Thoughts on midday breaks for our trip?

[mi*vida*loca]

It depends on park hours. I believe that time of year parks close around 7 at times.

In that case I would hit rope drop and do a lunch ADR as our "rest" period. Then leave the park around 4-5 for the day. We did this on our 2008 trip. It worked well.

If parks are open late and we plan on staying late we do a midday break around 12 and go back to the parks around 4-5, have dinner (either QS or TS) and stay in the parks until 10-11.

So for us midday breaks depend on what time of year we go and park hours.

 

[pressedKenny]

We never make it back to the resort for naps so we have found quiet places all over the parks for some downtime. If you stay in the parks, my advice is to figure out where you want to take a break and visit it prior to nap time, like in the morning. That way when you return later, your kids might be more willing nappers since they won't feel like they are going to miss something if they close their eyes for a minute.

MK is by far the most challenging place to park-nap because it is the most crowded and overstimulating for kids. There just aren't many "boring" grown-up places to take them to wind down. But the nearby Contemporary or Grand Floridian have lots of places to relax and the quick monorail ride is a good way for the kids to decompress. Also, a trip on the ferry boat to the TTC and back is good for kids in strollers.

 

[KimK2006]

On the advice of Unofficial Guide, we have done breaks since we started going when my kids were young. They are 18 and 14 and we still take breaks. Even when they were past napping age at home, they would sometimes nap in Disney. When they stopped napping in Disney, laying down/watching TV, swim, trip to gift shop, food court for drink, etc. are always a great way to decompress for a few hours. We don't feel we are "missing" out on the parks. We get to enjoy the non-park parts of Disney. Everyone is happier because of it!

 

[tcherjen]

We too are staying at the cabins:
March 22-28.

We will be going back for afternoon rest. My dd 7 loves the mid-day breaks. We go at rope drop and rest for a bit in th afternoon (probably 1-4:30 or so) and sometime go to a different park in the evening. The cabins are so relaxing. You will want to schedule downtime there.