?? for those that take a "Break" during the day

[Shell4624]

We'll be at DL in late March. We have 2 girls 3 and 8 yos. I know a lot of folks on here recommend a break during the day, especially when the park is really crowded, so here is my question.

What time do you take a break? And for how long? Meaning what is a "good" time to leave the park and what is a good time to return?

Why?

 

[goofycathy]

Its all about preference and your kids, my kids dont usually need a nap but we as parents need to wind down so we'll relax at the pool while the kids swim or just go to the hotel room and have a snack or something along those lines. I think as a parent you'll know how long they need to nap or rest...on that note, we usually leave around 2, rest, get ready, have dinner then head back somewhere between 5-6.

 

[kkmcan]

We usually leave around 2:00 and come back at 5:30. We don't need to sleep just to chill out in front of the tv, rest our feet, maybe swim and eat dinner before heading back into the park.

 

[Mom2Joce]

It's so funny, every time I say I'm going to go back and take a break I never do. There was one trip that it was REALLY hot and we DID go back for a few hours to swim. But even when my daughter was still napping and my son still does right now...we sometimes just continue on if they fall asleep in the stroller. I think you'll KNOW if a break is needed. If you're at a good stopping point. Sometimes you'll just sail right on with rides bec the lines are good and sometimes you just stand around going...so what shall we do next and then can't figure it out...SO you'll go back and rest!! It's all about timing, everyone's mood, the parks, etc!! But you'll know

 

[Teki]

Ive never taken a break, Im more a commando type of girl, however I do know that the parks are more crowded mid afternoon, so that would probably be a good time to leave for your break if you decided you need to take one.

 

[SeattleTink]

During the summer months when it is HOT and when the hours for the park are long (8 a.m. - midnight) we take a break. Like mom2joce said, you will know when you should (or if) you should take a break.

I have a dd16 and ds12 (and well of course, dh too!) and we usually will take our breaks around 2 - 5...then eat dinner either outside the park or go back in and eat inside the park and then head back to enjoying DLR. Sometimes we rest during the break, swim or go to the outlet at Orangefair.

Remember if you are going back into the park, make sure you have a good stash of fastpasses that you have collected....I think the park is always busiest after dinner when all the locals come in after work.

 

[HydroGuy]

The whole issue depends on a number of factors. Age of kids, time of year, park hours, are you early risers, etc.

When park hours are long (8AM-Midnight) that is 16 hours of park time not counting an extra hour for 7AM Magic Mornings. Very few people can spend that much time in the parks. So if you recognize that your family only has enough energy for 10-12 hours of park time, the question becomes when you want to spend those hours.

The parks are most crowded from noon-6PM. Those would be the best hours to take a break. Not for 6 straight hours, but somewhere during that time. Then you can spend your 10-12 hours of energy in the morning and evening when it is least crowded.

 

[Lizzybear]

We ended up leaving around 2ish and coming back about an hour and a half later. We did Disneyland as part of an 18 night California trip so we'd already been away for 10 nights at that point so having the breaks really helped us and meant we weren't flagging later on in the day when the crowds were lighter

 

[wazowskiLOVER:)]

We usually leave around 2:00 and come back at 5:30. We don't need to sleep just to chill out in front of the tv, rest our feet, maybe swim and eat dinner before heading back into the park.

We ended up leaving around 2ish and coming back about an hour and a half later. We did Disneyland as part of an 18 night California trip so we'd already been away for 10 nights at that point so having the breaks really helped us and meant we weren't flagging later on in the day when the crowds were lighter

I agree with these two as wells as HydroGuy's tip on it being busy between 12-6. After lunch we try to get on as much as we can before we get tired of the crowds, then we usually meander in shops and look at cool gems around the park that you don't pay attention to when you're rushing to get on rides. Then by the time you know it, its already 2 and we're heading back to the hotel to rest.

 

[fairykin]

Well i'm going to throw something out differently.

Everyone gets up early and goes to the park then leaves around 2.

We wake up have a relaxed breakfast..then head over to the park a little later.. and spend the day.. we go back to the room in the evening around 6 for an hour or two.. then come back to the park.

