Anyone ever just relax??

[crystalblue705]

My daughters and I go for 2 weeks. I don't plan each day for the parks but we have an ADR for each day then go with whatever park we're in for that . If we want to just go on TT 5 times while in Epcot then we'll do that then leave. No commando for us. It's very relaxed.

 

[lark]

It's a good question and a good thread.

For us, if we want a relaxing vacation, we can do it a whole lot more cheaply than WDW. I think it might be different if we had the luxury to go any time of year we want. A September vacation at WDW is a little more relaxing, and it's much easier to wing it.

But when you're there with children, and they know they want to eat at Chef Mickey and ride Dumbo etc., the choice between planning and winging it is really the choice between whether you do lots of work beforehand or you wait in lines and get disappointed later.

I think lots of people love the planning, because it makes them think about disney for months and thus has the effect of almost extending the vacation -- either you're there or you're thinking about being there and that's fun. I wouldn't say we're exactly like that -- some of the planning really feels like work at times, but I find at least that so long as the planning has space for relaxation or improvisation, it's a little better than trying to wing it. If we were just looking for a place with a pool, and a nice room, and some decent places to eat, WDW is far too expensive for that kind of vacation for us.

 

[DisDarling]

We usually wind up relaxing when plans fall thru, an unexpected wait, or just need to cool off in the pool on a hot Disney day! But usually we are not "Sit by the pool and sun" kind of people, thats what the beach is for!
D.D.

 

[allegracristina]

We always have a great time at WDW. If we didn't have our ADRs set, or have a plan of action for the parks, etc. we would never be able to have as good of a time, because we would miss out on things we wanted to do. I don't think that just because people spend a lot of time planning their meals, trying to investigate the best resort/room choice for their family, etc. it means that they do not have a relaxing time while they are there. To each his own.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

There's a few restaurants we like to eat at which are the big popular ones that book very early. I go ahead and make ADRs for them because if we wing it and hope to get in, in the past, we haven't been able to. Once you're tied to ADRs, I find I generally need a plan of action to accomodate them as far as park hopping.

I'd much prefer to be able to just wing it and decide on any given morning what parks to hit and where we'll have a nice dinner. Staying off site helps take some of the pressure off and allows us more evening dining and entertainment last-minute options in this regard.

 

[DVCLiz]

I'm a planner and I like it that way!!!! I'd never just show up and "wing it" for meals - a week of counter service or grocery store runs wouldn't be any fun for me. We like our favorite table service meals and I don't want to have to miss them because I wouldn't make a phone call in advance.

We like the pool, too, but as someone else said, that's what the beach is for!!! we use our DVC points to go to HH each summer, so that's our "relaxing" vacation. I look at WDW as more like a trip to NYC - it's fun to just walk around and look at the sights, but if you know to get a show ticket beforehand you can have some amazing experiences!!

Having said that, I do plan a day or two "off" and we don't worry about keeping to our schedule if we get tired - we know we'll be back again soon!!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

I never could understand staying in the park open to close, that is not my idea of vacation. dh and I always have the best time when we just go with the flow. WDW has so much to offer, and so much to see, you won't see and do it all in one trip anyway, if you take it slow and take time to relax, you will enjoy what you do see much more! making it a way better vacation and experience!

I've said it once and I'll say it again, a vacation is susposed to be just that, relaxation. I've been flamed many a time for saying: when the afternoon sun gets hot we go back to the rsort for R&R around the pool and head back to the parks when the sun goes down. They say they can relax at home, not atDisney. We have alittle plan before we leave but nothing etched in blood. If we feel lazy, we sleep in, we want to hang by the pool longer, we do, leave a park cause its crowded, we do. We've been smelling more and more flowers every trip, seeing things often missed by commandos. Some people don't know that there are benches in the parks, for just sitting. Resorts are big and good for wandering around, exploring.

