Do you feel you really need a day off?

[margot31]

So I don't have a trip planned yet but next time we go we will have our kids (no more adult only trips) Our kids will be around 3 and 1. If we leave the parks for naps and breaks at the resort do you feel you need to take a full day off from the parks and make a resort day or something?

 

[Ensusieasm]

So I don't have a trip planned yet but next time we go we will have our kids (no more adult only trips) Our kids will be around 3 and 1. If we leave the parks for naps and breaks at the resort do you feel you need to take a full day off from the parks and make a resort day or something?

It depends on how many days you are staying. If you get a five day or more ticket, another day is so cheap, just a few bucks, that you could take most of a day off and just go in to do your fast passes. With the extra days on your ticket you don't have to feel like you must burn the candle at both ends to get the full value of an expensive ticket. You can just do a morning or an evening some days. No need to take a whole day off unless you are staying more than ten days.

 

[marisabuzz]

I agree with pp. It depends on how many days you are staying. Our first two trips we went for 7 days and we had 5 day tickets. For our first trip, my kids were a few days of turning 3 and 1. Having one days rest helped a lot. We used it as a relaxing day at the pool and headed over to Downtown Disney. The second trip we did the same except we checked out Pop Century as well (we stayed a AoA). It let us parents and kids rest and we were ready to go with the remainder of our vacay.

 

[Moushe]

It really depends on your kids. my kids are the same age and wake up early so we try to do RD or as close to it as possible and stay until they are showing signs of possibly being over tired (usually 5ish). My 3yo no longer naps, and my 1yo does but she will nap in the stroller. They both go to bed early so we know late nights are out of the question for us. That being said, for our August trip I am open to the option of going back to the resort for a swim mid day if its getting too hot, but I am not expecting that we will be able to come back to a park later. I would imagine that swimming and being out in the sun will tire my kids out and I prefer to let them go to sleep at their regular time. I find we avoid tantrums if we stay as close to their normal schedule as possible.

We are definitely planning a resort day mid-week. both to take a break from the parks and because we're staying at Bonnet Creek and want to enjoy the resort.

 

[loves to dive]

We've been going since my son was 2 1/2 (he's 36 now) and we never took an entire day off. We kind of played it by ear, if he was just too tired to put up with (you know what I'm talking about) and just too grumpy, we would go back to the resort, maybe nap, maybe swim then nap (gotta love a pool it almost always makes them sleepy) then later on head back to the park. Or not, just according to how he felt and was acting and how I felt and was acting.

 

[Dis703]

We generally go for 8-10 days with the kids and we don't take a day off from the parks. I've done a morning at the pool followed by the park in the afternoon/evening but never a full day off and we've never needed it.

 

[babyruth]

This is so personality based. My family loves having a rest day. Maybe because I do plan go-go-go to get all the rides and meals we want in LOL.....and my husband HATES crowds. If we don't take downtime it's not a vaca for him.

 

[powellrj]

We always take a day off, but we also always have a car and will take a beach day or a shopping day.

 

[Thing 1]

It took us exactly one trip to learn we don't want a day off in the middle of the trip. We mostly go Winter and we have a pool at home so no need for pool time. Going to DS cost us way more than a park day add on and we want to be in the parks anyway. We do not go..go..go and will take a break most days so it really works for us to have tickets for every day.

 

[smiths02]

We prefer to go for 7-9 nights and do mostly 1/2 or 3/4 days rather than taking a day off
If we were going rope drop to noon, break, 4pm to fireworks every single day with a 1 and 3 year old, that would be torture for us and not a vacation at all

 

[quagmire0]

We usually did 7 nights and went to the parks every day. This time around, DW insisted on a day or two off from the parks. She just wants the 'down time' to relax so that we don't come home all beat up from a constant marathon of Disney goodness. So, we ended up extending our stay and building two 'off days' into it. We'll likely head to the beach and just generally take it easy those days. Maybe check out some freebie things at night like watching fireworks from the Polynesian beach or doing that Chip 'N Dale camp fire.

 

[mfulk]

Starting 5 years ago when we had 3 kids (6, 4, 2) we have done the following touring schedule and it will be the same on our next trip in September with our kids who are now 12, 10, 7, 5 and 10 month old (and it was the same for the 15 trips in between, for us it just works great!).

