When do you return to the park after your rest?

[KappleB2]

I am so excited to be leaving for the World in just 36 days! This will be my 5th trip and the first to plan by myself! We do not have park hoppers and have always just powered through the day without a rest but this time its just me and my mom and I think we will need the rest.
SO...when do you typically go back to resort? And when do you return to the park? What influences your decision? We don't have any dinner ressies so that is not a factor and I do plan to take advantage of late EMH when we can.
I just am trying to convince myself TOTALLY that I am not going to miss alot if I get out of the heat and away from the people for a little bit and return.

 

[71dsp]

We usually will take a longer than normal lunch or dinner to rest. We rarely go back to the resort during the day. This last trip, since the weather was fairly nice (January), we spent some time just sitting on the benches here and there with a snack and doing some people watching (which is entertaining by itself!).

Our first time at WDW, our son would get so wiped out that by lunch he was very tired. I remember him taking a very long nap in the chairs at Yak & Yeti and the Brown Derby. We made sure to leave the servers very generous tips, as we tied up the tables for longer than we should have. Luckily when we asked, none of them cared and were very attentive.

 

[MITCH 112198]

we go in the morning for opening then return to the hotel most days after lunch then stay till 4 or 5 then return to the park.

 

[Joshua&CalebDad]

My plan of attack is a little different than most but works for us. Mind you, I have a 5 year old and 3 year old. We generally alternate between a day in the park and just resting at the resort (i.e. we go into the parks on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then rest on Tuesday and Thursday). This allows us to start early in the morning and stay till closing each night. But then again that is just us.

 

[Redsky89]

I like going to the park around 10 or 11. I take my time. I can usually stay in the parks all day from that point but we may come back to the resort around 3-4 and rest or eat. Then go back around 4:30.

 

[ishmael0316]

I usually do not go back to rest unless I absolutely have to. If I do, an hour at most and then I go back into the fray. Princess time is too valuable to me to waste sleeping.

 

[olinecoach61]

We get tithe park for rope drop and leave around 1. We either eat in the parks or back at the resort. Swim, take naps and head back out after 5 pm. It worked really well for us last week. We hit all the big attractions we wanted early, avoided the heat and crowds of afternoon, and then went back for a nice evening.

 

[accord99cutie]

My family goes to the parks for opening, is back to our resort around 12-1, and we head back to the parks around 4-5. We have two "nappers" (daddy and son) and me and my daughter hit the pool. We get 3+ hours to sleep or swim, then we head back to the park refreshed and ready for more park time

 

[disneygirl76]

I am so excited to be leaving for the World in just 36 days! This will be my 5th trip and the first to plan by myself! We do not have park hoppers and have always just powered through the day without a rest but this time its just me and my mom and I think we will need the rest.
SO...when do you typically go back to resort? And when do you return to the park? What influences your decision? We don't have any dinner ressies so that is not a factor and I do plan to take advantage of late EMH when we can.
I just am trying to convince myself TOTALLY that I am not going to miss alot if I get out of the heat and away from the people for a little bit and return.

My DH and I usually head back around 2. And then head back again at 5. You will not miss a lot. Especially since this is your 5th trip. I think it is important to recharge your batteries. I don't know where you are staying so if you rely on the buses to take you back and forth but you can "loose" time this way, which is why my DH and I typically stay at Deluxe Resorts. But this trip we are at a Moderate, so I planned that we are not going to go back to the resorts as often (we are there for 10 days) but I did plan on those days of not heading back to the resort for a break, we do get a later start and spend the a.m. at the resort. This will be our 8th trip in a row. And I will fully admit - I too feel that "I have to do, I have to go, I have to see it all" feeling. It is hard for me to leave and rest. But I know how important it is. So I'm trying to enjoy the relaxing at at the Resort, rather then "missing" something at the parks.

Also, I went with my mom last year. Although she is great and healthy, she really valued the break. I took her to Tea at the Grand Floridian (where we were staying), and we had a rest and then headed back to the parks.

