Do you still hit the parks "commando style" ?

[janni518]

Tour Guide Mike? I'm not sure what/who that is.
We take Pal Mickey but never thought of a whole tour guide!

http://tourguidemike.com/

My hubby swears he will never do Disney again without him.

 

[jenstall]

Not anymore for me. If I'm down there by myself I frequently head over to a park around 4 pm to do a ride or two before whatever nighttime show is scheduled. If I'm with family, we'll spend a several hours mid-day in a park, but we rarely leave the room before 10 or 11 a.m.

I still occasionally have long park days, but these tend to be more by accident than planning. Since I spend less time rushing here and there, I find I can actually stay in the parks longer because I'm not completely exhausted.

If I'm on property on the weekends, I usually avoid the parks in favor of Downtown Disney or the pool.

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

We leave on Sunday, and we do not plan to visit a single park! It is our 15th anniversary and we are leaving the kids home. We plan on sleeping in, relaxing by the pool, going to the spa for massages, and eating in some of the nicer restaurants that we can't eat at with the kids in tow. I'm sure if we feel bored, we might do Epcot or MK for one day, but as it stands right now, no parks are planned!

 

[lovinthemouse]

We leave on Sunday, and we do not plan to visit a single park! It is our 15th anniversary and we are leaving the kids home. We plan on sleeping in, relaxing by the pool, going to the spa for massages, and eating in some of the nicer restaurants that we can't eat at with the kids in tow. I'm sure if we feel bored, we might do Epcot or MK for one day, but as it stands right now, no parks are planned!

We were there over Spring Break this year and the only park visit was for the Pirates and Princess Party. Other than that it was a park free trip and our kids loved it. We have fun at the pool, playing miniature golf, and renting boats. Have a great trip.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I MUST get to each park at least one day right at rope drop to get the "must-dos" out of the way. Other than that, we are a lot more relaxed. Of course now some of our habits help--like eating lunch right when the CS places open. But since I have to go at busy times, getting up early at least one day is important to me.
Last trip we did have a day where we had planned BB, but it was too cold.
DH ended up booking our DVC tour and we spent the day hanging out and signing paperwork. then went to Kona for dinner and ended up at DQ. That was as leisurely as we got except for Easter evening hanging around YC watching the movie on the beach.
Robin M.

 

[Anal Annie]

Yep! Primarily 'cuz last summer was our first week as DVC members but it had been awhile since we went. Then our next visit was a quickie 4 nighter and then this summer we only had 2 1/2 days at the parks before going on DCL...so we had to hoof it pretty hard to fit everything in that we wanted to do! This time we landed at MCO at 10...were checked in by 12:30 and headed out to the first park by 1:30 (Hollywood Studios). Stayed there thru Fantasmic. Next morning we hit Epcot at opening to do TT and Soarin' then had a quick DIS meet in Mexico at 11:00 to meet some of our fellow cruisers. After lunch we went straight to MK and were there until about 1:20 AM (stayed for EMH). The next morning was early open at AK so we got about 4 hrs of sleep and got up for that (HAD to ride EE 4 x in a row)! Finished everything else we wanted to do at AK by around 1:00 and then went back to AKV to spend some time in the pool. ALTHOUGH a storm blew in not long after we plopped down so that was short lived.

One day we will relax....maybe!

 

[jimmytammy]

We no longer go commando. We did 1st trip as owners, but that soon changed. And we dont miss it!

 

[FormrCastMbr]

No more commando for us. We take our time and see what we want and the rest of the time is enjoying the resort, renting a boat, shopping. We find it very relaxing this way.

 

[KELLY]

Our girls are still both under 3 so no. We just do what we can durning the day. Go back to the room for a little r&r and go back in the evening. When they get older we will probaly stay all day and night again. We use to do this before the girls came. I love staying all day and night. But we usally go for longer stays so we spend alot of time at the resort also and at the water parks I so love the lazy rivers.

 

[CDNmouse]

We just did a commando visit to all four parks. I wrote a quick report about it here on our blog:

http://www.killops.com/?p=310

It was a lot of fun but I wouldn't recommend doing it if this way if this was your first trip. We even took time out for an afternoon swim before heading back to the parks.

