My God, Woman - You've Got To Chill!!! (Norm Vs. Gravy)

[LadyDiznee123]

"MY GOD, WOMAN -- YOU'VE GOT TO CHILL!!!"

Hello DIS family:

Above is what I found that I needed to tell myself a few days ago with regard to my upcoming, short (5 day) visit. I am posting this just in case it serves to help others manage their shorter stays, and manage their wants vs. their must-do's. Below was the ORIGINAL mindset with regard to this trip... when I was on the right track. I lost sight of this, hence - this is where I went wrong.

ORIGINAL MINDSET (After returning home from a NEAR PERFECT 8 day trip in November 2017):
"Gee... you had so much fun, it's the first time that you've come home and had an immediate itch to return again. Usually you don't get an itch to return until a year or so. Now SDD is going to be open. Can you really afford to do this again... so soon??? Do you really want to?? Yes, SDD is calling you!! You've got to do it! So do it! Even if it's only a 3 Day trip! Do it! Enjoy! Yes, it's just a short SDD trip, but you can say you did it! It will only be for SDD.... enjoy it and head home!"

Now, fast-forward, long story short.
I booked. I realized I could afford a couple more days, and that one of those days would include Mickey's birthday celebration. Great for me! It's still a short 5-day trip, but such luck!

Well, the "such luck" - may have been where I began to go wrong and over-excited. I began to plan this (expectation-wise) the way I would do a longer trip. I began to get stressed when realizing that my MIDDLE 3 DAYS (which will be split 2-Park days) - seemed too limited ("but what if I can't do yada-yada" - I began to think/bemoan). I found out that there was an EMM day on Mickey's Birthday (my all day MK day!). I went to book it and it was sold out. I growled and pouted and became childishly-disappointed / stressed because I couldn't get it. That's when I realized something was wrong with my planning /mindset. Yes, I was over-planning as usual, and there's nothing wrong with that per se, but I was still thinking in mindset of filling my proverbial mouth with more food than I could possible partake of. If there was an EMM that I needed to do.. it would be for ToyStoryLand... not for MK. I will be doing a full (Ropedrop to Closing) day on that MK / Mickey's Birthday day. I don't need to ride 7DMT 11 times. I do SOLO... so I never have a problem getting the most out of my day. If I do a ride only once, I'm thrilled and satisfied. Yet I was about to have a conniption over not being able to do that EMM. I even realized that, since I will be solo, the chances are greater - if I keep trying - that I will INDEED, be able to get that EMM ticket. But I have since, eliminated this from my need to do. I don't need to do it... and it even serves as an addition 70 plus dollars in my budgeted pocket. Heck, that's extra money for purchases, snacks or even a couple of table service meal monies (including a character meal - which I did not put in my plans this time. Don't feel the need this go round. Perhaps a Crystal Palace walk-in).

I am lucky as heck to have these five days. To stay on property and be in the Bubble.. especially when I was not sure that I could even do the trip at all at first.

I calmed my thoughts and told myself to remember the original mindset. Which was... It's a SDD and Mickey's Birthday trip. Nothing more. And this means that I should consider ANYTHING ELSE... ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THOSE TWO THINGS... as GRAVY. Staying at a Disney resort... Gravy! My "must-get" Fish and Chips at Yorkshire / Epcot.... Gravy! A mere relaxing ride on The People Mover.... Gravy! My treat-to-self soft serve Ice cream at the Anandapour Truck in AK... Gravy! Pics in front of the Castle.... Gravy! Watching River of Lights at AK.... Gravy. Relaxing with the pillow that I bring, in front of the castle, 90 minutes before the MK Fireworks.... Gravy! All my FP's at all of the parks.... GRAVY. Having Park-Hoppers... Gravy! My ressy at The Edison.... Gravy. All of the nighttime festivities at HS and AK (which I love)... Gravy! Seeing all of these things/events as Gravy... eliminates the Disney-Spoiled syndrome.

When our time is limited... it helps to make a short list of the MUST-DO things, rides, attractions, events, that mean the most to us..... enjoy them... and consider anything else you enjoy as Gravy. It will help you better appreciate the over-all experience. What I saw as a part of what I should NORMALLY do.. cannot be categorized as the norm for this trip. It must be put into a new category of.... "GRAVY" or "ICING."

