Taking afternoon breaks...

traveler000mkl

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 16, 2019
We are doing our second trip with kids in about a month (two boys 8 and almost 6). When we went three years ago, we never took an afternoon break but we didn't RD either. We just avoided EMH parks and just arrived around 9am opening time and 2yr would take a nap in the stroller if needed.

This time though, we are going without a stroller (will rent one at the park if 5yr needs it) and on our AK day, we have to brave 7am EMH for Navi ride (luckily we have FP for FOP and are ok riding just once). I think we might need a break that PM. We are staying at AKL so I think it is manageable. I always feel that coming back to the resort is such a hassle - you have to walk back to the entrance, get on the bus, pool/rest, and then shower and get back on, walk back into the park, etc. Also, my kids won't nap back in the room and they would want to play in the pool - DH might though! Wouldn't that make them more exhausted for the evening?

Want to hear about your experiences!
 
First, I would say I don't think you need to get up at 7 am to ride Navi River. Most people at rope drop will be going to FOP and Navi ride will be empty for quite some time. So I wouldn't necessarily rush there for that. It's also (IMO), not that great of a ride, especially for kids, so I wouldn't kill myself over that one. You could probably do it at the end of the day too if you plan to be at AK in the evening before park close. Just a suggestion.

For mid day breaks, we have always done this as we find everyone (including the parents) gets overstimulated, overheated and ready for a break after lunch. So we typically will rope drop, hit tons of rides, have lunch and go back to the resort. For my kids, the pools are a big part of their Disney trips so we try to work pool time into our days. We will chill at the resort for several hours and then head back out in the evening for dinner/more park time. This way, everyone gets a break during the hottest part of the day and can decompress a bit and is refreshed to head back out. I've never found it to be as much of a hassle. After the morning rush, the lines for the buses tend to be shorter and buses are less crowded so you are out and back in pretty quickly.

It's always worked well for us but realize everyone has their own touring style. Good luck!
 
In a month you'll need an afternoon break if for nothing else but the heat! I know it can be a hassle, but we feel like it makes the afternoon more enjoyable for everyone. The bus rides are even a nice respite from the parks. We try to schedule our morning so that there are attractions near the front of the park that we hit between 12:30-1:00 before heading out. That way the walk to the buses, etc doesn't seem so bad. If we're in MK we try to meet Mickey or do something in Tomorrowland right before we head out. In Epcot we try to get a FP for Spaceship Earth for after lunch. Those are the two parks where the walk to the exit seems the longest.
 
First, I would say I don't think you need to get up at 7 am to ride Navi River. Most people at rope drop will be going to FOP and Navi ride will be empty for quite some time. So I wouldn't necessarily rush there for that. It's also (IMO), not that great of a ride, especially for kids, so I wouldn't kill myself over that one. You could probably do it at the end of the day too if you plan to be at AK in the evening before park close. Just a suggestion.

Do you think I don't have to be there prior to 7am for 7am EMH opening? I would LOVE if we don't have to... We just want to hit Navi, Dinosaurs and Triceratops before our EE FP a little after 9am, if possible. I kind of hope we can arrive at like 7:30am and still ride Navi with less than 30 min wait, but that's probably not realistic.

Thank you! I think we will do the PM break on the AK day! We don't get to do a lot of pool time at WDW so I think kids will enjoy...!
 
In a month you'll need an afternoon break if for nothing else but the heat! I know it can be a hassle, but we feel like it makes the afternoon more enjoyable for everyone. The bus rides are even a nice respite from the parks. We try to schedule our morning so that there are attractions near the front of the park that we hit between 12:30-1:00 before heading out. That way the walk to the buses, etc doesn't seem so bad. If we're in MK we try to meet Mickey or do something in Tomorrowland right before we head out. In Epcot we try to get a FP for Spaceship Earth for after lunch. Those are the two parks where the walk to the exit seems the longest.

It does get really hot... three years ago, it was my first trip with kids and I didn't plan well and we were waiting in line in the heat of the day, etc. This time, I planned the day so that between 11-4pm, we are outside basically just to go between meals/attractions and what we are doing is pretty much shows/indoor stuff only. On one of our magic kingdom day, we build 2hr break time, and will play by ear and stay/leave depending on everyone's condition that day!
 
I've never taken a break but that's because if I go back, I won't go back out. Honestly a bus ride is all of a break I would need. But I'm typically only there for 4 or 5 park days...so a break to me eats into limited park time.

