Maybe I need a reality check..

[stephyamber]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

 

[prudence64]

As long as you don't expect to ride every single attraction or do the same rides multiple times, you'll have a good trip.

 

[jj1403]

Just take everything you read here with a grain of salt. There are people who prefer the commando style of touring and those that prefer relaxed. The reality is you probably won't be able to do everything g in one trip. I recommend you research pick out your "must do" rides and activities and let everything else be the icing on the cake.

 

[henry72]

Just take everything you read here with a grain of salt. There are people who prefer the commando style of touring and those that prefer relaxed. The reality is you probably won't be able to do everything g in one trip. I recommend you research pick out your "must do" rides and activities and let everything else be the icing on the cake.

 

[flicx]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

I don't know when you are going, but I would definitely choose a slow time of year. You will have a lot more fun and save a lot more cash if you are staying onsite!

 

[redrosesix]

I think if you have some flexibility in your schedule you can choose to vacation at slower times, and that will make a big difference. Also, if you want a more laid back trip don't schedule a park day for every day of your trip -- things like water parks and downtown disney can help fill some of those days, or you may even want to take a drive to the beach. Weekends are also usually busier.

But on park days, especially now, you have to be there early if you don't want to stand in line too long or want to get in certain rides. Some SB waits are an hour or more. Pick your must do's and if you can get those done you will probably be happy. You could never do everything in one vacation, even before recent changes.

 

[MADnNOLA]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

Also realize that a major portion of the people on this site complain about everything "wrong" with Disney. Yet they continue to return and return to enjoy their vacations. It amazes me how much they complain about what they hate about the place.

Go, have fun, relax, do what you want. It is your vacation. Sleep in! Go to the parks late in the day. Do what you want! Don't let the negative or "you must do this" attitudes of the posters on the site dictate YOUR vacation.

 

[scoutie]

I had the same worry when I planned my first Disney trip. I think it's important to have a plan for sure, and have a few "must sees/must dos", and then relax about the rest. For instance, it was important for my kids to fight Darth Vadar at HS, ride Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, do Enchanted Tales with Belle, and to attend Cinderella's Royal Table. We planned those things out, and went with the flow for the rest.

I will say, though, that if my family went to the parks at noon, they would have missed out on a lot of things (we were there the first week of January last year, so it was busy). There were days that the parks closed because they were at capacity.

 

[DVCcurious]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides?

Only if you want short waits. If you're willing to wait an hour then you can show up at any time.

We went MLK week. So it was a "low crowd time" T-Th. We only rode things with FP+ or we did the attractions with short lines without FP+. Here's a list of rides you can do at any time of day with little wait(starting in Adventureland, ending in Tomorrowland): Pirates, Flying Carpets, Tiki Room, Country Bears, Presidents, It's a small world, Mickey's Philharmagic, Regal Carousel Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Tea Cups, Carousel of Progress, Laugh Floor, Stitch.

These rides all require a FP+ reservation, getting out of bed at 6AM, or a 45+ minute wait: Splash, Thunder, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Winnie the Pooh, Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, any Princess Meet and Greet

So if you're OK with only doing rides on the first list you'll be fine rolling in whenever you feel like it. If you want to do rides on the second list you will either FP them, get out of bed at 6AM, or you will wait 45+ minutes. There's just no way around this. It is the facts of life.

Other parks are much worse with the wait times without FP+ because they all have limited "good" attractions.

 

[3boysNagirl]

We were first timers last year and returning with days added this fall The boards can make it seem overwhelming though as a pp stated there is a very wide range of personality here ;-) My main points I can say were #1 research rides & show family the ones you believe they will have interest in. Make the ones to receive the most excitement "must do" So make sure you map them out of park&place in park mentally. #2 Research food making sure to have at least 2 QS in each park that you KNOW your troop can eat something off menu. Also map these mentally by park&place in park. We did not do TS as I wasn't keen on having that strict of a schdl for our first. This year we are only doing 2-3 TS keeping a loose schdl. #3 Vacation YOUR way! We didn't make RD one time yet rode every headliner in each park hitting some of the faves 2-3 times. Watched a few shows & walked around the WS stopping at least one ride or shop per country ALL IN 3 days Now, I do have teen boys & we did go during off season so Yes, planning to extent is required for WDW yet it doesn't have to be boot camp ;-) I cried like crazy during Wishes as I never even had hope as a child to visit so taking my boys was a huge dream Standing in front of that castle watching Tink fly :0