I had to tell myself to CHILL!!!
I want to enjoy this trip, but it had (due to my own over-loaded thought processes) become SO stressful --- to the point where I wasn't even enjoying (as I usually do) my planning stage. I even began to lose my itch to go. I now see that 5 days would be dream to certain people in this world. I am thanking God for my blessings, and looking forward to enjoying this short, SDD / Mickey's Birthday 5-day visit.

I am posting this just in case it helps even ONE person calm down with respect to limitations for your trip. Sometimes we just have to smell the flowers and enjoy, as opposed to sabotaging yourself, and stealing your own joy!

 

[Eve & Wall-e]

I like your post. I start my trip planning with a "must do" list and have another list of nice to do if there's time. I do my best not to over plan. I can see how tempting it is, though. Just this morning I made a reservation for the new Rhino tour at AK.

Have a magical visit!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I like your post. I start my trip planning with a "must do" list and have another list of nice to do if there's time. I do my best not to over plan. I can see how tempting it is, though. Just this morning I made a reservation for the new Rhino tour at AK.

Have a magical visit!

"... NICE TO DO IF THERE'S TIME..."
Exactly! Not having that mindset was where I lost myself. Glad I caught myself.
You too - Have A Magical Trip!

 

[Wild4Walt]

Happens to the best of us - especially with so much to see and do now.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I love this! I have become totally overwhelmed and I really need to work on adopting this mindset. Thank you for posting it, and have a great time!

 

[Micca]

Good attitude, great post, but somehow I'm now craving biscuits...

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I love this! I have become totally overwhelmed and I really need to work on adopting this mindset. Thank you for posting it, and have a great time!

Wow. I just got chills. I did not want to post this at first. My first thought was.. nobody cares.. so I'm glad it helped!
I realized that I got SO stressed and cranky, that it was really going to hinder my over-all experience (the utter stress and disappointment was REAL), and I decided to post this because I thought it might help someone. I wondered if this was happening to anyone else (even ONE person), and that perhaps this could serve to get them back on a realistic track. So glad you saw some value in this! You have an outstanding time as well!

 

[NH-to-FL]

"MY GOD, WOMAN -- YOU'VE GOT TO CHILL!!!"

LOL.... You sound a bit like me many years ago after our second and third trips while planning for the following trip.

What finally calmed me down was when I finally internalized that I will return. No need to get crazy and make complex plans to do everything in the next trip. There will be another trip. If we don't get to something we'll do it next time.

After that realization my planning simplified and mostly focused on picking what day for what park. Made fairly easy by mostly taking advantage of morning EMH. We would plan for rope drop to hit our favorites, back then it was via the paper FP, and then decide in the moment what we wanted to do after finishing the "must do's". We would take afternoon breaks to recover from the rope drop wake up. After our break would be another in the moment discussion to decide what to do in the evening. This made the planning much easier and our visits much more relaxed.
Wishing you a trip!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

LOL.... You sound a bit like me many years ago after our second and third trips while planning for the following trip.

What finally calmed me down was when I finally internalized that I will return. No need to get crazy and make complex plans to do everything in the next trip. There will be another trip. If we don't get to something we'll do it next time.

After that realization my planning simplified and mostly focused on picking what day for what park. Made fairly easy by mostly taking advantage of morning EMH. We would plan for rope drop to hit our favorites, back then it was via the paper FP, and then decide in the moment what we wanted to do after finishing the "must do's". We would take afternoon breaks to recover from the rope drop wake up. After our break would be another in the moment discussion to decide what to do in the evening. This made the planning much easier and our visits much more relaxed.
Wishing you a trip!

"...THERE WILL BE ANOTHER TRIP..."
Exactly. For me it won't be until Disney50 Celebration. (not a big Star Wars fan - so I will spend some time away from WDW to look forward to Disney 50 and go BIG: 14-16 Days) But nonetheless... NOW feeling blessed for the little bit of time I have.
Thanks so much!

