I am now an annual pass holder, how do I not get burnt out?

[Cayaco]

I am still in the mindset of Disney is a once every 10 year thing, a real big deal trip that takes 6+ months of planning and when you go you go all out because you wont be coming back for a real long time.

Well, things changes, I ended up moving to Florida and now here I am with a resident annual pass. Go once every decade has changed to I can go every Saturday if I feel like it. So how should I change my way of thinking? I don't *need* to go now from rope drop to midnight, I can just go putter around for a bit then head home.

Other annual pass holders, what advice can you give on enjoying Disney now that I can go whenever I like? What new things should I do now that I most likely was not doing before when I had to do everything because if I didn't I wouldn't get a second chance?

 

[AFwifelife]

Start pin trading. Go to a park to maybe ride a ride and catch a meal. Try to hit all parades/shows/fireworks. People watch! Attend AK to just see all the animals.

 

[Robo]

I eat multiple times at the same restaurants, often the same meals.
I listen to my favorite music over-and-over.
Have fun with my cadre of friends as much I can.

I don't really get "burnt out" on my favorite things.

 

[Dug720]

According to my friends who have moved to Orlando, yes, there is usually a "honeymoon period" where they were all "OMG!!! WE HAVE TO GO!!!" any free time they had, but after a month or two it petered out and they do as above have suggested - well, the going for a meal or a show and a couple of rides...none of them are into pin trading.

 

[holden]

Do some tours

Try new restaurants/quick service

Check out all the “festivals” (FW, FG, etc)

Read a book that has info about the little things (hidden Mickeys, building of WDW...). Then go to the parks to find them.

Go for a day with friends/family who are there on vacation.

Ride attractions after refurbs to see what changed.

 

[randumb0]

Make an effort to experience every show/ride in every park (may take a few visits). Make visits to parks to only visit a restaurant. Another trick is to take a break from a few rides. It's also fun when you make trips with other AP's

 

[FastPasser.]

I would go as often as I want and wouldn't give the burn out question any thought. I've been at WDW only about three thousand times and I still kinda like being there.

 

[yulilin3]

it's really a personal thing. I know people that would go more than 3 or 4 times a year and get burnt out and people that go 4 times a week and still have fun. Find what you love about the parks, be it, rides,shows, food, people watching and do that.

 

[AFwifelife]

I also agree that burn out is subjective. We are locals currently moving around thanks to the Air Force. I’ve been to Disney at least 75 times in my 30 years of life and every visit is magical to me. Even when we were in college at UCF and were going on the weekends, we never got tired of it.

 

[NH-to-FL]

DW and I are snowbirds, currently enjoying our third winter in Florida. We were excited to convert to resident AP's. As I recently mentioned in another post, going to WDW has become 'a good walk enhanced by Disney'.

And I have to second Robo's comments, when we go to the parks we usually find ourselves visiting a few favorite attractions. Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, the Safari, and the Lion King are probably our favorites.

Occasionally we will stop in at a different attraction. Ride the train around the MK. Take time to wander the trails at AK. Enjoy a leisurely stroll around the World Showcase. Walk through the aquarium at the Seas.

We are not big foodies so visiting restaurants is not usually on our list. We do hit a couple of counter service places from time to time, especially Flame Tree BBQ. Love sitting down by the water listening to the screams from Everest. Likewise eating fish and chips looking out over the World Showcase.

There are so many things to to at WDW and so many ways to go about enjoying it. I am sure your style with develop as you visit.

Have fun!

 

[fla4fun]

Try to mix it up every once in a while. For example, I might do a "vintage" day in MK, where I only visit attractions that are from the early years. Or I might go to DHS and just catch the shows, and no rides. With all the festivals at Epcot, it's easy to see different things there. Even though you can hop, if you really focus on the park you are in, I find I don't do a lot of same day hopping. I don't do a lot of day trips (even though I can see WDW from my house) - I still prefer to stay onsite and have the full vacation experience. But it's nice to be able to pop over and see new things and participate in previews.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The Epcot festivals alone would be enough to keep it interesting to me.

