Summer Travelers who midday break...

[ArielSRL]

I am not completely without experience but I still would like some opinions.

Those that travel in summer and do midday breaks, what times work best for you, especially if you do rope drop and evening touring?

We went in June this year and did midday breaks every day. I probably had them "scheduled" for around 12-4ish, but most of my plans went out the window because a traveler in my party refused to follow the plans. Therefore we never made rope drop, we were always rushing around, and our breaks weren't as expected.

Our next trip in June 2017, that traveler will not be with us, so I would like to attempt to do quite a few rope drops, midday breaks that allow for rest/naps, and/or pool time, then finish up with evening touring. Still thinking 12-4 or 1-5, maybe 12-5? Opinions?

Also, what time do you plan your meals? We will probably do a light breakfast in the room (granola bars, etc), then 2 meals per day at the parks (one QS, one TS). Thinking about a later breakfast/early lunch, but not really sure on dinner times...maybe early (5pm) dinner so that the meals kind of bookend the breaks? ADR day is Dec 5th and I'm struggling a bit with times.

For information purposes: we are DH, DS5, DS2, and myself. Booked at WL 6/3-6/11, 3 MK days, 1.5 days of both Epcot and DHS, and 1 day at AK.

Thanks, in advance, for any responses!

 

[CAS239]

We always take breaks. We hit up the first park early then leave around 11/noon. Drive back to the hotel to nap, shower, eat, then head to our second park around 5pm with our fast passes for the day starting at the second park.

Food wise, we rarely eat at the park so we save a ton of money eating outside the bubble. In the morning we'll eat at the hotel or swing by mcdonalds. Then when we break in the afternoon we stop by somewhere near Disney Springs or eat at the hotel.

It's nice going in the morning, then taking a break, then park hopping and having fast passes ready for when it's busy.

 

[ArielSRL]

We always take breaks. We hit up the first park early then leave around 11/noon. Drive back to the hotel to nap, shower, eat, then head to our second park around 5pm with our fast passes for the day starting at the second park.

Food wise, we rarely eat at the park so we save a ton of money eating outside the bubble. In the morning we'll eat at the hotel or swing by mcdonalds. Then when we break in the afternoon we stop by somewhere near Disney Springs or eat at the hotel.

It's nice going in the morning, then taking a break, then park hopping and having fast passes ready for when it's busy.

Thank you!!

 

[Praying Colonel]

I am not completely without experience but I still would like some opinions.

Those that travel in summer and do midday breaks, what times work best for you, especially if you do rope drop and evening touring?

We went in June this year and did midday breaks every day. I probably had them "scheduled" for around 12-4ish, but most of my plans went out the window because a traveler in my party refused to follow the plans. Therefore we never made rope drop, we were always rushing around, and our breaks weren't as expected.

Our next trip in June 2017, that traveler will not be with us, so I would like to attempt to do quite a few rope drops, midday breaks that allow for rest/naps, and/or pool time, then finish up with evening touring. Still thinking 12-4 or 1-5, maybe 12-5? Opinions?

Also, what time do you plan your meals? We will probably do a light breakfast in the room (granola bars, etc), then 2 meals per day at the parks (one QS, one TS). Thinking about a later breakfast/early lunch, but not really sure on dinner times...maybe early (5pm) dinner so that the meals kind of bookend the breaks? ADR day is Dec 5th and I'm struggling a bit with times.

For information purposes: we are DH, DS5, DS2, and myself. Booked at WL 6/3-6/11, 3 MK days, 1.5 days of both Epcot and DHS, and 1 day at AK.

Thanks, in advance, for any responses!

What we usually do is we're at the park for RD, eat lunch around 11:30 to avoid the lunch hour rush by a little bit, then do 1-2 more attractions and we're out by 12:45 or so. Back to the room, arriving about 1:15-1:30, until about 5. Then we have dinner around 5:30-5:45 at a TS and evening park touring until park close.

On your "difficult traveler": we might give a little here and there on the length of our afternoon break, either leaving the park a little later or going back a little earlier. But if we set out to do RD, we're doing RD. If the "difficult traveler" can't get it together, no problem--we'll see them at the park whenever they can get there. Just give us a call & we'll meet up. That 1st hour is too important to us.

