Morning at the parks, afternoon nap in hotel, then what?

[MomtothreeEs]

Since we have 3 young kids, we are planning for most of our WDW excitement to happen in the mornings. We are planning on going back to the hotel (AoA) for most of the afternoon. My kids will need to nap or just have some down time, and I've heard the parks are much more crowded in the afternoon. I'm trying to figure out our evening plans. On a regular night at home, my kids are all asleep by 8pm, so I'm guessing we won't be out too late. We'll be there in May so even though I'm hoping to see fireworks at MK once, ten at night might just be too late for the kiddos. Do the crowds start to thin out at a certain point in the evening? We have the park hopper option so our park choice is open. Is it worth heading back over to the parks for a couple hours after dinner, or are they just too crowded to be fun?

Any tips? Advice? What should we do with our evenings?

 

[tanyaandallie]

I'd recommend hitting parks for rope drop, touring, eating lunch then leaving at 1ish when crowds get higher. Nap, relax, etc. then go back for dinner and more touring. Our plan with the new FPP is to save our 3 fpp for the evening.

 

[snoopy5386]

You can go back to the parks in the evening and take in the attractions and shows that always have little to no wait there are plenty of them. Other options include swimming, downtown disney, mini golf, resort hopping, etc.

 

[DisneyDad222]

We've worked this same plan many times. We hit one park in the morning and leave right after lunch (around 12:30-1:00) for nap and down time. We usually schedule a dining reservation for 5pm (our kids eat early) and then get in two to three after dinner rides before heading back to the resort.

 

[PlutosMommy]

We've worked this same plan many times. We hit one park in the morning and leave right after lunch (around 12:30-1:00) for nap and down time. We usually schedule a dining reservation for 5pm (our kids eat early) and then get in two to three after dinner rides before heading back to the resort.

This is what we do too! Works great for us.

 

[Woodmnky]

We left the parks around noon each day, went back to our townhouse, rested/napped and then most days (as long as things were going well) we headed back to a park to check out things that had little/no waits. We didn't try to hit major attractions, but used this as a good time to see some of the minor attractions and just soak up the atmosphere. At MK we rode Magic Carpets, Dumbo, & Pirates. We also saw Country Bear Jamboree with no wait. At HS we met several characters (Minnie, Wreck It Ralph/Vanellope) and went to Osborne Lights (obviously that is season specific). At Epcot we walked around and checked out some of the stores in WS and watched the fountains for a while in Future World. We never went to AK in the evenings.

 

[crisi]

With Hoppers, we almost always booked a meal in Epcot. Then each evening we'd knock off one or two Epcot attractions and have dinner. Epcot closes at 9 pretty much all the time, so it worked well from a "getting the kids to bed" standpoint.

We hadn't been to Epcot in the mornings - except for the Princess breakfast one year - in years.

May won't be too crowded - schools won't have let out - the few that have people won't travel as soon as the kids are done with school. I wouldn't worry about crowds. I

 

[monorailsilver]

We do rope drop, lunch, nap, shower and dinner in a park.

My kids are normally in bed earlier then their Disney trips but I am ok with that since they nap. So we stay out til after 10 on MK nights and are back to the poly post illuminations to watch wishes. We don't do DHS or ak in the evening.

We also do 2 days of parks and then a non park day. The kids sleep in and I am up doing laundry and at the pool by 8...they come out when they wake up.

 

[Happyjen27]

We did a mix of going back to the park, or relaxing and going to bed early to make sure they can get up early the next night, or going to dinner. We did stretch it a few times to see fireworks, the last night is good for that as long as you have an afternoon flight, since everyone can just sleep in a bit.

 

[PGHDisneyfan]

With a 5 year old and an 8 month old last April we did more less the same as everyone else. Parks earlyish may 9 am arrival stay till about 2 ( the baby napped in the stroller for his morning quiet time) back to the hotel after a quick lunch ( we pack our own lunches a good bit of the time) everyone would have a nap or quiet time until 3 or so. Wifey and I would shower again and put fresh clothes on the gang then back to the parks until 8:30or 9. One or two nights we stayed out till 10 without any major issues the next day. Just adjust your schedule to work best for you!

 

[mm1971]

Since we have 3 young kids, we are planning for most of our WDW excitement to happen in the mornings. We are planning on going back to the hotel (AoA) for most of the afternoon. My kids will need to nap or just have some down time, and I've heard the parks are much more crowded in the afternoon. I'm trying to figure out our evening plans. On a regular night at home, my kids are all asleep by 8pm, so I'm guessing we won't be out too late. We'll be there in May so even though I'm hoping to see fireworks at MK once, ten at night might just be too late for the kiddos. Do the crowds start to thin out at a certain point in the evening? We have the park hopper option so our park choice is open. Is it worth heading back over to the parks for a couple hours after dinner, or are they just too crowded to be fun?

Any tips? Advice? What should we do with our evenings?

In our experience, the crowds start to ease up around 5-6PM as people head to dinner and some decide to call it a day. We usually head back to the parks and spend a good chunk of the evening there.

You could also visit DTD, Splittsville, take in a movie. There are the two mini golf courses or just hang by the pool and relax. There is so much to do outside the parks I wouldn't worry.

I didn't see when you plan to be there in your post, that would help us be more specific with advice.

