Mid-Day Breaks

[hedge333]

My girls will be 4 and 18 mos when we are in Disney. I know that some days we will have to take a break in the middle of the day. I'm planning for it in our schedule everyday. However, do you find that the middle of the day break is necessary. I'm just worried about the amount of time we'll be burning going back and forth.

 

[badblackpug]

Some folks swear by it, we have never done it. My little ones are pretty adaptable and will nap in the stroller.

 

[JUJU814]

My girls will be 4 and 18 mos when we are in Disney. I know that some days we will have to take a break in the middle of the day. I'm planning for it in our schedule everyday. However, do you find that the middle of the day break is necessary. I'm just worried about the amount of time we'll be burning going back and forth.

We find them very necessary...two youngest are 6 and 8. We couldn't do Disney any other way.

We go early in the morning. Stay till 12 or 1..we get a LOT accomplished in that time. Then, we head back to the resort for a little lunch, swim in the pool and often a short nap. Then, we get up and ready for dinner and go somewhere for dinner. We may or may not go back to a park for a little bit. Usually it would be a park that we were having dinner in.

I just don't believe you can worry about burning time. It's a vacation. What you don't see on one trip, you can see someday on another. Everyone has their own travel style.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We take a break almost every day...frankly sometimes the adults need it too However, our breaks usually consist of less napping and more swimming. It just gives everyone a chance to recharge. It does use up a TON of time going back and forth but we always "time budget" for that.

 

[everylastbreath]

Play it by ear, don't plan on anything- you will not know what you kids want/need until you are actually there- We took my GS @ 2years old, he napped in the stroller- no problem, took him @3years old, he DEMANDED a bed to nap in, had to go back to the hotel - middle of the day- took him 1 hr to fall asleep, slept thru most of our dinner ADR's- was a pain. See how your kids are, if you plan on a mid afternoon nap, for sure they will be wide away! Biggest piece of advice for Disney with little ones- Take it slow, play it by ear, don't do too much scheduling- ENJOY THEM, belive me, they will let you know what they need.

 

[frtchr]

We always take a break in the middle of the day. We let the kids (DD3 and DS 18 months) sleep as long as they want in the morning, go to a park, have TS lunch, and head back to the room. After the naps, we go to the MK every night to do stuff and grab a CS dinner. I'm a SAHM, so we're always home for naps, and I don't like to encourage stroller napping because it's just not enough sleep for my kids. They go to bed early at home, and they're still ready for an early bedtime after all the excitement and running around. We take it slow and don't expect to do everything. It's a nice break from the daily craziness at home!

 

[2shortpeopleruleme]

Last year, I had the breaks bulit into everyday. If they needed to then we went back. If ODD was still pretty good DH and I would split. I would take YDD (about a month shy of 2 then) and would go shop down main streetwoohoo and she would nap in the cool stores. DH and ODD would go off and explore.

Main advice is to have a loose game plan each day, and relax!

 

[hedge333]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not so worried about the little one, she'll nap anywhere and in virtually any position. (I'm pretty sure she would nap upside down) It's the 4 year old I'm worried about. Those of you that do the break, what is a good estimate of how much time, we're staying at Pop. Those of you that didn't break do you have any recommendations of where we could stroll around, etc. for break/stroller naps.

Thanks.

 

[ginnymack]

For us (my kids were the same age as yours on our last trip) it was a must. Yes, the transportation was a time sucker. Yes, I would have rather been at the parks. But having a pair of overly tired, whiny, crankey kids was simply not worth the price.

Unless you have a REALLY good stoller napper. I think a break is a must (especially if it is hot) and you may even find that *you and dad* need a break as well.

I would recommend you maximize your time in the parks by 1) being there before rope drop, no exceptions 2)have a good touring plan and stick to it (I love RideMax, because it allowed me to tell my oldes exactly what would be happening when 3) plan your table service meals VERY wisely. We opted to only do the character breakfasts - I knew kids would be hungry then, it killed 2 birds with one stone (who wants to wait to meet pooh when you can chat it up over breakfast). If possible, choose a time before the park opens as you get great pics and do not miss park time. Our other meals we settled for counter service. Yes, it got old but it allowed us to eat when kids were hungry and it minimized the time we were not "on the go" in the parks.

