Take a Break? NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Imagineer1981]

When I was younger, my family and I used to go the parks once a year for vacation for a few days. We would get to every park at rope drop and stay until we were asked nicely to make our way out at closing. Not once would we go back to the hotel to rest, my mom kept us on military time and we maximized every minute. Our biggest breaks were meals and park hopping. Now that I am older and have worked at WDW, I find myself much more relaxed and will even stroll to the parks at noon after a good night of sleeping in (although I feel guilty about it) My mom still tells me I am crazy for taking it easy...but now that I have a son, I think I'll be the same way when I take him for the first time...military, I want him to see it all and maximize time.

I was just curious how many people divide the day up with a hotel break, and how many take the militray approach like my family did?

[BMan62]

If you were only going to be there a few days (4 or less,) then yes, I could see a military approach to the parks, but we always go for 7 nights (or more.) In this way, we can take our time and really enjoy the parks without having to stress out over where to be and when.

It's really nice to see it all, but how can you when you are constantly on the run from attraction (i.e. ride/show) to attraction. There is a WHOLE lot more to WDW than just the attractions. Look at Town Square right now -- all the pumpkin-headed scarecrow figures, the pennants and other decorations. Take time to enjoy the entire experience!

[SAHDad]

We don't do the whole military approach thing, but we also don't do hotel breaks. We have two kids, and we prioritize into "must-do" "would like to do" "can miss if time is a problem" and "avoid unless terminally bored". We try to do as much of the first two as possible, and we decide which parks to see based on EMH, but we also allow for slack time in the parks, where we wander and take it easy, while the kids rest in the strollers.

[ThanxForNoticin]

For us, it's a vacation. Vacation is to get away for awhile, unwind and have lots of fun. Taking a break on a nice afternoon to enjoy a beautiful resort is part of our vacation and part of our relaxation. Heck, we might even get really radical one of the days - and SLEEP IN....! We would not have it any other way.

[gmgdisneymom]

It depends on the length of the stay - we were there in June for 4 days so we were up at dawn and stayed until close - but next week we go for 9 days - we will still get up at dawn and leave at the end but we will take a break after lunch to swim or nap - make it a more relaxing day:cool:

[ibrowse17]

I used to be like that, attacking the parks all day with no break. Growing up in an Air Force family, then wearing the blue suit myself, I fully understand the military approach to everything! However, that has changed since I got married. My wife has epilepsy, and a break is a must for her. We will be at a park for the rope drop, have a nice lunch there, then return to our resort around noon. After a nice time relaxing and a nap for DW, we will hit another park that evening. To be honest, I really enjoy it!! I love a nice soak in the pool and to put my feet up for a while. I think turing 40 might have had something to do with that as well:secret: It works for us, and we get the the most of our theme park/resort experience.:thumbsup:

[Stu29573]

I do a "modified military." I have an agenda, and don't take breaks, but I also don't feel real bad about breaking away and winging it for a while if the mood strikes me (or if people in my group want to) The only thing I won't do is go back to the resort. Life's too short to sleep it away! :mickey:

[biodtl]

We don't take hotel breaks. For us, doing the parks IS relaxing - we love it. This year, we are thinking about heading back to the hotel early one day so the kids get a chance to swim, but other than that, we go, go go.

Although, I just checked the forecast for your visit and there is rain every day so far, so who knows.

[kakn7294]

We don't do afternoon breaks either but we take our time in the parks. We usually arrive within an hour of opening (never do am EMHs though) and stay until closing. We use meals and wandering the gift shops as our breaks. We also try to vary the attractions so we aren't doing all the "thrilling" stuff at once - we space it out with the quieter stuff.

