How do you balance getting "everything in" vs repeating favorites?

[TulipMom]

I'm working on our touring plan for our upcoming trip. My kids are 7 & 5, and up for riding everything (minus DD being too short for RnR). We all want to hit all of the major rides and hopefully repeat our favorite ones at some point during our week. We also love the live shows. Plus, we've got a princess fan and a Star wars Fan, as well as adults who don't want to miss any nostalgic favorites. We're also traveling with grandparents who prefer to have lunch and dinner at table service restaurants. Not to mention, our kids are young enough that we can't stay out until park close every night.

We have 5 full park days + 2-3 hours at MK on arrival day + one evening of MNSSH (taking that morning off from parks). I'm finding that my thoughts are all over the place as far as how much time priority to give to repeating favorite rides vs getting a chance to do as much as possible. Am I going to regret leaving Winnie the Pooh, The Frozen SingALong, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, most of the character meet & greets and some a few other solid attractions on the cutting table?

How do you decide what takes priority? Any regrets &/or past positive experiences?

 

[mustinjourney]

I'd say this group might be prime for splitting up for an hour or two a day. I love my TS meals, but two a day just eats into your day (pun intended).

If the kids are too cool for school for the nostalgic rides, then I'd say you have the GPs take the kiddos for an hour or so while you and DH ride the kiddie rides sans kids.

You could also grab some quick service while they're eating lunch with the kids, so that way, everyone gets to do what they want, plus everyone gets to spend some more personal time with each other.

I know for me personally (I have 2 DDs (4 and 2)), it's fun for me to just take each of them out separately for a couple hours at Magic Kingdom at least once during the trip. Gives us some nice daddy/daughter time and it is a lot easier to be nimble and just go with the flow.

As an aside, Frozen sing along is a MUST DO for me and my oldest DD(4). It's literally the only thing I have to do with her the whole time. On my last trip, circumstances prevented us from making our preselected FP time during our DHS day, so I actually made a special trip with DD(4) while we were at epcot. I left our group with her and walked all the way from Soaring to the boat with her on my shoulders, went into the park and watched the show, and then got on a bus and went back to the hotel room for a late nap. No way we were missing out on that fake snow. Yes, it was about a 2 hour detour all said and done, but so worth it.

I would plan on 1 full MK day (with everyone together for at least half the day--maybe split up for lunch), 2 half days at animal kingdom (this will allow you to see pandora during day and night and get both pandora rides via FP), a 3/4 day at DHS, a half day at epcot (with GPs splitting up after lunch so they could tour epcot on their own) with you guys going back for pool time. That is 5 days of parks -- but it also allows you some non-scripted time and resort time. Also -- day of the party, you can get to MK earlier and hit up some rides, so with the 3 hours on arrival, full day and party day, that will allow for you to hit up all the rides there.

Another option would be for the GPs to stay back at the room with the kids during one of the night EMHs at MK so you and DH can go ride the nostalgic rides. On our trips with GPs, I try to make it to where, at a minimum, they get a night out and we get a night out.

 

[CarolynFH]

When traveling with a group, especially with diverse ages, likes, eating habits, etc., I tell them we can't "all" do it "all." I try to make sure they are at least introduced to attractions at each park, then I ask each one to tell me what are the three most important things for them in each park and design our itinerary based on that. That way I make sure we hit everyone's "must dos," and then work in the "would like to dos" as best I can. But we've never had enough time to do everything!

Edited to add, we're not afraid to split up, either - and the larger the group the more important it is to go our separate ways from time to time.

