Early to bed in Disney?

When my kids were younger we never took breaks or went back for early bed - vacation was the exception to the rules. We went in the fall when hours are already short. We would do rope drop, they would nap in the stroller and stay for evening activities. I only remember 3 meltdowns- one was ds when he dropped his character crayons and the heads broke off several - quickly fixed by a cm, 2nd was dis again over a toy flip phone he wanted - ended up leaving LeCellier with my dinner still on the table, and the other was me - I don't remember the why.
 
When my kids were younger we never took breaks or went back for early bed - vacation was the exception to the rules. We went in the fall when hours are already short. We would do rope drop, they would nap in the stroller and stay for evening activities. I only remember 3 meltdowns- one was ds when he dropped his character crayons and the heads broke off several - quickly fixed by a cm, 2nd was dis again over a toy flip phone he wanted - ended up leaving LeCellier with my dinner still on the table, and the other was me - I don't remember the why.
We were the same way with our kids when they were young -4 & 2 at the time. We never took midday breaks or went back to the resort for regular bedtime. It was our vacation as much as the kids' vacation and they just went along with what we had planned. Late nights at the parks, evening shows, MVMCP until the very end. The 4 year old would go the whole day no matter how late and then fall asleep in the stroller on the walk out to our car. The 2 year old would nap as needed in the stroller with no effort on our part. In fact a few nights they were both asleep in the double umbrella stroller while DH & I enjoyed late night beignets at our resort food court. I will say that our kids are definitely go with the flow types and always have been. I'm thankful for that! But of course each family has to do what's best for them.
 
We did this when our girls were younger. I think my youngest has only seen fireworks once at WDW!
 
We have done this for past trips. My girls get up early especially at wdw. It's never a problem to hit rope drop. We go all day with maybe a stroller nap when they were younger. Then an early dinner (4:30-5:00) and back to the hotel for a swim shower and bed.
Dh and like getting one bedroom villas because we can then hang on the balcony, watch some tv etc
 
We have a 13, 10 and 2.5 yr old. Our 2.5 yr old typically goes to bed between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. However, we have been "testing" him lately to see how he does staying up later, so we can enjoy the night events as a family instead of splitting up like we did the past two trips. He does great!! He does still nap though, so the mid day break is definitely going to happen, especially since that's the hottest part of the day. If he gets cranky at night, we will just bring him back to the resort. No biggie, but we are going to try to get him to stay out late this time around.
 
In all the years we have gone to Disney, we have never gone back to the hotel mid-day. Just seemed like such a waste of time. My kids have never been early sleepers, so 10-11 pm is not unusual for them, even when they were very young. This worked well obviously for us for our Disney trips, as we have always been able to stay all day AND stay for the fireworks. When they were younger, they would take a mid-day nap in the stroller to re-energize for the evening. Personally, I couldn't imagine going to Disney and skipping all the night-time events. That was the best part of the day (especially when they still had the evening parade).
 


We have done exactly your plan the last two trips and will do it again. We rope drop, go all day, have an ADR for a 5:15 dinner, and then straight to bed.

A good nights sleep is key to our kids (and us parents) being able to enjoy our vacation.

The last trip I fell asleep at 8pm wit the kids most nights!
 
We did the no break, early night our first trip with the first kid. He needed that 7:30 bedtime and would fall asleep where ever we were. Second kid, 15 years later was so adjustable and we could keep him out all night so we did our routine of a mid day break and back to the parks at night. It's our favorite way to do WDW but simply didn't work that first trip with. Do you think they will be ok till midnight for the party? Again, first kid...no way, second...no problem for us.
 
Our ODD would NOT nap in the stroller and so EVERY trip we would go back to the hotel for a midday break. Since our first trip with her was offsite at a condo near Sea World (!!), everything since then has seemed easy! Our schedule usually has been "as close to RD as possible or PPO ADR" to noon-ish, then back to hotel for lunch + nap, then back to parks for dinner (5pm ADR) and maybe a ride or fireworks. Even as ODD has stopped napping at home, she LOVES fireworks, so lately she's not had a problem napping at WDW in the afternoon with the incentive of getting to stay up late to watch fireworks. (Sometimes the fireworks were from our room)

Last 2 trips, YDD was a baby and napped in the carrier or stroller. Next week we will try the midday break as well, and see how that goes now that YDD is almost 2. It could be a total fail. But she seems able to sleep almost anywhere when she's tired, so I'm not as worried as long as we have a stroller.

The midday break works well for us, but that's largely because we stay in resorts that are v. close to the parks, and because our kids would be horrifically cranky without a break. Also, I hate the heat, so it's a nice calming break. And this way we can stay out later than no break, and still have our kids somewhat well-behaved. Also, our kids are super early risers no matter when they went to bed, so while they are still young, we'll front load our park time to the mornings and have calmer evenings. When they're older we may use the midday break as a pool break or still a nap (I remember napping with my parents even when I was older), and then stay out much later at night.
 
