Toddler Napping at Disney World

[efitzge2]

My husband and I have been to Disney World and Land many times but all pre kid. We are going in October for the first time with our son who will be 20 months then. Couldn't stay away any longer! We are doing all of our planning now so we can get all of our reservations when that opens up in a few days and that brought up the topic our daily plan (we love to plan our trips!) and that brought up naps.

Currently my son takes one afternoon nap from around 12:45-3 but can actually function ok (I've noticed on the weekends this) if he gets a little less. I'm not sure how he will be 6 months from now though.

My question is, what have folks that have traveled to Disney with young kids done about naps? Our currently plan is to go back to the hotel (Wilderness Lodge) after lunch but has anyone found other ways to get the nap in? I don't think the stroller nap will happen. Has anyone gotten a nap in in the various family rooms or an attraction to get a power nap in for their kid?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[J. Iminy]

My kids (3 and 1 the first time we went, and then 4 and 2) were able to stroller nap. I wouldn't have thought that was possible, but we went in February both times so it wasn't as hot as it might be in October. In any event, we rented a nice double stroller, the weather was bearable to cool and they surprised my wife and me by taking short naps in the stroller. Then we basically called it a night every day around 730 so they got to bed early. It made for a long day -- rope drop to 7, but we got a lot of park in. They also slept on the walk/monorail home (we stayed at BWV, so walked to two parks and took monorail to Epcot from MK at night each night). In that sense, we didn't have to take them out of the stroller to get into busses (our AK day was done by 4 anyway).

They also nodded off at some of the shows. I remember them both sleeping during FOTLK, which is not a quiet show. I think if you and your husband did an afternoon show somewhere each day (think Nemo in AK, Beauty and the Beast in DHS, Hall of Presidents in MK or an American Experience in Epcot), they might be able to get in a power nap.

I think it is just up to you and your kids regarding what they could handle. I knew my young one would sleep, but I also knew that if we went back to the room, it would be hard to get both he and his sister out later. Stroller naps worked out well. My wife and I took that time to do rider switches on the thrill rides each day. That part was great. It was an opportunity to do some non-toddler appropriate attractions.

We'll be going again in January with kids 7, 5 and 1. We expect to do the same thing with the 1-year old that we did in the past with the others.

 

[AspenLL]

When we were there with my son last, he was 13 months old. He hard core stroller napped and we didn't expect that at all. We also would go back to the room mid-day and he would sometimes take a nap then. We kind of just went with the attitude of we'll play it by ear.

 

[wallskm]

Our son stroller napped when we went, which isn't something he would have done at home. We tried going back to the room for breaks but he kept falling asleep much earlier than he did at home and we could never get out of the park in time. He'd be falling asleep during lunch! So for us it wasn't worth it to get out to the park at 9 just to have to leave before 11 to be back at the room before he got sleepy.

 

[lzmclean]

I'm bringing my stroller from home, hoping my 22month old will still have his afternoon nap

 

[Tara1988]

Chances are he will be tired enough to nap in the stroller. If not, shows are a good place. Or ride a resort ferry roundtrip without getting off. People mover is great and I've seen them let people ride multiple times in a row with a sleeping kid.

 

[Meeko5]

My 22 month old took a stroller nap every day of the trip last October. Shocked me, since he is not a stroller kid at home. Ever. We rented a nice reclining jogging stroller and put a fan on it for him. Worked like a charm. I'd try it, he may surprise you and save you trips back to the room

 

[J'aime Paris]

My DD would nap in her stroller. One tip: Bring a very light- weight, "almost sheer" scarf, in a dark color. I would drape it over the stroller shade to protect the front. At certain times of the day, the sun can still peek under and this helped a lot. And since it was extremely light weight, it didn't add any extra warmth, just a bit of sunblock and the cocooning effect which many kids enjoy.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

the ferry ride back to WL can easily put your toddler asleep and then have him wake as you get to your room. unless you are one of the lucky ones that can get your toddler back to sleep you can have a cranky up and not going back down making everyone cranky. I would try before you leave a few walks or car rides of 20 minutes at the beginning of naptime and are you able to get toddler to nap. it didn't work for us going back to room with a 17 month old. you could hear him screaming in the room from the other end of the hall

 

[StirlingSilver83]

So with my younger DS he will be 3 this year and we took him to Disney when he was 20 months. My husband took him back to the hotel for nap time while I stayed in the parks with my older son and then we met up later when he woke up. Thats how we worked things with him bc stroller naps were not happening bc he was afraid he would miss something, lol. Now with my older son, we took him to Disney for the first time when he was 3, we were staying off site at that point so it was a little more difficult to mid day breaks, but at that point he had pretty much given up naps, lol. What we did find though with him was...Small World...put him to sleep every single time we rode it, LOL. Never under estimate the power of slow boat ride and cheesy music, LOL

 

[brockash]

My husband and I have been to Disney World and Land many times but all pre kid. We are going in October for the first time with our son who will be 20 months then. Couldn't stay away any longer! We are doing all of our planning now so we can get all of our reservations when that opens up in a few days and that brought up the topic our daily plan (we love to plan our trips!) and that brought up naps.

Currently my son takes one afternoon nap from around 12:45-3 but can actually function ok (I've noticed on the weekends this) if he gets a little less. I'm not sure how he will be 6 months from now though.

