Pro's and Con's of mid-day breaks?

[Cornucopiaoflove]

A little background - DH and I are going in May for our first trip since we were kids. We're both super excited, and planning to rope drop the days that we are there, but I'm worried that we might burn out. We're sort of battling this need to see everything we can during the time we are there (we've already accepted we won't see everything), and whether we should take some time out mid-day to take a break/nap.

I'm wondering if people could give me feedback about what helps them make the decision to go all day vs take a few hours back at the resort. Our FP's for each day end around lunch time, and we have ADR for later in the evening each day excluding AK when we are going to leave the park before dinner to head to Disney Springs for The Void.

Can you tell we're less than 30 days away and I'm starting to panic that I've planned terribly?

 

[Micca]

If you can make RD I think it's a great idea because you'll do more things in the first hour or two than you will the rest of the day. The upside of taking a break is that you can enjoy the parks both in daylight and in darkness. DW and I are the type of people who do better pushing forward until we're ready to stop. If we go back to the room chances are we're done for the day, but it is a vacation after all. Keep in mind that there is travel time to/from the resort, and you'll be going through security again.

 

[Mitre10]

We go all day. Our party is DH, me, and our two kids who are now 9 and 6 but have been going since they were infants. What we don't do is RD to fireworks everyday. We RD with a relatively well thought out touring plan and Fps booked throughout the morning. We do a sit down ADR for lunch. After lunch, instead of leaving, we'll use addition Fps and do shows, activities with lower lines. We leave for the day sometime between late afternoon and night shows depending on how we feel. When we head back to the hotel we're there for the day to swim, relax, and sleep. It just makes more sense for us to not make additional transportation trips. An exception to that is when we're in walking distance to a park--we then sometimes return for a few hours in the evening.

 

[DisneyDude71]

It all depends on you really. If you are going commando pace, most likely will need a break. Nice and slow pace maybe not. Also park closing times need to be put into consideration. Crowds are a crapshoot nowadays, you could hit an empty park and may get more done by staying. Or vice versa

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I can't go all day if park closing is 10-midnight. Midday crowds get to me. There's so many people, the heat, the stimulation. I need time to decompress. We don't even do naps but just go chill at the pool and relax. Also we stay deluxe so we like to use the amenities of our hotel. It also leaves us rejuvenated.

Next trip I have a few RD days (we get to the parks 10 minutes before opening, not 45 minutes), midday break at the pool and then PM park to shut it down. I also have some sleep in, hit the pool and then hit the park in the afternoon.

When the kids were younger we went during February/early March and the parks had a lot of 7 pm closings. We would go all day those days and use TS lunch as our "break."

 

[Iya]

A little background - DH and I are going in May for our first trip since we were kids. We're both super excited, and planning to rope drop the days that we are there, but I'm worried that we might burn out. We're sort of battling this need to see everything we can during the time we are there (we've already accepted we won't see everything), and whether we should take some time out mid-day to take a break/nap.

I'm wondering if people could give me feedback about what helps them make the decision to go all day vs take a few hours back at the resort. Our FP's for each day end around lunch time, and we have ADR for later in the evening each day excluding AK when we are going to leave the park before dinner to head to Disney Springs for The Void.

Can you tell we're less than 30 days away and I'm starting to panic that I've planned terribly?

Where you are staying determines whether a mid day break is worth it or not.

 

[StageTek]

I'm wondering if people could give me feedback about what helps them make the decision to go all day vs take a few hours back at the resort.

We make the decision to either go back to the resort or stay based on how we feel. If we feel tired we head back to the resort for a bit. If we aren't burned out we stay in the park.

For us, each day is different. Most of the time we keep going. But sometimes we really want to take a break back at the resort.

 

[Disneygal27]

I think it really depends on a few things, primarily the crowds, weather, and your stamina. Personally, if I don't take a break after lunch I get crabby and my evening isn't as enjoyable or fruitful, but I like to see evening shows and fireworks. If you can handle the crowd level/lines and are still having fun, then stay if that's what you want. But I also have the mindset that if I miss it I can see it next trip. If you'll look back and feel like you missed out by taking a resort break, then don't take one. I don't think there's a wrong answer, even if you want to play it by ear each day and see how you are feeling at the time. (Plus it depends if you're close to the parks or staying far away off property).

 

[AllieBoo]

We aren't strict rd'ers, but we do get to the parks by 9:30ish. We schedule our fp's back to back for the morning and we usually head back to the hotel by 1:00 pm to eat lunch and swim. We break until about 5:30 and then had back and stay until close.We love the parks at night, and we usually go during summer, so a midday break is necessary to cool off.

 

[tex1989]

DW and I are not kids anymore (58 and 59) but we don't do resort breaks during our park days. It really is up to your individual style of touring. We go several times a year with AP's so we never feel we have to do everything. Mid days we will do a show or leave the park for the nearest resort and shop and look around it. Boat rides and monorail rides are relaxing and serve to recharge us. We very seldom do rope drops and have FP's for every park day. While we plan certain things a lot of our greatest moments are just deciding to do somethings on the spur of the moment. Also regardless of what park we start the day at we almost always wind up at Epcot in the evening for some adult beverages and a stroll around the World Showcase.

