Mid-day Break

[Shroog]

For those who do mid-day breaks-what time did you usually leave the park and what time is a good time to return? We will have a 4 and 5 yr old with us and are planning on mid-day breaks for our 2 MK days, and our HS day. We will be there at RD each day, so should get a lot done in the morning (hopefully).

 

[Shmily01]

We usually leave around 12:30 or 1:00 and return around 4:00. My kids are a little older though. We sometime leave MK right after the parade and then come back a little later depending on how late the park is open.

 

[IrishNYC]

We're planning on a break around 3 on our MK and Epcot days, because we'll be starting at 8 or 9am those days, then visiting the opposite park at night. We have a 5 year old and will take that time to swim or "nap."

 

[sweetnjmom]

We usually leave around 12:30 or 1:00 and return around 4:00. My kids are a little older though. We sometime leave MK right after the parade and then come back a little later depending on how late the park is open.

We did the same thing last trip and for this one, we'll be doing something similar. My son is 5-1/2 and does not nap, but a daily break for the pool is definitely needed (and we're off site, with a rental car). He cannot go non-stop and he loves pools and this is a vacation and not a death march.

Our schedule includes rest times every day except for one.
Day 1 MK: Arrive before rope drop and stay until after the 3 PM parade (never saw it) -- relax at resort, quick dinner, then 8:30 PM arrival at Contemporary for Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise
Day 2 EPCOT: Sleep in after late night, arrive at EPCOT somewhere between 2-3 PM and probably stay until Illuminations.
Day 3 AK/HS: 8:15 ADR at Tusker House, stay at AK until noon, relax at resort pool, arrive at HS no later than 3 PM. 5:20 ADR at 50s Primetime and will book FP+ at HS, staying for Fantasmic!
Day 4 HS/MK: We'll be at HS early and have an ADR for the Star Wars breakfast, plan to leave HS no later than 1 PM. We'll do FP+ at MK in the evening, stay for MSEP, and eat QS there. Arrive no later than 4 PM.
Day 5 AK: Not hopping this day. Will arrive at AK in the mid morning and I hope the animals at the safari are active still at 10:30 or 11 AM. Staying through dinner - ADR at 5:15 PM.
Day 6 HS/MK: Our last day. 8:05 AM ADR at H&V and we'll stay for a few hours for whatever we've missed. We'll relax at resort pool and arrive at MK no later than 3 PM. Have 5 PM dinner ADR and will stay until we're done. FP+ at MK.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We leave around 12-1 and return around 5-6. We go to the pool. We've only ever napped once during a midday break.

I know you didn't ask but it's something we had to change around regarding our evenings in the park.......We used to do dinner ADR's and the kids would get upset since we would reenter the park around 5ish, have dinner around 6, done by 8 and then the park would close by 9 or 10. The kids felt like they didn't get to ride much of anything in the evenings. So we cut back on dinner ADR's for our 10 night trip.

Arrival day we will not do a midday break and plan to arrive around 11 am. We will do Chef Mickey's dinner as our break. Then head back to MK for Wishes.

This next trip I have dinner at Ohana on our Epcot/MK split day. We will hit rope drop at EP, leave around 12-1, go back to the Poly (where we are staying) and have pool time. Dinner is at 515 and then off to MK with our 3 FP+. Hoping to be in MK 7-10 pm. Had I not been staying at the Poly I probably would've done Ohana on our "rest" day.

Another day we have a dinner ADR is our MK PM EMH day. We will start there at 5 pm with our 3 FP+, BOG ADR at 830 pm and then staying until the park closes.

On our PM DHS day we will do MM dinner for the Fantasmic! package. We will do our FP+ here after dinner. We have another day at DHS which will be just the morning so we don't mind having this dinner ADR.

 

[Brandiwlf]

How long do you need for an effective break? I really want to see festival of fantasy but would like a break after, then have adr at BOG at 6:25 that night. Staying at AoA

 

[Jfsag123]

On days we took breaks, we tended to leave the park around 1 and return around 5.

 

[sweetnjmom]

How long do you need for an effective break? I really want to see festival of fantasy but would like a break after, then have adr at BOG at 6:25 that night. Staying at AoA

Honestly, I wouldn't bother that day. In my opinion, that is cutting it far too close -- travel to/from AoA. If you have a small child who will sleep in a stroller, I'd just find a quiet spot to rest in the shade at MK. And if you have more than one day at MK, don't stay after dinner. Head back to your resort for an early night.

 

[CindySwims]

I think we will aim to leave about 12:30 or 1:00 and head back around 5-5:30. I hope that gives us enough down time or time at the pool.

 

[Shroog]

Neither girl takes naps anymore, so our break will be to swim and get away from the afternoon crowds (we are staying offsite at Windsor Hills). We aren't doing any dinner ADR's, except for BOG one night, but we will just get desserts there. I was thinking leaving around 1:30 or so, and returning around 5:30 or 6pm. Will that make it a rushed break? I don't want to have to rush back to the condo, then back to the park. One night when we get back, we will ride what we can (should have FP+ for something), and catch the MSEP and Wishes. The other night we will have dessert at BOG and hopefully ride some more rides and/or Anna/Elsa while everyone is at the parade and fireworks. Park is open until 12am while we are there, so we will have lots of time when we get back. I wonder if we should make our break a little longer? Any suggestions on that? Thanks

 

[CindySwims]

If your girls can stay awake and MK is open until 12 you could take a longer break. My 7 yr old is a night owl and we did MK one evening from 7:30pm-1am and he had a great time. We didn't even do a park that morning and we felt like be rode several rides and enjoyed the fireworks and part of the electrical parade.

 

[puffkin]

We usually do rope drop until about 1-1:30 and then head back (we have a car so it usually doesn't take long). If we are eating in the room (DVC) we eat around 5 and then head back out to be in the parks around 6. If we are eating in a resort, we do a 5ish ADR and if in a park, about 5:30 ADR. If we are doing DTD for the evening, we eat around 6-6:30. We go a lot and my kids can do rope drops and parade fireworks no problem with this schedule for a week...but I know it isn't for everyone.

 

[lustergirl]

I usually break around 2 or 3pm, go back to my room to relax a bit (might even fall asleep) and go back to the parks around 6pm for the night.

 

[Meriweather]

We arrive at rope drop and leave after lunch.......1-2 pm. Then go back between 4 and 5....sometimes later, depending on what we plan to do.

 

[disney-inspired]

For those who do mid-day breaks-what time did you usually leave the park and what time is a good time to return? We will have a 4 and 5 yr old with us and are planning on mid-day breaks for our 2 MK days, and our HS day. We will be there at RD each day, so should get a lot done in the morning (hopefully).

I've only done one trip with midday breaks but then again I've only gone twice haha.
I would leave around 1 or 2 PM, head back to the hotel and either nap or just chill until about 4pm. Then I'd shower and get dressed and head out again at 5pm. It helped so much in September.

 

[disney-inspired]

This year is the first time traveling with a toddler. My niece will be 18 months so we will definitely be planning our breaks around the little one. We do have dinner ADRs for 4/5 nights but we are staying at Port Orleans Riverside so plan to leave the hotel about an hour before our ADRs. If we're running late, we can always drive the rental car but we hope to just use the buses.

 

[senadler]

Between transportation and time to relax/swim we usually plan 4 to 5 hours for a break. When we go back to the park at night it is usually for dinner and fireworks with only a couple of rides if any. If we are at a park opening before 9 AM, we are usually headed back to the hotel by 1 PM.