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Wow. I just got chills. I did not want to post this at first. My first thought was.. nobody cares.. so I'm glad it helped!
I realized that I got SO stressed and cranky, that it was really going to hinder my over-all experience (the utter stress and disappointment was REAL), and I decided to post this because I thought it might help someone. I wondered if this was happening to anyone else (even ONE person), and that perhaps this could serve to get them back on a realistic track. So glad you saw some value in this! You have an outstanding time as well!

I definitely care, because I have been going through periods for the last few months of actually dreading our upcoming trip. I have put so much pressure on myself to have the perfect Disney vacation and I keep adding more and more to my plans, just so I don’t miss out. We go in 2 weeks and I spent all of today re-doing our plans from stretch and calling Disney, forcing “just one more thing” into our plan.

I want to reply to one thread (that I started, about how long do people keep changing their plans!) and then I’m going to try to take a full week where I don’t look at my plan, and don’t spend all my spare time obsessing on it. My husband has one goal: he wants to see our niece do Jedi Training. Everything else is gravy for him. I need to think about my main purpose, the one or two things that I want to do in order to say it went well, and then look at the rest as gravy, as you say.

If I don’t do something about it now, then there is a very good chance that I am going to be too burned out to actually enjoy our trip. I will be so focussed on the plan that I miss out of the fun.

Thank you again for posting, and for the timely reminder.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

Good attitude, great post, but somehow I'm now craving biscuits...

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Much needed. I also decided a while back to chill. In fact, I only have 1 fp each for DHS and EP. (I got TSL EMM and PPO Garden Grill). I also dropped the EMM for MK because I snagged 7DMT and PP. I'm doing a Halloween party and got FOP. I'm set. I have basically gotten my plans to half days/nights so we have chill time between. I have dropped most of my ADRs, though I am down to 1 must get, and I've been trying for that for almost 2 months (missed one today in fact). But I've got the ADR for most of our party so it won't kill me to miss it. I'll just grab a pastry or something. Thanks for the reality check!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I definitely care, because I have been going through periods for the last few months of actually dreading our upcoming trip. I have put so much pressure on myself to have the perfect Disney vacation and I keep adding more and more to my plans, just so I don’t miss out. We go in 2 weeks and I spent all of today re-doing our plans from stretch and calling Disney, forcing “just one more thing” into our plan.

I want to reply to one thread (that I started, about how long do people keep changing their plans!) and then I’m going to try to take a full week where I don’t look at my plan, and don’t spend all my spare time obsessing on it. My husband has one goal: he wants to see our niece do Jedi Training. Everything else is gravy for him. I need to think about my main purpose, the one or two things that I want to do in order to say it went well, and then look at the rest as gravy, as you say.

If I don’t do something about it now, then there is a very good chance that I am going to be too burned out to actually enjoy our trip. I will be so focussed on the plan that I miss out of the fun.

Thank you again for posting, and for the timely reminder.

Wow. It sounds like you're on the right track now. Over-planning in my opinion is actually a GOOD thing. Because when I over-plan, I over-plan for PLAN-B's, PLAN-C's, etc - knowing that there will not be a "Perfect" visit. Something will always go wrong. But if that one or two or three things go WRONG... I don't really care as much because I have done so many other things. For example... getting on the LIBERTY SQUARE RIVERBOAT was on my itinerary for my trip last November (I usually reject it, but hadn't done it in so long, that now I wanted to do it again). Yet over 3 tries, I could not get on. First, I missed the boat and didn't want to wait, then the next time there was no boat ride because it was reserved for a Tiana party. Then the 3rd time I realized that while I was waiting for the next boat, I was about to miss a FP that I didn't want to miss.. so I left. So THE RIVERBOAT was chalked-up as a loss. But nothing to cry over since I did do SO MUCH during that trip.

So over-planning is great, especially when you have the TIME to do what you want. But if you plan for things that you may or may not have the TIME to do... you will INDEED begin to DREAD your experience... which was the road I was on. Let some of those things go, and keep / look forward to the others. Your hubby and the Jedi Training thingy is on the right track. Nothing wrong with changing some of your plans - to get more out of your experience. I realized in 2015 that I had WAY too many ADR's (like afternoon tea at Grand Floridian) that was killing my park enjoyment time. I was feeling stressed and tired and feeling like I wasn't enjoying my Disney experience. I was feeling lost. I got smart. My final 3 days were out-of-this-world-fun and relaxing! Why!? I got rid of my last 3 or so ADR's. Those ADRs were nice... but not a priority for "fun." I was losing park time something awful.