[Darbylew]

We don't take breaks back to our resort. We
are in the parks until they close. Our breaks
are sitting to eat our meals, taking a ride on
the boat between Epcot and DHS and walking
around the gift shops. We love just being in
the parks. ::mickey:mickey:
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND GOING BACK IN
14 DAYS! :D

[joonyer]

In really warm weather, we take breaks by park hopping to a water park where we can really cool off for a while. But while we are in the parks, we are commandos. :drill:

And we don't spend a lot of time hanging around the resort at WDW. We take two other vacations to a lake and to the gulf beach every year (we don't do WDW every year) where we just chill and relax for a whole week at a time. :read: :sleepin: :waycool:

We don't go to WDW to relax. We go to have FUN FUN FUN! And we do. :woohoo:

[passholderryan]

It's a little easy for my wife and I because we live in Ft. Lauderdale (2 1/2hrs away) and drive up once a month for the weekend. The only time we rush is the first day getting there. We usually leave at about 5:30am and get there around 8. We check in and take which ever the next bus arriving is, so its always a suprise! We hang out at that park then head back to the hotel and hit the pool around 3ish. Stay for a couple of hours then hit up Epcot for a stroll around WS for drinks:beer::marg:, dinner and Illuminations. By then were exhausted , and do it all over again the next to days.

[Belle_0717]

My family also had the approach - no breaks. My dad always found it relaxing at the parks and enjoys just watching the park exist while he relaxes.

DH and I have found that the afternoon breaks help us in our old age - LOL (mid 30's)! We tend to go to the parks with EMH - esp AK - so I can get in E:E as many times as I can. By 1ish we head back - either snacking while waiting for the bus or grabbing something at SSR. We tend to hop into the pool then head out again around 4-4:30.

This worked with the DNephew last year - at 1 year old, I think we needed the break more than him.

We will see what transpires in 17 days when we head back to the world or as I refer to it HOME!

[SBETigg]

We park hop and we take breaks between parks. We'll do one park in the morning, take a break, and do another in the evening. We usually stay long enough that we've never felt we had to be militant about our park time. Sometimes, we even take mornings, evenings, or whole days off from a park and just relax at the resort. Resort time is part of our vacation fun, too. We're not all about all-parks, all-the-time, though we always manage to do everything we want to do multiple times.

[#1donaldfan]

We normally do 6 / 7 days so we normally go back to the resort, re-generate a bit, ( me and kids swim and wife sleep)....it breaks the day up pretty nicley.....:mickey:

[grwoolf]

Hotel breaks in the afternoon, absolutely. We usually stay at WL or Poly and really enjoy the hotel time. Not every day, but very common.

Leave before park closing, sometimes. If we are tired and want to beat the crowds out of the park, we have no problem leaving before the park closes.

Arrive after rope drop in the morning?!!! Now that is "crazy talk" for us. We love the parks in the mornings, being first at the big attractions, light crowds, etc.

I am a big proponent of fitting the schedule to the situation. Some people really like to sleep in, some like to get up early. It also depends on the ages of kids (and adults). We took naps at the hotel every day back when the kids were 4 and 5. Now that they are 11 and 12, the kids can go as long as us, but we still like to hit the hotel pool in the afternoon as a break.

The other factor is how many times you have gone and how many days you are there. We have been many times and don't feel the need to hit everything every day. We also stay at least 8 nights each time. When we first started going, we were much more rushed. It is a different kind of vacation for us now, much more relaxed. It's much more about being there as a family, less about the excitement of hitting every big ride each day. Not better, not worse, just different.

[g8rgirl29]

My DH, DD (4yo) and I do a modified commando style!!:D On our last trip we were up most mornings between 6:30 and 7a and didn't get back to room until 12:30-1a. We would occasionally get back to the room for a quick 30 min nap and change. On day 3 we did laundry and hung at the pool mid day, then on days 5 and 6 we went to the water parks in the am (there right at or around opening). We then took a quick break and hit parks in the evening. We take full advantage of pm EMH's but have a hard time with the am EMH's. Our motto is "we can sleep when we get home!!" My legs still ache and we have been home for a week:blush:. All this rushing and we still haven't been able to make it to an am EMH or Animal Kingdom. :drill: I see a new goal for next trip!!

