Does anyone else take an afternoon break during value season?

[mom2jp]

We have 2 DDs (4 and almost 2) who still nap every afternoon. When we went to DisneyWorld last September we went back to our room every afternoon for a couple hours to nap (I would usually even take one myself!) It seemed to work well as the one day we did not take a break we were with friends all day and by the time we got back to our room around 6:30 we were exhausted and went straight to bed! Much different than having a burst of energy in the evening!

The only thing is when we're going in January, the only park that is open after 7 pm is Epcot WS, so I feel like we will be missing a lot especially if we have to stop and have dinner somewhere. I know our 4 year old could possibly skip naps and just go to bed early, but our almost 2 year old absolutely cannot at this age! And she is not the kind to nap in her stroller either.

The unofficial Disney guide recommends getting to the parks early and then taking an afternoon break, but maybe that is more geared to when the parks are actually open in the evening. What makes it even more complicated is we have my parents and my single brother going with us this time and we are staying offsite at a timeshare, so we are more likely to stay up later at night.

I'm fairly sure we're keeping our nap schedule, but I was curious if other parents of little ones face the same dilemna.

Thanks

Sherry

 

[FreshTressa]

Wow, that does sound complicated.

I can't imagine leaving the park mid day. It is such an ordeal, IMO, to leave and come back, the rest totally would'nt be worth it. My kids usually get 'reenergized' after running around for a while like at it's a bugs life or tom sawyers island or the viking ship at norway in epcot.

Good luck!

 

[lentesta]

Hi mom2jp,

That is a tough choice. I'd be surprised if an off-site mid-day nap could be done in less than 3 hours with 2 little ones. 4 is more likely. If it's possible for you to see the MK in the morning and Epcot in the evening, then that's almost certainly your best bet.

If you wanted to take a break in the parks, there are a couple of good spots to do so. The new "touring plan companion" pages in the back of the 2004 edition of the Unofficial Guide list good spots to stop and relax in each park. I've probably napped in most of them, and I'd have no qualms about allowing a 2 YO to nap in them, too. If you don't have the 2004 edition of the Guide, drop me a line and I'll see what we can do.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[castlegazer]

We found that there was no way to do it during a period with shorter park hours and with toddlers who need to be in bed before 8pm. So we got ingenious with ways to have the kids take naps and we had our own strollers - key factor in my mind. Country Bears Jamboree, Norway, and the Animation Museum at MGM (can't remember the official name) worked great for us. We also had blankets along to lay out on the grass at Epcot but the weather was too warm while we were there to do this.

We timed out going back to our room and it took about 45 minutes no matter what - so that is two hours just blown on trying to get back and forth and we were staying at a MK resort. It seems like your close, but by the time you get yourself out of the park, onto transportation, and into the room it always worked out to be 45 minutes. What really happened was that my DS took multiple naps during the day because not one was the full amount of time he needed. I am trying to figure this predicament out for our next trip when he will be older and a little more particular on where he naps as opposed to a one year old who falls asleep at the drop of a hat if he needs to.

Oh, and if your wee ones need to be rocked or just have a little down time to be able to get in the nap mood don't forget about the Baby Care centers in each park - they are life savers and are so very nice inside - it is like a bonus plan for having wee ones in the parks.

 

[Lewski709]

We are going in Jan and are not going to break for naps. My 4.5 year old is beyond napping and my 9mo old (now) will be able to nap in the stroller. I am not too concerned about it. If it doesn't work well, I'll send DH back to the room with them and continue the fun myself!!!

 

[Familymoon]

We have children the same age as well and I plan to just have the 4 year old go to bed when we get back to the room - and the two year old will fall asleep in the stroller if she gets tired enough, I'd imagine .

To keep the energy up, drink only water (bottled, I hear, in FL) - sugary drinks (including juice) will cause insulin production and thus peaks and valleys in your blood sugar - which makes you off-kilter, energy-wise. (Or, I suppose the kids could drink plain milk). Try to avoid sweet snacks - especially things like "fruit snacks" (candy!) and ice creams. Lots of fruit and veggies, as well as good-quality proteins (even peanut butter crackers like Ritz bits have some fat/protein which will provide a more stable energy source that will last longer than empty carbohydrates). It might take a little adjusting, but it will help overall with the energy intake/output balance.

Other than that - make sure your stroller lays back and after a morning of exciting Disney stuff, your 2 year old might just surprise you.