Go back to your list and eliminate anything that you think might be tangling up your visit. Keep that Jedi Training... or that Character meal at wherever you feel is a must, and start to minimize. If you are starting to feel dread (and I know that feeling... a perfect word!) ... that's THEE sure sign you are doing more than you have time to do!

Thanks for your feedback. Have a crazy-fun time!

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Wow. It sounds like you're on the right track now. Over-planning in my opinion is actually a GOOD thing. Because when I over-plan, I over-plan for PLAN-B's, PLAN-C's, etc - knowing that there will not be a "Perfect" visit. Something will always go wrong. But if that one or two or three things go WRONG... I don't really care as much because I have done so many other things. For example... getting on the LIBERTY SQUARE RIVERBOAT was on my itinerary for my trip last November (I usually reject it, but hadn't done it in so long, that now I wanted to do it again). Yet over 3 tries, I could not get on. First, I missed the boat and didn't want to wait, then the next time there was no boat ride because it was reserved for a Tiana party. Then the 3rd time I realized that while I was waiting for the next boat, I was about to miss a FP that I didn't want to miss.. so I left. So THE RIVERBOAT was chalked-up as a loss. But nothing to cry over since I did do SO MUCH during that trip.

So over-planning is great, especially when you have the TIME to do what you want. But if you plan for things that you may or may not have the TIME to do... you will INDEED begin to DREAD your experience... which was the road I was on. Let some of those things go, and keep / look forward to the others. Your hubby and the Jedi Training thingy is on the right track. Nothing wrong with changing some of your plans - to get more out of your experience. I realized in 2015 that I had WAY to many ADR's (like afternoon tea at Grand Floridian) that was killing my park enjoyment time. I was feeling stressed and tired and feeling like I wasn't enjoying my Disney experience. I was feeling lost. I got smart. My final 3 days were out-of-this-world-fun and relaxing! Why!? I got rid of my last 3 or so ADR's. Those ADRs were nice... but not a priority for "fun." I was losing park time something awful.

Go back to your list and eliminate anything that you think might be tangling up your visit. Keep that Jedi Training... or that Character meal at wherever you feel is a must, and start to minimize. If you are starting to feel dread (and I know that feeling... a perfect word!) ... that's THEE sure sign you are doing more than you have time to do!

Thanks for your feedback. Have a crazy-fun time!

Thank you so much. I do apologise for making you my unwitting therapist, but I have to say that you have no idea how helpful everything you have said is to me. It’s exactly what I needed to hear. The good news is that I still have time to salvage it! Thank you, and I hope you have a fantastic trip.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

Much needed. I also decided a while back to chill. In fact, I only have 1 fp each for DHS and EP. (I got TSL EMM and PPO Garden Grill). I also dropped the EMM for MK because I snagged 7DMT and PP. I'm doing a Halloween party and got FOP. I'm set. I have basically gotten my plans to half days/nights so we have chill time between. I have dropped most of my ADRs, though I am down to 1 must get, and I've been trying for that for almost 2 months (missed one today in fact). But I've got the ADR for most of our party so it won't kill me to miss it. I'll just grab a pastry or something. Thanks for the reality check!

YOU ARE WELCOMED!

Those ADR's are a killer! I got rid of a number of them in 2015 in order get back on the relaxation/enjoyment track and I don't regret it one bit. I still want to do Afternoon Tea at Grand Floridian. Perhaps I can a walk-in this trip, perhaps not. I don't think I'll have the time.... and at the end of the day.. I really don't care. I'll do it next go round. It's not on my itinerary. Not going to stress it.
Sounds like you're all set for sure! Enjoy!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

Thank you so much. I do apologise for making you my unwitting therapist, but I have to say that you have no idea how helpful everything you have said is to me. It’s exactly what I needed to hear. The good news is that I still have time to salvage it! Thank you, and I hope you have a fantastic trip.

