So, how do you schedule your park day breaks?

[Corbie]

We're taking our first trip in October. I have been using TouringPlans (TY Disboards people who suggested it). That part is awesome. There're just a few catches.

1. Whoops! I included meal times but not really any time for potty breaks or to stop and smell the roses. DH is recovering from a heart attack, so I want to make sure he doesn't push himself too much. How does everyone here schedule/handle short breaks?

(I don't plan to follow our plan minute-to-minute, but I do want an idea so I can guestimate times between FP+s and ADRs.)

2. TouringPlans seems awfully optimistic when it comes to wait times. How accurate have people found them? (Sorry if it's not okay to talk about them here.)

 

[neverenoughtime]

This is our first trip to Disney with our 4 year old and are taking our breaks right after lunch then coming back that evening.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I don't schedule in bathroom breaks, that's all included in my "I have 3 hours between this meal & this fastpass" time. Also I like to go back to the hotel around lunch to eat/sleep/swim!

 

[Lvsdisney]

We would leave shortly after lunch, arriving at the hotel sometimes between 1:30-2:30. Then we'd rest/sleep and/or swim. We'd eat dinner at the hotel (unless we had an ADR) and then head back to the parks around 5:30-6:30, and hang until park close.

 

[loves to dive]

We don't schedule breaks, they just happen. We have to go potty, we go potty. We are hungry, we eat. We are hot and tired and on the verge of possibly killing each other we go back to the resort. I'm tired of walking, we stop and get a refreshing adult beverage if in a park that offers them and sit and rest. But then, we rarely schedule anything other than the few FPs. Our ADRs are usually booked while walking around in the park and most of our FPs are booked while standing in line for a ride.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I have not used TP but I've heard that its a minute to minute schedule.
I see you said you don't plan to follow minute to minute so that's good to know.

We just have a RD plan, ADR's, and FP+ beyond that we play it by ear.
If someone needs to go to the bathroom we go. It doesn't matter if we've only been in a park for 2 minutes and have not made it to our first planned RD attraction... If you gotta go you gotta go! If you say you can hold off until we've done a couple rides ok but none of us get upset about someone absolutely needing to pee at any point throughout the day.

Also if you need a break then you need a break.
We try to get to an attraction that is a bit longer to have the break while still doing something but if someone just needs to rest right then and there we'll find a bench or near by restaurant and grab a snack.

What we do not do is head back to our resort for a break unless for some reason we have hours to just kill.
It takes more time and energy than its worth to exit a park, walk to the bus, wait for the bus, ride the bus back to the resort, walk to our room and then do it in reverse 30-60 minutes later to get back to the parks with a decent amount of time to actually do a few more things.

It's more than ok to talk about crowd calendars and wait time predictions.
I myself never take them into account.
I go with my gut and know popular attractions are gonna have a long wait so I try to do those at RD or with a FP+.

 

[tsme]

We never schedule rest times. When we're tired, we stop & sit or go back to the hotel.

 

[Corbie]

So I planned everything out normally? Phew! I had figured we would walk at normal/casual pace and rest when needed, but then I wondered if I should schedule a few more breaks in there to make sure DH doesn't overdo it. I know, I know; it's his body, but he's my husband and I cannot express how terrifying it was to get that phone call.

 

[glamdring269]

We basically get up early enough to try to be first in line at rope drop. Go until we just don't feel like dealing with the crowds then head back to the hotel. Venture back out to another park or some other activity later in the afternoon/evening.

 

[TJDisneymama]

You can change your walking pace to slower, so it will give you more time between steps.

 

[wonderstruck88]

You can change your walking pace to slower, so it will give you more time between steps.

Yes, this! We want to take it slow on our upcoming trip, so I changed our Touring Plan to a "relaxed" pace.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

My two cents is that there is SO MUCH variability that will enter any plan on any given day in the parks, that it seems impossible to me to actually schedule something like bathroom breaks.

Caveat: we do not and have never used TP or any service to come up with a park plan. However, in our very early trips years ago, I did have a more detailed schedule than we make now. Even then, we didn't plan to the detail of bathroom breaks or time to just take it all in. We took bathroom breaks as needed, and "smelled the roses" when we naturally ended up with some downtime in our plan. When the kids were younger, we worked around naps. Now it's DH who wants (NEEDS!!) the midday break at the hotel.

My two cents would be to take it a little easier, especially with DH still recovering. Hope you have a WONDERFUL trip!!!

 

[Feckless]

In my experience from a few years ago, the Touring plans wait times are very accurate but of course not foolproof. For instance, they can't predict a tour group going ahead of you and maxing out wait times! Just make your FPs, and use the TP as more of a guide. You can change on the fly on the app as well.

