Taking a break when offsite

[conniehar90]

I posted this on the Offsite forum but someone suggested I post it here as well.

Here is my experience from earlier this week. We had a FP at Splash at 12:10 - went on right then. Stopped to add our ride photo to our band. Hopped on the train that had just arrived. Stopped at Fantasyland to pick up more passengers. Got off at Main st. Hopped on the express monorail. Walked to our car since we arrived at rope drop. Drove to our townhouse in Windsor Hills. Pulled in the driveway at 1:16 and I am now sitting by the pool!

Other than the monorail resorts, I can't believe I could have made it anywhere faster than that. We will take a swim, shower, maybe a nap and head back for BOG at 5:10!!

To our family, taking a break is crucial. We have tried staying in the parks all day and it just does not work for us. We are all usually cranky by the end of the night. To me, you need that break from the stimulation. Even if you don't take a nap, a dip in the pool does wonders. You feel so much better when you return to the parks.

Hope this helps!

 

[PaulaVonSchweetz]

I'm a big fan of afternoon breaks. I find the relaxation is crucial to our sanity at disney. Sometimes it's pool. Or a nap. Or just chilling on the balcony.

 

[flutterby3744]

I'm a fan of afternoon breaks too. However, when we stayed offsite, it felt like more trouble. Maybe it was my kids ages (2 older, a toddler and 4yo), but the hassle of all that gear, getting out to the car, and driving back to the condo, by the time we got back we didn't want to leave again! I prefer onsite for breaks.

 

[conniehar90]

Yes, I agree that when they are little, it is a pain. Our kids are teens so it is easy peasy. However, when they are little that is also when they really need a break/swim and sometimes a nap in the stroller doesn't cut it.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I posted this on the Offsite forum but someone suggested I post it here as well.

Here is my experience from earlier this week. We had a FP at Splash at 12:10 - went on right then. Stopped to add our ride photo to our band. Hopped on the train that had just arrived. Stopped at Fantasyland to pick up more passengers. Got off at Main st. Hopped on the express monorail. Walked to our car since we arrived at rope drop. Drove to our townhouse in Windsor Hills. Pulled in the driveway at 1:16 and I am now sitting by the pool!

Other than the monorail resorts, I can't believe I could have made it anywhere faster than that. We will take a swim, shower, maybe a nap and head back for BOG at 5:10!!

To our family, taking a break is crucial. We have tried staying in the parks all day and it just does not work for us. We are all usually cranky by the end of the night. To me, you need that break from the stimulation. Even if you don't take a nap, a dip in the pool does wonders. You feel so much better when you return to the parks.

Hope this helps!

We are a rope drop family. We have tried it both ways - taking a mid day break and not taking a mid day break. My kids are now teens (14 & 16). They insist on a mid day break and they both nap! It's the only way we can all make the night time shows in the parks. I agree about the time it takes to travel. We've stayed on site and off (Vacation Village at Parkway & Wyndham Bonnet Creek). We felt like we got to our resort faster when we were off site and had our own car.

 

[disneyshea]

Really good info. I was wondering how long it would take to get back to our condo for mid-day breaks. This seems like pretty reasonable timing. Thanks for the info.

 

[Upon a Star]

Would love to know what you think of Windsor Hills. We're looking into staying there as well. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[minmate]

We had a similar experience last week. We stayed at the Caribe Royale (triple the room for a fraction of the price it would've cost onsite). We rode Splash with FP at 3:40, took our castle pic at 4:10 and were in our hotel room, by 4:45. Room service ordered and kids in their suits heading to the pool by 5:05.

On the return trip into MK, we got in our car at the hotel at 7:15 and were staking out a parade spot in front of Casey's by 7:45.

 

[conniehar90]

Would love to know what you think of Windsor Hills

We love Windsor Hills. We have stayed there at least 5+ times. It is super close to the parks and the resort is really nice. For several years, we stayed in a condo and used the community pool but for the past two we have stayed in a townhouse. I thought the kids would like to go to the community pool as it is bigger and has a water slide but they really like having their own private pool.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I posted this on the Offsite forum but someone suggested I post it here as well. Here is my experience from earlier this week. We had a FP at Splash at 12:10 - went on right then. Stopped to add our ride photo to our band. Hopped on the train that had just arrived. Stopped at Fantasyland to pick up more passengers. Got off at Main st. Hopped on the express monorail. Walked to our car since we arrived at rope drop. Drove to our townhouse in Windsor Hills. Pulled in the driveway at 1:16 and I am now sitting by the pool! Other than the monorail resorts, I can't believe I could have made it anywhere faster than that. We will take a swim, shower, maybe a nap and head back for BOG at 5:10!! To our family, taking a break is crucial. We have tried staying in the parks all day and it just does not work for us. We are all usually cranky by the end of the night. To me, you need that break from the stimulation. Even if you don't take a nap, a dip in the pool does wonders. You feel so much better when you return to the parks. Hope this helps!

I was the one who suggested that you post this thread on this forum and I am so glad you did because I think this info is so helpful to share with other families who are also planning to stay offsite. We also stayed at Windsor Hills (in a condo) for our WDW trip last year and I can't say enough great things about Windsor Hills and our first offsite experience. Windsor Hills is very convenient to the WDW parks. Unless you are staying at a Disney resort that offers other options (in addition to the buses) to get to the parks from your resort (monorail, boat, option to walk), then I agree that it is really no more of a production to take an afternoon break and return to the parks later if you are staying offsite than it is to wait on and catch a resort bus; but only if you have your own vehicle though. You definitely have to have your own transportation for this to work (we rented a minivan at the airport for $279 for the week!)
On the other thread it was mentioned that non-Disney resort guests can pay to valet park at the resorts and that this is good for the whole day. I am going to have to remember this tip if we stay offsite again for our next trip as we will probably plan to have breakfast at Chef Mickey's and dinner at Kona on separate MK days; so paying the valet parking fee at the Contemporary and Poly would be convenient on those particular days, although dealing with the parking lots and the TTC really wasn't bad at all.