I am interviewing for 3rd shift warehouse work and expect to get a job offer soon. I have never worked 3rd shift before so it will be quite a change for me. Of course, some of the first concerns that cross my mind are Disney-related. Does anyone here work 3rd shift? How have you handled vacations while doing this? I don’t know how I’d be able to stay up all day at Disney while being used to sleeping during the day. We have a WDW trip planned for May 2022, and I really want to experience the most out of it. Any suggestions, tips, etc. would be very welcome!
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Most of my adult life was spent on some sort of midnight shift- thankfully retired now.
To be honest all those years of traveling to disney never once gave it a second thought.
Got off work around 7 am- headed straight to airport with family…napped on plane.
Only one time it was a problem- we had cirque tickets first night. Soon as the lights when down I passed out. Kids said it was great though.
Traveling home was the same in reverse played in park napped on plane & family dropped me off at work.
Not a big deal you get used to it.
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Well, you make it sound so easy! I don’t know, I’m a light sleeper and tend to have issues changing my sleep schedule. Once I get used to sleeping during the day, I worry it will be tough for me to switch back. But maybe not? I guess I’ll just have to try experimenting before our trip to see how easily I can swap between sleep schedules.
Oh switching back completely that’s a whole different thing…Took nearly 3 years to be awake after retirement.
But disney was fairly easy- by the time your trip rolls around you will have experienced holidays, family stuff and will be accustomed to switching it up
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I haven’t personally, but I work with a plant with 3 shifts and I know a few people who say it’s easier to stay awake when they get off of work and sleep in the later afternoon/early evening waking up just before work like they would if they worked first shift. Of course this means sleeping when the rest of your family is arriving home from school/work which I know is not ideal for most.
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I have worked third shift. Did it for 16 years actually.
When I started my week I would get up with the family in the morning, generally 6am, and stay up through that entire 26 hrs til bed the next morning around 8. I slept days through my week, but on the last morning I would force myself up early (to bed around 8a, up by 1p at the latest) and then would go to bed at a normal time that night (10ish). I got back on a normal sleep schedule that way until work week came around again.
It was never an issue on vacation - I just flipped back to sleeping nights and had no trouble. I think I was exceptionally good at doing that flip flopping though.
Avoid sleep aids as much as possible. Get room darkening shades. Set your phone to do not disturb during your sleeping hours. If someone asks you to do something during the day, ask them if they would do that same thing at 2am to put it in perspective. Get used to saying no and protecting your sleep hours during the day at all costs.
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Some people do it more easily than others. I wish you the best!!
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I have a feeling I’ll be passing out as soon as I get home. Possible shifts for my interview tomorrow are 5pm start or 7:30pm start. Warehouses around here seem to be doing 10-12 hour shifts or more, and the work will be lifting all shift. I’ll probably sleep like a rock at least!
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I am impressed you were able to stay up 26 hours straight to make the change! I don’t think I’d succeed at that. But who knows… maybe it won’t be as hard for me as it seems. I suppose worst case scenario, I could try to do this job for several months and keep looking for 2nd shift warehouse positions to apply to. I don’t have any warehouse experience so I can’t really be too choosy where I start. I’ve just been applying to good paying positions. But yeah, our trip is 7-8 months away, so that is a good amount of time to figure things out!
Nothing wrong with catching a nap if you can. On the rare occasion I went in for 11 I would lay down after the kids went to bed. But 99% of the time I worked 12s and it just didn’t make sense by the time I was ready for a nap for me to get one because of their needs. It sure made for a solid flop into bed the next morning!!
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I agree, I feel like naps would be hard for me. Either messing with my sleep schedule or I’d be too tired to wake up from a nap on time.
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My DH works third. He sleeps in the AM and then is up for the afternoon and dinner. He goes back to bed at 6:30-10pm, when he has to get up for work. Sometimes he has trouble sleeping, so he doesn’t get much. When he has off or we are on vacation, he sleeps normally at night.
My dad worked third for years (as in most of my life, so 40 years maybe). My dad and DH will tell you there is no getting used to sleeping during the day.
For our vacations, DH tries to take off the night before we leave and the night after we come back. So his weeklong vacation is actually a week and a 1/2.
My DH has done 12 hour shifts. He hates them. He sticks with 8/8 1/2 hours when possible. He also prefers third shift to second.
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I think this is a great idea assuming I can get the extra time off. Our Disney trip will be long enough as it is… (planning for 9 days.)
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I worked third Sunday - Thursday 11p-7a (in a warehouse) for five years. I would switch back to days on the weekend. Stay up all day Friday and bed around 9 or 10, then up all day Saturday and Sunday. You get use to it as long as you stay on routine, so I don’t think vacation will be a problem. One thing I will share though is I was always tired no matter how much sleep I got. But after a while it just became normal.
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I was actually wondering about this. I’ve been practicing staying up later and sleeping in later, and no matter how much sleep I get my body seems tired. I was hoping it would get better with time, but I guess getting used to it will work too.
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There’s that.
And it’s funny that now that I’m on days it’s like my body has realized what it was missing all those years and it will not be shortchanged 
Note that I ended up shortchanged because of kids needing picked up after school meaning I often only got to sleep for 5-6 hrs max
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Fact!
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I worked 7PM-7AM as an RN for 8.5 years and truly loved it. When I was single, I just lived on that schedule all the time. Scheduled all appointments for 8AM the day after my last shift and then crashed. Blackout curtains are your friend. Don’t let anyone act like your sleep during the day is just a nap - them waking you up at 1PM is no different than if you came and turned on their lights at 1AM!
I did Disney with my family once during that schedule. I worked Friday night, slept as usual Saturday, was actually planning to work Saturday night but got cancelled for low census, so I ate dinner and spend the evening with my family, then went to bed around 10 or 11, slept a normal night, flew down on Sunday, and then had a fantastic week at Disney with no issues.
ETA: That is, family as in, my parents and siblings. I got offered a dayshift NP position the morning after I gave birth to my oldest, so I have never attempted night shifts with kids in the picture.
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It’s promising to hear so many people successes able to switch sleep schedules for Disney!
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