 

[Dec38]

You have a lot of days to work with -- I'd be willing to bet you will get to do most of what you want to. My family is very similar to yours -- same ages, with a princess fan and a Star Wars fan. We had a similar number of days and really feel we did pretty much everything we wanted, especially at MK. At MK, not only is there often lots of same day fast pass availability, but most rides are pretty short. So if you have a good touring plan and use fast passes wisely, you won't be waiting in line much and can get a lot of rides in. My advice, for MK at least, is to get advance fast passes for the rides with the longest lines and typically no or limited same day FP availability (like SDMT and Splash) for every day you will be in the MK, if you think you will want to ride them more than once. They are headliners for a reason - we loved those rides and rode them multiple times! Don't worry about having completely different fast passes every day -- in my opinion, it is better to do SDMT a second or third time with no wait and wait 30 minutes for Pirates, than waiting 90 minutes or missing out on a second ride on SDMT (and you'll probably get a same day fast pass for Pirates anyway).

I second splitting up occasionally, especially if there are different interests in your larger group (e.g. grandparents can enjoy a leisurely TS lunch or watch Hall of Presidents, which may not interest kids; at Hollywood Studios, maybe you can watch Beauty and the Beast with princess loving child while others enjoy one of the Star War activities).

Hollywood Studios is tough with lots of shows, especially if your kids want to do Jedi Training. You might need to prioritize attractions and miss a couple, especially if you take a midday break, but you'll probably manage to do most!

 

[shellyj]

I'm not sure I would call it regret, but the biggest lesson I've learned is that my family does not find value in a lot of TS meals. We pick a few that we really want to do and schedule them outside of our preferred park hours. Too many TS starts to feel like wasted time and the novelty wears off quickly. We usually do Disney as a big group and often travel with people who prefer to eat TS much more often, so we just split up between those times.

 

[Beer Me]

Don't try to do everything. Prioritize. There are "must-do" (maybe multiple times), "want to do" (would be disappointed if missed), "would be nice" and "not really interested". Get everyone's opinions on their priorities. You might find there are quite a few attractions you can skip entirely.

 

[finedice]

Take advantage of single rider lines where they exist!

 

[mindeola]

Have everyone decide their top three must -do's and go from there. You may need to split up for little pockets of time. If meeting characters are important, do a character meal so you can kill multiple birds with one stone.

With a solid touring plan ( one that can be deviated from!) utilizing rope drops and fast passes, you are going to be able to do much of what you want.

 

[piglet1979]

When we go my husband and I make a list of the one thing that is a must do for each of at each park. We make sure we get those done. The rest we do as we can. We tell the kids upfront that we can't do everything but we will make sure the must do's are done.

On our last trip when we went to DHS we weren't able to do RnR which is what my son wanted to do. My daughter and I will not ride this or ToT so we usually split up during this time. Since we weren't able to get my sons must do the day we were there my husband and son got up early on our last day (a free day to do what we wanted) and rode it at rope drop. My daughter had the option to do what ever she wanted at any of the parks. She opted to sleep in. So we meet up at Disney Springs when they were done.

 

[OutNChiTown]

One of the most important things that I've learned after taking vacation after vacation is that there's simply no way to get in "everything". Someone once told me you could spend an entire year at Disney and not do "everything". Now, I don't know if that's accurate (I feel it's certainly possible). But, what I used to do, before I moved down here, was to prioritize. There's certain rides and shows I experienced before that I have to do every time I go down. Those things are a must for me. Then there's things I've never done before that I'd like to give a try. One of the things I was doing was talking a walk through every resort to see which resorts really stood out to me as places I'd like to experience. I'd hit the restaurants and dinner shows and try some of the amenities at the different resorts.

The true test is trying to write up a tentative schedule knowing that the wheels can come off of the rails after arriving to the park a little late. So, what I would say is to ensure you get in a few new experiences while still ensuring you hit the things that are truly "must do's" and the trip will be a success.

 

[travelgirl77]

I completely understand where you are coming from and have struggled with this during the planning process. We have an 8 year old and soon to be 5 year old for our trip next week (woot!) and my husband has never ever been to Disney, so I feel like I am trying to make it the best for everyone. We are also surprising the kids, so they have not had any true input in planning (although I have been sneaky and asked them questions to help me plan better). Anyway, I tried to do some things that doubled our needs, like having lunch with characters rather than waiting on those experiences. We are staying 6 nights, 5 days and park hopping. I picked two nights where we would be out later than the others to see Happily Ever After and Illuminations, but otherwise I am shooting to get back to our room by 830/900 on the other nights. I also originally picked the DDP but then dropped it once I felt like making the reservations was cutting into what I thought we would want to do. We do have some TS ADPs, but not every single day.

