How long are your afternoon breaks?

[glohoffman]

Trying to plan my days for our September trip, and need to figure out afternoon breaks. We plan on doing them almost daily, except for the day we are sleeping in and going to Epcot. I don't know what a good time to leave the parks. We usually eat dinner between 5-6, and we are staying at the poly, so monorail access will be helpful. How long are your breaks? What Times do you leave/return?

 

[terri33inne]

It really depends on many factors...

• What park are we at & what is it's proximity/travel time back to our resort.
• What are our dining plans for the day (either for in the park, or in the evening)
  
• Are we going back to swim, nap or both
• How quickly can we get back out of the room after swimming/napping, etc, and how long to make it to dinner

Do you have ADR's for dinner from 5-6, or are you planning QS? For us (myself & daughter age 7)... a 5 or 6 ADR would not give us much time... we typically leave a park anytime between 11:30-1. By the time we get back to our room, and get ready to swim, head out to the pool, hang out there for awhile & then back to our room to get ready to head back out...5 would be pushing it, depending on how far I have to travel for ADR.

 

[Doug M]

We attempted to do 2 or 3 hour breaks from 1 to 4 last June but ended up staying in the parks then or park hopping for our breaks and that worked well for us. We were at Comtempory so similar to you. When we didnt hop we would find an air conditioned area or shaded place to escape mid day heat.

 

[Planogirl]

Ours varied depending on our later plans and how tired we were. When DS was young we always took a break because he (and I) needed one or he'd be awful in the evening. Those were usually at least two hours back at the hotel. We would factor in another 1 1/2 for transportation if we used the buses and about an hour if we drove. When DS got older and didn't need naps just spending some time in one of the resort lobbies might be enough just to get away from the crowds and heat for a while. I always shopped and we might have something to drink. As little as an hour might be enough for that but again it depends on how tired any of us feel.

 

[rtbreneman]

I schedule for two to two and a half hours back at the resort, plus any travel time. Our normal schedule is to stay in the parks to around 1-2, travel back to the hotel until 4-ish, then be back to the parks for dinner and evening shows, It has worked well in the past for our kids - ages from 3 to 7.

 

[Disneyfever74]

We have been going to Disneyworld for many years, we always plan to take a midday break but never manage to do it. Hopefully we can take that mid day break this year!

 

[glohoffman]

I don't think we will swim on our breaks, that typically makes my daughters even more worn out. We planned on coming back to the room and resting in the AC. Only two of our days have evening ADRs we would need to work around...a 620 BOG on our MK day, and a 515 1900 park fare on our epcot day. We don't HAVE to do an afternoon break on the epcot day, I think we can take it easy at epcot, then just head over to the GF for dinner (maybe arrive earlier and relax and visit the resort). So really our MK day ADR is what we have to work around. If we leave the park at 1 on the monorail and head back to the poly, that should be enough time to relax and cool off and freshen up a bit before dinner at 620 shouldn't it? Then enjoy the evening at the park after dinner...

 

[glohoffman]

I schedule for two to two and a half hours back at the resort, plus any travel time. Our normal schedule is to stay in the parks to around 1-2, travel back to the hotel until 4-ish, then be back to the parks for dinner and evening shows, It has worked well in the past for our kids - ages from 3 to 7.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Just laying down and relaxing in the room for a couple hours should be sufficient for us.

 

[tinkerbella16]

I always do breaks each day.. It really does help and makes the evenings much more enjoyable without being completely exhausted too early. I always do early mornings, rope drop at the parks and then start heading out around 12:30-1pm. Even getting only getting 2-3 hours to swim, nap and freshen up for the evening really is great to get that second wind.

 

[Rosebud123]

My kids would kill me if I wouldn't let them swim during a break, especially in the heat of Sept. We are also going in Sept. and staying at Poly. We aren't taking a break on our AK day or our late start (2-9) Epcot day. The other breaks will vary from 4-6 hours.

 

[broncobill]

Afternoon breaks? What are those? The only time we stop is to eat.

