Thoughts on midday breaks for our trip?

[emilik]

Here are the stats:

Feb 21-Mar 1

Ft Wilderness Cabins

2 days MK (with day off in between), 1 day Epcot, day off, 2 days AK

Children 4 years old and 21 months old.

4 y/o doesn't nap but will melt down with overstimulation. Baby needs a nap AND a very gentle wakeup period. Both children have never experienced anything close to Disney.

And now my rambly inner debate:

I feel like midday breaks would be the ideal choice. Baby can nap, 4 y/o can rest, play outside, swim... We can all eat a peaceful, wholesome lunch cooked in the cabin.

I'm concerned about travel time and that the stress of traveling to and from the parks (esp Epcot/AK) will negate the recharge aspect of the break.

I'm concerned that it won't be warm enough to swim and we will feel like we have nothing low key to do while we're back at the cabins.

If we just go all day with no break (we would need to leave the park by 7-ish regardless) I'm concerned that the 4 y/o will get way overstimulated and miserable, and that the baby may or may not sleep in the stroller (and if she does, she will NOT do well waking up in a crowd of people and noise and we'll probably spend an hour getting her back to baseline.)

I am totally open to being flexible, seeing how it goes, having Plan A, B, and C - however my main issue there is how to plan for food.

My original plan was to have something going in a crockpot in our cabin ready when we came back for lunch each day. If we might not be coming back I would have to scratch that idea and plan to bring lunch with us every day, or plan to eat lunch in the parks which could also be brought back with us if we decide to have a break - but I dislike that last idea because I worry about finding appropriate food choices each day (we're not used to eating a lot of processed food and they will NOT do well, behavior wise, eating it every day for a week) and of course the huge cost increase!

My specific questions are:

How long would you estimate it takes to travel from each park to Ft Wilderness Cabins midday during a low to moderate crowd time?

Any early predictions on temps for that week/warm enough for swimming?

What are some good places in each park that would be appropriate for hunkering down during lunch/nap time and helping a baby wake up peacefully?

Favorite healthy lunches to bring in the parks?

What would you do in our situation?

I welcome any and all thoughts on how to make this enjoyable for all of us and still make the best use of our time and money!

 

[jmddcj]

We have traveled with young children the last 3 trips, I know many rely on the afternoon break, we just haven't done that on any of our trips. The hassle getting out of park, getting car etc seemed huge with the little ones. We have found Tom Sawyer Island with some fresh fruit (sold at MK many places) 4y/o can relax away from crowds a bit, there is shade for baby to nap and parents to rest.
At AK they did offer a picnic style lunch that you could order. We also bring water bottles in with single serve crystal light packets, applesauce, I believe you can still bring a soft side cooler in (check size dimensions allowed). Not sure how hot it will be when you are there but out clip on stroller fan was a must when we have gone in May.
I know there are many on here with a lot of good tips...I hope this helps.
We have never made the fireworks, or evening hours, when the kids were "done" we were content to make our way back and relax at our hotel. With little ones you may not see EVERYTHING in one trip but the little things end up being the most memorable!

 

[StirlingSilver83]

This year we are traveling with my 7 yr old son and an 8 month old baby. I don't have breaks scheduled in because it's too much of a hassle to leave the park and come back. The baby is pretty good and will fall asleep anywhere. We also have the deluxe dining plan which gives us a break to just sit and relax. I do plan on leaving the parks after dinner though, and ou dinners are all scheduled between 5 and 6. The only days we are staying late is for fantasmic, illuminations, and I'm bringing my oldest back to the park for the electrical parade while my hubby stays at the hotel with the baby. It's gonna be hectic but I'd rather just get to the park and stay there rather go back and forth between park and hotel.

 

[Spunky946]

Don't be afraid of the afternoon breaks if you think that would be best for your family. We have taken breaks while being offsite during Christmas week and it was just fine getting to the hotel and back. Sometimes everyone just needed a break from all of the stimulation including the adults.