My question is, what have folks that have traveled to Disney with young kids done about naps? Our currently plan is to go back to the hotel (Wilderness Lodge) after lunch but has anyone found other ways to get the nap in? I don't think the stroller nap will happen. Has anyone gotten a nap in in the various family rooms or an attraction to get a power nap in for their kid?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

When we first had little ones we had planned to go back to nap every day, but that lasted 2 days and it was exhausting. Having to walk all the way out of the park, get transportation, fold up the stroller, pull kid out etc., unload the bus walk to the room lay down, wake everyone up again just to do the whole transportation thing again was just really not worth it for us. We started just staying in the parks and they would just fall asleep in the stroller when they needed to. If they were sleeping, we'd just walk around, take turns riding bigger things, shop, rest/snack etc. and it worked out well. My older ones are above the age for a stroller now, however we do have a baby and now the only time we go back to the resort is if we're staying at the CR, where we can either just walk back to the resort or take the monorail (no unpack, folding up strollers etc.), but even then we really only do it maybe once or twice during an 8 day trip, because that's all we find it worth it for us. We've also had little ones nap in Carousel of Progress, on the Ppl. Mover (if there's no line, they'll let you just keep riding, same with Spaceship Earth), Railroad etc.

ETA: We usually go in late Aug./Early Sept. and usually do open- close, just for reference.

 

[J.Casto79]

My 4 year old has recently cut out napping all together and has only ever napped in a stroller maybe twice. Disney wore him out and he just crashed in the stroller every single day of our trip.

 

[serenitynow]

Hall of Presidents is great, just be careful. We took a break there, hoping the kids would nap and everyone fell asleep. It's a strange feeling to be awoken at Disney by overhead lights, seats banging and people leaving a theater, as an adult!

 

[ktlm]

My DD was several months older than your DS on her first trip, but we found that she would not nap in the room at all (she was just mad we made her leave the park), but that she was great with stroller naps. As far as attractions, in MK, I recall her napping in Carousel of Progress and Country Bears.

 

[ebradley23]

My son asked to nap in his stroller on our first trip which was unheard of from him. He always needed to be in a bed to sleep. The stroller naps were much shorter than his usual 3 hour nap, though. That trip we did our first MNSSHP. I had great plans to go back to the room that day for my then toddler to nap. He's a great sleeper, and we still get naps out of him at 4 1/2, so I thought he would get great rest for the party. My plan backfired though. He was so wound up from being at Disney that he just bounced around on his bed until I finally said we were going back to the park. Fast forward to dinner, and my little guy passed out on the table at BOG. I literally had to catch his head. He was groggy in our pics with Beast. I would have been better off just doing another stroller nap that day.

Based on that, my recommendation is to go with the flow. Plan on going back to your room for a nap, but be prepared to possibly do stroller naps. BTW - stroller naps were the perfect time for my DH and I to do rider swaps on the bid rides.

 

[aaarcher86]

My ya middle was 2 on our first trip and napped in her stroller, surprisingly.

Our stroller for our baby now turns into a bassinet/pram thing so I plan on letter nap in that when she gets tired. She's napped in it before at the zoo, so hopefully it works out.

If not, I'm fine going back to the resort but I think we would have more of a fight from her if we tried that.

 

[Imagineer5]

My DD is 4 and STILL stroller naps lol. I lay the seat all the way back (having a reclining stroller is key) and use a muslin (breathable) blanket to shade her / take away her view. She is a champion stroller napper. I wouldn't plan to go back to the room bc I think that's a lot of wasted time. Sometimes we'd go back to the room, put her down for a stroller nap and then head to the pool or something and take turns enjoying that, but otherwise we'd stay in the parks. She's been going since she was 8months old (she was doing 3 naps/day then!).

 

[Nornster]

I think the beauty of staying at Wilderness Lodge with a toddler is the ability to just take the boat home in the middle of the day, so you should take advantage of it. Your son will probably fall asleep on the ferry - mine kid always did when we stayed at Ft. Wilderness - and if you're concerned about him waking up when you take him off, you could just keep riding it, if they'll let you. But if he did wake up, maybe just stay at the hotel for a while and take a break from the parks and enjoy that great pool? No reason to be go, go, go all day at the Magic Kingdom with a toddler if you don't have to.

Funny story - the one time we didn't stay at Ft. Wilderness (we were at AofA), we thought, what are we going to do about naps? We were waiting in the dungeon for Ariel's ride when my daughter fell asleep in the dark - when the ride broke down, it was a god-send. We got the rain check Fast Pass, carried the sleeping toddler out of the park, onto the boat, up to the DVC train room (cool, quiet and almost deserted), and sat in an awesome leather rocking chair with a happy, sleeping little girl for about an hour. When she woke up, we headed over to Whispering Canyon for a very early dinner, then back to the park - worked out great! Don't know how well it would do now with all of the construction at the WL villas.

 

[CharleneR]

The last time we went my youngest son was a week away from turning 2. He stroller napped when he needed to. The one day we did go back to the resort in the afternoon to have him take a nap (we were going to the Halloween Party that night) he wouldn't nap at all!

 

[Dis703]

Our oldest went at 26 months for the first time and our twins at 22 months. We always planned in a break around normal napping time, but what actually happened when we were there varied.

ODS would not nap in the room. He was much too excited. He also wouldn't fall asleep in the stroller. After a few days we gave up on napping and just kept going. Late afternoon he would get a little cranky and then crash in our arms. He'd sleep maybe an hour or so and did okay the rest of the evening.

With my twins they were hit or miss with napping. They started too in the beginning but sometimes only one would sleep and the other wouldn't. A few times they fell asleep in the stroller before we even left for break so I just kept going and let them sleep as we walked around the park. We just kind of went with the flow and figured out what worked as we went along.