Planning our first trip!

[lilacmermaid]

My family and I are in the early stages of planning our first trip together (though I've been researching for a year now).

My family doesn't travel a lot, so we're sort of looking at this as our One Big Disney Trip. I want to do EVERYTHING in case we never go again, but I don't want it to be so crammed that it feels regimented rather than fun.

How do you balance the two? I have so much that I want to do, but I don't want us coming back more stressed and tired than when we started!

(For instance: I've seen a lot of people who suggest non-park days, or coming back to the hotel for a nap or to swim ... if we were kids, that would make sense, but I have a hard time justifying this when my brother and I are both in our 20s).

Thoughts?

 

[jennie3675]

How long are you go for and what tickets are you going to have? Will you be staying on site?

 

[lilacmermaid]

Absolutely no fixed plans at this point. (Everything depends on whether my brother is back in school this fall or not).

But in a perfect world?

About 8 nights, early November, hopefully staying at POR. I'd like 4/5 Disney park days, and one day each at Sea World and Universal/Islands of Adventure.

 

[Mome Rath]

My family and I are in the early stages of planning our first trip together (though I've been researching for a year now).

My family doesn't travel a lot, so we're sort of looking at this as our One Big Disney Trip. I want to do EVERYTHING in case we never go again, but I don't want it to be so crammed that it feels regimented rather than fun.

How do you balance the two? I have so much that I want to do, but I don't want us coming back more stressed and tired than when we started!

(For instance: I've seen a lot of people who suggest non-park days, or coming back to the hotel for a nap or to swim ... if we were kids, that would make sense, but I have a hard time justifying this when my brother and I are both in our 20s).

Thoughts?

Hello! I'm new on the boards, but not to Disney; my family and I have traveled there since I was 7 or 8, and now I'm in my 30's. The way that you approach the parks does change depending on the ages in the group going. So, even if there are no kids, if there are older adults who are not used to being active, some of the same suggestions still apply. So, for example, if the weather is really hot, or cold, or rainy, it seems to be a bit more stressful, and I always welcomed a rest around midday at the hotel (the same if it is really really crowded).

Having said that, if everyone in the group is ready and willing, and the weather is nice, we don't feel the need to go back to the room if we don't want to. This is esp. true because we are notorious "Park Hoppers" and tend to go to at least 2 parks in a day. The secret is to allow yourself time to actually sit down in the parks and just rest and chill, usually in a little "out of the way" place. Get a drink, get a snack, or just sit and people watch for a little breather.

I've also done all-day forced marches, and what winds up happening is that your feet start aching and the next day it will slow you down. lol So, now what we tend to do is pick the things we really want to see and then pace ourselves to the situation. If you jump from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next, it can get exhausting if you don't take some type of break (or mini-breaks), even if it is in-park.

 

[middlesista]

Hello! I'm new on the boards, but not to Disney; my family and I have traveled there since I was 7 or 8, and now I'm in my 30's. The way that you approach the parks does change depending on the ages in the group going. So, even if there are no kids, if there are older adults who are not used to being active, some of the same suggestions still apply. So, for example, if the weather is really hot, or cold, or rainy, it seems to be a bit more stressful, and I always welcomed a rest around midday at the hotel (the same if it is really really crowded). Having said that, if everyone in the group is ready and willing, and the weather is nice, we don't feel the need to go back to the room if we don't want to. This is esp. true because we are notorious "Park Hoppers" and tend to go to at least 2 parks in a day. The secret is to allow yourself time to actually sit down in the parks and just rest and chill, usually in a little "out of the way" place. Get a drink, get a snack, or just sit and people watch for a little breather. I've also done all-day forced marches, and what winds up happening is that your feet start aching and the next day it will slow you down. lol So, now what we tend to do is pick the things we really want to see and then pace ourselves to the situation. If you jump from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next, it can get exhausting if you don't take some type of break (or mini-breaks), even if it is in-park.

"All- day forced marches" had to laugh when I read that as I think many of us have endured those type of days.

We found a rest day was great at recharging the Disney battery or if that is not feasible a few hours back at the pool. This works great when the parks are open late since you can spend the early part of the day in the parks and either park hop to another park in the evening or return to the same park if you are not using park hoppers. When the parks close early the split day does not work as well, at least for us

Regardless of how you plan your time do take time to enjoy and try to leave your marching boots at home : )

 

[curlyblonde]

Hi!

I'm pretty new here as well, but I've been to Disney a couple times and I'm going back soon!!! The last two times I went with just my husband, so no kids.

