If you are visiting Disney World during a super busy time, or in the heat of summer, mid-day breaks can really save your trip! Although, we are not planning any mid-day breaks this trip, I strongly suggest them! This trip is my daughter and I. Our main objective is to soak in as much Disney as humanly possible over the 5 days – so a mid-day break would take away some of our precious time. But on every other trip, I’ve definitely factored in a few hours a day to go back to the resort and relax, swim, shower, nap, whatever! Get away from the crowds and/or heat & humidity.
Typically we would get up nice and early and hit the parks as close to opening as possible. Grab a lite breakfast and ride as many rides as we could until about 1:00 or so. By this time the parks are getting pretty packed and the heat of the day has hit. We usually head back to the hotel at this time. Swimming is always a great mid-day activity. Its not usually too crowded at the pools because everyone is in the parks! Then shower, relax in the room, and head back out about 5 (hopefully the daily thunderstorm has already happened – we usually visit in summer). So now its time for a nice sit down dinner, then go to a park until closing time.
My family enjoys the night time hours at Disney World. Its cooler, and less crowded (usually). One of my very favorite memories was one night that the kids and I walked over to Magic Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hours. We were staying at the Contemporary and it was an easy walk. My husband didnt want to go, so we left him at the hotel and headed over. I think the park was open till like 2am. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. We walked on tons of rides, got to spend quality time with many characters, it was fantastic. It was such a relaxing evening.
When my kids were little, we used the mid-day breaks as complete down time. Naps, relaxing, getting away from all the stimulation at the parks. We did the parks for 3-4 hours, then take a 3-4 hour break, then back for another couple hours. Then to bed at a normal-ish time. I think it really made our trips more enjoyable. I don’t think my kids were ever those kids screaming in the strollers, because we just didn’t let that happen. We left before they could get overwhelmed, overtired, or grumpy. As soon as we saw the signs of a melt-down, we just left. Being flexible and making the trip be about THEM, and keeping THEIR enjoyment as the main priority. IT really made it a vacation that we all would enjoy. We live in Southern California, so we went to DIsneyland often. We used this strategy and my kids always loved going, they were a joy to be around because they were rested and happy!
Give it a try!
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