Attempt at a stress free tour.....help!!!!

[xipotec]

So with increase crowds, and decrease capacity , we are expecting a more "intense" WDW.

We are attempting to make this a more leisurely trip.

We are not new to this, altough usually we are commando style park tours...

We have done the usual, visit parks on non magic hour days. Visit MK on party days. Dinners at the resorts. Along with well placed FP.

What other tips do my fellow DIS members live by to create a more relaxing visit that still keep the headliners and must do's in the plan?

Cheers!

 

[js]

RD and then back to hotel, DTD, BW in evenings. Dont return after RD and enjoy different things other than Disney.

Have dinner at the movies, bowling, etc.

 

[rwdavis2]

Sleep in and make your FP+ reservations for later in the day.

 

[Disneylover99]

Ditch your ADR's. It's very freeing not being tied down.

 

[xipotec]

Ok , I like what I am hearing.....cannot ditch ADR's .....we are food snobs......half our delight is eating.....

 

[Accident]

Minimal ADRs, have nice meals here and there but they are so time consuming. You can find an adr every day with short notice when your in the mood for one if that works out better.

If you have the ability to hop parks, don't stick with a park that is not exciting you at the moment, or your daydreaming about another park. Generally there is a park with less of a crowd and use technology (MDE APP) to figure out which that is. it's ok to get that 1 ride you wanted, a quick snack and bus hop to the next park.

Parks have been closing stupid early lately, EMH at night might not be a bad idea. HS has been closing the second it gets dark the last 2 weeks except for it's emh night. The mk party is distracting many but take that with salt as I'm a local and haven't stayed at emh except to get out of the park. It's ok if it's crowded, concentrate on something new like watch the fireworks behind the castle and be in the middle of them. I also find there is corners of the parks at night that have nobody.

Rediscover some attractions you have not tried in a long time with no line. Stroll around and look closer at what's aroudn you, something will strike your fancy that you were not expecting.

Sleep in, it's a vacation (and then use technology to sort out the park that is both appealing you today and a crowd size based on wait time in the app that you think will fit your mood).

fastpass is greatly improved for same day passes.. generally afternoon there is a bunch of new ones that come out for mid afternoon and evening. it's no big deal to pivot and do a different park than planned these days.

 

[caliope]

Honestly, I've finally learned to eliminate the phrase "must do" from my vacation vocabulary. We've been enough times that there's nothing we "have" to do now to make or break a trip. We know our favorites, gravitate toward those, fill in the gaps with extras as the spirit moves us, and just enjoy the experience of being there. This attitude also helps tremendously when everything doesn't go quite as planned, including the weather. I'm a much happier, and less stressed, WDW traveler now.

 

[Accident]

Honestly, I've finally learned to eliminate the phrase "must do" from my vacation vocabulary. We've been enough times that there's nothing we "have" to do now to make or break a trip. We know our favorites, gravitate toward those, fill in the gaps with extras as the spirit moves us, and just enjoy the experience of being there. This attitude also helps tremendously when everything doesn't go quite as planned, including the weather. I'm a much happier, and less stressed, WDW traveler now.

^^ THIS.. this was the turning point that had me go from an every decade or so visitor to living here a couple years later. once you can be relaxed and care free, the place is completely different and you start to notice thing you walked past a thousand times without noticing.

 

[rwdavis2]

Honestly, I've finally learned to eliminate the phrase "must do" from my vacation vocabulary. We've been enough times that there's nothing we "have" to do now to make or break a trip. We know our favorites, gravitate toward those, fill in the gaps with extras as the spirit moves us, and just enjoy the experience of being there. This attitude also helps tremendously when everything doesn't go quite as planned, including the weather. I'm a much happier, and less stressed, WDW traveler now.

Another +1 on this. We're going for 8 days in November and the main idea is to slow it down. With the advent of FP+ we may only do 2-2 rope drops the entire time. We used to go back to the hotel early so we could make rope drop but we're switching it around.

 

[JonesFamilyTravels]

One of my biggest tips is get up early. I know this one is tough, because you are on vacation, but get up early and hit the parks right at opening. You will be amazed how much you can get done, before 11 AM, if you get up early. We then head back to the Disney Resort to relax and then head back in the evening hours. Have fun!

