Mid-Afternoon Break

[Wilderness]

We like to take the monorail over to the poly.Have coffee and desserts at kona.then go back to MK.

 

[ChuckGA]

Here is another minority family. We have done both not going back and going back in the afternoon with our kids over the past few years. Their ages have ranged from 17 months to 6 over those trips. Taking a break back at the hotel is definitely a bad idea for us. It wastes hours and our kids do just fall asleep on their parents' command.

We get there for opening and keep going along through the day. If the kids get really tired they fall asleep in the stroller. If we are all slowing down or getting cranky then we take a 2 hour lunch or several sitdown shows in AC buildings.

The question each each family must answer for themselves: If you are going to not going to be in the parks for about 4 hours, which 4 hours would you choose: the 4 hours in the afternoon or the 4 hours at the end of the day so you can sleep another 4 hours during the overnight?

We choose the 4 hours at the end of the day for a longer night's sleep and get up for park opening each day. Of course some days we do open and close the park.

Chuck

 

[wannabee princess]

Whew! Until the last few posts, I thought we were going to be the only ones who didn't go back to resort midday! We never have - won't say we never will, but....

We don't try to hit EMH - although we did do Sunrise Safari our last trip. When we hit midday, we generally start sitting at either a nice meal (maybe LTT if at MK or 50's PTC at MGM) were we can relax while we eat, or we hit more of the shows - MGM we will go to Beauty & the Beast, or at Epcot we will sit and watch Off Kilter. We also use the time waiting for a parade as our rest time. I think we typically do about 1 hour of sitting just for that at MK and MGM.

We also try to do two days of parks followed by one day of relaxing. We will sleep in, swim, play mini golf, hit the Boardwalk in the evening or DD. This way we have 2 busy days followed by one day of "chilling". We are always ready to hit the parks on the next day for 2 more busy days.

Now, that being said, we have never gone in June or July, so we may revise our norm if we ever visit then!

 

[sodaseller]

Those of us with Spanish heritage refer to it as a "siesta". It is a natural part of your body's rythms

 

[Beast2Prince]

This will be our first trip in which we take afternoon breaks. Our previous 3 trips were usually all day affairs. But since my wife is 4 months pregnant, she will definetely need a nap. If I don't nap, I'll be taking a swim or just watching TV. It'll be interesting to see what the difference is between taking breaks and not. The parks are open later next week so we will want to be rested up for the evenings.

 

[bigbabyblues]

When DH and I went in 97 we did take afternoon breaks for naps, and I have them planned into our (loosely) planned trip for May. We will be taking our two boys, who will be 4 and almost 2 at the time of our trip, and both still take naps during the day. The younger one takes 3 naps during the day, we'll see how he does in the next year, but I'm sure we'll be enjoying the "siestas"!

The day we go to AK I hadn't planned a break, because the park closes so early. I had planned a lunch around noon or so, time to sit down, cool off, and some time for them to play at the Boneyard. The attractions we can do there will be somewhat limited with the boys, we won't be able to do the Rapids, Dino, Primeval Whirl. Mostly we'll do the shows, the Safari, and Triceratop spin there, and of course the character trails. I want to see the parade too, but what we don't get to do, we can go back later in the week!

Steph

 

[eljojo]

This will be our first year going back to the hotel for afternoon breaks. Of course, this is also our first year going in August, so we may need to cool off! Our other trips we set the alarm for 6 a.m. and kept going at one park till fireworks and closing. My youngest kids were 4 the first time and 7 the second time. And they were such troopers, never complaining, never whining. I think they just were having sooo much fun on the rides that their little bodies ran on adrenaline. I do remember them falling asleep only once in one of the Epcot country's movies! I think we were afraid if we went back to the pool that we would all be drained and never want to come back to the parks again. Everyone has to know their own family's needs and wants!

 

[missypie]

I love the idea of a mid-afternoon break. DH is a theme park until you drop guy, so he will take some convincing...maybe the cost of the on-site resort will convince him to enjoy it a bit.

But tell me, what do you do (besides fireworks) when you go back in the evening? At busy times, the fast passes get used up, so are there enough "minor attractions" to keep you busy w/o waiting in long lines?

 

[Bob NC]

We've been going every year since the kids were 8 and 4. They are now 13 and 9.

We've NEVER done the whole, "return to the room and swim and nap for hours", thing.

If I wanted to sit by the pool or take a nap, I could do that at the Days Inn down the street and save a TON of $$$$$.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

I always reply when this question is posted!

On our first family WDW trip we went back to the resort the first two days and it was the biggest waste of time on that trip.

