Relax at disney?

[Pembo]

Our most relaxed trip was when we stayed offsite in a condo at Windsor Hills. With 3 kids it was so much more relaxing to have the space to spread out after a day in the park. It was quiet and more relaxing to us.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Plus the afternoons are when the parks at their most crowded and hottest, so we'd rather be relaxing during that time.. especially since we go in September when it is still very hot.

We go in August so midday breaks by the pool are a MUST. It's so HOT!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Any tips for making a Disney vacation more relaxing?

Is it possible to have a relaxing vacation at disney?

We decided we simply have to do it this year. It's been 2 years since we went on vacation, so our "plan" is to take it slow, enjoy the resort/pool, have more sit down meals, and sleep in most of the days. We are going right back for a quick 3 day trip in January, so it makes it easier to feel like we can relax this November.

We picked parks for most of the days and will book 3 FP. We have ADRs booked for off times, which to me makes it easier to work around them. I spent a long time planning things in a very detailed way, but I decided to chuck it. I'm too burnt out from work and life to run around like crazy on vacation this year.

 

[DiannaVM]

Low expectations lol. Seriously though, the key is not to attempt to cram everything in and take it all in stride. This is my fourth time going in the past three years, so I don't feel so compelled to do it all, except for some must-do rides and experiences. When people try to ask my why I go to Disney and they try to imply that I only go for the rides and characters, I tell them its more than just rides. There is plenty slower-paced things to do around Disney, like having a drink at the World Showcase or hanging out at Disney Springs, or even going to the spa at the Grand Floridian, etc. I don't do spas lol, but its nice for people who are into that type of thing. I look forward to one day being able to take an extended Disney vacation to do all of those things that Disney has to offer outside of the parks.

 

[AllieBoo]

It's possible, but it is hard I think. We've made it a little more relaxing by staying in deluxe resorts. The pools are nicer and with a lot of them you can get a balcony or patio to relax on. We like to stay where we can walk to one or more parks (BC, YC, CR), which takes some stress off of having to use buses.

On our last trip, we split between CR and BC. I found that staying at CR and being able to walk to MK instead of spending 45 min on a bus really helps. We had a first floor patio room and I enjoyed sitting outside at night or in the morning. At BC, I requested and got a full size balcony. We were overlooking the woods, so it was very peaceful. Being able to walk to Epcot is also wonderful.

I think going for longer trips makes it more possible to relax. If you are only going for 4 days or so, it's hard to fit in downtime because you want to get in as much park time as you can. We try to go for 8 nights, and even then it's hard to find a lot of downtime.

 

[Babsy]

We have been to WDW every year since it opened and many years multiple times. Nothing is a 'must do' anymore. We enjoy WDW but our touring has changed dramatically over the years. Relaxing is the point for us now.

We rarely do more than 3-5 rides per day. There have been days when I went to the parks and didn't ride even do one ride. We do our FP+ and maybe one or two more if there is little or no line. That is spread throughout the entire day. We take lots of rests and sit and people watch, go back to the resort to relax, sit on the people mover and train every time we go to the MK, enjoy a beverage, and smell the flowers! We relax in the mornings and never do rope drop or close the park. We will stay in CL and enjoy a beverage there while talking to the CM's. We try to go where the larger crowds aren't, but that is less and less possible these days. We take long sit down lunches. We stroll around world showcase and check out the countries less visited areas. If we see a show or activity taking place, we stop to watch. We always allow more time than we need to get anywhere and enjoy just taking our time.

We spend a lot of time just talking to each other, reading a good book by the pool or soaking in the atmosphere and paying attention to details. If there is a show or ride that we haven't done in a long time, we might try it again.

I read in the Unofficial Guide years ago to stop and think "What would feel good right now?". I have frequently done that through the years. It works for us.

 

[KittyKitty]

We decided we simply have to do it this year. It's been 2 years since we went on vacation, so our "plan" is to take it slow, enjoy the resort/pool, have more sit down meals, and sleep in most of the days.

Sounds like a great plan!

 

[srauseo]

I spent the better part of a day on my last trip relaxing by the POR pool. Found a spot opposite where the pool games were going on with little foot traffic and had a friendly waitress bring me frozen drinks all day. It was heavenly.

