How do you come to terms with the fact that you just can't do it all!

[SFMommy]

I thought I had our trip all planned out in my mind...8 nights, 7 days, staying at an Epcot resort, 2.5 MK, 2 EP, 1 AK, 1 HS, no hoppers, one morning off to spend at the pool/resort, restaurants decided on for dinner ADRs.

But the more that I plan and research, the more I want to do! Mostly involving food!

I feel like we will get in all of the rides, shows and attractions that we want to see in each park. But there are other things that I just can't seem to fit in...

• a dinner show like Hoop Dee Doo
• campfire and movie night at a resort
• seeing Wishes from California Grill
• eating at a monorail resort and riding the monorail around
• a water park (unless we give up our resort morning...but I feel like that defeats the purpose of having a rest-morning after Wishes)
• miniature golf
• downtown disney
• many restaurants...too many choices, not enough meals

My mind KNOWS that we can't do it all and to just focus, make a decision and enjoy. But my heart WANTS to experience everything!

 

[ArielRae]

You come to terms with this by accepting you will be planning future trips! Lots of them cause your gonna to want to go back again and again.
Start making your list of must dos for those future trips and cross them off as you do them.

 

[patty57]

You come to terms with this by accepting you will be planning future trips! Lots of them cause your gonna to want to go back again and again.
Start making your list of must dos for those future trips and cross them off as you do them.

Exactly this. I think the only way you can come to terms with not doing everything you want to do, is know that you will go back and do more things on your list.

 

[OZMom]

You take a deep breath and prioritize. Also, be flexible. Our first trip I had planned everything out and had a color coded schedule. Well, from the the first day everything got out of sorts and I spent the rest of the trip stressed and disappointed things didn't go as planned. We missed an entire Epcot day because DS4 threw up at lunch, my kids were miserable at the Christmas party and we left early, Fantasmic! got rained out etc, etc. However, my best memory of the entire trip were the things we did spontaneously. We left the park early and ate pizza by the pool one night and it was magic. There will always be restaurants you want to try and rides or shows you missed, put them on the schedule for your next trip and enjoy the moments you do have while you're there!! Have a fantastic trip

 

[ArielDreams]

I come to terms with it knowing that in a couple of years we'll likely plan another trip!

This time we surprisingly got a lot accomplished but it was the third time DH and I went together (once dating, once engaged, now married!) and we have no kids. We are rope droppers (every day!), hoppers, and often get antsy in the afternoon if we have too much down time. We aren't too crazy about needing to ride our favorites over and over again. As long as we do it once, anything more is just a bonus! This is what we did to attempt to do everything we wanted:
- Arrival day, head to Epcot for FP+s and dinner at Coral Reef (right up against the aquarium tank!)
- Studios in the morning with FP's, lunch at Sci-Fi, back to the resort pool, MK at night
- MK in the morning with FPs and lunch at BoG, took the bus to the Swan for some Fantasia Gardens mini-golf, back to hotel for rest, back to Epcot resort area for dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse, over to Studios for Fantasmic
- AK with FP's, back to resort, Epcot for the evening just eating and drinking around the world and checking out F&G Festival
- Studios in the morning with FPs, hopped directly to AK to see the Nemo show, back to the hotel, Epcot in the evening for dinner at Teppen Edo and Illuminations
- Slept in (an hour...) and headed to Typhoon Lagoon, went back to the resort and immediately caught bus to Blizzard Beach for Winter Summerland, back to the hotel to rest, MK for some last FPs and then went over to Ft. Wilderness for the 8:30 show of Hoop Dee Doo

We were pretty pleased with ourselves and it was the first time we had added the "Water Park & More" option which we tried to use to the best of our ability. Still I was thinking - what if we had just one extra day???? We were pretty done with the park but we could have gone to Downtown Disney & maybe Disney Quest. I also would have liked to check out the restaurant at our resort (Maya Grill) or eaten at Sanaa.

This was prob our last trip without kids so I know next time our experience will change completely!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I like my solution best. Transfer our jobs to Central FL, buy our own vacation villa to live in, get FLR APs and go several times a week. Or watch the fireworks from the balcony. Bottom line, when you can go when you want, it makes the experience so relaxing. If you don't get something in, there will always be another day or even tomorrow.

 

[Asc341]

I absolutely with other posters - you know you'll be back!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

You need to add days sorry to say. We go nine days and hit everything on your list but miniature golf and hit every TS. You do need to plan it out very carefully. Do the monorail TS during your MK days. Hit CG on an EMH night. Hit the waterpark on an EMH day by going to TL in the am then Epcot after 5.

 

[Glittercat]

A whole bunch of wonderful advice all in one thread!

 

[Daddee]

Try not to over think everything. I dont think anyone can see it all. I tried to have the same plan as you when my DD was 8. A week out I had a freak out and just got over it. It was her first trip and I wanted it all. And ya know what I did get? everything I wanted out of the trip. I'm heading back in June. with the same attitude I left Disney with 6 years ago. I will get everything I can done. I have a loose limp plan this time. I'm actually bored with 30 days to go.
Now for your long list.
Hoop Dee Do. let this go. travel time is long and the show is 2 hours.
Monorail. you might be able to squeeze in a ride or 2 on it.
DtD. again you may find the time and knock out Mini golf.

Enjoy your trip. you can always get these other things done on your next trip. Disney isnt going anywhere.

 

[eliza61]

Believe me, you don't even want to try and do everything. Lol, Nothing worse than having tired cranky folks on vacation. We actually enjoy having down days

 

[itchin2go]

Of the things you listed, I will say that I don't think these are anything to lose sleep over:

• campfire and movie night at a resort
• eating at a monorail resort and riding the monorail around
• a water park
  
• miniature golf
• downtown disney

We got stuck for a bit on the monorail last trip, and that wasn't magical. Downtown Disney is under heavy construction and we're always annoyed at how crowded it is. The World of Disney store there is amazing though - but I prefer Mousegears in Epcot. It's my happy place.

