To take a break or not to...that's the question...

[nhdisnut]

I've been reading a lot of itineraries lately and it seems that a great many WDW visitors plan mornings at various parks then build in a break in the middle of the day to rest, followed by an evening back in the parks.

Maybe my family is crazy, but we have never felt the need (or especially the desire) to leave the parks for a rest. We love the experiences so much we want to maximize our time at the parks and go from entry to close (we do park hop, however). Is there anyone else out there that is "crazy" enough to go straight through like we do? We figure that a WDW vacation is not the type of vacation where we rest - if we wanted that we would head for a beach somewhere!

 

[cruisnfamily]

I think we're kind of like you!

When the kids were littler, we were much more commando type. We'd start at 8am and go straight thru 'til 10 or 11 or whenever closing was. The kids would nap in their strollers and we'd keep going. Every trip, we had to "do it all" and we actually enjoyed it! I can remember taking off my shoes when we'd get in the car and my feet were so sore and tender from going all day long.

Anyway, now that the kids are older (8 & 11) and we've been every year and know what our favorites are we seem to have become more relaxed. We don't need to "do it all", we already have! Now we usually park hop mid day just to break up the day, we never spend all day in one park anymore. If we don't park hop, sometimes we find ourselves done for the day around 4pm or so and back to the hotel for swimming and early to bed.

So, eventhough we've relaxed our touring strategy, we still don't take breaks. I think if we headed back mid-day, we wouldn't get going again, we'd be done for the day.

 

[cdpa4d]

I agree with you. However, I learned that with my 3 yr old DD it is absolutely crucial for her to get an Afternoon nap for us to enjoy our day. If we went all day we would be setting ourselves up for one rough evening. Maybe we could get away with one day without an Afternoon nap, but the next day would be rough. Walt Disney World is very overwhelming for little ones. The heat, the excitement, and the fun take a lot out of little ones. They need rest.
Good luck and have a great trip!
ADP

 

[nhdisnut]

Originally posted by cruisnfamily
I think we're kind of like you!

Anyway, now that the kids are older (8 & 11) and we've been every year and know what our favorites are we seem to have become more relaxed. We don't need to "do it all", we already have! Now we usually park hop mid day just to break up the day, we never spend all day in one park anymore. If we don't park hop, sometimes we find ourselves done for the day around 4pm or so and back to the hotel for swimming and early to bed.

I 'll bet this is how we will be on our trip at the end of April - this will be our third trip in 6 years so, like you, we have our favorite attractions, and have some we can miss. Thanks for the response!

 

[jacksonsmom]

Our very first trip (Last June) we were "GO GO GO" We got there bright and early & stayed late.

Our second trip (In December) we were only there for 5 days and although we were at the parks bright and early, we sometimes would leave about 2 or so hours before closing.

We will be leaving May 29th for 20 days at WDW (got to get the most out of the APs)
We have already said we are taking thing SLOW! Of course there will be some days we will be up bright and early waiting to get in, but other days we might sleep in a bit. We are planning on "relaxing" a bit more, take in the little things at WDW that we miss when doing the commando stagery.

I say whatever works for your family, is perfect!!!

 

[BoboJacks]

Me! Ive gone akmost every year, even when I was 2 I stayed in the parks

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by nhdisnut
I've been reading a lot of itineraries lately and it seems that a great many WDW visitors plan mornings at various parks then build in a break in the middle of the day to rest, followed by an evening back in the parks.

Maybe my family is crazy, but we have never felt the need (or especially the desire) to leave the parks for a rest. We love the experiences so much we want to maximize our time at the parks and go from entry to close (we do park hop, however). Is there anyone else out there that is "crazy" enough to go straight through like we do? We figure that a WDW vacation is not the type of vacation where we rest - if we wanted that we would head for a beach somewhere!

We never did either. I have been to WDW with several different types of groups over the year and never gone back for a break.

First trips were with DM & DD & DB. First trip I was 7 and DB was 2. (I'm 27 now).

Also been with just two young adults (me and various friends), never felt a need for a break.

Went with Dcousin and her DD4 and DD4 slept in her stroller when she got sleepy.

Last trip and future trips with my boyfriend; we go from 8:30 am till 2 am some days. We never felt overly sleepy or in need of a break...