I'd probably plan on the breaks, but maybe not do the crock pot meal just in case you don't leave in time for lunch. You could pack a lunch and either eat it in the parks, or bring it back with you to the cabin to eat it.

I would plan 60 minutes to get from the park to your room. It probably will not take nearly that long, but leave that much time.

If we want to make evenings, we all need a break, otherwise we are usually done by 7 ish.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We tend to stay in the park through lunch -- with planning you can find healthier meals in each place, or carry a picnic in -- then take a rest at our resort and swim if the weather permits before heading out for the afternoon/ evening.

 

[sharonabe]

I will add to your inner rambilings.

We also had one who did not wake up well, so I understand your concern here. There are places in each park where you could be "away" from most of the crowds and allow her to wake gently. MK has Tom Sawyer Island or the Rose Garden by the castle, AK take the train over to Rafiki's and find a bench, EP somewhere around WS in the back of one of the countries (UK has a great maze garden), HS back on the Streets of America is usually pretty quiet. Each of these would also have a few things for big sister to do while you wait. One parent could take her on nearby attractions or just wander around.

Going back and forth to the parks on Disney transportation really isn't that difficult. You do need to allow about an hour both ways, but as PP said, it probably won't take that long. One concern here is will your youngest fall asleep on the bus/monorail and stay asleep when you arrive or might she wake up?

As for lunch, I like PP's suggestion of packing your lunch that gives you the option of eating in the park or back at the cabin. But, I think you'll also find some healthy options at each park if you want to buy your lunch a couple of days. The kids' QS meals all have fruit and veggies, but you could also get adult meals and just share. Check out the menus at allearsnet for Columbia Harbour House and Be Our Guest at MK, Sunshine Seasons, Tangeriene Café, Katsura Grill at EP, and Tamu Refreshment, Flame Tree, and Yak n Yeti at AK.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

one thing to put in your planning is the baby will most likely fall asleep on the boat back to the Fort and then you will need to use a golf cart or a bus ride back to cabin. it usually means a 30 to 40 minutes to get to your cabin, will you be able to keep baby awake or get the child back to sleep, did not work with our little older one. you can usually keep baby in stroller on boat but will have to remove and fold stroller for either golf cart or bus. it is not like you get off the boat at your cabin

 

[Manders77]

Here are the stats: Feb 21-Mar 1 Ft Wilderness Cabins 2 days MK (with day off in between), 1 day Epcot, day off, 2 days AK Children 4 years old and 21 months old. 4 y/o doesn't nap but will melt down with overstimulation. Baby needs a nap AND a very gentle wakeup period. Both children have never experienced anything close to Disney. And now my rambly inner debate: I feel like midday breaks would be the ideal choice. Baby can nap, 4 y/o can rest, play outside, swim... We can all eat a peaceful, wholesome lunch cooked in the cabin. I'm concerned about travel time and that the stress of traveling to and from the parks (esp Epcot/AK) will negate the recharge aspect of the break. I'm concerned that it won't be warm enough to swim and we will feel like we have nothing low key to do while we're back at the cabins. If we just go all day with no break (we would need to leave the park by 7-ish regardless) I'm concerned that the 4 y/o will get way overstimulated and miserable, and that the baby may or may not sleep in the stroller (and if she does, she will NOT do well waking up in a crowd of people and noise and we'll probably spend an hour getting her back to baseline.) I am totally open to being flexible, seeing how it goes, having Plan A, B, and C - however my main issue there is how to plan for food. My original plan was to have something going in a crockpot in our cabin ready when we came back for lunch each day. If we might not be coming back I would have to scratch that idea and plan to bring lunch with us every day, or plan to eat lunch in the parks which could also be brought back with us if we decide to have a break - but I dislike that last idea because I worry about finding appropriate food choices each day (we're not used to eating a lot of processed food and they will NOT do well, behavior wise, eating it every day for a week) and of course the huge cost increase! My specific questions are: How long would you estimate it takes to travel from each park to Ft Wilderness Cabins midday during a low to moderate crowd time? Any early predictions on temps for that week/warm enough for swimming? What are some good places in each park that would be appropriate for hunkering down during lunch/nap time and helping a baby wake up peacefully? Favorite healthy lunches to bring in the parks? What would you do in our situation? I welcome any and all thoughts on how to make this enjoyable for all of us and still make the best use of our time and money!

