Mid-day break, but staying off-site

[Abigail McSpadden]

My family along with our in-laws are going to Disney at the end of June. We'll have 6 adults, 4 kids (5, 5, 4, 2yo). We're only doing 2 days at MK, then heading to the beach. I'm mostly worried about my 2yo and thought about leaving the park and taking the monorail on a loop or possibly visit one of the resorts for a break from the crowds and heat. We're staying 15 min away and taking Uber to/from the park. We have a reservation at CRT at 810 the first day we're there. Just trying to make the most of our short time there but also avoid meltdowns. Help?

 

[starry_solo]

go to the inside, air-conditioned attractions. Your 2 year-old might be able to fall asleep in them. So think The People Mover, Country Bear Jamboree, the Carousel of Progress, that sort of thing.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

go to the inside, air-conditioned attractions. Your 2 year-old might be able to fall asleep in them. So think The People Mover, Country Bear Jamboree, the Carousel of Progress, that sort of thing.

This. At WDW, when my kids need to rest in the park, they pretty much fall asleep anywhere, but especially cool attractions. During the hotter afternoon hours, we do the things listed above. My kids are 4 & 2.5 and both have been to WDW at age 2.

At that age my son or daughter have fallen asleep on things like Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress and Country Bears. Both also fell asleep at various attractions and shows at the other parks. We were usually able to move them to the stroller if they fell asleep in an attraction.

At 2, both my kids would also sometimes fall asleep in the stroller and we would just take them to shops keep them cool. The Big Top shop in Storybook Circus and the shops on Main Street are our go to spots. Plus, there’s a nice covered area to sit near Big Top as well.

We stay on site but don’t go back to the hotel for naps - we found that both kids actually nap better in the park than if we try to get them to rest at the hotel. We do usually leave the park around dinner time or a little before, though. We don’t typically stay in the park late.

Have a great visit!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Should the weather not be a problem you also have the following possibilities at MK:

Tom Sawyer's Island which has a play area as well as picnic tables.
The river boat ride is very calming as well. My much older traveling kids have been known to fall asleep on this ride, LOL

 

[KenHutch]

Carousel Of Prgress and of all things Tiki Birds

 

[Brian Minter]

Should the weather not be a problem you also have the following possibilities at MK:

Tom Sawyer's Island which has a play area as well as picnic tables.
The river boat ride is very calming as well. My much older traveling kids have been known to fall asleep on this ride, LOL

Do you have to get off the boat, or can you just stay on?

 

[bigbabyblues]

We stayed offsite last June for the first time and tried one day at MK with no break, open to close. I did not work for us, and we were 2 healthy adults and 2 teenage active boys (17 and 15). We drove back to our condo the other days in the afternoon or just stayed until 4:00 or so and then called it a day. You could ride around on the monorail, but I think they make you get off the ferry (not sure on that). It depends on the child. Mine both still took long (3 or so hours) naps at age 2 and wouldn't sleep in a stroller. The younger one did sleep through shows at the parks.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Do you have to get off the boat, or can you just stay on?

I'm sorry, I really don't know. We rarely stay at the parks all day so when the kiddos fell asleep that time we just went back to our resort. Understand that I have never been to WDW with any child younger than 8.

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

Do you have to get off the boat, or can you just stay on?

They might let you stay on if there aren't many people waiting. But it's a "raft". There are no seats, and you can't take a stroller.

That said, Tom Sawyer island does feel like you've completely left the theme park and it is a lot of fun to wander around.

 

[NYCgrrl]

They might let you stay on if there aren't many people waiting. But it's a "raft". There are no seats, and you can't take a stroller.

That said, Tom Sawyer island does feel like you've completely left the theme park and it is a lot of fun to wander around.

The raft goes to Tom Sawyer's Island but the riverboat which you enter from Liberty Square is a large paddle boat and the ride lasts about 15 minutes.

 

[WishICouldSpeakWhale]

The raft goes to Tom Sawyer's Island but the riverboat which you enter from Liberty Square is a large paddle boat and the ride lasts about 15 minutes.

Yeah, I thought I grabbed the post I was replying to. I was specifically going after the post talking about going to Tom Sawyer island, but I didn't grab it. The riverboat does look like a peaceful ride - we've never done it.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Yeah, I thought I grabbed the post I was replying to. I was specifically going after the post talking about going to Tom Sawyer island, but I didn't grab it. The riverboat does look like a peaceful ride - we've never done it.

Don't sweat it; anything can happen at 7:00 AM in the morning when the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet . The riverboat ride can make you chuckle as you sit there passing through Frontier Land. There are references to various rides on the shoreline.

Another possibility depending on when you are going is the train ride that starts at Main Street. This ride I know you don't have to get off; you can ride it as long as you want. It was closed for Christmas but I don't know when it'll re-open.

There is at least one water play pad in MK...I think it's on the left hand side just before you reach Frontier Land. Finally, I recall a play area near the MK safari ride in Adventure Land.