Do you feel you really need a day off?

[bsj1701]

At the ages of 3 and 1, I think they will need naps and/or breaks whether you are in the parks or not. The advantage to a resort or non park day is a cost savings for you. No admission tickets to purchase.

 

[ktlm]

We have been taking DD(10) every year since she was 2. We typically arrive on Saturday and head straight to a park. We stay 8 nights and leave the next Sunday - and we usually hit a park that day before leaving. We have never once had a day that we don't go to a park. So we usually spend 7 full and 2 part park days. We didn't take afternoon breaks either- they didn't work for her, she was a stroller napper. If it is swimming weather, sometimes we will swim the first evening and maybe leave AK early for a swim night. You just have to find what works best for your family.

 

[randynmelissa1109]

My family and I did a 5 day trip with a 5yr old and 2 year old. We did a different park everyday non stop. Even though we took time to enjoy our resort and did a few extras, we were burnt out by the last day. We r now taking a trip in June and spending about half just relaxing and hanging out at our resort. I would try to spend one day being able to catch up on naps and enjoy some down time.

 

[DisneyArie]

We're going for 8 days in September, and we have a scheduled "rest day" half way through our vacation. On this day, we are going to relax at the resort pool and visit Downtown Disney. For us, it is important to escape the crowds and madness at the parks and have a day where we aren't on a schedule and can just be lazy (sleep in!) and really enjoy the vacation.

Because the kids are young and will need a nap, we will take a 2-3 hour break each day at the park.

 

[Minnesota!]

My kids never needed a day off. Rope drop to closing we are all good to go, 7 days in a row. We started doing breaks just cuz the parks started not being as important.

 

[rideswithchrist]

We are penciling in a day off this time. Last time, we had a 6 day touring plan, but did not really stick to it and on RD day, we were in MK all day long because we did not want to "miss anything". The third day, my son vomited on me as we were boarding the bus to Epcot after a 2 hour nap because we were trying to get all our Disney in. Then the 4th day, my oldest got a fever and was miserable watching wishes.

SO- This time, we are going for 8 days with a 7 day ticket:Arrival day for a few hours in the evening, 3 park days, 1 day off to hang out in FW and then 3 more park days.
We are camping so it cost us less than $100 to add in one off day.
We will probably also take some nap times because I will be pregnant as well.

If you do not take a day off, at least give yourself a few hours mid day to rest. It was not fun having to return to the hotel to change my son's vomit off of me.

 

[isabellea]

We usually take one or two days off from the parks to enjoy our resort, play mini-golf and go shopping to DS. This past trip we didn't since we were at WDW only for 3 days before our cruise and we really missed it. At least we were at Pop, my least favourite resort so far.

 

[brooke789]

Our last trip we did 6 days with 2 2year olds and did it straight through and commando style. We were fine without a break. This time we have 8 days and have a no park day in the middle. We don't think we'll 'need' it but since we're staying at a nice hotel with lots of stuff to do there this time we thought we'd enjoy it!

 

[katyjeka]

We have always taken a day off. Our trips are always 10 days or longer so we have plenty of time. I think the breaks are more for dad and mom!!! We are a little different as we've found we enjoy our trips when we give up the commando touring and take the time to appreciate the little details that Disney does soooooo well. The attention to details is amazing. Our girls taught us to slow down and not rush around the park from ride to ride. Disney is so much more than rides..... Nothing saddens us more than to see a family hurrying from one thing to another, slow down, take breaks, and appreciate the entire World. Some of our best memories were made at the resorts.

 

[mshanson3121]

So I don't have a trip planned yet but next time we go we will have our kids (no more adult only trips) Our kids will be around 3 and 1. If we leave the parks for naps and breaks at the resort do you feel you need to take a full day off from the parks and make a resort day or something?

It really depends. When we go, we stay 10+ days, so yes, most definitely we need, and what's more WANT a day (or two or three) off from the parks. However, if we only had 4-5 days to spend there, then no, we wouldn't.