I second the "relaxed" pace, and doing at least the "balance" between walking and waiting. Check the map T the bottom of the plan once you've optimized and see if it has too much crisscrossing. If so, make adjustments.

We like to hit rope drop, use a balanced plan with some modifications on the fly, eat lunch in the park on the way out to hit the pool. We usually have evening ADRs in a park. We find it tiring but not overwhelming.

 

[melana]

Well... when we have gone to WDW, we booked our fp's and adrs. If we got tired we stopped to rest, if we got hungry we ate a Snack, and if someone has to potty...they go potty. If we get to the point we want to strangle each other we separate and meet back up later. If we miss a FP...we miss a FP. There are only a hand full of must-do attractions for us so we do not get bent out of shape if life happen and we miss one.

We tried the mid-afternoon to early evening break on our second trip. We ended up going back to the resort and we never went back out. We learned we just are not those type of people. the busses are just really tiring for me with all the back me forth.

On our third trip we didn't even try to RD. We just took our time getting ready and got to the parks a little later than we had in the past. That seemed to work well for us that trip.


Now, when I go solo in October I do plan on some afternoon breaks on my MK days and then doing Epcot in the evening. Being by myself and a little older now, I think I will probably need the rest.

 

[Corbie]

I may have mis-explained myself. I don't want to schedule actual bathroom breaks. I only want to make sure I leave us enough time so that we can take them when needed instead of doing the, "OMG, we need to be over there this instant for our FP!" rush-rush-rush.

This is my first time at Disney, so maybe I'm channeling too many vacation comedy movies.

 

[Bellabully]

I always schedule mid day breaks due to husband's back issue. We usually hit the parks in the AM, grab lunch in whichever park we are in and head back to hotel for rest/pool time, then have dinner and head back to park for evening entertainment or rides. Or just stay at the hotel for some more pool/hot tub time.

 

[MisterPat]

I usually account for bathroom breaks where I know there is a convenient restroom along the way. For example, I usually schedule HM right after something in Fantasyland, so we hit the Tangled restroom on the way. Same with the bathroom between Buzz and SM in Tomorrowland.

Believe me, I am an aggressive scheduler and would leave out the bathroom breaks for myself. But, I know that we will get off schedule if I don't plan the stops for DDs and DW. My DW once asked me why we can't just have "spontaneous fun." I replied "Look at your itinerary. Spontaneous fun is scheduled for 3:45-4:15."

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I may have mis-explained myself. I don't want to schedule actual bathroom breaks. I only want to make sure I leave us enough time so that we can take them when needed instead of doing the, "OMG, we need to be over there this instant for our FP!" rush-rush-rush.

This is my first time at Disney, so maybe I'm channeling too many vacation comedy movies.

Like you said you're not doing a minute by minute schedule so there really should not be a moment like that.
Plus FP+ windows are 1 hour generally with a grace period of 5 minutes prior and 15 minutes later (with a few exceptions like for certain shows).
I have never had the experience of OMG I absolutely must be at this place right this instant because I don't legit book a schedule down to minute by minute.

 

[TinkerPan]

I use Touring Plans, and find it pretty accurate - all things considered - particularly the duration time predictions for the rides/attractions. Wait times of course can vary depending, but I've been amazed at how accurate the plans seem to be if you can stay on schedule.

I too find it less stressful if I set the time for walking to the relaxed pace. You would be surprised how easy a minute or two lost here and there adds up and can throw you off schedule.

Also, I definitely schedule in some breaks. I generally set 10 minutes for a restroom break. If you don't need a restroom break as scheduled believe me you will at some point. Plus, it helps me to remember to ask the group if anyone needs a restroom break. This is particularly important before you go on certain rides, particularly those that have long waits or will last a while. Nothing worse than waiting in line when someone in the group says they need to go. This has happen to us more than once. So, I'm better prepared now. I made it a point this past trip to know where the bathrooms are located and to take that into consideration in my planning. If the scheduled break is not needed for restroom use it still allows some time built into your touring plan to just rest, get a treat, take a picture, and enjoy the moment without feeling like you have to keep pushing. It also helps me more realistically plan for our FP and ADR times.

My husband has some health issues too, and I made it a point to minimize walking, and to mix in more relaxing attractions where he could sit longer. We also never went all day. Some days we would take an afternoon break and some in our party would come back later, and others wouldn't. Other days we would end our day about 4 or 5 o'clock. Remember it is all about having fun, not how many rides you do. If the group is exhausted and cranky it's no longer fun.

 

[srwarden1928]

Since you are using Touring Plans, maybe you might choose one of their stock plans. Those are NOT scheduled minute by minute. They just give you the order to use--ride A, ride B, ride C, show D, etc. The only thing about those though, is check showtimes to make sure the show schedule hasn't changed so much that you are going to have to miss one that you really wanted to see because it just doesn't have any more shows the day you are there.