How do YOU do Disney?

[missmickey]

I was reading another thread about how someone plans their days at Disney and a few others shared how theirs days looked, and it got me curious about how different people experience Disney World?

So how do you and your family do Disney?

Some questions to get it started:

Who are the travelers?
When do you go?
How many days?
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Car or Disney transportation?
Dining: plan (type) or OOP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
And I'm sure their are other things that can be shared that I'm not thinking of!

Thanks for sharing

 

[LSUfan4444]

Each trip varies but we don't do the DDP. Some years have AP's, almost always rent DVC points. LOVE rope drops for the most part but if we miss a rope drop we usually arrive after lunch. Avoid morning EMH and only go to parks with om EMH during those EMH. Try something new every trip (maybe where we stay, ADRs, rides, shows, etc).

For the most part we are not rigid with our trips or plans. We remain flui based on the season and crowd levels. What we do in may is not what we do in December. Where we eat when we stay at Animal Kingdom lodge isn't where we eat when we stay at Boardwalk. When we drive (or have a car) our trips vary from when we fly.

My suggestion to people is to always have a detailed plan that puts your interests and family culture at the forefront then find and create the best trip for you. Try to think about all the details.

BUT, have the ability to throw the plan out of the window at any moment. Do not become rigid and success from your trip will not be determined by what happens to you but rather how you are prepared to handle what happens.

The other suggestion I always have is to bring your bathing suit. I don't care the month or the forecast...bring it. every. single. trip.

 

[tsme]

Who are the travelers? Usually myself, DD, & DH. But this year she doesn't want to go so it'll just be me & DH.
How many days? 6nights 7 days
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Onsite. We love BWI but have stayed & liked others too
Car or Disney transportation? Once we get to Disney, we use Disney transport or a cab if necessary. We don't want the stress of driving.
Dining: plan (type) or OOP. We don't eat a lot so OOP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? We always get park hoppers. We'll go to one park in the am & another (leisurely touring) in the pm. We take a mid day break in between. We only sleep in for non-park days. We like to make adrs at other resorts & tour them while we're there. We also like eating at TS places for lunch, it allows us to decompress at bit. We're not too big on the pool, but if we feel like a dip we'll go to the pool. We do make a plan for each park, though it's not set in stone. Mostly, we like to take a calm, easy approach to Disney.

 

[kmv]

Who are the travelers? Myself, DH, DD12 and DD6
When do you go? Whenever it works out schedule wise for us. I am a teacher and my husband a professor so usually June
How many days? 5 this time but we usually try to be around 6-7
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Onsite ALWAYS, but resort level depends on deals at the time. This time we are staying at OKW with someone's DVC points. We have stayed at Pop, ASMovies, ASSports, CSR, BW and BC
Car or Disney transportation? Disney transportation unless we are in need of a car to go somewhere else in FL (This time we will travel to Gainesville for a few days after so we will have a car. GO GATORS)
Dining: plan (type) or OOP. OOP. After using the dining plan twice I think it's a better option for my family to OOP. This includes having breakfast in our room while we all get ready for the day.
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? RD every day. Some days break for pool, others all day. If we stay 6-7 days we have a pool day but this time with 5 days...really 4.5 park days we will not have a pool day.

We plan a few meals with ADRs but then just go with the flow the rest of the time. We plan the 2 attractions we want most at RD and our FP+ but the rest of the day we just play by ear. We like to try something new (restaurant, attraction, resort) each time we go. We usually go every other year.

 

[Mattimation]

My trips are usually in the summer, but that's mostly been due to people's schedules concerning school (whether they're students or teachers). I've traveled with my family, some friends, or now my husband and his family. I always like to stay on property - that's just such a huge part of the magic to me. I've done stays off property, and it just feels very different. Not bad, but different. I'm still finding my "home" resort, so I've stayed a few different places. I love AKL and will probably try to stay there any time I go with my mother, my husband and I both like CB, and I stayed at AoA and vowed to never go back. I usually just stick to the Disney transportation, but I have friends in the Orlando area now and should probably start renting a car so I can go visit them, instead of making them come to me.

I usually like to do 7 day trips, with 5 park days - Magic Kingdom being the first and last day, and the rest in between, though on more than one occasion we've skipped HS for a hotel day with some Downtown Disney (I haven't gone since it's changed to Disney Springs). Whenever we do FPs, we keep them in the afternoon so we can take our time in the morning and don't feel rushed. I did a trip once where we had a schedule from open to close four days in a row and I absolutely hated it. I've only done the dining plan twice, but both times we calculated out what we would have spent and it's been a savings, so we'll probably continue to do that.

