Hotel breaks??

[HDJA]

We're leaving Friday and I'm working on my plans. We've never taken breaks during the day on our previous trips, but wondering if we should try them out this time.

Do you find that your kids are more tired after taking a hotel swim break (not napping-my kids won't nap) than just staying in the parks all day?

If you take a break at the hotel, how many hours do you alot for the break?

I suppose I should mention my kids are almost 11 and 7 1/2 years old....

 

[baby1disney]

Hi. First let me say this...I hate you!!! LMAO!! Is there any room in your suitcase for one more "item"? LOL!!

But...back to your question...We took break this time and my son seem to do better after his nap...he loves takin them. Plus..that gives me a chance to catch some zzzz's as well for a bit. We all feel refreshed and ready to go. My son can hang all day if need be, but we usually go swimming after we get back..less crowded.

 

[ChuckGA]

Do you find that your kids are more tired after taking a hotel swim break (not napping-my kids won't nap) than just staying in the parks all day?

Yes. We tried this once when our kids were 3 and 6 and it was a much worse for us than our "commando" style of just going at park opening and staying until we were done for the day somewhere between 5 and 10pm. The travel effort to and from is what killed us. Much easier to simply take a break in the park as needed and let the kids sleep in the stroller if they fell asleep.

 

[grimley1968]

We have often come back to our resort to take a break. Our kids are usually too excited to take naps, but we'll swim during those breaks and just lounge around. That alone makes a big difference when we go back to the parks because we're cooled off in a major way and slightly more rested.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We're leaving Friday and I'm working on my plans. We've never taken breaks during the day on our previous trips, but wondering if we should try them out this time.

Do you find that your kids are more tired after taking a hotel swim break (not napping-my kids won't nap) than just staying in the parks all day?

If you take a break at the hotel, how many hours do you alot for the break?

If the weather is right, we don't usually take breaks either, but when it's really hot and the parks are crowded breaks can be a necessity.

Here's the thing with breaks....you have to time them well. If you are at a certain park (MK), and you are staying at certain resorts (most mods, values or Epcot area deluxes): it may well take 45 minutes for you to get back to your room. Then it will take you another 45- 60 minutes to get back to the park later on. If it's 3pm, and you have a dinner reservation at 6:30pm...going back to your resort will mean an hour and a half at teh room tops. Not enough for a nap, and barely enough to swim: especially when you have to change twice, dray hair and walk over to the pool (at a moderate, it could easily take you ten minutes to walk each way to the pool. So now your talking about swimming for about 30 minutes tops. We have done that, and it can be worthwhile, but you have to see bus riding time as the 'break'.

Now if you area t teh correct park (MK) and the correct resort (anything monrail) it may only take 20 minutes to get back to your resort - so now that 3 to 6:30 window sounds much more realistic. There's also a certain advantage to having no dinner reservations.

Another idea, is that taking a break doesn't have to mean going all the way back to your room. It could be something as simple as staying in the Land's food court for a while. one favorite of mine is taking Disney transport to a nearby deluxe and enjoying a frozen beverage at the resort's cocktail bar. Even the kids can get a glowcube fruit juice or mocktail. GF has an afternoon 'tea' party. not teh expensive one, with the princesses, but the less expensive option with goumet teas and scones. I think they serve iced teas. You can leave MK or Epcot's back entrance via boat, which is a good way to wind the kids down.

Oftenthe QS places at these resorts are empty mid day (Shhh!), so you can enjoy a quiet lunch- esp if you dine on the late side. Keep in mind the BWK area places have limited offerings at lunch, but the Dolphin has a cafeteria, the Fountain and the Med Market. Just getting away fromthe noise and crowds of teh parks is relaxing (getting out of the heat of the sun is also a bonus).

Another in-park oasis is the Japanese QS place in Epcot. The food selection is a tad limited, and it's already crowded enough, but the area is fairly quiet, shaded and a has a koi pond. It is amazing to think that little area is couched in an amusement park. If there a concert at the American bandshell you can hear it, but mostly you just hear the little stream splashing and folks in the immediate dining area. Ther's also a few quiet spots inthe WS pavillions themselves. Japans has alittle museaum, Morocco has a little courtyard with very pretty tiles and a fountain, Norway has a Viking museum (most folks walk past without ever realizing you an go inside) It looks like a chapel on the outside.
The trip from AK to KAL is fairly short, though mis day it may take a few minutes to get a bus. Withing AK there are lots of shady spots, there are also a number of great air conditioned shows. Taking in a show can revive everyone, and every park has afternoon shows of some sort. Some of the 3-D (4-D) shows also havea water elelment.

Speaking of water, there are lots of misters and water fountians in the parks. AK has a 'shower' near the Dawa bar (but sadly also a smoking area), Epcot has severla water jet fountains that are really more like splash parks. Mk has Donlad's boat area. These may be too small ofr the big kids, but little kids and adults often get wet there. (It may help to bring a change of clothes.)

Ooh - I nearly forgot the Coca- cola Club Cool. It used to much more refreshing when it had the ice cave, but it's still got AC, and free refreshing sugar buzzes. Nearby is teh character greet area and Innoventions - lots of break areas in there.

 

[IslandAdventure4]

When we went last November we did the marathon days. We have an 3yo, and a 1yo, we are going again this November and are planning on changing it up this time and get the early start, come back for some afternoon down time, pool, nap, and did I mention cocktails? and they head back to the park later. So we will see how the change goes. Have fun on your trip

 

[MattDisney]

We have tried it both ways. Our kids are 7 and 10. We now don't take breaks. We get to the parks around opening and stay until around 5 or so. We then return to the resort and relax for the rest of the evening. That works best for us.

