Negotiating the BREAK thing

[SandraC]

Hi,

I always like to take an afternoon break. dd is 8 and ds is 2.

BUT! We are going to WDW late April and the hours of the parks are short, so I was thinking about taking several short breaks at the parks instead of leaving the park for Coronado Springs Resort.

I figure we can get to the parks early, do a couple hours of rides/characters etc.,. then find a quiet place to rest ~ places with little crowds ~ rest up about 30 minutes, do a couple more hours, have a quiet lunch, couple more ride hours, rest 30 minutes..... that type of thing. So what do you think? MK closes about 6pm most of our WDW days, so we can have all night to swim and site see the resort(s).

If we get to MK at 9am, leave about 1pm for CSR, rest and/or swim until 4pm, it's not worth going back to MK ~ we could go to MGM or Epcot which close at 8:30 and 9pm ~ besides we would miss the 3pm parades and the parades at AK and MGM if we leave mid-day ~ What do you think? Sandra

 

[JulesMom]

We almost always take a break at the hotel, even if we don't nap. We still unwind.

If we stay at the park for the parade, then we go back to the hotel after the parade and make an early night of it.

We all just get too cranky if we don't rest enough.

 

[Bob NC]

You are lucky in that the 2 year old can rest in the stroller most of the time. Of course, every 8 year old is different, but our 8 year old never needed a break during the day. We have never gone back to the resort for breaks during the day, and we have been going since kids were 3 & 7. On this years trip they will be 7 & 11. We also go in late April every year, temps are nice so the heat doesn't wipe you out. The one thing we usually do is have a nice sit down lunch to relax for a while. Generally speaking, we go to WDW for the parks, so that's where your'e going to find us.

 

[Kermit]

I think it's probably okay, but you know your kids better than we do. If you're going to the MK from 9:00 to about 6:00 or 7:00, you'll probably be fine. You may want to go back to the resort on your Epcot and MGM days. You probably won't start at those parks, based on the ages of your kids, so you should have an idea of how they'll do by that time.

 

[luvdsny]

We're going in late April as well, and I'm struggling with this same decision. I think we're just going to 'see what happens' I'm hanging up my 'Commando hat' and putting on my 'lets take a stroll in the park' hat. I think small breaks at the park will be our choice. The small breaks will have to be somewhere quiet and shady.....where my 4 year old can run and stretch his legs a little.

 

[padams]

We have always gone to WDW in Feb. when park hours are shorter. We have only once gone back to the hotel in the middle of the day. We were staying at the Ply that year, and DSs were 1 and 3. We left the park after lunch in time for them to stay on the usual rest/nap schedule. When we reached the hotel room, they were ready for action, not a nap. I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to get them to sleep. I decided not to do that again. Instead, DSs took naps in the stroller. Now, we see shows, sit waiting for the parade, or sit down to have a snack break in the afternoons. We also sit down to eat lunch (no walking around with turkey legs or ice cream bars for us). Younger DS 4yo and I sat on a bench on Main Street to rest on our trip earlier this month. DS fell asleep on my lap, and we stayed there for about 30 minutes until he woke up. Both DSs fell asleep during the Hall of Presidents at MK and the American Adventure at Epcot during our last trip. Those cat naps allowed them to go all day. When the parks close at 6 or 7, it's not that long of a day.

 

[SandraC]

Last April, ds was 15 months old ~ now this is the kid who NEVER slept in his stroller UNTIL WDW! He had a nice little nap daily in the stroller. Sometimes 15 minutes sometimes 90 minutes. Both kids seemed to be able to go longer than at home. Everytime we went back to the room mid-day we would go swimming and MAYBE rest up for 30 minutes in front of the TV ~ DISNEY CHANNEL of course!

 

[BevS97]

I had planned on mid-day breaks but we never managed to take one, instead we would either arrive early and leave around 3, or arrive at the park later (1pm ish) and stay until late (we did this at Epcot when we wanted to see the Illuminations) and we found that worked really well.

my dd was 3.5 and slept in her stroller nearly every day. She hasn' t had a daytime nap at home for a couple of years, but the heat seemed to tire her out faster.

Bev

 

[deena]

A couple years back we took a big family trip with younger aged cousins and they did fine without an afternoon break during a trip that was in the begining of August during heats/crowds. We stayed all day long until MK closed at midnight back then and did not break for the hotel.

We took several breaks along the way like you mentioned in the shade, airconditioned spots, and the toddlers were fine taking short cat naps inside their sun visor hooded strollers with no problems in between going on rides along with attending shows. So, since you are going in April when the weather will be somewhat milder and the park hours definitely shorter then I think not going back to the hotel for a break is definitely feasible especially compared to our particular scenario if you want to spend the whole day.

However, all kids behavior can be unpredictable at times and no individual child is going to react to the same situation in exactly the same manner. I would start out planning to stay all day such as bringing many snacks, a favorite toy, other creature comforts, and take all the breaks desired so you won't run yourself ragged and feel an overwhelming need to leave. But just be prepared to go back to the hotel if it seems they are becoming restless or tired. Hope this helps.