Do you really go back to resort for naps?

[Ima Princess]

I've been to WDW more times than I can count, but never with a 1yo as I will be next week (hooray! ). How many of you, when traveling with a young one, take the often-read advice to go back to the resort mid-day for a nap? Is that intended more for the hot, crowded months? I'm optimistically hoping for low crowds and good weather

Our 1st trip with older DD was when she was almost 3 and she would just rest in the stroller. However, that kid can (and still does!) sleep through anything, wheras DD1 is easier to disturb. I am bring my own stroller that fully reclines.

Truth be told, I just hate to leave once I get in the park! Will I be sorry?? Day 1 is MK day (of course) and we have dinner ADRs at 5:30 in the castle. I could run back to POP for a quick nap (let DD6 & DH swim) and then plan to stay later in the evening, OR we can stay at MK for the day and leave right after dinner. Thoughts? Yes, I know I could also just "wing it" and see how I feel that day, but I rather like having a plan and getting tips from others.

TIA!

--CC

 

[lulu71]

We didn't. We found an out of the way bench and let DD nap in the stroller there. One time she napped right by the carousel at MK for almost 2 hours.

 

[jennifer293]

We took DD4 and DD1 last May and stayed for 7 nights. We NEVER went back to the room for a nap. They slept so well in the reclining stoller, and on the rides that we didn't need to go back for an extra nap.

Heck I even slept on a few of the dark slow moving rides!!!

 

[minkydog]

We didn't when the kids were younger, but then we also don't go in the summer so it's a shorter day. We just find someplace and let the kid go to sleep: the Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents, Jungle Cruise,WEDway people mover(my favorite). We have some great video of DS sleeping in his stroller in the doorway of a shop while the parade is passing by. He missed the whole thing.

Now, because of DH's heart/lung condition, we do go back to the room for a nap. He has to sleep; just resting for a while doesn't do it. So back to the room for a 2hr nap. Then we go back out for a few hrs. We can only spend about 4hrs in a park before we have to leave, so we take a longer trip and we just know that this is the way it must be done. No sense in rushing around, gotta keep DH healthy. Our trips are much more relaxed and meanigful now that we take time to smell the roses.

 

[bartleby1]

I think that is one of those "do what works for you" kind of questions.

Personally, if we left the park to swim and nap, we would have a terrible time getting back up and back to the park. I would rather do a full park day and enjoy the pool on a down day. My kids have always done fine napping in the stroller so we do the parks for the whole day. I do try to plan only two park days in a row and schedule a down day for the day after we stay for a nighttime show. For example, maybe do AK which closes at 6 on day one, then do MK and stay for the night show on day two, then hang around the pool on day three. We usually only do the night show at MK and Epcot so that works for us.

If I left midday, I would feel like we wasted a lot of time travelling back and forth from the hotel. Plus, with 3 kids, it is a hassle to change into bathing suits, then into dry clothes, then in for a nap, then back to the parks, ugh, I'm exhausted just thinking about it, lol! Once we are packed for the day and in the park, we like to just stay put. With my luck, my kids would fall asleep on the way back to the hotel and then be ready to go when we got there!

Of course, you need to do what your kids can handle. My kids generally aren't the type to throw tantrums or get fussy when they are tired. If they did, we would have to adjust our plans accordingly.

We have always gone in the summer, so the parks are open later and it is hot. So we usually save dark, cool attractions for a place to relax and possible catch a few winks for midday. Hall of presidents is always a good one for that!

 

[rt2dz]

We normally don't. The last trip we tried it though, mainly because I was 6 months pregnant. It didn't work well for us. We do MUCH, MUCH better with in park breaks.

If you do a search on the Disney tips board about bad tips, you'll find a coup[le of threads about what didn't work per family. There is a thread on this board about it too back in May or June. While the things on those boards vary widely, leaving the parks for breaks comes up very frequently. While it is a Godsend for some, it is a one size doesn't fit 25% piece of advice.

If you think it might work, try it. If it doesn't work for you, abandon it quickly! We just kept trying to push those back to the room breaks, and it was miserable. When we quit leaving the parks for breaks, everyone enjoyed the trip way more.

 

[waltsgirl]

When our son was younger we would go back to the room to rest. We would eat lunch at the resort and then go to the room and just rest for an hour or so and then head out again.

There is nothing worse then a screaming child .. well maybe a screaming adult and unfortunately I have seen too many of them at what is supposed to be "The Happiest Place on Earth".

