Am I vacationing wrong? Lol

[Marloo]

I'm super extra leisurely. I've been to Disney World enough that I don't "have" to do everything, and my interest in the resorts themselves has increased quite a bit. I still like the animal paths at the Animal Kingdom, the World Showcase at Epcot, and various things at the Hollywood Studios. I don't think my family or I plan that much except the meals. Recently I've taken an interest in finding out how the programming for TV Japan is decided, or if there even is a plan.

 

[YawningDodo]

On our trip last month, I figured out that my oldest doesn't enjoy any of the thrill rides (not even the mountains he used to like), and DH and I don't like riding alone.
We will do an adult trip in Feb and ride the thrill rides together. Then our next trip in June, we can be more relaxed. We will still do rope drop mainly to beat the heat, but it won't matter. Even in June crowds, some "rides" were easy to get on. We could have done the teacups over and over in the middle of the day. And my kids would have been happy.
My two year olds didn't even realize Disneyworld had rides until a few weeks before they went. They just loved staying in a hotel and meeting Mickey Mouse.

I think this is a benefit to a trip not being "once in a lifetime."

The best thing about the Disney College Program was knowing that I could come to the parks on any of my days off (or heck, before or after work, depending on my schedule and energy level). There was zero pressure to get it all done, and I got to try all the things people usually skip when they're on a tight schedule, or hang around and people watch, or just wander and see what I could see. I still have fond memories of being a park commando the first couple times I went and this upcoming trip will probably be a bit commando again, but there's something to be said for just taking it easy.

 

[Rosebud123]

Yes

 

[sersee05]

I get it because I wondered the same thing. We aren't regimented and I also wondered..should I be? Am I missing out on things?

We are sleepers and stay up later too. For us, disney is our vacation and we also like to sleep in. I have older kids who think 10am is a reasonable time to be up.

I just used fp for the first time yesterday. We never used to plan at all. The fp made it so much more enjoyable for us! I planned them a little later so we could get up when we wanted. We didn't get to the park until around 11.

Today we are going earlier which is why I am up..lol. Mostly because my kids want to ride rnr. They would wait in a really long line for it. But I decided we should just get there early. So far , I'm not enjoying the early rise .lol

But I also realized if it works for us and we are happy...all is good. But my family is also a more leisurely family

 

[mummabear]

We have an 8 hour time difference and 3 young kids.
We have never done RD, we are the people strolling in at 11-12 and closing out the park.
It works for us, the kids love the fireworks etc and I would hate to be leaving the parks to be getting back for the 7pm bedtime we have at home.
We have added more bookings each trip as the our oldest has gotten over 3 (now 5), Character meals, BBB etc and I hate having apps, not looking forward to FP+ really, plus we got FD this trip so have an ADR a day, we tend to be the type who like to go where our fancy takes us...If its not too busy we may just skip FP+ bookings if they aren't fitting with what we are enjoying at the time.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Of our last 5 trips over the last 5 years (this year is year 6 of the 6 years we have been married) we have done RD two times. Both have been at the MK. The first time we did it to see the pre-show/opening show/whatever its name is show and the second was on accident as my wife did not shut off her normal 7:30 am alarm for life not at WDW. We tend to get to the parks when we get there and plan our FP+ around when we decide is the best fit for us. Everything else is at our pace. Well, minus the ADR's but those tend to fit into our pace/leisure as we set the times we want to eat.

As long as you are happy with the way your trips go then you are doing it right.

 

[Cee]

You are doing it RIGHT.

 

[dsdeleon]

The best part about Disney is that even if you don't chase the magic, it will find you. Your expectations are probably less 'regimented' as well so you can really enjoy what you get.

 

[DM Minnie]

I'm likely planning odd ball. I get everything lined up and planned with adr's and fp's then I get to my resort and I toss it and cancel everything and go day by day. I have done this 4 years in a row now and say each time we are sticking to our plan, but I just get in vacation mode and we are an easy going family. We go each year so I don't worry about missing anything and there are few rides and shows that we have never seen. I just watch the crowd level charts and go with the flow. We do rope drop till about noon and then go back to the resort till dinner. I will book an adr with whatever is available that night. We tend to spend almost every night in epcot just wondering. We have tried wishes each year but leave before or mid show because the crowds are not worth it to us and stressful. We live a high paced lifestyle at home with our work Dh is a owner of multiple pharmacies and I work for a insanely busy destination tourist shopping attraction in marketing. We do go in low season so that helps and if I was planning during holiday or peak maybe I wouldn't so relaxed.

