Mid-day break for preschoolers?

[passiflora45]

The unofficial guide emphasizes a mid-day break for young (and not so young) visitors. Is this a waste of time, or is there a real benefit to popping back to the hotel for a break from the parks? I'm torn...hate to miss out on expensive park time, but also don't like it when the kids lose their minds from fatigue...

 

[wulfgeat]

Your kids, your call. We never went back with our 2.5 year old DD. She eventually napped at some point, usually falling asleep during a show. We did not close down the parks every night, though. We went in December and closed MK one night. We saw Fantastic at DHS. But she probably never went to bed. She dislikes sleep and does well most of the time, even when tired. I think it depends on the personality of your kids. If they can do well while not going back to the room, do it. And maybe you have to go back every other day.

 

[bab736]

Depends. Are you close enough to your resort to make it worth it? When DD was 2, she napped 1 out of the two times we went back to the room. When she was 3 we powered through Epcot and then left after dinner. At MK we went back to our room at BLT but she didn't sleep (we did though!) and then she crashed after dinner and slept through the fireworks. She usually naps at home even now so I'm guessing she's just too wired to settle down.

This time we'll have 4 year old DD plus an 8-week old. So no idea what we're going to do but we'all be at BLT again so we could go back if we need to.

 

[kohlby]

It depends on a lot of things - with the specific kid being the biggest variable. I tried with my kids at different times and it never, ever worked out for us. (My kids didn't fall asleep in the stroller either - though I've seen kids do that so I know some do!). We found it worked best to focus on getting them to bed at a reasonable hour at night. We had good control over that. Getting them to nap back at the room or even relax mid-day did nothing but waste time for my kids since they still needed to go to bed early.

Weather could be the second biggest variable. If you are going at the start of December with shorter park hours and cooler temps then it's quite different than going in the heat of August.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I am of the opinion that everyone - adults included - needs a midday break from the constant stimulation of the parks. Even though the travel time on the buses might seem prohibitive, the quiet, air-conditioned time on the bus is even a nice break. I have taken breaks with children of all ages, and find that everyone is in a better mood at dinner time because of it.

BUT...I almost always travel during peak times...if I were to travel during weeks when the parks closed at 7 PM, I might not take a break every day.

 

[AshleeH]

We do a midday break because we - the adults! - need one. There are one or two days per trip where we go all day, but they are not planned (usually when we lose track of time and have an ADR a little later and it doesn't make sense to go back). Those days are exhausting for us, so I can't imagine how the kids feel.

 

[here757]

My kids?! Waste of time!
None of my kids take naps at home,so I figured wing it.
My kids were 12,5 and just turned 4. I do remember my youngest being a girl would fall sleep in stroller (that I brought strictly for the crap we carry around) the 5 year old woke her for the important stuff.. i.e. Ariel,Alice, when we bought ice cream! Lol

 

[monorailsilver]

It is vital for us. You just need to determine if your kids will need a break, or you adults as well.

We go in the summer and leave our room by 7-7:15 with breakfast eaten in the room before we leave. We also stay in the parks until closing so taking a break/nap in our room is vital for all our sanity!

We shut the curtains and are in complete blackness for about 2-3 hours. Then we shower and return to the park at about 5.

I remember the first time bringing my oldest. It was probably around 8pm in the MK, she was in her stroller, happy/content and surrounding me all I heard was crying kids. I was so thankful we took our break and my kid was happy and. It crying!

I have always taken a break, even growing up, as a teenager, but we swam. I tried the pool with my oldest in her 2nd trip while my son napped but she passed out in the stroller in Epcot at about 6:30. I was so afraid she was not going to sleep that night but thankfully she did. After that she didn't get pool time.

We have designated non park days during our trip so they get to sleep in and spend the entire day at the pool.

But you know your kids, my 15 yo (oldest) still needs her sleep. My 13 yo, can live with little sleep, meaning he isn't crabby and my youngest can go a day with little sleep but then it catches up to her and she needs rest.

 

[ktlm]

It depends on your kids, and if it is your first trip it may take trial and error to figure out what is best. DD was 2- we tried the mid-day break and it was a disaster. We got a stubborn angry kid furious we made her leave the park who stood behind the curtain in the room and sulked because she was too mad to even look at us. After 3 hours of her refusing to nap we gave up and went back to the park and the minute we got back to MK, she got in her stroller with a big smile and took a nap. (Did I mention she was stubborn?) After that it was parks open to close with stroller naps for us and that moved to open to close park days when she was out of the stroller. That is what works best for her...and I guess it is genetic because we were open to close park day people pre-kid. She has always been a high energy kid though- that may not work for everyone.,

 

[ssmurphy28]

Our last two trips were in May/June 2013 and January 2015. We had a 1yo on the first trip and a 2.5yo and 10mo on the second trip.

On our first trip we did hotel breaks everyday. We were staying at ASSports, but always made a point of going back to our room in the afternoon. We planned to do the same on the second trip, but found that because of the cooler January temps, the kids were fine to go all day in the parks (shorter park hours in January as well). We would let them sleep as late as they wanted in the morning, but ended up not going back for naps in the afternoon.