[Bethany0517]

I like to get up and go, I love being able to have plenty of time to take everything in, and then go to downtown Disney at night. When I go on vacation I am constantly moving, because I sit down all day at work. Its nice to enjoy things and feel like a kid again.

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

Like many of you, we also tend to Go, Go, Go while we are in the parks. We will slow down if a kid falls asleep, but we won't go back to the room. I think I'm afraid that we will settle in and not return to the park!

So far, we have only done shorter trips- 4-5 days. However, this next trip will be for 9 days, and I'm curious to see if we are able to pace ourselves! :blush:

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

As My Pepaw would say, "plenty of sleep when yer dead". So we are non stop in Disney.

[TinyDancer]

We are the first ones in the park and get the majority of the rides done with little to no wait. Then we head back to the cabin (we stay at FW) and take a short nap, then head back to a different park. Lunch will be on one side or the other of the break, it doesn't really matter. We go crazy. We have taken to grilling a nice dinner for ourselves one night but that is more for that experience (we always used to grill when we were kids and my parents lived together) than it is for the break itself.

I can't wait to go back!!!

[Imagineer1981]

i hope to take it easier with my son...I hope

[Insanity Clause]

We will be there in April for a week with three of our kids and we plan on being there at rope drop but then coming back to the hotel for about an hour in the late afternoon and then heading back for dinner rez and whatever park is having EMH. Now this is the plan...we have never done something like this before with our kids so all this might change...we might find that nobody want to go back but we will be there for a full week and why push it to exhaustion. I would rather take an easier approach...we can still see and do everything that is important to us.

[pdrlkr]

We stay from open to close every day!:thumbsup:

[NJGIRL]

No Breaks For Us! We don't need them and never have. We have one nice slow sit down meal per day and that's enough of a break for us. Now just because we don't leave the park for a nap doesn't mean we are rushing around like crazy people either. We take our time in each park and enjoy everything we do.

[thumperbug]

We generally don't set an alarm clock and pretty much get up and go. We are usually out the door by 9. We go until either the park closes or we have physically had enough.

My DS was never a napper and he has more energy then anyone I know and he can go go go until all hours. Usually my DH or I wear out but we don't normally take midday breaks.

On our most recent trip we did something we never did before...actually took breathers some mornings and used the pools. We had always brought swim suits with us on trips but never used the pools. Last time we did!!!

On our next trip in Feb 09 we will be staying at the villas at WL so if we want to take breaks it is pretty quick back to the resort. We spend most of our time at MK.

[Aggie97]

We sleep in most mornings, have a CS breakfast at the resort, and then head to a park for the entire day and night. We often eat a late dinner at a resort TS restaurant, after that day's park has closed. We do not often park hop -- except to go to evening EMHs, which we rarely miss. We never have returned to the resort for an afternoon break.

In the parks, we move at a relaxed but efficient pace (we don't have kids yet). We very rarely wait more than 15-20 minutes for attractions, almost always watch parades and fireworks, and spend a decent amount of time shopping. We like to stop and smell the roses (sometimes literally)-- we often pause for quite awhile to extensively photograph or even just watch something that looks interesting or funny. We never have had a problem riding everything we want multiple times per trip.

If our trip is longer than a week, we usually take a break from the parks one day in the middle to go to a resort character breakfast in the morning, visit DTD or resort hop for the day, and have a leisurely TS dinner that night.

I know we don't follow any of the tried and true WDW schedules, but this works extremely well for our vacations! :mickey:

[Stich8818]

The previous 2 trips for us was the military mad dash trips. The last one was a on site, stay the whole week stay. So taking our time and even the adr's we were good on time. It was nice to take our time, makes me look forward to the next trip. I guess too we did ride somethings twice but not everything and still had a great time..We took in a lot of the fun that is Disney and the ambiance of it all.