 

[Owl X]

60 Days before a trip:

• Reserve 3 Fast Passes back to back with the first time about an hour after rope drop
  • This allows you to get in 2-3 rides before your first Fast Pass time
• Reserve a Table Service for Lunch immediately after the 3rd Fast Pass time
  • The good Table Service Park restaurants fill up months in advance

We attempt the following each day:

1. Eat breakfast at the Resort
2. Head to a Park for rope drop
3. Attempt 2-3 rides before the first Fast Pass time
4. Use the My Disney Experience App to find a nearby ride with a short wait time between Fast Passes
5. Eat Lunch
6. Go back to Resort
7. Book a 4th Fast Pass for a Night time on the ride back to the resort
8. Take a Nap
9. Eat Dinner at one of the Resorts, Disney Springs or Boardwalk.
10. Head to a Park
11. Use the 4th Fast Pass
12. Attempt to book another Fast Pass while in line after the check point for the Fast Pass
13. Use the My Disney Experience App to find a nearby ride with a short wait time between Fast Passes
14. Watch the Night Show

We typically do not book Dinner reservations months in advance as one may not feel like certain food or a heavy meal after a day at a park. We just book Park Restaurants for Lunch.
You can typically get same day Dinner reservations at many of the Resort or Area restaurants. These restaurants are typically not as chaotic as the Park restaurants at dinner time. Certain Resort restaurants have a short travel time to Parks (such as Boardwalk area to Epcot/DHS).
We also get Park Hoppers so we can possibly visit a different Park for a Night show.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We always do midday breaks since we usually go in August. Our last two trips weee in August and future trips also.

We do RD, midday break around 12, hit the pool until 3-4 and back to our PM park by 5 pm with FP+.

We mix up our ADRs depending on park hours. I prefer lunch ADRs since it leaves our evenings open to change. If the park we are going to is open after 10 pm I don't mind doing dinner ADR. Epcot closes at 9 so I won't do a dinner ADR at 5 since it'll kill almost 2 hours of park time and only leave us with two hours in the park. Whichever meal we do an ADR for we do CS for the other. But there are some meals we like to have for dinner since they don't have it at lunch. Cali grill, BOG, Ohana for example. I try to save these for rest days if possible.

 

[ArielSRL]

What we usually do is we're at the park for RD, eat lunch around 11:30 to avoid the lunch hour rush by a little bit, then do 1-2 more attractions and we're out by 12:45 or so. Back to the room, arriving about 1:15-1:30, until about 5. Then we have dinner around 5:30-5:45 at a TS and evening park touring until park close.

On your "difficult traveler": we might give a little here and there on the length of our afternoon break, either leaving the park a little later or going back a little earlier. But if we set out to do RD, we're doing RD. If the "difficult traveler" can't get it together, no problem--we'll see them at the park whenever they can get there. Just give us a call & we'll meet up. That 1st hour is too important to us.

Thank you so much!

Full disclosure: the difficult traveler was my dad. The other travelers were my mom, my boys, and me. I told my mom we should just leave him but she wouldn't. We had a double stroller and her ECV unit so it probably would've been difficult to unload the car without him.

 

[ArielSRL]

60 Days before a trip:

• Reserve 3 Fast Passes back to back with the first time about an hour after rope drop
  • This allows you to get in 2-3 rides before your first Fast Pass time
• Reserve a Table Service for Lunch immediately after the 3rd Fast Pass time
  • The good Table Service Park restaurants fill up months in advance

We attempt the following each day:

1. Eat breakfast at the Resort
2. Head to a Park for rope drop
3. Attempt 2-3 rides before the first Fast Pass time
4. Use the My Disney Experience App to find a nearby ride with a short wait time between Fast Passes
5. Eat Lunch
6. Go back to Resort
7. Book a 4th Fast Pass for a Night time on the ride back to the resort
8. Take a Nap
9. Eat Dinner at one of the Resorts
10. Head to a Park
11. Use the 4th Fast Pass
12. Attempt to book another Fast Pass while in line after the check point for the Fast Pass
13. Use the My Disney Experience App to find a nearby ride with a short wait time between Fast Passes
14. Watch the Night Show

We typically do not book Dinner reservations months in advance as one may not feel like certain food or a heavy meal after a day at a park.
You can typically get same day Dinner reservations at many of the Resort Restaurants.
We also get Park Hoppers so we can possibly visit a different Park for a Night show.

