I've been trying to keep this in mind, but it's difficult for me to leave the park -- especially on Epcot or Magic Kingdom days. Do you think leaving the park at 2 and being physically back there by 4-4:15 is enough of a break?
I'm no expert, but here is my 2 cents worth from my recent experience...DD's BF is not someone who grew up feeling that he missed anything by not having been to Disney (sacrilege, I know!). That said, he was excited to go as well as anxious because he's not a huge ride fan. This is what we did:
Arrival Day-got to resort @ 6pm, ate at QS @ resort, wander resort (new resort for us) DS for 2 hrs, back to resort. DD BF good with this.
Day 1-rope drop MK, rode all mountains except Splash plus about 10 other rides. Ate at CHH, wandered a bit, left for the day around 3. Dinner at DS, walk around then back to resort. DD BF slightly overwhelmed with everything but dinner was a good rest and change.
Day 2-9:30 start at EP. Rode Soarin, Spaceship Earth, Nemo, check out aquarium. Start drinking around the world. Get QS lunch, spend about 2 hrs in Tutto Gusto wine cellar and avoid afternoon shower. Finish DATW (we didn't get something at every country-skipped around). Dinner at Chef's. Wander some more. Back at resort around 9. This was his favorite day. It was more of a ramble and relaxing and that worked for him. EP is his favorite park.
Day 3-9:30 start again. DD & BF went to HS before us. No FP since were using them at AK later in the day. We all waited in line for TSMM but didn't ride anything else. In all fairness it rained all day that day so wasn't as fun as it could have been. Left HS for AK. Got him to ride EE. He didn't hate it but wasn't his favorite ride. Did Bug's Life and Safari, checked out the trails. Ate at Satu'li Canteen. His favorite QS. Did Navi River then AFoP. AFoP was his favorite ride. Ate at Flametree, watched tree projections and left around 10pm. AK is his second favorite park. He left the next day.
So the point of this long winded ramble is...we took time for breaks, mostly within the parks and made a point to sit down and eat for another break. We didn't commando visit like we usually do and spent 6-8 hours in the parks each day. I planned rides I thought he would enjoy and only challenged his reluctance on a few rides. We tried to find things that appealed to him and left off some off the things that we knew he wouldn't enjoy. At the end of the trip he had a great time and wants to go back again-sooner rather than later, so I feel like we struck the right balance for his first time. You know your BF so maybe more than 2 hours of a break would be better (or worse). Maybe some time in a lounge afternoon/evening is enough, or a full afternoon at the pool. Play it by ear! Good luck and enjoy CSR and the parks!