Need help on changing touring style from commando to not-so-commando

[lacy1101]

I’m interested in possibly changing up our touring style for our upcoming November trip. We are four adults (ages 50-54) who go every year in November (this will be our 6th trip) and have pretty much been touring commando style, i.e. staying in the parks from rope drop ‘til late afternoon/early evening, having dinner and getting back to our room around 10:00ish. We love it and have so much fun, but we also find ourselves sooooo tired at the end of the day. At the end of our last trip, I made the comment that we might need to change our approach a little (I’m the planner). In addition, we are staying at the Boardwalk this year (we usually stay moderate) and with the extra money we’re spending, it would be a shame not to enjoy the resort some.

I’m really at a loss for how to do this though. We’ve been doing Disney for 20+ years pretty much the same way. I would love to hear from others who have a little bit of a more relaxed touring style, but yet still manage to fit in all the things you want to do. I should add we will be there from 11/16-20, arriving around noon on the 16th and leaving around 3pm on the 20th. Thanks so much!

 

[JimmyV]

This is where FP+ is great. Plan your 3 FPs for the afternoon. Sleep in. Have a nice lunch and then head to the park. We just did this on several days (coupled with some commando days. ) At Epcot, make a schedule where you get to World Showcase around 1:00 and commit yourself to visiting only one half of the countries and stick to your plan. Start at Mexico and finish with a performance by the Voices of Liberty followed by the AA show, then have dinner and leave! On a second day in Epcot, do the same thing in reverse. Make it a priority to stop and watch the live performers. We took in two sets of British Revolution. (Each set is different). It's amazing how much you can take in slowly when you let yourself (or force yourself).

Plan dinners away from the parks on most nights. Try nicer restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin or Disney Springs and commit to not going back to the parks. Find a nice place to sit and sip a cocktail or glass of wine. Maybe by a pool or in a comfy lobby chair. This type of relaxation can become as addictive as being a commando.

Edit to add: We are going to practice what I preach. We are in the same age bracket and my wife has made it crystal clear that she greatly preferred our casual days to our commando days and that she is "done" with the latter. Maybe my daughter and I will sneak away some days in the future to recapture our commando glory. But mom is over it.

 

[Donnainnj]

I am having a similar problem. We are not commandos by any means, but are splitting our trip between GF and YC and I keep going back and forth between getting the hopper and staying without it. I know if we can hop we will end up in one of the close parks any night we are free instead of taking advantage of the resort amenities. I don't know if I could take it slow with a shorter trip.

 

[Accident]

We started doing this in 2014 and love Disney more (to the point we just moved here).

1: it's vacation, it's ok to sleep in and call it an early night...
2: don't make all the rides your goal.. Have a more casual goal like trying a few treats you've never done, window shopping more, walking around and just looking up or smelling the roses.. Yeah you'll do some rides and your favorites but those aren't the goal and a more casual goal will have you satisfied that you did it + more...
3: how often do you go? change the goals on every trip.. Is there something special going on and that's the goal of that specific trip? Is there something you've skipped all these years and it's time for a 3 day weekend just to see something very specific.
4: do things you haven't done before.. try sorcerers of the magic kingdom as the goal for that day.. Try the other "guided games" in the other parks also.. See the place different.
5: what have you been skipping that you didn't even know? learn more about what's leaving, coming or temporary and enjoy that..
6: pick a resort and sit in the lobby, learn more about what special things they have.. go horseback riding or a golf lesson...

The big thing is stop being exhausted.. When you stroll around and do what you feel like doing at that moment it really changes disney, you notice more, you enjoy more, your ok with skipping more.. There is always must dos, but they aren't always the same must do...

I do find it easier when the trip is longer.. We like to get the must dos out of the way the first couple days and the rest of the trip is more spontaneous what we feel like doing that moment style..

 

[hiwaygal]

We've never been the commando type so my "plans" for visits are usually pretty simple. I start by picking where we want to have dinners. If, for example, we want to have dinner at 'Ohana, we'll visit the MK that day. It's definitely vacation and we get up whenever and take our time getting ready for the parks. We don't ride much but there is more to ride at Disney than any theme park for us, because we're not into thrill rides. We collect pressed pennies so we spend time looking for those machines, go into almost every shop/store. Mostly we just wander around .

 

[ellie05]

The first thing to understand is that you won't be able to see or do as much as you use too. Our first few trips we were commando style and still are if we are taking newbies. We have our favorite must do rides and that is what we do each trip and the rest are just what we feel like that trip. For example we arrived RD at the MK we went to BTMRR we were able to ride it 4 times in the back row without having to get down, then we hit splash and space and then we were hungry so we had breakfast at BOG. After that we left the MK and headed to our hotel (CS). We walked around a bit, drop our luggage in the room and rested a little and then we headed to Epcot for our FP. There we did Spaceship earth, TT and character spot. Then we waked around the kiosks for lunch at food and garden. We hit 3 caballeros before we made our way to HS there I had our 4th FP for TT then we had dinner at the BD and ended our night with the Star Wars fire works. We always do a mid day break now. We slept in on our AK day got to the park to use our FP. We rode everything we wanted with no wait then he lunch at rainforest and headed out of that park.

We always go to MK late EMH and usually stop at trader SAMs before.