We always do midday breaks since we usually go in August. Our last two trips weee in August and future trips also.

We do RD, midday break around 12, hit the pool until 3-4 and back to our PM park by 5 pm with FP+.

We mix up our ADRs depending on park hours. I prefer lunch ADRs since it leaves our evenings open to change. If the park we are going to is open after 10 pm I don't mind doing dinner ADR. Epcot closes at 9 so I won't do a dinner ADR at 5 since it'll kill almost 2 hours of park time and only leave us with two hours in the park. Whichever meal we do an ADR for we do CS for the other. But there are some meals we like to have for dinner since they don't have it at lunch. Cali grill, BOG, Ohana for example. I try to save these for rest days if possible.

Thank you! This is so helpful!

 

[AngiTN]

We take breaks most of the time. At least we go in to the day with breaks planned. Sometimes we decide to stay put.
We do start out at park opening, eat lunch and head to the resort. Sometimes we head to DS to eat, then to the resort, sometimes we eat in the park, head to the resort or we even stop at a resort to eat then on to our resort.
DD and I do the pool thing, DH does the room thing (he hates the sun and can't swim). We clean up and head back out to the parks for dinner.
We never leave property to eat, unless you count DS leaving property
We don't book ADR any further out that the day before, most of the time, our ADR are booked that morning on the bus. There isn't any place we have to eat at so we pick from what's available

 

[ArielSRL]

We take breaks most of the time. At least we go in to the day with breaks planned. Sometimes we decide to stay put.
We do start out at park opening, eat lunch and head to the resort. Sometimes we head to DS to eat, then to the resort, sometimes we eat in the park, head to the resort or we even stop at a resort to eat then on to our resort.
DD and I do the pool thing, DH does the room thing (he hates the sun and can't swim). We clean up and head back out to the parks for dinner.
We never leave property to eat, unless you count DS leaving property
We don't book ADR any further out that the day before, most of the time, our ADR are booked that morning on the bus. There isn't any place we have to eat at so we pick from what's available

Thank you! Do you like to do earlier dinners, like right after break? Or what is your strategy?

 

[AngiTN]

Thank you! Do you like to do earlier dinners, like right after break? Or what is your strategy?

Sometimes we plan our dinner for shortly after we get back to the parks, or even at a resort on our way to the parks. That gives us a "target time" that we need to be back. If we've eaten lunch later we plan our dinner for the very end of the night instead. We are naturally late eaters so it works well for us.

 

[ArielSRL]

Sometimes we plan our dinner for shortly after we get back to the parks, or even at a resort on our way to the parks. That gives us a "target time" that we need to be back. If we've eaten lunch later we plan our dinner for the very end of the night instead. We are naturally late eaters so it works well for us.

Thank you again!

 

[Klayfish]

We stay off site, so our schedule may vary a little from what you'd want to do. We do go to WDW in the summer a lot, however.

We're not as much into planning as a lot of people are. Don't get me wrong, we still make FP+ reservations 30 days out (which is all we can do staying off site), but beyond that we wing it. So we don't "plan" afternoon breaks per se, they just naturally happen when everyone is tired or we just make a decision to save our energy for later. We also don't really do rope drop anymore, as we just haven't needed to. By that, I mean we don't get there 30 minutes before the park opens and wait. If anything, we'll show up right at open or 15 minutes after. As you know, it gets hot quick in the summer. At the same time, there are plenty of air conditioned rides, so that gives a nice break. We do as many rides as we can before lunch. We then sit down to lunch (we pack our own food) and will usually talk about how tired we are, what we want to do, etc... that's where the "winging" it comes in. More often than not, if it's mid-summer, we'll decide that we're either done, or nearly done. So we'll hit one or two uncrowded rides after lunch...or get a 4th FP+ if available, then head out. So if we're in the parks at 9:15am, usually by about 2pm we're done. We'll head back to our condo/townhouse and relax. If we feel like heading back for an evening journey, wonderful. If not, then the pool is calling our name!!

