To Nap or Not to Nap

[adamsloco]

I am looking for some advice here. I have reached a bit of a dilemma.

First, some background.
The cast is myself , my DW, DS 9 , DD 5 and DD 1 . We may (or may not) have my DSIL along as well, but she hasn't decided yet.

We are going to be saying at the Fort Wilderness Cabins from Nov 28 to Dec 6. We will have the dining plan for this trip.

We want to try to get to the parks for the beginning of each day. However, there is also so many evening and night activities (ie, Wishes, Fantasmic) that we aren't going to be going to bed early. While we will be doing one sit down (character meal) each day, I am not sure that will be enough.

So, the question is, do we plan to come back for a nap or not? Actually, I am not too concerned about the DD 1, since she can (and does) nap easily, anywhere, including the stroller. The DD 5 is the problem, since she gets really ... really ... well, shall we say 'cranky' ? if she doesn't get enough sleep.

Any suggestions and/or experiences would help.

 

[Disney Pal]

My vote would be to nap. We tried to keep them up and see how they would be and shall I say not good. Remember we as adults can go go go and the little ones need down time. Unless you want to put with melt downs. I think it is always important to give the option of resting/down time. We usually are at the park by 9:30 and start heading back to hotel by 2:30 -3 the latest.
They would sleep for almost 2 hours sometimes. It is always better to rest the little ones.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I vote for the nap, especially if you are planning late night activities. A break from the parks in the middle of the day can be refreshing for everyone.

 

[BlakeNJ]

We have gone the past two years with DS4 & DD2 and let me tell you, even I need a nap by teh afternoon. It really made dinner much more enjoyable and enabled us to stretch the night much later than normal. We saw all the parades, evening shows and had a great time. I did take a little work to get everyone to sleep but the blackout shades make the room very dark. We were back by 2pm and off to an early dinner by 5pm. It's the best way to do Disney--really.

In compairison, I did a one day trip alone with both kids and since we were driving home later that night, no nap. Let me tell you, what a HUGE difference. DS4 had the biggest meltdown infront of the Buzz ride around 3pm--I was mortified. It was then that I decided I didn't care what the situation was, we will always nap.

Nap, nap, nap, nap. You will have much happier kids and even more important, happy parents.

Blakely

 

[Hope73]

We don't nap in disney. It takes too long to travel to the hotel. My kids have slept in strollers if needed

 

[tmarquez]

We stay at the Cabins too! DD(4) is normally an early riser and (kinda) early to bed type of girl. It's really been impossible to take her off of her normal schedule and still have her in a happy mood. We get up to be at the parks at opening and tend to have ridden everything we want by around 2. The plan was always to go back for a nap, but nobody can ever sleep and it turns into a swim instead.

We TRY to stay up for at least some of night time stuff, but honestly we are ALL beat at the end of the day. So we vote. At DD's age, it's best for us to try to stay on her normal schedule as much as possible. She doesn't nap at home.

It works out fine...sure we miss some stuff, but as she gets older I'm sure she will be able to stay up later...there's no rush.

 

[asgt]

we went in Jan. with our toddler and went back everyday to nap. by the end of the week I was so beat that I was napping with him! we lost time in the park but not having a cranky child was a fabulous trade off!

 

[macmahony]

You might be surprised, your 5 year old might fall asleep in the stoller. My kids, NEVER sleep in the stoller, EVER!! Except at disney, if they are tired they sleep. For us, espically since the parks close early that time of the year (we have been there the same time twice), it was too much of a hassle. My oldest, who was 5 last time we went, has always been the most emotional, but she is amazing in disney, and will sit in the stoller and crash if needed. For us, naps would never work (have tried), to try to get them all to sleep midday, is nuts. So, you have to decide how you think your 5 year old would do. Plus, I find the travel time such a waste, think an hour to get to your hotel, time to sleep, and an hour back, espically when the parks close early, your whole day is gone in travel time (at least in my opinion).
Have fun

 

[design_mom]

My son (now 6) sounds like your daughter. He can get very cranky if he doesn't get enough sleep -- and at 5yo he still often took a nap.

