Do you ever regret not slowing down a bit more...

[Boopuff]

On our last trip in Oct. we went with extended family and a new son-in-law who had never been to WDW. So we moved, moved, moved every day. Early breakfasts, late dinners... DH and I pulled the plug and said no-way and got up and planted our butts at the pool - spent a quiet morning (pools are quite empty at 9am!) and leisurely went to the park... ah.. So when we went back in Dec. we got up whenever and we all agreed the trip was going to be slow paced, relaxed and calm. I said I wanted to take in all the little things. So we went on attractions we'd normally rush past, ate leisurely meals and took time to "drink around the world" It was nice just to sit in some of the countries and enjoy a drink with family and have fun. We are also a late night bunch so we'd much rather close the park rather than open it! We went on Living with the Land around 10:30pm and had a boat to ourselves!

 

[autkidd]

We did one day where we were in the park from open to close. That about killed us.

We lived our afternoon naps and did take a day off from the parks and toured the resorts. I loved finding different couches to sit on and relax and people watch.

 

[wdw&sonny]

For us, it's not about the speed, but about the pleasure. We thrive on going "commando". We love that we are all excited and exhilarated to just keep moving from one attraction to the next. BUT, we aren't doing it just to get things done. We are moving quick because of our energy and enthusiasm. We are go, go, go the rest of our lives, why not just keep going at WDW? Most importantly, though, I have learned that to truly enjoy going at that pace, you need time to reflect, not just slow down. We have the energy to keep that pace, but we need some time to be able to reflect on the attraction we just saw. We always do rope drop then an afternoon break, but not just to relax, to reflect. I am the uber planner and always consider the order of attractions so that we are able to chat about the last one. At the end of the day, I want the kids to remember what we did, not just think of it as a blur. For example, if we go to a show like F! or La Nouba, I usually plan dinner AFTER that. That way, we don't end our day with the show, but have time to sit and talk and relive it in our minds. When we exit a simple, short attraction like Peter Pan, I try to ask everyone what was their favorite part, or did you see that? We have learned we need to slow down our brains, but keep our feet moving.

 

[nicolej92]

My friend and I promised ourselves we were going to do this on our last trip, and it worked out well. You almost have to plan to slow down.

For example, we knew MK we would be doing from open to close for at least two days. We spaced our FP+ out (one in morning, one in afternoon, and one at night) and made them in areas where we thought we would be around during those times. It worked out fairly well. We never felt rushed at all. There were times that we were waiting for a FP+, so we would duck in a shop to cool off or go meet a character with a short wait time in that area.

My FI and I are planning on going for our honeymoon, and I think we will definitely be making it a more relaxed trip (less park time and more relaxing). However, I am taking my cousin in 2018 for her graduation, and I'm sure we will be running around trying to make everything fit (it's her 1st trip to Disney!).

 

[TiggerBouncy]

3 years into DVC (and many years prior), we learned to slow down. We now plan for a day at the resort or at least NOT in the park. We may drop to another resort pool or something instead.

Epcot we only have a few must have rides (Test Track which is FP+ and we like to ride Spaceship Earth about 20 times). We also have to visit our favorite restaurant. Besides that, we are very leisurely about it.

MK is probably the biggest. We have a few must haves (PoTC, BTR, CoP, HM, ETR). We generally hit MK at rope drop and can get most of our stuff out by noon. If we are at BLT or on the monorail loop, we may come back for fireworks.

The only thing that we have that a must have at HS is Toy Story which we cover with a FP+.

Animal Kingdom doesn't make our must do list.

After we have scheduled those things, the rest of our time is kind of "whatever". We will look for something new we haven't done before or at least in a long time. However, it's all low key and if we don't make it because we are too tired or didn't feel like rolling out of bed, or it was raining or we were having too much fun watching the giraffes on the savanna, then we don't make it. It's no big deal.

 

[jsrj21]

Great topic of discussion OP!

This has been a great debate for us the last few trips since FP+. It seems like we've been running around so much that we don't enjoy the finer details. Now, let me clarify, we love our trips and enjoy them but they just seem as hectic as life back at home. We really need a few days to recoup when we get home. On our last few trips, we have taken time to resort hop and to slow down at times; which has been really nice. I guess that I'm guilty of not wanting to regret anything when I get back home. I guess if you go often, you'll have plenty of opportunities to figure out what "style" works best for you. My family and I only go once a year and now I am going to tell my wife that we have to keep going back so we can figure out what would work best for us....

