Sraying 7 nights, would you take an off day? DS will be 21 months

[chipper10]

We are going to WDW in September with our DS. He will be 21 months when we go. We are flying Southwest. We arrive at MCO Friday, Sept 12th at 11:20 am and we will be leaving MCO Friday, Seot. 19th at 4:50pm.

Would you plan an off day? We only do Disney. We havre a Park Hopper pass.


Do you think an off day is necessary?

Thanks for any help!

 

[bellazachmom]

certainly take a day off, but that is just because we enjoy a day or two to hang out at the pool or head to DTD.

That being said, you don't "need" to, esp. if you take advantage of the extra morning hours and then head back to your resort for lunch and a nap each day. There are 2 schools of thought here: 1) go to the park with the extra hours to get a jump start on your day or 2) avoid the park with the extra hours because the other 3 should be less crowded -- just depends on what time of year you are going. We always do this and it seems that we are leaving the parks for our break about the time everyone else is getting there. After a nap for our little ones we often head back to the parks in the evening when the crowds seem lower and it is often, but not always, cooler.

So, I guess my answer is: if you are going to be at the parks from sun up until sun down then certainly take a break. If you are not planning on following the "Dumbo or Die" touring plan every day then you don't "need" a break.

We have a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 4 month old and we go every year. We started taking the kids when our first was 14 months old and have loved every trip!

Have a great time!

 

[disneymomof2boyz]

I would most definently take an off day. Not only an off day, but the days that you do go to the park, I would come back in the afternoon to the hotel for a rest. We have two boys (3 and 2), and we have been going since the oldest was 2, and the youngest 1. We find it essential to come back to the hotel to nap, and this year we are going to be taking an off day in our 6 day vacation.
Most of the hotels are so beautifully themed, and sometimes because we rush so much, it feels like we can't properly enjoy the resort. We will most likely do an off day mid-week, and MAYBE go see fireworks at night or visit the Boardwalk.

 

[Elmo888]

We didn't take a whole day off, but on one day, we did get up late, hung around the resort, swam, had lunch, and went to a park after nap time (a late afternoon/evening/dinner at Epcot sounds wonderful!). Just plan on taking an easy day about mid week - your body will appreciate the rest.

There is a lot to see at the resorts, and it is nice to just take it all in. And, if your child is on the late side of 1 or will be 2 by then, most (all?) of the resorts have a playground to enjoy. I looked at it this way - you are paying for the resort, too, so enjoy it!

Even with the afternoon rest, it can get tiring with the early mornings and constant walking. This is why we ended up sleeping in a couple of mornings (one morning we had a late character breakfast, so we didn't hang out at the resort all morning - we just didn't plan on arriving at the park at opening).

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We plan on taking "days" off this trip (but still going out at night for dinner/fireworks). On a 7 day trip, you should have time to take at least one day completely off. However, you will really lose MOST of the first and last day. That only gives you 5 parks days. MK takes us 2-3 days (but DD could ride some rides 5 times in a row if you let her...which we do if we have time). Epcot takes some people two days. AK can be done in a half day (especially in Sept when crowds are low). MGM take a day or two depending if you want to see EVERY show (if you do...it will probably take you two days). That really doesn't leave a day to take off!!!

Make sure that you start planning your final schedule ASAP so you can make your dining ressies ASAP. You will probably not have your first choice of dinner times/places at this point in the year (they started taking dinner ADRs in March) and free dining was announced a month ago.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

When we go my kids will be 5,7,9,and 12. We are also staying on Disney property and for 7 nights. The day we arrive we are not doing a park, we're going to hit the pool and do a character meal. Half way through the week we are going to have a non park day. We can sleep in, go in the pool, play mini golf, a character meal and go to DTD at night. Even planning the whole week out sounds tiring to me, the day off sounds good, especially with little ones. Plus there are things , like the mini golf and DTD that we wouldn't want to miss out on. And trying to do them on the same day as a park, might be too much.

 

[lrab1126]

we will be there for 8 days and will have a whole "day off" mid week where as of now we will be pool side, then dinner at cape may and possibly a nice evening stroll at DTD. A down day is soooo nice when you have enough time to do so. enjoy !!

