Park commandos who visit Disney frequently, do you ever get burned out?

[Disney_traveler]

My first trip taking my parents was very much commando as I thought it was be their once and only time. They both enjoyed it and Mom has returned with me at least once a year since. We adopted a sort of relaxed commando style as there was always something new to do. However after our last trip we are talking a step back. Cm/customer interactions were subpar and it didn't feel the same. Rides and food were great but it was lackluster.

 

[FastPasser]

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[Peepster]

Guess we represent both ends of the spectrum, too. We are approaching trip number 60 or so from 1972 forward. Generations from taking my parents, who are now gone, to now taking their great-great grandkids. We went from commando to "the Disney walk" to, unfortunately, on our next trip, my beloved spouse will be using a scooter due to a life-threatening, chronic disease.
And, yes, some things have changed at the World and we know our trips are dwindling but we enjoy each one, at each pace. While there are many other experiences and places in the world to visit, and we have, we have not been bored at WDW. The years and the experiences have been very kind to us.

 

[CynBeth]

Our next trip is booked right now for 11/30-12/9 so we are excited to be there for the Christmas festivities for the first time. I'm sure that will add so much to having a new experience.

Definitely take time to tour the deluxe resorts for their decorations and FW campsites. Also, the storytellers and CP at Epcot.

We usually go every few years although we did go this past Dec after being there Thanksgiving the year before. We are at the different parks usually from open to close. Our trip is usually 9 days and we are usually at MK and Epcot 2 days Each and then 1 each for AK and DHS plus time to go back to a park we need to and 1 or 2 other area attractions plus a visit to Disney Springs. I have family members with food allergies so we pretty much have to eat at TS for all meals and we find especially for lunch and dinner that the hour or so we are there is our time to rest and recharge. Where are you staying?

 

[Sweettears]

Same here. At first it was how much can I do and how much time can I get in the parks. (ie we spent all this money on tickets to Disney... no you can't stay at the hotel and swim. We can do that at home! - lol) Now its much different. I know what I like but I also try to find (and I still do) something I've not done before or something I don't do every trip. Its not a rush to try to get everything done as I know I will be back. I also feel I enjoy what I am doing more and I know how and what to plan so I get to do my "must dos".

For my first few adult trip I wondered why anyone would pay to stay at a deluxe when you are only in the room to sleep. But as my tour strategy changed my opinion on this did too. I am now purchasing a DVC so I'll stay DVC for a least one trip annually. I try to stay a few nights each trip at deluxe hotel and enjoy the hotel as much as the parks.

Right now I am working on staying at every hotel... I am 11/19 resorts!

I agree that the resort room has taken on more importance as time has gone on. I now look forward to having a room with a balcony to chill out on while overlooking the parks and resorts.

 

[SuperTink]

Our trips have always been rather short and only every other year at max. So naturally we are going to try to pack in as much as possible. However, we only visit our favorites and rarely do anything else. Nothing about the Disney hotels themselves seems special enough to spend a lot of time there. Now that the girls are grown, swimming is no big deal. Our hotel is mostly a vehicle to get us to the parks--although we like to have as much comfort as is reasonable so we prefer to do Moderate. We've come to really enjoy our short trips as we have become more familiar with the parks, and our state of mind is more relaxed, but we still RD, rest, hop to close as much as possible. Works for us!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Yes. There's sometimes that moment when you're in the middle of one of the parks, or on a ride, and you just think to yourself that you're not feeling the magic and just going through the motions. It's my signal to slow way down and go do something different that I wouldn't ordinarily do.

 

[GoofyMitchell]

We used to be commando's too but now that we have 3 kids we just don't have the energy anymore. LOL. We still like to go early but if we miss rope drop we aren't going to freak out. We leave the park when we are tired and we spend a lot more time now at the resorts and the pool! When planning our next trip we always make it a point to try something we have never tried. We are always mixing in new restaurants with our can't miss restaurants. Still so much we haven't done!

 

[edk35]

We kind of still do it. LOL I want to be at the park at opening no matter when we go or how often. We have had some more relaxing trips and do that more in the summer because of the heat. HOWEVER, if we go when the weather is more pleasant and not wicked hot, we tend to do a lot each day.

 

[nicolej92]

My first few trips were definitely commando, but on the recent one with my fiancé we decided to pick a few "must dos" in each park and take the days as they came. It was my favorite Disney trip by far. We are also buying DVC before our wedding in 2018, so that will also give our trips a much more laid back feel as we will be spending more time in the resort.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We have morphed a bit. Diehard commando under the paper fastpass system, partial commando with FP+. We visit several times a year but we try to mix it up a bit. Like taking a launch from MK to Poly to grab bite to eat. During warm weather trips, we make sure to hit the water parks. During the December we visit multiple resorts and enjoy the decorations and the more relaxed atmosphere than being in the parks. The parks themselves and the procedures (like rope drop) are always changing, so there is enough change to keep it from getting old. Let me be clear, we could never go continuously from rope drop to fireworks time. Typically in the hot weather, we tour from rope drop to about 1pm. Then we find something to do that has less heat! In the cooler months, we will tour longer and enjoy the "look" of each park around sunset. We have always been an early to bed, earry to rise family while at the parks.

