The Siesta Plan: The Best Reason for Staying in an On-site Hotel at Walt Disney World

Many experienced Walt Disney World guests recommend staying in an on-site hotel at Walt Disney World, and with good reason. Fodor’s lists 6 reasons for staying in a Disney hotel, and Travelocity has a great video describing all the benefits Disney provides to its resort guests. These include easy access to the theme parks, early admission on some days (also known as “Extra Magic Hours”), and Disney’s free transportation system. While many of these extras sound nice on their own, new visitors to the park may not see how they can all work together to provide you with the best park experience possible: I call it the Siesta Plan.

Imagine that instead of going on vacation next summer, you decide to take your family on a march in the desert. Rather than riding roller coasters, you’ll walk for ten miles a day under the hot sun, in ninety degree temperatures. You’ll be thirsty, tired, and sunburned after just a few hours. And the very next day, you’ll get up and march again. How long can you keep this up, day after day? How long can your kids keep going? Sounds pretty rough, doesn’t it?

While a trip to Walt Disney World can be an enormous amount of fun, it’s also a lot more walking and activity than most people are used to – when was the last time you (or your kids) took a five or ten mile hike? And temperatures in Florida in the summer can easily reach ninety degrees or more, and the humidity is off the charts – people who tell you “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” are talking about Walt Disney World. Most visitors to Walt Disney World don’t plan for this; they think they’ll be so busy having fun that they won’t notice the fierce heat, the crowds, or their aching feet. Unfortunately, the opposite usually happens. I’ve seen plenty of parents lugging around strollers full of tired, cranky children checking “one more ride” off their list, trying to get their money’s worth out of those expensive Park Hopper tickets.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way! The easiest way to avoid all of this is to take a break in the middle of the day. But by staying at a Walt Disney World hotel, you can create a plan that will allow you to avoid the crowds and the heat, save some money on your food bill, and have a lot more fun. I call it the Siesta Plan.

Start your day by getting up early in the morning. Chose the park that’s opening for Extra Magic Hours, and take full advantage of that time by arriving right when the park opens. That will probably mean setting your alarm clock, and getting up earlier than you might want to – after all, you’re on vacation, and vacations are for sleeping in, right? But trust me, you’ll thank me (and yourself) later if you do. Even if some of your kids (especially teenagers) aren’t normally early risers, just remind them of all the fun they’re about to have. Once they get in the parks, they’ll be awake and excited. You’ll be able to go on the most popular rides when the lines are at their shortest, and the weather is coolest.

By noon, the parks really start to fill up. The sun starts baking down, and you might be feeling a little tired from your early start. You start to get hungry, but you notice that many of the restaurants are full since it’s lunch time. And it’s starting to get really hot – wouldn’t a soak in the pool feel really nice right now? Instead of soldiering on, now’s the time to take a break. Grab one last set of Fast Passes for your favorite rides, and head back to the hotel.

Getting back to your hotel will be pretty easy, as the outgoing buses and boats aren’t as crowded. The hotel restaurants aren’t usually as busy for lunch, so you can get a bite to eat fairly quickly. Alternately, you can stock up on snacks or food in your hotel room and save the expense of eating out. Anyone who’s tired can take a nap, or go for a refreshing swim in the hotel pool. Or, even better, do both. Then, later in the afternoon when everyone is cool, rested, and refreshed, it’s time to head back to the parks. If your toddler needs a longer nap than others, one parent can head to the park with the older kids while the other one stays at the hotel (something that’s impossible to do if you only have one rental car and you’re staying offsite).

When you get to the parks in the late afternoon or early evening, they’ll still be fairly crowded. However, since you picked up Fast Passes earlier that morning, you won’t have to wait in the long lines. The sun will be setting, and the weather will be cooler. Walt Disney World becomes even more magical at night, with more parades, fireworks, and light shows. The parks tend to clear out after those shows are over, especially since most of the visitors will have been there all day. However, since you’re not as worn out as they are, you can stay as late as you want – even close out the park if you feel up to it. Then, it’s a quick ride back to your hotel (you’ll hardly wait at all for a ride back), and up early the next morning.

So that’s the Siesta Plan: shorter lines, cooler temperatures, more swimming, more naps, and more fun. And in my next article, I’ll tell you which hotels are best suited to taking full advantage of the Siesta Plan – and how to save a ton of money on Walt Disney World hotels!

Sources:
Kim Wright Wiley, “6 Reasons Why Families Should Stay On-Site in Walt Disney World”, Fodors.com
Jennifer Fickley-Baker, “Travelocity’s Top Reasons to Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort”, Disneyparks.disney.go.com


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