Mid day breaks staying off site

[Daniel Disney mom]

We are staying at Windor Hills in the near future. Wondering how hard or if it's even possible to leave and come bach mid day. We plan on getting there an hour before park opening. So a break about 3 would do us all wonderings. Is it stressful and a waste?

 

[pianomanzano]

It’s most difficult to do for MK because of the travel from MK to TTC. If it’s for a little one, I’d suggest trying to find a quiet corner or having them nap on you in the baby care center (strollers aren’t allowed in there). Or, you can plan your MK days based on if there’s an extra ticketed event that night, and use the opportunity to rest as a means to park hop.

 

[_19disnA]

We have often stayed off-site in the past and would take a break whenever we wanted. If your family is the go-go-go Disney types makes a difference. We never got up early to race to the parks, but some seem to enjoy that. For us it was a vacation and time to relax. I would imagine the early park goers tend to be worn out by lunchtime and likely need a break. Disney parks involve MILES of walking, so how fit you are also makes a difference. I would imagine the reason parks are less crowded later in the day is the early riser have already gone back to their hotels.

 

[Mousetopia]

It will eat up a LOT of time. Time is $$$ at Disney. I would find a quiet spot and a snack ..And relax a while..At MK? Monorail to the Poly and sit in the shade on the beach..maybe get counter service or Dole Whip.. Epcot? Some of the countries have lush quiet gardens and hidey spots, etc!

 

[MomOTwins]

I would consider doing half days rather than a midday break so you only have to travel one time. Or if you are only doing a break on one or two days, pay for preferred parking that day or an uber so you don’t have to do the walk to/from the car more than once.

 

[vibbertations]

On non MK days, we typically take breaks. We open and close the parks with a midday break somewhere between 12-4. Your resort is close so you can easily Uber in and out to the 3 parks. I'm still amazed at how cheap you can Uber in. For MK days, it's a little trickier since you lose so much time at TTC. We try to do late entry and schedule an ADP. Those midday dinner breaks are the best! We are looking at splitting stays next time staying at an MK resort for a couple of days and then switch to offsite for the rest of the trip to save money.

 

[Shrfleen]

You could take a mid day break at one of the monorail resorts. Find a quite corner in the lobby and relax.

 

[emily nicole]

We have stayed offsite many times and it's never seemed difficult to us to take breaks even on our MK days. I haven't stayed in Windsor Hills but we have stayed in Reunion Resort which is that direction but farther away. We like the Flamingo Crossings area now, super close and rarely any traffic, which helps.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Hard to give advice with “near future “ but Grand Floridian from now to end of the year will not be a good choice because the Gingerbread House is currently being built and then the huge Xmas Tree .
No place to sit quietly.
Polynesian will also have a Xmas tree and more crowds.
I don’t think the Contemporary is ever not noisy due to monorail , etc…
Actually most hotel lobbies will not be quiet for the holidays.

I recommend the Flamingo Crossings . many new resorts from Hilton and Marriot . This is considered on the AK side of the World.
This area has a new Target and Starbucks and 5 Guys and Walgreens within walking distance of the hotels.
You should verify shuttles with each location …
They are considered suite hotels and many families arrive with automobiles so shuttle service might not be provided , etc.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

We often use a TS lunch to chill. We get a small meal or ap and cool off or warm up as it were. We tip the server a bit xtra since we're burning up their time.
At MK that can mean a leisurely monorail ride and stroll thru the resorts as well.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

We are staying at Windor Hills in the near future. Wondering how hard or if it's even possible to leave and come bach mid day. We plan on getting there an hour before park opening. So a break about 3 would do us all wonderings. Is it stressful and a waste?

We do it a lot, especially during the hottest part of the day. We stay a bit closer to the parks (Blue Heron), and doesn't take nearly as much time as mid-day breaks did when we were relying on Disney transportation honestly.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Let us know if you discovered any good suggestions for your break.
I just endured a lot of walking at Universal and my feet hurt ! Haha

 

[Lisa P.]

If you've got grade school or younger kids or senior citizens in your travel group, taking a midday break is SO worth it. As mentioned, it's easier from the 3 parks besides MK and/or when you plan to park hop later anyway, and also easier when park hours are pretty long. The parks are not only physically tiring with a ton of walking, but the amount of stimulation in the parks can be fatiguing. A quiet resort break for a nap or time to unwind and play/swim freely can do wonders for everyone's attitudes and enjoyment of a parks-centered vacation.

If you want to enjoy the lower crowds at RD as well as the nighttime fireworks and light shows, then a midday break is almost a necessity, IMO. The choice is then between "Lose a few hours of valuable park time midday?" vs. "Wear out family members and have possible meltdowns in the evening?" Realistically, we've sometimes taken 3-4 hours out of longer days to allow for transportation and really recharge. Mid-afternoon lines are long anyway. We've found it takes us about the same amount of time whether we've stayed onsite and waited for transportation or walked to our car and driven directly to our onsite or offsite resort and walked to our room. At Windsor Hills, you'll be parked right outside the unit so you won't need to make a long trek back to your room from the car or rideshare. Yes, totally worth it.

 

[Mischievous Daisy]

On non MK days, we typically take breaks. We open and close the parks with a midday break somewhere between 12-4. Your resort is close so you can easily Uber in and out to the 3 parks. I'm still amazed at how cheap you can Uber in. For MK days, it's a little trickier since you lose so much time at TTC. We try to do late entry and schedule an ADP. Those midday dinner breaks are the best! We are looking at splitting stays next time staying at an MK resort for a couple of days and then switch to offsite for the rest of the trip to save money.

I have to tell you, my DH loves staying at the Contemporary for just that reason! We are able to walk from CR to MK in less than 10 minutes!
We've been looking at some beautiful homes off site but for MK would stay 2 nights cheapest room at CR.

 

[Shushwap]

We are staying at Windor Hills in the near future. Wondering how hard or if it's even possible to leave and come bach mid day. We plan on getting there an hour before park opening. So a break about 3 would do us all wonderings. Is it stressful and a waste?

We're staying at windsor hills next month and plan to leave late afternoon for dinner and then scoot back to close the park
We have always stayed offsite and never found it to be a issue to leave and come back from any of the parks

 

[MeridaMonkey]

For your MK day, take the resort boat to Wilderness Lodge…. The lobby is gorgeous and there are plenty of quiet nooks if you need one (either on the main level or up a floor or two), there’s also Geyser Point if the weather is nice! MK is just a boat ride away when you’re ready to go back and the security line off the boat should be nice and short…

 

[Dulcee]

We stayed at Windsor Hills on our last trip (and are headed back again this year). We took a midday break every day of our weeklong trip. Using your own vehicle and traveling the very short distance Windsor Hills is off-property, was generally quicker for us than taking breaks when we stayed at Disney resorts that relied on their busses.

The hard part was convincing my husband to get up off the couch and head back in for round two lol

 

[Da Bird is Da Word]

Everything will probably take longer than you want it to, especially if you’re dealing with kiddos and the like. If you plan to do a midway break off-site, just expect to lose out on at least 2 hours of park time. If that’s Okay with you, then proceed and maybe take advantage of being off-site to grab some cheap fast food or something.