You know your kids best. Some kids get Disney/vacation energy and don't care about the naps.
 
It does get really hot... three years ago, it was my first trip with kids and I didn't plan well and we were waiting in line in the heat of the day, etc. This time, I planned the day so that between 11-4pm, we are outside basically just to go between meals/attractions and what we are doing is pretty much shows/indoor stuff only. On one of our magic kingdom day, we build 2hr break time, and will play by ear and stay/leave depending on everyone's condition that day!

It's even hot just waiting for the parks to open! LOL. Also, I'll be there one month from today. See ya there!
 


How long is your trip? If I was on a shorter trip (5 park days or less) I'd stay at the parks, but find dedicated times to get out of the heat, rest, relax a bit. On longer trips, we leave the parks by 2pm, go back and swim, relax, re-hydrate, and get off our feet for a while before heading back late afternoon to the same park (or hop to another) and enjoy the evenings as the sun goes down. We are rope drop people, so we do get to the park we are going to early and tour that way and it works for us. With a longer trip, I am not as worried about the amount of touring time we do as we have extra days built in for that reason. Shorter trips, I am going to tour hard with shorter and minimal breaks.
 
It's even hot just waiting for the parks to open! LOL. Also, I'll be there one month from today. See ya there!

I know! DH is dreading the heat already.. We were just not mentally prepared for it last time. This year, we are more prepared with better clothes, better strategy (indoor things 11-4), etc. See you there!!!
 
How long is your trip? If I was on a shorter trip (5 park days or less) I'd stay at the parks, but find dedicated times to get out of the heat, rest, relax a bit. On longer trips, we leave the parks by 2pm, go back and swim, relax, re-hydrate, and get off our feet for a while before heading back late afternoon to the same park (or hop to another) and enjoy the evenings as the sun goes down. We are rope drop people, so we do get to the park we are going to early and tour that way and it works for us. With a longer trip, I am not as worried about the amount of touring time we do as we have extra days built in for that reason. Shorter trips, I am going to tour hard with shorter and minimal breaks.

Ours is 6 day park days (7n8d). I don't think we need to take a break every day.. All other days than AK day, we are starting at 9am (or 8:30-45 for RD) or later and some days returning before dinner. I have planned our trip so that every time we do firework/night time show, the next day is a late morning day (will arrive at 10:30am). AK is the intense day because of 7AM EMH and stress of getting in line for Navi... and since we are hoping to hit all the shows! We are not frequent Disney travelers, and probably won't be back for another 3 years, so I want to make sure we do our best to maximize our fun!
 
It really depends on the family. We have stayed at AKL and loved the breaks. The kids swam and then read and relaxed. It made us more energized for more evening touring.
 
I love taking breaks but I'm an adult so for me I take a break and get some drinks and hang out by the pool or soak in the tub. I make sure the break justifies the travel to and from the park so I typically stay at hotel for around 3 hours before heading back to the park. Even if I'm not napping or laying in bed I feel like the break gives me some extra energy. Maybe it will be the same for your little ones? Since they aren't on a time crunch and walking around int he heat.
 
You'll have to decide if they're right for you. I think they're a waste of time. Why spend so much time commuting back and forth? If you go in the morning, be done in the early afternoon. If you want to do an evenings in the park, don't show up until 3pm. As stated, there are ways to easily deal with the heat of mid-day in the parks.
 
We've done afternoon breaks at the resorts in the past, when my kids were a bit younger than yours. It makes for happier kids, that's for sure. But, it does eat up some time.
Then we've done trips where we went RD to close every day. The kids can take it for 3 or 4 days, but after that, they start to show their exhaustion in often unpleasant ways.
Now, we RD every day, but don't stay until close. We will use sit down TS dinners as a nice break. Unless we were doing a nighttime show, or wanted to see Pandora at night, we would be ready to leave AK by dinnertime anyway.
 
I second not stressing about Navi river . Not worth the 7am.. if your dead set than emh flight and than go Navi.
 
I really don't think you need to be there at rope drop for Navi. Most people go to FOP and I don't think it's going to benefit you to get there so early just for that. I would plan to do Dinosaurs and Triceratops since they are in the same area then go to EE. You should have plenty of time to do that even if you get there at 8 or close to it since your FP is good for an hour. I would try Navi at the end of the day or possibly around the time of your FP for FOP. People have reported that even when the wait time is posted for more than 30 minutes for Navi, the queue goes fast. And as I said, maybe others disagree, but I just don't think that it's that exciting of a ride and definitely not a must do for me or my family nor anything I would get up super early for! Have fun!

