Working in Resort Days

[LyricQuinn817]

So we have a trip coming up in November and I am trying to figure out which days to allot to stay at the resort. We are driving 16 hours and staying 7 days so day 1 is resort/Disney Springs day for sure. We have 2 girls, 4 1/2 and 9 at the time of travel. I was thinking of doing Epcot on Sunday, AK on Mon, HS on Tues and MK on Wed (for evening extra magic hours) and then leaving one other day to go to whichever we want to go back to, which leaves Thurs and Friday open and Saturday will be another resort day before we drive back. What I am struggling with is that I feel like we should throw in a resort day earlier, but I am worried it will get busier towards the end of the week. At the same time, I feel like we may want the days to relax before a long drive back.
How do you all plan your break days when you go? Would you prefer a break in the middle and risk busier park days or would you rather have the time to end your vacation relaxed before going home?

 

[YesterDark]

My upcoming trip:

Travel Day
MK
Epcot
--Resort Day--
AK
DHS
--Resort Day--
MK
Travel Day

I have young kids, I never do more than 2 full park days in a row. Our resort days include dinner in the parks.

 

[stephk1981]

We never so full park days, I don't think DS10 could handle ALL day in the parks until he was about 7. Even after that though, he would rather have morning time in a park for 2-3 hours then go back to relax/ swim at the resort. We have DD1 now also, so definitely not all day at parks. I don't know if we would really want to spend a full day at the resort either though. It almost seems more relaxing to us to take it slower in the parks and have resort time each day but go to the parks every day( Having rest time each day just makes it a more relaxing trip.) Only my opinion and what works for us! If you had to do full park days, I would do two park days, day off, two parks days, day off etc. Hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I agree with @YesterDark. I would do 2 park days followed by a rest day and then 2 more park days, etc.

 

[LyricQuinn817]

We never so full park days, I don't think DS10 could handle ALL day in the parks until he was about 7. Even after that though, he would rather have morning time in a park for 2-3 hours then go back to relax/ swim at the resort. We have DD1 now also, so definitely not all day at parks. I don't know if we would really want to spend a full day at the resort either though. It almost seems more relaxing to us to take it slower in the parks and have resort time each day but go to the parks every day( Having rest time each day just makes it a more relaxing trip.) Only my opinion and what works for us! If you had to do full park days, I would do two park days, day off, two parks days, day off etc. Hope you have an amazing trip!

Thank you! I was thinking of trying to go back to the resort in the afternoons a day or two at least because the thought of that does sound nice for all of us. Especially on the evening extra magic hours MK day.
That does sound like a good alternative because I know my kiddos are going to want the pool and all since we are staying at AK Kidani and that way we don't get tired out. I want to plan things, but not overly plan so I am totally open to switching things up as we go! I only have 2 or 3 meals reserved to worry about and the really important ones I reserved for more than 1 day just in case.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts! This is only our second visit as a family and the first time was shorter and over Christmas so things were Insane!

 

[stephk1981]

Thank you! I was thinking of trying to go back to the resort in the afternoons a day or two at least because the thought of that does sound nice for all of us. Especially on the evening extra magic hours MK day.
That does sound like a good alternative because I know my kiddos are going to want the pool and all since we are staying at AK Kidani and that way we don't get tired out. I want to plan things, but not overly plan so I am totally open to switching things up as we go! I only have 2 or 3 meals reserved to worry about and the really important ones I reserved for more than 1 day just in case.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts! This is only our second visit as a family and the first time was shorter and over Christmas so things were Insane!

That sounds like a great plan! And I know your kids are going to love the pool at AK Kidani! My DS loves the splash area there.....so fun! You all are going to have such a great time, glad you are able to do a longer trip this time

 

[YesterDark]

I'll also like to mention, that when you attempt to do "go back to resort mid-day" with the kiddos, you're losing probably a total of ~3ish hours of logistics. That 3 hours includes leaving parks, getting a bus, traveling to hotel and back to your room then getting ready to leave (changing/washing up) and getting on a bus and getting back in to the park.

Then however many hours you spend back at the resort napping/swimming/whatever. I only mention this because the thought of packing up for the parks, leaving the parks, packing up for the parks and leaving the parks in one day with 3 kids is nightmare fuel.

Unless you're at a resort that's super close to the parks/monorail. The gondola system is really going to improve this part as well for those that like doing mid-day breaks at the resort.