 

[dbramer]

We have two kids, 5 and 11. We will be heading back to the resort around 1:30ish and spend about 2 - 3 hours swimming and relaxing. We are driving, so we are a bit more flexible on the timing. Our lunches are all scheduled between 12:30 and 1, so that works. Except one day we will be getting to MK a little later so we can catch FoF and break afterwards. We will need a break due to the early August heat.

 

[glohoffman]

My kids would kill me if I wouldn't let them swim during a break, especially in the heat of Sept. We are also going in Sept. and staying at Poly. We aren't taking a break on our AK day or our late start (2-9) Epcot day. The other breaks will vary from 4-6 hours.

Thankfully my kids probably won't even question it lol. They are 4 and 6 and since I have swimming days scheduled in, I doubt they will think they have to swim each time we come back. Now if it's a break we don't have to get back to an ADR from, I don't mind cooling down a bit in the pool, but swimming makes them super tired, so it would defeat my purpose of relaxing in order to make the night a little later.

 

[glohoffman]

We have two kids, 5 and 11. We will be heading back to the resort around 1:30ish and spend about 2 - 3 hours swimming and relaxing. We are driving, so we are a bit more flexible on the timing. Our lunches are all scheduled between 12:30 and 1, so that works. Except one day we will be getting to MK a little later so we can catch FoF and break afterwards. We will need a break due to the early August heat.

This sounds like how I plan to attack the breaks. Thanks!

 

[glohoffman]

I always do breaks each day.. It really does help and makes the evenings much more enjoyable without being completely exhausted too early. I always do early mornings, rope drop at the parks and then start heading out around 12:30-1pm. Even getting only getting 2-3 hours to swim, nap and freshen up for the evening really is great to get that second wind.

Sounds like exactly how I wanna deal with breaks. Having the kids lay down and nap/watch a movie seems like just enough to recharge them for the evening.

 

[Meriweather]

I schedule for two to two and a half hours back at the resort, plus any travel time. Our normal schedule is to stay in the parks to around 1-2, travel back to the hotel until 4-ish, then be back to the parks for dinner and evening shows, It has worked well in the past for our kids - ages from 3 to 7.

That is exactly what we do.....minus the kids

 

[srauseo]

In total, about five hours door to door (i.e., including transportation time). We get to the parks very early and go hard for the first couple of hours. We are able to get a lot of rides done in the AM. When we go back in the evening we go at a more relaxed pace, we have most of our FPs scheduled for evening, we have dinner, etc.

 

[glohoffman]

In total, about five hours door to door (i.e., including transportation time). We get to the parks very early and go hard for the first couple of hours. We are able to get a lot of rides done in the AM. When we go back in the evening we go at a more relaxed pace, we have most of our FPs scheduled for evening, we have dinner, etc.

Thanks for the info! Helps to plan out the Times!

 

[princesspiglet]

We always do a mid-day break during our trips in the heat of the summer. We get to the park at rope drop and ride standby and do pretty much everything we want with little to no lines. Stop for a TS lunch at 12:30. Lunch is over by 1:30/2:00, then head back to our resort. We stay until 6pm and then bus/mono to another park. That park is when we use our FP+. We stay until closing.

Even though we always get up early the next day ,we never have difficulty in doing so because we always nap for an hour during our afternoon break. Here is our breakdown time wise:

2:00-2:30- Bus back to resort
3:00-4:30- Swim at pool
4:45-5:45- nap in room
6:00-6:30- back to evening park
7:00-8:00- First FP in park of choice

 

[myrheille]

I try to keep to my kid's schedule as closely as I can - she naps from 1-3pm at home - but I found I almost never could manage to leave before 1pm, which meant we were at the hotel around 2pm. We then all slept, and left around 4-5pm for our 6pm ADRs. Now that she is a little bit older we might try to squeeze in some pool time, but we mostly like to really rest in the hotel room, so we can go until the end of nighttime entertainment.