Since it summer, we also schedule some evenings, where it's cooler to start. We'll sleep in, take a swim, just chill at the condo. We'll head to the parks around 3pm or so and stay until 9 or 10pm. First few hours are hot, but it starts to get much better late afternoon.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Will you have a car or use Disney transport? Travel time will eat up a good chunk of "break time".

I agree with strategy to hit rope drop and try for an early lunch ~11:30 then leave by 1p.

But if park opening is 9a, that only leaves a couple of hours to hit attractions before lunch.
So, on our first few summer trips, we planned to leave the park by 2p figuring we'd have a couple of hours break before returning to park.
BUT, often, lunch (table service) can take longer than planned, walk to front of park, walk/tram to car, monorail, bus etc.
On some trips, we found we didn't get back to the room until 3p and then realized to get to a 5:30 dinner, we only had 1.5 hours break.

If you can enjoy the transport time as break time, then you don't need as much resort time.

Footnote: we love the break and then to hop to a different park. There's something about hitting a different park at night that just seems to make the whole trip seem longer. Morning park, afternoon at resort and different evening park breaks the days into 3 distinct experiences. Works for us!

 

[Corbinator]

Op I skipped over all posts. I would vote 1-5 with your goals. My husband fell asleep every time we went back to the room but my kids wanted to swim. Talk about that upfront. Transportation takes time so be realistic. Rd is awesome but you'll need to go to bed early. Really early. Which means your evening park time isn't another 8 hours. One ts and one QS is good for us and if we eat bf in the room and go to rd we're ready for lunch at 11ish. Later than that was a long time to be hungry. I do have to say that for the effort in planning and transporting, taking a break DID allow us to see Illuminations and get to the boardwalk and Disney Springs at night without a struggle. All day would have been too much for my little kids.

 

[kaybird]

Our Mid-day break in the heat is to the waterparks, even without kids. Nothing cools us off and relaxes us like the lazy river. Usually spend 1.5 to 2 hours, then we are ready to hit the parks again, or go to eat.

 

[ArielSRL]

We stay off site, so our schedule may vary a little from what you'd want to do. We do go to WDW in the summer a lot, however.

We're not as much into planning as a lot of people are. Don't get me wrong, we still make FP+ reservations 30 days out (which is all we can do staying off site), but beyond that we wing it. So we don't "plan" afternoon breaks per se, they just naturally happen when everyone is tired or we just make a decision to save our energy for later. We also don't really do rope drop anymore, as we just haven't needed to. By that, I mean we don't get there 30 minutes before the park opens and wait. If anything, we'll show up right at open or 15 minutes after. As you know, it gets hot quick in the summer. At the same time, there are plenty of air conditioned rides, so that gives a nice break. We do as many rides as we can before lunch. We then sit down to lunch (we pack our own food) and will usually talk about how tired we are, what we want to do, etc... that's where the "winging" it comes in. More often than not, if it's mid-summer, we'll decide that we're either done, or nearly done. So we'll hit one or two uncrowded rides after lunch...or get a 4th FP+ if available, then head out. So if we're in the parks at 9:15am, usually by about 2pm we're done. We'll head back to our condo/townhouse and relax. If we feel like heading back for an evening journey, wonderful. If not, then the pool is calling our name!!

Since it summer, we also schedule some evenings, where it's cooler to start. We'll sleep in, take a swim, just chill at the condo. We'll head to the parks around 3pm or so and stay until 9 or 10pm. First few hours are hot, but it starts to get much better late afternoon.

Op I skipped over all posts. I would vote 1-5 with your goals. My husband fell asleep every time we went back to the room but my kids wanted to swim. Talk about that upfront. Transportation takes time so be realistic. Rd is awesome but you'll need to go to bed early. Really early. Which means your evening park time isn't another 8 hours. One ts and one QS is good for us and if we eat bf in the room and go to rd we're ready for lunch at 11ish. Later than that was a long time to be hungry. I do have to say that for the effort in planning and transporting, taking a break DID allow us to see Illuminations and get to the boardwalk and Disney Springs at night without a struggle. All day would have been too much for my little kids.

Our Mid-day break in the heat is to the waterparks, even without kids. Nothing cools us off and relaxes us like the lazy river. Usually spend 1.5 to 2 hours, then we are ready to hit the parks again, or go to eat.

Thank you all so much for your replies!!

