I feel so ridiculous and silly. Getting ANXIOUS about my upcoming trip!

SDSorority

Traumatized by Magic Journeys and Haunted Mansion
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
3,579
This is just silly. The closer to my WDW trip I get, the more ANXIOUS I get! Does anyone else ever get like this? WDW is my happy place, but gosh, right now I'm just a bundle of nerves. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is that's making me anxious, but it seems like it's more a combination of things.

-Being out of routine
-Being away from home
-Eating out at restaurants more than normal
-Having to figure out what food to buy for the room and how to pack it to take to the parks
-Making sure everything is packed
-Making sure all of my home/work stuff is at a 'stopping point'
-Travel itself is just STRESSFUL. Airport security, rental cars, rushing around

A trip to WDW is supposed to be fun and magical. Not stressful. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you cope?
 
This is just silly. The closer to my WDW trip I get, the more ANXIOUS I get! Does anyone else ever get like this? WDW is my happy place, but gosh, right now I'm just a bundle of nerves. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is that's making me anxious, but it seems like it's more a combination of things.

-Being out of routine
-Being away from home
-Eating out at restaurants more than normal
-Having to figure out what food to buy for the room and how to pack it to take to the parks
-Making sure everything is packed
-Making sure all of my home/work stuff is at a 'stopping point'
-Travel itself is just STRESSFUL. Airport security, rental cars, rushing around

A trip to WDW is supposed to be fun and magical. Not stressful. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you cope?

Anticipation can waver into anxiety - write down what it is you are worried about, and think of what will happen if things don't happen the way you are planning. If you forget to pack your bathing suit, for example, what is the logic consequence? You buy one at the resort.

Are you planning on doing things that you do not have the skill to do? If packing snacks is hard, then have someone else in your family be responsible for that.

I have been diagnosed with anxiety. Medication helped for the short term, but talking to myself about what I am get anxious about helped me face it and deal with it. I call it my "personal therapy" :) My kids have learned to just tune me out if I feel the need to have a little chat with myself in the car, on the way to some activity of theirs.

Sometimes I even tell myself "If you're going to get that stressed out over it all, then just don't go!" Of course I'm going to go, but I've given myself the choice, KWIM?
 
I've had some trouble with this in the past. dH has helped me by reminding me that if I forget something, we'll either do without it or buy another one.

Swim suits, medicine, tickets, money. I have seriously had to buy a couple of pairs of shorts before, but hey, I had my swim suit!;)

Bring some basics for the room. Pbutter and bagels is good. Travels well. If you don't want to go out so much, order pizza in or get sandwich makings and fruit from the resort store.

Remember, you're not going to do it all and that's okay! We went on a cruise awhile back and my kids had NO interest in getting off the ship other than the private island or doing any of the kids activities. Heck, my boys didn't even want to go to dinner one of the nights. I was getting into a trap of thinking we weren't "doing it right" but you know what? We were! The kids had fun sharing a stateroom together (3 of them.) and loved room service. The night our boys didn't go to dinner, they had a great visit with our room steward as he made up the rooms. They found out about his family and where he lived. They still talk about that night!

So, enjoy your family and have fun together. Make your trip what you enjoy and let go of the stress. You'll be together and that's really the point after all.:thumbsup2
 
This is just silly. The closer to my WDW trip I get, the more ANXIOUS I get! Does anyone else ever get like this? WDW is my happy place, but gosh, right now I'm just a bundle of nerves. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is that's making me anxious, but it seems like it's more a combination of things.

-Being out of routine
-Being away from home
-Eating out at restaurants more than normal
-Having to figure out what food to buy for the room and how to pack it to take to the parks
-Making sure everything is packed
-Making sure all of my home/work stuff is at a 'stopping point'
-Travel itself is just STRESSFUL. Airport security, rental cars, rushing around

A trip to WDW is supposed to be fun and magical. Not stressful. Does this happen to anyone else? How do you cope?

Happens to me too! But once I get there, I forget all my worries! Go have fun!
 

Yup, as the Disney planner of the family, I worry about every aspect. I create a spreadsheet packing list (but what if I forget to include something on the list), I worry about what room they will give me. I worry about the tropics and weather that is coming our way, I worry about missing our dining reservations (I actually have dreams about this all the time), I worry that I will leave the lamenated list I make with all of our ressie behind and won't remember where we have to be when. I worry that my kids will somehow ruin the vacation with attitudes etc. So you are not alone on this. There is such a build up to a vacation like this. YOu want everything to go perfectly. It is natural to worry about the details but was others posted, your worries will melt away as the sights, smells and magic that Disney is envelopes you!! Enjoy
 
Totally normal! Especially with something one puts so much time (and $) into planning. I find once I get moving, the anxiety fades. Hang in there :)
 
I have OCD so I stress over every aspect of our trips to Disney I make lists I have 2 copies of every document for hotel car rental flight info I don't stop worrying till each phase is over its just what I do. I am used to it my wife knows I will be fine. My oldest daughter is just like me so when we went to Disney together this spring we texted each other hundreds of times before the trip
 
I feel that way until I get thru security at the airport and am sitting in front of the gate we need to be at. I am this way every trip and I go at least once a year, every year.
 
I feel that way until I get thru security at the airport and am sitting in front of the gate we need to be at. I am this way every trip and I go at least once a year, every year.

Hopefully I can chill out when I get to that point, too. Right now, I'm :scared::faint::sad2::scared1::bitelip::worried:
 
Every. single. time.

I have a few things that help keep me sane.