 

[LyricQuinn817]

I'll also like to mention, that when you attempt to do "go back to resort mid-day" with the kiddos, you're losing probably a total of ~3ish hours of logistics. That 3 hours includes leaving parks, getting a bus, traveling to hotel and back to your room then getting ready to leave (changing/washing up) and getting on a bus and getting back in to the park.

Then however many hours you spend back at the resort napping/swimming/whatever. I only mention this because the thought of packing up for the parks, leaving the parks, packing up for the parks and leaving the parks in one day with 3 kids is nightmare fuel.

Unless you're at a resort that's super close to the parks/monorail. The gondola system is really going to improve this part as well for those that like doing mid-day breaks at the resort.

Thank you for all of your advice! I will not be. We will be at Animal Kingdom Lodge so maybe instead I should look at some chill places to visit via monorail to give us breaks during the day. The only real day I can see losing many hours being completely fine would be the day Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours until 11 and even then I'm planning on a resort day after or at least a not in a rush to get to a park day. Because you are right, even with my 2 kiddos and with them being older, they are still demanding and it still takes FOREVER to get out the door. Plus if they come back and get in the pool, who knows if they will even want to go back and I'll be damned if I spent $1800 on park tickets to spend the rest of the day at the Resort!
Otherwise, any day that I am considering leaving halfway through and trying to return, maybe we will drive since we will have a car so we can lessen the wait time. I know the last time we couldn't find much to do with the kids in Hollywood Studios, but that all has changed a LOT in 2-3 years! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond and give great advice and experiences!

 

[Jacq7414]

I'll also like to mention, that when you attempt to do "go back to resort mid-day" with the kiddos, you're losing probably a total of ~3ish hours of logistics. That 3 hours includes leaving parks, getting a bus, traveling to hotel and back to your room then getting ready to leave (changing/washing up) and getting on a bus and getting back in to the park.

Then however many hours you spend back at the resort napping/swimming/whatever. I only mention this because the thought of packing up for the parks, leaving the parks, packing up for the parks and leaving the parks in one day with 3 kids is nightmare fuel.

Unless you're at a resort that's super close to the parks/monorail. The gondola system is really going to improve this part as well for those that like doing mid-day breaks at the resort.

That seems like a lot of time added in. we never really brought much into the parks though, just a little backpack that we kept everything in so we had nothing to pack up.

But we did usually hop back to MK and were staying at WL so they seemed pretty close.

 

[Jacq7414]

Thank you for all of your advice! I will not be. We will be at Animal Kingdom Lodge so maybe instead I should look at some chill places to visit via monorail to give us breaks during the day. The only real day I can see losing many hours being completely fine would be the day Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours until 11 and even then I'm planning on a resort day after or at least a not in a rush to get to a park day. Because you are right, even with my 2 kiddos and with them being older, they are still demanding and it still takes FOREVER to get out the door. Plus if they come back and get in the pool, who knows if they will even want to go back and I'll be damned if I spent $1800 on park tickets to spend the rest of the day at the Resort!
Otherwise, any day that I am considering leaving halfway through and trying to return, maybe we will drive since we will have a car so we can lessen the wait time. I know the last time we couldn't find much to do with the kids in Hollywood Studios, but that all has changed a LOT in 2-3 years! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond and give great advice and experiences!

When I was booking the last trip I found that adding more park days didn’t cost that much more. We never had issues taking a midday break and switching parks. We did that a lot. We went to MK in the morning once and then back to the hotel for the pool - had dinner at ohana and then park hopped to Epcot to ride FEA and see the fireworks.

My daughter is pretty easy going though and usually listens, at least when a promise of seeing Mickey was involved - so we never experienced the hassle of park hopping like other people seem to have

 

[YesterDark]

That seems like a lot of time added in. we never really brought much into the parks though, just a little backpack that we kept everything in so we had nothing to pack up.

But we did usually hop back to MK and were staying at WL so they seemed pretty close.

It's easy when you're at WL or the Monorail Resorts. But If you're at say Key West or AKL it's a lot. I'm typically measuring time to walk from say Fantasy Land to the Bus stop, wait for a bus, get on the bus, drive, get off the bus, walk to room, get ready for a nap/swimming then the reverse to go back. That can be a solid 2-3 hours depending on how fast you are or how lucky you get waiting for a bus etc.

