How Do You Do It?

[WDWprincessloyola]

I think my family and I are usually in the parks by about 10 AM and stay until after the fireworks, nighttime parade, show, etc. Right after that we head back to the hotel and straight to bed. This works out well for us because we really don't like leaving the park to go all the way back to a resort. We usually take a very leisurely lunch and of course waiting for parades and shows are a time to relax. On average I think we would get about nine hours of sleep each night. Trust me though, we sleep very well a couple days after the vacation!

 

[newholidayx2]

this Aug DS & I will be at WDW 14 nights
the first wk Im planning on getting up early to get to the parks early, then back to the resort for pool time
the 2nd wk Im planning on mostly nights at the parks and days at the pools
there are 2 days we'll be going to the parks late afternoons so we can switch from early morns to late nights

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

We did the all day, every day thing back when we went 15 years and 3 kids ago. NO WAY would that work for our family now. We get there at opening, stay until lunchtime, eat a PS lunch, then go back to the hotel to swim/nap. We return around 5:00ish for an early dinner, then leave around 9:00 for the night.

My kids will not function on less than their usual hours of sleep.

 

[Tinkerbell10403]

It is a wonderful idea to take a nap during the day...my boyfriend and I went for Thanksgiving break recently and we were dragging by the 4th day! I'm all about the naps!

 

[TSirgey]

For our trip last year, we did a water park one day in the middle of our vacation, napped and just walked around DTD for dinner and went to be early. It rejuvinated us for the rest of the week. We are early risers so getting there at opening every day was easy. Plus, we were able to get on our favorite attractions early in the morning and take the rest of the day easy. This year, we are going for a few extra days so we can take our time and do some pool time in the afternoon. It is certainly a different outlook after the first family trip.

 

[MickeyAnne]

There is so much to see and do in Disney that I always seem to feel that I have to fit as much into a day as possible, but as the OP mentioned, I always came home needing a vacation from my vacation. So in my more recent trips, we always slept late on at least two days and scheduled a pool/waterpark day just to relax...those days are much needed I think.

This year I will be doing a land and sea trip with only three days in the World so I am so panicked about seeing all that I want to without being over worked....

 

[dizprincess717]

This past summer my family was at WDW for five days. My mom and dad took their time in the parks and spent most of the time relaxing.

My sister and I however would be at the parks from opening to close, and the parks wouldn't close til 11 or later at night. I honestly have no clue how we functioned on about six hours of sleep a night (we'd get up and shower in the morning) then spend the whole day at the parks in the almost unbearable heat of summer. We're young, I guess. Here's my best tip - DRINK LOTS OF WATER. And my next best tip - Don't run all over the parks, take your time. The attractions aren't going anywhere.

 

[catsrule]

We usually don't get to the parks till around 11:00am. We are never there when they first open. We are always there till they close though.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We do NOT wake up early (and by early I mean 9 a.m. ) Since I take hours to get ready I usually wake up at 9 and start getting ready so that around 11 we can leave the room and head to the park. We usually spend the whole day until close at the park and if not we come back to the room in the afternoon for a break. We are a lot more refreshed from having an extra couple of hours of sleep instead of rolling out of bed at 6 a.m. to get to a park.

 

[cart-mom]

We try to get up early... But usually miss the park opening. We're not usually too far behind though. It depends on the kids wether we stay in the park till it closes or we take a mid day break. Then we usually spend the next day at the pool or shopping or something. Then back to the parks. It's important to have some down time to us and we have been to WDW every year since 96 so our kids feel like it's our second home. (Isn't it everyone's?)

 

[crazee4mickey]

We were there for 10 days, at first we thought we should go from sun up until sun down but quickly realized our family of 6 would be exhausted, both physically and mentally! By sleeping in, I mean no later than 9:30 a.m. but it was better than waking up at 6 every morning!
1st day- Magic Kingdom, there for opening and there all day
2nd day-Character breakfast and MGM until closing
3rd day-slept in and relaxed at Typhoon Lagoon all day, Medieval Times at night
4th day-Sea World all day
5th day-slept in and went to Typhoon again, MVMCP at night
6th day-Animal Kingdom, there at opening and all day
7th day-slept in and then park hopped to Epcot, MGM
8th day-slept in and went to Cocoa Beach to see the ocean
9th and 10th day-we didn't wake up early and just park hopped doing all of the favorite things we had enjoyed
Got to see all of the "must do" things we had on our lists, enjoyed our holiday more and came back not feeling like we needed a holiday to get over our holiday!