Maybe I need a reality check..

[crazymomof4]

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Don't get me wrong, we love rides, but if riding them turns more into a chore than enjoyable it may not be worth it. I want us to enjoy the entire experience. Taking in more of the atmosphere than worrying about running past it all.

That's the right idea! People will say things like, "If I'm going to spend that kind of $ I want to be able to do all the attractions offered" but looking back on all the trips we've taken, I cannot tell you which ones we DID everything (if ever) or which ones we only did a handful of rides. What I DO remember is the smiles of my kids, my husband and I as our eyes meet over the kid's heads, funny things the kids did or said in restaurants or while waiting in lines (yes, even that can be made to be fun). You are right, commando touring can turn out to be "a chore" and you don't want that to be what you remember about your 1st WDW vacation.

btw- our Sept trip will overlap with yours!! We go almost exclusively in Sept and have always enjoyed low crowds and short waits.

 

[ajwolfe]

We've been several times, always for 5+ days each, and still haven't seen everything as we are not big on doing the shows. However, I will say that we've always been able to ride all the popular rides and have never been to a rope drop although we do show up close to opening and we always stay late. Don't let people scare you. You don't have to adopt a commando style of touring, you just have to be familiar with what you want to do and what is most important to get to each day.

 

[aggiekat]

I'm glad to see that not everyone is so strict with their plans. I'm actually a planner, but all of this is stressing me out! I like the idea of picking a few must do's. For anyone that asked. We are a family of 4. DD8 and DS2. Our trip is planned for September3rd-12th. So ten days. We are planning to spend 6 or 7 days in the parks. I have 2 for sure 8 AM character breakfasts I want to do, so those days we will definitely be in MK and AK before rope drop. I just didn't want it to have to be an everyday thing. We are big breakfast people so eating a big breakfast is a must. We also are planning afternoons at the hotel so my DS can nap.

So from what I gather MK days are the ones most people seem to recommend rope drop? What about the other parks? It would seem to me with FP+ that there would be a huge need to be at the other parks early! right? Unless I wanted to ride things multiple times?

Don't get me wrong, we love rides, but if riding them turns more into a chore than enjoyable it may not be worth it. I want us to enjoy the entire experience. Taking in more of the atmosphere than worrying about running past it all. If we do do rope drop, how many rides can you typically get in before the crowds and lines swell?

We just got home today. We went for 6 1/2 days and had low crowds, too. We were able to do everything that we wanted (walked onto most rides) and had a pretty relaxed trip. There was only 1 thing that we did that was not relaxed. I waited in line for 2 hours so that my kids could meet Anna and Elsa. And, I would do it again.

We went for rope drop 1 day because I had heard that it was neat for the kids and they liked the singing and dancing so much that we did it another day, too.

Disney is what you make of it. There are things that you can do to make your trip go smoother, but don't let it stress you out. You will be there for long enough that you should be able to do everything that you want to do.