Sometimes we stay all day and go back to the room in the evening..especially if it is cold.

i think a mistake people make is that they feel they have to do everything and be at the park as much as possible...really it's better when you are laid back in your approach.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Last March, we took our 2yr old & 7yr old. We never left the parks. Our 2yr old took a nap in the stroller every afternoon, which allowed us to find a nice place to people watch or let someone take our 7yr old to run around Pirate's Lair.
When she woke up, we would take a break between the parks. We'd go sit on benches by the lockers/bathrooms & let the kids run circles around the Monorail cement pillars. They had a blast, just getting to run around. Some of my favorite pics are them doing that.
Friends of ours, when they took breaks, did so after lunch & then returned again by dinner time. It will really depend on your kids. You'll know when it's time to rest.
Have a great trip!!

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Hydroguy

We used to commando it, but last trip took breaks. I am a napper. That nap was so refreshing. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It made the evenings great.

 

[DisneyloverinWA]

When our daughter was 18 months we went to the park. The first two days we took turns going back to the hotel for naps and bedtime. The problem with walking back to the hotel is all the walking We walked so much in the park, it was almost torture to walk back and forth to take breaks. The third day we decided to let her nap in the stroller and stay in the park and it actually worked out great. I think it depends on your kids tolerance level to routine changes. Good luck.

 

[HydroGuy]

I will also add that our break time depends on the day. If we start at DL at 8AM (or 7AM for Magic Mornings), then break time revolves a bit around FASTPASS. We can get 5-6 FPs in the morning before the break, and usually we take the break just as we pick up one of our FP sets.

Here would be a somewhat typical morning for us in the summer:

8AM: Pick up 1st FP
8:45: Pickup 2nd FP
9:30: Pickup 3rd FP
10:30: Pickup 4th FP
12:00: Pickup 5th FP (good time to get lunch and take a break)
1:00: Pickup 6th FP (if we did not break at 12:00 we get one more FP set at 1:00 before leaving)

During the 3-4 days at DLR we usually end up having one "sleep-in" morning when we skip DL in the morning and go straight to DCA at 10AM. On that day, since we are starting later, we may also break later at 2PM or even 3PM.

 

[mousireid]

We utilized Early Entry at Disneyland (so were up at 5:30am eating our cereal bowls/milk and muffins from 7/11 and outside ready for the park to open with tickets already in hand by 6:45am) rode all Fantasyland rides that were open then tomorrowland and picked up fastpasses until noon when we ate at the Princess Lunch over in DCA then rode three more rides and came back to the hotel for a swim and hot tub - then everyone napped (but me, I relaxed) and freshened up, caught the DCA parade, ate dinner then used our fastpasses and watched fantasmic/fireworks. It meant we were ready and my kids would have slept through evening shows and perhaps been cranky. The next day we let them nap when they finally crashed out in our double stroller (even my 6 year old cannot walk ALL DAY LONG!) and my husband and I enjoyed dessert and strolling collecting more fastpasses, people watching etc.
So we did both. It depends on what your plans are, what all you would like to try and fit in and obviously when it comes to kids being flexible and having a Plan B! ENJOY!

 

[kiwitravel]

We aim to get to the gates just after the scheduled opening as the queue to get in is much shorter (815 for a 8am opening) except on EE days. We take lunch in with us and go hard till about 1 pm. We usually snack up round lunch time whilst in the queues and make good use of the FP system as we go. At 1ish we get a bunch of FPs and then go and just relax at the Hotel for a couple of hours or so. We go back into the park around 4 ish and get new FPs straight away before using our FPs, the park is pretty busy at this time so this is when we shop and sightsee. We tend to stay until 6ish (getting another round of FPs before leaving) and heading out for dinner or going back to the hotel for dinner (we cook a lot). We head back in around 730, we have two sets of FPs to use, we can catch the fireworks and F! if we want, you can usually still get FPs for Buzz and BTMRR at this time but you don't really need them a lot of the time. Young son and mum usually head back about 10, Teenage daughter and Dad will often stay later, a lot of rides free up around 11pm (if midnight finish).

 

[Sherwin]

I'm a really big napper. On the normal weekday, I'll sleep only 4-6 hours, and usually collapse into a 2 hour nap in the late afternoon/evening.

Though I wish the word "break" wasn't in my vocabulary, and I could keep the adrenaline machine running the whole day, but normally we'd head back around 2-3pm, pass after our after the Disney high for a few hours, then head back either[/b] after a quick dinner or so we could get dinner around 6.

 

[Jennifer03]

It depends on how my day is going, but I usually take a break around 3.