How do you do Disney?

[mrsp1030]

We've been to WDW several times and are always looking for ideas to make the next trip better. We usually rope drop but are never consistent about breaks. This will be the first time we go with 3 boys walking as our last time our youngest DS was 9 months. So boys will be 8,6, 2. Can't decide if we should TS every day somewhere to breathe and rest or not. We are at VGF and going for 7 days so plenty of time. Just curious to how everyone else does Disney.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Do you mean walking, as in able to walk, or walking as in no stroller??? If you mean no stroller, I would certainly rethink that one. We used a stroller up until the trip DS was 5, and many people use one much longer.

We always do rope drop and often AM EMH. We often take a break but not always. If we want an later night we do take a break. We don't stay out really late as we almost always go during slower times and shorter hours. We do one TS meal every day, mostly dinner with an occasional character breakfast. We have been a lot of times, and know we will be back so we never push too hard to do too much.

 

[Kristina4109]

We are rope drop people. I was raised that way, and I'm raising my daughter that way. (Wow, that sounds kind of weird, but it's true!) We always plan to do breaks but somehow we wind up staying the parks all day long. This trip we're leaving some room in our schedule for down time in the pool or in our room - I'll let you know if we actually do it!

I am a BIG fan of eating at an indoor, air conditioned table service restaurant once a day to put your feet up and rest. If you're paying out of pocket, this is best at lunch time. If you're on the DDP, it probably makes more sense to do it at dinner.

 

[mrsp1030]

Oh we will be doing stroller hands down. No way would I attempt that till older than 5! We go about every 2 years so far so we know we will be back too and don't want to push it this trip either.

 

[Aliceacc]

That table service meal, just about every day, is very important to me. It's not about the food, though I've had some great meals at WDW.

It's not about the food. It's not even about the atmosphere, though I do think some of the WDW restaurants are incredibly cool.

It's about my family of 5 stopping in the midst of a hectic vacation to reconnect each day. We stop and enjoy a meal together, just as we try to do most nights at home. No one is looking at a watch or watching the next fastpass window... I'll have to be careful with this when I book FP+. No one is looking over our shoulder, hoping to snag our table as we finish our last french fry. It's family time, pure and simple.

As to the rest, we do rope drop, then head back to the pool in the afternoon when the parks get too hot and crowded-- as teachers, we only go over the summer. Those pool breaks are very, very important in terms of keeping eveyone happy and comfortable!!! Then we head back, usually to a different park, for a more relaxed evening.

 

[kiramay]

Mine were 7 and 2 on our last trip, and 9 and 4 this coming trip. We still plan to bring a stroller for storage and a place for the 4yo to rest. We always book one TS a day, between 2-5 pm. It's our scheduled break, and we don't rush through it. We also do unscheduled breaks throughout the day, mostly to sit and have a snack and drink water. In addition, we do RD but don't stay out late; we missed all the nightly entertainment on the last trip, but plan to see Illuminations and Fantasmic this trip (wishes is at 10, which is still too late for us).

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Ideally I like to be there at Rope Drop and stay at the park until it closes. I don't eat breakfast (never have) and either have a pretzel for lunch or stop at a QS. I snack throughout the day. Sometimes I have a TS, sometimes I don't depends on the park.

However due to having to usually travel with other people, this plan does not always work out. My father is perfectly capable of doing this, but do his schoolwork and his job we usually head back to the resort midday so he can complete his work and assignments. As much as I would like to stay, until I go solo my touring strategy will have to be modified.

 

[JillShari]

After reading a LOT on here and in the travel guide books, I really strategized for our trip that was in March and we had a wonderful, wonderful trip.

First of all, I knew I didn't want complaints about tired feet, so we did a double stroller from Disney just for the distances inside the parks.... my 8 year old was thankful and so was his 4 year old brother.... plus I didn't end up carrying one! It saved their feet for walking to the buses and around the lands and waiting in lines. Less complaining is the way to go.

Secondly, I knew that my youngest might still be able to nap and if were going to have a late night, he had to get one. So, I did plan everyday to get to the park at rope drop or 15 minutes later... (we were at AoA and it was doable) and then we went back to the hotel by around 2. He napped 2 days which we then went back for late night activities (we napped too)... and if he didn't we had time to bond with pool fun or time in the arcade or walking around the resort...etc. I think by 12, the parks were getting much more crowded and I felt like going back was also saving my sanity.

Thirdly, I planned the mornings to have the FP's for the MUST dos. We would walk in with a somewhat plan. We'd have time to hop on the first thing we saw that had a short time and maybe even a second ride before using our first FP. We went on the things my kids wanted to do a second time in the early morning when the lines were short. Sometimes we didn't use our FP if the line was really short and used it for the second ride. We also used the lines app to check around the park and got on Pirates with a 15 minute wait! My expectation wasn't that we would see everything, but that between my not misses and my kids... we hit all of them and we did. I was realistic.

Because of going back to the hotel everyday, I made lunch reservations for around 1 in the afternoon somewhere. We brought snacks with us and ate breakfast in our room, (used garden grocer to deliver). Lunchtime allowed us to rest for a bit and think if there was one more thing to do before heading out. And with the questionable nap, I didn't want to risk missing a dinner reservation. Although, next time, I might try to find a dinner reservation for a few nights... the food court at AoA, in our opinion wasn't really good and we found that we ate there WAY too much.

Just know your kids and their limits. We just knew that an exhausted group would lead to none of us having fun, so rest and good bedtimes overall were a necessity. And I let go of the need to see everything... made our vacation work so well for all of us. It was the first vacation that we all said was by far the best!

 

[luvmy2babies]

I don't have another adult on our trips so it's pretty much at my children's pace.

They are 11 and 4. They were 10 and 3 on our last trip, 9 and 2.5 on the one before that. We tour at a pretty leisurely pace to stay cool and keep our energy up. Over the course of posting my last TR, I realized we had I now call a flexible plan. We had a schedule, but not a rigid one and it had pool time built into it.

We rarely do the afternoon break at the resort because it hasn't worked that well for us. My son didn't really rest in the room and my daughter hardly wanted to return to the parks after being back at the resort. It's best to keep her there and give her frequent short breaks.

What has worked best for us has been to go at opening or a pre-opening park breakfast and end our touring around 2 or 3 and either we sit and wait for the 3:00 parade (AK and MK) and then are at the resort for the balance. DHS we are at the longest because we do mostly shows and they are great for keeping cool. We have done opening to around 5 with a TS lunch as a break. At Epcot we tour until around 4 or 4:30 and have a TS dinner between 5 and 6 or return to resort then for dinner in the food court. To see MSEP and Wishes, I have found we need to start at MK in the afternoon.

I do like to have a TS meal each day between the arrival and departure days, though on our last trip we didn't have the dining plan so we just had 3. We mix up which meals we do. On our upcoming trip we have 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 1 dinner. We have previously had more dinners; but, I learned on previous trips it's better to have our evenings with the most flexibility.

 

[shm_helene]

Just offering aslightly dissenting opinion. We went with a 3 yo so that is a little different as well.

I didn't much enjoy the TS dining, at least for dinners. I like it best for bfast or lunch BUT I think I would be okay to limiting that to every other day. We didn't move at a very fast pace so trying to get the TS meals in was tough.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Stroller for us for sure! Disney is for the kids but my husband and I too and if our daughter can last alittle longer with the stroller than we are bringing it! Table service is a must for us too! Nice, relaxing, cool and greatest way to see characters without a line!

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