stay at parks all day with young kids???

[qtwns]

We rarely go back for a rest. That being said we need to do a better job taking a mid-day break whether we leave the park or stay. One of us (ok, ME!) usually ends up having a melt down and this year I aim to break before this happens. We stay off prop. so a good break for us might mean (on a park hopping day) heading to our van for a great snack (which we usually have stored in the cooler in the van!), cranking the A/C, reclining the seats and resting before we head off for the next phase. This gives a quiet time to reflect and talk about th erest of the day and the boys can zone out for a few minutes with their gameboys.

 

[jeannief]

We went last year for the first time with DS 4 and 5. We had planned on breaking for naps, but that never happened. We used our hopping times once for rest (had a car) and another time 4 yo crashed for a nap in the stroller. My guys were pushed in a stroller everywhere though.

This year we plan on staying and have made ADRs around when we "think" they will need to break, so we'll do a TS at that time. I'm also planning on using the boneyard and Tom's Island as rest spots. Or just a monorail ride.
We're using Disney transport this year so our options in leaving are a bit more limited.

 

[mdoc]

We stay all day. Last time we were there our kids were 5, 8 and 11. The older two did fine going through the whole day without a break - the 5 year old would just nap in the stroller or sleep through a show. It was the same thing the year before and the year before that.

 

[pezpam]

DD and I have gone when she was 5-8 and never taken breaks. She has always needed her sleep at night, so I followed her schedule as far as not staying out late and we were able to stay in the parks all day. We did do mini-breaks - COP when it's hot, sitting down for snacks, 3-D movie, etc - and never went totally commando trying to do everything. With that, her age and my bad knee were accommodated and we've got wonderful memories of every trip.

 

[kmkja1]

Last July we took our 7,8 & 9 year olds for the first time. We stayed 8 days and never took a break. The kids did not complain . While planning our August trip for this year I asked them what they thought about taking a break during the day for some swimming and they said yes. At that point I asked them if we pushed them to hard last year and they said yes but they did not want to say anything at the time. My point is with kids that age they will probably need some breaks even if they do not ask for it.

 

[123SA]

We went last May --me(5 months pregnant)DH DD5, DS2.5, 9 nights. We were at the parks every day about 20 minutes before opening. We did a few late night events --illuminations, Spectro, and DD5 & I did Fantasmic. Other than those days, we usually got back to the hotel with kids in bed by 10:00pm. We did not do early or late night extra magic hours. We took 1 mid-day break and all we did was waste time. They were fine with the pace --adreneline (sp?) and sheer joy kept the going. My kids are usually in bed by 7:30pm and up at 7:00am so this was quite a schedule change. The 2 yr old took a nap in the stroller for 2 1/2 hours one day about half way through the trip. Usually one of them fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. There were no melt downs, other than mine at animal kingdom when I didn't drink enough fluids. AFter I drank, I felt fine. At no point did we feel like we were pushing ourselves to the poiint of not having fun. If the kids seemed tired, we took a break in an A/C place -- lunch or a movie (Mickey's Philharmagic). Ususally it was heat more than tiredness that would effect all of us. Make sure you have a stroller for your little one. Even if he is not used to using one -- the walking will tire him out for sure.

Bottom line: skip the nap!!

 

[lorli]

We stay all day but dd has never been a napper and is always on the go, go, go. However, if I had 3 I may need the break to keep up. Have a great time.

 

[maxsmom01]

We are also a no-break kind of family. I will say this, we only have one child, so it definitely makes it less stressful. But we just try to take it easy in the afternoons, sitting when we need to, eating when we want and not making ourselves miserable. My son stopped taking naps around 16 months, so there is NO way he would take a nap at Disney World. I think leaving the parks to go back to the hotel would cause a complete meltdown.

But, that said, every child is different and every day is different. We just plan to make it a relatively relaxing day (with plenty of sugary goodness to propel us along).

 

[Deb & Bill]

We've had 20 trips to WDW since November 1997 and we've taken breaks on every day except one and that was a miserable day. Even when the park hours are shorter. Get to the parks when they open, head to the ride that you want to do most - Dumbo, Pooh, Space Mt, etc. Do it and then move on to the next. Leave the Small World rides to a bit later. You will be able to accomplish a lot in that first hour. And if you are staying on the Disney property, the Disney transportation makes it a lot easier to take those breaks. Go to the EMH in the morning - especially for MK. We usually get in four or five attractions during that hour.

Don't wear out your kids trying to do it all. Plan what you want to do for sure. If you aren't staying a week or more, you may not get to do it all anyway. Give your kids a rest, go for a swim, take a nap. In the long run, you will have a much happier time.

When you have crying, whining kids, they will definitely slow you down. Breaks are very important. Plus kids love the swimming pool.

 

[Bunch24]

When we went in December with our two-year old and his 52-year old grammy, we went in with the plan to take the break at lunch and head back to the cabin to relax. Plus, with our two-year old in daycare, he's on a very tight schedule and he needs his afternoon nap.

But once we got there and tried it the first day, we realized it wasn't going to work. He was all about the "Mouse" and he didn't want to have no part of being back in the room. He didn't take a nap that first day and we ended up just sitting around the TV watching the parks channel.

We decided after that day we'd just go with the flow. He ended up napping at the right times for us, because while he was napping, we were able to do the rides/attractions that didn't really appeal to him. And grammy loved to just sit with him on the bench watching the people go by (my mother is a watcher, not a doer LOL).

Now, if we went during the summer months, we'd have likely enforced the mid-day break, just to get him to relax a little. Maybe a swim in the pool, or a quick nap, or even just a snack (we really enjoy eating in the parks).

During the "winter" the weather wasn't bad and spending a whole day in the parks wasn't too hard. Of course, some of the parks were closing earlier back then, so that also convinced us that it wasn't worth fighting the FW transportation.

 

[donnajon]

We find places in the park to rest. By the time we got to our room, the kids would have fallen asleep in the car and then be ready to go again - so DH and I wouldn't be able to rest. At the MK, we like to take a break at the theater in the back of the photo place - I can't think of the name of it right now. It's right next to Tony's Pizza and there is a movie theater that shows Mickey cartoons. No one is ever back there and it is a great place to cool off. Also, Tom Sawyers Island has some nice rocking chairs in the shade for the grown up while the kiddies can play.