Afternoon break at the resort...good idea?

Usually one of us goes back to the resort with our youngest for a nap while the other parent stays with the oldest so she can enjoy some one-on-one time doing only the attractions she wants. We meet again before dinner. It works well for our family and we usually do rope-drop to fireworks.

On our last trip I planned on everyone taking naps in the afternoon, it did not go well. They just couldn't settle and we ended up wasting time encouraging rest they refused to take. It worked better for us to go early/ leave early one day and sleep late and hit the evening entertainment on another day.

kjw42 said:

On our last trip I planned on everyone taking naps in the afternoon, it did not go well. They just couldn't settle and we ended up wasting time encouraging rest they refused to take. It worked better for us to go early/ leave early one day and sleep late and hit the evening entertainment on another day.

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I think that it is best to know how your family vacations. Some folks are fine after a rest. We are that family. Late afternoons we head back to swim and rest and then head back out. WE took our friend and her little girls and that plan was not so good. WHen they nap....they NAP! It was hard to get them up and moving after, so we now know that for them an afternoon rest should not include a nap. Not everyone is rejuvenated if they sleep during the day.

We do midday breaks at the pool from about 12/1-3/4. My kids never napped at WDW but they love pool time. It gets us away from the crowds and the heat. We would get back to the parks around 5, dinner ADR and more rides. Now with FP+ it's even better. We RD and ride with little to no waits, midday break at the pool and then FP+ for the evening park.

It really depends for us. Usually DD(just turned 4) needs a nap, but like others said, Disney can be a crapshoot. When she was two she took a nap 1 out of the 2 days we rested (at the Contemporary, so an easy walk from MK). When she was 3 we spent the whole day at Epcot and she was ok (exhausted, but ok) and the next day we were at MK so went back to BLT for a nap...we napped, she didn't. But then she fell asleep in her stroller before the fireworks but at least us adults had enough energy to make it through the day/evening.

This time we will have her 2-month old brother to contend with plus grandparents so I have no idea if anyone will want to sleep in a stroller or carrier or if the grandparents will need a break or what.

Mid-day breaks worked for us in 2013 (staying at AoA). The kids are older (heck, we all are! ) but we're planning them again in 2017. For us it was less of a physical rest and just more of a recharge. We'd go back, rest/read a little, go for a swim and then head back out for dinner and more parks.

It was very necessary for the kid with special needs, who adored swimming but eventually had enough of the parks at one sitting. (Divided was OK.) But really, it helped all of us.

(Ha. I still remember my then-4-year-old putting an arm around his big brother's shoulders when they were supposed to be "resting their eyes" during one of these times and saying "It's OK, Jim. Mom and Dad just need a break. We'll go swimming soon." He got it. )

But if there's one takeaway from this thread, I think it's that all families are different.

I've been traveling with my DD for a while now and have found that the mid day nap is a necessity. Before we instituted the break DD would pass out in the stroller around 1, and sleep for a good hour. Since she was out cold there was very little DW and I could do except wait her DD to wake. So now, we open the park. have a light breakfast, and then make our way around the park till about 1 have Lunch and then catch a bus back to CS or CB, and cool off either at the Pool, or take a nap in the room. After a few hours of recharging, we change clothes and head back into the parks. This strategy is esp important when the park closes after midnight and DD wants to stay till the Kiss goodnight. I know that you will easily loose an hour in travel time plus the break time. But with everyone recharging in their own way it makes for a much more enjoyable trip.

What ever you decide make sure that you are not pushing yourself or your family too hard. I know that a WDW vaca can be a bit pricey, but if members of your family are exhausted from running non-stop you're far less likely to enjoy all that the Parks have to offer.

Good luck.

We're in the maybe crowd... last time (kids were 6 & 9, at the FW Cabins), we did a long day (5am airport to fireworks) followed by a 9:30 Chef Mickey then parks til close day. We use the TS meals to recharge - a 4pm dinner after a rope-drop morning is a great pause for us. Might be different this time with the ease of BC & CR as our resorts. I suspect we'll have more afternoon breaks on the days we can just walk back to our resort for a bit.