To rest, or not to rest - that is the question

[jvattes]

I am trying to work out our touring plans and am SO torn about a mid-day rest.

Our kids will be 10 and 6 when we travel. We are going in the very end of July and beginning of August, and I know it is going to be crazy hot and busy (we've been at this time of year before and know fully what to expect). Our day-to-day schedule is laid out such that after a long day and late night in the park we have a day off or a late start the next day.

I am torn between going hard on the full day and evening in the park, juicing the day of every possible minute of fun and skipping a mid-day rest; and making the sacrifice of knowing we'll be missing some attractions or shows, but taking a few hours in the middle of the day to lunch, rest, change wardrobes, and regroup.

Help??

 

[ErinTwinmom]

If I were going then, my plan would be rope drop till lunch. Then back to the hotel for rest, nap or pool till 4ish. That way you are rested for the evening and you miss the worst of the heat and crowds. I would use your late start day to see the mk day parade since you wont need a break that day. If you decide to power though and do no breaks, then I would seriously consider renting your 6yo a stroller if they will possibly fit.
that's all I got.

 

[Happyjen27]

The responses to this one are going to be as split as you are about it. It just depends. Try both ways and see what you like, and what is working for your family.

I planned, planned, planned, but, at the same time some things can't be planned.

For us, we are break people. Almost as much for ME as the kids. I knew our first visit wouldn't be our last. I know our second visit wasn't our last, so I was content to see less and enjoy more.

Others are not break people, and that's how they enjoy Disney.

I would suggest scheduling both kinds of days and seeing which you enjoy more, and tweak your FP+ and ADRs from there.

 

[3boysNagirl]

You could choose a show some days which is shorter than a resort break tho gets you off your feet & into a/c. You also could do an early night the day before you are needing to do all day push. A mid-day TS also would get you off feet & into a/c. I would definitely do as pp stated renting a stroller for 6 yo for an all day push. We have 2x teens yet they were always ready for a mid-day resort break tho I had made a "ghost" plan with indoor shows in case they didn't want to leave

 

[Disneygirl NY]

We are normally "Disney Commandos" when we go, even when my boys were little, they napped in the stroller. However, we have always gone "off-season", never in summer, never during school breaks. Our next trip is planned for late Aug. Even though my boys will be 12 and 9 on this trip, I am planning some mid-day breaks. Since they are older, they can stay up later, so I think the evenings will be great. My older guy isn't too happy about being too hot (or too cold, he's an old lady in a little boy's body) so to minimize his complaining, I am thinking this will be a good idea for the summer.

 

[seenellie81]

I would take a break personally. I have found that by taking breaks we were actually able to see more and do more. Go for rope drop or for morning EMH. Leave when the park gets busy, rest at the hotel, swim, lunch, nap. Then head out to the park that does not have EMH that day as it will be the busiest park (thats what they say anyways). On days that MK has late EMH we do not do rope drop the next day. We also make the nap a little later more like near dinner time. We eat dinner at the resort and then go to MK for the late night EMH and sleep in the next day. We find that we are able to do more because everyone is always re-energized and we have no melt downs. We move quicker and really enjoy our time happy and rested. Plus Rope drop and EMH are far less busy so we can move through quicker. We also find that when parades are going on the lines are not as long so we hit the rides instead of watching the parades that we have already seen that trip. Or maybe last trip depending on what the kids want to do. I will say that we do not rest on AK days because they close so early. However we dont stay at AK all day either we find we can finish it in half a day, then we go back to the resort clean up maybe rest some and go to another park if we feel like it.

 

[msmama]

You could take a break without actually going back to the hotel. Ride the monorail, go check out another resort. Have a long leisurely lunch in the middle of the day, ride the train.

For my family, once we leave the parks, it's hard to go back. But we also don't push ourselves from rope drop to fireworks (in fact, we've never seen disney fireworks). We usually leave the parks by 4/5 ish (maybe later if I schedule an early dinner).

