Is Disney REALLY a vacation?????

[beebles]

Just got back for our trip of what we called planes, trains and automobiles. We did have fun, but does anyone feel like they need a vacation from that vacation? I feel bad for my two children, all we did was rush and hearded from place to place. Do you really think kids like all that craziness? I seen LOTS of unhappy and tired kids at the world! Parents (even us) get obsessed on "what to do" I think the kids would be just as happy sitting at the pool or watching a movie! My 4 year old was tired of lines, did not know what to expect on each ride (dark? scary? fast?). I really think that it is more fun for the adults or older kids. How relaxing can it be? By the 5th day, I had enough "going" and had walked more than ever (and I am an active person!) Does anyone else feel the same way, or is it just me!?!?

 

[pixie08]

I have had disney vacations like that but we learned our lesson quickly. You really have to slow down and realize...hey we are NOT going to see everything and hopefully we will be back and see more next time! The last 2x's we went we listened to alot of advice on this board. During the hottest/busiest time of day we took a break either a lunch at a resort or back to the hotel for swimming and napping. We also took a day or 2 (depending on how long we are there for our 6 day vaca we took one dy for our 11 we took 3!!!) off from parks visited the resorts, went shopping, hit the spa hung at the resort etc. Then you will feel like you are on Vacation. Again this is just my advice and i learned alot of this from these boards!

 

[Jackie H.]

I would feel the same way if we 'Did Disney' that way. We do not. We take it at a relaxed pace....we go in less busy times (which, of course, may not be an option for you). And when my kids were smaller we never, never pushed them beyond their limits. We spend time just playing in the pool and being lazy and generally having a vacation!

But that is what the DIS is for! To help us NOT have those bad experiences! To help us plan and avoid the long lines and stressing out and pushing our kids until they break!

I'm sorry your trip was stressful....

 

[ganggreen4jc]

Great post!

Last year I planned my dream vacation to WDW. Been A Disneyland AP'r for years and always wanted to go to WDW. Took the wife and two teenagers and stayed at POFQ for a week in July. Absolutely couldn't wait to get there. Waited seven months from time of package purchase.

Three weeks prior to our departure, wife hurts knee. We have to bring a borrowed whellchair on our trek, but we're still all excited, specially me. Trip is totally planned out, we go to all the parks, etc. and by the last day, I was beat and ready to come home. Never occurred to me how hard it is to go to theme parks 6 days in a row!. It's work!!! Factor in the unbearable heat that we worked around and I was ready to go home. Mind you we had some great and wonderful memories, but it was just "harder" than we were used to.

Our family goes for a weeks vacation each summer (Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Sequoia, various campgrounds in so Cal, etc.) and in looking back, our trips were always about "relaxing." There were some siteseeing, but always at a leisurely pace. No crowd fighting at all.

I guess we never figured in the "work" that goes into seeing as much of WDW as you can on a once in a lifetime (for us) trip. We love going to Disneyland with our AP's, but I guess we've never tried going for six days in a row. That probably would get old real fast, too!

Wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but much different than I expected.

 

[civileng68]

You are right. The thing is, MOST people dont know how to "really" enjoy Disney. However people that dont get to go as often love to go go go, and I dont blame them.

I also learned my lesson with that. My wife and I go every month now and we just take it easy. We dont try to see everything. It's just MENTALLY wearing more than even physically. I think if the parks were easier to get in and out of, it wouldn't be so wearing. However the MK is so wearing because it's monorail in monorail out then tram in and tram out.

However that's where the atmosphere and magic is.............the distance from the real world.

We took a couple first timeers with us this past week and they wanted to see it all. It's been a long time since I've been so worn out (mentally).

So yes, if you dont know what you are doing, you'll be worn out.

As much as most people hate overplanning, if you dont heavily plan at Disney, you'll be all over the place. Of course you have to be careful that your planning doesn't cause you more tiredness from overdoing it.

 

[sara74]

Thank you for bringing this up! We are headed to the world for the first time in April, with DD4 and DS 1 1/2 in tow. We are so excited but we are both big time go-getters. If we are on vacation then why sleep? This was just a reminder of what I keep telling myself - PACE YOURSELF! Now if only I can heed my own advice!

 

[Mickeyistheman]

Sara74, You really should heed your own advice, PACE YOURSELF Your children and your husband will be thankful. I know the excitment hits you when you see your hotel and then you go the Magic Kingdom (or whichever park first) and its very exciting but that is when you need to take a breath and repeat in your head, "take it in, let me enjoy this with my family" Then have a great trip!!!!

 

[Eeyore2003]

I think you've alluded to allot of things people absolutely don't expect or realize. 1.Disney is a HUGE place.

