How long should we plan our days?

[Glenn29]

I know nobody can accurately predict this but I'm just looking for recommendations from experience.

We fly in on 2/1/19, fly out on 2/9/19 so we have 7 full days in between with a 7 day park hopper. We are staying offsite, about 20 - 30 min away (near champions gate) depending on traffic and which park from what I've been told.

It's my wife and I, our 5 1/2 year old and my inlaws, 58 and 62 I think.

My biggest concerns are obviously for my 5 1/2 year old, but also for my MIL who gets tired from long walks.

Should we plan on returning to our resort mid day everyday? THink we can push through several days? I think the only character meals we have are a few breakfasts at the Crystal Palace and Aserkus (spelling sorry) princess breakfast.

We are also lucky enough to be friends with some AP holders who plan on bringing us to Midnight Magic or whatever it's called on Tue 2/5 (could be WEd) at the Magic Kingdom.

thanks in advance for any advice, stories or anything else you want to share.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I would plan for an afternoon break EVERY Day. With 7 full days, you should be able to divide the parks and accomplish everything. No need to push through. But, you should probably have already planned which restaurants you will eat at...to get your reservations.

We are AP holders (built in park hoppers). We always go to one park in morning, take a break, go to another park in the evening. Even a couple of hours of break for some to rest, read, relax, swim, shop is very beneficial. Plus, returning to a different park for dinner and evening makes the whole trip seem longer.

 

[Oneanne]

You don't need to go back to your resort for mid-day breaks, you can plan mid-day meals at table service restaurants to get relaxing sit-down time in air conditioning. You can also resort hop to Disney resorts close to the park you are in. And you can organize your rides/attractions to factor in sit-down time and air conditioning.

 

[davper]

Sounds like you are planning long days. So I would definitely plan for midday breaks. I mean back at resort breaks where you can take your shoes off and put your feet up. Its going to be a hassle because you are offsite.

This last trip, we did shorter days. We spent more time in the park at one time (5-7 hours), but didn't come back a 2nd time during the day. We were never exhausted and never had to take a day off from the parks for a rest.

 

[wfjny]

Normally, I am a huge fan of going to one park, then heading back to the hotel for a break, and continuing later.

However, Most of the parks are closing early most nights (HS & MK at 8, Epcot at 9). MK is the only one that will be open later.

So, I guess the question is, is a 45 minute boat ride between HS & Epcot for example enough to recharge the batteries? Taking a couple of hours to leave and come back may be a lot of time out of the day, especially with the early closings.

Then again, it could be perfect if you are planning a late night at MK. There is also something to be said about hitting AK at rope drop, doing a few rides, then leaving by 12 or so and stopping at McDonald's on the way back to the hotel. Something about a cheaper meal, outside of the parks...

You may also want to consider doing that between parks, perhaps not going all the way back to the hotel. Again, thinking of being in a park, leaving early afternoon, and hitting Olive Garden for a 2 hour lunch/dinner about 3:00 PM. Great way to get out of the world for a few minutes, and probably cut your meal bill in half compared to dining on property. Again, depending on the age of your child, perhaps they may even catch a power nap on the way there. My MiL will always fall asleep as we leave the restaurant.

Hope that helps...

 

[Glenn29]

thank you for the thoughtful replies, I do appreciate them and will probably take a little bit from each.

we do plan on eating most meals off site, or having lunch and snacks with us (we will have a stroller to carry an insulated bag with us).

I do like the suggestions of a nice 45 min boat ride providing both transport and rest time, or like you suggested a 2 hour leisurely lunch somewhere off site, not rushed and much cheaper.

I did plan as many fast passes for the AM as possible hoping to give us the possibility to leave and either park hop, come back or take the rest of the day off.

I know with the "New Disney" planning is essential, but hopefully 7 days gives us a little bit of leeway to play it by ear as well. We want to see as much as we can, but at the same time I don't think we'll be devastated if we miss anything in particular.

 

[jenPSU]

The last few times we’ve gone, we have stayed offsite, most recently Feb 2018. We have two kids that were 6 and 3 and my parents are in their mid-60’s. We are proponents of heading home for the afternoon and coming back in the evening, but it really never worked out that way! We tended to do rope drop, rides all morning, quick service lunch, enjoyed the time to sit and relax and then kids wanted to keep going typically. We usually would go to about 3/4pm and run out of steam. Then headed back to our offsite hotel for pool time and usually dinner at the pool there. My kids then usually chose to stay and swim till bedtime, except for one night where we went back to MK for fireworks. I think it takes decipline to leave mid-day, and we never were able to do it! The other thing is February doesn’t have much rain and if it’s on the cold side, afternoon is the most comfortable part of the day so you might want to spend it in the parks, as opposed to other times of the year when it’s hot and/or storming in the afternoon which makes it more convenient to leave. If you make your FP reservations for the morning/ early afternoon, it keeps you open to play it by ear each day and make a call based on what you get done and how everyone feels.