We probably spent close to an hour getting to our room and back to the park; wait for bus, travel time on the bus, walk back to room and then do this in reverse after a futile attempt to get the kids to sleep.

We have adapted and now plan "in-park-breaks" every couple hours; sit down meal, ride the monorail, sit down for frozen lemonade at Pecos Bill's... and everyone does pretty well.

While I certainly do not question the value of going back to the resort for some families, I cringe whenever I read posts saying that you MUST go to the room for a mid-day break.

 

[ChuckGA]

I agree 100% with manchurianbrownbear's post. This whole "You MUST go back for an afternoon break" does drive me a little crazy sometimes when newbies are given that advice. And it is almost always given as if it was a rule that worked 100% for everyone and woe to those who break it.

Chuck

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by manchurianbrownbear
We have adapted and now plan "in-park-breaks" every couple hours; sit down meal, ride the monorail, sit down for frozen lemonade at Pecos Bill's... and everyone does pretty well.

I thought we weren't going to tell everybody our secret

Just kidding.....another family here that does "in-park-breaks"..we use a sit down air conditioned meal or a park hopping trip on the monorail. Going back to the resort just wouldn't work for us, we'd be done for the day.

Everybody knows their family best and this is what works for our family

 

[dbal]

o.k.- how 'bout when the parks close early. We have always taken midday breaks before ( and needed them), but this will be our first trip in Dec. when MK is only open til 6:00? So - do you go back to your hotels or do you do better taking in-park breaks like some of the previous posters talk about.

Also - for those that do break inside the parks- do your kids really rest? thanks

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by dbal
Also - for those that do break inside the parks- do your kids really rest? thanks

Depends what you mean by rest. Nobody is sleeping if that's what you mean. But an hour sitting down in air conditioning eating a sit down lunch sure does recharge everybody's batteries.

 

[oret]

OK I'm a newbie and will be in Orlando 1st 10 days of August and staying off site. I was told that because of huge crowds and unbearable heat and humidity, that taking an afternoon break was not only preferrable but a necessary survival tactic.
For all you non afternoon-breakers-would you even fathom going a full day in August??

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

Our last two trips have been in November and the weather has been pretty nice; although it was upper 80s / high humidity a couple days last fall.

I guess we've always been open to going back to the room if we're ready to drop, but if everyone is in reasonably good spirits, we stick it out in the park.

None of us sleep during breaks in the parks, but it does help a lot to get rehydrated and get off your feet for awhile!

 

[airhead]

It will be the first time we experience Disney in the heat & humidity. Also we really want to be in the parks at night. On previous trips the parks closed early,so we're really looking forward to that! I don't know if we would take the time to trek back to the resort if we didn't have a rental car,because I do agree that using WDW transportation would probably eat up a lot of time. I like the idea of going for a swim,having a few beers and relaxing in the afternoon. Then,we have a few early PS's in the parks we plan on being in that evening. I think everybody has to vacation their own way. The guide books are there to help
with tips and the rest is up to us!!!!

 

[welovedisneyx4]

Take a break??? NEVER!!!!

Granted, we do go in October w/ low crowds and comfortable temps.

If I wanted to sit by the pool or take a nap, I could do that at the Days Inn down the street and save a TON of $$$$$.

When I want a relaxing vacation, I'll go to the beach or something. We go to Disney to visit and tour the parks. However, doing that everyday all week can get to be too much. We usually do 2 days of the park, 1 day of rest, 2 days in parks, 1 day of rest and the revisit whatever we want the last day. We try to schedule the full days (Illuminations, MNSSHP) before the rest days so it won't be so bad.

I would be concerned w/ my family about getting them back up and out if we went back to the motel during the day. DH would never make it!!

I am not saying if the breaks work for you not to take them, especially during the summer time, but don't make it sound like "you MUST do an afternoon break" all the time.

 

[ChuckGA]

Also - for those that do break inside the parks- do your kids really rest? thanks

I agree that it helps recharge the batteries and my kids do occassionally fall asleep in the stroller.

However, I would reverse the question: For all those who go back to the hotel, do your kids really get any rest from trekking out of the park, back to the hotel and on the return trip back to the bus and into the park? That is alot of energy and time used and assumes an on-site hotel. Plus using the pool is not "resting" and uses at least as much energy as staying in the park, even if it is far less stressful.

Chuck

 

[candykisses]

We love our afternoon breaks, es`pecially when we go in August. We are early risers, so we're in the parks when they open.

We try to leave around 1:00 or so, sometimes we have lunch in the park or grab something at the resort. After swimming, showers and a short nap we're ready for the evening.