 

[vhoffman]

Do make sure to check the parks for closing times! In the summer they're open late, about 9-10 pm, however, the closing times varies during the rest of the year. Right about now, in the winter months, the parks close around 6-7 pm. Hardly enough time to split the day with the swim, lunch, nap bit. also, remember that Animal Kingdom always closes early, so to have time to tend to the animals and give them (the animals) a break. Epcot usually always stays open late, around 9-10 pm, so its a good choice to end the day, perhaps have dinner there and watch Illuminations. However, always check the times. Personally, I can't see going back to the room for a break. You're out of the mood by then to return, and just the hassle of getting back for maybe another hour or two just isn't worth it. We tend to sleep in 'till about 9 am, hit the parks around 10 am, take our time, come back around 8-9 pm, get a good night's sleep. also, I find if I sleep in the middle of the day I can't sleep that well at night and wake up groggy the next morning.

Just remember, check the parks' closing times!

 

[dismom9761]

Last time we went my youngest DD was 18 mths.The first time we tried for an afternoon nap it took me 30 minutes to get her to sleep and then she only slept 30 minutes.Not worth it to me.After that she just took a couple of catnaps a day in the stroller.Worked for us.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Our kids were just-turned-9 and almost 7 during our trip. With the exception of our AK day (because AK closes early), we went back to the resort every day after lunch for a break.

No one took a nap, but we were there in August and getting a good break from the heat and crowds did wonders in recharging our batteries for the evening. Some days we'd take a short swim, and other days we'd just take showers and rest in the room to soak up the a/c. We did laundry during a couple of our breaks.

After some downtime at the resort, we'd head back to the park in fresh clothes and with plenty of energy. Having that downtime away from the heat and crowds during the afternoon made a world of difference in how well we did energy-wise in the evening.

Our kids were old enough that we could have pushed ourselves without breaks, but I'd rather have my kids being happy and energetic in the park in the evening rather than have them being cranky, overheated, and tired like they would have been if we'd have spent 12 or more hours at the park.

 

[lillygator]

We do even before we had kids! I love a nice break in the day to relax, enjoy the resort and rest up for the evening.

 

[mimif1]

We like to take a break in the afternoon. We go for early entry and eat a late breakfast or early lunch at a table service meal. Then it's back for a break, swim, nap whatever. We then go to a different park that afternoon after everyone recharges and stay for fireworks. With the age range of kids (10, 6, 1) the little one needs a nap even if the big ones don't. But then again, we've always gone in the summer when it is HOT!

 

[eliza61]

I think it greatly depends on what time of the year you go. My family always goes to WDW in August and the parks are open to 11:00 pm. This allows us plenty of time to go back to our resort swim, nap, shower, sit on the balcony, whatever and then head back to the parks really recharge. Even with my kids getting older (8 & 10) everyone gets a little "cranky" staying out in the parks for 12 hours.

E.

 

[dreamalittledream]

We did the afternoon break consistantly on our 04 trip, BUT we were at the Poly, DD was 2 1/2 and I was 6 mths pg. We would do EE, then have lunch by 11:30-12:00, go back to the room nap and then change and we usually went to Epcot for a 5:00 dinner since it was open late. The only day I regretted doing this was the AK day since it was so far and we did not have enough time to get alot done in the am.

on our 05 trip, my girls still needed the nap but it was more of a pain to go back to POR. We did it but it took up a chunk of the day.

Next trip we are at CR for precisely that reason. When they are older and don't need the break I'll stay somewhere else.

I say it depends on the children and the plans for the day. i.e. If you do AK, make it an early night and skip the nap. If you do a park with EE, keep the nap and go to a different park for dinner and the evening. Have fun.

 

[budbeerlady]

We did the nap (DD was 5) We were up at 7:30 and at the parks for the rope drops. We would head back for a rest (for me as much as her) around 1-2ish and then head back out for our 6 or 6:30 adrs. Since we were park hopping for alot of dinners it was no big deal. We were there for a week and didnt want to end up with me being crabby mommy.

 

[belle&beast]

We just returned today and my DD4 and DS2 didn't nap at all in the room. We had our own stroller, so they could relax and they did great! My DS usually fell asleep on the bus or in the final attraction, but he was ready to go again the next day. We were really open-minded and followed our kids' lead, and we didn't need to leave the parks at all. Have a great trip!!!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Oh yes! Swim, snack & nap! (Pre-kids and post-kids.)
Then we're refreshed and ready to go at it again later in the day.

Nice relaxing way to go about it, for us.

 

[cheerbop]

Absolutely..we ALL needed those relaxation time/naps....we want our vacations to be relaxing also...not just run here and there constantly...

Plus, our youngest doesn't sleep in the stroller or in the parks..too much to see and do...

 

[horsegirl]

yup-we did it-although our dks didn't nap. We rested, swam, changed and didn't have to lug around lots of stuff to cover the entire day. We mostly did it as the crowds really came around noon to 3, so we scrammed and came back when it had thinned out. We noticed many dks crying and melting down when we came back, and parents gritting their teeth and yelling at them. Ugh, not fun. This time, we might venture to stay all day, depending on how the crew is holding up...but some days we will make sure we at least chill somewhere at midday-even if it is another resort closer to the park we're in.

 

[GillieRose]

when we went in May we took the kids back every day for a nap.