Do you think I don't have to be there prior to 7am for 7am EMH opening? I would LOVE if we don't have to... We just want to hit Navi, Dinosaurs and Triceratops before our EE FP a little after 9am, if possible. I kind of hope we can arrive at like 7:30am and still ride Navi with less than 30 min wait, but that's probably not realistic.

Thank you! I think we will do the PM break on the AK day! We don't get to do a lot of pool time at WDW so I think kids will enjoy...!
 
Breaks for us are character meals for the most part.
I agree, my kids are younger than the OP's so they can nap in the stroller. I don't like going all the way back to the resort, we do it sometimes but usually once we are back there, we stay there.
We try to book character meals or TS meals for our breaks. They can be relaxing and eat up an hour or two and enjoy the Air Con.
 
We read all the advise and tried to rope drop, take a break in the afternoon and go back to the parks, but it just doesn't work for us. We lose an hour traveling east and it's harder than ever to get up and going that early. Plus, once we head back to the resort, DD just wants to swim and hate having to get out of the pool. Once she's done swimming, it's time to eat dinner and then no one wants to get back on a bus and head back to the parks. We take longer vacations, so we have the luxury of not having to cram all our fun into just a few days. The few times we were back in the parks in the evening, we really enjoyed it. The sun was off our backs, the temperature cooled and the fireworks were really cool up close.

This year, we have vowed to sleep in, hit the parks late and stay until close, if we last that long. I made all of our fast passes at noon or later and we plan to watch parades and fireworks to our hearts content. We also love shows, so that can be our a/c breaks. We'll see how it goes. I figure if we decide to go earlier, we just use the fast passes at the appropriate time and wait in line other times. I mean, we're on vacation, we're at Disney World, we are going to have fun regardless!
 
We are doing our second trip with kids in about a month (two boys 8 and almost 6). When we went three years ago, we never took an afternoon break but we didn't RD either. We just avoided EMH parks and just arrived around 9am opening time and 2yr would take a nap in the stroller if needed.

This time though, we are going without a stroller (will rent one at the park if 5yr needs it) and on our AK day, we have to brave 7am EMH for Navi ride (luckily we have FP for FOP and are ok riding just once). I think we might need a break that PM. We are staying at AKL so I think it is manageable. I always feel that coming back to the resort is such a hassle - you have to walk back to the entrance, get on the bus, pool/rest, and then shower and get back on, walk back into the park, etc. Also, my kids won't nap back in the room and they would want to play in the pool - DH might though! Wouldn't that make them more exhausted for the evening?

Want to hear about your experiences!

Agreeing w/ PPs that there is a good chance you'll be able to find a better time for Na'vi as it's Avatar that draws the long lines at Pandora. In the last 12 months we'll have gone to WDW 5 times come this June (had to get the worth out of our annual passes which expires early July; bye bye love to Disney 'til at least December) and only once have I been unable to reschedule Na'vi to our wants.

Since your children are probably past the age of school naps I wouldn't look at down time as every one needs to sleep. Many kids use the time for yes, pool time, and still have the energy to get up and go later. We stay at either monorail or Boardwalk hotels so find it easy to return to the parks after the morning/early afternoon visit. Returning would be easy at some other hotels as well.

We generally get to the parks somewhere between 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM, stay for a few hours until someone is hungry, eat and then decide what we'll do next. Often the kids want to hit the resort pool or water park so back to the resort we go. Should someone need to work on their homework packet or read we can return to do that as an alternative as well. Or we pull out the board games and play a few rounds of Uno, backgammon, or chess. Later we eat dinner and then it's back to a nearby park. If they want to watch fireworks we do that, if the fish people need to jump in the pool again, OK fine. Sometimes we rent a surrey bike and wander around the Boardwalk for an hour. By sometime around 9:30 we hit the lounge again for a brandy (or 2) for the adults and desserts for the kiddos. Eventually one of the kids decides it's shower time and disappears from the lounge. A few minutes later the other skedaddles too and when we get back to the room one is singing in the shower and the other is watching Disney cartoons or reading a book. By somewhere btw 11:30 PM and midnight everyone is fast asleep and probably dreaming of the next day's activities.

I travel with children who are now between 11 and 13 and the routine hasn't changed much in the past 2 years. I should also mention that we get a list of resort activities every evening so if they want to stick around for an outdoor movie, marshmallow roast, or volleyball or badminton game that's available as well.
 

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