Just back, afternoon breaks

[rt2dz]

We just got back and I’ve been trying as much as possible today to post all our experiences in the appropriate places, and break it up by topic in order to make it easier to read and find what you are looking for. For example, most of our dining reviews are posted in the restaurant section by each individual restaurant. Now I’m trying to give the general overhaul with the kids and being pregnant. Seems like the stuff pertinent to the family board. If I miss anything, just ask and I’ll be happy to answer.

On taking afternoon breaks. That doesn’t work for us. It was miserable the first few days we tried it. The kids didn’t want to leave, and then they didn’t want to go back. It wasn’t a happy experience. We finally went with what we did before, stayed in the parks. We took it easy there. Had a sit down meal, took in a few shows, hopped parks. This worked MUCH, MUCH better for us. We were all more pleasant. Moreover, the kids would nap better if we weren’t moving them in and out of the stroller. My 4yo doesn’t nap normally, but he did there. Our 15 month DS who only takes one nap at home, took two at WDW too. It was easier on them; it was easier on us. Will never try to go back to the resort for breaks again. Next time we will plan full days from the get go with a non-park day in the middle.

 

[flminivanmama]

i agree with you - we do what we are doing in the parks and when we leave, we leave for the day. the only time we did go back in the afternoon was the trip in 2001 - when my twins were 17 months & I had a newborn... and we generally did not go back LOL... we went to breakfast, to the park, home for lunch and a nap and then we did something else - boardwalk or whatever... not back to the parks.

Now the way we do it is we start late - eat breakfast in the hotel, go to the park, do stuff, then eat lunch in the park, then do more stuff then leave for the day and have dinner someplace.

 

[SleepingUgly]

We found that breaks every single day also didn't work well for us. So this is what we did ...

Sat (arrived at WDW after driving through the night) -- Napped in the afternoon; Kids asleep by 10:30 pm
Sun -- No nap; swam. Kids went to bed by 9 pm
Mon -- Nap. Kids asleep by 10:30 pm
Tues -- No nap; swam. Kids asleep by 9 pm
Wed -- No nap or swim. Kids asleep by 10 pm
Thurs -- No nap or swim. Kids asleep by 10 pm
Fri -- No nap or swim. Kids asleep by 10 pm
Sat -- No nap or swim. Kids asleep by 10 pm

The girls woke up around 7:30-8 am every morning.

We took plenty of breaks during the day, whether it was to go on slower rides such as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or sit and have some ice cream and people-watch. It also helped that we rented the double stroller on some days so that both kids (ages 5 and 3) could sit and rest. The younger one would fall asleep in the stroller some afternoons, and those 20-30 minute power naps worked much better than the 90-minute ones back in the hotel room.

On the days that they did nap in the room, it was tough to wake them up, and then the younger one would be cranky for the next hour or so. It actually worked well for us to just stay in the parks, take things slow after lunch and let the kids "rest" that way.

Linda

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We just returned from 10 days at WDW. Our 4 and 2 yo normally take afternoon naps. Dh and I were looking forward to these breaks at WDW. Well....I bet you know where this is going already!! The only time they napped was around dinner time...in their strollers. Ugh! They also were hard to awaken in the morning. At home, they are up with the birds!!

 

[crisi]

Napping back at the hotel never worked for us either. Swimming did - when the kids were a little older. We like early mornings and take it easy evenings with early bedtimes.

Taking mid day naps is one of those "one size fits all" peices of advice often given around here that is worth what you paid for it.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

Thanks for your post! We are going with my sister and her daughter next year who will be 6 and I was going to plan on afternoon breaks to give her a rest and I guess never considered that she might not want or need one. I think I'll still plan for breaks just in case but won't force anyone to take one so that we'll all have a magical vacation!

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I'm thinking that we'll do a midday break only on the MK EMN so we can go back to the parks in the late evening.

Did any of you take a break then go back for the EMN?

 

[crisi]

We tried that, but because the kids didn't nap, didn't make it back (it was actually MNSSHP - but same plan - take a break, have a late night). Which is sort of the problem with planning if your kids aren't reliable nappers. We'd have been far better off using the day than spending two hours not resting in the room (while I got more and more angry).

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Crisi-- I'm with you on the "No Nap" thing. My kids have been bouncing off the walls after spending the morning in the park when I thought they'd be exhausted.

We're going to MNSSHP in October and I planned to spend the day of the party just hanging out at the resort and swimming, etc... If my kids swim all morning they will definitely take a nap and be recharged for the night of fun!

 

[nemomama]

Thank you so much for this post! I don't think afternoon naps are going to work for us either. By the time we get back to the room, try to get DD to nap in a crib that she's not used to anyway...we're not going to even try. I'm so glad to hear that staying at the parks works for others! Hey, that's what vacations are for - schedules go out the window!
Glad you had a great trip!

 

[sheepie mom]

Unfortunately it's not my DD4 who needs some downtime in the afternoon, it's my DH but rather than go back to the hotel by himself, he'll stay with us and be cranky for hours SO usually we all have to go back and hang out in a darkened room for hours until he's ready to return. Any ideas?

