Choosing a Rest Day...

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Those who regularly do rest days on your trips, how do you choose which day? It feels hard to know in advance which day to NOT make park reservations! We've only done a rest day once before, and it wasn't really chosen necessarily, we just figured it made sense since we were transferring resorts that day and had plans to be in Disney Springs. This time, we're actively choosing a non-park day and I'm having a hard time deciding.

We have 9 days in the parks - we have an early flight in and should be at the resort by noon latest and a late flight out on departure day. We will be leaving for the airport around 6pm.

We are always too excited to stay out of the parks on Day 1, and we don't really want a rest day on departure day. We have kids, and without a room to go to after 11 that day, it feels like we should just get up and get moving somewhere. So that leaves us to choose a day mid-week for our rest day.

It feels to me like day 5 should be rest day since that's the midpoint. But it's also mid-week and, I'm assuming, lighter crowds, which feels like a wasted opportunity.

 

[JPKanks]

I think you're on the right path. There are a number of things I consider when choosing a rest day. Similar to you, I think the middle is a good time for a recharge. Think about things like if you're going to have a late night, it may be useful to go hard that night and take it easy the next day. Sometimes the parks offer extended hours, so you may get more bang for your buck. If you're flexible, thinking about the weather may be ideal too if one of the days will be stormy and wet. Crowd levels would be a big consideration (not that it matters too much anymore). I'd probably take off a Sat or Sun rather than a Weds.

 

[DeeBee3]

I'd also say right in the middle. I'd also take 2 rest days - after Day 2 and Day 6. That's just me and my family. We like rest days and always come back saying we should have done at least 1 more.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I think you're on the right path. There are a number of things I consider when choosing a rest day. Similar to you, I think the middle is a good time for a recharge. Think about things like if you're going to have a late night, it may be useful to go hard that night and take it easy the next day. Sometimes the parks offer extended hours, so you may get more bang for your buck. If you're flexible, thinking about the weather may be ideal too if one of the days will be stormy and wet. Crowd levels would be a big consideration (not that it matters too much anymore). I'd probably take off a Sat or Sun rather than a Weds.

This is exactly it. Our mid-week IS a Wednesday. Arrival is a Friday and departure is a Saturday - I think that's why I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I didn't really think about the extended hours, and that's a good consideration. My kids are young so I just assume we'll never make it late, but you never know.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I get what you're saying about the rest day falling in mid week but depending on which parks you'd be going to that day anyway it could be a moot point, especially if it's DHS, that park is busy everyday of the week.

We do not do as long of trips, only do 4-5 park days, so for 9 park days, you could really even work in 2 down days or maybe a full down day and a half a day depending on your preference.

The big factor for us are prior late nights. We're not early birds so we usually can only 2 day late nights days in a row and then we have a down day. It's also process of elimination, since there's really no where else in a short trip to schedule a rest day lol. Most of our trips are 2-3 days only but our last longer trip, we did two park days, rest which was basically resort hopping and disney springs and then two park days.

 

[Drew729]

We have done a similar trip before where we arrived late on a Friday- did AK on Sat and MK on Sunday- Epcot on Mon and stayed late for extended hours. We were ready to take a break and glad we used Tuesday as the break day. We slept in a bit, went to pool, hung out at the resort etc.

What was nice was that break day let us pause and regroup and then plan the rest of the week with some modifications like the kids wanted more pool time, wife wanted to go to DS. We ended up changing around some park days later in the trip to accommodate everyone’s wishes. Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[kylenne]

We have always had two rules for our longer trips: 1) never rope drop more than 2 days in a row, and 2) 1 rest day for every 3 park days. We take midday breaks as well. No kids but we are both disabled and neurodivergent so can get overstimulated easily. This way works very well for us, we are still able to get a ton done in the parks and really enjoy them but don't feel run down by day 4. I like having a full break day at the halfway point of the trip because it's a nice breather from the hustle and bustle. I don't find midweek matters vs. weekends anywhere for crowds except at MK (day trippers) and Epcot (locals hitting up festivals). HS is always nuts and AK always clears out in the afternoons because everyone who was there for rope drop hops out. Also if you plan to go to DS it's always always better to go during a midweek morning. Even evenings there during the week are so much better than weekends, when it's a zoo.