 

[carrie1626]

Since we have 3 young kids, we are planning for most of our WDW excitement to happen in the mornings. We are planning on going back to the hotel (AoA) for most of the afternoon. My kids will need to nap or just have some down time, and I've heard the parks are much more crowded in the afternoon. I'm trying to figure out our evening plans. On a regular night at home, my kids are all asleep by 8pm, so I'm guessing we won't be out too late. We'll be there in May so even though I'm hoping to see fireworks at MK once, ten at night might just be too late for the kiddos. Do the crowds start to thin out at a certain point in the evening? We ave the park hopper option so our park choice is open. Is it worth heading back over to the parks for a couple hours after dinner, or are they just too crowded to be fun?

Any tips? Advice? What should we do with our evenings?

Making your 3 FP+ in the evening will work best if you want to return later. that way there's something to look forward to, you know you won't have to wait in line. or split the FP+ with only one or 2 later. If you make it to the parks early, it's amazing how much you can see and do before it gets really crowded. Don't skip the fireworks, they're just too good to miss!!!


Have a great time

 

[Schmeck]

With Hoppers, we almost always booked a meal in Epcot. Then each evening we'd knock off one or two Epcot attractions and have dinner. Epcot closes at 9 pretty much all the time, so it worked well from a "getting the kids to bed" standpoint.

We hadn't been to Epcot in the mornings - except for the Princess breakfast one year - in years.

May won't be too crowded - schools won't have let out - the few that have people won't travel as soon as the kids are done with school. I wouldn't worry about crowds. I

We spend most evenings at EPCOT too. The World Showcase is so awesome at night!

Some schools are out in May, especially the southern schools and most colleges. I know lots of college kids who head down to Disney right after school gets out, and before summer internship programs start. but they are not early risers on the whole, so mornings should still be fine. Nights now - hmmm...

 

[MomtothreeEs]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Would you recommend eating an early dinner before we head back to the parks or just eat dinner at a park? My kids are such slow and picky eaters.

 

[lovetogowdw]

If your kids are slow and picky eaters, then skip trying to eat in the park. The kids could hit melt down before food is served. The evening meal times have been when we've had to wait the longest - even with ADR at sit down restaurants. My kids tend to lose patience. But AofA dining choices tend to be a bit more, um, adult centric. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the choices, but my kids, not so much. The good news, this is your perfect chance to hotel hop over to Pop Century and have dinner in their food court!

Also, at least one night plan to do the evening movie at AofA ishown n the Lion King courtyard. Great fun!

And any Disney resort guest is welcome over at the Ft. Wilderness campground for their nightly sing-along with Chip and Dale and movie. Did I mention you get to see either Chip or Dale - for FREE! You can bring your own s'mores ingredients or buy a "kit" there (not terribly expensive). This has been a HUGE hit with my boys. The guest service folks at AofA can provide you details. Another idea is to go over to Ft. Wilderness in the afternoon to ride the ponies, then eat at Trail's End (or something like that - it is a buffet) for dinner, then do campfire/movie thing.

 

[tcherjen]

We are doing naps too. DD likes to rest. We scheduled FP+ in the evenings also.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

When I went with DD4(almost 5), it was Easter week, so we did rope drop every day to beat the big crowds. Most days, we returned to AoA resort for naps right after lunch, then went to MK or Epcot after an early supper.

However, most shows are scheduled from 11-6, so we had to do a couple "no nap" days to see the great shows at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. On "no nap" days, we were back at the resort between 5 and 6, and supper was small portions because kiddo couldn't stay awake. (She didn't suffer, she just had a big breakfast the next morning.)

 

[egesicki]

Thanks OP, I was wondering the same thing for a possible trip next year.

If your kids are slow and picky eaters, then skip trying to eat in the park. The kids could hit melt down before food is served. The evening meal times have been when we've had to wait the longest - even with ADR at sit down restaurants. My kids tend to lose patience. But AofA dining choices tend to be a bit more, um, adult centric. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the choices, but my kids, not so much. The good news, this is your perfect chance to hotel hop over to Pop Century and have dinner in their food court!

Also, at least one night plan to do the evening movie at AofA ishown n the Lion King courtyard. Great fun!

And any Disney resort guest is welcome over at the Ft. Wilderness campground for their nightly sing-along with Chip and Dale and movie. Did I mention you get to see either Chip or Dale - for FREE! You can bring your own s'mores ingredients or buy a "kit" there (not terribly expensive). This has been a HUGE hit with my boys. The guest service folks at AofA can provide you details. Another idea is to go over to Ft. Wilderness in the afternoon to ride the ponies, then eat at Trail's End (or something like that - it is a buffet) for dinner, then do campfire/movie thing.

Just curious, what about AOA food makes it more adult centric? Good suggestion on Chip and Dale and smores, I think my boys would like that too.

 

[lovetogowdw]

There are several sites that allow you to see or download the AofA menus. Take a look for yourself and I think you'll see what I mean. Even kid's meal food items that at first seem like standard kid items are a bit "odd" when you look closely - like whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs or a chicken platter with basmati or multigrain rice. My kids just preferred to "hotel hop" and walk over to Pop for dinner (breakfast is normal food at AofA) and then make a stop in the Pop arcade or check out some of their sculptures/buildings. It was just fun to have a reason to take a walk and do something different, so I didn't complain. And we got to see Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and Mowgli and some of the 101 Dalmatians too!

 

[mamabear0222]

Are there chairs for the campfire movie at ft wilderness?