2.The parks are definitely emotional "overload", at least I think for most people and definitely kids.

3.It's just too much to take in all at once. You'll NEVER see it all.

4.You gotta know when to stay "stop" and not worry about it or worry that you've missed something.

5.There's no ride I can think of to waste precious Disney time for. There's so much more to do. If it's something you really want to do, go early or use fastpass, but don't waste wonderful Disney time doing this, much less what it does to the kids. If I wait 1/2 hour for a ride, that's REALLY pushing it for me. Not very often will I ever do that either. My usual max is 20 minutes.

6.You need to be aware of the needs of your family and people are NOT having a good time, get out of there.

7.Kids also need rest.

This last vacation was a case in point. My niece, age 8, tolerated about 4-5 hours in the park in the AM. That was it, then she wanted to go in the pool. And believe it or not, she always wanted to go in the DVC pool rather than SAB at the BC!!! She said SAB was too crowded. We spent a minimum of 1 1/2 hours a day and many times more in the pool and relaxing in the afternoon. She was VERY happy that she got to do her "favorite 5 or 6 rides" in the AM and then wanted to have fun in the pool.

She even opted to not see Fantasmic (she has seen it once before), but she wanted to ride RNR and TOT over and over during the show!!! We didn't care. I think the key is to learn to plan, but then go with the flow and don't sweat it. It's a vacation!!! Enjoy!!! We think Disney World is actually REALLY relaxing and fun, with alot of choices of fun things to do, fun and nice places to eat, and wonderful ways to relax.

 

[Eeyore2003]

My most stressful part is "adjusting to life outside of my kingdom" when I get home. (princessly sigh ) It's been three weeks and I'm just getting used to being "out here again". (double sigh )

 

[goofie4goofy]

We really enjoy WDW. We plan our days each morning and we have loads of fun. We have been so many times (going on 50) that we don't feel like we are missing anything, we just enjoy our favorites. We always stay at the GF RPC and get back to our room about 4 ish and enjoy the room/hotel and relax before going to a romantic dinner...(yes they do exist at WDW ).

That being said, WDW is not a relaxing vacation....even at our "non-commando" pace. We love it but it is really in a category of it's own. A real vacation to us is being on a sugar sand beach with clear turquoise water with rum punch in hand at a small upscale resort that holds under 60 people (that does not allow kids) with excellent food and a killer wine cellar. The only question I want to hear for 10 days is ..."Is there anything else I can get you?" That's a vacation....actually I just returned from one of those....WDW is fun but I would not really call it a "vacation" it's more of an alternate universe with lots of walking and people everywhere. Too much input for a relaxing vacation.

 

[Caramia01]

We just got back and went through the same thing. We were all exhausted. Relaxing time - if only a little - is needed. I feel horrible. We picked a place with a decent playground, boats for rent and an awesome pool - and then took my son to the parks EVERY DAY ALL DAY. What's the point of getting the nice hotel? He would've died for some time at the pool. One big regret. Not to mention he was passing out every night around 8-9:30 or so, which is not typical of him at all. We wore the little guy out. Never again.

 

[civileng68]

5.There's no ride I can think of to waste precious Disney time for. There's so much more to do. If it's something you really want to do, go early or use fastpass, but don't waste wonderful Disney time doing this, much less what it does to the kids. If I wait 1/2 hour for a ride, that's REALLY pushing it for me. Not very often will I ever do that either. My usual max is 20 minutes.

Agreed! Don't make the mistake of waiting in line your entire vacation! WDW is a place to SEE and do, NOT just do.

Enjoy the atmosphere and take it all in. If you wait in lines all day, you'll really miss your vacation.

 

[dairyou]

First time we went to WDW it was commando style with a swim break in the middle of the day. Third day, DH was getting cranky and irritated. After 6 trips once a year, sometimes two we finally feel we have seen most. I think it is almost impossible to see it all which keeps us coming back

We purchased DVC 2 years ago. We used to laugh at their logo "Welcome Home", but finally we see the logic in it. We know how to get around in WDW and outside. We go grocery shopping, cook and have family time together. We like to hang out at the villa and go walking around just as we do here in California. This time we are going for 12 days and only going to park 4 days.

Don't try to see everything in one trip. If you like it enough, just come back year after year...lol

Good Luck,
Deb

 

[jarestel]

I think a WDW vacation can be as relaxing or as hectic as one wants it to be. Many people love being on the run all day long, and plan their days down to the hour by hour activities. Others are content to simply wake up and decide what to see and do on the spur of the moment. What works for one family may sound terribly dull to another. The trick is to find out what your crew likes and try to do things at a pace that everyone is comfortable with. Vacations aren't much fun if everyone feels rushed and tired all of the time.

