should we take a midday break with a 7, 5 and 2 year old?

[kymom79]

Our kids are 7, 5, and 2 -- if we were just going with the 2 year old, we'd definitely do the afternoon nap -- but with the older ones along as well, what would you do? We're going the first week of September so we expect a decent amount of heat (if you think that's conducive to fatigue), but not too many long lines (another potential factor for perception of tiredness).

Thanks!

 

[Jewel3k]

We did 6 park days in a row with a 7, 5, and almost 3. We did a break everyday but one, when the younger two feel asleep in the stroller. We left park around 1. Rested with a tv show in room, swam and then showered. Back to park for dinner. The youngest slept in the stroller or on the bus everyday. Never in the room. The September heat wore us out and the swim made everyone much happier campers.

 

[momof3ds]

When we went in August, we split up in the afternoons. My wife took the youngest (and sometimes middle kiddo) back for a break while I stayed with the oldest for thrill rides.

They were 10, 8, and 6 at the time

 

[alicat8]

I think a break is always a good idea (and I've only been going with kids for a few). Take some time to lounge around or play in the pool. It will probably make everyone happier!

 

[darnheather]

September will be very hot and humid. You may need a break as badly as they do.

 

[Krobo1211]

I went in May with my 9 & 5 yo and they needed a break everyday. Def made the days more enjoyable!

 

[Spunky946]

If we want to stay for evening entertainment, we take a break. We swim, nap, watch some tv, etc. we have found if we stay through the afternoon we are barely making it to dinner and out of the park.

 

[harbin]

We just got back last week... took our 7 and 2 year old. We did not do Midday breaks.. but my 2 year old is a good stroller sleeper. He slept in the stroller in some air conditioned area while the 7 year old rode thrill rides. I think it really depends on several factors:

1.) Your kids and their personality.
2.) Where you are staying (proximity to parks)
3.) What form of transportation you are using.

We stayed at Art of Animation. If we took a Mid day break we would have to plan at least two hours of transport time.. (one hour there and one hour back) on Disney transport. This includes wait time for buses. Two hours of break time... which would have equaled four hours of "wasted" touring time. Which just didn't seem good to us.

I will say that next trip I will plan for a longer visit (we had five days). Then I would take more time in each park and do mid day breaks... wouldn't feel like we would be missing out on anything then. Also, we didn't get to enjoy AOA's pool much, which was fantastic!! I would also avoid the buses all together and just do a rental car or taxi's.

Just my 2cents

 

[Lisa71]

We did breaks and some days did not even go back for more but enjoyed more pool an DTD time!

 

[kiddisney]

it would depend on when you want to schedule the break - and how the kids react to it - like other posters - my kids usually fell asleep on the bus ride going back and were ready to go as soon as we got off the bus - so we used multiple plans for mid-day rests - taking a boat ride from mgm to the boardwalk - watching a show in epcot - lettiing the older kids go on space mountain while the little one slept - so unless we scheduled the break way before they needed to sleep - it wasn't worth the ride back to the room because we didn't get a rest - only the little ones did -

 

[brockash]

Our kids are 7, 5, and 2 -- if we were just going with the 2 year old, we'd definitely do the afternoon nap -- but with the older ones along as well, what would you do? We're going the first week of September so we expect a decent amount of heat (if you think that's conducive to fatigue), but not too many long lines (another potential factor for perception of tiredness).

Thanks!

We go the first week of Sept. every year...not for the weather, but for the great crowd levels We have 2 kiddos, 11 & 6, but we have been going with them yearly, since the oldest was 3. In my experience, the afternoon break thing just wasn't worth it for us. I will say part of it depends on where you're staying and what park you'll be in, but for the most part, we just let the kids fall asleep in the stroller when they wanted to and we never had a problem doing rope drop to close for 6 days straight.

When my oldest was 6 and youngest 1, it was our first trip going in Sept. and so we thought we'd do afternoon breaks most days to get out of the heat. It ended up being more trouble than it was worth. We were not staying on the monorail line during that trip, each park, we'd have to leave the park, wait in line for a bus, fold up the stroller, go back to the resort and then we'd get everyone to nap (very easy as everyone could always use some more sleep in a cool room at Disney). We'd nap for a couple of hours, then get up and do the whole thing again going back to the park. It just took up a lot of time, and honestly everyone was cranky (myself included) to get up again after our naps. We ended up not going back to the resort the last 2 days of the trip and it worked out fine. If we were tired or needed to get out of the heat, we'd just hit a show or a long ride in air etc. This works out much better for our family, so we almost never go back for breaks anymore.

 

[stayhomemom77]

I agree that it will depend on your kids.

We never took afternoon breaks...but we didn't stay late in the parks either. We usually tried to have the kids in bed by 8 pm at the latest so that their missed naps wouldn't make them overly cranky. One night per trip we'd stay up later for the fireworks and then have the next day be a DTD day, so we could sleep in and swim and plan to be there for lunchtime.

Always worked for us, but then...my kids were never great nappers anyway.

 

[3mama3]

We always break with our kids. We stay on Disney property, and it is so easy to take Disney transport back to our resort for a rest. And the parks are super busy in the afternoon, not to mention the heat. Then we get recharged and have a great evening back in the parks!