Should we have a rest day?

[all*4*love]

I vote for an easy departure. Have a meal and relax before the trip home. A character meal right before leaving ends the trip on a pleasant note.
But, if you would feel like you missed out, go to the park. Think about how you'll look back on the trip a month after you get home. Do you think you'll regret not going to a park on the last day?

 

[mastermind307]

I think I have decided to skip the rest day. I think a rest day might have worked out better if it was more in the middle of our trip instead of day 3. We will be done early a couple days and that will allow us to rest. And on a couple days when we'll be in the parks longer, I have planed down time either inside the park or we'll go to a nearby resort to rest for a bit.

I have until March 30 to change my mind...that's my FP+ day and once I make those, my plans will pretty much be set.

 

[pooh2001]

We would arrive Tuesday night - go to a Park Wed, Thur & Fri. then Sat (busiest day in the parks any time of the year) we can do laundry, go to Disney Springs, Play mini golf, then back to the parks on Sunday, Monday Tuesday, Wednesday and fly out on Thursday.

We only need a 7 day park ticket -
About $464 per person about $66 per day in the park
or about $9.50 per hour in the park, if 7 hours are spend in the park per day.

 

[mastermind307]

After much consideration and rethinking my plans over and over again, I finally decided to have a no park day. The 2 reason I decided was 1. it will allow us to do some non park stuff we want to do without having to try and cram it in and 2. because I picked a later departure flight so that we could enjoy Disney on our last day. And by doing breakfast at 1900 park fare, we'd spend the majority of our time either waiting or using Disney transportation. I decided our time could be better spend walking over to HS for a few hours. And that way we're in control of when we get back to the BW since we can just walk back. I feel good about my plan and I think it will work well. I made my FPs and even though I could still technically change my mind, I think my plans are more set now than before.

 

[kitkat4622]

we arrive very early on a Thursday morning and leave very late on Saturday to come home. I have plans as follows:
THUR: HS
FRI: EPCOT
SAT: MK
SUN: MK
MON: REST DAY
TUE: AK
WED: MK
THUR: TYPHOON LAGOON
FRI: AK AND EPCOT
SAT: MK

I guess you could consider the water park day a rest day, slower paced, more relaxing...so basically I have 2 rest days built into our 9 day trip.

 

[mastermind307]

This is what my plan looks like.

Tuesday:Arrival/EPCOT
Wednesday: MK
Thursday: rest
Friday:MK/AK
Saturday: EPCOT
Sunday:MK
Monday:AK/HS
Tuesday:HS/Departure

My sister and her family are coming up from the Ft. Myers area to visit Friday-Sunday. They want to go to the parks so I can't have a rest day on one of those days, which would have been better because then it would have been more in the middle. Oh well, I think this plan will work.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We had a break in the middle of the week and that was good for us. Our boys only lasted a few hours in the park then we head back and chill at the hotel only going out to dinner later. To be fair our boys were 3 & 6. They really couldn't handle full days at a park or doing travel then park or vice versa.

 

[MinMou]

I realize that you already have your plans, but thought I should give you the benefit of my experience. I have a 4 yr old, and both he and my husband dawdle in the morning. I made plans where we only had to be at the parks before 10 am one day. We did character breakfasts our first 2 days, an afternoon only day the next. Then we did a 10 am fishing trip in the middle of the week, with the rest of the day at Disney Springs. Then back to the parks, afternoons only, and my son declared a rest day for what I had planned as a day to pick up stuff he missed. He would not get dressed until 4 pm!!! Part of the reason he wouldn't get ready was that he knew that it was our last day, and he thought that we would extend the trip if we didn't do anything that day.

I'm telling you this crazy story to let you know that if you are going with a young child:
* rest days are a good thing
* be prepared for illogical behaviour from your youngster
* don't be upset if your perfect plan is not appreciated by your youngster!

Older kids get the idea of trying to pack as much as possible into a day. Little kids - not really. The one piece of advice that saved me from a mental breakdown was from a guide book written by the TouringPlans guys. Think of visiting Disney as a dance. If you don't get the steps perfect, dancing can still be a lot of fun. You can't see and do everything at WDW in one trip, so don't try to, and have a good time. (I can't find the exact quote - sorry!)

 

[mastermind307]

I realize that you already have your plans, but thought I should give you the benefit of my experience. I have a 4 yr old, and both he and my husband dawdle in the morning. I made plans where we only had to be at the parks before 10 am one day. We did character breakfasts our first 2 days, an afternoon only day the next. Then we did a 10 am fishing trip in the middle of the week, with the rest of the day at Disney Springs. Then back to the parks, afternoons only, and my son declared a rest day for what I had planned as a day to pick up stuff he missed. He would not get dressed until 4 pm!!! Part of the reason he wouldn't get ready was that he knew that it was our last day, and he thought that we would extend the trip if we didn't do anything that day.

I'm telling you this crazy story to let you know that if you are going with a young child:
* rest days are a good thing
* be prepared for illogical behaviour from your youngster
* don't be upset if your perfect plan is not appreciated by your youngster!

Older kids get the idea of trying to pack as much as possible into a day. Little kids - not really. The one piece of advice that saved me from a mental breakdown was from a guide book written by the TouringPlans guys. Think of visiting Disney as a dance. If you don't get the steps perfect, dancing can still be a lot of fun. You can't see and do everything at WDW in one trip, so don't try to, and have a good time. (I can't find the exact quote - sorry!)

Thank you for sharing your experience. My daughter will be 11 1/2 and she's been helping with the planning. If my DH was going, I'd have to plan more down time, he's kind of like a young child!

 

[MinMou]

Thank you for sharing your experience. My daughter will be 11 1/2 and she's been helping with the planning. If my DH was going, I'd have to plan more down time, he's kind of like a young child!

I can't wait until my son is old enough to help me plan! It sounds like you will have a great trip.

 

[CatherineinNJ]

I realize that you already have your plans, but thought I should give you the benefit of my experience. I have a 4 yr old, and both he and my husband dawdle in the morning. I made plans where we only had to be at the parks before 10 am one day. We did character breakfasts our first 2 days, an afternoon only day the next. Then we did a 10 am fishing trip in the middle of the week, with the rest of the day at Disney Springs. Then back to the parks, afternoons only, and my son declared a rest day for what I had planned as a day to pick up stuff he missed. He would not get dressed until 4 pm!!! Part of the reason he wouldn't get ready was that he knew that it was our last day, and he thought that we would extend the trip if we didn't do anything that day.

I'm telling you this crazy story to let you know that if you are going with a young child:
* rest days are a good thing
* be prepared for illogical behaviour from your youngster
* don't be upset if your perfect plan is not appreciated by your youngster!

Older kids get the idea of trying to pack as much as possible into a day. Little kids - not really. The one piece of advice that saved me from a mental breakdown was from a guide book written by the TouringPlans guys. Think of visiting Disney as a dance. If you don't get the steps perfect, dancing can still be a lot of fun. You can't see and do everything at WDW in one trip, so don't try to, and have a good time. (I can't find the exact quote - sorry!)

Great advice! My family is very similar, we enjoy relaxing in the hotel room in the morning, having a leisurely breakfast in the room, etc. I feel like most families with small kids are up super early and charged to go. Not us! We only have one day planned where it's an early start - hoping to beat the crowds at the Magic Kingdom. I'm in favor of rest days, too. I've built two of them into the schedule.