Hopefully you typed in to google “sleeping well at Disney” and it lead you here. Even with all the hustle and bustle you too can sleep well on your vacation! Believe me there is so much fun and joy at the happiest place on earth that you definitely want to be well rested to enjoy it. We just got back from our Disney trip in February 2023 so now is the best time for me to fill you in on the best tips to have a fun day and get good zzz!
I’ll break up this blog into hotel stays, parks, how to handle sleep schedules, nap times, and getting the most out of your Genie+ Disney experience! For the most part these tips are geared towards kids 7 and under since they are definitely more prone to overtired meltdowns, but believe me even older kids and adults should try to be well rested too because you’ll be less grumpy (and no one likes that dwarf)!
Choosing a hotel
Since this was our first stay at Disney we knew we wanted to stay on a Disney property and we used a Disney travel agent ( Caballero Magic Travels ) to help us choose! We narrowed our choices by price, suite, and date availability. We knew we wanted a family suite because we have younger kids going to bed much earlier than us. If you have kids less than 4 years I do highly recommend the Slumberpod since then you can be in a regular hotel room, but also have lights still on for adults as your baby or toddler snoozes away. Grab a slumberpod here and use code NESTED$20 for discount!
We looked at a bunch of suite options and loved the space and design of Art of Animation. It has a separate sleeping space for adults and room for up to 4 kids in the shared space with a pull out couch and a table that converts to a murphy bed! Kids thought it was the best thing ever that their table turned into a bed! The family suites recently went through a renovation so the rooms are in great shape. There was Finding Nemo or Cars themes to choose from which make them really appealing to families with young kids. Kiddos were asleep by about 8 pm every night and adults got to binge HGTV a bit before going to bed ourselves, it was the best!
Being a Disney hotel we also had access every morning to transportation AND early access to parks which made the mornings run much smoother! We were on the gondola skyliner to Epcot and had easy buses to other parks and Disney Springs. We also had a kitchenette in the room which made it easy to store breakfast and snacks to prep for the next day (and if you are needing to prepare formula this would be easy peasy as well in this suite).
Planning your park days with sleep schedules
Since we have kids that are 4 and 6 we opted to do Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom (plus rest day) for our first trip. We did 5 days in total which felt perfect for our family. Arrived on a Saturday, Magic Kingdom on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, break day on Tuesday, Animal Kingdom on Wednesday, and home Thursday. If you have older kiddos then I could see going for a full week, but it becomes pricey too so this was a good starting point for us!
First thing when thinking about your park days is what kind of sleep schedule are your kids on? If you aren’t sure where you should be for your baby or child’s age check out my blog on that here . My kids no longer take naps, but because of that they are at the age where early bedtimes are definitely needed. Why do you ask? Because if we go to bed overtired you are more likely to have non-restorative, fragmented sleep, and early morning awakenings. I wanted my kids to soak in those memories and get the most out of our Disney vacation.
So how do you plan out park days? Well once you know your kiddos schedule you can decide if early morning makes the most sense or breaking it into chunks. If you have a baby less than 1 year on two nap schedules then the naps will very likely be on the go naps. That means bring a good stroller and maybe a soft carrier for waiting in lines. Also consider a stroller fan for those hot Florida days. If you have a toddler then you have two options 1) Nap on the go or 2) Start early, go back to hotel for later nap, then back to park for dinner and enjoy some of the evening.
Fireworks or no fireworks? Personally we decided against the fireworks. It’s very late in the evening and by that point your kiddos are going to be exhausted and ready for sleep. Also many kids don’t like the loud noises of fireworks and our kids didn’t even know they missed anything ! If you have a family with older kids and younger kids I would send one parent back with the younger ones and the other parent stay with older kids to enjoy. If you do decide to push bedtime later to enjoy fireworks I would do it the night before your rest day (not going to a park) so that way if your kiddo is tired the next day you can let them nap longer.
Having rest days built in
Rest days are so important, not only for kids, but parents too! It is a lot of work making all those dreams come true! A big perk to being on a Disney property (especially Art of Animation) was the other amenities on site including a restaurant (plus pool bar), two pools, playground areas, and activities most days of the week! We also decided to do a Chef Mickey character breakfast at 11 am to fill our day and bellies! We also did Topolinos character breakfast too and I personally enjoyed that food a bit more.
In the afternoon we did pool time, rested a bit, then early dinner at nearby Disney Springs. While it felt a bit weird when booking reservations to have dinners at 4 and 5 pm, I felt SOOO good about it in the moment. Every park morning we had breakfast in the room, snacks on the go in the park, quick service lunches (be sure to use mobile ordering and book your pick up time first thing in the morning), and had early dinners. The early dinners, bath time and bedtime routines at the hotel made bedtimes easy because the kids knew what to expect and their bodies were ready for sleep!
How Genie+ can help
No matter what your young child’s age if you can do it I recommend rope dropping (getting into the park right at park open) and getting Genie +. It will save you so much time being able to plan out your rides and not need to spend your precious daytime hours waiting in lines for 2+ hours. On our park days my husband and I got up by 6:45 am to buy Genie + then he booked the first LL (Lightning Lane with Genie +) and I booked our ILL (Individual Lightening Lanes). We also took a masterclass ahead of time with Favorite Grampy Travels and this was SOO helpful to understand exactly how Genie + worked, 100% recommend!
For Magic Kingdom I also booked a Bippity Boppity Boutique ahead of time for 8 am ( I used a Stakeout app to get this just a week prior and I’m so happy I did) and my princess was so happy getting called princess all day long by so many Disney staff and people all around the park!
We were at all the parks from about 7:30/8 am through 5/6 pm all the days and that was perfect for our family to enjoy Disney AND get the rest we needed at night! And even though my husband and I feel like we still need a vacation from our vacation, the kids can’t keep talking about our next trip already because we made such great memories together!