 

[james'mommy]

Unless you want a cranky, worn-out, miserable camper (you not the kid) you need to take a day to chill. I tend to be a lazy park visitor (the result of AP's and DVC). Some days we go to the park to ride 1 ride or have dinner. We do other things like DTD, mini-golf, chill at the pool (maybe do a little pool hopping).

 

[hmdavid]

I have found that my kids get overly tired and crabby if we don't take a couple of days off. In March, we did two off days and one that was just BBB and PPP. It made for well rested kids that were fun to be around! I have found that the happiest place on earth is not so magical when my kids are grumpy!

I love to have a little time to just relax, too. We all love to spend as much time at the pool as possible and we don't have time for it if we don't take days off. These are the days that we do our character meals, at the resort restaurants, so that we still have a fun Disney activity to do.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[LadyShea]

We visited when DS was 21 months and we took an off day. DH played golf that day and me and DS hung at the pool. I'm glad we did, it allowed us all a nice break

 

[monorailsilver]

I would take an off day.

We took an off day when my oldest was 15 months after 2 or 3 park days (I forget) plus we don't do a park on arrival or departure day.

We took an off day when ds was 22 months along the same guideline as above. Both of those trips were 7 nights.

My August 08 trip we are taking 2 off days. We added one more night & added one more off day. I think it will be so much nicer. Our youngest will be 2 1/2. Again we have no parks for arrival/departure days. We arrive on a Tues. Wed & Thurs are park days. Friday is an off day. Sat & Sun are park days. Monday is an off day & Tues is a park day & Wed we go home, no park.

I don't do the off days just for my kids. I do them for me too! But then I grew up doing that so it just makes sense for me to do it now.

 

[Minniemouse07]

We (me, dh, dd-6.5yo & ds2yo) were there for 8 nights/ 9 days (but left early) in December...here was our schedule:

Day 1
Arrive noon at MCO
Lunch - CS at POR
Arrive MK at 3pm (in the middle of the parade!)
Dinner Chef Mickey's 7pm

Day 2
Breakfast Akershus (8am)
Morning Epcot
Lunch - CS at Epcot
Return to POR
Afternoon - Nap, swim at pool
Dinner Boatwrights
Evening - Late EMH at DHS

Day 3
Early EMH at AK
Breakfast - CS at Kusafari Baking
Morning - AK
Lunch at Tusker House
Early afternoon AK
Return to POR
Late Afternoon - Nap, swim at pool
Evening - DTD
Dinner - Earl of Sandwich

Day 4
Dd - Pirate Cruise at POR (everyone else slept late)
Late Breakfast - CS at POR
Late Lunch (technically dinner) - Crystal Palace
Rest of day/evening/night - MVMCP

Day 5
Slept late
Breakfast - snacked in room
Morning - Swim in pool
Lunch DTD - Wolfgang Puck Express
Afternoon - DTD
Dinner - 1900 Park Fare

Day 6
Breakfast - CS at Starring Rolls
Morning - DHS
Lunch - Hollywood & Vine
Afternoon - DHS
Early Evening - Dispodcast meet

Day 7
Ropedrop at MK
Breakfast - CS at Main Street Bakery
Morning - MK
Lunch - Cosmic Rays
Afternoon - Epcot
Dinner - Le Cellier
Evening - Epcot

Day 8
Mom - DHS Early EMH/Epcot then Mega Mousemeet for Mousefest
Everyone else - Sleep in, CS breakfast at POR, swim at pool, nap
Everyone - Meet at MK, snack at Cosmic Rays
Afternoon - Magic Kingdom
Dinner - Whispering Canyon Cafe
Evening - Electric Water Pageant then POR to pack

Day 9
Breakfast - CS at POR
DME to airport at 11am

Does that help?

We didn't ever go back to the resort specifically to nap...but worked it in a lot into our plans. We did have ds nap on the go at times (we had a Beco carrier for him to sleep in..he slept there better/longer than in the stroller) but other days he just went all day. I would definitely take your cues from your kids.

I know many people get their little ones to bed before 8pm.. even at WDW, but our two hung until midnight both of our late nights!...and we had a great time!

 

[Tam1067]

We don't do an off day per se. We do one day where we sleep in and then do a half day in the park. I like the resort (we stay at the Poly), but there's no way the kids (or I) can stay out of the parks for a whole day when they're that close. We did the same thing when we took our youngest when she was 15 months. We did a few half days.