Am I vacationing wrong? Lol

[gavsgirl]

In comparison to some here I guess I would be considered a newbie- but I have been 10+ times, 5 of those pretty consistently over the past 6 years.

That being said I keep reading others plans and questions and everyone being there at RD and so on and I begin to question if I've been doing this Disney thing wrong this whole time. I have two little ones. My dh, myself, and my kids are definitely more the type to burn the midnight oil than to rise at the crack of dawn. We have never been at a park for RD and even have a breakfast reservation at our hotel the first day at 9:20! ( I can hear the collective gasps from all you early birds out there!) Other than parades, FPs, and firework shows I can't imagine being so regimented.

So am I the only one to take more of a leisurely approach to Disney? We have never not gotten to do something or had a bad time because of it so I guess there's no wrong way to go about it. But it got me wondering if I was the only odd ball there lol

-Kristen

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We have done WDW every way there is to do it. If it works for you, you are doing it right.

 

[LOL!]

Other than parades, FPs, and firework shows I can't imagine being so regimented.

Could be those things are the highlights of the day for many and the planning for such seems daunting at times.

If you are able to separate those and enjoy everything else at leisure, good for you!!

 

[Kathryn777]

I agree, all about what works for you. We love rope drop, my kids are a mess after 9 at night. We hate lines and crowds and I find the parks in the middle of the heat of the day can make me crazy. So rope drop works great for us. As long as you're having fun!

 

[Angel Ariel]

In comparison to some here I guess I would be considered a newbie- but I have been 10+ times, 5 of those pretty consistently over the past 6 years.

That being said I keep reading others plans and questions and everyone being there at RD and so on and I begin to question if I've been doing this Disney thing wrong this whole time. I have two little ones. My dh, myself, and my kids are definitely more the type to burn the midnight oil than to rise at the crack of dawn. We have never been at a park for RD and even have a breakfast reservation at our hotel the first day at 9:20! ( I can hear the collective gasps from all you early birds out there!) Other than parades, FPs, and firework shows I can't imagine being so regimented.

So am I the only one to take more of a leisurely approach to Disney? We have never not gotten to do something or had a bad time because of it so I guess there's no wrong way to go about it. But it got me wondering if I was the only odd ball there lol

-Kristen

We prefer burning the midnight oil to RD any day! Since we had DD, though, how DH and I tour WDW has changed. She can go pretty late, but she has a tendency to fall asleep on the trip back to the hotel, then not stay asleep when we move her to the crib/PNP. That ends up resulting in later nights for all of us, so we've started to get back to the hotel for normal bedtime. DD is not an early riser, though, regardless of when she falls asleep, so RD these days is hard too. We strike a bit of a compromise here..we usually wake her around 7:30 or so (for a 9 am open) - then by the time we've dressed her, and gotten us all breakfast and get to the parks, it's around 9:30-9:45am. So, not RD, but not midnight oil for now either. I expect, given what we're seeing from her now, that as she gets older she'll be a bit of a night owl too

In the meantime, we're looking forward to the 10am-8pm (if historical hours hold true) park hours we're going to get at DLR this year..with fireworks every night ay 7:45p! Perfect timing..we get the nighttime shows, we don't keep DD out too late, and she gets to sleep more in the morning

 

[Skjhjb]

I agree - whatever works for your family is the right way for your family to do Disney!

I'm not a planner in my day to day life. I'm very disorganized (except when it comes to my business, and even then I have my days!) So when I see all the "critique my plan" threads (NOTHING wrong with them!!!!) I often wonder the same thing!

But we've only been twice. And other than deciding our ADR at the 180 day mark (which we don't mind at all) and picking our FP+ 60 days out, we decide what park we are hitting which days, and that is about it. I tried the heavy duty touring plan for our first trip, but it just wasn't for us.

We do get park hoppers so we can change things up if we feel like it, and on our 2014 trip, we got to the TTC and the monorail for MK was so backed up we went to Epcot instead. Switched up our FP times at MK for later in the day and just enjoyed wandering the World Showcase for the morning.

We only make rope drop for MK on our first day, every other day we play by ear. My kids are teenagers, so early rising is not their thing. But I'm up by 7/7:30, so I go get coffee for DH & I, and enjoy the quiet until they get up!

 

[Alesia]

There's really no right or wrong way.

Most people couldn't do Disney the way we do. We're action vacationers. We get there for rope drop (when you normally wake up at 5:30, getting up at 7:30 is sleeping in,) and we stay until we're done (which is usually park closing.) We're not necessarily opposed to a leisurely, relaxing vacation, but when we take one, it's not WDW. We go to WDW to have fun. We can sleep in and relax at home for free.

That doesn't work for everyone, though. The important thing is that you're doing what works for your family.

 

[Disnsyncey]

as long as you get to see how you wanna see it, its great!

 

[Tash87]

I wish that I could be more like you and take a more relaxed way of vacationing !

As soon as I step off the plane I turn into a military style co-ordinator and I can't say that I like it.

I am dreading our next visit because we haven't ever used FP+ or made ADRs so I worry I will be even worse than usual

 

[mom2rtk]

If it works for you, I'm confused on why you are questioning it.