I'd say play it by ear.

 

[jvattes]

I figured it out!

In my heart of hearts I feel we DO need a midday break.

What I was caught up on was doing a lunch break AND breaking for dinner. This was chopping the day up so much and infringing on our chance to do a lot of things.

What I have done now is push the lunch break a little later and combined both lunch with dinner, making one (really) long break. The TP actually looks much better in terms of seeing and doing things, but that super long break is going to be a really nice opportunity for us to rest and regroup.

Day 1 is now finalized hew Onto Day 2

I just hope I can get the FP ressies to coincide with our plan now! LOL

Thanks for your feedback!!

 

[lucyem]

We always plan our days with rope drop, lunch, pool time, dinner, more park time. We have never felt like we missed a thing. My kids LOVE their pool time and we are all happy to have the time to relax.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I like having a plan A and plan B. We go fully prepared to break if we need it, or slug on if we do not. And then we decide each day on the fly. Because we got lucky with weather, we only did one such break on our trip, but were prepared for more if need be.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Rest for sure. One way or another. It varies so much from family to family.

We are not break midday and return people really, but we have done it. But we are not open to close people either. We only did that in October when we were in Orlando for a short time to visit Sea World and ended up changing our plans for our last touring day from Sea World to MK. For our summer trips, I know rest is crucial, but for us it usually isn’t a midday break. It’s because I have found that it was hard to get my daughter back out in the evening. The 2 exceptions were when she had an afternoon BBB appointment. Even then it was not easy to get her out of the pool. Something about getting back to the resort and relaxed I think.

So I don’t have any midday break and return days planned for our upcoming trip. On our arrival day, we’ll start late (around 3) and end with the park’s closing. Most of our other days we go with early days that go from rope drop (or an early breakfast before a park opens) until 3 or 4 and end with pool time, dinner at the resort, and going to bed early. On one other day, we’ll do something in between like start around 10 and go until dinner time, do a TS for dinner and then head in for the evening. That is our Epcot day ending with dinner at Ohana.

We have also discovered a TS lunch is a nice break. I had avoided them until our previous trip when I wanted to eat at 2 places where we generally eat breakfast before the park opens, but for one of them we were going on an EMH day making a pre-opening breakfast useless. For the other I could not get a reservation for breakfast. So, I scheduled a lunch at both places instead and it was a great break.

I’d say be flexible for sure. I mean as much as you can. While posting my last trip report commenters said they weren’t sure they could be as flexible as my report indicated, but I also don’t have another adult to consider when we travel.

 

[jvattes]

Rest for sure. One way or another. It varies so much from family to family.

We are not break midday and return people really, but we have done it. But we are not open to close people either. We only did that in October when we were in Orlando for a short time to visit Sea World and ended up changing our plans for our last touring day from Sea World to MK. For our summer trips, I know rest is crucial, but for us it usually isn’t a midday break. It’s because I have found that it was hard to get my daughter back out in the evening. The 2 exceptions were when she had an afternoon BBB appointment. Even then it was not easy to get her out of the pool. Something about getting back to the resort and relaxed I think.

So I don’t have any midday break and return days planned for our upcoming trip. On our arrival day, we’ll start late (around 3) and end with the park’s closing. Most of our other days we go with early days that go from rope drop (or an early breakfast before a park opens) until 3 or 4 and end with pool time, dinner at the resort, and going to bed early. On one other day, we’ll do something in between like start around 10 and go until dinner time, do a TS for dinner and then head in for the evening. That is our Epcot day ending with dinner at Ohana.

We have also discovered a TS lunch is a nice break. I had avoided them until our previous trip when I wanted to eat at 2 places where we generally eat breakfast before the park opens, but for one of them we were going on an EMH day making a pre-opening breakfast useless. For the other I could not get a reservation for breakfast. So, I scheduled a lunch at both places instead and it was a great break.