 

[loril13]

We've been 20+ times. I am finally relaxing my commando ways.
* I am still a big fan of rope drop and extra magic am hours. Lighter crowds, fewer random people in my photos, we can just stroll along without getting mauled by the oncoming hoards.
* Even though I try to be more relaxed, I still love my lists. They actually help me relax more. For instance planning a fun in Park activity. We like taking photos in silly hats. This is especially fun in Epcot with all the Country themed hats. This slows us down. Makes us explore the shops more to find just the right item for the photo.
* Resort dining is lovely. After your meal you can explore that resort, its grounds and shops.
* We have APs. We enjoy one Park in the morning. We usually have lunch there. Then we head back to our resort for a nap, or some pool time, or just chilling on the balcony with a book and a drink. Then we go to a different Park for the evening. The Parks are so different from day to night. We like to go to most of them twice. Staying at the Beach Club / Boardwalk area makes this extra easy with Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

 

[YawningDodo]

My big goal for the next time I go to WDW is to schedule at least one resort day -- no parks whatsoever on that day. Sleep in, enjoy the pools, have lunch at a nice resort restaurant, maybe do a little resort hopping later in the day if you're not feeling too lazy. The other thing we did this last fall that I was really grateful for was to plug Hoop Dee Doo into the schedule mid-trip, which meant an evening where we left the parks (relatively) early, sat and enjoyed a show for several hours, then went back to our resort. We did the 6:00 (6:30? don't remember) show because we didn't think we'd be hungry at 4:30, but in all honesty WDW throws my eating schedule completely out of whack and an early dinner like that probably would have been fine and would have meant a shorter day and more restful evening. Going to a longer show means you're off your feet without feeling "cheated" of your fun, which is helpful.

 

[DisneyFive]

My advice would have been to go more often, but you already go a lot. The more we've gone, the more relaxed it's gotten. It kind of happens naturally since you get a little too familiar with certain rides, and especially shows, and just don't need to repeat them so much.

I would say we're still 75% commando, whereas we started at 100% for the first couple of trips. I can't totally just wing it on a WDW vacation. 1) The vacation doesn't come cheap and I don't want to waste my money, and 2) I want to feel that sense of accomplishment when the vacation is over.

Dan

 

[MainMom]

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Plan a commando day followed by a sleep-in/resort day or half day. Maybe do a resort day, then an evening EMH, then later start the next day. Or do early morning and take an afternoon/evening off. There are lots of options. Use the non-park time to try some other restaurants and/or experiences.

 

[Laneybelle]

My hubby and I have been to Disney about 20 times since 2009 (we live about 7 hours away). About two years ago we decided we've done pretty much everything and need to spend more time just enjoying being there instead of trying to cram everything in each trip. So now I've relaxed some (I'm also the planner) and as previously stated, we pick our 3 fast passes and just enjoy the atmosphere. If we ride more things, great. If not, that's ok too. We are staying at AKL for the first time ever (also first time deluxe) and I will definitely be spending time at the resort! Right now we're planning for half days at the parks and the rest at the resort. I know this doesn't work as well for infrequent visitors, but luckily we get to visit fairly often!

 

[mco65]

there seems to be a bit of a common theme.. 'gradually falling off the commando train.'
I know my wife is still full blooded commando and prefers to stay that way but there is no question that the mere fact we have been so many times and seen/rode everything so often that she doesn't mind skipping this show or that ride at the end of a long day just so we can get back to the resort and in bed sooner.. Still, I wouldn't risk asking her to forgo rope drop one morning, that is a deal breaker I am sure.. which is ok with me because I am a morning person. Still waiting on that mid week resort day that I proposed years ago.. so far, not happening.

Good luck in your non Commando pursuit.. I envy you!

 

[Laneybelle]

It was almost physically painful for me to miss rope drop at MK last trip. But I survived!

 

[lpereira]

Our last trip in 2013 my then 7 year old put an end to commando cold turkey. And you know what she was right. It was ok. We spent an entire morning emh riding main st vehicles. Spent an afternoon seeing Philharmagic over and over. Played in Casey Splash and Soak for over an hour. Saw Dream Along with Mickey three times.That trip we never got to HM, HoP, PotC, Astro, Buzz, Monsters Inc, and a whole lot more. And that was ok. Her argument was we spend so much time checking off the list that we never got to just have fun.

 

[lacy1101]

Our last trip in 2013 my then 7 year old put an end to commando cold turkey. And you know what she was right. It was ok. We spent an entire morning emh riding main st vehicles. Spent an afternoon seeing Philharmagic over and over. Played in Casey Splash and Soak for over an hour. Saw Dream Along with Mickey three times.That trip we never got to HM, HoP, PotC, Astro, Buzz, Monsters Inc, and a whole lot more. And that was ok. Her argument was we spend so much time checking off the list that we never got to just have fun.

Wow . . . so much wisdom for a 7-year-old

 

[lacy1101]

Thanks so much everyone for the replies! You have given me a lot of great ideas and suggestions. I'll be working on our itinerary over the next few months and I'll be sure to report back how the planning of our "not-so-commando" trip is going.

 

[tomatecerise]

Sister and i take our Time in the morning, eat breakfast at 8:30am, return at the room, put on bathing suit and Go to the pool and leave at 10:30-11am.

 

[pa. dad]

I think as we go more times that there are less "must dos".
There's a good number of attractions that are good every time but there are also quite a few that can be skipped sometimes.
Reducing the number of musts by a few can allow for a more leisurely pace.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Following. Something happens to me as soon as I get off that plane and I want to spend every minute soaking all I can out of wdw.

Eta: last trip I did discover the beauty of the pool break. Very refreshing and nice way to relax and "get the park off", lol!

 

[Disneylover99]

Buy an AP and book longer, more frequent trips. It slowed us down in a relaxing way.