[TheWizofDiz]

When we used to fly down from MI, we would commando the parks all day....now, living much closer, we slooooow down and sometimes just go over for a nice dinner and watch the nighttime shows...ie, Fantasmic, Wishes, Illuminations, etc. But I can completely relate to all of you the are coming from long distances. You want to make sure you and your family get to take in as much as you can! But, if you are down for a week, it is nice to be able to head back to your hotel and swim, rest or just check out your resort...there is much to see. :thumbsup:

[MickeysEars]

we make sure we go for a long enough time so that we DO NOT have to treat our trip like boot camp. Not everyone can stay for 2 weeks like we do but I believe that it should be quality not quantity.

[KylesMom]

we make sure we go for a long enough time so that we DO NOT have to treat our trip like boot camp. Not everyone can stay for 2 weeks like we do but I believe that it should be quality not quantity.
:ditto: When we first began taking family vacations to Disney in 2000, we would go commando-style. We'd end up being tired, cranky and just not enjoying ourselves as much by the end of our 8-day vacation. We now make it a priority to stay for a longer period of time so that we can enjoy our resort (and each other) without running ourselves ragged. While we do get to the parks before rope drop each morning, I don't think we'll ever stay at one park for 15+ hours straight again . . .

That being said, if we only had four or five days, I'm sure we'd have to forego the breaks to see and do everything we wanted to!

[glenpreece]

Go Go Go!! Time is money at WDW. When I go solo or with somone who can keep up, I zip through the parks. I always do all four on my last day.

[Lisaj13]

If I'm with other adults I can do the parks military style, but not with my kids. The time comes in late afternoon when they're not having fun any more, and a break at the hotel pool isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity. Then we can head back to WDW with people refreshed and ready to go.

If one of my kids isn't having a good time, nobody's having a good time.

[Seasonscraps]

I don't think it would be possible to lollygag anymore then I did when I went to disney. :blush:

We only went to the morning EMH at Animal Kingdom. We barely got to a bark before 9:30-10. We would leave shortly after to go sit by the pool & have a few drinks. Maybe go back some place in the late afternoon/evening - depending on our dinner plans.

[Tinkerbella16]

I only get to visit my favorite place in the whole world once a year...so from the time I get back from a trip till the time I go again, its a long wait...and I plan everything carefully. In other words when I am at WDW, I like to take my time, take in the atmosphere, and relax because I'm on vacation. I find the best way for us is to wake up early, grab breakfast, hit the parks until 1-2pm, then head back to the resort to relax, or nap and grab lunch...then shower or freshen up and go back to the parks for the evening. I don't want to rush my trip by...after all of the wait and planning, I want to take things slow and enjoy the world!! :mickey:

[Tink#64]

We normally do 6 / 7 days so we normally go back to the resort, re-generate a bit, ( me and kids swim and wife sleep)....it breaks the day up pretty nicley.....:mickey:

:ditto: Most days we're in the parks at opening & stay until sometime in the afternoon. We really enjoy that break back at the resort. DS's 11 & 12) swim & we get lunch or dinner from the food court & eat pool side. Then we head back to the parks for evening parade,fireworks and shopping! We usually stay all day at DHS - from open til close because of the old parade time & then short time until needing to get our seats for Fantasmic! But then I always plan Epcot WS for the following day & we sleep in that morning & hang out at the resort, exploring & swimming for a few hours & then head over to WS around 3'ish & stay until close for IllumiNations! This makes for such a relaxing day! I usually plan this for mid trip!

Our 1st trip was that military style and we only had 4 days! We came home completely exhausted! Now we usually do 8 or 9 days & sometimes we even take a whole day off & have an adr for a restaurant that we've not tried yet at one of the resorts. We enjoy visiting a different resort for dining & shopping & exploring. Or we might do DQ & play putt putt, etc! We really enjoy having that extra time, to be able to take our time & not feel so rushed. :yes:

[mrsgaribaldi]

We take a break and sleep in late. In fact, when we went in Sept, I slept an entire day. :blush: I got up just to go to the Adventurer's Club that night. We've only been to one park for its opening. Maybe some day we'll see the rest. If we miss something, we'll catch it on the next trip.