. Our last visit to Disney DD was 4 and DS was 23 months. Every child is different in these cases. We always planned for going back for breaks and we stayed at all- stars last visit. Our son is a pistol without a nap. DD usually napped as well - so much stimulation. Does your little one have a set schedule of napping . The reason is my DS did like clockwork we ate lunch around noon and immediately after took break to be in room by 1. He napped 2-3 hours then we usually headed either to the park or our dinner ADR. He hated stroller sleeping because he couldn't sleep on his stomach in the umbrella stroller and he never fell asleep on bus back. You know your little one. Enjoy your trip.

 

[wearegoingtoDisney]

How long would you estimate it takes to travel from each park to Ft Wilderness Cabins midday during a low to moderate crowd time?

We have traveled many times with small children for 7-9 nights stays like the one you have planned. It takes between 45-1 hour to travel from park to hotel. Sometimes less and I can't think of a time when it was more.

Any early predictions on temps for that week/warm enough for swimming?

It will be warm enough to swim at least some of the days you are there. If there are days that are too cool for swimming there is always something to bring the 4 year old to do at the resorts we have stayed at.

What are some good places in each park that would be appropriate for hunkering down during lunch/nap time and helping a baby wake up peacefully?

All of the places mentioned are quiet but you will not be the only one in the area so once the baby is past the deep sleep stage of their nap they will wake up...some of mine can wiggle around and fall back to sleep for the remainder of the nap but most of mine woke up at that point...usually about 45-1hr even if then were long nappers at home. The only way to get them to take their full nap was to some of the days bring them back to the hotel

Favorite healthy lunches to bring in the parks?
Fruit, sandwiches, the squeeze fruits with the caps, small packages of cereal and granola. My kids tend to snack while at the parks more than eat large meals. With small children the pace for our family tended to be ride, snack, check out something going on, bathroom, ride, snack, check out something going on, bathroom etc. Occassionally it might be ride, ride, snack, bathroom but for the most part you get what I mean. At first this drove me crazy becasue I wanted to get "more done" but I let it goe when I saw this is how the small ones have fun!

What would you do in our situation?
I would plan for some days to go back for naps and some days to stay in the parks. For an 8 day trip it will be too many days for the baby to nap on the go and too much stimulation for your 4 year old, but I think if you take the time to go back everyday then by the end of the week you will feel like you didn't do as much as you would have liked. For example on your Animal Kingdom day don't go back for a nap because that park closes early and going back will take up too much time. On a night when MK is opened late then start at rope drop get fantasy land done and get out of there around 11:30 when it gets crazy and come back in the late afternoon for your fast pass rides and night entertainment.

I hope this helps. Traveling to Disney with small children creates memories of a lifetime and has been one of my great joys of parenting. That being said it is at times exhausting for everyone so plan well so Grumpy doesn't join the family too often during the trip!

 

[laurianne]

I agree that mid-day breaks can be difficult. What you might try is getting to the park later in the morning, and leaving a few hours before dinner. Take your break at your resort pool, then head to dinner rather than back to the park.

 

[emilik]

So much helpful information!! Thank you everyone!

My littlest has a routine for nap, but not a set schedule. She goes down between 1 and 2:30 and usually sleeps for an hour or a little more. Nighttime sleep is a lot more predictable, both girls almost always get 12 hours, 7:30-7:30 (though how a change in environment will affect that, who knows!)

I *do* believe, now that I think about it, that she would probably end up falling asleep on the way back to the cabin and then we'll have a mess of a time trying to transfer her for the bus and likely throw it all off... Hmm...