 

[Cadiewampus]

We are absolutely fly by the seat of your pants vacationers. We just book hotel and then don't even decide which park we are doing when until we get there and horror of all horrors we don't even worry about fast passes. We have never had any issue doing anything and everything we want.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We're in the rope drop, take a midday break, go back around dinner time club. We do that for MK and DHS. We arrive around noon at Epcot and stay until late, Animal Kingdom is around 9:30-10:00 til close. We've never missed anything by doing that, and we're not overly tired.

This is our 18th trip coming up. We do not make ADR's, and really have no idea how fastpass plus works. All I know is we arrive on Saturday around 6 PM, and we'll leave around 6 AM the next Saturday.

 

[alc571]

You're not doing it wrong at all. We rarely make it to the parks before 10:30am. We prefer to get our breakfast at the hotel, and always manage to get there after all the hordes of people have left for their early bird hours. We skip rides with long lines, ride ones with short lines. We use our Fastpasses. We eat lunch. We have snack or two. Then, when we're hot and tired, we head back to the resort - usually between 2 and 3pm. We'll have a nap or a swim. Then we'll head back to a park for dinner in the evening, or Downtown Disney. We know we are going to WDW every year, so we don't stress about missing things or "doing everything" because we know we'll just catch it next time. Over the years, we have done most everything. So long as you leave your vacation with happy memories, you're doing it right!

 

[JonnaP]

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

Seriously, if it works for you and you are enjoying yourself.. you are doing it JUST right!

 

[Masonmj84]

My biggest issue with arriving to the parks late is that I HATE waiting in lines. Absolutely hate it. Also just generally don't like being in the parks when they start getting really hot and crowded in the afternoons (prefer to spend the afternoons back at our resort). In addition, and I love the feel of the parks at RD when everything is fresh and clean.

That being said, we've recently moved to the western US so it's going to be harder for us to do the RD thing going forward (at least for the first couple of days). But we typically take longer trips (at least 8 days) and are content to focus mostly on our favorite attractions, most of which we visit just once.

Under those circumstances, we can utilize FP+ to pretty much do everything we want to do without necessarily arriving at RD. For example, we typically do at least 3 MK days and at least 2 EP days, which gives us each 9 and 6 reserved FP+ in each of those respective parks. HS is really the only park where arriving at RD is still a must, since FP+ are tiered and we typically only do one day there.

 

[elaine amj]

You are totally doing it right - its the way that works for your family!

I am currently planning a first visit for my close friends. They basically ended up putting themselves in my hands entirely - its such a novel experience!! I sat the whole family down and asked them if they wanted RD or not. After I discussed the pros and cons, the wife said, "so if we get up early, we get to do more and not stand in line? I'm in!" I highly highly highly recommended afternoon breaks and a mix of sleep in mornings/early evenings. I even put together plans showing them how much they could do WITH all the breaks. They ended up asking me to take it all out...the dad really wants to go commando style from RD to close, every day.

I kept repeating over and over - its THEIR vacation. It's only fun if they are ALL having fun and that they should feel free to jettison "THE PLAN" at any point.

I like Disney planning. It is like a hobby. LOL I do not do it because I have to, but because I think it is fun to imagine the different scenarios. I am a college professor and researcher. So I like researching and organizing. When we get there I have plans because I want to have an answer when my husband says, "Ok, which way do we turn?" "What next?" For my husband, who works at a hospital and has to make serious decisions all day long, the fun is NOT making any decisions. We do rope drop or early ADRs because my son wakes at 6AM pretty consistently and my perpetually hungry daughter loves a good breakfast buffet. But he is becoming an adolescent and might need more sleep. So things may change...

Also there is a whole thread about how many rides are better after dark. Your more relaxed schedule gives you the advantage of saving your energy.

I have tried winging it. I keep trying thinking we will find the right balance since sometimes the planning gets a little exhausting. I am giving up - it does not work for my family at all.