I’d say be flexible for sure. I mean as much as you can. While posting my last trip report commenters said they weren’t sure they could be as flexible as my report indicated, but I also don’t have another adult to consider when we travel.

Never occurred to me to push through to dinner and quit after that - but I sure do like the sound of it!

I think it's getting harder to be flexible because of all the advance reservations that can (and so have to) be made. Even I, as a mega planner, am getting a bit of a buzz-kill vibe recently because of it.

 

[Happyjen27]

Never occurred to me to push through to dinner and quit after that - but I sure do like the sound of it!

I think it's getting harder to be flexible because of all the advance reservations that can (and so have to) be made. Even I, as a mega planner, am getting a bit of a buzz-kill vibe recently because of it.

I planned far more ADRs our first trip than our second. Having to rush the kids out of the hotel room because of a breakfast ADR, or, if the kids just swam and are relaxing, making them get going to dinner was a pain.

I still need to eat a proper, sit down meal each day, but some days we just ate at our resort at the QS location (Contemporary had healthy choices) and sometimes I called for a last minute reservation somewhere. We went at a non-peak time, so places like Les Chefs de France and "second tier" choices were available by calling our concierge. We made sure to snag Be Our Guest and Chef Mickey and the like ahead of time, but, there was more room for flexibility with fewer ADRs.

 

[North of Mouse]

I am trying to work out our touring plans and am SO torn about a mid-day rest.

Our kids will be 10 and 6 when we travel. We are going in the very end of July and beginning of August, and I know it is going to be crazy hot and busy (we've been at this time of year before and know fully what to expect). Our day-to-day schedule is laid out such that after a long day and late night in the park we have a day off or a late start the next day.

I am torn between going hard on the full day and evening in the park, juicing the day of every possible minute of fun and skipping a mid-day rest; and making the sacrifice of knowing we'll be missing some attractions or shows, but taking a few hours in the middle of the day to lunch, rest, change wardrobes, and regroup.

Help??

Only you know your children and how'd they respond to the park hours. We never took breaks during our days there - wanted to get everything we could out of them! Our children were always so happy and excited to be there that they did great without leaving the parks. We just slowed down some when we were tired.

Every family knows what works for them.

 

[jvattes]

I planned far more ADRs our first trip than our second. Having to rush the kids out of the hotel room because of a breakfast ADR, or, if the kids just swam and are relaxing, making them get going to dinner was a pain.

I still need to eat a proper, sit down meal each day, but some days we just ate at our resort at the QS location (Contemporary had healthy choices) and sometimes I called for a last minute reservation somewhere. We went at a non-peak time, so places like Les Chefs de France and "second tier" choices were available by calling our concierge. We made sure to snag Be Our Guest and Chef Mickey and the like ahead of time, but, there was more room for flexibility with fewer ADRs.

I hear you. We don't have that many ADRs but between ADRs and now FP+ reservations, plus extras such as BBB and PL.... it's feelng very scheduled.

 

[tanyaandallie]

If I were going then, my plan would be rope drop till lunch. Then back to the hotel for rest, nap or pool till 4ish. That way you are rested for the evening and you miss the worst of the heat and crowds. I would use your late start day to see the mk day parade since you wont need a break that day. If you decide to power though and do no breaks, then I would seriously consider renting your 6yo a stroller if they will possibly fit.
that's all I got.

Ditto. We are going early August and this is our plan. We have been twice now in August as well as many other times. I think in August you actually do not lose many touring opportunities by taking a break. The parks become insanely crowded, the lines get crazy long and it is so very hot. I think it becomes so crowded that you just do not get much done so you might as well go back, rest and then come back in the evening.

That said, we do not always follow this plan for parks other than MK. I think MK breaks up nicely. DHS I find hard to fit in if we take a break so we usually stay til mid afternoon when we are done and then leave. This year we may try something different, though. I always find DHS so darn hot and exhausting. I'm not sure why!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Never occurred to me to push through to dinner and quit after that - but I sure do like the sound of it!

