Do your kids need midday breaks at the parks?

[EmilyS90]

We'll be traveling to Disney in May and my daughter will be 5. This is her first time at any place like Disney, and I'm not sure how tired/cranky she'll get if we're out all day. We do plan on bringing a stroller so she won't have to walk much.

I would like to just "play it by ear" but I still have fastpass reservations to make so I'm trying to decide if I should try to schedule those to accommodate a break. And how long should a break be?

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My youngest was 6 when we went - no breaks, no strollers. Rope drop to close, baby!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Our kids like mid day pool time, and quite honestly, DH and I appreciate that mid day break. On our first trip, the girls were 3 and 5 and we went from open to close. The girls were fine but DH and I were exhausted by the end of the trip.
On their first trip, we stayed at POP so we really felt no draw to hang at the resort.

Once we started staying deluxe (often CL), we started to appreciate more resort time. As we go so often, the resort has become a huge part of our stay, spending from about 2 pm - 6 pm there everyday. We swim and nap. When we go out at night, we feel refreshed and ready to go to close.

By taking breaks, we are able to relax more. But our trips are typically 11 days also, so we don't feel the need to rush around either.

 

[lfisher730]

We just got back with our 3 yr old. He would sleep in the stroller. 1day we did go back for a break, but I find it is not worth the bus rides.

 

[kmb584]

Every child is different. My daughter is 5 and we don't take mid-day breaks. We've tried them before, but she was just so wound up from earlier in the day that there was zero relaxation. Now, if I feel she's on the verge of getting tired we'll go see a show. I also try to schedule a table service lunch at 1pm every day to get out of the heat for a bit.

 

[schmeve]

When we first took our kids 2 years ago, they were 2 & 4. We rented a double stroller and stayed at the parks ALL day. They were fine, my 2yr old napped in the stroller and my 4yr old didn't want to stop. this April when we go they'll be 4 & 6 and we'll have a single stroller (maybe) for my 4yr old and plan to be there all day as well. Enjoy your trip!

 

[growinupdisney]

I have 3 children they were all pretty easy on touring Disney. They would just nap in stroller if they needed to. All kids are different just play it by ear and see how she does and be willing to go back if needed

 

[growinupdisney]

Op are you early risers? Do you plan on being at parks first thing or taking your time? As far as the fp if you re going at rope drop I would schedule fp later in day then if you think she won't nap in stroller and need mid breaks. Getting there at rd you will be able to get a lot of things done by lunch with fp not being as necessary first thing in the morning (with exception of Anna and Elsa, Mine train and toy story Mania get those for whatever time you can snag)

 

[My2Qtz0205]

My family does not like to tour as hard as I do. They appreciate and expect our mid-day breaks.

 

[Feberin]

We planned our trip expecting midday breaks. But tried it one day and it wasn't for us. Although our younger child napped the older one wasn't interested in resting. And our younger one would nap in the stroller anyways. We also went in May and had a really great trip with only taking a break one day.

 

[navyblue8]

Never taken a midday break. If they fit in the stroller, they can nap.

 

[msmama]

We don't take mid day breaks but we don't do open to close either. We found that once we get back to the resort, we don't want to leave again (although that does change when we do deluxe so can get to parks more easily). So we tend do do rope drop (or close) to dinner time.

I'm not willing to risk crankiness so we stay close to normal bedtime.

 

[lisski76]

We don't do breaks either. In my plans for the day, I schedule 1 hour for nap time, then I find a shady spot at the park and DD naps in stroller. Once she's awake we continue on with our plans for the day. We are also rope droppers and leave the parks at dinner time.

 

[Spunky946]

If we want to see the evening entertainment we take a break, otherwise we are done by dinner.

 

[Disneylover99]

Everytime we tried to take an afternoon break when the kids were younger, we never made it back in the evening.

 

[michael's mom]

following!

Like pp mentioned, when we did plan afternoon breaks we didn't want to return. So our last few trips we did open-close most days.

The difference being this year, we're taking our first mid-summer trip (usually April folks here). I am definitely planning on RD-1pm lunch ressie, back to resort to swim and rest (if I can get someone to nap it'll probably just be DH but a girl can dream), then back to close the parks after dinner.

I'm planning on scheduling my FPs with this plan in mind.

 

[bluezy]

We started taking our kids to Disney when they were 4. We never used a stroller and didn't take a break. We'd do rope drop and stay in the parks usually until dinner time. We did, have a "down" day in the middle of our stay to be able to sleep in and relax. Now that the kids are older (the youngest is 10), we don't have a "down" day -- we hit the parks every day of our stay, but we do take a break some afternoons to get away from the heat and the crowds (we go in June). But we really just play it by ear.

 

[Larissa]

When I went for the first time with my parents I was five and I was asking to be carried before we left the parking lot.
My sister was less of a wimp. She often went five full days (with a stroller) from opening to closing without a break. When she was younger once or twice she slept in the stroller waiting for a parade.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Last time we thought our kids needed breaks was when the youngest was 6.

I say you would know your own children better than strangers would.

 

[disney is my life]

I definitely agree that every child is different. My youngest dd was 5 on our first trip and we did not have a stroller so she was walking all day. We did Magic Kingdom one day followed by Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that night. She made it from 8:00am-11:00pm. At 11 dh started carrying her but she was still awake and happy until we got back to the room at around 1:30am