Is a mid-day break still doable?

[BradyBrenMom]

My go-to strategy for visiting the parks in the summer has been to be there for rope drop and do a bunch in the morning, eat lunch in a/c, head back to our on-site resort for rest / swimming during the hottest hours of the afternoon, and then return to the park in the evening. However, with the early magic hour now a 1/2 hour and extra magic hours no longer open to us because we are staying at CBR rather than a deluxe, will this strategy still work, or will the back and forth travel eat up too much time? We're planning a visit in June or July of 2024 so heat will definitely be an issue.

 

[holden]

I think it will work. We just returned and the heat was almost unbearable. I found that returning to the parks around 6:30/7pm made a big difference. We generally stayed until around 2 or 3pm, left for a break and returned after dinner.

If you are open to taking Lyft/Minnie Van it will cut down on your commuting time. Taking the buses can easily eat up 45 minutes each way. Lyfts are readily available and will save you 1/2hr or so commuting time.

 

[nyy]

I would still take the break! We often use Lyft, as well, depending on how far we are from our resort.
Also, we love our resort time! It is part of the vacation to use the amenities and relax!

 

[sponica]

My sister just did this staying at Ft Wilderness. They'd be up super early, get on the first boat/bus to wherever they were going and tap out by 11 or noon, head back to the camper to eat/take a nap/whatever for a few hours then head back.

No Genie+ and I think the only did ILLs for Rise and Guardians. ADRs were only on non park days.

 

[jchaeh]

yes be there for rope drop and then take break after lunch

 

[loves to dive]

I do it every trip and rarely rope drop and rarely even stay until park close much less extra magic hours even though I stay in deluxe resorts or Dolphin. I always use Disney transportation as well, even though I have a car with me. I will admit I always have park hoppers and I think that allows me to get more done since I can always go back to a park I think I might need more time in later in the trip. It might depend on the length of your trip as well, although I do it even when I'm just there for 4 days. It might also depend on what your goals are for the trip. Are you trying to ride absolutely the most rides you can in every park or just your favorites?

I tend to leave park 1 around noon or 1, just depending on my mood. I go back to the resort, eat/swim/nap/rest/whatever and head back out to a different park around 4 or so. If I'm on a 6 or 6 1/2 day trip, I can ride just about every ride in every park - there are always some rides I just don't want to ride for whatever reason. I also watch shows, eat TS every once in a while and just amble around the parks doing nothing.

 

[fatmanatee]

I don't visit during the summer but all I keep hearing is that not only are mid-day breaks doable, they might be necessary. Depends on your tolerance of the heat I guess.

 

[DisneyFive]

We have found the summer hours to be long enough to still do our standard mid day break. This is especially true if you intend to rope drop. I will say, G+ helps a lot with this to not stand in lines during the hours you are in the parks. Happy planning. We are also eyeing up summer 2024 for our next stay and plan to do our normal mid day breaks.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

My go-to strategy for visiting the parks in the summer has been to be there for rope drop and do a bunch in the morning, eat lunch in a/c, head back to our on-site resort for rest / swimming during the hottest hours of the afternoon, and then return to the park in the evening. However, with the early magic hour now a 1/2 hour and extra magic hours no longer open to us because we are staying at CBR rather than a deluxe, will this strategy still work, or will the back and forth travel eat up too much time? We're planning a visit in June or July of 2024 so heat will definitely be an issue.

100% doable and what we do almost every visit no matter the time of year. We even do this when we arrive mid to late AM and don't RD. However, if you're going summer of 2024, I wouldn't count on what's been going on now to be the same by the time you take your trip. But yes, it's totally feasible and for us, pretty much a requirement.

 

[ghtx]

Yes it still works you should do it.

 

[jods]

We usually go in August. We don't rope drop and we still have no issues taking a mid day break. I will say though that we generally stay in an epcot area hotel and end most days there. We usually do the other parks in the morning.

