Strategy for Midday Naps

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Any advice for maximizing nap time on park days? Our DS is four, and still requires a daily nap of about 2 hours. I have allocated three hours each day in our touring plan for leaving the parks to take a nap.
We are staying at AKL, and spending Sunday in MK. We are staying Fort Wilderness on Tuesday (MK) and Wednesday (Epcot). Any advice for getting in and out of the parks quickly, or any other advice for a Disney newbie with a sleep-loving toddler?

 

[yorkieteacher]

We have found we need to allot at least 45 minutes for leaving the park/getting back to the hotel, and sometimes during more crowded times up to an hour. If your son goes right to sleep when he is put down for a nap that's awesome- but my grandsons need about 15-20 minutes to fall asleep. Then we factor in another 45 minutes for getting back to the park and going back through security. There is a ferry from MK to FW which should be maybe a 15 minute time saver. But I always allot four hours for a two hour nap, and be happily surprised if it takes less time.

 

[disneyinthespringtime]

Maybe try Uber one way to help cut the time? Agree that I think you will need 4 hours not 3

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Any advice for maximizing nap time on park days? Our DS is four, and still requires a daily nap of about 2 hours. I have allocated three hours each day in our touring plan for leaving the parks to take a nap.
We are staying at AKL, and spending Sunday in MK. We are staying Fort Wilderness on Tuesday (MK) and Wednesday (Epcot). Any advice for getting in and out of the parks quickly, or any other advice for a Disney newbie with a sleep-loving toddler?

biggest question will your son go back to sleep if he falls asleep on way back to room? or how easy can you move him and keep him asleep? an example for some reason you have to take a 20 minute car ride just before naptime are you going to be able to keep him awake or will he go back to sleep easy. also remember you will have to get from transportation/your car to your room. it will not be like having lunch and going to his room it is going to take 20 tom40 minutes from park gate to your room. I would plan on it taking at least 4 hours from when you walk out the gate of park until return to gate after nap. From MK it will be a 20 minute boat ride to the Fort plus time to get to your site/cabin. most of cabins are 3/4 of the way across the Fort from boat dock. the Fort is about a mile in distance across from the dock. it is going to take you 2 forms of transportation from MK to your site and this includes driving your own car to MK as you will need to take either the monorail or ferry to your car from MK or the boat to the Fort and then walk to bus depot or your golf cart. there is no car parking near the boat to MK from your site. been years for the first grandchild and many more since but we have never any luck with resort naps. anything /tip you get many others will also be doing

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I would plan on 4 hours, not 3- 1 hour of travel/ settling in time on the way there, the 2 hours for the nap, and 1 hour of travel/ back through security/ buffer time on the way back, unless you plan to rideshare or drive yourself (although the latter can take about the same time depending on the parking etc). Your MK/ FW day will probably be less than that but the others could be close to an hour of travel time if you have to wait for the next bus to arrive either way.

Also factor in that a stroller (if you're using one) will have to be folded on a bus so if your child falls asleep on the way to the bus you will likely have to wake him to remove him from the stroller and get him on the bus.

We are very fortunate that DS2 takes naps in the stroller but that requires a lot of planning (I try to stay in a shaded area or one with A/C as much as possible, older kiddos and DH go on rides during that time or we alternate). I realize this is not a strategy that works for everyone but it's worth considering, if you'll be using a stroller (and that stroller works for napping).

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

Thank you all for your feedback. The consensus seems to be that four hours is the minimum for an out-of-park nap. We will have to adjust our plans a bit for this, leaving out two or three rides per day. Although disappointing, it is not the end of the world. I’m not 100% sure he would sleep in a stroller, so I do not want to rely on it.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I thought we would have to go back to the resort for naps. We tried it one day and it was a disaster. We couldn’t get DS to lay down...he was way too excited. We found it was better for us to just let him conk out in the stroller when he was tired. He napped every day of his 18 month old trip (minus the day we went back to the resort). On his almost 3 year old trip, he napped some days and not some days...kind of like at home. But he did sit in the stroller and rest on the afternoons when he didn’t nap. DH and I have used naptime to ride the “big” rides.