We stayed at the Wilderness Cabins last year and we ended up coming back every *other* day for a nap. He seemed to do okay without a nap for one day, but by the next day he needed one. Sometimes it was difficult to get him to go to sleep (too excited, I think) so chilling out watching a movie seemed to help. We weren't on DDP, so we generally took our naps a little later, then made dinner at the cabin then headed back to the park.

We also found that the quickest way to get DS to sleep was to ride the launch back to Fort Wilderness from the MK (it stops at the WL between). I think it was the combo of the motion and the engine noise and the gentle rocking but it put him out within minutes. Of course, he woke up as soon as we got off, but even if you just ride it straight back to the MK, that's a good 30+ minute "power nap."

Good luck.
Kim

 

[tanyaandallie]

We nap. I would recommend napping, esp. if you are planning some late nights. If you leave the parks and nap you are usually missing the most crowded parts of the day anyways.

 

[Merriwind]

Definitely nap. You will all be better for the break--it will make your evenings much more pleasant. My DD9 stills naps at WDW--so does my DH and my Ddad! The pace and excitement are exhausting--you just don't realize it until you are sleeping or someone is crashing!! Enjoy!

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

Definetely nap...and if a nap doesnt happen at least plan for some down time at the resort to just relax.

 

[betsywdw]

I vote for the nap too. We took DD1 in Feb and we would hit the parks early and head back to the resort around 2:30. She was able to get a nice nap in and then we would head back out around dinner and she would make it until around 10. She was so much better after a nap in her crib at the resort.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We napped at DL last time we went with a 1 and 3yr old. We wont be doing it this time at WDW. We just missed to much. In 7 days we probably only saw just over half of each of the parks and really regret wasting so much time sleeping when we spent so much to get there.

 

[txmomto1]

We went in January with our 4 year old. We tried to come back for a nap the first day, and all he did was dance in the hotel room. So after that, we just stayed in the parks. The last night, we went to the Hall of Presidents at about 8PM, and he fell asleep during that.... which was nice, because we got to enjoy it, with out him being "bored".

I'd say try it, but they tend to rally at the world!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Our kids have been trapsing around the parks with us from the time they were 6 and 7 months old all we did was let them sleep in the stroller we never went back to the resort for naps.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would use a stroller, and if the kids are still tired, go back for a nap. Heck, sometimes I nap when I am at Disney.

 

[Rob R]

we stayed at disney all star during christmas week, 2 nights and only spent a day in the park.

we were there for opening, EMH, and then left after the afternoon parade-about 1:00pm for the hotel, slept--we all did--then back at the park at about 7, stayed until about 1:00am. nobody was tired, no meltdowns, it was great.
my favorite video footage all came after about 9-10:00pm when i started taping all the other families kids having various meltdowns around the park. i swore then and there, that there would be a nap everyday at disney in the future, plus the afternoons are too crowded anyway. when we left the park the wait for pirates was 3hours, DS and i waited 15min later that evening. so we missed like 2-4 rides by leaving the park?? easy trade for well behaving kids.

we rode dumbo like 4 times
peter pans flight
buzz lightyear 3 times
pooh's adventure
speedway 3x
astro orbiter
goofy's barnstormer
its a small world
waited at mickey's fair to see 3 characters
rode the train
played on Tom's island for an hour and a half
ate at pecos bills
watched the afternoon parade
slept
ate at hotel
jungle cruise
potc
alladin's carpet
buzz a few more times
cindy's carosel

i'm sure i'm forgetting something, not bad for first time with DS 3 and DS 2. we skipped the adult stuff, but we'll be back on aug.

 

[adamsloco]

The majority of the people who responded said napping is a good idea. You may lose time in the parks, but also lose many of the late afternoon meltdowns. But losing time in the parks can be serious if the aren't open late. Does anyone know where I can find historical time data for when the park is open for Nov/Dec?

 

[fan_of_small_world]

FWIW, I planned eveything around the naps, and they didn't happen.

My kids have always been early risers (and willing to take a mid-day nap when exhausted), so I planned on getting to the parks for the rope drop, having lunch there, heading back to POP for naps, and then going back to the parks. Instead, they ended up sleeping in and skipping the naps. However, DD was 4.5 when we went, and she did take a couple of naps in the stroller.