going back to the hotel for a swim or a nap

[abmitch01]

going 8/9 for 10 days with DD 15. Have never not gone gonzo all day and night in the parks because we were offsite. Do most on-site people take a break midday? It sounds heavenly, just so different from what we're used to.

 

[cleophus12]

We usually take a break in the afternoon. Most of the time we are park hopping, and the break just makes sense. We go back to the room and relax or swim for a couple of hours or maybe just escape a thunderstorm depending on the time of year. It gives us a chance to recharge before heading to park #2 for the evening. However, when we are not park hopping we sometimes find ourselves becoming too comfortable to go back out. Still, the ease of returning to the hotel mid-day is a great perk of being onsite.

 

[Sierrakat98]

going 8/9 for 10 days with DD 15. Have never not gone gonzo all day and night in the parks because we were offsite. Do most on-site people take a break midday? It sounds heavenly, just so different from what we're used to.

I am going the same time and I am planning on a mid day break for the kids...16, 2x15, and 9.. Even if it's just an hour it will give them time to refresh so we can close the park out.

 

[Meriweather]

We always take a break......I just putter around and DH takes a nap.

 

[siskaren]

I don't, but I always go solo (so no kids having meltdowns to worry about ), and not in the summer. If I did go in the summer though, I probably would consider it.

 

[POOHsie]

going 8/9 for 10 days with DD 15. Have never not gone gonzo all day and night in the parks because we were offsite. Do most on-site people take a break midday? It sounds heavenly, just so different from what we're used to.

Up until Disney went on a resort building spree in the early 1990s, we used to stay off-site. Fetching our boiling hot car from a WDW lot and heading to our motel on a traffic-jammed road, then back again, was always a colossal waste of time. By the time we got to the motel, we didn't want to repeat that to get back into WDW later that day.

First time I stayed on-site, Dixie Landings in '92, we got on an air-conditioned bus that took us back and forth to the front entrance of the parks in record time b/c the resort was so close-in. We had our car, but kept it at the resort (free parking), unused. You can't appreciate the intangible value of being on-site until you experience it (which you will shortly). You will have more "free time" courtesy of being so close. You will have the time to take a break, enjoy the pool, rest your eyes, then get back into it with a second wind, but without losing much park time. I think you'll love it. Once we stayed on-site, we never stayed off-site again, Ever.

 

[sb682]

We do, even though we always stay offsite. The hour lost to travel time is worth our sanity, as DS wouldn't nap in his stroller no matter how tired he was. Go for a swim if possible, and if not, take a nap in the room or lay down and watch TV. Shower and change clothes, then back to the parks for a few more hours.

 

[tinkerbesh]

going 8/9 for 10 days with DD 15. Have never not gone gonzo all day and night in the parks because we were offsite. Do most on-site people take a break midday? It sounds heavenly, just so different from what we're used to.

Yep- until this most recent trip with a baby (who needed to be home earlier in the evening), we always used to take a mid-day break and then stay out later in the parks at night.

This strategy works particularly well in the summer -- it gets you out of the parks during the hottest part of the day & gets you a nice, much needed refresher - esp if you are "going gonzo" the rest of the day. Then you get to head back out feeling rested & you have the energy to spend more time in the parks during a more comfortable time of day weather-wise.

 

[tinkfan160]

We took advantage of mid-day resting/naps for the first time on our last trip even though we have always stayed on site. I highly recommend it...we would go back early afternoon and would rest in the room, we also ate more in our resort dining area which was often a lot less busy than quick service in the park before we returned to the park until close.

 

[ZoZo]

I think it's a good strategy if you go at a time when the parks are open late.

We always go off-season, so the parks close pretty early (9:00 or earlier - and Animal Kingdom's only open till 5:00 pm!). Most days, you have anywhere from 8 to 12 hours of park time. So if you take a break, you lose too much precious park time - a break plus travel time can easily eat up three or four hours of your day. To me, it doesn't make sense to lose most of your afternoon with a break that time of year.

But I totally would during the summer, with the parks open really late! With the heat, it makes total sense.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

In August, I'd say a mid-day break is almost a necessity. You may need to even change clothes since you may be really, really sweaty and gross. Sorry!

 

[ChelleFeegan]

Personally a break is needed cause, and this is speaking on experience, you'll be soaked with sweat ... Sorry

 

[Mommymarie]

We usually schedule a late afternoon 3-4pm table service meal rather than going back to the hotel. It gets us out of the heat for awhile.....an hour or so in air conditioning with a nice comfy chair and a nice meal gets us ready to continue into the evening. I tried the nap/swim break when my daughter was little, but it seemed to always backfire (although I'm sure it works for a lot of folks).....my daughter would fall asleep on the bus then wake up as soon as we got to the resort and NOT go back to sleep....or we would get back to the hotel and she would be full of energy and not be able to sleep. We ended up not getting a real nap anyway! She is a kid that can sleep in strollers, so she would fall asleep and we would either take turns riding rides and sitting with the stroller or we would find a nice shady place and people watch for awhile or even shop. We still find ways to get a break without wasting travel time....just what we like to do!

 

[bluezy]

We travel to Disney in late June and stay onsite. We usually just play it by ear as to whether or not we head back to the hotel for a mid-day break. On our MK day, we usually head back to the room for a break in the afternoon just to get away from the crowds. We'll head back to MK around dinner time. On our EP day, we usually just push through the day and stay until after dinner with no break. DHS & AK tend to be shorter days for us so we'll head back to the resort in the late afternoon for a swim/nap break and then hop to another park in the evening.

 

[Aurora0427]

We always take a break, even when traveling without kids!

 

[illinidp]

We almost always do this at or right after lunch at our resort or a waterpark. I highly recommend it.

 

[Belleandtinker]

We've stayed all day.

Our family (even before our DS) divides our days into AM and evening activities. We always go back to the room to nap, swim or clean up before we head out to our PM activities. We are also Park Hoppers and stay on site.

 

[monaleigh70]

Very rarely will we not go back to the hotel. It's been a long time since we've stayed off-site. Being on the property makes it a lot easier to go back to swim, nap, grab a snack and veg. You do get a second wind when you go back for a break. And I just have to do it if we have ADR's for Narcoosee's or other signature meal, I don't want to turn up all sweaty and grubby. Plus, changing your shoes can give you a whole new outlook on life.

 

[francie57]

We go several times each year but our longest trip is always in Aug. and we definitely go back to the resort (BW) every afternoon to enjoy the pool, nap, or escape a thunderstorm if there is one. Since we are park hoppers we will schedule a nice TS meal in Epcot each night and then decide where to go from there. If you haven't been in Aug. before, just make sure that you have plenty of water during the day so as not to dehydrate - it can happen fast. We make a food run on the way to the resort to stock up. If you don't have a car you can have water delivered to the resort.

 

[kam1011]

In August, I'd say a mid-day break is almost a necessity. You may need to even change clothes since you may be really, really sweaty and gross. Sorry!

Personally a break is needed cause, and this is speaking on experience, you'll be soaked with sweat ... Sorry

Dripping. We always swim or shower, change and go out fresh for the evening.