- I've been taking my kids to Disney World for over a decade, and I help friends plan their trips.
- The biggest tip I have is to return to their hotel each afternoon for a dip in the pool and a nap.
I'm a major Disney Parks fan who lives close to Walt Disney World Resort and writes about theme parks for a living. I'm also a mom who has been taking her kids to Disney for over a decade. This means when people I know — from family members to random Facebook acquaintances — plan a Disney World trip, they usually reach out to me for tips to make it run smoothly.
Often, they want to know whether Genie+ is worth the expense (it is) or how to get their most coveted dining reservations (use a third-party reservation-tracking website, such as Touringplans.com). I'm always happy to share these tips and more, but there's one piece of advice I always impart, unsolicited: Visit one Disney World theme park in the morning, return to your hotel for some pool time and a nap in the afternoon, and then go back to the parks in the evening.
A Walt Disney World vacation can be magical — and exhausting
The first time my family visited Disney World in Florida, my kids were preschoolers, and we were still living in Maryland. I was the kind of mom who shopped for perfect theme-park outfits for each of my kids, read books and blogs on all the must-do things, and used a travel planner to help me secure every FastPass (Disney World's former way of scheduling times to ride various attractions) and dining reservations.
I dragged my kids all over the park trying to see and do it all, only to feel frustrated when I realized that between crowds, lines, and two tired kids, doing it all was impossible. Even in 2012, the trip cost us thousands of dollars, and I came home swearing Disney was too stressful and I'd never go back.
When we gave it a try again the following year, I promised my husband we'd go in with a different game plan. Since our kids were early risers, we'd visit a theme park from the time it opened until after lunch, then return to our hotel to swim and take naps before showering and heading to another park for dinner. The new plan turned out to be a game changer.
I try to remember it's impossible to fit every experience into one vacation
We didn't see or do as much on our second trip as we did the first time, but our kids were well rested, we had time to recover from the Florida heat, and everyone felt much less stressed. I made peace with the idea that I'd never be able to do everything in a single Disney trip and decided to enjoy the things we did have time for — such as Elsa from "Frozen" — and let the rest go.
I now visit Disney World several times a month, and I still have not seen and done everything the tourist destination has to offer. Because of my new perspective, I'm OK with that, as there's always something fun to explore when I visit. My family lives just far enough from it that we often book a hotel when we visit, and we still take time to go to the resort's pool and take a nap in a cold, dark hotel room, even if it means giving up a few other experiences that day. In the evening, we head out — showered and ready for dinner — feeling ready to take on the parks with new energy.
When I share this tip with families, most don't listen
While I share this tip with anyone who asks me for Disney advice, they often don't listen. I see their vacations documented on social media and notice they're still in the theme parks in the middle of the afternoon, dragging kids onto attractions and looking exhausted. When they come home, I ask them how their vacation was and they use words like tiring, stressful, crowded, hot, and expensive.
"Did you take a break at the hotel in the middle of the day?" I'll ask them. The answer is almost always no.
Sure, the Disney World I know is exhausting, but that's because we're having so much fun in the moments we have inside the parks. And yes, it can be expensive, but we always come home well rested and never regret saying no to some activities so we can get our coveted afternoon respite from the heat and crowds. I'd rather enjoy the activities we do get around to than feel pressured to squeeze every last bit out of the day just because we're spending money to be there, only to feel stressed out and tired during the experience.
When my friends return to Disney, they find out an afternoon break is a game changer
I have had friends give a Disney World vacation a second chance, employing the afternoon pool-and-nap break. They come back to me nearly every time saying they wish they'd allotted time to rest during their first trip. I'd be lying if I said I never told them, "I told you so."
There is nothing that feels more "Disney vacation" to me than hitting a theme park when it opens, eating lunch at one of the sit-down restaurants to take a break from the heat, and then heading back to our hotel for some pool time.
I promise, that feeling of heading into a second park refreshed and ready is the true Disney magic.