Feel like I have to do and see everything...

[Brian Noble]

I spend all this $$$ on vacation, I just don't want to miss out.

I've done this both ways. And, I can tell you that for me it is much (MUCH) better to take things at a reasonable pace. At some point, more is not better, more is just more---more tired, more cranky, etc.

I look at it this way. When I'm traveling with my family, my goal is to have a great time with my family. The parks/attractions are just the stage on which that happens. If I focus instead on the parks/attractions, my "family time" suffers. Likewise, when I'm on a solo trip, my goal is to recharge my batteries and explore the little hidden treasures rather than see how many times I can ride Splash. Hanging out on my balcony with a tasty BEvERage, watching the world go by, is a fine way to spend some of that time and makes for a better overall vacation.

 

[cgattis]

This may not add any value to the thread, but just wanted to throw in my take on touring style. I personally like the commando method. I am like many of the OPs, and I want to experience as many things as I can for the amount of money I'm spending. We average about one trip a year, but usually just short trips, because we like to vacation other places as well. We may ski for 3-4 days in the winter and then do 3-4 days at Disney some other time of the year. So, I try to plan the things we really want to do (favorite attractions/activities, any new ones, must-do M&Gs, dining, etc.), and then anything else we fit in is extra. We also find that it's just too much hassle to go back for a nap, although if fireworks are very late, we might nap and return for those. Kids are now 10 and 7, so they can pretty much go all day, although I have come off both SM and TOT to find DS asleep on a bench (with DH, who somehow managed to stay awake haha)!

So, I see a lot of posts that say "Hey, you're on vacation, just RELAX!" But the one thing I haven't seen anyone say is this....I don't like to just sit around, at home or on vacation. I like to DO. And that's okay! When I travel somewhere, I like to experience whatever I can that's different from my everyday life. I can enjoy being away from work, laundry, bills, housework, cooking, etc. other ways than just lounging around. The point of my vacation isn't usually REST, it's FUN. That said, I usually get my 7-8 hours of sleep a night, so I'm as rested as I am most any other time. Anyway, I just wanted to give a little fist-bump to the other commando vacationers out there...as long as everybody is still having fun, keep going!! It's okay!

 

[LisaTC]

I felt the same way before our June 2010 trip, the first for DH & DD, my second (first one was in 1986, so this was new to me too!).

...I made our resort ressie as soon as the rates came out in August. I charted all ride height requirements, seating arrangements, ones with photos. I charted all meals by the characters & menus. I made ADR's the morning of 180 out, making the most important (to me) one's earlier in the week. I got all ADR's I wanted within 15 minutes of the times I requested! After that, I made the itenrary, working around where our ADR's were for each day.

...I planned that trip for two years & had a huge three-ring binder full of notes & charts! I finally had to step away and realized that we couldn't do/see it all & that we just really needed to concentrate on having a good time doing what we could do.

It's our first trip, too. I tend to be commando at places I've never been before because I don't know when/if I'll get to return, so it's hard not for me to be, but I don't want to ruin the experience by being uber planner of the year, either! It's a fine line.

I honestly don't know when/if we can return. I've planned this for well over a year and I feel like it's a once in a lifetime trip for us. We don't get to vacation much because of DH's schedule and other things.

I'm really going to have to reign it in!

 

[Barbie & the 3 girls]

I agree to a point. I love the idea of getting the most out of our Disney vacations. As a PP said, you spend alot of money to go, you don't want to miss anything. But, I find when we go commando style, we are so tired after the first 2 days, we aren't having as much fun anymore. My solution= Go for a longer vacation! That way, you can still feel like you've "done it all" with taking breaks in the afternoons to relax!

That is what we are doing this year! Eight full days at Disney, as compared to the usual 6. We are going to see the pool this year AND get in it!!

 

[ehough]

On our last trip, I was about 5 months pregnant and we also had a 16 month old. We left for naps and just...kind of never made it back. I'm sure it was just because I was exhausted in general, but I fear the same thing happening this time. We are only going for one day this time, logistically we just can't do more, so I intend to go-go-go. It's just one day and the very next day we're getting on a cruise ship, so we'll have time to recuperate.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I understand, but I also don't like coming back from vacation feeling like I need another one. I do that enough the rest of the time, coming to work on Monday feeling like I need another weekend right then. It was difficult, but I accepted before we left for our first trip that we would not see and do everything we were even able to do. And we were pretty limited considering it was just me and my 2 children (ages 7 and 10mo). We only listed things my son could do and still didn't get to all of that and we did not take midday breaks except one day ended at 2, but that was due to tummy trouble. We had an ADR each day for downtime. And reality was we only had 6 days and it was November so it would be getting dark early.

