Mid-Day Break?

[Suzanne74]

It is a hard decision. I would personally do EMH (mornings and nights) and do the naps. You have enough adults that everyone can take turns so you don't all have to go back.

I get wanting to see everything but 18 months old NEED naps. You are risking serious meltdowns, sleeping issues at night, not wanting to wake up in the AM, etc.... that could make for some major problems for everyone.

I guess you can always take the wait and see approach but if you have one that doesn't nap out and about normally, I can almost guarantee (as a mom with 2 of them) that she will not fall asleep in Disney. Too much to see and do.

 

[Kat&Dom]

For those that do take mid-day breaks are you staying on the property? How long is the commute in general to and from the parks? We will be there in Sept during the shorter hours just trying to figure this out.

We usually stay off-site and take mid-day breaks. When we stayed at Grand Beach, Sheraton Vistana and Cypress Pointe Grande Villas, it was a very short commute - no more than 15 minutes. When we stayed out in Kissimmee, it was half hour. We would arrive at Rope Drop, do a lot of rides, then leave the park as it started getting crowded and hot usually around lunch time. We would have lunch back at the condo, relax, swim and then head back to the parks around 4 or 5 pm and stay to close. We were still getting about 7-8 hours of park time but everyone was rested and having fun.

On our last trip, we did stay on-site for a couple of nights at All-Stars Music and I did not find that breaks worked well as we had to wait for a bus to pick us up at Magic Kingdom, then when we got to All Stars, it was a fairly long hike from the bus drop off to our room in Rock Inn then it was a hike back to the main swimming pool so it was not fun to take a break there. It was a lot of walking.

When we stay off-site, we park just outside our condo and walk into it so breaks off-site felt much more do-able and relaxing for us then our on-site experience. I think that if you are staying on-site and looking at doing breaks, your room location is very key to it being a positive experience.

 

[Suzanne74]

Unless you are on the monorail, I think having a car is key for mid day breaks. Get there early and get a spot close up. When you return there is always a spot towards the front as well. We like OKW and this time Kidani because parking is right by the room. It works great!

 

[karen624]

Last trip my girls were 5.5 and 2.5. We did midday breaks. We did rope drop through lunchtime, and then back late afternoon for dinner. They both crashed when we got back to our house (we stayed offsite.) I am sure we will take breaks again this trip since our littlest girl will only be 19 months.

 

[Colleen27]

For those that do take mid-day breaks are you staying on the property? How long is the commute in general to and from the parks? We will be there in Sept during the shorter hours just trying to figure this out.

The actual bus rides are mostly short, I think 20 or 30min would be the longest you'd ever encounter. The variable is the rest of the picture - where are you in the park when it is break time? Will you have a long walk to get to the bus? A long wait for a bus to come? A long walk back to your room?

For example, the actual bus ride from Epcot to POR is just shy of 20min. But we were in France at our break time, so that meant walking about a mile to the bus stop. We had a long wait for a bus because they seem to run less often mid-day than at higher-demand times, so it was about 20min from the time we got to the bus stop until we were actually boarding. We got off at the main building because everyone wanted drinks, so that added another 10min, and about 10 more to walk back to the room... So from deciding to take a break to actually sitting down in our room took well over an hour. We figured that for a meaningful break you really need to plan on at least 4 hours away from the park, to include travel time and all the other possible delays.

I guess you can always take the wait and see approach but if you have one that doesn't nap out and about normally, I can almost guarantee (as a mom with 2 of them) that she will not fall asleep in Disney. Too much to see and do.

I really don't think there's any predicting that. Disney is so different from home that it changes kids' habits. My daughter never sleeps in her stroller or even in her car seat at home, but at Disney had no problem zonking out where ever she happened to be when she got tired. My friend took her DD, who has been a stroller napper from day one, and couldn't get her to sleep anywhere but a dark, quiet hotel room. My DD tunes things out when she's tired or overstimulated; her DD didn't want to miss a thing. Both were completely different at WDW than at home. Little kids are just unpredictable that way and you really don't know how yours will be until you're in the moment, which is why flexibility is so important when traveling with little ones.

 

[lizzyb]

We plan on taking breaks so my youngest can nap and the older ones will head to the pool with DH. We will all be hot and grouchy so I think the break is necessary.

 

[Suzanne74]

The actual bus rides are mostly short, I think 20 or 30min would be the longest you'd ever encounter. The variable is the rest of the picture - where are you in the park when it is break time? Will you have a long walk to get to the bus? A long wait for a bus to come? A long walk back to your room?

For example, the actual bus ride from Epcot to POR is just shy of 20min. But we were in France at our break time, so that meant walking about a mile to the bus stop. We had a long wait for a bus because they seem to run less often mid-day than at higher-demand times, so it was about 20min from the time we got to the bus stop until we were actually boarding. We got off at the main building because everyone wanted drinks, so that added another 10min, and about 10 more to walk back to the room... So from deciding to take a break to actually sitting down in our room took well over an hour. We figured that for a meaningful break you really need to plan on at least 4 hours away from the park, to include travel time and all the other possible delays.



I really don't think there's any predicting that. Disney is so different from home that it changes kids' habits. My daughter never sleeps in her stroller or even in her car seat at home, but at Disney had no problem zonking out where ever she happened to be when she got tired. My friend took her DD, who has been a stroller napper from day one, and couldn't get her to sleep anywhere but a dark, quiet hotel room. My DD tunes things out when she's tired or overstimulated; her DD didn't want to miss a thing. Both were completely different at WDW than at home. Little kids are just unpredictable that way and you really don't know how yours will be until you're in the moment, which is why flexibility is so important when traveling with little ones.

That is why I said almost.