Does everyone really go back to the hotel mid day?

[WDWfeelslikehome]

I think it may even be a day to day choice with your kids. Somedays with heat, humid, and previous day/night, they may want a break, but other days it may be straight through until the after dinner crash, then off to bed.

 

[SmallWorld71]

As I'm sure you're seeing from the different answers, weather can be a huge factor in whether or not a mid day break is needed. I've traveled in April, Feb., and August, and quite honestly, DH and I needed the breaks as much as the kids in August. October weather can go either way, I know there was a hot spell last Oct. with temps in the 90's, so keep that in mind.
Another factor, of course, is when you arrive at the parks. If you arrive at the park early, you may be ready to leave sooner than you think.
All that said, on our trip last August, we went at park opening and NEVER stayed at a park past 3pm. (We did occasionally return in the evenings.) Most days it was earlier. Everyone, including the full of energy pre-teen boys, was out of steam by then. On one day, instead of going our resort, we toured the Poly for our break before our dinner at 'Ohana.
Just remember, seeing more doesn't equal having a better time. And, quite honestly, some of my favorite Disney memories are at the resorts not the parks. You may be able to stay all day, but be prepared to leave if everyone starts getting tired/ cranky. You'll have a much nicer vacation that way.

 

[dfarner]

Hi all,
I keep seeing posts and even the guide books and TV shows suggest going back to the room mid-day to nap, rest, swim etc. Does everyone really do that? We will be at WDW 7 days with myself, DH, a 5 1/2 and a 3 1/2 year old DD's. My youngest hasn't napped since she was 2. I was just hoping that we could plan TS meals for lunch to get inside out of the heat and rest then. As well as doing more shows or longer sit down rides when we needed a break. Am I nuts to think we can do this without planning a trip back to the hotel each afternoon. I just keep thinking there is so much we want to do and so little time I just don't want to waste time going back to the hotel. By the way we will be there in early October so most of the parks are closing around 6 or 7pm so I'm hoping that will make a difference since it isn't like I'm keeping the kids running around from attraction to attraction until 11pm.

I think in October you could swing not going back each day for a break. We do breaks on our summer visits, but when we have gone in October we didn't do any. Like you said the parks aren't open very late, and we didn't want to cut out that much of our day.

 

[Crisgw]

We did this one time and like someone else said, it was "meltdown city" and nobody was happy. The next time (07) we didn't and everyone was ok My boys will be 4 and 6 and I hope they're still okay going all day

 

[MinnieMouse73]

We're another family where the weather makes a huge difference. When we go to WDW (or DL last year) it's always in July/August for at least 2 weeks. We are at the parks early in the morning, then leave at lunchtime for a break - my DD has been at age 2, 3 and 5. At 2, she napped. At 3 and 5 she wasn't interested (though we did force her to 'rest' a few times, when we wanted to go back and stay until closing for parades/fireworks) - it was us trying to nap while she played in the room and wanted to go swimming!

When we go to Disneyland Paris, we never return to the room (although we haven't ever been in the height of summer when the parks are open late). We've been in April, October and December and done park opening to closing, but that's usually 10am - 7pm.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

No, and I can never figure out how people get anything done that way. The idea sounds so nice, but when we're in the parks, our FP's and ADR's never allow for that, and even after full days, we still never get everything done that we had wanted.

 

[Goofy'slady]

Our family usually goes in May and while it's hot it's not as hot as say mid July or August. Our daughters have shown us over the years that they don't need a mid day break as long as we have a nice lunch in a cool place, drink pleanty of water and walk at our pace. Oh, and it helps if we get there at Rope Drop to knock out certain attractions that we know will have longer waits as the day goes on.

Our youngest is 2.5 and she naps(if she's tired) in her stroller. Going back to our rental home is too much of a bother for us. We feel like it takes too long and we're only about 2.5-3 miles away from MK.

T.

 

[lisaross]

No, we didn't go back -

We went in August - our kids were then 4 & 6. We usually got to the parks about opening - we ate cereal in the morning and then had an early sit down lunch - we usually stayed at the parks till about 4 sometimes and went back to the resort for a swim and dinner and to bed early. The times we wanted to stay late and see the fireworks, we slept in a bit and went to the parks late morning early afternoon. I think 1x we went back to the resort in the afternoon and then went back out again at night. I know myself - once i go back and relax i will not want to go out again!

I'd say plan not to go back, BUT be flexible.

lisa

Hi all,
I keep seeing posts and even the guide books and TV shows suggest going back to the room mid-day to nap, rest, swim etc. Does everyone really do that? We will be at WDW 7 days with myself, DH, a 5 1/2 and a 3 1/2 year old DD's. My youngest hasn't napped since she was 2. I was just hoping that we could plan TS meals for lunch to get inside out of the heat and rest then. As well as doing more shows or longer sit down rides when we needed a break. Am I nuts to think we can do this without planning a trip back to the hotel each afternoon. I just keep thinking there is so much we want to do and so little time I just don't want to waste time going back to the hotel. By the way we will be there in early October so most of the parks are closing around 6 or 7pm so I'm hoping that will make a difference since it isn't like I'm keeping the kids running around from attraction to attraction until 11pm.