I DO understand wanting to fit in more dining. That's what the NEXT trip is for.

 

[newestkg06]

Thank you for this!! I need to remember this myself. We are planning a trip this fall and then think we'll go back in 3 years. Even my 7yo will say to me, "well, if we can't do it this time, we'll go next time" (though i don't think he realizes how long 3 years is!!). There have been things I've had to let go of for this trip - Discovery Cove being a big one.
I just read a blog post that said a Disney trip is about having fun and making memories, not riding every ride or eating every special snack. I'm going to try to make that my mantra, we'll see how it goes!

 

[SFMommy]

Thanks everyone! I know that there is a reason that these things have been left off this trip...they just aren't as important as other things. Or I don't think they are worth the travel time (i.e. Hoop Dee Doo). Or I think we can do that at home (i.e. miniature golf, water park)

But because we are so close to DLR and have been so many times and will most likely return there sooner than we would get back to WDW, I am wondering if I should shorten our MK time (skip Small World, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, etc. etc.) to do things that are more special to WDW. That is where I am questioning things. And I don't really think I'll know that answer until we are there.

But you are all right...there will be more Disney planning after this trip. And I will just have to do the things we missed on our second visit!

 

[ArwenMarie]

You will just have to go back! One trip isn't enough

 

[greeneave]

i'm visiting with my husband and our 9-year old son. we're only there for four days so we know we can't do it all (and to be fair, we are moving on to 4 days at universal, so it's not like the fun will end).

i already know there's no way we're hitting dtd, that hs will most likely be a miss and that we might wind up scrapping some park hours to just kick back at the pool (my kid is obsessed with hotel swimming pools). we're staying at a monorail resort and do have park hoppers, which will enable us to be as flexible as possible.

our plan right now is very simple:

tuesday, 5.05 (check-in day/adr planned)
arrive at 10am
collect checked bag
magical express to the polynesian
check to see if our room is magically available early
hit the pool/trader sam's
spirit of aloha luau at 5:15
campfire at 7:30
movie/electrical water parade/fireworks from 9pm until bed

wednesday, 5.06 (no adr planned)
magic kingdom (rope drop if we can manage it)
grab some sort of breakfast in the park
our fisrt fp+ is at 12:10 and our last is scheduled for 4:25
maybe head back to the poly for an afternoon break
back to the park by 8pm at the latest
wishes at 10pm

thursday, 5.07 (adr planned)
leave the poly around 10am to grab a bus to ak
first fp+ is at 1:35 (kali river rapids)
last fp+ is at 6:00
dinner reservations at jiko for 7:20pm
theoretically, we could head to mk after dinner if we're not too exhausted

friday, 5.08 (adr planned)
hit epcot for rope drop
fp+ choices start at 9:10am and finish up at 12:10pm
i'm leaving room to freestyle this day- stay in epcot/head over to hs/go back to the hotel to swim???
we have an 8pm reservation at san angel in, so we will be back in the evening
illuminations at 9, park closes at 11 (emh)


saturday, 5.09 (check-out day/adr planned)
i made a 9am adr for kona cafe, in case we don't make it there for breakfast during our park days
we're scheduled to check out at 11, but check-in at our universal hotel isn't until 3pm
we could either hit our universal hotel to stow our bags and hit the pool there or we could always decide we want one more park day at disney world, buy tickets and hit a park for one last hurrah

 

[Rosebud123]

You can't do it all, and having too much planned can backfire and detract from the fun.

Everyone's list of "must do's" is different. We can't imagine skipping the Water Parks or DTD, but we're not interested in parades, HDDR, or many other popular WDW experiences.

 

[Rosebud123]

Oh, and I would shorten your MK time. I'd go two days, and spend the other day at a WP/DTD!

You don't have to spend 2 full days at Epcot. Your first day could be RD - 1, break, back that night. For your 2nd Epcot day, sleep in and spend the morning at the pool, then head there from 1 - 'til you're done.

 

[Disneylover99]

Face it. You need an AP.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I thought I had our trip all planned out in my mind...8 nights, 7 days, staying at an Epcot resort, 2.5 MK, 2 EP, 1 AK, 1 HS, no hoppers, one morning off to spend at the pool/resort, restaurants decided on for dinner ADRs.

But the more that I plan and research, the more I want to do! Mostly involving food!

I feel like we will get in all of the rides, shows and attractions that we want to see in each park. But there are other things that I just can't seem to fit in...

• a dinner show like Hoop Dee Doo
• campfire and movie night at a resort
• seeing Wishes from California Grill
• eating at a monorail resort and riding the monorail around
• a water park (unless we give up our resort morning...but I feel like that defeats the purpose of having a rest-morning after Wishes)
• miniature golf
• downtown disney
• many restaurants...too many choices, not enough meals

My mind KNOWS that we can't do it all and to just focus, make a decision and enjoy. But my heart WANTS to experience everything!

I feel this way about most any new place. Even some old places. Just a matter of focus and priorities. Though, it can be difficult at times to choose. I wanted to see HDD for years before we finally booked it.

I am sure you have some awesome plans and will enjoy your trip regardless. If possible and if you did enjoy your visit, maybe you can return to do those other things.

We have APs and have had them a few times over the years and live close enough for a day visit--and we still haven't done everything. In some cases, we missed activities entirely as they were retired or closed before we had the chance to enjoy them. I never did make it to River Country or Discovery Island.