[mudpuppysmom]

Hi, My name is Dana and I'm a park addict:mickey:

We set the alarm clock, get up sometimes eat in the room, sometimes have an ADR in park --then get out there right around rope drop (I have learned to go shortly after so you can walk right in and not have to ride the wave in!). We do sit down to eat though :D Sometimes TS, sometimes CS, but we do take a break for lunch.

My pedometer usually tells the tale at the end of the day (sometimes it is even panting when we go to Epcot!!).

Yep, I'm military style -- total commando!!!

And DS goes right along with it!!!

When DH comes on trips with us he frustrates DS because of how often he wants to sit down and relax or if he wants to go back to the resort to "relax". He says, "Dad, we can swim tonight!"

DS#1 and I can go go go -- DH slows us down, so we leave him home sometimes!!

Now we have DS#2 and I'm quite sure he is going to slow us down for a few years (until he can walk well on his own at least) -- but hopefully he takes the same approach as DS#! and I have -- we like to see as much as we can in the week we are there!!

Does it help that DS strategizes what he wants to do each day?? Yeah, it does, then mom makes it happen. We don't generally criss cross parks either, unless we have to (We do use FP when we need to).

As someone else said......plenty of time to sleep when you are dead.......my uncle says that all the time!!

[thrillme]

I like to get there at open and stay till close. Breaks are taken in the Hall of Presidents. Once you get in you can take a nap in the A/C.

Alas my son is getting older now (nearly teenager) and if I don't let him get some "rest" he's terribly GRUMPY and so is my HUBBY.

I figure if I can't feel my legs anymore then they don't hurt so ... no problem.

[Jasper]

Unfortunately our trips are normally no more than 4-5 day affairs and only happen every 2-3 years so we feel we have to make the most of it while we are there. That means we are there at rope drop and don't leave until asked to do so at the end of the day.

Even though we are in the parks all day, we still take time to relax and check out the environment. We always find a seat for the parades early so we can rest and check out the scenery and we also have a sit down lunch as late as we possibly can in one of the parks which also gives us time to sit and relax.

Because of my health and the lack of money caused by my health issues it has been over 4 years since we have been to WDW. While we hope to get there in December or January this year I don't know if I am going to be able to go like I have in the past. Time will tell.

[dtootsie42]

When our three daughters were younger my husband kept us on military time....we ran here, there and the girls even made comments that Dad schedules everything even bathroom breaks. When they got into their teens they had a revolution and military time trips stopped. Now they do their thing and hubby and I do our thing and we meet for lunches, dinners, special rides etc, etc. It works great.

My hubby likes to get up and get going so I tag with him and the girls of course like to sleep in a bit. This year we cannot afford a trip to Disney World so we are going to the Land which of course is much closer. We are only going for a few days, my husband scheduled one day for an early breakfast and then told our daughters by the way if you would like to join us we have breakfast on our first full day at 8:30....to his surprise they were all enthused.

This is going to be a trip of firsts....our oldest is in college so she is not coming and we are just going to wing the whole trip. This will be interesting!

[Jeri Lynn]

I think on our first couple of trips we were a little more militant...but now that our family has gone multiple times and I have gone on my "girls" trips multiple times, I have seen everything I want to see. Now we take time to relax at the pool.

Our typical vacation now is going to a park in the morning, staying until 11 or 12, then going back to the hotel, puttering in the room and going to the pool, doing laundry, just relaxing and heading out to another park about 5pm for the evening. It's really an enjoyable way for us to vacation.