But then again, that's us not you. While many will give advice I think at the end of the day you know yourself better than anyone else does and should do what works for you. Do you take naps at home? If you go back to your resort will you swim? Will you just chill in the room? Do you have Park Hoppers? Are there things outside the Parks you want to see? Think about it and do what makes you happy and what you think a vacation should be.

 

[Shanti]

A little background - DH and I are going in May for our first trip since we were kids. We're both super excited, and planning to rope drop the days that we are there, but I'm worried that we might burn out. We're sort of battling this need to see everything we can during the time we are there (we've already accepted we won't see everything), and whether we should take some time out mid-day to take a break/nap.

I'm wondering if people could give me feedback about what helps them make the decision to go all day vs take a few hours back at the resort. Our FP's for each day end around lunch time, and we have ADR for later in the evening each day excluding AK when we are going to leave the park before dinner to head to Disney Springs for The Void.

Can you tell we're less than 30 days away and I'm starting to panic that I've planned terribly?

We like them in the summer, when we can swim or rest at the resort in the afternoon, rather than sweating it out in the parks.

 

[jliucci]

I would say it depends on how you guys are feeling. We like to rope drop and then take a break in the afternoon if its really hot and we need a break. We return in the ealry evenings for dinner and night time shows.

 

[Meglen]

If you do not want to take a "break" you can alsways just do shows and sit down lunches to unwind. We went 2 years ago and we did 7-12 everyday for 5 days and kind regret it. We had a blast but we needed a vacation from our vacation. Take it slow and enjoy.

 

[sponica]

I feel like whenever I plan to go back to the hotel, I never do. I can sleep when I'm dead. I usually use lunch as my break, or the tiki birds, or carousel of progress or spaceship earth.

ETA: I might feel differently if I was in a monorail resort taking a break from MK or the Epcot resorts taking a break from epcot or DHS. But since I'm usually at port orleans or offsite, a midday break eats up SO MUCH PARK TIME

 

[wahoostampingirl]

I prefer not taking a break mid-day because it just seems to take up so much time and I don't really feel all that relaxed while on my break. But, that changes if we happen to be there in the summer (and I would count May as summer). It's just so dang hot and crowded mid-day, that taking a break almost feels necessary to keep my sanity. We're going in June this trip and it will be me, my husband and two teenagers. While we usually stay off property because I like staying in a house, this time I booked two rooms at a Value specifically so anyone in our party could hop on a bus and get back to the resort if the park was just getting to be too much for them.

 

[Oneanne]

I do mid-day resort breaks for a nap and a shower and then go out again in the evening all freshened up and ready to go again - it's almost like two days in one. I'm a hopper and usually start the day at RD and almost always end up spending the evenings at EPCOT for a nice stroll around WS and a good evening meal. I feel like I actually get more park time this way, instead of trying to go all day. As others have mentioned it's also possible to stay in a park and take a mid-day air-conditioned sensory break, by planning out a nice long sit down meal and shows.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We had to do nap breaks when the kids were smaller and I found them to be miserable. It's another scheduled thing (gotta leave by this time to get back by this time to make it worth it before having to turn around to get back to the park for dinner ADR). The minute the kids could go with out naps (DS never slept in a stroller) we were done with that. We do have to leave earlier because the kids can't yet go all day. DH and I could definitely go all day. That said, I might want to take a break if it was very hot or very busy (busier than I'm comfortably with) or if we didn't have a resort day (which we always have one of).

But transportation during the day can be really poor. We have had most of our 40 min bus waits either going to the resort for break or coming back.

In your shoes I would probably plan my FPs for late morning, early afternoon and play taking a break by ear.

 

[disneyvoice]

Personally we think a "traditional" mid day break (meaning heading back to the resort for a swim or a nap) is a hug waste of time. We prefer to just tour until we get tired then we head back to our resort - that normally ends up being right before or after dinner. That way we can get to bed at a reasonable time and are rested enough to get up and do rope drop again if we want to.

What we very often do instead is find a nice bar or lounge area in one of the parks and relax there over a few drinks mid afternoon - especially if it's super hot. At MK we will sometimes head to one of the monorail resorts for a bar there.

 

[Minniemouse07]

When the kids were little we used to visit in late fall/early December. They would nap longer on the go...if we went back to the resort, they would fall asleep on the way back to the resort and wake when we arrived...so we often did rope drop to close w/o a resort break but we did always have a lunch or dinner that we sat and relaxed.

That said, our first summer trip we did one day w/o a midday break and it was awful. The heat just sucks the energy out of you that it is so worth the time to get out of the sun and relax for a few hours until the sun isn't as strong and the crowds die down.

 

[Sorrel]

We are a couple in our 50s. We take a break most days, but we are there for two weeks at a time (we come from the UK) and we have been quite a few times before. We are early risers (especially in week one when the time difference hits us) so nearly always hit rope drop and morning EMH. We get back to resort at around early afternoon, but we go and lie by the pool. That way don't feel we are wasting time as we are sunbathing or swimming, and enjoying the resort (and the sun which we don't get back home!). We then go to another park late afternoon, also to a table service meal half the time, and we can manage to stay out as late as we like. We do a full day now and again, but if we did them too often we really would be tired and compromise our enjoyment. But of course, it all depends on your circumstances!