 

[swissamy]

My crew loves to go to the parks in the mornings and head back to our WDW hotel for lunch anytime near lunchtime which for us could be anywhere between 11 and 2pm. This allows us to enjoy a better quick service meal than we'd get in the parks and cheaper too since we always buy the resort refillable mugs and the kids meal options are sooo much better. Then we head to the pool or the room for a relaxing break and head to the parks for an early dinner. This only works if you are staying on property though!!

 

[acishere]

I usually get back around 4:30 and 5 to MK or Epcot

For DHS we leave later after riding everything, then come back around 8.

For AK we take no break and power through usually until we have to go change for a dinner reservation

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We find that we enjoy things much more if we take a daily break. So, I never really feel like we're missing anything crucial by cutting out for a while. For Epcot and MK we usually arrive at park opening and stay until sometime between 1-2pm. We usually return to whatever park (since we don't hop) around 6pm...sometimes a tad earlier, sometimes a bit later.

We do deviate from this plan on some DHS and AK days. For these days, we can usually get everything done that we want to get done by 4pm and go back to the hotel after that; however, we'll use the same plan for DHS as we use for MK and Epcot if we're coming back for Fantasmic.

 

[luv]

Depends on the weather.

In the winter, I leave around 11:30 or noon and come back around 3:00 or 4:00. If we don't care to see fireworks at night and it is a much slower time of year and cool, we'll just keep going until we're beat and then call it a day...especially at Epcot.

In the hotter months, I try to hang in there until 1:00 / 1:30 and come back at 5:30 or 6ish. It stays ridiculously hot until late in the summer. IMO, it is worse from 3:00 to 5:00 than it is from 11:00 to 1:00. There is also more chance of having rain in the afternoon or evening, so I try to make the most of the mornings.

 

[mickeysbrother]

REST!!!! who needs to rest. There are wonderful places to sit for 10 min inside the parks....
For example my mom and i will get 1 day hoppers and complete all 4 parks in 1 day and ride pretty much everything. No time for rest. Rest when you go home

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I usually wake up very early.. I am a morning person so this works great for me! Grab a quick breakfast and be at the parks for opening. I usually stay until midday when it starts to get crowded around 1pm.. go back to the resort to rest/swim and then head back out around 5 or so.. I love the evenings in the parks.. its just so different and a little more quiet to me.

 

[Susan Savia]

REST!!!! who needs to rest. There are wonderful places to sit for 10 min inside the parks....
For example my mom and i will get 1 day hoppers and complete all 4 parks in 1 day and ride pretty much everything. No time for rest. Rest when you go home

Thats what we do. We'll park ourselves on a bench with a cold drink for a few minutes and watch the world go by. After a short recharge we continue on. We can rest when we go to bed at night.

 

[docdebbi]

we also make rope drop, get in a lot of attractions early and aim to leave by 1. then let kids nap or go to pool, then return around 5-6 for dinner and one of the nighttime shows. the only park this doesn't work for is DHS because the fantasmic package dining is usually right in the middle of the day and doesn't allow time to go back and forth. and we feel the difference! being refreshed is great.

however, when we took my parents for their 80th birthdays, we stayed later in the mornings. how the worm has turned! at 1 o'clock, i'd be saying, come on, let's get, we (and the babies with us) need some rest before we come back and the 80 year olds were saying "just one more ride? please? just one? ". i remember begging them for the same thing when they took us! needless to say, they got their way- they're my parents.

 

[dreamfinder]

My DW usually heads back a little after lunch, so like 1-2ish, and then typically comes back about 2 1/2-3 hours later. Normally just misses the afternoon parade. Gives her enough time to get back to the hotel, nap/relax for an hour, and then come back to the park. On AK days (5pm close) she tends to power through.

 

[coltow]

We almost always take a break. We plan to be at parks when they open. We stay until we start to get hungry for lunch then back to hotel for lunch and swim. We also almost always have a dinner reservation for around 5:30pm. We will stay at resort roughly around noon until around 3:30pm

 

[wiigirl]

we go in the morning for opening then return to the hotel most days after lunch then stay till 4 or 5 then return to the park.

Thats what we do when we bring the kids.

If we don't have the kids we usually just relax in a resturant or something and keep going.