Glad you're having a great time!

 

[SnipsNSnails]

My kids are early risers, especially if they get to bed earlier, which they seem to wear out on us even at 8 and 6, so we tend to do rope drop or close to it (we usually travel with my parents and grandma so moving 7 people isn't nearly as easy as 4). We generally head back to the hotel so they are in bed by 9 unless we are seeing one of the evening shows. Bed by 9 = up by 7 or 7:30 for them usually. If they are still sleeping, we will get up and ready and go get breakfast and bring it back to the rooms and then wake them to eat and get them ready. With 5 adults, we can get two little boys ready very quickly! I pack their clothes in large ziplocks by day so all I have to do is pull it out and maybe grab their shorts or pants if they are re-wearing them for 2 days, brush teeth, comb hair if necessary, and out the door!

 

[Mom2Stitch]

No right or wrong way IMO. You know your family and what works for you. What works for one doesn't work for another.

I will say that sometimes feel like I'm under planning when I see color coded Excel sheets posted here. Then I stop and think, hmmm, my handwritten notebook, lists, and note cards has worked so far, why change now.

I use touringplans crowd calendar and thought maybe for this trip I'll try a personalized touring plan. I just about had a panic attack on my first try of making a plan for DHS. With the things I put in, meals, shows, attractions, it just seemed impossible to get it all done. DH simply said to me, "how did we do it all before?" and that hit home to me that we got it done just by being there and doing it and not planning it down to the minute. BTW, that's not a knock on touringplans at all-I've been a faithful reader/subscriber for years and find their app to be PRICELESS for wait times in the park and their site to be so useful in planning.

 

[gavsgirl]

If it works for you, I'm confused on why you are questioning it.

Glad you're having a great time!

I guess I'm not really questioning it, more to see if there are any more non-planners out there like myself. I definitely feel like I underplan when I come here and see everyone's detailed itinerary! Lol

 

[Mousemommy1]

We are night owls too.

We have only made RD ONCE, lol. We rarely make it into a park before 9:30 - 10:00. PLUS, we take breaks from about 1-5, LOL, sooooo....yeah, that's pretty leisurely...

One day on our trip in April, DH walked to MK (from the CR), just to get him and I coffee from Starbucks...that was the only time spent in the parks all day.

We are annual passholders though and go every year for 11 days at a time, so we never feel like we are going to miss anything when we go. For us, the resort is just as fun as the parks too, so spending time there is important to us too.

I think that's why we like FP+. We just make them for times we know we'll be in the parks. Sometimes we decide to ride more than that, sometimes we don't. But at least we did those 3 things, which are usually our faves, lol

 

[LOL!]

I guess I'm not really questioning it, more to see if there are any more non-planners out there like myself. I definitely feel like I underplan when I come here and see everyone's detailed itinerary! Lol

Then maybe you should share your secrets on how you're able to accomplish what they do without any planning!!

 

[mom2rtk]

I guess I'm not really questioning it, more to see if there are any more non-planners out there like myself. I definitely feel like I underplan when I come here and see everyone's detailed itinerary! Lol

I guess that depends on your definition of planning. I view choosing a park and making appointments for 3 rides every day as planning. I understand that others don't though.

Do you not make any ADRs?

 

[WillAustin]

Everyone sets their own bar. Do what works for your family and enjoy your trips!

 

[Jess_S]

If my son were a little older, we wouldn't be doing rope drop at all. My husband and I both prefer to sleep in on vacation. But my son will be up by 7:30 every day and has all the patience that a 2 year old is known for -- which is none. So rope drop for shorter lines seems like the correct approach for now.

I do like to plan in the sense that I like to know everything that's available and which of those things I'd like to try. Other than that, I'm not a fan of heavily scheduling vacations. (My dad is a commando style -- let's see everything on this trip or we've wasted our money -- vacationer. Having experienced that growing up, I know that it's not for me.) That said, I did plan my ADRs and fastpasses because I have the sense that without that level of planning, we wouldn't be able to do some of the things I think my son will really like. Again, if he were older I would worry less about just having to do the standby line. But there's really no way he'll wait in line for more than 20 minutes for anything, so I had to take that into account.

Like others said, I'm jealous of your laid back approach and hope you enjoy your trip.

 

[LOL!]

I definitely feel like I underplan when I come here and see everyone's detailed itinerary! Lol

Are you there now? How's it looking? Maybe a mini trip report from the perspective of someone who didn't do much planning would be helpful to others!

 

[msmama]

I too am 10+ trips, 5 over the last 6 years.

I have never set an alarm at WDW, but we are always within 30 minutes of RD. That said, we've never done Wishes or Illuminations and did Fantasimic once (and did SWW fireworks, which ended up with a sick kid the following day). Nighttime entertainment does NOT work for us.

I don't go in with much planning, BUT I've been there enough to know the tips and tricks pretty intuitively. I don't have to write things down or "plan". I know that if I want to hit the mountains without a wait or without a FP, I have to hit RD (we don't do mountains so it's a non issue for us).

I also take a very leisurely approach as I know I'll be back soon. If I miss Peter pan this time, oh well, we'll get it next time. I refuse to criss cross parks to ride.