Help, I don’t know how to plan down time at Disney!

[trackchik6]

FWP, I know, but I need an intervention! I run us ragged every time we go! And we go every 2-3 years (maybe) so I don’t exactly have an easy time saying to myself: “oh well get to that next time,” since I don’t necessarily know when that will be. And, I want to do all the new things, and my old favorites!

Now we are going in August for 5 nights, staying at AKL (with park hopper plus water parks and free Disney dining plan). I picked AKL specifically because I thought it would be hot, so good to hang at the resort, resort pool, a lot etc. But if I go on touring plans and try to be judicious in selecting the very top things on my to do list, I’ve got us in the parks well past the mornings, lol.

Help me slow down wise Disney experts!!! Thank u

(At the time of our trip, the kids will be 4, 7 and 10 - they’ll be up at 7am every day and we really can’t stay out past 8, 9pm at the latest, at night). I didn’t know where to post this, so I hope this is ok.

 

[Upatnoon]

Why the water park option for such a short trip?

I would go the parks from rope drop until about 2 p.m., then ALK for a nap and go to the pool. In the late afternoon, weather permitting, I would return to the parks for a while.

One issue you will face in August is the weather. You may have storms from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., so I would plan to be flexible for the afternoons. You may want to go do a different park or just stay in the resort because of the weather.

 

[Araminta18]

I hate planning in rest time too, so one of the things I did in the Magic Kingdom was head over to Tom Sawyer Island. They have a nice place with shaded chairs and tables, and a couple rocking chairs. We ended up taking naps on the rocking chairs and it was a FANTASTIC break during our MK days. With kids taking a nap there may not be possible, but it's a good place to sit and relax and calm down.

 

[trackchik6]

@Upatnoon i have never been to a Disney waterpark and I thought summer would be a good time to try

But thanks to you both for some tips and to the mod for moving this to the right board!!

 

[Haley R]

Dh and I really struggle to plan down time but we are trying to get better with it. On our October trip we noticed we were so tired one day that Dh took a 3 hr nap and I went swimming by myself. Our next trip is in two weeks and we had to put down time into our days. Instead of rope dropping the parks we are sleeping in and have one day as a resort only day

 

[Shellyb84]

We enjoy our down time as much as our park time (maybe more), and AKL is probably the perfect resort for down time! There are so many fun activities for kids there, the Uzima Springs pool is gorgeous (one of our favorites), and I could spend hours just watching the animals honestly. It's vacation after all, so relaxing is important too, and I feel like it goes by even faster when we're go, go, go all the time. If it were me I would skip the water park with only 5 days, especially since you are staying at such a great resort.

We either rope drop and stay until 1 or so, then back to the resort (sometimes we'll head back to a park in the evening depending on how we feel), or we'll sleep in a bit, go to the pool until early afternoon, then hit the parks. We generally have a full rest day every 2-3 days, sometimes going to a park for a few hours after dinner.

 

[dakotix]

The trick is to assign a specific "down" day before you go. Another trick is to take advantage of certain areas in the parks to rest and relax. Tom Sawyer Island which was mentioned earlier is a great option in MK.

 

[LovesTimone]

With 5 nights...

I am assuming that you are going to hit the parks on arrival day ? depending on time of arrival? plus is the room ready? and so on...

I would put a rough plan into place... on what to do if the room is not ready, or if it is ready how to go about getting in the room, set up and go from there... make sure to set up your bags to easily get swim suits, sun screen and what ever else you might need to take to the water park or pool...

If you arrive early, you might want to hit the water park or the pool, then back to room to nap, and relax then head for character meal Chef Mickey's and At the poly on the beach for fireworks or head for AK - Tusker House and River of Lights, checkout Pandora at night, maybe hit a show like Lion King or do the safari, you can get some attractions in, at a slower pace.

Hit the parks early... then after lunch head over to the water park to cool off... Disney Spring for dinner... or Buffet at AK and just enjoy the resort or go to bed early.

You have to slow down... there is so much to see, that you really miss some of the magic when rushing from attraction to attraction... Plus with doing different things it keeps everything fresh and new...

Use FP to you advantage... use the shows, or something like the people mover to catch your breath...

Just leaving the park and eating at one of the resort can create a break, and you can check out other resorts, for next time...

A fan favorite... Mickey Bars, and people watching...

 

[Disneylover99]

So you’ll have your 3 fp’s each day, and a TS meal to plan around.

Once you have those in place, decide what your 3 must do’s for each day are. Your 3 must do’s could be anything you want..... a ride, a show, meeting a particular character, etc.... Once you’ve done that, everything else is gravy, and you can be satisfied that you’ve met your goals (and done extra) without running yourself ragged.