We don't do ADR's, no DDE never have nor will. We want to be where we want to be, not pushed by some reservation we made months ago but something has caught our eye thats new but we have to leave for a dinner date. We do, do HDDR, thats about it, we relax there, spend some time in FW and stumble back to the CR for some gameroom.

Alot of people plan and plan, buy touring guides, plot every second, book every meal, ride every ride; we've been there enough in all our visits that we have done everything more than once, have come back for more and all at our leisure. We rather do random then follow someone elses plan.

 

[pedro2112]

In my opinion, the OP's post is contradictory in certain ways. We do have a wonderful relaxing vacation at WDW specifically due to the fact that I put a lot of preparation into the trip. In other words, if we didn't make the pre-plans and the ADRs, etc.. it would be a very hectic vacation wondering how to feed two hungry children or why we are missing certain shows, etc... due to failure to plan.

So I guess my answer would be.. yes, I do a tremendous amount of planning in order to have a very relaxing vacation at WDW.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I've been fortunate enough to go to WDW about a zillion times and the kids are now grown. I read post after post about folks agonizing over if their ADR's are ok, fastpass or no fastpass, which 'perfect' room should they ask for, bringing room maps at check in to get that room, DDE or no DDE, free dining or no free dining, spreadsheets on their trips......
Does anyone just go and enjoy? We may do two ADR's if that on a trip, make ressies the day of where we want to eat and if not available, oh well.
While in the parks I see these poor kids screaming their heads off, hot, tired and wanting to go back to the room for a nap and play in the pool and have that dish of mac and cheese or hot dog and not feel bad if they spill all over instead of sitting in some 'fancy' restaurant having to be good.
I understand that I'm very, very fortunate that we have been able to go to WDW more than once and that our kids are grown (and yes, they spilled, kicked and screamed).
I just read all these posts and am left to wonder if folks just can kick back, relax and go with the flow at WDW, if they did, they'd probably have such a better time.
That being said, I'm about as anal a person as they come but I guess through the years of getting older, have learned to step back, slow down and enjoy life. We've actually met and spoke to some wonderful interesting folks by NOT having that fastpass and standing in line.

Well since it's just the two of us, and we don't have kids to think about, we tend to *go, go, go* Sure, we like to take a break to enjoy the pool, and have a relaxing dinner, too, which is why I have ADR"s planned for every day. With just the two of us, it's a great time to enjoy some of the fancier restaurants, ok, ok, the occasional character meal, too!

For me, all the planning and organizing *is* relaxing! It's kind of like playing a video game or a sport, very goal-oriented. I have to admit it was fun to call for ADR's every day and cross the places off my list. It was fun to lay out all the maps, to research EMH and decide what we were going to do each day. But, as much as I have OCDD (obsessive compulsive Disney disorder!)

I do agree with your basic premise- not to take everything so seriously. It's definitely the journey that counts. Does it really matter if you get 20 or 30 attractions done? No, what matters is if you had a good time!

Once in the parks, I am a lot more relaxed. I love to take a break, enjoy a Mickey Ice Cream bar and people watch or talk or just enjoy the Florida sun. Once we blast through the attractions in the morning, the rest of the afternoon and evening are taken at a much slower pace.

 

[LBKMAMA]

I think if I was there for 10 days and had a park hopper I would just wing it. Unfortunately, we can only manage 6 nights usually so I do feel like some planning is in order...no matter what you say this is an expensive vacation and you want your kids to enjoy it. If you miss their favorite ride due to poor planning (KR in AK) you could still be listening to it almost a year later !LOL
Having said all that..our first trip we went for 6 nights and had one character meal at LTT and one sit down in Epcot. My husband didn't want to go to WDW and he certainly didn't want to be tied down to dinner times. We stayed at CBR and came back every afternoon for a rest (kids 5, 4 and 1 at the time). It seemed to work. But by the end of our stay even my husband was sick of fast food. We looked at maps the night before and had a game plan, but with a 1 yr. old you have to be willing to change them.