 

[phyllis1966]

I agree with all of the above. On our first trip I was unaware of these boards. I checked out the WDW website and learned about the rides, then we kinda wandered around with not much of a plan and had a great time.

Granted, this was in 2002, when attendance was way down, but you will still have a great time! I suggest you try to fit in one MK rope drop, the opening show is really cute. Make some dining reservations (ADR's), so you're not eating counter service for every meal. Other than that, try not to stress...these boards can make you feel like a WDW vacation is more like work! Hopefully, you can go during a slower time of year.

Have a great time...your kids will love it!

 

[kP72]

I've only been a member of this board for a few months, but after reading a lot of this stuff I'm actually somewhat afraid of what our first Disney vacation will be like. Do I really need to be up at 6 am every morning to ride rides? Race people at the parks to have under a 40 minute standby wait? This is a vacation after all, and it's bad enough that every detail of it needs to be planned to begin with.

It's been a dream of mine to be able to take my kids to Disney while they were young. To be one of the families fortunate enough. I'd still like it to feel like a vacation though. Is it even a possibility to take your time, perhaps sleep in a couple days and still be able to enjoy everything we want?

You bet! It's your vacation and do what feels right to you.

Our next trip to WDW (5th for me) will be more relaxed than normal since we are taking a newbie family with us. So, we are going with the mindset that not all rides will be ridden, sleep-in mornings will be a must, and racing to a park for rope drop is out of the question. But that's ok! It's vacation and it will be wonderful regardless.

 

[crostorfer]

If you want to see and do "everything", or ride what you deem to be your favorite attractions more than once without a substantial wait, then yes, you do need to be up at 6am and racing people to, and through, the parks. I'm sorry if that disappoints you. If you've never been before though, this may not bother you, as you'll have no basis of comparison for how things used to be.

 

[tazadd0420]

Each person has to determine what works best for their family. We AR quasi commando with a day off here or there. Keep reading I think you will find people that enjoy Disney in a relaxed way and others like very busy. Either way you will have a great time. This is our sixth time an we have changed from commando to quasi commando/laid back. Let us know when you are going, what you want to see/do, interests for your kids. With that info did board people can be quite helpful. Relax and enjoy your vacation. Do no stress.

 

[WendyWuWu]

We've visited WDW many times throughout the years, and I STILL have not seen or done everything there is to do. I've yet to see Tom Sawyer Island or Country Bear Jamboree, ride Mission Space or even Rock n Roller Coaster. We prefer a more relaxed vacation (we're not as young as we used to be). We always hit our favorites sometime during our week or so there, but we no longer feel it necessary to be up and at'em at the crack of dawn every single day. If you don't see another WDW vacation though in your near future, however, you may want to try to hit rope drop at least a couple of days. I highly recommend getting park hopper passes. This way, if crowds seem too large in one park, you may be able to hop to another and be able to do more things. I also love going to one park for the day, then hop to another in the evening for dinner and fireworks/shows. Good luck!

 

[lenkard]

What time do you normally wake up? I wake at 6 to get ready for work so keeping the same schedule on park days really isn't a big deal. 6 is actually kind of early on the days the parks open at 9 - shouldn't be much prep time needed to leave the room by 7 or so. We'll take some days to sleep in and either not go to a park or go late in the day after peak crowds.
Yes, reading some of these posts creates a lot of pressure to plan, plan, plan and tour, tour, tour but just take things at your own pace. Lots of magic to see and do even if you have to skip the headliners, but if you are used to waking up at 6, why not do so on a couple of days and enjoy the parks with short lines.

