Wanting to make time for daily naps, please share how it did/didn't work for you.

[Kat&Dom]

We arrive at the park at rope drop, leave around noon - have lunch back at the resort, do a bit of swimming and relaxing, then head back to the park around 5pm or so. We still get about 7-8 hours of park time in with this type of schedule. It is absolutely amazing how many rides you can do in the first couple of hours, plus it is cooler out - by about 11am, the parks are starting to get crowded and it is getting hot out.

I need the break from the crowds and heat plus my son loves to swim so taking a break for the afternoon is part of what makes the vacation a vacation for us. Everyone is much happier and enjoys everything more with having a the break!

 

[kalee45]

We, too, are going in June; DS5's first time. We are planning an afternoon break, but will be flexible. The break is down-time & transition-time, as most days we are hopping to a different park in the PM. When we tried the afternoon break thing with our DD's last trip (2005) it did not work. Once back at the resort swimming & snacking, they had no interest in going back into the chaos of the parks! So we just did long days & early nights! The only thing we went back for was the Electrical Parade & that was it: arrived at MK with them in their PJ's, watched the parade & left!

 

[Cin]

We arrive at the park at rope drop, leave around noon - have lunch back at the resort, do a bit of swimming and relaxing, then head back to the park around 5pm or so. We still get about 7-8 hours of park time in with this type of schedule. It is absolutely amazing how many rides you can do in the first couple of hours, plus it is cooler out - by about 11am, the parks are starting to get crowded and it is getting hot out.

I need the break from the crowds and heat plus my son loves to swim so taking a break for the afternoon is part of what makes the vacation a vacation for us. Everyone is much happier and enjoys everything more with having a the break!

We did the same thing. My two were DD, 10 and DS, 5 and we made rope drop and grabbed FP's and rode things which get the longest lines the fastest yet board the slowest and then toured wherever we wanted until 1230 (when we grabbed FP #5) and then retreated for lunch, a swim, some tv time, some playground time and just general unscheduled unwinding. If they napped, fine, if they didn't fine but the downtime at the playground and the pool seemed to help. Actually we could have stayed at the resort and skipped the parks and the kids would have been just as happy at the pool. We rested until about 5 or 5:30 and then headed back out to use our FP's, get some dinner and watch some evening light and firework shows.

 

[Krystalynn]

My daughter is 3 and she always falls asleep in the park. The two of us are able to make it happily through the whole day, it just depends on the person.

We are even able to take her on a few rides she dislikes while she's sleeping, like the Haunted Mansion!

 

[sydneysmom]

When we went last September, we planned for naps and it worked for us just fine. We were staying at the GF, so it was very easy because we were on the monorail. It was a little tough to plan at first because since we were on the deluxe dining plan, I thought I had to make B - L - D reservations. Well, I couldn't figure out how to make it work.

So I scrapped the plan. I went to making breakfast ADR's and then for dinner we did some 2TS dinners. (which made up our 3 TS credits most days). So we used snack credits for lunch or ate at the hotel...there was no pressure that we HAD to get up and be someplace at a certain time. Coming from a MAJOR planning control freak, this was pretty big for me to relinquish this kind of "control over everything". But I'm very glad I did.

Our DD was 4 at the time, so she needed naps. And when she had a nap, we had a happy kid that stayed up and closed every park each night. And when her little head hit her pillow, that was all she wrote.

if you can be flexible mid day and just make it a point, it's very refreshing to take a step back and have a little break. Even if you go for a quick swim.

 

[Meshell2002]

last trip...we went back and had that break (DD does not nap in stroller). I swam while everyone else napped. When DS was the only...he stroller napped because he's the type that sleeps through everything....DD not so much. Think about your situation and remember....you can always change your mind Either way my kids were rested and enjoyed the evening activities....we try to do at least one "late night" per trip.....followed by a late start/ no park day for rest or shopping at DTD.

 

[nettii]

We usually take a nap a few times but not every day. When we know we will have a late night. Last trip my boys were 8 and 14.

 

[CathieArms]

Hello All,

This is our first family trip to Disney World, planned for June. I'm starting to plan our daily schedules, and I'm needing advice on when/how to schedule in daily naps. I am hoping that we can make it to the rope drops; however, I know that we will need to rest during the day if we want to make it to the nightly fireworks.

How did your plans work with naps? Did it still leave plenty of time to return and still do more? & of course any other helpful information is appreciated.

TIA

When we were there two years ago, we didn't actually "plan" for naps/downtime, but it just happened to "work out" at the same time every day.