 

[mom2faith]

We found that the break offered us a chance to cool off.

We arrived at RD and went until about 1 pm or so - just when it was really starting to get busy. We then went back to the hotel until about 5 pm or so (depending on how we felt) and then we headed back. The time away was great to cool off and take a break from the crowds. We usually swam or napped. It was very relaxing. DH and I needed it too and felt recharged when we returned to the park.

We also had PH so we would not always return to the same park. It broke up the days and we never really got overwhelmed.

Amy

 

[NJ Goofy]

We have always included breaks in our days. We try to get to the parks early (not RD early) and do our favorites before the crowds come. Then about 1 or 2 pm we go back to the hotel for swimming, lunch, nap, etc.

Now with that said, when we go to Animal Kingdom, we do the park in one shot and sometimes the same with HS. Also, we have stayed at resorts which travel back and forth to the parks was fairly easy.

We have found that everyone is in a better mood, if you take a break at least 3 or 4 days out of your week of vacation.

 

[OB1]

With the heat that has been reported lately, I would highly suggest a mid day break. Even 2 hours will totally refresh your family for the rest of the day. Either camp out in the room (AC) or hotel, or catch a quick swim at the pool. You also can improvise by how your family is holding up. The only bad part about that strategy is that you will feel great the first day or so, but may be dead tired by the third day.

Have a great trip.

 

[familyatdisney]

We were there in early May and every day was over 90 degrees. Much hotter than we anticipated. We were a group of 11 from 5 to 63 years old.

Anyway, we took afternoon breaks everyday except 2 days and they really helped. We went back to the resort and cooled off in the pool. It seemed to really refresh everyone and made the nights at the parks more enjoyable. The 2 days we did not take hotel breaks were at AK and DHS because they closed early, AK at 5pm and DHS at 7pm. Instead of the hotel breaks, we took a break by eating a sit down lunch, 50s cafe at DHS and Rainforest cafe at AK. The restaurant breaks were helpful but on each of these days, we went back to the hotel after the parks and did not go out that night. Everyone needed a dip in the pool those nights.

I was planning on not taking a hotel break but due to the higher then normal temps, we though it was necessary.

 

[blondemom]

We take breaks! We never used to. Then it dawned on me how physically exhausting it was to run around all day long. We head back to our resort after lunch, and take as long a break as we need. We've been to WDW a few times now, so we feel we don't have to do commando style anymore. We leave it up to the kids. We swim, walk around the resort, watch t.v. and enjoy the air conditioning, have a snack, etc. It works for us!

 

[wendy1974]

We usually take about an hour nap and that usually helps

 

[jkid721133]

I am a huge proponent of the mid day break. It is like a battery recharger. Nap or no, the emoitonal overload of the parks is forgotten while in the pool relaxing.

We've done the commando style for a long time, then had kids, and really believe in the break. If you time it right it can really enhance your day.

 

[Debbie-TN]

I've only been there once with a child and that was in 1984, so that's no help. Now we're all grown-ups with a cousin that rides an ECV. Boy, what a job getting back and forth from the parks if we leave. I would rather stay in the parks and just find cool places to rest. If you're at Epcot or MK, You could ride the monorail around a few times and stop at the monorail resorts(GF has a beautiful lobby and The Comtemporary is always interesting to visit-out back is a beautiful lake).

 

[1hero2princesses]

Well we are the opposite of most. We don't do breaks. Tried it once. It was a huge hassle march to the bus, ride the bus, march to the room. Kids wouldn't rest, go to the pool. Get back re-dress, back to the bus etc. Just to hard on my small kids. We actually ended up just staying at the parks. If we needed a rest we would just sit down in the shade and have an ice cream. We have gone during free dining and our sit down meals are also a great rest. Dark, cool restaurants really did the trick. I expect we will do about the same this year. We also, don't stay out really late 9 or so is our limit. My kids were 5,3 and 1 when we went (1 year old would just nap in the stroller)

 

[zstyles]

I say it depends on where you are staying, if your at the Yacht club and you can just catch the ferry from epcot take a break...if your staying at all-stars and your at the Magic Kingdom its not a short bus ride either way...you really just have to look at what you are doing and what you want to do...we just got back Sunday and I am posting my post-trip report soon about our experience...

 

[HDJA]

I can totally see the pros and cons of taking a break. We are staying at POP, so I'm wondering if it's too much of a hassle to go back and forth from MK. I really don't think we'd take a break for AK or DHS or maybe even Epcot.

If we do take a break at MK, do you think I should alot 3 hours total for the break to make it worthwhile? I'm using RideMax and trying to plan our MK day-with and without the break. Any suggestions on break time?

 

[Britgirlus]

I guess it all depends on the weather - if it's really hot, I would think a break in the AC would be wonderful. We were there in Monsoon May, and needed our breaks to get out of our wet clothes, dry off and get warm !! We did take naps about 3 days (all of us, including our non napping 6 year old). Afterwards, we either headed back to the parks, or to DTD (we stayed at POFQ, so a quick boat trip). It definitely helped us - we're used to early bed times, so weren't out late at night (though were at rope drop most days), but still needed the break. We did manage to swim a couple of days, despite the weather, but were much much happier after our naps

 

[williamson_ja]

We go in Sept, and for us, it is just too hot to stay all day without some sort of break. Some days it would be back to our room for a nap. On other days, we would head to the water parks to cool off. We take it day by day and see how everyone is feeling. Animal Kingdom days, we stay the whole day because it closes so early. If you call it quits at 5-6 p.m. you miss all the night time activities, parades, FIREWORKS!! There is no way I could go to Disney and miss illuminations or wishes....we especially like Hallowishes.