 

[Madivan]

I agree with PPs who said to relax and not worry about doing everything. Your trip will not be ruined if you don't ride THAT ride (whatever that ride might be for you and your family). If your plan to get somewhere early without a FP doesn't work out, you're still at Disney World with the people you love and will have an amazing time. It's more a mindset thing than anything else.

I'm also a local so I realize this might be easier said than done when it's your once a year or every few years trip but you will be back at some point, right? You don't have to do it all and it will actually be a better vacation if you don't!

HAVE FUN!

 

[Klayfish]

Honestly, I've finally learned to eliminate the phrase "must do" from my vacation vocabulary. We've been enough times that there's nothing we "have" to do now to make or break a trip. We know our favorites, gravitate toward those, fill in the gaps with extras as the spirit moves us, and just enjoy the experience of being there. This attitude also helps tremendously when everything doesn't go quite as planned, including the weather. I'm a much happier, and less stressed, WDW traveler now.

Yes, this for sure. OP, you mentioned you're not new at this, so I'm assuming you're a Disney veteran. Why stress about it? I never see WDW as "intense", and we were in MK on Christmas Day last year. That particular day was crazy busy, but we didn't stress and it wasn't intense for us. We did our FP+ stuff in the morning, got on a few rides that had 20 minute waits or less (Stitch, Laugh Floor, CoP, etc..) and then left. Easy peasy.

That's why I don't agree or understand some of the posts that people make when they get stressed out or get so wrapped up in planning. We truly do very minimal planning, though we don't eat in their restaurants, so we don't have to make reservations for dining. We also don't even do RD anymore. We've found it's not necessary. Use FP+ for the rides we really want to be on, and as long as we're there within a few hours of park opening, we're good. For us, WDW vacation is done at more of an "efficient relaxed" pace, meaning that we're not rushing around or stressing about anything, but we try to at least make the best use of our time.

 

[DisneyHardin]

DH and I are trying to do the same thing for our upcoming trip. Even though we go every year, I feel like I want to ride every ride and see every show. I need to get out of that mindset.

We are morning people by nature, so our plan is to still do Rope Drop, but when we are tired in the afternoon to leave the park and not worry about coming back in the evening. We are also planning a resort day. We are going to the Christmas Party and are not doing a park during the day, just hanging out at the resort until party time.

 

[Mousetopia]

WE get caught up in MUST DO ALL..and we dont! need to. We are adults and savoring the experience is good. Cut down the adr's so you have
unplanned meals you can decide as you go. Rope drop, back to resort mid day to nap, swim, chill. Back to park or Disney Springs at night if you
so desire. This trip we have one ENTIRE DAY smack in the middle at the Poly with no passes available. We will spend the whole day relaxing, recovering and just enjoying being there. We have never done this..cant wait!

 

[jaysmom4285]

Honestly, I've finally learned to eliminate the phrase "must do" from my vacation vocabulary. We've been enough times that there's nothing we "have" to do now to make or break a trip. We know our favorites, gravitate toward those, fill in the gaps with extras as the spirit moves us, and just enjoy the experience of being there. This attitude also helps tremendously when everything doesn't go quite as planned, including the weather. I'm a much happier, and less stressed, WDW traveler now.

Again, THIS. And the previous suggestion to make FP+ for later in the morning and sleep in. Trying to get yourself up early enough to make rope drop doesn't make for a restful or laid back vacation and will put you back in the commando touring mode that you say you want to avoid. We're in the same boat - we've been to WDW enough times so that there is nothing we absolutely have to do. We do what we feel like doing at the moment, and if lines are too long, we just skip it and move on. For us, it's about just being there and taking it all in.