Gary

 

[edk35]

We used to before DVC. We had our first DVC trip last Aug. and have stayed a total of 3 times now. The resorts are just tooooooooo nice not to want to stay there and enjoy them. I think in years past....we did commando more because we went less and we stayed in regular resort rooms with LESS ROOM. Who wants to hang out in a hotel room when you can be in the parks? DVC resorts are so much more than a hotel in my opinion. We love the atmosphere and the kids always love the activities the resorts offer. Sure we have out must do's at the parks...don't get me wrong but we have slowed way down. My dh does not do commando well anymore....it makes him moody and who wants to be at disney with a moody spouse. SO.....slow down, sleep in, hang out at the pool, do some off the beaten path stuff outside the parks but also on dis property......IT IS ALL GOOD.

 

[edk35]

http://tourguidemike.com/

My hubby swears he will never do Disney again without him.

TGM makes our trips each and every time. He really helps guests with losing the commando style of touring the parks. We know so much TGM tips that we feel like we get a lot done in a shorter time so there is plenty of time to relax back at the resort.

 

[edk35]

I MUST get to each park at least one day right at rope drop to get the "must-dos" out of the way. Other than that, we are a lot more relaxed. Of course now some of our habits help--like eating lunch right when the CS places open. But since I have to go at busy times, getting up early at least one day is important to me.
Last trip we did have a day where we had planned BB, but it was too cold.
DH ended up booking our DVC tour and we spent the day hanging out and signing paperwork. then went to Kona for dinner and ended up at DQ. That was as leisurely as we got except for Easter evening hanging around YC watching the movie on the beach.
Robin M.

We did this ...this past trip. Just got back on Sat. We were there 14 nights and had plenty of time but we also still felt like we needed to get to park opening for each park at least 1 or 2 times (especially MK and EC our faves)....to get the must do's or fast passes to use that night. We would then go to the pool or villas to relax. We even had a few days we went to the parks after dinner to see a show/fireworks or ride a couple of things. I want to take the time to feel like I am on vacation now....not sleep deprived and worn out physically....especially with summer trips.

 

[Alexander]

Nope! We arrive at each park one morning at opening and make a bee-line for the exit by noon as the crowds start to grow. We spend the rest of the day at the pool, renting boats, etc. We were never the commando type of visitor. DS always preferred the pools to any of the parks, so we learned early on to let him be our guide. Now he likes the parks, but like his mother can't tolerate the crowds! This system has worked very well for us over the years. Most evenings we will return to the a park for dinner and a casual stroll through. If there are no lines, we'll ride a few things and call it a night.

 

[cokenut33]

No more commando for us!!! For 2 reasons- DVC & APs!!! As a matter of fact, for our upcoming trip, my DW, DD, and our friends (also dvc members) are planning on sleeping 'til noon, pool hopping/going to the water parks, then hitting the parks at night. I, on the other hand, will probably head to the parks early, and be the guy who is just wandering around aimlessly, enjoying the atmosphere and doing whatever it is that I feel like at the time. Then I'll head back to the hotel, and go out later with the group.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Do you still hit the parks "commando style" (no not THAT commando style)?...Has this changed for you? Is this change a good thing?

Yes, it's changed for us, and YES...it is a GREAT thing!!! I feel we can actually enjoy the parks now, and not feel like we have to do it all. If we want to spend more time in the shops, or skip a ride because the line is too long, we feel like we can because we know we'll be back in 6 - 12 months.

However, I will say that I still feel some pressure to make the most of my Magic Your Way passes, because we can't really take advantage of the annual passes. We live just outside of Columbus, and it takes about 16 or 17 hours to get to WDW. If you can take advantage of APs, I think it will totally change for you!

 

[MILLZ]

We do annial passes now so we dont feel the need to go crazy at the parks

 

[hrsmom]

Not anymore!

 

[buckeyebill1995]

Our first DVC trip was last month and we still did it Commando style, more out of a force of habit than anything else I think. We didn't want to miss any of our favorites! We kept saying, though, that we should slow down and relax. Next trip we're really going to try and smell the roses.

 

[kerickson]

We have our 1st WDW and 1st DVC trip in Jan. I was worried about having to pack everything in and being exhausted at the end of the week, especially with 2 kids under 5....but thanks to DVC we are now planning a return trip for 3 days in Oct 09 prior to our cruise, so the pressure is off!