Maybe it's just my kids...

12_Ears_Dad

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We've never done afternoon breaks anywhere.. If the kid is sleepy they go in the stroller and sleep... Of course we've never stayed on-site anywhere either. We've been to Florida before (Sea World parks)

It just seems to me a waste of time and a hassle.. And our kids have never complained

So how many of you take afternoon breaks ?
 
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Seanual757

Well-Known Member
LOL

Anyway depending on the ages it can range from 1-2.

I have 3 daughters 7, 5, and 11 months. My 7 & 5 yr old normally take 1 around 5pm just before we head to the parks for the evening. We will head to the parks in the morning, head back around 11 and eat lunch, hit the pool, then relax for 1-2 hours then hit the parks for the night.
 

Gomer

Well-Known Member
I started the breaks for the kids. Doubt I'll ever go back now. I'm only 36 and resonably fit. But those breaks are refreshing, I find I have a lot more fun in the evening hours and get a lot more done when I take a couple hours off after lunch. The rest gives me a boost and I drag less towards the end of the day.
 

Figgy1

Premium Member
We never did. We went to another place the year before and they were fine without a break, so it was Disney here we come. 10 days (plus one off day for the grown ups) of open until close! My kids were never nappers so I figured 10 days of Disney would finally wear them out! Not so much! I was so jealous the parents of kids who napped, that was until Disney when I finally got the last laugh.
 

SAV

Well-Known Member
My kids were like yours. We got there at open and left at close. If they needed to nap, they crashed out in the stroller and we continued touring. They woke up and they were all refreshed and ready to go.

I have been on-site and off-site and I also felt it was a waste of time to leave the park for them to nap when they could do the same thing and we could continue touring.

I think it really just depends on your kid and how they do with the stroller nap.
 

the1nonlysinger

Active Member
Silly question- but what kinds of things do you do when your kid is asleep in the stroller? Taking our toddler in Sept, and we've planned our ADRs so we COULD go back to the hotel but I'm open to staying at the parks if it works out.
 

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
Depends on the time of year. Middle of summer with long operating hours? I think an afternoon break is absolutely worth it. Avoid the heat of midday and do your touring in the morning and evening when it's less crowded. If you're there when it's slower and the parks close earlier, I just tour until we're tired.
 

12_Ears_Dad

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Silly question- but what kinds of things do you do when your kid is asleep in the stroller? Taking our toddler in Sept, and we've planned our ADRs so we COULD go back to the hotel but I'm open to staying at the parks if it works out.

We have such a diverse age group, part of the reason we probably won't do a scheduled break.. Ages from 1 to 37... there's 11 of us ;)
 

lyssehm

New Member
The only time we ever did a break was on a MNSSHP day. We did AK in the morning, took a nap at the hotel, put on our costumes, and were at MK by 5:30 for the party. Any other time, we usually just go straight on through. We've also claimed some attractions as our "rest" spots. A ride around on the Peoplemover is usually our go to "calm down" ride.
 

allgiggles

Well-Known Member
When our kids were younger (ages 4-8 or so) we rarely took a break. We'd get to the parks before rope drop and stay there until the kids were ready to go back to the resort -- usually around dinner time. We'd either eat at the park before we left or have dinner at the resort when we got back. Evenings were spent swimming or just hanging out at the resort.

Now that the kids are older (the youngest is 10), we do like to take a break in the afternoon. We always go to Disney in June so it's really hot in the afternoon and it's nice to escape that heat for a few hours. Sometimes we go for a swim and sometimes we just lounge (nap) in the room (we always stay on property). We usually head back to a park for a few hours in the evening.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
My husband doesn't fit into a stroller well, at all, :p and my tall 7 and 8-year-olds would look pretty ridiculous in them with their limbs dangling out in all directions (indeed, I haven't tried to put my husband or children in a stroller for any reason in the past four years), so we always return to our hotel for at least 2-3 hours for a nice nap in the air-conditioning and sometimes a refreshing dip in the pool. We do stay on-site, so getting there is a relatively painless, and often pleasantly scenic, trip.

I am of the opinion that mid-day breaks and naps aren't just for kids, either! We never take naps at home, but at WDW, we're up early and hitting the parks hard in the morning (on our legs, sans stroller, even when the children were as young as four), so all four of us are more than ready for a rest by lunchtime, which is when the crowds, lines, noise and heat are reaching their peak. I have a slight hearing impairment that makes it difficult and stressful for me to function in big, noisy crowds for very long, so leaving at that point is especially nice for me, and by that hour, the kids are pretty wound up and overstimulated, as well.

Once we've taken our break, we can return to the parks, refreshed, recharged, relaxed and ready for a few more hours of fun before bedtime, just as the temperature is starting to cool, wait times are beginning to diminish, and the overtired crowds are beginning to drift toward the exit. I've never felt that the time we spent on our mid-day break was "wasted" in any way. Between rope drop arrivals and intelligent use of FP+, we've never missed out on anything we wanted to do, even with "only" two 4-5 hour touring sessions per day, and (knock on wood), none of us has ever had a meltdown over anything! I'm pro-break, all the way! :joyfull:
 
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DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
Before we had our daughter (who is 15 months right now) we went from morning to night sometimes coming back to the hotel to swim and just take a breather... When we went last year when DD was 6 months old we definitely took an afternoon break. We stayed at the Dolphin Resort so it was really convenient to go back and take rest breaks... It was nice for the hubby and I, too, as we spent a lot of time on our balcony relaxing and drinking adult beverages. We went in the August heat, so it was very necessary for us to go back... DD would not have been comfy in her HOT stroller in the HOT afternoon.

Also, we went for 9 days and having such a lengthy trip helped to make us still do ALL the things we loved and take the afternoon breaks.
 

DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
I started the breaks for the kids. Doubt I'll ever go back now. I'm only 36 and resonably fit. But those breaks are refreshing, I find I have a lot more fun in the evening hours and get a lot more done when I take a couple hours off after lunch. The rest gives me a boost and I drag less towards the end of the day.

Yup!!! Totally agree with you!
 

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
Afternoon breaks are a must for my daughter. She was never the stroller sleeping type - she was never even the stroller sitting type, haha. From the time she was born she hated strollers. She is 3.5 now, and still takes a good 2 hour nap each day. Without it, she's miserable. And that's at home. If I tried to take her into a park open to close without that nap, it wouldn't be pretty! :D

With that nap, she's great though. We go at rope drop and then head back to the resort for her nap in the afternoon. While she naps, my husband and I usually would bring lunch back to the room and eat. Once, I headed over to the WL to walk the trails while my husband also napped. Now with our new son, it remains to be seen if he will be a stroller napper or not. He's pretty easy going, so maybe! For our fall trip though, I've planned on being back at the resort each day for a few hours. Usually 12-2 or 1-3.
 

BethG

Member
I think people need some sort of break. I don't think you necessarily need a change of venue. We don't go back to our room mid-day. However, we don't get there when they open and we leave before closing. We sleep until we get up and usually have a TS late lunch or early dinner.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I've asked my daughter several times if she would push me in an adult sized stroller so I could take a nap, lol.

I'm in my 6th decade. And I travel with my late 20s daughter and her early 30s fiancé. We ALL head back to the resort for a nap in the afternoon. Around 2:00 - 3:00 PM, one of us looks at the other two (okay, it's usually me) and says, "do you want to head back to the resort for nap/pool?" And the other two quickly say "yes, we want to do the pool". 9 times out of 10, they end up taking a nap....

I would be one crappy, unpleasant 60+ year old if I tried to go wire to wire in a park.
 

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