 

[harleyquinn]

We just got back and went through the same thing. We were all exhausted. Relaxing time - if only a little - is needed. I feel horrible. We picked a place with a decent playground, boats for rent and an awesome pool - and then took my son to the parks EVERY DAY ALL DAY. What's the point of getting the nice hotel? He would've died for some time at the pool. One big regret. Not to mention he was passing out every night around 8-9:30 or so, which is not typical of him at all. We wore the little guy out. Never again.

Your pictures say it all!! Great addition! Love Eeoyre's hands in the air--that's awesome! i'll have to remember that when I have kids--just because they are asleep, doesn't mean they can't get their pic with a character!

 

[brerrabbit]

This is a really good question. About two or three trips ago after we got home we decided that on our next trip to WDW we were going to spend more down time and try seeing things outside the parks. On our next trip we intentionally bought only three day passes insted of hoppers for the entir length of our stay. That meant that we only got three out of seven days vacation in the parks. Admittidly we were comando on those days and stayed from open to close. But the real pleasure of that trip was the out of park days. We went to DTD during the day when crowds were less, we toured other resorts and took in all they had to offer. I played golf with my son one afternoon and we actually looked around off Disney property for one of the first times since we have been going to Orlando. We really enjoyed the trip and actually returned home feeling relaxed. Unfortunatly on our latest trip over Thanksgiving we went commando for the week and I got home feeling like I needed a week to recover from my week long vacation.

 

[Ilovestitch]

That's why I think the ultimate Disney vacation would be a week at the parks followed by a DISNEY CRUISE DCL is really relaxing and the perfect follow up to WDW, you will come home refreshed.

Anyways:

On our trip last May we were at the parks all day 8am to about 7pm with NO break. We got back to AKL and decided we'd take a quick nap and then go get a late dinner and go to Pleasure Island.

Well we fell asleep for our nap and guess when we woke up?? 8am the NEXT DAY! That's how exhausted we were- we slept for 12 HOURS! We woke up SO hungry so I called Disney Dining and asked for a PS for Boma for breakfast. The CM said "When would you like your PS?" I said NOW!!!

 

[disneymama73]

Our last trip felt very hectic. We had a good time, don't get me wrong, but it was hectic even though it was a slow time of year. DH and I wanted to slow down, but the kids were maniacs. They would flip out if we "only" went on say 4 rides that day. We let the kids sleep in so they won't be as cranky. By the time we got into the parks, it was usually time for lunch. DH and I like to have leisurely meals and really enjoy the food and the atmosphere. And with kids, you know how long meals take anyway! Then at the end of the day they would be complaining that they didn't do enough. We did all of Animal Kingdom, but they were upset because they only went on one ride (the Safari). We tried to tell them that WDW isn't just about rides. They were still mad.

I am so looking forward to my Moms only trip next month. I really want to relax on this trip. We are going to the spa, shopping, etc. It will be heavenly.

 

[jann1033]

while i agree wdw can be tiring, it's a fun tired to me. and really that is why we mainly stick to the parks and go off season so it isn't so hot nor crowded. we also always eat asit down lunch and relax during our park hrs. so although we are there all day we aren't rushing around all day. and usually we are in bed by 10 or 11... i am amazed how people espec. with little kids are in the parks all day and out till the early morning hrs too. we'd see them leaving the resort when we were coming home to go to bed!then i would need avacation after vacation

 

[BeccaGrace]

I have to say I came back feeling totally refreshed from our week at Disney and I think it is because we planned the trip totally around what the kids wanted to do and their schedules. It meant that dh and I didn't ride Soarin', we didn't get back to the World Showcase and we cancelled our Le Cellier ressie (the CM literally gasped and said, "You're cancelling Le Cellier for the RAINFOREST CAFE!?!?!?--um, yeah & thank for shoving the knife in a bit deeper! ) It also meant that we were only at the parks for about 5-6 hours a day but we went right when they opened and did all the rides as walk on...I felt sad leaving when people were still coming but we rode everything they wanted, had a leisurely afternoon with naps, swimming and just playing with their new toys and then they were fine for an evening show or fireworks. Do I feel like I missed stuff or that I didn't spend as much time as I might have wanted to? Sure--but it was definitely a fair trade off because we were totally rested and the girls had a great time. When Grace asked to keep riding Goofy's Barnstormer 6 times in a row since there was no one on line the commando in me was thinking, "but there's gonna be a line for the next ride" but the laid-back vacationer said, "Sure honey" and she said it was the greatest day in her life AND even better dh didn't feel stressed and wants to go back, so that means there will be a next time and we will get a chance to see what we missed!