 

[crisi]

We never had any luck with this either - and I always thought people were a little nuts who managed to pull it off. We also travel when park hours are shorter and we stay on site. Our kids are now four and five and this last trip we took advantage of the thing I thought people were nuts for doing - swimming in the middle of the day. Our park days tended to be go-go from park opening until 1:30 or 2:00 when we'd head back to the hotel (BWV) for a swim. Then we'd get ready for dinner, ususally in Epcot, at 6:00pm. Early bedtimes (8:30) and that was pretty much our days.

Let your kids catch sleep when and where they can and plan for short days. If the rest of your party wants to keep going, someone should take the kids back when they get tired if they haven't successfully managed the cat nap. We discovered our kids - who have been poor home nappers but great carseat nappers, would fall asleep on the MK train, the buses and the monorails.

 

[jcemom]

We are going the first of February when hours are short also. As of right now (though I know plans sometimes change) we are not planning breaks from the parks. We do have a couple of non park days thrown in, though. My boys are 9 and 10 and old enough to skip the breaks, DD is 1 1/2 and I'm hoping if I take her to a quiet spot she'll nap in the stroller.

The only park I was unsure about is Epcot, since they are open until 9:00. We are considering a break on that day, but will just wait and see how things are going before deciding for sure.

I'm figuring that we will be going to sleep early each night anyway (which doesn't help you, I guess, being that your situation is different).

 

[Lewski709]

For those who have AP or Lenth of Stay Passes, I am sure it is more justifiable to take the breaks. I only have 4 day hoppers.

 

[orlosipher]

mom2jp - Thanks for posting on this! I am going in early February and staying in a condo with an almost 3 year-old. My DS naps at daycare but not at home, so I have really been wondering about this, too.

I've decided to not schedule a nap break on our first park day and on the day we go to Downtown Disney or a water park, but to plan on taking one the other days. Maybe my DS will be able to cat nap in the parks and we'll find we don't need the break. If he does need the naps, though, I'm preparing myself to scrap our evening plans or just go to EPCOT every evening if they take too long.

I don't know how this will all turn out, but these are just my tentative ideas.

 

[mom2jp]

Thanks for all your ideas! I think we will do a combination of short naps on days we want to stay in the parks longer and just go to bed early those days and some longer nap breaks back at the timeshare on days we want to go out in the evening. Since neither of our girls are in school, they go to bed about the same time we do at night and it will probably be the case when we're on vacation.

I do wish more was open at night though, but I understand Disney not keeping the parks open with the low crowds!

 

[Goofmeister]

It looks like everyone has a different idea on what makes a WDW vacation enjoyable. We've done it both ways, that is skipping the naps/breaks and not skipping.

I don't want to miss a second of my long anticipated WDW vacation. That is why we stay on site. Even when you leave a park, you haven't left the world.

Stay on site. Enjoy your resort. Take advantage of mid day breaks.

It must be the culture. We expect to squeeze every dollar of fun out of a vacation while sacrificing our experience. Let me spin it this way. You're at the MK. The kids aren't minding as well as they usually do, and your patience is down to a nub. Uncharacteristically, you snap at the little prince and princess. Are you really having fun? Who needs a break more?

Oh, the another way to look at is like it is a marathon run instead of a 50 yard dash. At the start of your stay you have fresh feet, and you do a lot. Go. Go. Go. By the third day your Go is go, and it is getting harder to get up. By day four your go is gone.

Take some time to slow down. More memories are made in the moments between the rides than on them. Most rides are only 4-7 minutes long.

In the end its your vacation, have fun. It sounds like you have a good compromise. We had to learn it the hard way. I hope it turns well.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When my son was 4, we took our first trip to WDW. We have taken 14 since then. His most favorite thing of the entire first vacation (9 nights at the Polynesian) was swimming in the hotel pool. We took a break every day, either a short nap or a swim.

6 years later, we still take a break every day around lunch or so. We take a nap or go for a swim. It just refreshes us and gives us a little more energy for the late afternoon or evening. Even when the park closes at 7PM, we can return about 4:30, ride a few rides, eat something, do a little shopping, watch the fireworks or parade and have a great day.

We tried staying in a park an entire day one time (our last full day). We were so tired out that we left for home about 8AM the next morning instead of heading to the park for one last hurrah.

 

[Momof2boys]

We are going in Dec. when the hours are shorter. This will be our first time with short park hours since we usually go in May. I am still going to take afternoon breaks. My 3 yr. old will not nap in a stroller and he would be a mess by day 3 or 4 without a break. Even though the parks close early, there are still other things to do. We will be there for 6 nights. This is what I have planned at night, MVMCP, Epcot, Ft. Wilderness Campfire/movie, Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk. We will do the parks until early afternoon then take a break- either nap or swim(weather permitting) and then head out to a park that is open late or do one of the other activities I mentioned.