 

[DW2006]

for those of you that have gone...did the mid day break and it didn't work for you...do your children regularly nap daily at home? The reason I ask is that EVERYDAY from 1-3 is quitetime at our house. I have a 6, 4 and 2 year old. The 6 and 4 yr old no longer nap..and haven't for several years. BUT they daily take that time to chill on their bed and read or do a quiet activity while the 2 yr old naps. I know here at home, if they miss the time, I can tell in their behavior. Our plan is to continue this when we go to Disney in Jan. 2006. Our kids are also in bed by 8:30 night. That will probably be pushed back a bit so that they can take in the movie (we are staying at Fort Wilderness) Anyway, I guess I'm just curious if the vacation itself threw your normally napping children off schedule or if these reports were coming from kids that weren't normally nappers/mid day break kids at home. (KWIM?) Due to time of year and park hours our days won't be as stretched out anyway. We'll take in breakfast at Ft. Wilderness boat over to MK and then monarail to whatever destination for the day. Have lunch at the park and then head back to the Ft. around 1-1:30 and then just kind of chill for a bit. We don't really have concrete plans to go back to the parks...but will taken in movie night and such. Anyway, I was just curious about the schedules of the kids that weren't napping and if it was just a ''so excited to be a Disney thing'' maybe?

 

[SleepingUgly]

Cheri:

My KG daughter obviously does not nap everyday, since she is at school, so I was not too worried about her not napping at Disney. However, my 3-year-old does nap everyday at daycare, and that's why I had planned the mid-afternoon breaks of nap for her and swim or nap for her older sister. In the end, if we did not return to the room to rest, the younger one would just fall asleep on her own in the stroller. She would sleep for 20-30 minutes, which is much less than her usual 90-120 minute naps, but those little power naps did wonders for her. She was running us ragged still at 9:30 pm! People were amazed at how much energy she had so late into the night. And her mood was wonderful, even upon waking. That's because when she woke in her stroller, we were ready to go on another ride, and that perked her right up!

Linda

 

[crisi]

Mine were dependable nappers at daycare, but not at home. So Monday-Friday they napped every day, but at home we be lucky to get naps from them. At the time of our first trip, I was assured by many here that "don't worry, they will be so exhausted they will nap, even if they don't nap at home." They were dependable "car seat" nappers - and, indeed, that first year we perfected the "Disney transportation nap" - monorail, bus, boat or train, my kids napped - just NOT in a bed in a hotel room.

Watching posts for the past few years, its hard to tell - if your kids normally nap at home, they may nap at WDW. Or the excitement, trying to sleep in a strange place, multiple people in the room, might keep even a dependable napper from napping. On the other hand, people have posted that their children never napped at home, but when they went back to the hotel for a mid-day break, everyone fell asleep exhausted.

 

[drewsmom]

My 3 year old didn't always nap when we came back but we all (parents, grandparents, kids) thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon break. We always went swimming and everyone agreed it was so refreshing and really rejuvenated you for the rest of the evening. We all would go back to our rooms after the swim and maybe lay around a bit and then clean up, out to eat and back to the parks. The afternoons were one of my best memories of our trip. Splashing around in the pool with your kids and family are some of the best times on vacation and when you're really hot and tired from tromping around the park all morning it's great to hit that cool water!

 

[NJDisneymom]

We just came back a few weeks ago and I didn't like doing the mid-day naps either. My son is a regular napper, but won't fall asleep in the stroller until he is beyond exhausted. We tried taking mid day breaks, but we ended up missing out on a lot in the parks and we'd be lucky to get back out by dinner time. I think I would rather stay in the parks all day and be back at the resort right after dinner for some relaxing. Of course we'd have to plan at least 2-3 nights out later, but better than all 8 nights.

One of the things I'm looking forward to for our next trip is my kids will be older and hopefully won't be so cranky without the naps.

 

[ChrisAlli]

First time taking a 3 yr and 22month. I was wondering about the whole nap thing. They both nap after luch at home for about 1 to 2 hours.

I don't get the go back to the hotel thing. We live near Sesame Place and if I take them there in the morning, when I leave they're asleep before we're half way home. It's only a ten minute drive. I figure if I try to leave the parks at WDW, they'd be asleep in the car and then cranky if I try to get them into a hotel bed, I'll just let them sleep in the stroller in a quite area or ride the monarail so I have something to look at.

 

[Disneymomofsix]

My two youngest still take naps at home. On our nine day trip, all six of mine took naps most days, including my almost 12 year old. Every day four of mine did. Between the heat and the walking, mine fussed but went to sleep at least one hour each day, and sometimes up to three hours. We did not get everything done that I wanted to do, but my kids were happier than they would have been if I had only let them sleep a little while. My six year old was MAD that I had her sleep, but she was the first one to fall asleep many days.

 

[Beth76]

rt2dz, thanks for the post. My boys will be the same age as yours when we go. We just got back from Chicago and went one whole day doing stuff. The baby took two short naps in the stroller and my 4yo (who doesn't nap) was going strong all day long. He did need to rest from the walking though. Did you have your 4yo in a stroller? If so, what kind? A park rental?

 

[bigbabyblues]

We went last fall, and we HAD to have the nap every day. My then 15-month old (will be 2 Monday, sniff sniff) won't nap in a stroller to save his life, but he did fall asleep during all the fireworks shows and Fantasmic. We usually went back at lunchtime, ate at the resort, a couple days we swam for a little while, then we ALL took a nap. One problem for us on that trip was the heat, it wiped us out and the nap helped all of us. We were at the parks at both opening and closing, so leaving for 3 hours or so didn't bother us.

I don't know if we'll nap this year (going late Nov, early Dec), and the swim might be out due to the weather, but without the heat, we may not need the break. Will have to see when the time comes this trip I think.

Beth76--your question was to someone else, but I can tell you what we did. Our older DS was just 6 weeks shy of being 4 on our last trip, and in all 10 days, he only asked for a stroller one night, it was after Fantasmic and DH was carrying the baby and the stroller was empty. The rest of the time he walked, and he never complained of being tired. I think he did better than I did! We told him every day a few times that if he wanted a stroller, we would rent him one, but he never did. I would rent a stroller for a child that age though, just my opinion!

Steph