 

[daystar]

Hi,
We went for the first time at Christmas, these boards helped us alot....I have a five year old and a twelve year old so we took breaks in the afternoon....We started our day off early as soon as the parks open, then about around 2 we went back to the hotel either to swim or just sit back in our room....Around 4 we headed back to the park for some dinner and whatever else we wanted to do.....I suggest if you have small children to take a break if not you will have some tired children later on that day.....If we didn't have my youngest one with us we would of stayed though out the day and night....

 

[gopherit]

I guess each person has his / her own way of "doing Disney" -- sometimes it differs, even within a family! Mh DH is a go-go-gopher, wanting to stay in the park every minute -- doesn't really care for switching parks, even, just to maximize his minutes in the park du jour! Me, I like change... change is good! I like to hit the favorites and move on. And I also like to see my kids enjoying themselves. If that means riding the train around MK 4 orbits while a 2 yr old takes a power-snooze on my lap and DH takes the older boys on some rides, that's fine... likewise, if it means heading back to the villa with 1 or all 3 kids for a few hrs, that's fine too. DH usually stays behind. Whatever -- to each his/her gameplan -- it's his vacation too! Our kids are pretty good about realizing when they have hit their limits, and they have a choice of either coming with mom or staying in the park with dad.

One day I always recall when I think of this, though -- it was a realllllllly hot day in August, and my 2 yr old and her 3 yr old cousin were beat. My SIL and I decided to head back to the villa. My then 7 yr old said he wanted to come with us. DH was stunned -- he figured the 7 yr old would want to stay where the "action" was, after all! Well, DH, BIL and our 6 yr old son stayed at MK, with orders to meet us at EPCOT at 5 for dinner. SIL and I got the 3 kids back to VWL just before a torrential downpour. Boy it sure felt cozy in that villa, munching popcorn while the wee ones slept. DS and I watched some TV, played UNO, passed the time until we got the toddler crew up and over to EPCOT for dinner. When we got to Coral Reef, there was DH,BIL and DS 6 -- they looked wetter than the fish in the tanks. You could absolutely wring them out! And because the storm had been so nasty, the rides they had planned on doing at MK were a no-go (Splash Mountian and BTMRR). Betcha on this next trip, DH might just think twice about sticking it out in a park on a humid August afternoon...

 

[kweaver]

My kids (now 3, 6 and 9) have generally been nappers til age 5 or so...but of course we always wanted to get the most park time out of our stay...so we usually stayed all day. By the time 5 or 6pm came (or earlier if it was a hot and muggy summertime visit), we were wiped. We had never managed to stay late enough to see the fireworks or any of the nighttime shows.

On our last trip (Feb 03), we did the *afternoon nap* plan with the kids (then 2, 5 and 8) for the first time. Wow...what a difference! We all napped...everyone felt like new again. We hit Chef Mickey's for an early dinner (no PS!) and were back to the parks by 6pm -- stayed through til 11pm (I think we rode 6 or 7 rides during the last hour!). Taking an afternoon break is definitely the way to go for us.

Now we're DVC members, so we'll have room for the whole family to really stretch out and relax during rest time.

 

[hockey mom]

We also stayed straight through and the kids fell asleep in the stroller when they got tired.

 

[pjlla]

We usually go opening to closing, except for Epcot. But this is because we go during off-season and the parks close fairly early. AK closes at 5pm (after which we park hop to MK), MK and MGM close around 7pm and Epcot closes at 9. I just have this feeling that we have to "get our money's worth" while we are there, and sitting around the hotel room just doesn't cut it for me! But that said, this time around my kids were 6 and 8 1/2 and haven't napped for years. And we made SURE to get them to bed before 9 every night! But they were pretty tired by the end of the week! .............P

 

[goofy4tink]

During the cooler months we have stayed in the parks all day. With the nice weather and the fact that the parks close earlier, it's no problem. But, during the summer it's a whole different ballgame. We get up and are in the parks as early as is possible. We head back to our resort for a swim and some lunch. Change our shoes and head back out to the parks around 2ish. Usually we do MK in the mornings. MGM and Epcot are saved for the afternoons and evenings. AK we do in the morning also.

Now, if there is weather like last August....we'll be doing a lot every morning and not much after 3:00!!! That torrential rain, thunder and lightening was incredible!!!

 

[OhMickey]

We never leave the parks. My children have gone since they were 4 years old. Sometimes they took naps, sometimes they didn't. However, we always break for a long relaxing lunch. Sometimes we go to one of the closer hotels, other times we go to a character lunches in the park.