I think it just really depends on you and your kids. We have been to Disney several times and we don't have to see it all. We want to make sure it is relaxing as possible since this is what is best for our kids. Some can handle the parks all day. Ours can't. Well, they could, but then we would be one of those families discussed on these boards. The ones with screaming, temper tantrum throwing kids in Fantasyland.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

I've taken my grandkids (now 7 & 8) to WDW the last week of August for the past two summers. This is a value season, so the park hours are short.

We hit the parks early and between noon and 2PM each day my grandson would "hit the wall" and we'd have to head back to the resort for a swim and some down (TV) time. If we left the parks by 1PM we usually were able to go back to Magic Kingdom by 4-5PM (we stayed in FW) ... by this time the crowds were non-existent and we could ride the attractions w/o long lines.

On the other hand, his younger sister didn't seem to need a mid-afternoon break ... so I guess it just depends on the child.

We will be going back in January and the park hours are shorter ... I'm wondering if my grandson will have more staying power in the cooler weather ... if not we'll take breaks when needed, heading back out in the evenings to Epcot or DTD or tour the Disney resorts or even go to the Super Wal*Mart in Kissimee.

 

[crisi]

One of the things that we discovered is that we couldn't have taken advantage of longer park hours anyway. Like someone else's here, my kids nap at daycare, but seldom nap at home - and sure aren't about to nap in a hotel room at Disney!

I would have liked to do MNSSHP this last trip, but my kids weren't going to make it past 8:00 at night. Poor things were just drooping by dinner (which did make for some well behaved preschool aged dining companions). Now plenty of people were escorting their little Princesses and Pirates to the Halloween party - so somebody's kids must nap at Disney.

I'm hoping that by our next trip they will be old enough to either pull more reserves out or understand the logic of "if you want to stay up late, you need to lie down for an hour."

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

There are just so many variables regarding children and rest-breaks. I think its impossible to have a perfect formula for everyone. We have two kids (now 6 and 4), and have made three previous trips (two with both kids). For us, the hotter the weather is, the more necessary it is to have an afternoon break. Our kids never have napped much, but this past June it did work well for us to come back to the resort for about three hours each afternoon. Even on the days when MK closed at 7pm it was nice because we returned to a practically empty park with 2-3 hours to ride whatever we wanted.

One big thing DW and I learned about ourselves on tihs last trip is that taking the afternoon break (nap/swim/TV/etc.) is that it took a lot of pressure off of us. It really made the whole trip more enjoyable. Having said that, if you are staying off site (not that there's anything wrong with that) it would take lots more time to get into and out of the parks. Especially MK is not designed for easy exit and return. I think the afternoon break is a great luxury if you can make it work, but there are many other ways to accomplish the same thing.

 

[Madi100]

I'm really surprised by the comments in this thread. When I read the OP's comment, I expected the majority of the people to come back and say that a midday break is a must. For our last two trips, a mid day break was a must. It was nice to get away from the park for an hour or so. Even when it was just DH and myself we took a mid day break. It was nice to just sit down and get off of our feet and be away from people. We will definitely be doing it again this trip.

 

[crisi]

So I was thinkin'

You'll have a car, right? Are your kids car seat nappers? How about putting the kids in the car, letting them nap and driving out to DTD or one of the resorts you'd like to take a peek at. One of you can sit in the running car with the air on and a book (or take a nap yourself) and the other can bop in for a little shopping or a look at the resort. Switch off and on so one person isn't stuck in the car. Your kids probably aren't interested in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge or the stores at DTD (or the outlet mall if you make it that far). You won't feel like you've "wasted" the time, the kids will get a nap in.

We used to do this every Saturday locally with our kids. Put them in the car, grab a book, I'd run into Target while my husband read, they'd get an hour or an hour and a half nap......

I do agree that it is different for everyone. Some kids are nappers and some aren't. Some will sleep in a stroller or a car seat or mom's lap, some won't. Some families can go-go and some need a break. But the logistics on this one are difficult - you just can't get from the MK to an offsite condo, put the kids down for an hour or two, and come back, and expect to spend less than three hours (and I agree, very likely four) doing so.

 

[crazywig]

our last trip was in january. we stayed offsite in a villa (loved it by the way). my ds was 9 months at the time and we did not go back to the house for his naps. luckily he slept in his stroller, or wherever. i remember him falling asleep in my arms at playhouse disney!

we go back (with him) in june, staying at our dvc resort....he'll have just turned 2....not sure what's going to happen then!