I read some of the other topics on this and it seems like I am getting conflicting information.
A friend of mine stayed in AoA in late April last year and said the buses were SO slow in arriving to leave the park mid-day that they needed realistically about 5 hours even to get an hour nap in once settled. We are not staying in a suite so the potential time for walking to the room paired with Disney transportation may be a lot.
Is it better to just try to rent a stroller from a rental company for my DD (age 5) and let her sleep in the stroller instead of leaving the park? 5 hours is an awful lot of touring time lost just for a nap. While my DH will also nap if given the chance, we honeymooned in Disney without any breaks - my only concern is the little one.
We used a stroller until our daughter turned 8. At 5, I can’t imagine not having a stroller. She just turned 11 on our last trip and is going through growth spurts. It was the first time she ever complained at all about legs/knees being tired. I wish I had a stroller then and there!
So, that being said, no matter how much of a trooper your 5 year old may be, 30,000 steps at day at WDW is tough. Having the stroller will give you much more flexibility to either stay in the parks or go back to the resort.
I know I didn’t really address your lead in question, but I think deciding to get a stroller works around it.
Personally, we hardly ever go back to nap/take a break. I feel like it is SUCH a waste of time, and unless I am there for two weeks and know I have plenty of time to see everything multiple times, I don’t want to be wasting time going back to the room. Obviously, everyone’s children are different, but ours always did fine dozing off for an hour or so in a stroller. Taking a longer lunch in park in an air conditioned restaurant worked well, as did going to see a show and holding a sleeping child if need be. All these options allowed them to rest and recharge without taking very valuable touring hours away from us.
We took a few midday breaks and didn’t find the buses slow for AOA. The AOA bus stop is also usually next to the Pop stop so you could take that bus if it comes first but we never had to do that.
Also, if you are going when it is warm enough to swim your DD will probably love the big blue pool and splash pad area. My DD5 doesn’t nap anymore but we took our breaks to have a splash or swim and grab a bite at Landscape of Flavors. If you ask her what the best thing was about Disney the first thing she says is the pool.
I have to jump in here. A mid-day break for me is always about going back to the resort and jumping into the pool for a little while. The 45 minutes each way it may take me to travel each way is well worth it. I would be heart broken if I had to walk by the pool every day and never didn’t jump in!
Thanks everyone. I guess I am concerned that it will be time “wasted,” and I will definitely get a stroller, but it’s also true that if DD is miserable and cranky the time will be anything but wasted to go and relax a while.
We have never taken mid day breaks. Always rush rush trying to get the best bang for our buck. We vacation so infrequently we felt we had to get it all in or otherwise the trip was wasted. But as @PrincipalTinker said I always kicked myself for not taking advantage of all the resorts have to offer. This will be our first trip where we are including the resort itself in our TP’s including 3-4 mid day breaks back to the resort and even a resort day itself which will include resort hopping. We even grabbed a later flight on departure day to just stay at the resort. No matter how old they get, kids love and remember the pool more than anything.
Went in Nov and we needed those breaks! I’m 23, my sister is 18, and my parents are in their 50’s. The day we did not take them we were all cranky lol. Could not imagine not having a break with a little. Not sure when you are going… wondering if the mid day heat is going to be a factor for you too. Good luck!
I am going from the 5th-11th of November. I am hoping to go at a leisurely pace and let my DD’s tolerance for walking/being awake lead our decisions, but I know that once I’m there I’ll want to do everything! I am thinking more and more about breaks.
Further question if anyone is still following this post: If I decide on MVMCP on the 9th of November, will Disney let me reduce my ticketed days from 6 to 5 so I don’t have to pay for the morning? Or should I go to HS which I was going to skip, and then switch to MK since I won’t need a parkhopper? I know this question is unrelated.
That’s the same week I went last year! The weather was perfect! You will have a wonderful time! Trust me… I wanted to do everything too! The first two days we did not get breaks in and after that we made sure we took them lol.
You can call and ask if you can reduce your days. The park hopping would work as well but I would maybe plan to sleep in and just go to HS for a couple of hours so you can rest before the party.
I would be surprised if DIS refunded the dropped day - and besides the cost savings is relatively trivial once you get past 4 days - looks like for non-parkhoppers it’s a $20 difference per adult ticket between a 5 day vs. a 6 day ticket. Given the cost of a DIS vacation, $20 is relatively trivial and even a few hours at a park should be worth that, right?
I would plan on doing a light day at HS to at least check out the park, getting some rest and ready for a late night at the party…
I would say you need a solid 3 hours built in, 4 if you can manage. 5 seems unnecessary but YMMV based on your crew’s specifications.
My kids never would have slept in the stroller by age 5. As it was, by age 3 there was just too much drawing their attention to get them to settle down in-park.
If your crew requires a midday break by all means TAKE IT. Your trip will be the better for it. You may need to curtail your expectations in terms of how much you’ll be able to see and do, but it will be worth it. And it will leave other things that need to be seen and done, so you’ll just have to go back (that’s our favorite saying here in our house!).
I understand the time “wasted” concern, but at Disney the only time you waste is if your party isn’t having fun. If you need to take afternoon breaks, try to enjoy them instead of stressing about what you might be missing out on.
This is so true! Our kids always did fine with no breaks, so breaks for breaks’ sake would have been a waste for us, but if everyone is miserable, a break is worth it’s weight in gold!
You might have days when you can go from rope drop to close and days you NEED that break. Be flexible and remember you won’t be able to do everything, and that’s ok. Also, take it easy on party day, you don’t want to spend all that money and be worn out for party.
We took breaks back to AoA and never had problems with the buses. Some days we’d wait longer than others but for the most part it was fine. I do agree with the person who said a good solid 3 to 4 hours is probably a good idea. We usually did close to 5 hours but my little one really needed the sleep and the rest of use could use the breaks! If we had not taken breaks, we would not have all made it to the evenings in the parks so it was definitely worth it for us. I understand what you mean about wasted time but again we would have missed a few hours in mid-day when its hottest and busiest or in the evenings. Hope this helps!