I kind of feel the same way you do, I want to see *everything* but I don't want to feel like I'm always rushing off to my next reservation.

The way we have balanced that in the past is exactly what you mentioned here, a rest at midday. We are early risers, so we nearly always make it to the parks when the gates open. This way we can make it on the big ticket rides before the lines get out of hand.

We take a break at midday, usually to go nap at the hotel, it gets us out of the hottest part of the day, gives us a break from the sun (necessary for people as pale as us!)

And then we go back to the parks with enough energy to ride more rides, watch some fireworks, grab dinner, maybe stay til closing!

This usually gives us enough time to do everything we want to do, and enough energy to actually enjoy it!

 

[Aliceacc]

The best advice I can give you is what the others have said: there simply isn't any way to do it all and see it all in one trip.

Once you remove that possibility from the discussion, you open it up to ways that you can have a truly memorable, fabulous vacation.

The mantra you'll want to keep repeating is this: Don't give any one ride, attraction, meal or whatever the power to "make" your vacation. The important thing is that everyone have a great time, NOT that everyone do Soarin' 5 times... even though I LOVE Soarin'. It's not about seeing more and doing more and eating more and riding more, it's about enjoying yourselves and each other while you're at Disney World. It's hard to remember sometimes, but that one idea will mean the difference between an exhausting cranky whirlwind and a wonderful family vacation with memories you'll treasure for ages.

OK, lecture over. Who is going?? And when are you thinking of going? Why not let others here with similar demographics make some suggestions?

Here's what works for us; take what will work for you and ignore the rest:
- stay on site. For my family of 5, that means a Deluxe Resort (so far, the Poly and Beach club... this time it will be the Yacht Club.) The transportation simply can't be beat-- and at the end of a long night that makes a world of difference for us. Also, my kids are total water rats, and a GREAT pool needs to be part of any vacation we take.

- We're at the parks each day for rope drop. That means we get a good 2 hours of an almost empty park, hitting all the rides we most want, while thousands of other people are either still in bed or are enjoying their Mickey Waffles.

- We head back to the resort after lunch. In August, when we go (both teachers), the parks hit the point of Diminishing Returns. They're simply too hot, too crowded, to enable us to reallly enjoy ourselves. So we go back to that fabulous pool and spend the afternoon relaxing.

- We get back to the parks in time for dinner. We do the DDP, and almost always get an ADR for a dinner. I love that table service meal. It's our time as a family to kick back and talk about our day. No one is watching a clock, counting the minutes until we can hit the next ride. Instead, we're enjoying each other.

- We spend the evenings at a much more leisurely pace, hitting any rides with a short line. We end with fireworks and browsing in the shops.

- We normally stay for 7 nights, and find that it's enough time to do everything we really want, usually several times.

- I'm looking forward to seeing how the new Fastpass+ works for us. We'll make our FP+ reservations at 60 days out. I think I'll plan them for late morning/ early afternoon, just before and after lunch. No point in wasting them in the early hours when the parks are uncrowded, and I don't want to have to rush dinner to make a FP window.

 

[lilacmermaid]

Honestly, our plans keep changing ... it looks like we're going to 'have' to do multiple trips now, because the earliest all four of us can go together would be next summer/fall, and I can't imagine waiting that long.

So, our first trip might be just me (28) and Mom (57). Leaning towards mid November or late January. Leaning towards POFQ/POR. Neither of us are big on scary rides, pools or water parks, which makes things a little less complicated than when the boys are with us.

We'll probably get the dining plan, even though it might be more food than we want/need, but I rationalize it this way: there are a lot of restaurants I'd like to try, and I wouldn't do it if I was paying OOP, so this 'forces' me to. Might sound silly to some, but I think that's what's going to work for us.

We're thinking (not in this order):

Arrival evening at HS
2 days at MK
1.5 at Epcot
Afternoon at Downtown Disney
1 Day at Animal Kingdom

I think we'll be Rope Drop people, but I think we'll wait and see whether we go back to the resort during the day or not. Depends on how we're feeling and how busy things get.

Thoughts?

 

[fluffykalie]

Ive been to disney 4 times. Twice as a kid. Twice as the headstrong we must do everything mom of two with hubby. The first time (2012) my husband and I went we were overwhelmed, not the best trip ever. So when we went in 2013 we used unofficial guide to disneys touring plans. It gave us a realistic idea what we could get done in a day. We had a really fun trip and actually did more because we went into the park with a flexible plan. We didn't follow the guide completely.