]

I have a totally different opinion. We didn't take the break and did just fine with our just turned 3 yr old. What we did was after lunch find a quiet cool place and DD took a stroller nap and we relaxed for a few min. Then after she fell asleep we walked around. Just get a stroller fan and save the travel time back to the hotel.

 

[datsyukchick]

We found it was worth our while to take a rest. We would get up and go early in the morning and would only stay a few hours, then we would pack up and head back to our hotel (a timeshare) and make lunch then have a quick nap/rest. Then we would head back out around 3:00 or 4:00pm. It also saved a lot of money to eat lunch at our hotel instead of the parks!

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

We've stayed offsite 3 times with our youngest being 8 months for the last trip. We have never taken a break from the parks. By the time we would get back to the car, drive to the villa, park and get to our room,it just wouldnlt be worth it. The 2 kids who would nap were in strollers and used them to nap. We took lunch breaks and if one was cranly, we just found a spot to relax.

NOw I will contradict myself because this trip we will be onsite and I'm planning to take a break or two. I figure being on the monorail, it will be easy to go for a swim or take a little break. I plan on using all the perks of staying onsite!

 

[justplaingoofy]

I posted earlier that we usually DO take a break for the afternoon.

I believe the OP said they were only going to Disney for one day MK, one day MGM. Since its only one day in each park I don't think I'd take the time away for a break.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Thanks again for all of the replys, maybe i'll see how everyone is holding up and hope to stay for the day! I'm definately going for rope drop though. I knew it was less crowded, but had no idea you could do fantasyland with not much wait!!! And of course fantasyland is first on our list.