Resort breaks, how to structure the day?

[Specter]

We always follow the same pattern -- when the kids were young and even now (pretty much been doing this for the full 50 years). We get to parks for rope drop, then leave around Noon or 1:00 p.m. Back to resort for break, fun, other activities. Then head back out around 5:00 p.m. or so.

This is almost exactly what our family does. Even on our last trip pre-DD, DW and I discovered the recuperative properties of the midday break. Then DD was born and we went at 10 months, just shy of 3 years old, and we just got back this past Saturday when she was 3 and a half.

Yes, with transit time from the parks to the resort it is a lot of time to "lose" but we tried pushing through one day when DD was 10 months old (and she would even take catnaps in her stroller on that trip) but that led to her being absolutely miserable and we had to cut short our plans to see Fantasmic and head back to the resort somewhere around 6-6:30 that day.

We decided then and there that we would rather lose a few hours each day but have those hours that we do get be better quality than deal with a cranky infant/toddler and it served us well. On the rare occasion that there was even a little uncertainty about making an ADR we would take an Uber or Minnie Van (very happy those are back, even if they are more expensive), but for the most part that was never an issue and if it was that meant that DD clearly needed the extra rest time.

I do understand the idea of starting later or calling it a day earlier, but there are things that our family feel we miss out on with that approach. You miss out on the slightly lower morning crowds/wait times, the generally cooler part of the day whether that is in the morning or evening, fireworks/nighttime shows, etc. Even something as relatively simple as the projections on the tree of life at AK are something we look forward to seeing and DD seems to be delighted by, so a midday break is a small price to pay.

Good luck whatever you do and enjoy the trip.

 

[disneyfam1986]

We love our midday breaks! My kids will be 6 and 3 this year and we have done that every trip since 2019 except 2020 when we were at AKL(park hours were short and it was too far). They don’t really sleep but get some pool/ rest time. We rope drop then stay until about 11-12. Then go back around dinner time or even a little later. It is one of the reasons we love staying on the monorail loop!

 

[francisca2022]

I am travelling with 1yo, 3yo, 5yo and planning on resort breaks as well.
Is February too cold for pool time??

 

[Maple Moose]

Is February too cold for pool time??

We love going in February, but it's so hard to predict the weather. One year we were swimming daily in 90F degree heat. Another year we were bundling up in low 40Fs, pools were closed, and the news said iguanas were falling out of trees!

 

[sponica]

I am travelling with 1yo, 3yo, 5yo and planning on resort breaks as well.
Is February too cold for pool time??

If the pools are open, we'll be in them. Can't peel my kid from a pool if it's available.

 

[Beer Me]

I like to break up the day by making dinner reservations at a different location than where we start the day. Then there is a tangible reason to go back to our resort, rest and clean up for dinner and whatever else we have planned.

Otherwise mid day breaks can be hard. Sometimes no one wants to leave the park.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

We've always enjoyed afternoon breaks, even pre-kids. I'm a person who gets overstimulated by crowds, so that afternoon break is always really welcome. I will say the travel time to/from parks can eat up a lot of time unless you're staying at resorts that have easy park access (this is why we prioritize staying at the deluxe resorts now, it's just faster/easier to get in and out of the parks, especially now that we have kiddos).

We've had to adjust to Genie+, but we usually structure our days now where we do a park for just a few hours first thing in the morning (our kids are early risers), then we come back to the resort by noon-ish. We'll have lunch around the pool, then rest and shower in the room. Then we usually head back out to a park for dinner around 5-6, and hop on some Lightning Lane attractions that I stacked up during the afternoon break.

 

[loves to dive]

While we are complete non planners breaks do creep into our days. When my son was younger he was a water baby so we would go back to the room after lunch for a hour or two of pool time. Now we tend to go back between noon and 2 for me to rest and just get off my feet. We always have park hoppers so go to a different park later. No real time frame of how long the break is, we just play it by ear. Since we don't plan there are no ADRs we need to make, I usually just make them while we are in the room.