taking breaks and shorter hours???

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Hi all,

We've been in May and October with fairly long park hours. We usually got up for EE and stayed at the parks until lunch. Then we would take a break at the hotel (nap or swim, eat, etc...) and then head back out to the parks from about 4:30 until 8 or 9 or so -- however long the kids could make it. This has always worked very well for us.

But, my next trip is early December - with park hours from about 9 - 6. That doesn't seem to leave time for breaks. Does anyone still take breaks? Or do you go early and end early? Or go later and stay til the park closes? I'll be travelling with my DD age 6, DD age 4, and DS age 2, who does not nap regularly at home! . Any advice?

Thanks!!

 

[kessieann]

We just returned and while I wish we would have had time to take breaks it did not end up happening. Because Epcot ended up being such a long day we left early and went to the fireworks show another night. Mainly I let my 6 yr old dd sleep in later in the morning and we stayed at most of the parks until they closed. There is just so much to do and with the hours shorter to go back to the hotel would really cut into touring time.

 

[shafke]

Actually the shorter hours worked out pretty well for us when we went. we did not kill ourselves in the morning to get to a park at opening (usually arrived 10-10:30) and stayed until about 7 pm. This allowed for some relaxing time at the room/pool before bedtime.

You can still take some time during the day to relax at a park. Epcot you can visit the countries and Kidcot stations. MK - visit Tom Sawyer Island. MGM - Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area.

 

[daystar]

Hi,
We just went over Christmas but the parks didn't close that early....My youngest son is five we still took rest time even though he doesn't take naps, he layed on the hotel bed and watch some tv or sit on the floor and played with his toys.....My five year old would not sit in a stroller so it was alot of walking for him and became cranky quickly....We started our day off early mornings soon as the parks open did what we could, have lunch and then went back to the hotel for rest time....Then at night we went back to the park and out for dinner.....I honestly think if you don't squeeze in rest time you will have some cranky kids especially when you have three, i had only one and he became extremely tired....

 

[linda_pizzuro]

To SnoWhiteRabit - I do not know how busy the parks are in early December. I believe they are not too crowded until right before Christmas. We usually do not take breaks - especially if we are there when the hours are shorter. We were there in October and the parks were empty. We usually did not get to the parks until 10 or 10:30 and stayed until closing.

If you are worried about things to do if the parks close early, one thing you can do in December in the MK is MVMCH - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - this is usually scheduled a few times a week. The Party is a separate ticket event and goes from either 6:00 or 7:00 to midnight. With a ticket you can usually get in anytime after 4:00. There is a special Christmas parade, fireworks and lots of special Christmas shows - that are not shown during the day. You also get a free picture for everyone in your party and free hot chocolate. We did the Halloween Party this past October and loved it. We usually go the week between Christmas and New Year's and it is very crowded but we love the whole holiday feeling.

It is also great to visit the Disney hotels during this time - either at night or during the day. At the GF they have a Gingerbread House set up in the loby that is so large there is a actual store inside. This year at the AKL they did a whole Africian village made out of cake, cookies and candy. At the Boardwalk they have a boardwalk in the loby also made out of cake, cookies and candy. All the hotels have wonderful trees set up. Downtown Disney is also decorated beautifully for the holidays. I know Epcot has the Candlelight Procession but I am not sure how early in December this starts.

 

[tjkraz]

Generally speaking, when park hours are short, WDW is projecting low attendance. So lines will likely be shorter than you are used to, and you should still be able to accomplish quite a bit without trying to kill yourselves.

We like taking the daily breaks--as much for ourselves as for the youngsters who do take regular naps. And that's even during the slow seasons. But do what you think is best for your family.

Also, regarding December hours:

MK often "closes" early, but that's mainly to facilitate Mickey's Christmas party which carries on into the wee hours.

Epcot WS will always be open until at least 9pm.

AK always closes early.

MGM - not sure, although hours may be later in '04 than they were in '03 if the Osborne Lights return.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