Are you kidding me! Not at all! I nearly cried.
Over the past four calendar years, these message boards have served as life-savers for me - with respect to getting the most out of my trip, and helped me avoid making huge mistakes. Reading and keeping track on these boards are a must to get yourself and your trip RIGHT! I have been helped by MANY on the DISboards, and it just feels great to be able to post something that might help others.
You are more than welcomed!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

Funny, I started to cry a few moments ago, and I am realizing that while I did indeed post this to help someone else who may be experiencing the same thing, I now see that I think I needed to vent.

I was really potentially ruining my experience. When I saw that this post helped TIGGER IN A KILT, I saw that I may have needed to KNOW that there was someone else feeling as overwhelmed as I was with this FIRST WORLD PROBLEM. But, First World as it may be... it's real because we have become spoiled and we expect so much. I didn't realize it at first, but I think I also needed to see, and was relieved to see, that I was not alone. Yet, we still need to recognize that sometimes our BEST memories aren't the ones we had at a "Grand Floridian 1900 Character Meal", but perhaps that family pic you took of your 4 kids waiting at the resort bus stop to Hollywood Studios - where they are all noshing on / enjoying a pastry from the food court for breakfast, in place of a huge, hot Disney breakfast, because time got away from you, or your budget didn't allow for it. Our best experiences simply aren't always about how big or how long, or how much. We all need to keep this in mind.

 

[hereforthechurros]

So true! I have to bite my tongue when I see people talking about a full week or 10 days or even two weeks not being long enough. It’s vacation, it’s not meant to be stressful or planned to the minute. And if it is you’re doing it wrong!

We prefer quicker trips to marathon ones and have found that sort of having a theme to a trip narrows things down. Last trip we stayed Poly and made the monorail area the theme. Ate at every monorail restaurant, checked out the lounges, walked to GF, hung on the beaches, spent a lot of time at MK and enjoyed the boat rides across the lagoon as well. Was I bummed to miss out on Boma, yeah I guess, but not enough to find time to bus there and back for no other reason.

You have to learn to embrace the chill and ditch the FOMO!

 

[hereforthechurros]

I love this! I have become totally overwhelmed and I really need to work on adopting this mindset. Thank you for posting it, and have a great time!

I definitely care, because I have been going through periods for the last few months of actually dreading our upcoming trip. I have put so much pressure on myself to have the perfect Disney vacation and I keep adding more and more to my plans, just so I don’t miss out. We go in 2 weeks and I spent all of today re-doing our plans from stretch and calling Disney, forcing “just one more thing” into our plan.

I want to reply to one thread (that I started, about how long do people keep changing their plans!) and then I’m going to try to take a full week where I don’t look at my plan, and don’t spend all my spare time obsessing on it. My husband has one goal: he wants to see our niece do Jedi Training. Everything else is gravy for him. I need to think about my main purpose, the one or two things that I want to do in order to say it went well, and then look at the rest as gravy, as you say.

If I don’t do something about it now, then there is a very good chance that I am going to be too burned out to actually enjoy our trip. I will be so focussed on the plan that I miss out of the fun.

Thank you again for posting, and for the timely reminder.

To be fair aren’t you planning a five week trip? That’s enough to drive anyone mad!

 

[LadyDiznee123]

So true! I have to bite my tongue when I see people talking about a full week or 10 days or even two weeks not being long enough. It’s vacation, it’s not meant to be stressful or planned to the minute. And if it is you’re doing it wrong!

We prefer quicker trips to marathon ones and have found that sort of having a theme to a trip narrows things down. Last trip we stayed Poly and made the monorail area the theme. Ate at every monorail restaurant, checked out the lounges, walked to GF, hung on the beaches, spent a lot of time at MK and enjoyed the boat rides across the lagoon as well. Was I bummed to miss out on Boma, yeah I guess, but not enough to find time to bus there and back for no other reason.

You have to learn to embrace the chill and ditch the FOMO!

Deluxe resort theme vacation. Nice. I love taking a ride on the boat... just for the ride. Always funny how other riders strike up a conversation with me as if I'm lodging there. Lol. Anyway... the boat ride, so relaxing. One of the things i think I'll still be able to do this coming trip! But wont be able to do my Ohana, and will miss Lilo. She's a favorite!

Yes, I'm just going to stay focused on my theme of SDD snd Mickey90... and, like I said, consider rest - Gravy.