Avoiding crowds and chaos helps me stay relaxed. For me that means eating at off hours and doing PPO breakfasts (I'm a morning person so getting up early is not an issue for me). I'm always trying to zig when people zag.

 

[tsme]

We always plan one day that doesn't include a park. Sometimes we wander around DS, or resort hop, or just hang around the resort we're staying at. Plus, we don't try to do it all at the parks, we have more of a take it as it comes attitude at the parks.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We go for 11 days at a time, so we don't have to rush to see everything in a short period of time.

We plan breaks mid-day for swimming and napping.

We found that this works best for our family.

 

[kniquy]

It really depends on how often you go. If you are someone going once every 5 years then in order to get your monies worth you need to utilize all your time, if you have park tickets then you will want to be in a park and not sitting out by the pool all day. Not to say you can't schedule in afternoon breaks -- this is what people will often do if you can make it to the park for rope drop - tour until lunch then back to the resort maybe until dinner time. This gives you the afternoon to relax, read, nap or just hit the pool. You can always opt to have a rest day in between park days in order to sleep in and lounge.

If you visit every year, every other year then you don't feel pressured to be a park commando.

Disney trips are very individual -- my first trip with my 9 yo twins - we went from morning til night and was very exhausting, but you run on Disney adrenaline so it doesn't hit you until you are on your way home. I just had a work conference with park time and a run disney race. I kept up the crazy pace of 6am conferences and then hitting the parks afternoon until evening, a 3AM wake up for the race then more conferences -- needless to say driving home from the airport i was physically exhausted and didn't even think i should be driving. Because i am heading back next April -- I want to take a slower pace and will actually be forced to take it a little slower because we will be touring with grandparents and a 4yo. I am looking forward to the planning on putting in some afternoon down time.

 

[buzznina]

We find our trips to WDW to be very relaxing, I do not come back from a WDW vacation felling like I need a vacation to relax. I believe what really helps is going regularly and for us, we learned that less planning = more relaxing. Just the fact that you do not have scheduled times for everything makes a big difference, constantly looking at the time because you have an ADR etc. is tiring just thinking about it Our trips now just consist of picking our park days so we can get our FP+ and maybe do 1 ADR. We also no longer lose sleep when we are there, so no RD after a late evening, we do not like taking breaks in the middle of the day either (tried it and hated it). Will we miss something because we are not "maxing out our time" maybe, but you have to learn to say "oh well" and move on.

 

[martymcflyy85]

This thread has inspired me to make our next trip in November more "relaxing".

 

[Frankie Nova]

Any tips for making a Disney vacation more relaxing?

Is it possible to have a relaxing vacation at disney?

i am planning on it . without kids .

 

[Sparkly]

We book FPs but don't feel committed to them- if we don't want to do Pirates at 11:35am we just don't and let the fastpass go.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I think one of the best ways to tour is to go to the parks in the morning and take a break after lunch time when it would be the hottest in the park. Another strategy you can try is we only eat at 1 TS a day maybe, but we will try to have 2-3 late lunches so we can go wherever we want for the evening. It allows you some more flexibility on you want to tour and it can also allow you take an evening off and rest up if needed.

 

[bnhonest]

Our first 3 trips, we stayed at the values and were park commandos. This last trip, we were there for 7 days, and only had Park tix for 5. So day 1 and day 4 were resort days, staying at POR. It was so nice having days where nothing was scheduled.

We also made sure we took our afternoon breaks, taking at least 3 hours to get off our feet, swim and drink a few adult drinks.

I tell you this, though...it sure did take a load off having our own car. Not having to fight the masses for a seat either coming or going...I think that made a huge difference.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Yep, you can do it.

We like to relax at the park. Take a seat somewhere and people watch. Or linger over a meal. Ride the people mover and just chat.

As we go more often, we find that relaxing gets easier and easier.

 

[AngieInOH]

Is it possible yes. But honestly I'm not there to relax. Like others have mentioned adding extra days would be the key to any relaxation. We went 8 days our last trip and in my opinion that's not enough days to relax, but it is enough to take things at a slower pace. Hoping next trip will be 10 days, but even then I don't think the extra days will lead to relaxation. It will just be additional Disney fun!!!