 

[4xmom]

There is so much to do and see that even if there were short lines, you would probably not be able to see and do everything anyway. Just have a list of must do rides/attractions. We have never used a FP-. I am actually looking forward to trying the FP+ because I can schedule things for the afternoon.

You have to decide how you want your vacation to be. At home, we all (kids included) love to sleep in. Dh is the worst of us though! At Disney, he is the first up and we don't sleep in at all. And we call our trips to Disney adventures not a vacation. We pay way to much to sleep. lol We can sleep when we get home.

 

[mrsltg]

It depends on what you want to do. As others have pointed out, arriving after 10 and just figuring to go with the flow is fine, but don't be disappointed by long waits - especially in Fantasyland. If you have kids who are going to be upset by the inability to ride those rides without 40+ wait, get to the park before rope drop. Same goes for EPCOT if you would like to ride Soarin or Test Track (and only can be ridden with FP+).

We've been to WDW enough times now that we do sleep in a couple of days. However, there is a lot to do at the parks that my kids, and frankly, my husband and I, consider "must-do's". It would stress me to no end to arrive at MK at 10:30 and walk into the park with no plan. Be honest with yourself about how you will feel if x, y, or z is not done on your trip. Same goes for your husband. Don't wait until you are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people at MK to decide that you should have done something differently. This vacation is an expensive investment; make sure you are doing what will make you happy. WDW is not the same as the beach or a cruise, etc. You can be laid back, but I would advise against planning for a relaxed vacation on your first Disney trip.

Whatever you decide to do, have a wonderful time doing it!

 

[stairstepmom]

We are fond of saying that Disney is not a "vacation" but an "experience" - if we want a vacation we go to the beach!

When my DH and I first went in 2001, we had no idea what "rope drop" even was, park hopped to and from ADRs very inefficiently LOL, and still had a great time - but that was Jan 2001, and it was DEAD, I mean we literally walked on everything, at all times of day.

Those days are long gone, unfortunately. As others have said, what you get out of your trip will depend on your expectations and what you put into it (by planning, getting up earlier, etc) - if you lower your expectations, then you can put in less and have a great time. I know for my family, we would be disappointed to miss most of the attractions (not all - can't say we'd miss doing Stitch!) so we do get up early, drag ourselves to rope drop and follow a very tight plan. When we are running late, we pay for it later - it is a noticeable difference.

FP+ also made a noticeable difference for us. We were there when MK was changing over to all FP+, so we had one day with paper FPs available and three days without. That one day we hit rope drop and did at least twice more rides, including many repeats of our faves, like BTMRR 3x in the late afternoon with no wait (once with FP+, twice with paper FP). The other three days we missed rope drop by 30 min to an hour, only had FP+ and we did SO much less and spent a lot of time just wandering around skipping the 30 min+ lines and settling for less popular attractions (like Tea Cups instead of Pooh), telling our kids, "No, honey, we can't ride that again - we just used our one FP+ for it and the line is 45 min long - we'll miss our ADR and get charged $120 if we try to get in it." FP+ makes it a whole different animal for people with our touring style.

So the big question is - what do you want to get done on the trip? It's hard to say without having been there but I know for me, I am still kicking myself for taking too long at our pre-rope drop Ohana meal in 2012, missing rope drop by 30 min and not riding Snow White because the line was too long. And this last trip, even with 2 days at HS, we didn't ride the Great Movie Ride (one of my faves) because of 30-40 min posted waits. It bums me out to think about it LOL!

But it just means we have to go back sooner than planned

 

[tazadd0420]

Not understanding the 6am wake up call. We have hit every rope drop and wake up by 7:15 to 7:30. We are gluten free so normally eat cereal bars and grab a drink at the cafe. That gets us to the park well before 9. We do not do the early EMH. We do like sleep. So we only RD the 9am parks and then do late EMH. We have even woken up at above time, gotten breakfast at on site food court (even gluten free, which takes an extra 15 min) and we still make RD with normally 10 min to spare. We do go during slow times though. So stop letting the 6am people worry you.