By age 2 my DD didn't nap most days but slept 12 hour an night and had since about 6 months old. she gave up her regular naps just before her 2nd birthday but would nap in a stroller or carseat just fine. We did DL when she was 3 & 4 and WDW when she was 6 & 8. Leaving the park to have a nap mid day would have caused a meltdown, however have a ride/ sleep in the stroller was never an issue. (we had one up to when she was 6 at WDW as we knew it was a lot more walking than DL but it sat empty much of the time).
 
I agree that it is completely doable. We did it with our 13 month old and she took stroller naps in the park when needed. We did push it on our last night (stayed until 9 or a bit after) and she was a trooper. She melted down a bit at the bus stop on the way back, but after 1-2 minutes of being cranky she fell asleep and slept the whole way back and through being transferred to the crib. I think afternoon breaks would have made us all miserable but I know they are 100% necessary for others.
 
We do midday breaks. I find that we all need it. At the very least just to take off sneakers and just unwind. Most times all of us nap and then we feel refreshed for evening touring.
 
We are going in November with our 5yo and 2yo they are both in bed by 6:30/7pm on most nights. Our plan is to rope drop and then head back to the resort around dinnertime. We are going to do MVMCP one night so I have a 'no parks day' planned and the following day I won't make any plans until the late afternoon.

Thoughts on skipping the midday break and just calling it an early night?

It really just depends on what you personally prefer. We've always done open-close, except for AK day, as we can't imagine not ending our days with the fireworks/shows. We tried mid-day naps a few times and decided they just weren't worth it to us and they were more trouble than anything else, so we stopped that years ago. We take a good stroller for kids through age 5 and let them rest, sleep, slow down when they need to. We've been taking our kids as young as 7 weeks, through now age 15 for over a decade now. It really is whatever you'd prefer.
 
To be honest, the midday break people are often people who go in the summer, when the heat and crowds pretty much force you to. In Nov, with likely fewer park hours and less heat, skipping the midday break and just going until you're done (likely 3-4pm) makes sense, if you are okay with not doing nighttime entertainment. When mine were 4 & 7, we only did a midday break on our MK day for fireworks. As it was midway through our trip and we had gotten into a groove, it worked out okay. However, we didn't nap, we just went back to the pool (which was a good incentive for them, a chance to cool off, and get away from crowds and lines for awhile). All the rest, we went until we were tired, etc. One day that was 6pm, one day in AK it was 2pm. I just front loaded the days with fastpasses and highest priorities so that the afternoons were freer and there would be fewer upset kids if we did need to leave early. Be flexible and listen to your kids. I am trying to remind myself that this is a vacation, not a checklist, so it should be fun, not a forced march!
 
My kids have been going to WDW a few times a year since they were a few weeks old (inaugural trip due to courtesy of fleeing South Florida for Hurricane Wilma). I can tell you one big thing we learned--the best laid plans go awry. We've tried to make schedules with midday naps and early evenings. The only people falling asleep during those times were my husband and I. There were times where my toddler twins fell asleep mid morning in the stroller and slept for hours, other times they were up past 11 PM with no end in sight. I know it's hard with fast passes and restaurants, but just let go of the fact you are in control and go with the flow.
 
We have tried both ways...
May 2013 - Our son just turned 1 and we did midday breaks. Worked fine as there was only one kid to lug back and forth.
Jan 2015 - We now had at 2.5yo and 10mo. The intent was to take midday breaks. I think because it was cooler out and the park hours were reduced in the winter, we didn't find the break necessary. We tended to get to the parks a little later (scheduled our first FP for the 9:30-10:30 time frame) and then just went until dinner. The days we wanted to to watch fireworks, we just went to the parks around noon and made sure to sleep a little later the next day.

Our plan this Nov/Dec I think will be to do the parks from about 10-6. We now have a 5yo, 3yo, 1yo and 3mo. Going back and forth will be very difficult, so just planning to go back to the resort around dinner will be the plan. That'll give us time to unwind and get the kids in bed for the normal bed time (around 8PM)
 
Our first trip was when our girls were 2 1/2 and 5. Youngest napped in the stroller as needed, so no need to go back to the resort for a break. It was in May, a bit hot, but not too bad. I do remember going back to the room pretty early, having dinner there sometimes, and just swimming in the pool for a bit before bed. It was a long time ago, there were only 3 parks, and we stayed for 4 days. It was before fastpass too!
 
THe challenge is the lack of mid-day breaks when they get older. I'm the one that needs the nap and I can't drag them away. I need to figure out my new sleeping place at Epcot with Ellen leaving. :-)
 
My kids were 5 and 2.5, and we did the early bedtime. My younger one napped in the stroller, and my older had been done with naps for years. I figured it would be too hard to drag them away twice a day when they wouldn't rest anyway. We did rope drop every day, and left the parks around dinner time.

We only did a break on our last day so we could stay for the fireworks. We left after lunch, chilled out in the room (no one napped), then were back in MK for dinner to close. And that one day was about all we could handle.

This was late April, so the weather wasn't bad. The next time we go, we'll have a bigger age range - my youngest is six years younger than my oldest. So I can see having to adapt things her to the older ones' timelines since they can stay up later now. It's all about your family's needs and being flexible. :)
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top