 

[PetePanMan]

That was or vow after our trip in October. So when we went back last week we made it a point to slow down and check out more things that aren't rides.
It worked well as a strategy to not only appreciate the small things but to deal with the heavier crowds. We did all of the shows in DHS (Really loved The Frozen Sing Along), spent more time in the world showcase and finally saw the hall of presidents in MK.
Heck we even sat on a bench and just relaxed for an hour between our FP to just people watch and spend time together. It was really nice.

funny you mention Frozen Sing Along and Hall of Presidents - we did exact same in Dec.

 

[Pmlocke]

You are going to find that, with children, it is not possible to "slow down". Their excitement and need to experience the next ride, the next attraction will take precedence with your park plans. I know. I have traveled with my children and my grandchildren. We always seemed to be heading for another attraction that we never spent the time to enjoy Disney. The first time my wife and I decided to go it alone was 2010. It was the best vacation we ever had. No longer are the cries of we aren't moving fast enough, what's next, I'm hungry, I want to buy that. Don't get me wrong. I loved our time we had with the "kids" but the experiences we have had as pair cannot begin to compare. We wake up when we wake up. We have a leisurely breakfast and head to a park. No fast passes, no pre-planning the day. I'm sorry, we do get dining reservations for our trip. Not going to take a chance I can't have dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare. When we wake up we have no idea which park we are going to. Once at the parks we walk, that's right-walk through the park not only experiencing the wonder of each park but watching the magic as it happens almost continuously when a child first meets Mickey or someone first tastes a dole whip. We look at the architecture of the buildings. We explore every shop, restuarant, everything. We have made this trip as a pair six times since then and see new things every year. When you get older and the kids have grown up remember, Disney is still as magical for a 62 year old as it is with a 6 year old. My wife and I will soon be experiencing our magic once again in 56 days and we can hardly wait.

 

[MrsDuck]

DH and I are FL residents and DVC members who have been visiting WDW for about 20 years. As a result, we pretty much have Disney touring down to a science - well, a science that works for us.

We always do rope drop and then we take a mid-day break. Since we are able to visit so frequently, it isn't too big of a deal for us if we don't get to experience X attraction - I know that's not something every family is okay with, though.

As another poster mentioned, the more you go, the more slow you can take it.

 

[Boopuff]

When we took our last trip at a leisure pace we really took in some of the - what my family calls "odd ball" attractions. We saw the American Adventure and O Canada - stuff we normally walked past. We also made dinner reservations on the late side (never waited for a table!) It's such nice, calm and stress free vacation and it really becomes a vacation! We also went golfing. The Disney courses are fantastic and we had the best time. We also just hung out at the pool and enjoyed the resort. AHHHH

 

[GreatLakes]

My wife and I are very chill in the parks. We don't dash from ride to ride. We relax, sit on a bench with a drink and people watch while enjoying some quite time in the parks, don't mind going on attractions standby, and if something is really crazy we just decide to hit it next time. Rushing from attraction to attraction just to try and get in more rides just doesn't sound fun and we would rather do less and relax then do more and be frantic.

 

[zebsterama]

We have mid day pool break every day - and we remind ourselves that we won't be able to see it all in one trip ... and promise ourselves, to be ok with that.

 

[Ryansdad0727]

We are DVC member who average 1-2 trips a year. I want my 6 year old and my 2 years old to have all the fun they can while we are there. I am very much the commando trip planner. I have had to cut back a little in recent years. When we get an annual pass it is difficult not to go to the parks everyday. It just seems like you are wasting money if you don't. I have gotten better about it and try to plan a day when we leave AK @ 4 and spend the rest of the day swimming or at Disney Springs. We take people with us often and i wear them out. They are not used to the grind. We also plan things in the parks for midday that will slow us down and allow us to relax during the crowded times. MK: Tom Sawyer Island or SotMK, EPCOT: World Showcase or playgrounds during Flower & Garden, AK: Dinosaur playground or shows, HS: Shows or walk over to BW for pizza and ice cream. I used to love LEMH but it is difficult to stay up late and start early the next morning. I have switched almost exclusively to EEMH. It seemed that you could get more done but since FP+ i have noticed that the parks get busy much quicker than they used to. We still try to do LEMH for MK every trip. We always watch the 11:00 Light Parade. Nothing like have the characters to yourself in Frontierland.