 

[trackchik6]

Thanks again everyone! Your comments are very helpful!! I know I should have planned a rest day but of course, I already messed up on that I needed to buy 4 day park hopper to get free dining and we only have 4 full days. I don’t really want to extend the trip because we are returning on a Sat., because the kids start school that Monday! Maybe I can try to get it in my head that we should just eat breakfast at AKL on the last day instead of trying to do a character meal at another resort. Adding on the water park option wasn’t too expensive but maybe I can drop it; that is a good point. I am also considering doing some later morning FPs (not exactly sure what time to start them?) and if we are up and ready getting there for rope drop, but if not, just getting there for the FPs...?? Also not a bad idea to stay at the resort in AM and just do park later... I hadn’t considered that... Re: arrival and departure day, I haven’t bought our flights yet... but I was actually planning to try to stay at AKL those days as part of my plan to try to slow down?? If we stay at AKL on first / last day, I didn’t know if Boma dinner (arrival day?), Sanaa lunch or dinner (at some point), Tusker House (AK day), and Boma breakfast on last day were too many similar meals?? Lol. (Never eaten at any of those places). I was thinking to maybe try water park on arrival day, depending on what time we get in?? (That was before I was considering dropping it)... lol so much to think about!! I feel I have to think of it now because I have to make ADRs in one month. Thanks again!!!​

 

[trackchik6]

So you’ll have your 3 fp’s each day, and a TS meal to plan around.

Once you have those in place, decide what your 3 must do’s for each day are. Your 3 must do’s could be anything you want..... a rice, a show, meeting a particular character, etc.... Once you’ve done that, everything else is gravy, and you can be satisfied that you’ve met your goals (and done extra) without running yourself ragged.

That is a good idea, I’ll try to think of it that way!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

FWP, I know, but I need an intervention! I run us ragged every time we go! And we go every 2-3 years (maybe) so I don’t exactly have an easy time saying to myself: “oh well get to that next time,” since I don’t necessarily know when that will be. And, I want to do all the new things, and my old favorites!...Help me slow down wise Disney experts!!! Thank u

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do Disney. Every family is different, and even the same family changes it's habits over the years. But when people ask me for advice, I do always recommend planning in some downtime, so I think you are on the right track by trying to work it in. There is no way to do everything at Disney, and I agree with the poster above who said to pick your top things and everything else is gravy.

There are 3 in my family, so we usually each pick one of the FPs and one other thing each day. And, like you, we try to balance new things and old favorites - but we don't try to do all of them every trip. We do always tend to add at least one new thing, but we don't do all the old ones each time.

@Upatnoon i have never been to a Disney waterpark and I thought summer would be a good time to try

My family loves the water parks! We don't do it every time, if you've always wanted to, I say go for it, especially if your arrival day flight is early.

I don’t really want to extend the trip because we are returning on a Sat., because the kids start school that Monday! Maybe I can try to get it in my head that we should just eat breakfast at AKL on the last day instead of trying to do a character meal at another resort.​

I agree on both counts. My family likes to have a day to readjust before we start back to our normal routines, and we loved AKL and definitely wanted to spend our last morning there!​

I am also considering doing some later morning FPs (not exactly sure what time to start them?) and if we are up and ready getting there for rope drop, but if not, just getting there for the FPs...?? Also not a bad idea to stay at the resort in AM and just do park later... I hadn’t considered that...​

That's what we did last time - made our FPs later. Some mornings we got to the park early and did things before our FPs, some mornings we took it easy and arrived just in time for them. Like I said, our family's touring style has evolved over the years. The best thing I can say is to do "tight research and loose planning". What I mean by this is to know a lot about what's available, but build options into your itinerary. We tend to have a "Plan A, Plan B, Plan C" strategy that depends on our mood and energy level. Obviously, the alternate plans work around ADRs and our "must do" FPs, but we also tend to consider some FPs optional. - If we miss them, no big deal.​

Re: arrival and departure day, I haven’t bought our flights yet... but I was actually planning to try to stay at AKL those days as part of my plan to try to slow down?? If we stay at AKL on first / last day, I didn’t know if Boma dinner (arrival day?), Sanaa lunch or dinner (at some point), Tusker House (AK day), and Boma breakfast on last day were too many similar meals?? Lol. (Never eaten at any of those places).​

​

I've only done Sanaa for dinner and Boma for breakfast recently, but I loved them both!

 

[trackchik6]

@PollyannaMom that is a lot of good advice - thank you!!!