 

[IsThatYouTigger]

I'm the opposite! Grew up in Central Florida and then moved away shortly after college. When I lived in Florida we would go out just for a meal. My now husband and I would use it as a date night. After we would walk around the park and go on rides if the wait times were low, but at the end of the day didn't care if we couldn't get on any rides (aka we didn't want to wait) because we knew we'd be back. I will say to also take advantage of the hotel discounts. Day trips are wonderful and so many people would love to be able to do this on a regular basis, but every now and then you should stay for a night or two to get the experience you remember when you weren't a Florida resident.

 

[CarrieR]

Over time, I think you’ll find you approach it differently. We are out of state APs who usually still do the big “plan in advance” thing - but I went a few weeks ago and spent about 4 hours at Epcot, only riding SSE. The rest of the time I wandered with my camera. Take a tour, take time to walk down unpopulated paths - it’s a shift in mindset that happens organically. I have friends who are true locals, and I’m not as laid back as them, but I definitely tour differently than I did before regular visits were the norm.

 

[Cayaco]

I think Epoct is going to be a big part of it for a while, there is so much there I never even knew existed and when you are only there to rush through your FP+s you dont get a chance to really explore.

Looking forward to the festivals and finally seeing everything AK has to offer. Whoever thinks that park is a half-day place is nuts, we have been three times (prior having an AP) and still havent seen it all!

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We get APs every few years because I do get tired of Disney.
We have 8 trips planned this year. We went 11 nights with our oldest daughter and her family. We went 5 nights with other daughter's two preschoolers. We went 4 nights with oldest's daughter's 3 year old son. Two of our grandsons are 3 and 5 and we got them APs. We are going 6 nights with 2 year old GS. DH is working while we do parks. We will go as a couple for a week and spend some time with friends. We will go a week with younger daughter's family. We will go a long weekend ourselves, maybe take the 5 year old. We will go a week and a half ourselves.
We mix it up, spending LOTS of days in MK when we go with the littles. When we go ourselves, we spend one evening there and most of our time in other parks. Our FP reservations are very different between the two trips too. And the time spent at character meets. I look forward to different things each trip because they are so different even though we are going to the same place.

 

[Greenfield1984]

*cough* humble brag *cough*

You lucky devil you.
Personally if it was me id show up from time to time and just get a snack and coffee and people watch.

Aim for noon and close your eyes and listen.
Whats that sound?
The cries of hungry kids on their way to their mid day disney melt down

 

[1GoldenSun]

Do "themed" visits. Disbound as characters from Winnie the Pooh, eat at Crystal Palace, get your picture taken with Pooh and friends, and ride the ride; see how many princesses you can get your picture taken with in one day; watch all the movies in Epcot's World Showcase (Canada, France, and China); eat something from each country in WS; ride all the "mountain" coasters; visit each of the four parks in one day and ride one ride, see one show, eat one thing, visit one shop, and use a restroom in each park (my favorite thing to do on my birthday); take a copy of the book Tom Sawyer to MK, grab a waffle sandwich from Sleepy Hollow, head over to Tom Sawyer's Island, find a comfy spot (maybe in one of the rocking chairs by the river), eat your waffle and get lost in the book, then at some point you'll look up from your book and remember where you are; ride the teacups as many times in a row as you can stand (and try to beat your record in future visits), start collecting a certain type of pin and keep your eyes out for more.

My current task is observing the location of easily accessible electrical outlets in comfortable locations for phone charging. My two current favorites are a table in the inner circle at the front of Electric Umbrella and one of the high-top tables in Backlot Express, because I can get a refillable fountain drink and sit and people watch in a climate-controlled environment while my phone charges. As I walk through the parks I keep my eyes out for more places.

 

[friedela]

I got nothing other than jealousy. lol. I have about 5 feet of snow in my backyard right now. Moving to Florida sounds pretty amazing! (even without WDW!)

 

[Aimeedyan]

We find it fun to go with other people - I tend to not like to vacation at Disney for an extended period of time with friends/family (touring with a group is hard!) but going for the day with friends who also have AP's? Now that's fun.

Spending time at the festivals NOT trying to do it all is nice. We went for the Festival of the Arts and spent 7 hours just doing festival stuff. No rides, no characters, and only stopped at 1 booth. It was laid back and casual.

I've also been more intentional in not just doing the same old favorites but trying new things. I won't waste park admission on those things when we take people who bought a regular price ticket but I don't feel the same "time is money" thing with an AP.