 

[moxiecola]

When the kids were small (2 & 4) we did it. The last time we went we didn't make it a point to leave the park for the most part BUT did have them lie down for an hour if we happened to be at or near the hotel. We did make it a point to do this on nights when we knew we'd be out late (Fantasmic night, MNSSHP etc) to avoid possible breakdowns. My kids were 1, 6, 8 by then. This time we'll follow the same routine. I'm not going to pull them away from the park but when we do get to the hotel everyone will lie down. They are 10months, 3, 8, & 11 now..normally when we go away I do have them rest if I see them crumbling. Even my 11 year old will sleep...I find it helpful to have them just lie there even if they don't actually sleep. It just helps their little bodies recharge.

 

[mickeymousemom]

I think its different for everyone. I also think whether or not a child still naps is a moot point. There is SO much to see and do at Disney that it can be very overwhelming for little ones. It CAN be very hot and humid, and that alone can cause meltdowns pretty quick(parent OR child).
I always hate to read or hear that someone is going to go to WDW and try to run around seeing it ALL. I fully believe that if you go commando and don't stop and smell the Disney roses then you miss SO much.
It may be that your kids can go ALL day from early morning to late night with not one iota of a break. If this is the case, then fine...go with that. I would say that of those people that said they never "needed" a break, there were many that just decided NOT to take one, regardless of signs the kids were showing. I just can't understand how a small child could possibly go all day like that without a break.

With all that said...If I were you, I'd just take it easy, be patient, enjoy as much as you can(without trying to "do it all") and follow the signs from your children. They are the only ones who can "say" whether or not the midday breaks are for you. Have a good trip!

 

[LisaZoe]

We don't when we've gone to DLR. DD sometimes napped in the stroller so we'd just take it easy, stroll through shops, etc. as she slept. The time we went to WDW was different because of the heat/humidity. We went in September and I needed a midday break of some kind to rest and cool down. Sometimes just riding the monorail was enough. Other days when we had ADRs, we'd head back to our room so I could shower and change and DD could have some quiet. She wasn't quite 3 yet and had already mostly stopped napping regularly but having some quiet time helped us both.

In general, we only go for a week so I hate to lose too much time by going back to the room. We do, though, usually go in slower periods when the parks aren't open really late which helps. I just try to watch DD and myself to gauge our moods. If either is getting grumpy, often we'll bounce back after we take a break so DD can play in one of the water features in a park as I sit and watch.

 

[Minnie_me]

My DDs were 6.5 and 9.5 when we went to WDW, and we definitely took the break (most days).

We were up and at the parks first thing in the mornings. It was hot and humid, lots of walking, etc. They usually started getting tired around 2:00. We were determined not to be the kinds of parents who dragged their hot & tired kids around, not having any fun.

So we would go back to POP, swim for a while, eat a snack and head back around 5:00. Then we'd stay until after fireworks.

 

[dbenlee]

We've talked about it, especially for our June trips, but have never done it. It just seems to be to much trouble. We do several inside, sit down attractions and a slow sit down lunch to rest and cool off.

 

[Disneychix]

We like to go back to mid afternoon to rest/swim/shop. But we also like to freshen up before our pm meal and change clothes so that's the perfect opportunity to so this.
I do admit that I need a break from the crowds/heat/humidity as much as DS. I like my naps!

 

[hoosiergirl7]

We have to because I get cranky if we don't. I think the only day on our upcoming trip that we won't take a break is because we have lunch ADR's at DHS at Sci-Fi Dine In. But we'll be inside and we'll definitely take our time enjoying ourselves. Plus we've on got one day planned at DHS on our 7 day trip. All the other days will be spent between MK & Epcot. We're not going to AK this trip.

 

[las3888]

No, and I can never figure out how people get anything done that way. The idea sounds so nice, but when we're in the parks, our FP's and ADR's never allow for that, and even after full days, we still never get everything done that we had wanted.

We definitely don't get 'everything' done when we go back for naps, but it just give us reason to come back because we didn't see it all!!!

 

[cheerforchelsea]

We almost always take a mid day break. We will eat lunch in the room and rest for a while.....then back out to close down the park!!

 

[jazzmine]

We don't usually stay onsite. And we don't take a break mid-day. This past trip, if my son was acting cranky or tired, we would tell him to just lay back in his stroller and take a nap and he would (surprisingly!).

Then we would get a snack and sit and take a break ourselves. He didn't nap every day but he took little cat naps and did really well. We would usually get to the parks around 9am and stay until 7 or 8pm.

Of course, we also only have DS to contend with, it might be different with more children.

 

[ChristusG]

We NEVER go back to the room midday. We go from park opening to park close. That being said, we dont do Disney during the summertime. From late May until late September are off season for us LOL. I live in FL, two hours from Disney, and I dont care to bake while walking around a park. I've gone to Disney when my daughters were really small, the last trip beign last October when they were 3 years old and 6 months old. We never made a trip back to the room. It's too much of a pain. Load and unload the stroller, take the transportation, get back to the room, try to get everyone to sleep or rest, etc....and do it all again to go back in the park. It is just not worth it for us. We figured our kids would sleep in the stroller when they were tired....and they did. It worked fine for us. Our next trip will be this October, when our kids are 4 and 1....and we plan to do the same thing.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

I used to hear about going back to your hotel for a break on all the planning videos. I'd just laugh at what a major waste of time that would be, we had made about 6 trips and never had to go back to the room. Then we went in August! OH my gosh! We went back to our hotel room almost every day to take a nap, and this was before we had kids!! I just couldn't take all day in that kind of heat.

We have kids now, 2 and 5, and it really just depends on what we are doing as to if we go back or not. I will say that we don't go during the really hot times any more so that helps. I think now we only go back for a nap if we are going back out for a late night, like MVMCP or the P&P Party.