How Long is your Mid-Day Break?

[SDSorority]

How long is your mid-day break? I'm thinking arrive at rope-drop, stay through lunch, leave around 1 and head back to the hotel (we're staying at Boardwalk), rest/swim/whatever at the resort, and head back after dinner. Is that too long to be out of the parks??

 

[mister morrow]

it all depends on how tired/unmotivated we are. usually 2-3 hours.

 

[AuntDJ]

I second the 2-3 hours. I had the same basic plan as you, but it was usually about 2-230 before we actually left the parks and we headed back anytime between 530-600. We were there in June so it was super hot/humid and we needed the swim break. Some of our party just rested in the A/C. I highly recommend the rope drop/mid day break plan!

 

[tinkerbella16]

We have been doing a certain touring style for so many years, it is just what we're used to - arrive at rope drop and stay until 12:30-1pm (when the park is the most crowded and hottest), relax at the resort for 4 hours or depending if we have a dinner ADR to get to, we make sure to allow enough time to get there. We actually do afternoon breaks each day, and our trips become more and more enjoyable having that pool time or short nap to recharge for the evenings. We never feel like we are missing out on the parks too much, because we've been so many times and the resort has become a big part of our vacation as well as the parks.

 

[Duckiedee]

Something that always confused me... 2-3 hour break - does that include your travel time? If so, it doesn't seem like much of a break to me?

 

[kam1011]

We usually only stay until like 12:30-1:00 and then go back out around 4, go to dinner and stay out for the night.

 

[mshanson3121]

Something that always confused me... 2-3 hour break - does that include your travel time? If so, it doesn't seem like much of a break to me?

For us, no. We allowed 2-3 hours of rest, not including travel.

 

[ArielSRL]

At least 4 hours with travel time, which is what I planned for this past June, but I think 5 may be better, so I'll probably adjust accordingly for June 2017.

 

[Bmill]

We usually look at 4 hours with travel back to the resort

 

[jvsims]

We leave park by 1:00 (after doing a rope drop), then leave resort around 4:30/5:00ish to get dinner in the parks or another resort, then do park nighttime activities....it's a good balance of rest and play for us.

 

[cgh]

normally, about 4 hours. Travel time does suck things up. We like to do naps, pool time and showers/sometimes baths before dinner.

 

[bumbershoot]

and head back after dinner. Is that too long to be out of the parks??

It is for us.

And if we went swimming, we're DONE.

 

[aretha30]

For us we hit RD stay until between 1-3 (depending on how we feel what we want to see and do, etc.). We return after dinner so between 5-7 and stay until close. Our breaks can be long depending on when we left or relatively short. For us we base it more on how we feel and what we want to accomplish that day. With the longer hours and the higher temperatures we expect to get less done and take things at a slower pace. I say do what is best for your family, there is no right or wrong answer to this.

 

[Aliceacc]

How long is your mid-day break? I'm thinking arrive at rope-drop, stay through lunch, leave around 1 and head back to the hotel (we're staying at Boardwalk), rest/swim/whatever at the resort, and head back after dinner. Is that too long to be out of the parks??

That's what we do. It works very well for us in the summer heat.

We tend to do dinner fairly early-- 5:30 - 6:30.

 

[Parker Clan]

How long is your mid-day break? I'm thinking arrive at rope-drop, stay through lunch, leave around 1 and head back to the hotel (we're staying at Boardwalk), rest/swim/whatever at the resort, and head back after dinner. Is that too long to be out of the parks??

Not at all! That's what we've done every year and it's worked very well for us. Honestly it helps keep up our energy and stamina for the entirety of our trip. In the summer especially you need that break!! It's worth noting we have a car and we have hoppers so we feel we get plenty of time in the parks during the length of our stay

 

[ktmo]

We just got back. My goal was to be out of the park by 11 or 12. Sometimes this worked, sometimes not. We would then usually return for dinner around 5 or 6. I had booked a few table service dinners at 5, so that gave us another hour of sitting in air conditioning before hitting the rides later.

We stayed at BLT and our evening park was always Magic Kingdom so travel time wasn't much of a factor, getting back into the park.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We hit rope drop,stay till 1:00,then give ourselves 5-6 hours (this includes travel time) till we're back in the parks around 6:00-7:00pm.
OR, we just hit rope drop, stay as long as we are comfortable (maybe 3:00pm),then spend evening at resort swimming.
We've changed our style from commando to relax/enjoy resort as we've now been enough times to feel like we're not missing anything in the parks / want to enjoy resort.

 

[Indio]

We usually do our ADR's at lunch (cheaper prices) so we usually eat around 1, then head back to the resort to rest and back out between 4-5.

 

[ashleyr409]

How long is your mid-day break? I'm thinking arrive at rope-drop, stay through lunch, leave around 1 and head back to the hotel (we're staying at Boardwalk), rest/swim/whatever at the resort, and head back after dinner. Is that too long to be out of the parks??

What is rope drop? Does that mean as soon as the park open?

 

[PabloMax]

Do you take a break every day? I'm thinking with some of the parks, if you plan it, you can use long shows/rides and be indoors for most of the afternoon anyway. I know it doesn't work at AK for sure, but definitely Epcot and probably MK if you work it out right.