It seems like we have wound up right on the cusp of the short hours/ big crowd continuum for the last couple of times. This has made touring MK difficult when we have tried to take a break. We were there in mid-June last year and MK closed at 7pm. The last ride the kids wanted to do was Peter Pan -the wait was 75 minutes (not exactly what I would call short waits). That same day we waited 20+ minutes for several attractions. Fastpass helped some, but we felt a bit of pressure to get stuff done, knowing an early closing was looming. However, breaks were a must since it was so hot. A dip in the pool back at the resort was heavenly in the middle of the day.
I have been paying fairly close attention to MK hours over the last couple of years, and have arrived at the conclusion that it is now an early-closing park, similar to AK. The exceptions are holiday seasons when it is super duper crowded and special evenst that you have to pay extra for (ie. MVMCP, e-ride nites -may they rest in peace, etc). Other than that, the best you can hope for is an 8pm closing time over the vast majority of the year. Usually it is more liike 7pm.
I am pretty sure I understand the reason for this. It is because Disney needs us to be out spending money at places like DTD, mini-golf, Dsiney Quest, etc. instead of riding rides in the MK. By giving us fewer park options (and MK is a biggie) they force the crowds to move onto other things.
That's what I think, but -hey -I could be wrong.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Zippa D Doodah
I have been paying fairly close attention to MK hours over the last couple of years, and have arrived at the conclusion that it is now an early-closing park, similar to AK.

I think we'll have a much better idea once the May '04 hours are released. It's been a LONG, slow recovery in WDW's attendance levels since 9/11. But with the announcement last month that the New Year's attendance was the highest ever for WDW, I'm getting a sense that the theme parks are really turning a corner.

Looking at the April hours, there are only 3 or 4 days after Easter when MK closes at 7pm. Most nights it's 8pm or even 9pm. That's pretty darn good for a period when the kids are in school and WDW has to rely on parents pulling their children out of school to visit, kids who have a VERY late spring break or adults with no children as the primary park guests.

DW and I are visiting around Memorial Day without the kiddies. Naturally I'm anxiously awaiting the posting of May operating hours. We hope to just hit the major thrill rides, maybe have a spa visit, and spend ample time at the pool. We're hoping for great weather, long hours and big crowds.

 

[arizonacolbys]

We went last December when MK closed at 6 pm every day - they did this for the MVMCP that was happening almost every evening. It worked out really well for us. We did EE every morning & then went back to the resort around lunchtime. We usually got a snack to hold us over til dinner, took a swim, or a nap. Then we'd head back out to the parks. When MK closes at 6 in Dec - Epcot is open til 9:30 pm. There are lots of holiday events in Epcot to check out in the evenings - I don't think we went to Epcot in the daylight once during our Dec trip. We also went to the MVMCP 2x which made for a later evening at MK. Other evenings we went to DTD to get some Christmas shopping done. It's also great to check out the other resorts' Christmas decorations in the evenings when the parks close early. If you're not at MVMCP you can see the nightly fireworks from the party at places like the Contemporary & the Polynesian on the beach. We loved December so much we're going again this Dec - HTH!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

We've visited WDW twice with kids and found that breaks, back a the room, were not necessary.

Our youngest was 4 y/o on both trips and we intended to take breaks every day, but after trying a couple times we found that the kids were too wound up to get any quality rest. After spending nearly an hour (exiting the park, riding the bus, walking to the room and then repeating the process in reverse) and trying to rest for a half hour - an hour we had taken a big chunk out of our day in the park without much getting in much rest.

I'd suggest playing it by ear. You know your kids. If they're getting run down, go get a nap. If they're happy and energetic, don't waste the time!

 

[drogerstn]

We occasionally take mid-day breaks even if the park closes at 6pm, especially if we go to AK or MGM in the afternoon because many guests who arrived in the morning at these parks will leave for good early- to mid-afternoon. (It has probably been a while since MGM has closed this early.) We've seen light crowds at the MK during the last couple of hours as well, but it seems to vary.

If we do EE, then we are more likely to take a mid-day break because the park we are in may be getting crowded and because we have "added" an hour to our park time. When we do a mid-day break back at our resort, we usually make lunch in the room with food from our ice chest. If we don't do a mid-day break, we will usually choose that day as a day to have a sit-down meal and, back to your scenario, we usually spend the afternoon in a park that has an earlier closing time.

Our total out-of-park time is usually about 2.5 to 3 hours which includes eating our lunch, so if the parks are crowded during this time period (usually have a later closing time too), we aren't missing much except the aggravation of crowds. Some of us will get an hour or more nap time and some of us will relax and play in the pool.

We have not visited during a low-attendance period, so we have always visited the parks at regular opening or EE. As manchurianbrownbear and others have suggested, you should play it by ear and take into consideration how many days you have been at the parks, how your family is holding up on any given day, and/or how crowded the parks are during the middle of the day.

 

[mcgrawfan]

We were just there a few weeks ago and it was our first time with the parks closing early. We usually take a break in the afternoon, but with the cooler weather in the winter you don't get as worn out as quickly. So maybe afternoon beraks won't be a necessary. The best thing to do while on vacation is just play it by ear.