I tried to approach it from the standpoint of what are things we really must do and then put those in the plan. Everything else and then some is just icing on our already amazing cake. Sure, not everything can or will get done, even with all of my planning, but I want to pinch myself that we saved to afford this trip and are actually able to do this family vacation. I hope that my attitude flows to my kids and that they are just happy being in the happiest place on earth, no matter what the circumstance. I hope that you have a wonderful time and don't put too much pressure on yourself to make it "perfect"

 

[TulipMom]

I tried to approach it from the standpoint of what are things we really must do and then put those in the plan. Everything else and then some is just icing on our already amazing cake. Sure, not everything can or will get done, even with all of my planning, but I want to pinch myself that we saved to afford this trip and are actually able to do this family vacation. I hope that my attitude flows to my kids and that they are just happy being in the happiest place on earth, no matter what the circumstance. I hope that you have a wonderful time and don't put too much pressure on yourself to make it "perfect"

Love this! Yes - that's so true that if I focus on all that we ARE able to do, that could be the difference maker. I am a massive perfectionist, so I'm over here trying to plan the perfect trip for 7 people who also want to stay together as a group at least 90% of the time. It is a lot of pressure, especially with the young kids, that you are making the choices for everyone. Plus, we're doing like you are doing and need to be in our room by 8pm at least 4 nights of our trip. Have fun on your trip next week!!!

 

[TulipMom]

The true test is trying to write up a tentative schedule knowing that the wheels can come off of the rails after arriving to the park a little late. So, what I would say is to ensure you get in a few new experiences while still ensuring you hit the things that are truly "must do's" and the trip will be a success.

Great advice! Part of my worry about trying to get everything in is that when things don't go as planned that we may miss the chance to repeat some favorites because we spent time on the "just okay" stuff.

 

[TulipMom]

Don't try to do everything. Prioritize. There are "must-do" (maybe multiple times), "want to do" (would be disappointed if missed), "would be nice" and "not really interested". Get everyone's opinions on their priorities. You might find there are quite a few attractions you can skip entirely.

Great idea! I may actually physically write out a list like that. Would help with advance planning (to know what I won't even put it on the touring plan) and could help when we're in park (when we're running behind and need to drop something).

 

[mickeymom22]

Have each person pick a three or four "must-do's." After that just have a general plan. I am such an over thinker too when it comes to our family time at WDW! I wanted to plan every minute, then I realized that some of the best times were the ones that weren't planned!

For example, my youngest wanted to ride Spaceship Earth. She loves that ride! Since she was little she has called it Mickey's ball! I was hesitant because the line was really long for it, but we all hopped in line. We actually did end up standing in line for about 30 minutes...which I think is too long to stand for this ride...but we had such fun with our extended family: talking, making jokes, taking silly pictures. It really was a great 30 minutes that I wouldn't trade anything for. It is a great memory!

I thought as my kids got older I would miss the character meet and greets. I don't really. We allow ourselves to meet a few characters, but not enough that it eats up too much of your time. As your children get older, your time at WDW will look different, but at the same time feel the same. I hope that makes sense. I love going back to Disney with my kids now 20, 17 and 11. We tour differently, but in the end we still make some great memories!

Happy Planning...but stay flexible and open to new things with a few of the oldies mixed in!

 

[TulipMom]

I'm not sure I would call it regret, but the biggest lesson I've learned is that my family does not find value in a lot of TS meals. We pick a few that we really want to do and schedule them outside of our preferred park hours. Too many TS starts to feel like wasted time and the novelty wears off quickly. We usually do Disney as a big group and often travel with people who prefer to eat TS much more often, so we just split up between those times.