 

[buzznina]

This is back to "every family is different". We go often so we plan a day or 2 during an 8-9 day stay to do something else then the parks, like mini golf, rent a boat or a surrey bike etc. We are still doing stuff but not dealing with the crowds, lines etc. at the parks.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Look to see what most sounds like your family in all the PPs. I know me and mine find these times to be too special, too rare, and too expensive to spend all the money for a hotel and restaurants, but not get any park entertainment. Even if it's a partial day, we never have a day with zero park time. What I would add to PPs is don't be afraid to split up according to needs. Some of my special times were alone with my youngest son while the rest of the party went on some attraction I did not care about missing, finding things like his favorite fountain or taking that 15th trip on his favorite little-kid ride. With my middle son, it was just him and me for a lot of Meet & Greets while everyone else did rides or went back to the hotel. (The princess and pixie lines got that long.) My eldest and I left everyone at the hotel after dinner and closed down the park with no smaller people to slow us down. I also took time on my own to do some Main Street shopping without having to do child management at the same time. So some people needing a rest does not have to mean that no one goes to the park.

 

[swthrtpallanes]

On my second trip, I arrived on a Saturday and went non-stop until Thursday. Every day up early and slept late. By Friday morning I was Dead!!! Everything hurt! I made my Ds a healthy snack before going back to bed. I rolled out of bed around 3ish and skipped the water park scheduled for that day. Next trip I am scheduling some down time at the resort pool and some days sleeping in.

 

[quagmire0]

Ok, got back about 6 days ago and figure I can better report on this now that my memories are fresh. We did a 10 day trip in all. We flew in early and arrived at Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. We did two half days at the parks and one day 'off' where we went to Clearwater. After it all, we were pretty wiped, the kids especially. But what it really came down to was that our kids, who are used to being early to bed and early to rise were up late most nights because of shows. On the flipside, they weren't sleeping in at all either, so they were just getting worn out by the end of the week. We sort of winged it on shows though, and took what our 10mo would give us. So, in retrospect, I think those days off or late start days helped. If I had to do it again, I would have 'picked a lane' more often. On mornings after shows, I'd skip rope drop and on days we did rope drop I'd skip shows.

 

[jvz82]

We're doing a "rest" day even though we're only staying 4 nights. It won't be much of a rest day since we have lots planned! Character breakfast, pool, possibly Disney springs. Mostly for us it's saving money since we have so many people to buy tickets for, but also I want to really enjoy the hotel. If we're going to spend so much on a hotel, I want to enjoy it at least one day! Sit around at the pool without needing to be anywhere.

 

[Pesky]

ITA that this is personality based. The breaks will likely be enough for us, especially if we have some pool time in there and some nights where we simply don't return to a park. But I do know we need some downtime and we've tried to build that into our schedule. The only day that might be a bit heavier is our first day, which is at Epcot. Other days, we've planned for a bit more relaxation.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Yes I always try to plan in at least one resort day.

 

[PlanningForTheFamily]

We're planning a resort/pool day. My kids get over-stimulated and just worn out if we don't have a relaxed day at home every once in a while. Plus they love to swim so I figure we might as well enjoy the resort and save on a park ticket for one day.

 

[wallskm]

We never do a full day off, but usually somewhere in the middle of our trip we have an open day or two where we have time to relax and sleep in, then maybe hit a park later in the day.

 

[celina14]

We'll be there for 10 days in November with a 2 and 5 year old. I don't currently have any full days off scheduled. I think we will probably have some days where we have parts of the day off to rest. For example, rope dropping Hollywood Studios isn't important to me so that day we'll probably have an easy morning and head over there in the afternoon. And certain days when we're up super early we'll take a long afternoon break and maybe go back at night if we're feeling up to it. For me, spreading it out over 10 days I don't feel like we need to be go, go, go the whole time and can have the luxury of taking longer mid-day breaks or taking a morning or a night off. But once you get over like 4 day tickets adding extra days is minimal so it's worth it to me to have the option to be able to go to a park just for the evening if we want to.