Since I've joined DisBoards, I've started realizing how routinized my trips are though - I rarely go on attractions I haven't been on before, unless it's new, and I feel like I've been missing out on a lot. My husband and I also have some friends up here (Boston, MA) who have APs to Disney World and go down for long weekends four times a year, and we're considering that for ourselves. I'd like to start really changing up how I experience Disney.

 

[CAS239]

Who are the travelers? Usually wife and I
When do you go? About once every 1.5-2 months
How many days? Usually 3 days
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Always offsite
Car or Disney transportation? I'd always choose driving myself over waiting on Disney transportation
Dining: plan (type) or OOP Never Dining plan
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? As close to rope drop as we can
mid day breaks? Usually everyday
pool days? Never
touring plan or go with the flow? Never use a full itinerary, but we plan accordingly
park hop? Daily
meals? 99% of the time eat off property or at Disney Springs
evening plans? Park/Fireworks

 

[Lesverts]

I do what I want, when I want, how I want. I don't stick to a plan, schedule or optimized touring strategy. I have a pressure free, fun-filled week or longer of rides, eating, drinking and frivolous merriment. No stress, no guilt, no worrying about if I am doing it wrong.

If I want to go to Epcot and it isn't recommended? Oh well. If I want a breakfast at a resort at 10am and it cuts into 'optimal touring time' oh well. If I want to wait an hour for Soarin', there are Pokestops in line, so I'm good.

 

[RADOPT]

Who are the travelers? My mom and sp needs daughter
When do you go? there week after Thanksgiving
How many days? 7-16 days
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? onsite, we resort hop a couple of days at a moderate and the rest at 1 or 2 delux, depends on the lenght and $$
Car or Disney transportation? busses - I drive too much at home
Dining: plan (type) or OOP - out of pocket as we eat differently on vacation
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? neither, we are early risers and go when we are all ready
mid day breaks? only if it is hot or crowded
pool days? we are not ones to lay around the pool so we visit different resorts on down days or afternoons
touring plan or go with the flow? only which park and if we want an ADR otherswise as try to go there the crowds are not. when we want/where we want family
park hop? YES meals? some ADRs, some CS or TS, or just snacks evening plans? shows or hotel or special events

Missmickey - What do you do? you did not say.

 

[JETSDAD]

I was reading another thread about how someone plans their days at Disney and a few others shared how theirs days looked, and it got me curious about how different people experience Disney World?

So how do you and your family do Disney?

Some questions to get it started:

Who are the travelers?
When do you go?
How many days?
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Car or Disney transportation?
Dining: plan (type) or OOP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
And I'm sure their are other things that can be shared that I'm not thinking of!

Thanks for sharing

There is myself, DW, and DD11. We go during the winter months to get out of the snow (usually Feb). We had done a couple of short trips and our last one was about a week long and each time we get home we want to go again and for longer. We are currently shopping for a resale DVC and then a direct add-on in order to allow us to take longer trips. We've been staying at Deluxe resorts by renting points. While we do drive down I love being able to just park the van for the week and use Disney Transportation. We pay OOP for dining as there is no way we'd come close to making the DP work for us. We do RD to closing without leaving the park (unless we hop to another one) and will grab EMH whenever we can fit it into our schedule. At home I am not a morning person at all but once I get to Disney I am up early and enjoy hitting rides at RD. One of our goals with buying into DVC is that we will then know we are coming back regularly and can take it easier with some relaxation time back at the resort (more than likely we will just keep doing what we do and then book VB for a couple of days afterwards to relax).

 

[missmickey]

Missmickey - What do you do? you did not say.

I've only been there once since my first adult trip in '04. We went last September (2015) and we are planning for this November. I feel like I'm still figuring our my Disney style Definitely planning to change things based on what I learned from my last trip!

Who are the travelers? Me, DH and DDs (5 and 7), my parents, my sister and her family (DH 3DDs, 3, 8, 10)
When do you go? Trying for cooler weather this time
How many days? 8ish
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? onsite - moderate fits our budget, but trying Deluxe for part of our upcoming trip
Car or Disney transportation? buses
Dining: plan (type) or OOP, No dining plan this time
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? a little of both
mid day breaks? No
pool days? pool 1/2 days
touring plan or go with the flow? a basic plan with parks, ADRs, and FPs, but want flexibility as well
park hop? for a few of the days
meals? one TS a day, and a few character meals, breakfast in the room
evening plans? parks, fireworks, or early (8-9ish) night to bed

 

[iheartbelle87]

What a fun post! I'm answering this twice because, depending on who I'm traveling with, my plans are different!