I think if I was only going once and knew I would never be able to go back I would want to cram as much in as possible, but for me, I know I plan on going once a year for as long as I can so if I miss something it's ok, I'll see it next trip!

[pixiesmimi]

The first few trips we made (even with small children) we went commando style, never going back to rest. We did schedule in a day of rest in the middle and just hung around the resort or went to DTD. It depends on how long our trip is. If it is just a couple of days, we go when it opens and don't leave until it closes. We don't want to waste our time going back and forth. The kids nap in the stroller and we take breaks.

Last year just DH and I went alone and took our time strolling through all the parks and doing what we wanted and it was much more relaxed. DH likes to get up early and eat a big breakfast. I like to make the EMH in the morning. Most of the time it is too late at night for the Evening hours or we are bushed or, as I have found some times, the parks (like Epcot) are really dark (they turn off a lot of the lights and shops close) and it isn't as much fun. But if I ever get DH back to the resort for a break, he will lie down for a nap and never get up. :) Sleeping is his favorite way to spend the afternoon. So I don't give him a chance. The last time, when we got back to the resort, I wanted to rest a while and then get out and enjoy the resort. He would nap and never get up so I either had to do it alone or forget about it. So now I don't give him the chance. :)

Now our upcoming anniversary trip, we are going to relax and enjoy both the resort and the parks and make it a real vacation. Also, we are staying at the Poly which is a monorail resort and it will be faster getting back and forth without wasting a lot of our time. But with kids, we try to ride everything and see everything. If they want to swim or whatever, we do that. We try to make our character meals in the mornings so they are ready to go the rest of the day without melt downs in the TS. They don't want to leave the parks any more than we do.

[AllDisney]

We used to go for 6 days. The last few years we now stay 7 days. It's not as rushed since we added the extra day.

We still go, go, go. We never know when we'll be back and don't want to miss a thing:thumbsup:

[Lizzie]

When it was just me and my husband we would go for a shorter amount of time and go commando. But now with kids its not happening.

Our next trip will be in a couple of years and will have two 5 year olds and a 2 1/2 year old. We plan on staying two weeks. So we can get up early and go and come back to the hotel for a swim and a nap. And than go out again. My kids are part fish so part of the fun for them is swimming everyday.

[irish1967]

We ALWAYS take a break. But, we also go in July - so by 2:00 or so, we are definitely ready to get out of the heat and cool off in he pool.

We tend to eat breakfast early (7:30 or so) and head out to whichever park as soon as we are all ready. CS for lunch and then after another ride or two, head back to the resort for a swim. Typically, we have an early-ish ADR for dinner which gets us back to the parks by 8:00 for a couple more hours.

The heat is so exhausting that we normally don't do EMH - we are ready for bed by around 10:00.

Honestly, I think it depends on the personalities of the people involved and if everyone in your party can handle it, then a military schedule is fine. It is when someone can't handle it, that it becomes a problem.

For some people, children and adults, it is a problem and when that is the case, a break in the day is necessary because ultimately, they end up making everyone around them miserable!

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

Military style!

We go go go. We get up and hit the parks and don't return until the parks close. I want to see and do everything that I can. If we are getting a little tired then we stop and get something to drink and/or eat and rest for a little bit. We never go back to the room to rest or enjoy the pool.

[homeschool mom]

I can see my children writing this same post years from now. We go from sun up to sun down when we are at WDW. There is too much to see and do to take a break. However, on our last trip, we were a little more relaxed in the parks. I guess we've been to WDW enough times that we know what we want to see and do and if we get to do each one once a trip, we're happy.

[#1Dduckfan]

When I was younger, my parents also took the commando approach to visiting the parks. Mainly because we didn't go that often. Once my parents bought into the vacation club, we began to go every year for sure, sometimes multiple times a year. After that happened, we discovered the beauty of taking it slow. We now rest sometimes in the afternoon at the hotel, or we start our day late and begin at a water park. It's nice to do it that way, but I understand the aggressive route too.