I live a pretty busy life with my children and my time on vacation is our time not to rush around much. I loved Disney especially for my break from driving us around. Not driving us around physically and not driving us around mentally did me a world of good.

I almost reverted back to driving us around when we were in Living Seas and I wanted to get to World Showcase to do pick-a-pearl before our lunch reservation at Akershus, but I looked at my dd (she loves aquariums) and saw how much fun she was having and snapped out of it. As long as we weren't late for the lunch, who cares?" Besides we would have done Living Seas the day before had it not been for my tummy trouble

Yes, we missed some things. I still have our Cinderella cage necklaces sans pearls at home. Got into the Kim Possible mission after lunch and barely made it out of the Mexico and Norway areas. So her brand new Epcot passport I bought her is still unopened as is her AK field journal. I took little children to Disney World and we didn't even ride Dumbo, but we had an amazing trip and I told myself it was my built in excuse to go back. And I started before we even came home the first time thinking of when we could get back.

June 2012, it will be (in the words of my daughter when I surprised her with the first trip), "Disney World, Here We Come!" I understand that with that heat, we'll need more downtime but we'll also have more daylight hours than we did in November. Like someone else said, that was my built in excuse to add on more days.

Originally I was planning for 9 days/8 nights, 8 days being park days. First day being morning flight, rest upon arrival, then afternoon/evening at a park. Then 2 days of "park morning/resort break/park evening" then 2 days of "park morning/resort afternoon and evening" and then 2 more "park morning/resort break/park evening" days. A great discount has come on (military discount and tickets extended to 2012) that will help me afford a deluxe resort to ease the back and forth. If the flight time I want for departure day isn't available I might tack on a day at the beginning.

I have found that I enjoy my children's pace much better. We have the rest of the year to go at mine.

 

[ZoZo]

I tend to feel the same way, especially since I usually go in October when park hours are shorter. AK closes @ 5:00 every day while I'm there, and even Epcot stays open only until 9:00 pm (unless there's an evening EMH).

Luckily, I've been to WDW enough that I don't feel like I have to do everything. I make sure to hit my favorites, but consciously try to make myself set a slower pace. I might go back to the resort mid-afternoon for a quick shower and change of clothes, if I'm hot and sweaty (this is very refreshing), but I generally don't take long afternoon breaks. I can rest in the evening, if I want, or go to bed early if I'm tired! I hate to "waste" valuable afternoon touring time.

PS - When I read posts that talk about the "necessity" of taking afternoon breaks, I always think, "Not in October!!" This tip is written by people who go during the summer or other times when the parks are open really late. There should always be a little caveat that says "depending on the time of year and what hours the parks are open"!

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

We will be there for 10 days but the arrival day and departure day don't count. We don't have time to do anything those days. We plan on doing MK, HS, EP, US, IOA, BB, TL, DQ & La Nouba.

 

[carrie1626]

I think it depends what season you're vacationing. Summer hours are much longer so a break mid-day is great AND you can go back to the parks for dinner, touring etc.

When I visit in the fall I tend to stay in the parks for longer stretches

 

[Alinasan]

I feel like we want to do everything....but I know we can't, so I'll keep telling myself that if we miss something, then we can look forward to enjoying it next time.

 

[appleorchard]

This is my current nightmare! We're DVC owners, go twice a year most years and go full-tilt, although we're slowing down now that we're both over 60 with an afternoon break most days. Took son, DIL and grandkids 5 and 2 a few years ago. 5 year old was afraid of just about everything so we missed a lot--he had a meltdown on the Wedway people mover, for heaven's sake!- wouldn't go on the Jungle Cruise, Pirates was out of the question, hated Test Track, wouldn't try Soarin', etc. So they saw way less than I hoped they would but still a great time.