 

[ArielSRL]

Will you have a car or use Disney transport? Travel time will eat up a good chunk of "break time".

I agree with strategy to hit rope drop and try for an early lunch ~11:30 then leave by 1p.

But if park opening is 9a, that only leaves a couple of hours to hit attractions before lunch.
So, on our first few summer trips, we planned to leave the park by 2p figuring we'd have a couple of hours break before returning to park.
BUT, often, lunch (table service) can take longer than planned, walk to front of park, walk/tram to car, monorail, bus etc.
On some trips, we found we didn't get back to the room until 3p and then realized to get to a 5:30 dinner, we only had 1.5 hours break.

If you can enjoy the transport time as break time, then you don't need as much resort time.

Footnote: we love the break and then to hop to a different park. There's something about hitting a different park at night that just seems to make the whole trip seem longer. Morning park, afternoon at resort and different evening park breaks the days into 3 distinct experiences. Works for us!

We will have a car. We will be at WL so we plan to bus over to MK for rope drop, then most likely take the boat for midday breaks with the bus option, if necessary, then whichever is least crowded at night. We will most likely drive to the other parks. But yes, last year we figured in an hour for travel each way, so anything less is a bonus.

ETA: Thank you for the reply!

 

[loves to dive]

I don't plan breaks, they just happen. Even when my son was young, we would just go with the flow. If he was showing signs of a melt down or just plain cranky, we would go back to the resort. I also never plan or planned back then, how long the breaks would be. Again, it all depended on what he did. If we went back to the room and he feel asleep, we would stay as long as he slept. If we went back and went to the pool, we would stay as long as he wanted to stay in the pool. If we went back and I fell asleep while he was watching cartoons, we would stay as long as I slept. We also don't, and didn't back then, schedule what time we were getting to the park, or whether we were going back after the break. As you can see, we are and have always been, pretty laid back about the whole thing. For us, it was/is vacation so we just go with the flow and don't plan a darn thing. When he was small we usually ate breakfast in the room, he was a donut fiend so he would usually eat a little powdered donut and a bowl of cereal while I ate a muffin. Again, as far as meals, we just go with the flow, even when he was small. As with most little ones, he pretty much had a schedule in his every day life and we tried to stick to that since that was what his body was used to but if he normally ate at noon but was hungry at 11 on vacation, we ate. We don't book ADRs in advance, back when he was little you couldn't, it was book them the day of and that is still what we do. Now we do it as we are walking around the parks using MDE and just looking for what is available. We do and have always had, park hoppers so that makes the whole fly by the seat of your pants thing easier. Frankly, especially when he was little, we just went by his moods and what worked and there was no set schedule. I found it easier a a single mother to just leave when he was cranky instead of trying to force some sort of schedule.

 

[ArielSRL]

I don't plan breaks, they just happen. Even when my son was young, we would just go with the flow. If he was showing signs of a melt down or just plain cranky, we would go back to the resort. I also never plan or planned back then, how long the breaks would be. Again, it all depended on what he did. If we went back to the room and he feel asleep, we would stay as long as he slept. If we went back and went to the pool, we would stay as long as he wanted to stay in the pool. If we went back and I fell asleep while he was watching cartoons, we would stay as long as I slept. We also don't, and didn't back then, schedule what time we were getting to the park, or whether we were going back after the break. As you can see, we are and have always been, pretty laid back about the whole thing. For us, it was/is vacation so we just go with the flow and don't plan a darn thing. When he was small we usually ate breakfast in the room, he was a donut fiend so he would usually eat a little powdered donut and a bowl of cereal while I ate a muffin. Again, as far as meals, we just go with the flow, even when he was small. As with most little ones, he pretty much had a schedule in his every day life and we tried to stick to that since that was what his body was used to but if he normally ate at noon but was hungry at 11 on vacation, we ate. We don't book ADRs in advance, back when he was little you couldn't, it was book them the day of and that is still what we do. Now we do it as we are walking around the parks using MDE and just looking for what is available. We do and have always had, park hoppers so that makes the whole fly by the seat of your pants thing easier. Frankly, especially when he was little, we just went by his moods and what worked and there was no set schedule. I found it easier a a single mother to just leave when he was cranky instead of trying to force some sort of schedule.

Thanks for the reply!