Who are the travelers? Me (29) and my Mom (52)
When do you go? Anytime we can! We've been in January, May, September and November
How many days? 4-5, depending on how many days I can get off from work
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? On site! Moderates
Car or Disney transportation? Disney transportation
Dining: plan (type) or OOP Dining Plan, 'basic', (2 snacks, 1 TS, 1 CS)
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?' We JUST started doing RD and it's amazing! If we don't, we're out the door by 9am. If in May, then yes to mid day breaks at the pool. Touring plan for sure. Yes for park hopping.


Who are the travelers? Me (29) and DH (31)
When do you go? Whevere we can... so far we've been in March, April and June. We're scheduled for May 2017.
How many days? 6
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Moderates... but we upgraded to a deluxe for May, so maybe DH will let us convert!
Car or Disney transportation? Disney Transportation
Dining: plan (type) or OOP DDP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? Sleep, head to parks mid afternoon/early evening, touring plans, park hopping sometimes, evening meals vary on how hot we are, how tired we are and crowd levels

 

[alex9179]

Who are the travelers?
Me, DH, DD13, DS12, DS9. One trip w/ my mom that was awesome and not ride focused due to her motion sickness.

When do you go?
It varies. DH's vacation is assigned and requests are not guaranteed, sound familiar?
Family trips have been Oct/Nov and January. This year it is May/June.

How many days?
5-10

Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Onsite, so far. I've stayed at all levels but prefer deluxe resorts. The family has stayed in a Cars suite and deluxe.

Car or Disney transportation?
Disney. Even though we drove once before and will this time, we like to be free to have an adult beverage and not worry about driving back to the resort. My family LOVES riding in the boats and monorail. We may drive to a park once or twice for morning touring.

Dining: plan (type) or OOP
OOP

Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
My kids are very ride focused and the youngest was a tyrant about everything so we would RD. Trying to drag them from the parks for breaks wasn't worth a meltdown by youngest, so we stayed until early evening when they were DONE. Missed most of the nighttime shows/parades the first year because they were conked out by 730pm. In January the hours were short so we were able to make it to most of the nighttime stuff at least once. TPV at CR was awesome for watching everything around MK, after they had gotten cleaned up and ready for bed. With the extended summer hours, this year we're trying AM EMH and RD, take a break after lunch for pool/nap, and go back in the evening for the shows.
We're hopping most days. I have a no-hop day at MK scheduled because there's so much to do there.

Miscellaneous:
We have 10 days in WDW with a split stay. I have 5 park days and 4 full days to sleep in, play at the resorts, and eat at The Springs. I've been wanting to see Yeeha Bob's show for years and have finally given us opportunity to do so. My kids love playing in the water and pool time is generous on this trip. We're really looking forward to resort hopping on one of our down days.
Each trip has been different due to the time of year, the age of the kids, and what is offered at the parks.

 

[bluezy]

Who are the travelers?
DH & I along with some or all of our 5 "kids" (currently ages 12-31)

When do you go?
Usually in June because it doesn't interfere with school and summer sports/band practices haven't started yet. This will change once all of the kids have graduated.

How many days?
7

Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Always onsite. Always a value resort because we've always either needed 2 rooms or a suite at AoA.

Car or Disney transportation?
Disney transportation. We drive 1,000+ miles to get there so we're perfectly happy to let someone else do the driving while we're there even if we have to wait 10-15 minutes for a bus. It's nice to just sit and relax during the ride.

Dining: plan (type) or OOP
OOP. We've used the dining plan once but we just don't eat the way it forces you to eat in order to get a good value out of it. I always add up all of our meal and snack costs after we get home and we always save several hundred dollars by just eating what we want to, when we want to, and paying out of pocket.

Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
We always get parkhoppers. We plan which parks we're starting at each day. We usually rope drop each park one day during our stay (actually, we usually sleep in a little bit on our AK "rope drop" day but still get to the park by about 9:30. I'm sure that will change the next time we go since Pandora will be open). We head back to the resort most afternoons and nap/swim. While at the resort, we decide where we want to eat dinner and then usually head to a park again after dinner. One day (usually mid week) is an all-out sleep-in day. We make no morning plans that day. We usually head to a park after lunch that day. Our last day is also usually a semi-sleep-in day as we don't make any definite plans that day other than to go to DTD/DS and then go to a park or two to hit the things we missed earlier in the week or things we want to do again. We don't have a defined touring plan for each park but we each choose our #1 ride for each park. I make FP reservations based on those rides and we make sure to include everyone's #1 attraction at each park (either with FP or standby). From there we base our "touring plan" on same-day FP availability and standby lines. I would say in general we efficiently go with the flow.