 

[miked1978]

I've never been a mid day break guy, Did it once and seems like you waste a lot of time leaving and coming back in to the park. Too much walking for me. I'd rather stay in the park and take a break somewhere. Do your shopping during the hottest times.

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

We always do a mid-day break. Especially when we go in August, it's a must. Even when we go in cooler weather we have never stayed at the parks past maybe 2pm. Go rest, refresh and then had back around 6 or so.

 

[midwestdee]

Yes, it’s absolutely doable. Start budgeting for Genie+ and ILLs - I think they’re essential unless you’re going at a really slow time or have a high tolerance for standing in line.

 

[Genie+]

CBR is great for midday breaks at HS and EP with the skyliner. Just put a storm alert on your phone so you have time to decide how to avoid the storm (leave early or wait it out).

If you’ll have hoppers, what we like to do is split our days half with a nearby park, half with a bus park. For example start the day at AK, take your break then skyliner over to EP. Next day start at HS, break, MK.

 

[Poohbear80]

We do mid-day breaks on some of the days but not them all. Sometimes we just book a table service meal around mid afternoon when it’s the hottest to get some AC. It is definitely possible but can take sometime out of your day especially if travelling far like from Magic kingdom to Animal kingdom lodge.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

My go-to strategy for visiting the parks in the summer has been to be there for rope drop and do a bunch in the morning, eat lunch in a/c, head back to our on-site resort for rest / swimming during the hottest hours of the afternoon, and then return to the park in the evening. However, with the early magic hour now a 1/2 hour and extra magic hours no longer open to us because we are staying at CBR rather than a deluxe, will this strategy still work, or will the back and forth travel eat up too much time? We're planning a visit in June or July of 2024 so heat will definitely be an issue.

It depends. Everything is relative. I think the strategy will work, but you might have to compromise a little here and there to make it work.
For one thing, heat, as you likely know, is only part of summer weather at WDW. Storms are also a factor. Maybe you get lucky (few storms), or maybe storms = limited swimming.

We don't yet know what 2024 park hours will be. Taking breaks is easier when the park hours are longer. When there are frequent parties at night and short park hours, then it is harder to take breaks. One compromise is to pay for the PM party or after hours events, I suppose.

Another compromise is to shift how many rides or which rides you cover. Maybe swap a few long-wait attractions for short-wait attractions here and there.

Shortening your commute time by paying for faster transportation is another option. I tend to like to have a car myself, and find it is often faster to travel by car than WDW's transportation, but the benefit is variable. If we don't have a car, we still pay for periodic transportation where it offers the most help.

Still one more is to take shorter breaks. We jokingly quote the Tiki Room from time to time, "My siestas are getting shorter and shorter!"

Ultimately, you have to do what makes the most sense of course.

One more option is a split stay. Spend most of the trip at CBR, but one night at a hotel that costs less (offsets cost of transportation), or one night at a deluxe hotel (=easy walk to one of the parks). To make split stays work, we tend to not unpack much at the short stay. Maybe pack a daybag that has all you need for that one night.

 

[bridget]

We did this in June. You want to arrive before the parks are scheduled to open. They were letting Disney guests in 5-10 min prior to official 30 min early time.

We bought Genie+ and then around 11:30 am we would start stacking lightening lanes for the evening.

Most days we were heading back out around 5:30-6 pm.

We had park hoppers and we always went to different parks at night than we did on the morning.

 

[disney-inspired]

I'm going in two weeks and I'm going in with the plan to take a midday break because it's HOT.

It'll be me and a friend and we prefer to get there very early and take advantage of the lower temps and crowds.

 

[gottalovepluto]

It’ll work fine. The half hour isn’t as bad as it sounds. Because all 4 parks are doing it you don’t get the massive crowds you used to. (Don’t get me wrong and think you can waltz onto 7DMT! You can still totally get trampled trying to rope drop a popular ride like 7DMT, but crowds are much better dispersed because instead of all the My-Kid-Is-A-Battering-Ram crazies in one park they’re spread out at 4 parks each morning.)