Taking breaks during the day at WDW?

[beltm]

Trying to figure our our general plan and we will have a one year old and six year old. I feel like going back to the room every day to nap the baby will eat up alot of park time. Older ds does not sound interested in fireworks or evening shows and would rather go on rides and attractions. Plus they will be late and will throw both kids way off schedule. Planning to keep with an 8pm bedtime or so. If we come back to nap after lunch around 1pm and then Return to the park around 4:30 or so for dinner and a few rides is it worth it? I can understand returning till the end of the parades and fireworks but I feel like I will be killing alot of time with the midday nap. Am I better off just trying to nap the baby in the stroller some days and have other days where we come back and rest and don't return to the parks? What's the best way to handle a baby who needs a nap with an older kid who doesn't? Especially knowing well be heading back to the hotel by 7:30 pm? Thanks.

[hillview]

we've done 3 times and each time we've gotten up for rope drop (20 mins + before really) as the kids are early birds and then returned back to the room at ~1 (after lunch so maybe 1:30). We spend the afternoon at the pool and then did dinner either at a park or a hotel. No regrets. That said we were at the park for 5+ days so it wasn't a pack it all in trip.

[beltm]

We will be there for a week but with a nap every day it's like maybe 3.5 mor ing hours in the park (assuming g were there for rope drop), and maybe another 2-3 hours in the late afternoon/evening. I am generally thinking one day each at AK and HS, and two days at MK and Epcot with a couple of free adternoons or morning built in for the resort. Is two days at epcot and the MK enough if we are taking a midday break and leaving the park by 7:30? Will we get to see it all? I see older ds enjoying epcot and wanti g to go through everything (Innovatentions, world showcase, etc). On the Hollywood studio day we will just plow through the park and not leave for a rest. Animal kingdom seems like we may be done around 2pm for the day anyways. Well be on the monorail so coming back for a break would just be on the MK and epcot days. Glad to know the midday break plan worked for you. We did legoland california is last year and I know dh and I are pretty efficient t tourers, plus ill have touring plans.

[infocrazy]

We did your plan. It was great for us. If we went back to the hotel we would have never gotten back out of it. Everything always seems to take a lot more time than we think it will. It worked great for us just staying there at the park and having the little ones nap in the stroller. However i thought there were very few places to take a stroller inside so plan to just sit under the tree in the shade unless you continue to walk around. None of us are early risers so we pretty much got to the parks at 10 when they opened and then stayed until about 6 or 7. The only day we stayed longer was when we went to Magic Kingdom and we stayed until the fireworks.

[egoldber]

My kids are also 5 years apart. We split up a lot. One adult would go back to the room with younger DD to nap and one would stay at the park with older DD. Sometimes the older one was tired too, but often she wanted to keep going.

[beltm]

We did your plan. It was great for us. If we went back to the hotel we would have never gotten back out of it. Everything always seems to take a lot more time than we think it will. It worked great for us just staying there at the park and having the little ones nap in the stroller. However i thought there were very few places to take a stroller inside so plan to just sit under the tree in the shade unless you continue to walk around. None of us are early risers so we pretty much got to the parks at 10 when they opened and then stayed until about 6 or 7. The only day we stayed longer was when we went to Magic Kingdom and we stayed until the fireworks.

Well that was the other issue, do I just sit there with the stroller while dh and ds ride? I'm compiling a list of rides we could take turns doing with ds while baby sleeps that baby can't do (stiches great escape, Tom Sawyer island, barnstormer). I just feel like by the time we transport back to the hotel, get the baby settled for a nap, then do the wake up stuff (diaper, snack, etc), transfer back to the park well hardly have any time there.

[beltm]

My kids are also 5 years apart. We split up a lot. One adult would go back to the room with younger DD to nap and one would stay at the park with older DD. Sometimes the older one was tired too, but often she wanted to keep going.

Yeah we may have to split up.....but I don't want to miss out on the experience with older ds .

[WatchingThemGrow]

I think it depends on the crowd level at the time of your visit. We've been there at high crowd times, and taking a midday break was the best thing ever. When it's crowded, even pushing a stroller through the crowds is frustrating, not to mention the ridiculous wait times for rides.

[acmom]

we've done 3 times and each time we've gotten up for rope drop (20 mins + before really) as the kids are early birds and then returned back to the room at ~1 (after lunch so maybe 1:30). We spend the afternoon at the pool and then did dinner either at a park or a hotel. No regrets. That said we were at the park for 5+ days so it wasn't a pack it all in trip.

We have done this too, although we returned to the hotel closer to 2-2:30 some days (esp. AK and HS days since we only did 1 day there). Our last trip my kids were 2.5 and 4.5 (we also went when they were 1 and 3 and with DD when she was 18 mos) and we really needed that downtime, even for DD who doesn't nap. Like Hillview, we are early risers and were there at rope drop. By the time we hit early afternoon, we all needed a break from the crowds (even though we go at non peak times) and the sun/heat. And we found by getting my 2.5 year old a decent nap at the hotel, made the rest of the time much more pleasant bc he wasn't overtired and grouchy!

I think a lot of it depends on your family's needs and routines....what time you get going in the morning, how much downtime is needed, how your child naps, how you all handle crowds, waiting and heat, etc.

[megs4413]

I don't do the break and come back thing most of the time. Maybe a few days, but not every day. My kids hit a touring limit and we just have a relaxed evening after that. If you plan well and get there at rope drop, you can tour most parks in one partial day. We generally leave after the afternoon parade. Once we get back to the room, we don't want to head back to the park. We have done dinner reservations and resort activities traditionally instead. The only parks that are hard to get all the way through on a partial day are MK and Epcot. If time allows, I suggest 2 days for MK and then a flex day for whichever park ends up being a favorite.