 

[jollygreen]

Who are the travelers? Myself and usually a friend. This upcoming trip is the first one with my family! So it'll be me, my parents, my brother, and niece.
When do you go? I don't have a certain time. I've gone in Dec, Aug, May, June, and now March.
How many days? Usually about a week.
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? I've done both, but usually onsite & value. I'd like to stay at other places but can't always afford it. Stayed at POFQ in Dec 2015 and loved it there.
Car or Disney transportation? Again, done both, but usually Disney transportation, I prefer it. I live over 1000 miles away and don't want to drive while I'm there. Or I'll fly down and not have a car. Might as well save some money and use their buses instead of renting a car.
Dining: plan (type) or OOP: OOP. I like the convenience of the dining plan, I just can't justify the cost. I don't eat all that much to get my money's worth.
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? When I go with my friend, it's RD to close. No breaks. We hop some days but not all. Maybe 1 or 2 ADRs. This time around, I still plan on doing RD. Parks don't stay open too late, so I'll probably close some. We have 2 ADRs for non-park days. No hopper this time either. Plus, I'll be traveling with a toddler this time, so we'll go slower. My mom might take mid-day breaks with her while the rest of us stay at the park. I've planned off/pool days before but ended up adding days to my ticket. This time I think I'm going to Universal on our off day. Definitely a different trip than others I've taken. But it should be fun!

 

[DrummerBoy523]

I was reading another thread about how someone plans their days at Disney and a few others shared how theirs days looked, and it got me curious about how different people experience Disney World?

So how do you and your family do Disney?

Some questions to get it started:

Who are the travelers?
When do you go?
How many days?
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Car or Disney transportation?
Dining: plan (type) or OOP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
And I'm sure their are other things that can be shared that I'm not thinking of!

Thanks for sharing

Great thread.

Who are the travelers? Me, DW, DS14, DS9
When do you go? Typically the end of May/First week of June
How many days? Usually 5 park days. 2MK and one day at EP, HS and AK
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Onsite - usually we stay Moderate. Have stayed at ASM, POR, CBR. Going back to POR in May.
Car or Disney transportation? Fly SW from Nashville, DME to resort. Uber if we need to get anywhere else
Dining: plan (type) or OOP DDP 1TS/1QS/2SK
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? RD every day but the last - on the last we make FP+ later in the day and just get there whenever
mid day breaks? Nope
pool days? We do the pool on our HS day since it is really a 1/2 day park
touring plan or go with the flow? A little bit of both
park hop? Yup!!
meals? We are DDP, so we make ADRs
evening plans? All depends on the kids - if they are exhausted then we hit bed early.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Who are the travelers?
DW and me (empty nesters now)

When do you go?
Anytime now that we don't have to worry about school schedule. Our last 3 trips were in June, January and August.

How many days?
Usually a week.

Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Both onsite and offsite. Last trip was off, trip before that was on (with a DCL cruise), time before that was a split stay where we did both. When onsite, it's usually moderate.

Car or Disney transportation?
Both, but usually car.

Dining: plan (type) or OOP
OOP. If we have an AP we use TiW. I can't remember the last time we used DDP--maybe 2009 when we went with the kids and got free dining for Thanksgiving week. DDP just doesn't really suit the way we like to eat.

Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
We RD, then head back to the room around 12:30 for a break until about 4:30. Then we get dinner & head to the park for the evening. We take a rest day after every 3 park days.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Who are the travelers? DH and I (we are in our late 30's)
When do you go? Usually the first of Oct or first of Nov
How many days? 6 days 5 nights (wish I could go longer, but that is all our schedule allows for)
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Onsite - generally Deluxe - the Polynesian is our favorite
Car or Disney transportation? Disney transportation
Dining: plan (type) or OOP Dining plan for the prepaid aspect of it. We have always just done the regular plan, but this year are going to try Deluxe for the first time.
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? We have now been enough times that I don't feel the need to go-go-go everyday of our trip. We are Rope Drop people for sure and then usually hit bed fairly early. We generally hit RD and then stay in the park until early afternoon. We generally don't go back after dinner. Since we stay at the Poly, we usually watch fireworks from the beach in the evenings.

 

[goofy4tink]

I was reading another thread about how someone plans their days at Disney and a few others shared how theirs days looked, and it got me curious about how different people experience Disney World?

So how do you and your family do Disney?