So after thinking about it and reading all the opinions I'm leaning toward staying in the parks I guess. We will have built in down time on our days off, which I'm hoping will be enough for a full recharge and get us some extra mileage on park days.

Thanks so much for the specific suggestions of places to hang for nap time in each park, that is SO helpful! My other thought for MK was the Hall of Presidents - do they allow strollers in there?

We have never really used a stroller so I don't know how that will go (planning to rent a City Mini Double), but she IS a great car sleeper so I'm hoping the effect is similar. I also have a couple great toddler carriers so I can wear her for naps if need be.

Do they still offer the picnic lunch thing at AK? I can't find info on that anywhere.

And on Tom Sawyer Island is there a place to spread out a blanket or anything? (This will be my fourth trip to WDW, but my first with children so I find myself blanking on a lot of details that I never needed to notice before! )

Do they still have the Fairy Garden play areas in Epcot? I love the idea of the UK hedge maze too, that's fabulous.

 

[sharonabe]

I can't answer any of your other new questions, but the picnic at AK is definitely gone.

 

[summermac]

I would try to get some TS lunches scheduled personally. Many lunches aren't much more expensive than CS options (and can be split if cost is a problem). They give you a nice break in the middle of the day and a good meal to fuel the rest of your day. Many of CS options are typically hectic and more of a pain with little ones if you ask me. You wait in line to order at a kiosk, you find your own seat, etc whereas at a TS you are seated, you get a high chair, etc, etc. Just a thought!

Then you could crock a meal on LOW to be ready for dinner instead?

 

[danceintherain]

We always take breaks during the day....for DH.
We often don't return to the parks in the evenings though, so it's usually not a big deal.

That said...you can easily try to go without going back, and see how it goes, then try it the other way. I've learned that there's a lot of trial and error with kids.

When we took DS last year, we kept to his schedule, and it worked really well. We'd do our best to keep him awake during the bus ride back during the day. We only had one day when we stayed in the parks past his usual bedtime.
There were a few times in the parks when we would put him in the stroller for a bit of down time. The City Mini is great for this, because it has a huge canopy.

I doubt they allow strollers in the Hall of Presidents, but I've never actually been in there. Also, they don't allow strollers in the Land Pavilion in Epcot (just for reference, we found that kind of frustrating when we took a 3 month old).

Tom Sawyer Island is more caves with lots of trees and very few grassy areas. There's a porch on the far side where there are rocking chairs and tables set up, so you may be able to find a small covered area where you can put down a blanket. I'm pretty sure you can't take a stroller over there, so it may not be a good idea if she's already asleep.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

can not say about time back other parks than the one time we tried from MK. had about 10 minute wait for boat then 20 minute boat ride and then about 10 minutes to walk to golf cart, load cart and drive to cabin which was at almost the other end of campground. still would not plan on walking from bus stop for other parks to cabins

 

[JediBonas]

Mine were 24 months when we went and it was nearly impossible to get them to nap in our room for some reason. We ended up giving up trying to get back to our room and let them fall asleep in the stroller. On the days we tried to get back they always ended up asleep on the bus only to wake while we tried to gently carry them to our room.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Another option is to take a break in a nearby resort. We often do this just to escape the hustle of the parks for an hour or so. We will often grab a CS lunch at the resort and then just stroll around for a bit just to decompress.

Specifically, I was thinking this could be a good option on one of your AK days since the bus ride is short. There is so much to see over there, yet it is still laid back. You could easily find a quiet spot for baby to nap and the 4 y.o. could look at animals on the savanna there, could pin trade in the gift shop or just enjoy looking around the resort. The one caveat to this would be if the 4 y.o. would get upset that she couldn't swim once she sees the pool. At 4 mine would have been okay with me saying we'd swim later, but I have nieces and nephews that would have gone in full meltdown mode at that age at being told they couldn't swim now or no, we aren't going back to the hotel to swim right now.

The Contemporary is another good one for a break as well. Not as much to keep the 4 y.o. entertained, but there is room to run around, and quiet spots for the baby to night. Not sure if the 4th floor observation deck is open during the day, but if so, the 4 y.o. might enjoy that.