Our next trip will be next September and because of the hotter weather, I'm fully expecting that afternoon breaks will be a necessity. We chose Boardwalk this time, which will help, because we will be within walking distance of two parks, which is super convenient.

 

[DRT-eagle]

We always went back to the room during the heat of the day, swam, napped, then went back in for dinner and fireworks. Focus on enjoying the park versus going commando and hitting all the long lines. You get 75% of the rides in in the first 4 hours. Get up early for the extra magic hour and you will get your money's worth.

 

[Lupeix]

It depends on your kids, what time of the year you go, which park you are visiting and how far away you are from. It is a must for us if we want to see any evening show or fireworks, specially in hot weather even if the kids don't sleep. For MK in particular I find the evenings are the best time and taking a break midday with a nap allows you stay up late. It also works well for the FP system. You go early in the morning with low lines, then use the FP+ for the evening. That way you never stand in line for more than 20 minutes. Plus that way you can also enjoy the resort. For AK it doesn't make sense, because you will be done in 1/2 day with what there is to do for little ones.

 

[dollarmite]

DS just slept in his pushchair when we visited as a toddler. (Both our kids would/will just sleep anywhere).

Generally speaking, no, my family doesn't leave the parks in the middle of the day and then return later, with a few exceptions. At DLR we might leave to have a meal at one of the restaurants on Katella Ave. At WDW it was just a waste of time to leave and then return later.

We usually spend two weeks at the parks and are pretty much commando style the entire time. Returning to the hotel, changing for a swim, changing back into clothes, travelling back to the parks - not appealing at all (especially as I have to wash my hair each time I go swimming, and then it takes hours to dry). Ditto having to find the right 'mojo' to go back into the park after lying about in the hotel. Once I'm out of the park, that's it; I'm done.

 

[hsmamato2]

when my kids were little, we only went to parks on certain days.... and they were long. We always had a stroller for them when they were under 6, and it was simple enough to find quiet places to relax our feet,and let the kiddos rest in the stroller for a while... I was never a fan of mid day breaks. They slept in the stroller just fine,and our 'breaks usually consisted of a nice drink somewhere for mom and dad while kiddo slept in stroller for an hour or so,just hanging out somewhere- in the parks.

 

[maxiesmom]

It totally depends on your family. Are you going to be to the parks at open, or will you sleep in? Do you have any sit down meals planned during the day? I know as an adult if I am at the park for open I like to take a mid-day break. Either by going back to the resort, or sitting and have a relaxing meal.

Also, will you be using strollers? That makes a huge difference too. If you can keep going while the little ones catch a nap in the stroller, you may not need to head back to the resort.

 

[DisneyOma]

To me, it depends on when you go. If the park hours are short, no break. if the park hours are summertime super long, then the break helps to escape the worst of the heat and keep the kids going later at night.

 

[moesy4]

I think this is a totally child dependent question and one you may not be able to answer until you are there. We just wrapped up our first trip and had most days planned to be in the parks for about 6 hours from about 9:30-3:30 and then coming back for a late nap and the resort for the evening. It took me less than a day to figure out that didn't work for my family. My kids are super ornery about sleep and don't sleep in generally no matter how exhausted they are and get really cranky without sleep. Everyone had said "Oh, they will be so exhausted they will pass out!" Yep, not so much. My husband doesn't like the heat and loves a good afternoon nap.
I figured out quickly that being in the parks between 11:30-3:30 or trying to go more than 4 hours just didn't work with our group. Thankfully, I figured it out before we went too far in the wrong direction and was able to adapt the rest of our park days to be split days or to not start until around 4ish. It was amazing the difference in everyone's ability to enjoy things when we weren't trudging through exhausted or melting in the heat.
The round trip travel time sucked, no doubt about it, especially since we were at the Fort and depending on the internal bus system added 20 minutes to each leg of the journey. But doing it kept everyone in good spirits, including my husband, lol, and that was worth it.

 

[abinormal]

I agree that it's completely dependent on your kids. Mine were 5 and 2.5. They go to bed early, and we found it easiest to keep to that routine. My older child doesn't nap and my younger was happy to conk it in the stroller when he needed to. We did rope drop to dinner, and back at the hotel for bedtime at around 7:30.

The one night we did do the midday break was our last day, because we were going to see the fireworks. It didn't go well - the older couldn't nap, and even though we were close by (Wyndham Bonnet Creek), I felt like it was kind of a waste.

 

[wallskm]

Some trips it has worked for us and some it hasn't. On our first trip we had days our son was sound asleep by lunch in the stroller and it wasn't worth it to leave. Also the travel time and effort from the parks to our hotel wasn't always worth it as we were staying at a resort with only bus transportation. On our last trip we stayed at the Polynesian and found it to be very easy to go back from both Magic Kingdom and Epcot so we did on those days and it worked well.

 

[mcjaco]

My kids never take naps when they're on vacation in such a place. So we just planned to be there at opening, and knew we'd leave around 6PM each night. We did make it to Illuminations one night, but five minutes into it, my one son (who was watching on my shoulders), started to slump over....he'd fallen asleep up there!