Some questions to get it started:

Who are the travelers?
When do you go?
How many days?
Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?
Car or Disney transportation?
Dining: plan (type) or OOP
Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?
And I'm sure their are other things that can be shared that I'm not thinking of!

Thanks for sharing

1. Travelers..could be just me (senior citizen), or it could be me and the dh (but he doesn't go very often) and sometimes it's my friend and I.
2. When....whenever I choose to. I've been in every month. I love Oct and March! Nov isn't too shabby either.
3. Days...anywhere from 4 to 13!! Average seems to be about 6 nights.
4. Resort....onsite, depends on how I feel. Own DVC at BW and BLT, but like Pop a lot. So, all levels.
5. Transport...usually Disney transportation. But, if I'm visiting CM dd, I rent a car for a few days.
6 Dining...oop, with TiW...very seldom do I use ddp.
7. Schedule....again, depends. Usually get to the park right after rope drop. Change parks midday. I go with the flow, using FPs.

I've been to WDW over 40 times now, I've had an AP for the past 13 yrs. My dd is currently on the DCP...until May when she will apply for permanent work there. This year, I've been there in Sept (5 days), Oct (5 days), Nov (10 days, with a RCCL cruise in the middle), Jan (7 days), Feb (4 days) and heading down in March for a week. I go to see my dd, so more shorter trips. I'll go to a park, do what I feel like doing and leave. In Jan, on my next to the last day (solo trip), I did all four parks in a day....rode a few things, left to go to another park. It was wonderful. I can do as much, or as little, as I feel like. Yes, I'm very lucky. My dd gets me some great CM discounts on rooms, especially the values. If it's just me traveling, the values work quite well. DH won't stay in a value, so it's either a moderate (but not CBR!!) or DVC!!! Good thing he doesn't like Disney nearly as much as I do.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Who are the travelers?

Always a family of 4 but the next trip I'm planning is just DD11 and myself.

When do you go?

August. It's hard with school schedules and you can get some awesome deals to stay deluxe in August.

How many days?

I like to stay 7-10 days with 7 day PH.

Onsite/offsite? Resort Level?

Onsite. Moderate or deluxe.

Car or Disney transportation?

Disney transportation.

Dining: plan (type) or OOP

It depends. This last trip we did a deal at a deluxe and had to pay for our food OOP. It was worth it even though I could've went with a moderate with free dining. I would never pay for the DDP.

Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans?

AM park at RD, midday break by the pool, PH to a PM park with FP+. Usually an ADR everyday. 1-2 rest days with lots of pool time. My kids LOVE pool time as much as the park. We pick which park on which day and a loose mental note of ride order but we aren't commando. We love watching the night shows, especially in the MK. We hit up EMH, both AM and PM, when we can.

 

[Klayfish]

Who are the travelers? Me, DW, DS12, DD9, DS9 (twins)

When do you go? Usually in summer, but we had an AP last time, so we made 6 total trips. Going in June to get another FP and do 5 or 6 trips in those 12 months

How many days? Summer vacations are 14-17 days, the shorter AP trips were 3-5 days. This year, hoping to make the "shorter" trips 7 days via working remotely a few days

Onsite/offsite? Resort Level? Always offsite, it's the only way to go for us. Usually rent a 3 or 4 bedroom villa or townhouse. Next trip we have a single family home.

Car or Disney transportation? Car, always.

Dining: plan (type) or OOP? Neither. We pack 95% of our food and bring it into the parks. We'll buy snacks or desserts for the kids a few times, and we (wife and I) usually have one parents only meal...we eat somewhere in Epcot. Otherwise, all food carried in a giant cooler bag placed on a stroller

Daily schedule: RD or sleep in? mid day breaks? pool days? touring plan or go with the flow? park hop? meals? evening plans? Rope drop...nope. We'll get to the park sometimes right around opening time, but have zero interest in standing outside the gates for 45-60 minutes. No pool only days, we're there to see WDW. We park hop a lot. No touring plan, except by what is required for our FP+. Otherwise, it's 100% ad hoc. No "planned" mid-day breaks. We either schedule a specific park in the AM or the PM. If it's a park AM day, we do our FP+ and anything else we want to do, then decide on the fly what's next. Sometimes we go home for the night, sometimes we go back. Vice versa for planned PM days (though often those are days we go to water parks in the AM). Meals are brought into the parks for the times we're there, otherwise we eat at the condo (always eat breakfast there). We tend to do AM parks more than PM, as we're not night owls. But on the AM days, many times we'll go to places right outside WDW. Gift shops, ice cream, coffee...there is a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins we like to frequent. The kids get ice cream, DW and I get coffee, then we go to the gift shop next door.