As for the Fairy Garden play area at Epcot, it is not a year round feature. The play areas are there for Flower and Garden Festival.

 

[ilovebassets]

Many good suggestions on these boards. We have done several of the above strategies and likely you will, too. We stayed at Fort Wilderness cabins in October with our 1 and 3 yr olds (and are returning in May).

Magic Kingdom--This is the hardest park to get to and from. There's just no way around it. This is the one park above all others that I believe in rope drop strategy and then just staying until you can't stay any longer and not coming back in the middle of the day. A relaxing, non-character lunch in the middle of the day helps (Plaza, Liberty Tree, or Tonys). The good thing is that you don't have to fold up your stroller on the boat ride to and from Fort Wilderness. So if someone falls asleep in the stroller, you can just hang around the boat dock area and grab some food, shop, go to the playground, or do something else fun in that area with the other child. The bad thing is, this means basically never being at the park at closing and missing Wishes though you can see it from the Fort Wilderness beach area.

Epcot--This the best park to enjoy in the evening in my opinion. We would so something else in the morning like downtown disney or a character breakfast at another resort or swimming, have the kids take a long nap in the afternoon, then head to Epcot and stay up a little later than usual since they were well rested.

Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios--Both are good "half day" parks, even if you do two half days like we do for Animal Kingdom. Since Animal Kingdom closes relatively early, get there at rope drop, have a relaxing TS lunch (we love Yak and Yeti), then head home for the nap. Hollywood Studios can go either way. Rope drop and nap or do something else in the AM, nap, then go to the park.

 

[emilik]

Another option is to take a break in a nearby resort. We often do this just to escape the hustle of the parks for an hour or so. We will often grab a CS lunch at the resort and then just stroll around for a bit just to decompress.

Specifically, I was thinking this could be a good option on one of your AK days since the bus ride is short. There is so much to see over there, yet it is still laid back. You could easily find a quiet spot for baby to nap and the 4 y.o. could look at animals on the savanna there, could pin trade in the gift shop or just enjoy looking around the resort. The one caveat to this would be if the 4 y.o. would get upset that she couldn't swim once she sees the pool. At 4 mine would have been okay with me saying we'd swim later, but I have nieces and nephews that would have gone in full meltdown mode at that age at being told they couldn't swim now or no, we aren't going back to the hotel to swim right now.

The Contemporary is another good one for a break as well. Not as much to keep the 4 y.o. entertained, but there is room to run around, and quiet spots for the baby to night. Not sure if the 4th floor observation deck is open during the day, but if so, the 4 y.o. might enjoy that.

As for the Fairy Garden play area at Epcot, it is not a year round feature. The play areas are there for Flower and Garden Festival.

Ah, that explains it - last time we were there was during F&G Festival!

I hadn't even considered going to a nearby resort to escape - that's actually a fabulous idea, one that I'll definitely keep in mind! Anywhere on the monorail would be easy from MK or Epcot. Animal Kingdom resorts are close via buses... Is there a boat from Wilderness Lodge to Animal Kingdom or am I misremembering?

 

[Chabby]

We didn't take afternoon breaks the first time, in March 2012 when my LO where 6 and 1. It seemed like a hassle.
Last year (in September) we did most days and I regretted not doing it the previous year! We arrived at the parks for RD and enjoyed as much as we could. We would eat whatever we pleased (no lunch ADRs for us, we don't like them) either at the park or back at the hotel. At around 1pm it was really HOT and we were all tired. So we headed back to the hotel.
We only swam a couple of days because I go with my elderly parents, so they stay in the room with my baby while I go out with my now 7yo (I can't watch 2 LO at the pool by myself ), and I didn't want to do that to them everyday. The rest of the time we just hung out in the room, watch TV, enjoyed the a/c and napped a bit.
Around 5pm we headed back to the parks for a couple of hours, and it had cool down a bit. It went great!