For our upcoming 11 day trip we arrive on a Sunday and are planning on 2 full break days though one of those days may be a Typhoon Lagoon day & date night at DS. We plan to mix in some late starts using G+ stacking and see how that works out.

 

[Beer Me]

Personally with that many days I wouldn’t schedule a rest day but instead just do some easier days. It’s relatively cheap to add those extra days to a ticket so why not have the option.

 

[bchbetha]

Personally with that many days I wouldn’t schedule a rest day but instead just do some easier days. It’s relatively cheap to add those extra days to a ticket so why not have the option.

I agree with this 100%
I would book parks every day and just meander over for whatever portions of the day you feel like it. I would probably do the AM and then reassess if I wanted to go back after a nice afternoon hang at the hotel (or wherever you feel like going).

 

[fla4fun]

You can make park reservations for each day and decide later. That way, if you decide you don’t need a break, or don’t need a full day break, you can still go to a park.

I tend to need a break every fourth day, so on a nine day trip, I would plan a break day at the midpoint. If I was going ten or eleven days, I would plan three park days, a rest day, three park days, a rest day, and then the rest of the trip park days. But that is because I simply get too physically exhausted if I don’t. You may not get so tired so quickly.

 

[Betsyp]

I’ve never taken rest days week long trips, which I now think was probably a mistake. I have the AP now, which means I can only so the parks on weekdays, but this go round, I’m going to Typhoon Lagoon mid-week, Wednesday, and doing After Hours at HS that night. I’m going to enjoy the little break from the main parks.

 

[Dulcee]

We do a break mid-trip. I wouldn't hyper analyze the crowds. For us, with three young kids, after 3 full park days we need a full down day for the pool and maybe disney springs for dinner. My husband needs it too lol

 

[_19disnA]

Also depends on the ages of those in your group and how active you are. Disney parks involve MILES of walking with large crowds and often very hot/humid. Young children often nap during the day so you likely can't go non-stop all day at the park. Nine days is a LOT of time to spend at the various parks regardless of how long your vacation is.

 

[NashvilleMama]

Agreed with the above about just winging it for some of the days as rest/easy days - with G+ it's so much easier to do that now and not worry about not being able to snag things last minute if your plans change for the next day.

 

[sponica]

We had to do a lighter day on day 5, my youngest was wiped out. After this trip, I'll be incorporating more late starts in the week. So for us, a rest day somewhere between 3 and 5 would make sense.

 

[bgda24]

Those who regularly do rest days on your trips, how do you choose which day? It feels hard to know in advance which day to NOT make park reservations! We've only done a rest day once before, and it wasn't really chosen necessarily, we just figured it made sense since we were transferring resorts that day and had plans to be in Disney Springs. This time, we're actively choosing a non-park day and I'm having a hard time deciding.

We have 9 days in the parks - we have an early flight in and should be at the resort by noon latest and a late flight out on departure day. We will be leaving for the airport around 6pm.

We are always too excited to stay out of the parks on Day 1, and we don't really want a rest day on departure day. We have kids, and without a room to go to after 11 that day, it feels like we should just get up and get moving somewhere. So that leaves us to choose a day mid-week for our rest day.

It feels to me like day 5 should be rest day since that's the midpoint. But it's also mid-week and, I'm assuming, lighter crowds, which feels like a wasted opportunity.

I highly support rest days. I generally try to plan a rest day mid-way thru the trip. I find it is best to plan them for the day after a late night, following a party, special event or late night extra hours. That way those who want to sleep-in can do so, while the others can just head to the pool and relax and enjoy the downtime.

 

[kanerf]

Weekends the parks are always packed. If I could I would take Sat or Sun off.