 

[stsomewhere]

We never do resort days. We just alter how are days are. Sometimes we swim or hang out at the resort until the afternoon, then hit a park. Other days we hit the park early , and leave around 3 or 4.,then hang at resort, We go to a park every day. In November it could be too cold to swim.

 

[TJsMomSarahJane]

We tend to do resort days on Saturdays where we can - it tends to be the most crowded days in the parks so we avoid it. We also tend to put more resort days in the second half of our trip, as the first few days the adrenaline tends to keep us going. And strollers are definitely your friend for when some kiddos are more 'out of it' than others!

 

[jlb727]

Thank you for all of your advice! I will not be. We will be at Animal Kingdom Lodge so maybe instead I should look at some chill places to visit via monorail to give us breaks during the day. The only real day I can see losing many hours being completely fine would be the day Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours until 11 and even then I'm planning on a resort day after or at least a not in a rush to get to a park day. Because you are right, even with my 2 kiddos and with them being older, they are still demanding and it still takes FOREVER to get out the door. Plus if they come back and get in the pool, who knows if they will even want to go back and I'll be damned if I spent $1800 on park tickets to spend the rest of the day at the Resort!
Otherwise, any day that I am considering leaving halfway through and trying to return, maybe we will drive since we will have a car so we can lessen the wait time.

If you have a car, that’s great! Last time we went, DS was 3 and DD was 6, plus my 70 year old Mom was with us. We HAD to take breaks or I’d have 3 meltdowns on my hands! We took park transportation in the morning to rope drop, returned to AoA to eat lunch and swim/nap, then drove our car back to parks in the evening for dinner, more rides, and fireworks. I found the parks in the evening were my favorite times of day — cooler, less crowded, and more relaxed. We got close parking spots because most people had left, and (except for MK) we could just saunter back to our car at park close and be in our room in less than 10 minutes. I highly suggest that strategy instead of full resort days!

 

[luvmy2babies]

We are not a midday break family. We have only done it on occasion. With my oldest I found out a few years ago it is like pulling teeth to get her to leave the resort once we have returned. I also wouldn't suggest full park days although we have done that. Years ago we took fall break in Orlando. We did Sea World from 9 to 5 on back to back days and then went to Magic Kingdom from 9am to 9pm. We were on the big ferry heading back to TTC while Wishes was going. My children were 8 and 20 months. But we stopped a lot for breaks...a lot and my youngest was an excellent stroller napper. But we were really short on time that trip. You have a week and there's no need for that type of pace. I have one piece of advice. If you can avoid it, don't save anything that is "must do" or "must see" for the last evening.

I got a hard lesson one year when I saved our viewing of the MK fireworks until our last night. We went to MK that morning until around noon. My youngest was 2 and still napping; so we planned to come back, nap and swim, then go back around dinner time. The plan was to eat in the resort food court then catch the bus. All was agreed; but when the time came to get dressed, first it was, "I need a little more time, can you go grab the food and we eat in here?" After we ate, she just laid on the bed and said she didn't want to go back out. I was fit to be tied. I'm a single parent and she was only 11 so either we all went or we all stayed. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the room for that long; but I didn't feel like making her go and then getting irritated with her all evening for having an attitude.

She is older now and still the same way. Generally we plan to do an early park day to around 3 and spend the rest of the evening at the resort or we flip it and spend the morning and early afternoon at the resort and the evening in the park. For Epcot we do something in the middle. We hit that park around 10am and go until 5 or so. Last year we had 10 days so we were able to do an early and late day in each park except Epcot. We took a day in the middle and did Blizzard Beach for the early part of the day and then after some rest, went to Disney Springs in the evening for a movie and looking around in the stores. True to form, my daughter declared she was done after Blizzard Beach. But she's in her mid teens so we declared it "Mother/son date night" and ds and I went on our way.

 

[LyricQuinn817]

If you have a car, that’s great! Last time we went, DS was 3 and DD was 6, plus my 70 year old Mom was with us. We HAD to take breaks or I’d have 3 meltdowns on my hands! We took park transportation in the morning to rope drop, returned to AoA to eat lunch and swim/nap, then drove our car back to parks in the evening for dinner, more rides, and fireworks. I found the parks in the evening were my favorite times of day — cooler, less crowded, and more relaxed. We got close parking spots because most people had left, and (except for MK) we could just saunter back to our car at park close and be in our room in less than 10 minutes. I highly suggest that strategy instead of full resort days!