 

[David Brent]

When my family had the 3-4 park FL passes, we did commando. When we got AP, we come and go as we please.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I haven't gotten bored yet. I used to do commando touring but haven't done that in a few years - except for my Dec. 2016 trip but even then I knew I wouldn't be getting to everything.

I do different things each trip and often plan trips around Festivals so that helps keep things new and fun for me.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We go multiple times a year and left commando-style behind a few years ago. Now, we do our few favorites and then focus on new events, rides and attractions. WDW is always adding new stuff, so we never get bored, but we do tour in a more relaxed way now and aren't disappointed if we miss things. I'm sure there are some things, like Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea, etc. that we will never ride again. We will be down next weekend (primarily for a basketball game) and are only going to EP for the arts festival. We will most likely only ride 2 rides and just walk around the rest of the time. Still love it!

 

[klmall]

Since we now go only every 2 - 3 years; I still tour somewhat commando but when we went 3 years in a row I did get somewhat burned out; hence trips only every 2 - 3 years lately. I've also found that as much as I love planning and going on a trip I am almost always ready to go home on our last day. It tales me a good six months or so to get any urge to go again. I know, I am not typical

 

[dreiwhit]

I never thought of the term, but my family and I are Park Commandos. Maybe we need to get T-Shirts made up!

We get to the parks at RD and get done what we want to get done, sometimes riding the same ride several times. Our midday break is lunch, but we also use rides and attractions to take a break. We don't leave at lunch just because we don't stay on property.

We don't get burned out because we don't do Disney that often. Right now, our next trip is going to be either in 2019 or 2020. However, we do get tired and do get sore feet. We usually are ready to go back to the room anywhere from 5-7pm. Ibuprofin and Icy Hot have becomes some of our good friends at WDW!

 

[shannonstar]

We take an eight day trip and commando only the first 1/2. Once we have done everything we came to do (Commando Style), we become more relaxed and choosy about how we spend our time. I find it really works for us.

 

[mco65]

Commando here.. at least my wife is and she drags me along.. i get burned out during the day.. more like exhausted... and am ready to go home at the end of the vacation.. but within a few weeks of being home i start looking at my crystal ball to see when we can go back.

I am starting to see a shift in priorities with the kids. They too are beginning to tire near days end and asked a few times during our last trip to go back to the resort and hit the pool! Yippee!!! So there was a slight downward shift our last trip. We hit EVERY ROPE DROP but only a couple fireworks shows...

 

[bnhonest]

Yes. There's sometimes that moment when you're in the middle of one of the parks, or on a ride, and you just think to yourself that you're not feeling the magic and just going through the motions. It's my signal to slow way down and go do something different that I wouldn't ordinarily do.

This so much! I remember the moment well on my family's last trip. (2nd family trip) We were on day 6, our 2nd day at HS, the kid's early morning audible on which park they wanted a 2nd (or 3rd) day of. We rode TSMM, ToT, RnR and StarTours by noon and had a QS lunch. My wife and 6 yr old were sitting on a bench on Sunset Blvd. It was about 1:00 on a December afternoon and everyone agreed that we had done everything we wanted to do in the parks. We were just done.

So it was then that I decided our next trip was going to be more resort focused. So in May, we're doing 7 days at Disney, but only 5 days in the park. The other two will be by the pool at the resort or on a boat headed to Disney Springs. Also scheduling in mid-day breaks to swim and relax. We will hit our favorites, but the kids are older and there are things we once had to do that we don't have to do any more. So I anticipate this trip being a drastic departure from our two previous trips.

 

[iujen94]

I think we must be in the minority - we always have been and I'm sure always will be park commandos! We've gone at least once a year since my older son was 3 (he's 13 now). If anything, we've gotten more commando as the years have gone by and we've figured out our favorite rides - because we don't want to just ride them once, but as many times as possible. And since our favorites are EVERYONE'S favorites (7DMT, the Mountains, TSMM, Soarin, etc.), we work for those rides! Honestly, though, I think the "challenge" of getting in as many rides on our favorites as we can is part of the fun for us. We refuse to wait in a line that's longer than 20 minutes, and we love coming up with a strategy. I will say that every year as our trip approaches, a part of me will feel like "been there, done that" and not as excited about the upcoming trip. Yet every trip, we manage to have an unexpected special experience (family of the day!) or discover something that we didn't know about before that will make that trip memorable and special in its own way. COMMANDOS FOR LIFE!