 

[sugarbobbin]

My mother and I decided that our second trip will be at a slower pace. Our first trip was selective and we can only go at her speed, but even then I was surprised at how much she wanted to do in the small amount of time we had. We do rope drop only because we like the less crowded nature of the parks, as we are very anxiety prone people, so that doesn't bother us that we don't sleep in (with our work schedules, sleeping in till 7am is sleeping in to us!) However, this time, we've decided to do more leisurely activities like taking long breaks on benches and exploring the monorail resorts at peak crowds before heading back to our own resort. I think after you have your first trip, it's easier to come back to Disney and get more selective. Also, if it wasn't for the Dis, I probably wouldn't know all the great things you can do for leisure time.

 

[mdsouth]

Let the kid go to the community center at a DVC resort. He can stay there for a few hours while you have lunch or dinner. I would recommend BWV. He can get a burger at the little stand there or a corn dog. You can enjoy a nice Epcot meal or boardwalk meal without him.

This might be a good option for DVC members but for those just staying at values or mods I don't think it is an option unless I am wrong and anyone can use it. I know there are other club or activity options for regular guests with kids but I think most have an age limit. If you have a preteen or teenager that you do not want to leave unattended then you are limited in what you can do.

So, to keep family harmony, an idea that would be ideal, but probably not practical solution would be to plan two trips, one to go commando style and the other to take at a leisurely pace.

 

[Jetta8300]

Our third trip was definitely slower than our first two, and we plan on making this one even slower. We have found that eating at a table service restaurant for both Lunch and dinner helps. We usually do a 6 day trip and take one day in the middle with no parks. We usually do AK and HS in the same day, now we are just going to spend a half day at each and spend the evenings at the resort with a signature restaurant those nights. Our day at Universal is the most hectic day and we want the rest to be somewhat relaxing. We will sleep in if we want, but get up if we feel like it. We have seen everything at this point so no rush to see anything again. Just taking our time is nice! We remember our last trip more because of it.

 

[djohn06]

This might be a good option for DVC members but for those just staying at values or mods I don't think it is an option unless I am wrong and anyone can use it. I know there are other club or activity options for regular guests with kids but I think most have an age limit. If you have a preteen or teenager that you do not want to leave unattended then you are limited in what you can do.

So, to keep family harmony, an idea that would be ideal, but probably not practical solution would be to plan two trips, one to go commando style and the other to take at a leisurely pace.

Correct, it's just for those members staying at a DVC resort.

As to planning two trips, many times we do split stays. We may start off commando at a BWV or a BLT (or any resort close to the parks), and end at a AKV so that we can slow down. I agree. It keeps the family happy

 

[revdon64]

Try making FP's that you're perfectly willing to let go if you're into something else at that time. We did that on our most recent trip. It allowed us to take a slower pace (along with bigger than expected crowds) and just soak more in.

 

[buzznina]

We slowed down once we had our first DD. The very first trip was hard for me as I would have everything planned out and we would zoom around the parks. Afterwards I would feel like I needed a vacation from those trips. After the 2nd slow pace trip, I told the DW that the trip was the most relaxing trip that I have had and I completely enjoyed it. There were a few times as we were meandering (not rushing) through the park and I would say, has that always been here? because I never noticed it the times we rushed by it. We have enjoyed our trips sooooo much better now, then when we would go from point A to point B and have a tour plan etc. Now the only planning I do is to pick the parks on which day and reserve our FP+. We also cut down on ADRs to maybe 1-2 per trip. Our whole family would rather stay later at the parks then to do RD, so we have no issues sleeping in and getting to the parks at 10, we still try to do 1 RD during our trips but sometimes do not make it and the best part, we didn' really care that we missed it. All we know is that our trips have been a lot more enjoyable and, most importantly, much more relaxing. The thought of not needing to rush around and not needing to get EVERYTHING done is just great.

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

Never. We can sit around and do nothing at home for free.

We tried to take a day off in the middle of the trip once. We were bored to tears by 10:00 am.

I alway say that - I can relax at home 50 weeks of the year.
This past trip, for the first time ever, we added in short daytime pool breaks since it was August - I don't really think of it as "slowing down" though, we were still on the go from RD to park close, just swimming for 2 hours in the middle.
We had more nights than days this past trip also, so we had to have 2 non-park days - but we used them as downtown/Typhoon Lagoon days and still got a lot done.