I think it's getting harder to be flexible because of all the advance reservations that can (and so have to) be made. Even I, as a mega planner, am getting a bit of a buzz-kill vibe recently because of it.

I really like doing it because it's not tiring and dinner helps us wind down and that's whether it's TS or QS at the park after touring until 5 or a resort dinner after touring until 5. I have never been in August though.

But I hear you on the advance planning stuff. During my last trip report I got the nickname "flexible mommy" from my readers. But, this is our first trip with fast pass + so I am a little nervous. I only have 1 dinner ADR this trip to allow more flexibility for us where fast pass + might take some away. Of our others, we have 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts because we are much better in the early part of the day. Past 2 and I prefer to play it by ear, but dd loves Ohana with a passion and our Epcot days are generally our most relaxed. Unlike my son, my daughter isn’t a morning person really, but if she’s gone to bed at a decent time, she has no issue at Disney once she is awake.

If your children like surprises (because I know not all children like them like mine do), one thing that helped last trip was now that I know their favorite things, I plan surprises to spring on them during the trip. On our last trip my daughter knew which park which day in advance, but our ADRs and her BBB makeover last trip were all “guess what we are doing today” surprises and that helped get her going in the mornings, wondering what surprise the day might bring.

My daughter said she really liked it. My son appeared to. So this year I’m making our ADRs and her makeover a surprise again. The whole trip is a surprise really, but I’m holding the dining stuff and telling them about it each day as it comes. I’m thinking of adding the fast pass + reservations to my list of surprises to make it go over, not sure yet. But we have an ADR each day except arrival and departure days, so the plan is that each morning a “surprise” invitation is somewhere in the room when they get up. Certain surprise invites will come with a special shirt or some other small thing.

Have fun on your trip. We stayed at Pop last time. My children loved the Hippy Dippy pool.

 

[MandiC]

We just went with our 7 and 9 year olds and we did not rest most days. For us, it wasn't worth it. Transportation itself took so long that if we needed to rest we would sit down someplace and rest for a bit. There are splash pads in all the parks (I didn't see one in HS but I'm sure they have one) if the kids get hot enough to run through one. I'm glad we didn't go back and rest because the next time we go we will have our younger kids and will HAVE to go back for naps more than likely. I think a rest day is a better plan than interrupting park days for a rest time. As for timing, DH forgot his wallet in the room on our first Magic Kingdom day, we were using our Disney rewards for dinner that night so it was needed. It took an hour and a half to go to our resort and back and all we did when we got to the room was drop off some things from breakfast and grab his wallet.

 

[Stephaniesue]

Our first visit we went back to the resort to rest. The kids were 8 and 6 at the time. My DH was the only one who truly wanted to rest. He took a nap almost every afternoon. We mostly did it to avoid the heat and hot sun. We are all fair skin (half of us are red heads), so we burn easily. We used tons of sun block, and still burnt.

This time we are going later in the year, the kids are almost 11 and 9. We are not taking a break. If DH is tired he can scoot back to the room and nap while we have fun.

We also park hopped last time, one park in the am, then lunch and rest, one park in the afternoon. We wasted SO much time doing that! No park hopping this trip.

 

[jvattes]

Ditto. We are going early August and this is our plan. We have been twice now in August as well as many other times. I think in August you actually do not lose many touring opportunities by taking a break. The parks become insanely crowded, the lines get crazy long and it is so very hot. I think it becomes so crowded that you just do not get much done so you might as well go back, rest and then come back in the evening.

That said, we do not always follow this plan for parks other than MK. I think MK breaks up nicely. DHS I find hard to fit in if we take a break so we usually stay til mid afternoon when we are done and then leave. This year we may try something different, though. I always find DHS so darn hot and exhausting. I'm not sure why!

For AK I am thinking of pushing through til supper and then calling it quits. Maybe for HS too, but I'd love to see Fantasmic...