 

[Klayfish]

I've never been a believer in the mid-day break thing. You're wasting 4+ hours. I'm NOT saying a kid shouldn't have a nap, just maybe look at things a bit different. What time is this nap? Can you move it a little one way or another? For example, if the nap is at 1pm, can you move it to 11am or 3pm? Then either do rope drop until 3pm if you're a morning person, or hang at the pool/lodge until 11am, do the nap and then hit the parks at 1pm and stay until evening.

The nap is 2 hours you need to spend, so that is what it is. But the hour each way of travelling is time you may not need if you can adjust the nap a bit. You can use those two hours in the parks.

 

[bluezy]

I say play it by ear. When our kids were 4, we just went from rope drop until they were tired (usually around dinner time). We didn't use a stroller at that age so they didn't even have an opportunity to sleep in the parks. We usually did some shows in the afternoons so that we could all take a little break and cool off and get a little rest. Once we left the park and got back to the resort we'd have dinner and then swim a bit and then the kids would be ready for bed. We didn't make any ADRs when the kids were that young just so we could keep our days as flexible as possible.

We actually started taking breaks when the kids were a little older and we wanted to be in the parks for nighttime shows. I agree with the others that if you do plan to take a nap at the resort, you need to allot 4 hours from the time you're walking out of the park to the time you're walking back in to the park. We don't find it to be a waste of time to do that, but we're there in summer when the parks are open later and we like to be at the parks at night when it's cooler and less crowded. Our usual routine now is rope drop and stay in the park until about 1:00. Then we head back to the room until dinner time. Sometimes we eat at the resort before heading back to a park and sometimes we eat at whatever park we're going to. We're usually back at a park doing attractions by 6:30-7:00 regardless of where we eat dinner and then we'll stay a few hours.

It really boils down to what works best for your family. If you're using a stroller, you may be surprised to find that your son is so exhausted in the parks that he will nap in the stroller. If that's the case, you can sit somewhere quiet and let him nap for an hour or so. The monorail is a good place for napping when you're at MK.

 

[DISfam2401]

I agree with other posters that 4 hours sounds more reasonable for leaving the parks and returning... We've never done the mid-day nap thing because our kids would invariably fall asleep on the bus ride and then not want to nap in the room. We have had good luck with renting a City Mini GT, or similar stroller that reclines. We put a blanket over the front and they just conked right out. Take that time to switch off on "adult rides" while the other parent sits in a quiet shady spot.

Also, if you are going back for naps make sure you have a plan for your resort transition day. Disney will transfer your luggage for your split stay but you may have a gap where you are checked out of your old room and not yet in your new one.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I also say play it by ear. When my kids were that age they napped at home but did perfectly fine at WDW without a nap or they would just crash in the stroller from exhaustion. Our midday breaks were spent at the pool because the kids did not nap at WDW.

 

[sponica]

I learned an important lesson, my kid will nap in the stroller, BUT ONLY if it's reclined. Leave your day one with enough flexibility to do a midday nap at the hotel if necessary, but if your kiddo falls asleep on the bus, wakes up when you get to the hotel and doesn't fall back to sleep in the room, you've A) wasted time and B) ended up with a cranky preschooler.

If the stroller nap doesn't work, then pull the rip cord if need be...

 

[DisneyDoesMyHair]

You guys are so awesome! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences. We quit using strollers two years ago, but it sounds like Disney is a different animal altogether when it comes to stroller usage. As energetic as my little guy is, when he hits midday he becomes quite the cranky preschooler. I would be willing to try to make it through with a stroller nap, but it does worry me that it could derail the remainder of our day if he does not go to sleep at his usual time. Routines = happy preschooler for us, usually.

 

[loves to dive]

When my son was little we just played it by ear. We didn't (and still don't now that he is an adult) schedule anything. He didn't use a stroller, we started going with he was just shy of 3. He hated strollers and I wasn't going to fight him to make him use one. If he got too tired for words, we would just head back to the resort. If he fell asleep on the monorail or bus, so be it. I would wake him up when we got there (single mom and he as too big for me to carry) and we would go to the room. I would turn on cartoons and sometimes he would fall back to sleep, sometimes I would fall asleep. Either way, he was resting for a little while. We have never been park centric, we spend as much or as little time at the parks and works for that day at that time. Sometimes we would go back, nap or go to the pool and stay at the resort for the rest of the day, sometimes, go back to a park later on.