This past year we went with my parents and my sister and her family (11 total). Our travel agent finally convinced my husband to try the dining plan and since he didn't want to eat counter service every night and my niece desparately wanted to see the princesses we had quite of few tables planned anyways so we did it. Some would say this is overplanning (my DH), but I say it's alleviating stress. When you have kids they need to eat and keep some kind of schedule. If certain parks are open early and your kids are up at 6 am take advantage! I never wake them up - but they tend to stick to the schedule we have at home. My kids don't do well at night...so 1 fireworks show is usually all we can manage.

I believe you need to know your family and play it by ear. Plus my DH keeps my overplanning tendancies in check so we usually manage a pretty stress free trip.

 

[Aristomommy]

I think the OP brings up two different scenarios: relaxing before the vacation and relaxing during the vacation. To me, planning, obsessing over tiny bits of info and learning the secrets before most others is part of the fun. I want to make most of the time so that when we are at WDW, all this info is in a neat notebook and I don't have to give it a second thought.
We always have a day out of the parks (or two) and during our park days we either start early or end late, not both. We are also flexible taking our kids needs into consideration. I don't want to have fun at my kids expense. If they need a break, we take a break. Those slower moments create some of the best memories.
So yes, I relax at WDW.

 

[pezpam]

I'm with pedro.... I plan to have a relaxing vacation.

Reading these boards and such means that I know which rides we should get to early, how to figure out which parks are EMH each day, etc...... I travel with DD (starting at 5, now she's 8) though, and find that we're both much happier if we go with the flow within a reasonable schedule for her. When we did the DDP, I scheduled our TS's to be mainly buffet breakfasts at a time that made sense for us. Maybe not the biggest bang for our buck, but we got characters, a meal that held us for a good part of the day, and no feeling like we had to run from one place to another to make an ADR. Worked for us. For things like EE, I let DD know that if she wants to be sure to ride it, we should head out early. If she wants to sleep in, that's fine, but we might not get to do EE. We always manage to find enough to do so that if we are just knackered in the morning for some reason, we're ok getting to the park an hour or two late. We don't stay out late - no tantrums, though she doesn't really do that anyway. I'm comfortable bringing her to nice restaurants, but I'll choose to do those at a time that's good for both of us.

So I guess, yeah, we go with the flow a lot. We wing it a lot. We just can't do a commando-style vacation and be happy. (Fine for others, but just not our thing...) But we do know what our priorities are and what needs to give to do those things. "Informed winging it" I guess. LOL

That said, the first time we went, we didn't plan out squat other than to do one theme park each day of the first 4 days, then go back to what we wanted to go back to. DD was 5 and frankly, we had a BLAST. We did whatever hit us at the moment - see a character, get an autograph; see a short line, do that ride; feel hungry, get food. And it was wonderful! For the first trip, just seeing WDW through her eyes was enough. We didn't do everything, but we did a lot.

 

[SnwflkCts]

What does that strange word "RELAX" mean???

To me, BIG OL TYPE A PERSONALITY, to not plan would be absolutely horrible. I would feel out of control, lost .... And the food thing ... I LOVE FOOD and planning the ADRs is the best thing possible. But the "plan" is ... make the plans and schedule the down time too!!!

Now I am married to the ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE ... and he is a very GO WITH THE FLOW kind of personality. You know, if he didn't have any plans, he would still have a great time at WDW .... but not me. And I really don't go home needing a vacation from the vacation.

It's all about planning it RIGHT, yet being flexible enough to know when it is time to slow down.

 

[lillygator]

I think everyone has a different situation....we are somewhat local, AP holders and go quite often, while I do plan most ADR's and extra activities....we do relax and usually end up spending most afternoons by the pool or in the room playing games. We have never felt a need to "do it all", "ride every ride", etc simply because we know we'll be back. I do realize some people don't have that luxury and want to enjoy WDW sun up til sun down simply because they have waited so long and don't know when they will return.

We leave in a little over 20 days! I can't wait!! Although it is going to be smoldering hot...it is so hot out today!