We just visited DLR and on out first day, we winged it. I had a Ridemax plan but I tossed it out because I didn't really like it. Our day started at 7am and I had a rough plan in the beginning so all was good. By 9am, they would ask, "what's next" and I would say, "I don't know - we r winging it". We ended up criss-crossing the park a couple of times because lines were getting too long or we chose to do something on the other side etc etc. At 10:30am, my DD had a mini-meltdown and my DH and DS were not happy either. They just wanted me to tell them what to do next and they did not want to have to think/make decisions OR wait in long lines. I stopped us all for 10 mins and scribbled together a plan and after that, we were all happy again. (and honestly, I didn't do well not knowing I had the whole day mapped out either)

I also tried winging it on our Disney cruise. The friends we traveled with wing it all the time so I was trying to not overstress them with too many plans. By the end of Day 1, they told me I was not allowed to "wing it" anymore. They did not like "I don't know" any better than my family does LOL!! They like winging it themselves, but when they have my crazy overplanning self around, they like leaving all the "what to do next" worries to me.

Also, I tend to be very flexible about my plans. If someone wants to do something different, I can either quickly rearrange my plan to accommodate or I can explain just what they would have to give up for this change to happen and we can make informed decisions. I tend to be an optimizer - so I usually consider about 5 different scenarios before I settle on one so I know all the available options.

 

[GPC0321]

I'm a teacher, so planning is in my nature. It has been drilled into me that strong planning equals a smoother lesson. I'm actually planning this trip (which isn't until March!) because I want it to be leisurely and relaxing. But my situation is unique. I'm traveling with my 70+ year old parents, no kids, during spring break. Easter Sunday is smack dab in the middle of our rather short 4-night vacation. It has been 17 years since our last visit, and we have no idea if or when any of us will ever get to go back. For these reasons, I really want to do my best to plan an enjoyable trip that includes all the things we cherish the most. For us, eating, fireworks, parades, and shows are higher on the priority list than rides. So that automatically removes a lot of the "pressure" from the trip. As long as I get to ride Peter Pan, Spaceship Earth, and the Kiliminjaro Safari, I'm content. My mom gets motion sickness fairly easily, plus she has a pacemaker, and my dad has rheumatoid arthritis, so they aren't exactly going to be racing people to get to a big thrill ride.
Therefore, I'm trying to balance making the most out of it and getting the biggest bang for our buck with keeping it relaxing. We'll do rope drops not because we want to dash for the rides, but because we are early risers and want to take in the parks before they get too insane (plus, we've never been at the parks when they open!). We'll stay through lunch, go back to the hotel to chill for a few hours, and then hit another park for the evening. We'll have dinner and do the fireworks/nighttime show along with just getting to experience the park at night.
I've actually written the words "explore and absorb" on my itinerary. LOL.
So, I am not planning it to the minute, but I do know which parks on which days, where we'll eat our table service meals (hopefully), and roughly when we can have some downtime if we need it.
Of course, it would be much different if I were traveling with 7 year olds instead of 70 year olds.

 

[TeamSy]

You're not alone - we NEVER do RD ... for me, it's still a VACATION and I try not to get up super early if it's not needed.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

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

We are definitely not planners. No ADRS usually and rope drop is totally out of the question. When I make the fast passes I have to make sure none are before 11 just to make sure we don't miss them (we have TOT from 10:20 to 11:20 in September and I'm pretty sure I will be on it by myself) We will stay until 2 am when MK EMH allows us to and wander into a park the next day around noon or so.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

You know you are "vacationing wrong" when you aren't having fun. Besides that, do what you want.

That being said, we only go during the summer. Reservations are a necessity for the table service restaurants we prefer, and hate long lines so we get to the park early.

 

[itchin2go]

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

You may consider me more regimented than you because we do rope drop every day. But the truth is, we're up anyway. It's no trouble for us to go to rope drop, and it's a heck of a lot of trouble for us to stay late. So just because someone goes to rope drop doesn't mean they're more regimented than you.

I will say that with FP+, our list of "appointments" has grown. It is one more thing to keep up with. It isn't the straw that has broken this camel's back (yet), but it does add an extra layer of stress.

Easy - travel to WDW during the slow weeks. No planning necessary - just show up and have fun.

It's not easy. We traveled in late January several years. Cinderella's Royal Table still books up. If you don't care where you eat or when you eat, or what you ride or when you ride, or how long you wait in line - yeah -then it's easy. Otherwise, doing some minimal planning will pay off.