How do I take it easy at Disney?

[goofyernmost]

Almost all the time. The few times I don't are related to my age and lack of balance. On rare occasion I've been too busy worrying about how I'm going to manage getting off the ride (can I get off the boat-or whatever-by myself?), how far will my ECV be and how will I get to it? I'm usually not put with anyone else, which occasionally makes me feel a little sad-I enjoy talking with fellow visitors. And I love talking to little ones who've never been on the attraction before-the grandmother in me comes out, I guess.

I don't remember any attraction where the ECV isn't very close to the end of the attraction itself, when one gets off the ride. I wouldn't worry about that at all. My only rides that I skip are those with very low to the floor ride vehicles that make it difficult to get up and out. The main attraction I avoid is space mountain. The others always seem to be easier to get out of.

 

[RickNJane]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I think my biggest issue is the mindset. We are starting to go a couple of times per year now so hopefully that will alleviate the FOMO and thinking we have to get on every ride. My favorite times of the day at Disney is rope drop and at night so the mid afternoon break comes in handy. I like a lot of the other ideas and maybe we just need to try some of them out. I think I like the sleep in and use LL. I also like rope drop and leaving early and enjoying dinner and not going back to the parks. Sometimes it is important to just sit back and enjoy the great atmosphere of Disney World.

FOMO is your greatest enemy and one that Disney knows how to exploit very well! We used to hit the parks early entry to close. However not so much any more. We do most of the things listed here. To summarize:

1. We are DVC so always stay on property. Early Entry is your friend
2. Length of stay is important. We schedule 2 park days for each park and at least 1 down day
3. We never do LL. Pick a ride that is a "Must Do" and get it done at early entry if possible.
4. GO With the flow. We do not rush between rides.
5. map out your route so that you are not crossing the whole park for you next ride
6. Nap Time is important!
7. We park hop in the evening. Say if staying at BWV then after MK we will walk to Epcot or HS in the evening for a quick bite and pick up a ride or two

Remember no prizes for riding the most rides so relax, take in the vibe, and enjoy

 

[NickC]

I think my biggest issue is the mindset.

That can be difficult. For us, we just know going in that the biggest memories and the most told stories never start with being on a ride. We tell more stories about something happening on the Monorail than on Tron for example. Everyone is different though. Think about your top 5 memories at WDW. Are they more attraction based or just something that arose from a seemingly mundane experience?

 

[ComeToSocialize]

We tried to have this mentality on our most recent trip to WDW. We found a "leave half the day open" strategy really effective.

We scheduled half of each day to be 'free time'... this didn't necessarily mean no parks, but it did mean no LLs or ADRs we weren't willing to cancel... no set plans in either morning or afternoon/evening. For example, we might book 3 LLs for 3,4,5pm in a park and then dinner ADR at 6. And then we would decide morning of what we wanted to do in the morning. Sleep in? Pool? Head into park for some non-LL attractions? Disney Springs? Really helped us not feel rushed while also feeling like we had a "productive" portion of each day. We still did parks in 2 of the 5 "open" periods we had but did so more spontaneously.

The biggest corollary to the above is you have to give up on "optimizing"... you likely won't be able to get the exact LLs or ADRs you want that also fit with the schedule you want... and that's ok. There's always another time to do things.

Prioritizing shows and experiences over rides goes a long way. We did some shows in Epcot we'd never done and found it very relaxing.

I realize it costs money, but a big way to relax more is to make staying at your resort (or even sitting on your room balcony) feel like it's a worthwhile use of time rather than wasted time... To us that means a nicer pool and a balcony with a nice view. A cup of coffee or an evening glass of wine on your balcony just feels like vacation to us. AK Lodge is of course the pinnacle for this but lots of the resorts have nice park or water views. Allocating some budget to upgrading room/resort vs park tickets or length of stay can help.

 

[slo]

We have been to Disney now quite a few times and still love going to the parks but we are trying to figure out how to slow down and relax more while we are there. What are some of your best tips or ideas to be better at taking it easy while at Disney World?

You sound exactly like me.
I told my family after our March trip that it's time to take it down a notch and to start slowing down and taking time to smell the roses (not to sound cliche). One thing we want to do next trip is park day, park day, no park day, park day and park day. The days where we have EEH, we ARE NOT going to the park when it opens (my DD21 and I go from 7:30am - midnight without leaving - we're done with that). We don't like to swim on vacation, so no pool time for us, but I do want to explore around the resorts we stay at more - we never do. There's some lounges that I want my DD21 and I to start visiting now that she can get in - booze isn't important, but just sitting down, relaxing and exploring a new place is what we like to do. Our last trip we walked 55 miles in 5 days and we don't need to try to break that record. It can stay a PR forever - LOL!!!