Also, if you stay up later than the kiddos, consider a "free pass" at night for one parent. Let dh head off to dtd or back to the parks while you stay with the little ones and the next night you switch. It is not as much fun as if you are together, but that my be your only chance to catch a show in peace or watch illuminations, or even ride Space Mtn!

Have fun!

 

[ginnymack]

To answer your last question - I think the TTA is a great spot for a nap - constant, gentle movement & shade!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Personally, when we went my DS was 14 months. We pretty much played each day by ear...never had a set schedule...walked up to a ride and rode without much thought. I thought about having a touring plan, but with a child so young, I think it detracts from the overall expereince of seeing Disney through their eyes.

But yes. Take your mid-day break. We had ONE day we didn't take a break and DS ended up falling asleep on the bus on the way to DTD one evening. Find your resorts playground and let the kids play...as I'm assuming they'll be in a stroller 80% of the time unless you're on a ride. It helps them release their pent up energy.

 

[couponclary]

We found that coming back to rest was much needed (we went in February, our little one will be 3 later this month). We pushed too hard on several days because we didn't want the hassle of going back (and one day it really just didn't make sense due to ADR), but we found that dinner & evenings were not so pleasant for us when the little guy didn't have time to nap. He is normally a good sleeper and will fall asleep in the car, but would not sleep in a stroller, much to our dismay! He would fall asleep in the stroller b/w the bus stop & room, of course! DS does take a two hour nap every day, so after the first day or so, it really caught up with him...

 

[cassandrap83]

We did it every single day we were there in September. In the blazing heat it is 100% necessary. My kids were 4 and 2 1/2 when we went.

I, too wanted to not spend all my time on the buses, but it didn't feel like we did and it was worth it. We stayed at POP, and our longest commute was a little over 20minutes.

The best thing I can tell you is to work WITH your kids, not against them. Most young children will wake up early, so take advantage of that & get to the early rope drops. By the time everyone is starting to melt down (around 1ish for us) you will have already been at the park for many hours, and a break will be welcomed. You can go back to the hotel & swim & nap. Go back around dinner time & enjoy the park again for several more hours before it closes.

It worked great for us, and our kids. We all were happy.

 

[DCbride]

I think a major factor is the time of year and the park hours. Summer or a hot month a break from the park is necessary. On busy times, like Easter, we also have to take a break from the crowds. I have 2 older kids and they still want to get out of a park, swim, maybe nap or simply shower to feel refreshed before heading out again.

I usually only plan 1 or 2 days midtrip when we plan to stay all day.

Another alternative to actually going back to your hotel is to visit a resort connected to the park or at least closer. The poly has beautifull hammocks when you can cuddle with your 4yo while she naps on your chest. You are not allowed to use the pool, but the beach with beach chairs is available for use. One time we did EMH until 2 and up early for the EMH in the am, everyone was wiped out so we went to the BC and napped on their beach for an hour.

 

[rjmomma]

Has anyone had success with no nap & early departure from the park---with 7pm bedtime? Not everyday of course, but 1-2 days of the week.

 

[tzolkin]

I think it may depend somewhat on when you're going (crowds, weather, and park hours).

We have gone around Memorial Day the past two years. There were morning EMHs offered every day of our trips and the parks were open late. It was also hot and very crowded in the afternoons.

We would get up early (we don't get up that early at home) and go to am EMH and do as much as we could until about 11:00-- that's when the park started getting crowded. We then headed back to the resort and didn't return to a park until about 5:00. We don't mind taking such a long break because we are always able to get so much done in the morning. If you were only planning to go back to the resort for an hour or so, you will spend more time in transportation than you will resting. We are usually the only ones on the bus, so the ride to the resort is fairly relaxing for us. Others find it stressful to get to/from the parks and don't feel the break is worth it.


Our first trip I was worried about the break. I honestly thought it would be a waste of time and no one would actually nap. To my surprise, once we got into the AC, turned off the lights and got into bed we ALL fell asleep for several hours every day. Now we all agree that the naps at Disney are necessary for our family. For two weeks, everyone is always pleasant and we have no meltdowns-- I attribute that to the naps.