That sounds so nice! LOL! My mother may be joining for some of the trip as well, so I have to add that into my plans if she does. Knowing my family, we will need a bunch of breaks as well in or out of the parks....I can handle the walking better than all of them. Hahaha!

 

[LyricQuinn817]

We are not a midday break family. We have only done it on occasion. With my oldest I found out a few years ago it is like pulling teeth to get her to leave the resort once we have returned. I also wouldn't suggest full park days although we have done that. Years ago we took fall break in Orlando. We did Sea World from 9 to 5 on back to back days and then went to Magic Kingdom from 9am to 9pm. We were on the big ferry heading back to TTC while Wishes was going. My children were 8 and 20 months. But we stopped a lot for breaks...a lot and my youngest was an excellent stroller napper. But we were really short on time that trip. You have a week and there's no need for that type of pace. I have one piece of advice. If you can avoid it, don't save anything that is "must do" or "must see" for the last evening.

I got a hard lesson one year when I saved our viewing of the MK fireworks until our last night. We went to MK that morning until around noon. My youngest was 2 and still napping; so we planned to come back, nap and swim, then go back around dinner time. The plan was to eat in the resort food court then catch the bus. All was agreed; but when the time came to get dressed, first it was, "I need a little more time, can you go grab the food and we eat in here?" After we ate, she just laid on the bed and said she didn't want to go back out. I was fit to be tied. I'm a single parent and she was only 11 so either we all went or we all stayed. I didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the room for that long; but I didn't feel like making her go and then getting irritated with her all evening for having an attitude.

She is older now and still the same way. Generally we plan to do an early park day to around 3 and spend the rest of the evening at the resort or we flip it and spend the morning and early afternoon at the resort and the evening in the park. For Epcot we do something in the middle. We hit that park around 10am and go until 5 or so. Last year we had 10 days so we were able to do an early and late day in each park except Epcot. We took a day in the middle and did Blizzard Beach for the early part of the day and then after some rest, went to Disney Springs in the evening for a movie and looking around in the stores. True to form, my daughter declared she was done after Blizzard Beach. But she's in her mid teens so we declared it "Mother/son date night" and ds and I went on our way.

I want to say we aren't a midday break family, but honestly we have never been on vacation for this long together so I don't really know. That is why I am open to winging it a bit. However, I am gathering a list of Must Do's from everyone and making sure those are accomplished first at each park so that the rest of the time is just what do we feel like doing. So thank you for that!

My oldest is 9 going on 13 so I get it! And honestly, I am most afraid of going back to the resort to eat and/or rest a bit and having one or all of them not want to or not feel like going back. That would make me furious too, especially if it was when we were going to do something I was really looking forward to! So I think I will just look into some good places to just sit or maybe we will take a break to see some Christmas something or another at a Monorail resort. Neither of my kids nap and they haven't for years, even my 4 year old, so at least I don't have to consider that! I considered adding Park Hopper, but for less than adding Park Hopper I can add 2 more full park days. For the price, I'd rather have a day that I maybe just visited a park for a little bit and did one of the other non park things I want to do....or just sleep in for a day! I think I will just not stress about it, make sure we do the most important things first and then anything else we manage is just more memories!

 

[kpd6901]

In general, I would say that trying to leave and return would be a huge hassle unless you are going somewhere pretty close to the park in question. This could be via your AK day, or even just taking a leisurely trip around the monorail or a friendship boat ride...not really a sleep/swim, but a break nonetheless. Ultimately, my recommendation would be to build in your breaks within your days. I would recommend using a tool like Touring Plans to get a good idea of how crowd estimates may affect ride wait times at different times of the day. You can map out your day and plan for times to sit and enjoy a show or meal or your parade/fireworks spot securing on the shady side. These things help break up the bustle with some quasi down time.