Spreadsheets: basically I have every single thing typed into a spreadsheet. A document or even a pad of paper with pen would work but I'm a spreadsheet gal. By having everything in writing I can easily add things as I go along so I know I won't forget that next thing that comes to mind. Each trip I start off using the spreadsheet from the previous trip so I have that as my base since I know it worked before. I know I'm less likely to forget something this way. This gives me some confidence that at least nothing important is being overlooked. In addition, I can print out some of the checklists so I can see what's been crossed off and therefore also what's left to do. I do not cross anything off my packing list until it's actually in a suitcase or carryon even if I've got it nearby because that way I know I haven't forgotten it.

backup plans: Things don't go as planned. They never do. Because of all the planning and research I've done I can turn to plan B. Plan B isn't nearly as detailed of a plan as plan A but it is still a plan. For example, when we've forgotten something, it's been very easy to just go buy a replacement. If a ride is closed then we just move on to the next ride and using a chart I've got of best times per attraction I can easily see if there's another good time I can fit in that attraction or I just accept that it's something we'll do next trip (there's always a next trip for us). If somebody's not feeling well then I know we can stay at the resort and get safe food from the food court and cancel an ADR if we have one. If luggage is lost then I at least know that I've got all of our medications and planning materials as well as a good supply of snacks in my carryon and everything else is replaceable. I make sure to pack at least 3 extra days of medications just in case there's some kind of major delay getting us home.

Basically, I take control over the things that I can. My anxiety is really all about lack of control.

I do make sure that our trips are pretty close to our at home routine so that one's not that big of a deal for me. I have to do this because of my autistic DD15. Yes it's very different wandering a park than it is being at home but the basics of the day are the same. We wake up and go to bed at our normal times (actually to bed a bit earlier at WDW because we're tired) and we eat at all of our normal times. It really does make a big difference.

I really don't have anything for the being away from home. At this point WDW is very familiar to us so this is nowhere near as anxiety causing as it used to be but there is still some element of that each trip, especially since we like to try new resorts every other trip. At least there's some sense of familiarity though.

I have the restaurant anxiety every outside of WDW but it's nowhere near as bad at WDW. Even with all of my great experiences I'll admit that there is some degree of this one though. Looking back over some of my past dining reviews and looking over the menus at the restaurants where we'll be eating help a lot. Having a list of foods that are easily found around the parks as well as places I know I can find them helps a lot too.

I start my grocery list at least a few weeks ahead of time and keep tweeking it until it stops really changing each time I look at it. I place the order maybe a week before the trip. Knowing I've got these groceries also helps with the previous restaurant anxiety as I know that we'll have some food in our room.

I'll be honest. The work one doesn't stress me. The trip we took this summer was actually a really bad time because we had a major implementation happening at work (govt agency changed dates on us last minute so implementation happened a couple weeks late or I would have been there) but I just left and didn't think twice. There are others who can cover my stuff. There's always some kind of deadline and something else will always come up.

I do make sure that I've got all my bills up to date and there there will be no payments for anything due when we're gone. I love online banking and the ability to schedule payments. I basically have things like this go into the checklist in my spreadsheet. That spreadsheet really does come in handy. Mail hold, checking on amazon deliveries, etc all go on the spreadsheet. Seeing the items get checked off really eases the anxiety.

I sure do wish I had an answer for the travel anxiety. I always worry that my autistic DD is going to have some kind of meltdown with TSA. She did once really snap at an agent and I was sure we were going to get hauled off for some major additional screening. It didn't happen and we've always had nothing but great experiences but I still have that anxiety every single time. This is one area I can't control so it gets me every time.
 
One thing I found that helps the pre travel anxiety is about 5 -6 days before we leave I plan very simple meals and use disposable plates and utensils. By eliminating the task of washing plates and utensils and cups and putting them away is a bit of relief for me. Scrambled eggs/ sausage and toast one night. Taco Bell one night and pizza is the meal we eat the night before we leave. No fuss no muss.

And my check off list that I made a few years ago. I print it off and check of the tasks as I complete them. Such as: putting lights in a timer, packing poncho's, packing tickets, printing boarding pass. Ect..
 
I totally get where you are coming from.My anxiety doesn't stem from getting everything perfect, it stems from being outta my comfort zone. It takes some of my anxiety away if I know exactly what the place looks like (down to the lobby where I check in, the dining area, my room, etc.) I study menus before I go, so I know that I won't be surprised by food choices. I know there will be something there that I will like. I make lots of lists to help with packing. I always seem to forget something, but it does help. I go over the packing list with my hubby, so he can help me remember anything I forget. I keep our daily routine fairly the same because we are traveling with 4 kids. I know I am a huge grouch if I start getting hungry. The same goes for the kiddos, so I try and keep the dining times and such on the same schedule as home. It also helps that we have now been to Disney a couple of times, so I know what to expect mostly. We drive so I don't have to deal with the anxiety of 4 kiddos in an airport or being stuck in crammed buses with strangers.
 
Deeeeeep breath.

I leave tomorrow. Woke up crazy anxious this morning- hopefully I get it out of my system today and tomorrow is smooth sailing!!

Boarding passes are printed off, bags are almost 100% packed. Confirmations are printed, too.... have a zillion quarters for the toll roads, light timers for the lights at home are set, in-laws will have a set of keys to get in and check on the house, mail-hold is set, credit cards have been notified of our travel (one even said "say hi to Mickey for me!" :thumbsup2), co-workers have been notified that I'll be out of the office, and now I'm just finishing up last minute work details. Feeling pretty good and prepared. :thumbsup2
 
I know how you feel, I get that sometimes, too.

I have never done the free dining plan, so a few days ago I had a minor panic attack and was convinced I got it all wrong, and that I was going to get charged for all my food.

I had to go through the policy and all my reservations again just to calm myself down, lol.
 








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