 

[sponica]

@DisneyDoesMyHair There's soooooo much walking. Do you need a stroller for a 4 year old, no...but do you WANT to carry a cranky pre-schooler from the back of the park when they're beyond tired?

If there's a zoo or aquarium or something to spend all day at near you, try that and see how it works with a stroller nap.

 

[rg35]

I'd play it by ear. We tried to "force" our kids to nap at Disney at 4/5 years old (triplets) so they'd be less tired in the evenings, but I don't think it really worked. It took them a while to fall asleep, they'd wake up super duper cranky, and they'd still be tired in the evenings.

Ultimately we just nuked naps and started doing laid back all day park days as long as they were up for it (with TS lunch and dinners which were good breaks).

 

[Betty Rohrer]

You guys are so awesome! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences. We quit using strollers two years ago, but it sounds like Disney is a different animal altogether when it comes to stroller usage. As energetic as my little guy is, when he hits midday he becomes quite the cranky preschooler. I would be willing to try to make it through with a stroller nap, but it does worry me that it could derail the remainder of our day if he does not go to sleep at his usual time. Routines = happy preschooler for us, usually.

but unless you can get him back to sleep if he falls asleep on way you are no better off than the stroller nap. had a 2 year old on one trip like your son and the first day trying what you want to do was the worse day of 10 day trip. to the point we had to buy a counter serve kids meal after we all ate dinner where he could have eaten for free. just do not try to stroller nap with umbrella that does not recline. another trip had 4.5 year old granddaughter fall asleep a couple of times beside her younger sister and this was a child who quit napping around age 3. most times we have stayed at the Fort and I can count on one hand with fingers leftover the number of times we have left MK and got on boat to there without seeing it pulling out as we get to there which means a 20 minute wait for next boat. and even the older ones nap as we head over

 

[DizneyLizzy]

We do naps. We find the adults need the rest in the air conditioning as much as the kids! We also feel like the time spent leaving the park, waiting for the bus, and the bus ride help settle the kids down so that they are basically ready to close their eyes as soon as we walk in the room. This summer our son will be 5 and is no longer napping every day at home/school. We’ll still go back to the room for an AC break, but he can maybe watch tv in the dark or something or take a swim while his sister sleeps. A little inside down time away from the stimulation of the parks is good for all. I’d say on average we leave the parks by 1 or 1:30 and head back by 4.

 

[Ladyandthepuppies]

We spent most of our time in MK so we stayed at the Contemporary. It’s only a 10 min walk from MK and that saved a ton of time during nap breaks. If you’re really looking to maximize your time in the park, maybe think about doing a split stay and staying at the hotels closest to the parks you’ll be visiting (i.e. stay at the Contemporary for MK days, Beach Club on Epcot days, AKL on AK days...) The buses can take forever, at least if you’re walking back you can bank on it being a 10 min or less trip.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

I get the routine thing, I totally do. I've done multiple trips with little kids, and there is one thing common no matter what their personality - Disney TIRES them out!

My little guy, who was on a firm schedule of one loooooong afternoon nap (which at home we HAD to keep) at 13 months became a cat napper at Disney. He'd conk out on a ride (um, Safari!) and wake up at the end. We'd be running from one attraction to another while he was in the stroller and suddenly he was sleeping again. Bus ride? Insta-nap. But then when we made the trip back to the resort to sleep...he didnt want to sleep. It was frustrating at first because we kept trying to stick to the afternoon nap because we thought we had to, but once we just rolled with the cat naps it was a lot easier. (And we got some afternoon pool time instead of sleep!)

My daughter, who at 3 stopped napping except for car ride type naps, upon our visit when she was 6 was super happy to go back to the room midday and sleep for a good hour or two every day. (We were touring pretty hard that trip)

The play it by ear comments above are all likely people who've run into the same thing - the kiddo and sleep thing is going to change a LOT at Disney, and you have to just roll with it.

Both had stopped using strollers but we still get them at Disney and only Disney - we rent a City Mini from one of the rental places, because it is very cushy, comfy, has a huge sunshade, and has a beautiful recline for long naps. Given that you're only there for a few days ... I'd probably try getting one and aiming for a stroller nap or two, and letting them nap when they want. I would just set your touring plans to include "downtime"... a loooong walk from one side of the park to the other after lunch usually does the trick. Then plan to swap for big rides or something, or grab a snack, etc.