We'd hit rope drop at 8 or 9 and go strong until 1:30. Then we'd stop for a TS lunch, after which we'd head back to the resort for downtime. Generally speaking, that meant we'd get back to the resort by around 3:30 or 4 and rest until about 6:30, then head back out to the parks around 7ish.

It wasn't planned, but that's how it worked out for us. Surprisingly, we *all* took naps! DH - who always teases me for taking an afternoon nap - was out cold, and so was ds (then almost 5) and dd (then 13).

 

[Brer Shay]

Count us in on the naps.

We've gone with and without our children, stayed onsite and offsite, and more days than not we include a nap in our Disney trip. We arrive before ropedrop, go until around 1-2 pm, then head for a bed and/or pool. We're back at the park by 5-6 pm and enjoy the evening entertainment. The exception is our Animal Kingdom day. We get the park completed in a full day and leaving by 5 pm still gives us enough downtime. We're pretty commando while we're in the parks.

 

[Jerseymomof2]

We are nappers too. I had hoped that our 2 sons would take stroller naps but they just wouldn't and we were staying off site, We then got to rope drop every morning. would leave anywhere from 11:30 to 1:30 and then go back and nap. then eat and go back to the park and stay until close. This is what worked for us. You won't know until you get there and see. Have a great time!

 

[mawmaw040510]

When our 12 year old was little we of course knew the signs that he was tired so we went and got on the train at MK and rode around 2 or 3 trips.. Nice nap for him and just a good break for DH and I. we enjoyed the time to talk and people watch... Not sure about the other parks how we did it. Guess I am getting old..
Go and have a great time. Be ready to cool off somewhere. and let the little ones rest and nap..

 

[goofygrl4]

I don't have children of my own, but for the past 3 years I've been going to Disney with my niece. Our trick is.. if shes starting to get tired, we tell her were going to go back and swim, and we do, we let her swim and cool down for about 45 min and then we go back to our rooms and have her lay down after her bath and she would usually sleep for about and hour or so. On days we didn't swim she would just take cat naps in her stroller or in the car.

 

[SenoiaDawg]

During our trip in April, we went back to the resort (POR) and napped several days. Our kids are 10, 8 & 5. We drove instead of using Disney Transportation, did not have park hoppers and did rope drop everyday.

On days that the park we visited closed at 9:00PM or earlier, we stayed at the park all day, and just found somewhere to sit and relax. DS5 actually took a couple of naps when we did this.

On days that the park we visited was open late, we left between noon and 2:00PM (right after eating lunch) and went back to the resort and took a nap. We made it back to the park between 6:00PM and 7:00PM then stayed as long as we could last. One night was EMH at MK; the park was open until 3:00AM and we left at 1:50AM.

This was the first time we took breaks in the middle of the day and it worked very well for us. As a matter of fact, it will probably become part of our plan for future trips.

Hope this helps!

 

[GrammyJudy]

We went in Jan my DGS was 2 1/2. The 2 days we did not take him back for a nap he had meltdowns at dinner time. We would eat lunch and then my DD or her husband would lay down with him and the rest of us would go to the pool. Worked out great and we plan to do the same this Jan. When he was 4 mos old he slept in the stroller but there is too much sensory overload for him to do that now. He will be 3 1/2 and we will still bring the stroller and do the nap break.

 

[Tinbadge69]

We are planning on doing the break thing. Our DS is 3 1/2 yrs. We went before and were able to let him nap in the stroller. But now he is too big for the stroller to sleep. So we are planning on taking a break and heading back to the parks for dinner because of reservations. We are hoping it works. Last time he was out before the parade started.

 

[tsme]

When our DD is 2 yrs old we planned each day to have long lunches at indoor, quiet, cool restaurants. (a non-character place, usually at a resort) Before we left she knew that after eating her lunch she would have to "rest". So at lunch time, she'd eat what she wanted (usually only a few bites) then would lay down across my lap or I'd hold her & cover her with a light blanket to block out the light & she'd sleep while the rest of us enjoyed our meal slowly. (usually 45 min. to an hour snooze) We'd get her food to go. And carry her out, put her in her stroller, & give her the rest of her lunch as we pushed her around. It worked out great for us & for her.

 

[The_Alice]

I don't know about my kids needing a nap, but my DH sure did. WDW rule for our family is "If DH isn't happy, ain't no one happy." So, we would break around noon, swim, eat, nap, and then tour until midnight usually. Worked well for us and the parks are also so beautiful at night.

 

[gstew24]

i always go out to the early park then come back lunch and a nap til later