I would typically say that going no more than 2 full park days consecutively is a good idea. Trying for day 3 can bring about a really cranky day after being exhausted from 2 straight days of RD to close. Yet, PP is correct about the relatively low cost of adding park ticket days. You may want to consider adding a park day or even two to your ticket plan, just for flexibility. If weather alters your plan drastically, it allows you to shift gears. Secondly, it allows you to use one of your resort days as maybe a quarter-park day, if you wanted to go in for a little bit for a parade or fireworks. (This way, on your regular day for that park, you can get some line relief at rides while most of the park is trying to fight for this- this would probably be most applicable at MK). Usually, when my family of 5 tries to hit everything in the park one time, we do a bare minimum of a full day in each park, except 2 at MK. We cut MK in half geographically, and do at least Fantasyland and Tomorrowland in one day and Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square the other day.

In your case, you have a long drive back, but I don't think that you need to just have a resort day on your last day solely for that reason. I would be open to having that be an early park day, getting back to your resort by about 2 pm and then spending the rest of that day relaxing.

These are just some thoughts that I hope are helpful.

 

[kpd6901]

I

I want to say we aren't a midday break family, but honestly we have never been on vacation for this long together so I don't really know. That is why I am open to winging it a bit. However, I am gathering a list of Must Do's from everyone and making sure those are accomplished first at each park so that the rest of the time is just what do we feel like doing. So thank you for that!

My oldest is 9 going on 13 so I get it! And honestly, I am most afraid of going back to the resort to eat and/or rest a bit and having one or all of them not want to or not feel like going back. That would make me furious too, especially if it was when we were going to do something I was really looking forward to! So I think I will just look into some good places to just sit or maybe we will take a break to see some Christmas something or another at a Monorail resort. Neither of my kids nap and they haven't for years, even my 4 year old, so at least I don't have to consider that! I considered adding Park Hopper, but for less than adding Park Hopper I can add 2 more full park days. For the price, I'd rather have a day that I maybe just visited a park for a little bit and did one of the other non park things I want to do....or just sleep in for a day! I think I will just not stress about it, make sure we do the most important things first and then anything else we manage is just more memories!

With your timeframe, I would agree that hoppers would not be in your best interest for the $$. You have enough to hit everything you want, but not too much time to double up on a park or two later on, you will be too tight on your days before travelling back.

Yes, get that list. Map it out. I would suggest doing this mainly so you don't home and schlep and backtrack across the park to hit your important things. The parks can be big and fighting crowds can be psychologically and emotionally draining at times.

I would suggest you make plans for each day by getting an idea for what time of each day you plan on being in what areas and just work from there, especially as it relates to your dining reservations, what non-reservation restaurants might appeal to your family for quick service, your fastpasses, parades, breaks, and shows. This way, if your 3 most important things are opposite each other in the park, you can still hit them as you go, but built in flexibility will allow you to either lengthen or shorten your breaks, or to allow the kids to make some decisions on other preferred activities all while moving toward your other necessary things that might be on the other side of the park.

 

[LyricQuinn817]

I

With your timeframe, I would agree that hoppers would not be in your best interest for the $$. You have enough to hit everything you want, but not too much time to double up on a park or two later on, you will be too tight on your days before travelling back.

Yes, get that list. Map it out. I would suggest doing this mainly so you don't home and schlep and backtrack across the park to hit your important things. The parks can be big and fighting crowds can be psychologically and emotionally draining at times.

I would suggest you make plans for each day by getting an idea for what time of each day you plan on being in what areas and just work from there, especially as it relates to your dining reservations, what non-reservation restaurants might appeal to your family for quick service, your fastpasses, parades, breaks, and shows. This way, if your 3 most important things are opposite each other in the park, you can still hit them as you go, but built in flexibility will allow you to either lengthen or shorten your breaks, or to allow the kids to make some decisions on other preferred activities all while moving toward your other necessary things that might be on the other side of the park.

Thank you very much for all of that! I agree and I think I'm going to end up with 6 day park tickets so we have a little more freedom. I want this to be as fun and not stressful as Disney can be. I know there are always things that come up, but I am ready to roll with the punches! I very much appreciate your input and thoughts and I will be keeping this all in mind in my planning. Thankfully, I have a subscription to Touring Plans and I didn't really realize how genuinely helpful the tools they have are until the past few days! I presume that they are fairly accurate (within reason, of course) with their data and calculations. Though things keep changing between SWGE and the newly released Free Dining, it may be busier than expected...but that's all the more reason to allow ourselves more days. It seems once you get past 4 days, another day or two is not financially a huge difference overall, so it's worth it to me to have the time! Again, thank you for taking the time!