 

[loves to dive]

Another non must do person, we make ADRs day of and have never not been able to find a TS meal somewhere. PHs are a must for us, that helps with the ADRs and makes it easier to just go to another park if you are bored or the park is just too darn busy. We rarely make FPs any more, we are really go with the flow types. I might make a FP the night before and thank goodness now you don't have to make 3. I've been known to change them time and time again when getting somewhere we had one for and finding the standby line short enough not to need one. We've learned to just go slow, look at the details, go back to the resort and swim or go to the bar. We sat on a bench in front of Italy last March for about 1/2 hour just looking up while drinking a glass of wine. Everyone kept stopping and looking up thinking we were seeing something important. We were just looking at the details on the top of the buildings and speculating on what they represented. We've started trying to do things we've never done before (in over 20 something years of going there are still loads of things we haven't done) or doing things we haven't done in a long time. We actually enjoy standing in line sometimes, depending on the ride. We will grab a drink or a snack and sit in the shade and make up stories about the people we see, giving them whole back stories and what they are doing now. We have learned to stop and smell the roses.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Counting down to a stress-free adult visit for my daughter's 40th bday in Nov! We plan ADRs, and some FP+s, and evaluate each evening if we are going to stick with the plan for the next day. We don't care at all about the fast passes....and use 'em only if we are in that place at the right time. Our "plan" is more like a guideline, or a default, to be used if we don't feel like thinking of something else. We find this takes away stress because we don't have to think about each day's activities, unless we WANT to do so.

We do plan RD for MK on our first day, but if we sleep in, we sleep in. There will be no alarm clock ringing. Our normal style is to head out in the morning, be poolside for the afternoon and look forward to a nice dinner followed by some more park time. We don't bother hopping anymore, as we are fine with a single park for 5 - 8 hrs. Just one schedule to consult. Yes, we just keep it that simple!

We stay offsite, but not far away, and enjoy an easy commute as well as spacious accommodations that give us each lots of privacy along with common kitchen, living room, etc. After years of intense touring, it is nice to have a chance to move at a slow pace, spend time over jewellery counters, sit down for meals, etc. We would love to see ROL, but otherwise have seen everything else and can just pick and chose by favourites or short lines.

 

[Klayfish]

DH and I are trying to do the same thing for our upcoming trip. Even though we go every year, I feel like I want to ride every ride and see every show. I need to get out of that mindset.

We are morning people by nature, so our plan is to still do Rope Drop, but when we are tired in the afternoon to leave the park and not worry about coming back in the evening. We are also planning a resort day. We are going to the Christmas Party and are not doing a park during the day, just hanging out at the resort until party time.

Yes, yes you do need to get it out of your mindset. I certainly understand where the "do it all every trip" comes from. We struggled with that too, and to some degree I think it's almost unavoidable, but you want to minimize it. For us, that's why I always say we do the "efficient relaxed" pace. It's sounds contradictory, but it's not. We don't wander around aimlessly...well, usually not...but at the same time we make it a point not to run around like crazy.

Like you, we're morning people too. We used to do rope drop, but we've even found that to be more rush/stress/hurry than we care for. We get up when we're ready...OK, truth is the kids wake us up...have breakfast, grab a cup of coffee, pack lunches and go when we're ready. We still get to the parks normally between 9-10am. We do our thing, and if we're tired, we leave. Very often, if we're in the park at 9:30am, we leave by 3:00pm and very well may not come back that night. Since we stay off property, we'll go to the rental house pool, eat dinner at home, go shopping, go for ice cream, or just hang out and relax. Sometimes we go back at night, it just depends on what we feel like doing. If we have a night specifically planned, we'll have a leisurely morning.

LuvMyEAR,
We stay offsite too, always within a 15 minute drive. I agree with you that the commute is easy, and we could never do with a hotel room. The spacious accommodations make the trip so much more relaxing for us. Nothing better than going to a "home" after a fun day in the parks. We cook a simple dinner (as in microwave chicken nuggets for the kids, and then something super simple for us), maybe sit on the couch and watch a little TV, then go to the local Menchies for a big 'ol heaping of frozen yogurt, or Dunkin Donuts, for dessert.

 

[jpwoods]

This is the exactly the response I was hoping to get on my thread I posted yesterday! I think we are going to go with the flow more on our trip at the end of this month and not stress of ADRs, fastpasses, etc.

 

[MrsJamesPSullivan]

We do rope drop with an idea of what we want to get done in the morning. Somewhere between 11 and 1 depending on what park we're in and what we wanted to get done we have lunch and go back to the resort for swimming or naps or just relaxing. In the evening we go to a park with the emphasis on dinner, shows and fireworks. If we happen to wander by a ride with no wait we'll hop in but we go in the evening knowing that we aren't going to spend time standing in line.

It works for us.