 

[sherrimc99]

We just got back from i day at MK and 1 day at AK with 4.5 yo and 2 yo. We meant to take a midday break but never got aroudn to it. We opened both parks and left after Wishes. If we had more days to be in the parks, we definitley would have taken a break but our time was limite.d Kids did get cranky, but they napped when we waited in lines (dd while dh and ds rode Mountain RR and waiting for Bear Jamboree) and ds while taking a break. We loved having strollers for both (umbrellas from home). Frequent snacks helped a lot too.

 

[skiwee1]

We go to WDW twice a year staying about 30 days total so we have no need to go go go. We usually take our time getting to the park which usually isn't until 10am or later. We then stay for maybe 4 to 5 hours at the most and then return to the Poly where we veg out and lay by the pool. I think we like that as much, if not more, then the parks these days! We then shower and go to whatever dinner we have planned on going to. We will return from dinner and watch the fireworks and ELP from the beach. If we plan on seeing the firworks in the parks then we do not leave the resort until much later and get to the park around 5pm. We probably spend as much time at the Poly pool as we do at the parks. We never spend an entire day at a park. A half day is more then enough for us. I guess we are getting old! LOL!

 

[tink2]

The only break we take is sitting on the curb waiting for the parade or sitting at a character meal! We've been 3 times with small children- our last trip our kids were 4 and 2. We get to the parks when they open- including EMH if our itenary includes it- and leave after the nighttime show or fireworks (except Epcot- it is always at 9:00 and it is a loud show that would probably scare them anyway). Our kids sleep in the strollers for naps and sometimes before we head out of the parks they fall asleep- this happened only once this year though!
However, we do not go during a hot time of the year. We've always been during Thanksgiving week and this year the first week in December. If we took small children during the summer months, I might reconsider my philosophy on this! But, we definitely do not go to WDW to rest! Besides, I don't think either of my children now would cooperate in going back- it would probably cause more of a fit b/c we were leaving than just letting them nap or rest in their strollers. BTW, DD will be 5 this year and b/c of our commando style, she will definitely be riding in a stroller.
Rest at WDW, never!!! We don't want to miss a thing!

 

[frannn]

When we went on our honeymoon, and twice after that. It was all new, and we wanted to max our park time. After those first few visits (in March), we started to move more slowly, take our time, take a break, and jump to different parks. We also visited a few times in Oct instead of March. I would go commando if DH would agree (but he doesn't), as well as hit the outlets several times during our trip. DH thinks a vacation should be about relaxing, though, so we now take breaks.... I could never get enough of WDW, although I admit I would love to have that channel where they have the Disney clips etc, on my home tv. Also like the Lifetime Movie Network, which we don't get with cable. But, I could watch that when the parks close at night..........

 

[PatriciaH]

We used to go from morning till night, but even in the off season we would be so tired and sore by the end of the week. Now that we have been so many times, we take a break in the middle of the day for about 2-3 hours. If we don't feel like we need it we stay in the parks. We like to go in the pool, use the concierge lounge, nap and shower. Then we go back refreshed.

 

[exwdwcm]

When we go during peak season and the parks are open late, we usually try and take a break. Everyone just ends up getting hot, tired and grouchy. On our last trip- 9 days straight, we took 2 hour breaks from about 1pm-3pm each day. We needed it. I had a strict schedule going to take full advantage of our time- so we were usually at the early entry park of the day at 7am, which meant getting up no later than 6am each day. Then going til the parks closed at 10 or 11pm, well that makes for one long day. My family was asking if i scheduled bathroom breaks cuz we were going and going so fast!!!

The break was good, although we only had one child (8) in our party (the rest of us are 25-55 years old), we all took short naps or a swim or just put our feet up.

I saw it first hand when I was a cast member- i remember to this day, one family in particular. They came into Hollywood and Vine where I worked at the time, it was just a cafeteria set up back then- parents and 2 kids----they were obviously wore out. It was September and hot!! The kids were whining and tired and the mom finally blew up at them and told them if they didn't shut up, she was taking them all home right that minute- that she would cancel everything and put them on a plane home, since they can't appreciate their vacation. She just went nuts on them. After taking a few moments and calming down, I think she realized what she had done, the kids were crying and they were all upset. I gave them all some free ice cream, cuz I felt bad for them. They felt better and realized they hadn't had a nap yet. I saw first hand how some families NEED the break.

If you can go all day, by all means, go for it. I know my sister and I plan to attempt a full day straight (7am-11pm) in april!!! we will see how it goes!!!