How do you balance getting "everything in" vs repeating favorites?

[Shellyb84]

We FP+ or RD our favorites, and anything else is just a bonus. We do not try to get everything in, but we do try to do at least a couple new things or things we haven't done in a while on each trip. We made the mistake of over planning our first trip a few years ago, and it was just so busy and tiring, our touring style has changed a lot since that trip. We have a basic "plan" and then go with the flow. If we decide one night we're tired and want to sleep in a little, we move things around and skip RD. We may be having fun at the pool and don't want to take the time to have a sit down meal, so we rearrange ADRs.

 

[TulipMom]

Just as an FYI , if you find yourself needing quick service in a park and want to avoid some of the hassle check out the locations offering online pre-ordering. We did this at Sa'tuli canteen in AK and it worked great and saved us from waiting in line and staring at a menu on the wall (and incidentally it was easy finding a table at satuli). Several places in AK and MK now offer this. I hope it spreads everywhere.

Ooohhhhh... That is good to know! Thanks!!

 

[TulipMom]

Our only "regret", though it truly isn't a regret, is that for this past trip we got too caught up in snagging FP+. The positive side of that is that we never, ever waited in a line more than 30 minutes and we rode every ride we wanted to, multiple times each (our trip was very long, so that made it possible). We kept grabbing FP+ after FP+. We're very glad we did it, but for our next trip, we're going to spend more time browsing the gift shops, tour a few on site resorts, and just not be as ride focused as we were this trip.

Yes! I totally get that! We went in 2015 and I left feeling awesome about the fact that we'd never waited longer than 25 minutes for a ride and that we avoided having a single child meltdown (with 3 & 5 year olds!!), but we never wandered or went in any shops, etc. I felt like we were on a mission the whole time. But, DH disagrees and thinks it was all perfect. I think that's because I was the one with the touring plan who was keeping the schedule and everyone else was just along for a good time. LOL Anyway... Glad I'm not alone in regretting that and thank you for sharing - that was a push that I need to remember to keep some flexible wandering time in the schedule.