We usually go for 10 days. We do two park days and then a water park day, two more park days and then water park etc. On park days we get up early and get to the gates about 30 min before scheduled opening. We are done touring by 11:30 or 12 and have lunch in the park (or at water park) and then go to water parks until 4-5ish. Go back to room and get ready for dinner. After dinner we usually head to MK until closing and a couple nights we'll go to resort pool instead. Our babies/toddlers have taken naps when tired in a baby wrap/carrier on me or stroller when they were toddlers. We tried going back to the room to nap on our first trip and it didn't work at all. On water park days we get to the park around 11 and stay til 4ish then get ready for dinner at a signature restaurant and have an earlier bedtime that night.

 

[Pookasaurus]

On our first two trips with the kids (3 and 8mo, 4 and 20mo) we stayed 8-10 days and took it easy at the parks for the most part and almost always had a mid day break and found we didn't really need to have a "non park"/break day and everyone handled it fine, it was great really. After our last trip though getting used to FP+ and schedules for ADRs and everything, it just didn't work out that we had the midday breaks we were used to. For our next trip we are planning in more downtime and a non park day for this reason, but we're planning a completely different trip in general without a dining plan, lots less pre scheduled, probably most of our FP in the AM, etc. The last trip really wore us out so I do think that having either the breaks or a down day is helpful and I think with enough down time/breaks you'd be fine, but it is a question if you want to enjoy the various things the resort has to offer. For our upcoming trip in addition to midday breaks we're planning on evenings/mornings at the resort in addition to midday breaks rather than rushing from appointment to appointment.

 

[pa. dad]

I think it really depends on the length of the stay and how hard you push throughout the trip. if you can build a decent amount of relaxing into most days and everybody's getting their sleep, you may not need a break day.

 

[monorailsilver]

Yes! I can't do 5 days in a row. I am up by 6 getting in the shower to leave between 7-7:15.

The off days allow me to relax a bit, I may still be up at 6 doing laundry but when I hit the pool and no one is there...ahhh...

My kids and dh also get to sleep in.

I won't do more then 2 park days in a row now.

 

[Candycane83]

I'm planning to take my 2 and a half DS for 9 nights and am not planning a whole day off. We're doing 'non park' day (not using a ticket) on MVMCP but going into MK by the afternoon to attend the party that night. We plan midday breaks too on most days. Like other posters have put, it depends on your family and time of year you are going. However you plan it, just be flexible. I suggest you go for the lower number of days and add the day once you get there if you decide you don't need a rest day. Have a great trip!

 

[MSPeeler]

We can't do more than 2 park days in a row here either. I have cartilage problems in my knees and my inlaws are in there late 60's/early 70's and just don't get around as quickly as we used to. Plus parenting 3 kids in a crowded group of strangers is exhausting, LOL

 

[margot31]

My husband and I will become annual pass holders as we are projected to move to Florida right now...but when I plan the big trip with my MIL that will she and all of us really need a day off. But i never thought that the cost we are paying for our tickets and for theirs its not much of a waste for us to have a quiet morning/early afternoon we can go in later.

 

[cjparker0110]

I think everyone else has pretty much covered it. It is very much based on you and your kids. Some people can just go go go while others need to take it easy. That said, when are you planning to go? If it is a time when they have all of this construction going on you might be able to enjoy relaxing a good chunk of the day on the Studios park day or something. Just a thought. We are going next year with our kids (they will be 6, 5, 3 and 18 months or so) and our plan is to do a midday break each day probably from about 2-4 and then go back at it. We will likely use our Studios day as a "break" because they are too small for the main rides there so I'm guessing we'll tear through the park by 2 and enjoy the rest of the evening relaxing. We are considering something like the HDDR for that night.

 

[msmama]

We don't do off days but don't do full days either. We usually go RD (or close) until about 3-4 (maybe through an early dinner).

Occasionally we will get a later start and do noon- 4/5. We might do one night time show per trip but not always.

I don't wake up anyone or set an alarm and we are in bed by 9 most nights (usually by 8 with some tv to wind down from the day). It's what I found works best for us.

On the days when we have thought we can't handle a park (sick kid) we've still ended up at Disney springs so we leaned we can't just stay at the resort all day.

Having happy travelers is more important than seeing everything to me.