Going in March with 4 year grandchild, daughter and SIL who doesn't like schedules, doesn't like being pushed and doesn't like rushing around. Yeah, I'd leave him at home if I could lol, but he's really a good guy and will love watching granddaughter have fun if I can GET him to anything! Fun just isn't his first, last or middle name. Daughter told me to plan everything, but THEN she tells me about his normal vacation style of get up whenever, relaxing breakfast, back to the room to digest for a bit, etc etc. Plan dinner at the spur of the moment, yada yada.

So we'll see. It will definitely be a trip with lots of downtime and I'm sure I'll be like a caged tiger. My daughter just keeps saying we'll do it all when we go in the future without him! I'm just glad I'm getting to go at all but I hate to have him so much he might really enjoy if he gave himself half a chance.

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

I was always go, go, go, but this last trip has changed that strategy. My mom is definitely older and just can't go as fast or long as she used to. The H likes to sleep in, so I had to adjust our timing. My niece, who won't be returning with us anytime soon, (her choice, she's 14 and has a mind of her own) got very sick(virus) & dehyrated on this last trip and visited the ER twice. We obviously slowed down a lot on that trip, but will be doing so in the future as well.

We always go for at least 9/10 days and have specific plans on the must have/do, but other than that, we're just going to enjoy the experience and family time. We won't take naps necessarily, but the walking will slow down and we won't rush for anything.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Sixteen trips, the first 15 absolute commando. Last September, went with my sis and her hubby, three adult kids and oldest niece's not yet 3 yo. Much slower pace and didn't get to do many faves, but time with the kid-priceless.
I immediately started planning a full tilt trip for this October with friends. Then I got hit with congestive heart failure this summer(gained 25 pounds in six weeks while not eating), then lost 34 in 4 days in the hospital. God's way of saying slow down. Just glad he didn't say stop completely. Sooo this trip will be at a slower pace. Maybe.

 

[skater]

You absolutely need to do what works for your family.

For us, our best trips have been when we've been more relaxed. We are spending big bucks to have a good time - not to see everything. We have a few must-dos including the TSM (which is the most stressful day of our trip), but otherwise try to do what we feel like - even if it means missing an adr.

The year we did it full commando style, was our least favorite trip. We spent a lot of money, saw almost everything, and came home feeling like we missed something. And we did. We missed the fun and relaxation that we wanted out of our vacation.

You have to decide what's most important to you and go with it. What works for some, may not work for you.

 

[krb2g]

Another strategy for managing the "we have to see everything (and it's totally stressing me out!)" feeling is to give each family member 5 or 7 "must-do" things. Then as you plan your trip (either before leaving home or while you're in the parks), you make a point of doing those things, so everybody leaves having done their top things.

 

[kathy884]

I go commando style on park days, but only do a park every other day. We go annually and only typically do one Disney park per trip. You better believe that for almost $90 pp we're there at rope drop and stay at the park till closing. We do though plan other more relaxing days.

Our plan for March

Day 1 -- Sea World -- rope drop day
Day 2 -- sleep in, swimming at tennis at resort, Gatorland for a few hours in the afternoon
Day 3 -- Rope Drop Day at MK -- doing Keys to the Kingdom
Day 4 -- sleep in -- swimming and tennis
Day 5 -- Rope Drop Day at Discovery Cove full day
Day 6 -- sleep in and 1/2 day at Sea World just to do a few favorites again.

 

[sunshine girl]

I do not go commando anymore. After living in FL and having the luxury of going to the parks fairly often, I discovered the joy of slowing down! Now I don't live in FL anymore, but my strategy has permanently changed, maybe because I am so familiar with the parks that I really do feel like I'm "coming home" when I go to Disney. As soon as I get there, I feel more relaxed. I just love the atmosphere, for me its no longer so much about doing it all as it is about enjoying the experience/feeling of being there, and being present enough to take in the little things.

I still always get up early, and always make a plan, but I take the afternoon break/nap/swim, perhaps have a drink by the pool and then head out for a leisurely evening. I usually can still hit my "must-do's," and I have days where I overdo it. But I now find that the relaxing afternoons, getting some rest, and enjoying the resort and the small things (just as well as the big rides, etc!) make my trips more fun and happier all around.

 

[ben1993]

I know what you mean, but the few days spent mostly away from the parks (at the pool, lazing around the resort, leisurely walking around the other resorts) is an important part on a WDW vacation to me too. Then again, that is why we go for 2 weeks.