Always so interesting how different families can be! For our last trip, my planning went great, except for the fact that we realized that my in-laws weren't up for eating whatever was available from nearby quick service and fighting for a table. Also, most of our group needed a calm, seated break mid-day. We ended up with unhappy diners one day, and 2 other days of trying to locate a TS restaurant with seating for 6, which added some significant walking distances to our already full days. So, for us, planning ahead for TS works well. We have lunches booked at CRT, SciFi Dine-In, Yak & Yeti, Hollywood Brown Derby, and plans to do counter service at Les Halles Boulangerie. For dinner, we do have at least 3 nights when we'll be eating quick service at the pool with kids while I have reservations for the GP at nearby resort restaurants. And, I should mention that my in-laws are up for anything and completely go-with-the-flow on everything except for wanting decent food and a calm dining area. So, I'm happy to oblige!!

 

[TulipMom]

For example, my youngest wanted to ride Spaceship Earth. She loves that ride! Since she was little she has called it Mickey's ball! I was hesitant because the line was really long for it, but we all hopped in line. We actually did end up standing in line for about 30 minutes...which I think is too long to stand for this ride...but we had such fun with our extended family: talking, making jokes, taking silly pictures. It really was a great 30 minutes that I wouldn't trade anything for. It is a great memory!

Love this advice! What a good reminder that short lines aren't the only goal. Seriously needed this!

 

[Beer Me]

Always so interesting how different families can be! For our last trip, my planning went great, except for the fact that we realized that my in-laws weren't up for eating whatever was available from nearby quick service and fighting for a table. Also, most of our group needed a calm, seated break mid-day. We ended up with unhappy diners one day, and 2 other days of trying to locate a TS restaurant with seating for 6, which added some significant walking distances to our already full days. So, for us, planning ahead for TS works well. We have lunches booked at CRT, SciFi Dine-In, Yak & Yeti, Hollywood Brown Derby, and plans to do counter service at Les Halles Boulangerie. For dinner, we do have at least 3 nights when we'll be eating quick service at the pool with kids while I have reservations for the GP at nearby resort restaurants. And, I should mention that my in-laws are up for anything and completely go-with-the-flow on everything except for wanting decent food and a calm dining area. So, I'm happy to oblige!!

Just as an FYI , if you find yourself needing quick service in a park and want to avoid some of the hassle check out the locations offering online pre-ordering. We did this at Sa'tuli canteen in AK and it worked great and saved us from waiting in line and staring at a menu on the wall (and incidentally it was easy finding a table at satuli). Several places in AK and MK now offer this. I hope it spreads everywhere.

 

[Klayfish]

There's no easy answer to this. We're not really planning types, and we bring our own food in, so we also have an advantage of not having to plan around reservations. So for us, we truly freestyle a lot. We have an informal "list" of things we want to do, but we'd rather decide spur of the moment what we feel like doing and have the flexibility to do it.

Our only "regret", though it truly isn't a regret, is that for this past trip we got too caught up in snagging FP+. The positive side of that is that we never, ever waited in a line more than 30 minutes and we rode every ride we wanted to, multiple times each (our trip was very long, so that made it possible). We kept grabbing FP+ after FP+. We're very glad we did it, but for our next trip, we're going to spend more time browsing the gift shops, tour a few on site resorts, and just not be as ride focused as we were this trip.

 

[OutNChiTown]

Great advice! Part of my worry about trying to get everything in is that when things don't go as planned that we may miss the chance to repeat some favorites because we spent time on the "just okay" stuff.

Yea, I've seen people do back to back fastpasses first thing in the morning, then they miss their wakeup call and their whole day is off the rails because they missed all their fast passes. Stagger stuff, ensure you have backkup plans (the best you can) and don't be afraid to hop on MDE and modify on the go if something happens. Never let the vacation control you. Do your best to keep control of the vacation and do the things you want to do.