 

[Gabby01]

That can be difficult. For us, we just know going in that the biggest memories and the most told stories never start with being on a ride. We tell more stories about something happening on the Monorail than on Tron for example. Everyone is different though. Think about your top 5 memories at WDW. Are they more attraction based or just something that arose from a seemingly mundane experience?

Just thought about this and you are right! It's the surprises and the little things that tend to be most memorable.

OP, I find it helps to think of it as, you have X hours, what's the best way to spend them, rather than, you have X things on your to-do list, how do you cram them all in? It's seeing time as the immutable reality and your to-do list as the flexible thing--which of course is the way it actually is, even though our culture encourages us to think otherwise.

 

[Schlek]

That can be difficult. For us, we just know going in that the biggest memories and the most told stories never start with being on a ride. We tell more stories about something happening on the Monorail than on Tron for example. Everyone is different though. Think about your top 5 memories at WDW. Are they more attraction based or just something that arose from a seemingly mundane experience?

Great point. One of my top memories is just sitting in the Land Pavillion at Epcot just waiting out a thunderstorm!

 

[Schlek]

We tried to have this mentality on our most recent trip to WDW. We found a "leave half the day open" strategy really effective.

We scheduled half of each day to be 'free time'... this didn't necessarily mean no parks, but it did mean no LLs or ADRs we weren't willing to cancel... no set plans in either morning or afternoon/evening. For example, we might book 3 LLs for 3,4,5pm in a park and then dinner ADR at 6. And then we would decide morning of what we wanted to do in the morning. Sleep in? Pool? Head into park for some non-LL attractions? Disney Springs? Really helped us not feel rushed while also feeling like we had a "productive" portion of each day. We still did parks in 2 of the 5 "open" periods we had but did so more spontaneously.

The biggest corollary to the above is you have to give up on "optimizing"... you likely won't be able to get the exact LLs or ADRs you want that also fit with the schedule you want... and that's ok. There's always another time to do things.

Prioritizing shows and experiences over rides goes a long way. We did some shows in Epcot we'd never done and found it very relaxing.

I realize it costs money, but a big way to relax more is to make staying at your resort (or even sitting on your room balcony) feel like it's a worthwhile use of time rather than wasted time... To us that means a nicer pool and a balcony with a nice view. A cup of coffee or an evening glass of wine on your balcony just feels like vacation to us. AK Lodge is of course the pinnacle for this but lots of the resorts have nice park or water views. Allocating some budget to upgrading room/resort vs park tickets or length of stay can help.

I like this idea. Half days sound like a fun idea. You can still do a lot of fun things in a short period of time.
As a DVC member I think that spending time at the resort is a great time. Love AKL, just sitting on the balcony is so enjoyable.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

Before kids my wife and I would generally do an extended weekend (Fri - Sun) maybe twice a year. We would decide before going which park would be our focus. The first day we spend all day at that park. We always rope drop as we are up anyways. At the end of the day we would decide if we wanted to do the same park again, go to another, or maybe park hop. With kids, it's gotten to be more 1 park 1 day with a break day in between.

We are taking a 3 day adults only trip to EPCOT in a few week for food and wine. Aside from Guardians and maybe Test Track I don't care about rides at all so it will be a relax and stroll around kind of trip. f I don't ride either I don't care. We do have hoppers so I might jump to HS or even MK, but I'm not planning any of that and taking it as it comes.

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but i don't find any of the Disney resorts worth it. I live in South Florida and have a ton of resorts and cruises around me that for me are way better suited for relaxing and offer way more than Disney (IMO of course) does. Disney is a theme park to me. I'll drive to the Keys or Marco Island if i want to relax. Or even take a weekend cruise.

 

[Robber Baron]

We always say we will take it easy, but we don't.

We ALWAYS have hoppers.
We ALWAYS rope drop. Every day.
We don't take rest days. If we need non-park days, we'll go somewhere besides Disney.
We USUALLY hit a nighttime show every nite.

I guess the only thing we do to take it easy is we return to our resort in early/mid afternoon. We don't often nap, but, many times I'll take a swim, probably while my wife sits on the balcony and reads. I love the 'foot massage' I get from the sand bottom pool at YC. Frequently the afternoon break will be in a resort bar or lounge trying a few new cocktails or beers.

 

[ChapterThree]

You’re not alone! We struggle with slowing down too and try to get everything done in a day. I think we treat it like a game, especially with the LLMP, and if we hit all the rides, we win. It’s fun but exhausting!

Next time I’m going to have everyone list their top 3 rides and we will try to do those. We’ll make time for relaxing meals mid day and schedule some shopping/down time. It’ll be hard, I think, but it’d be nice to experience a slower pace.

Still rope dropping though. Can’t give that up.