So am I doing it all wrong?

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,

Have you ever compared Disney trips with a friend or colleague and they had a completely different touring strategy and wondered if you were doing it all wrong?

So here's our deal, DH and I have been to WDW with our kids (who are now 8 and 11) about 8 times over the years. Our routine is usually the same;

-Travel time - Always mid August - Always stay on site - Usually do deluxe dining
- Character breakfast at 9:00 - 9:15
- After breakfast maybe an hour at the park - but usually gets so dang hot we hightail it back to
the resort pool (NOTE : DH and DS are very, very heat sensitive so I don't want to burn them out)
- Hang out at the pool till 3/3:30, go in and shower up for dinner (lunch poolside, i'll pick up a quick service meal and bring to the pool)
- Usually have a 5:15 dining ADR
- Go to the park for 2 hours or so after dinner
- Head back to hotel around 8ish, Go to the game room or community hall in the hotel
- If we have a theme park room watch fireworks from balcony (DH hates the mass exodous from a park after the fireworks are over)
- Kids love to hang out in the hotel room and stay up late - hence why we are not up for EMH


We usually only go August due to our schedules. I would love to do early morning at the park, we did a PPO Crystal palace breakfast once and I loved walking down main street without the crowds, but the kids always have fun playing in the hotel room and stay up late. I would have to wake them up early - which DH feels is very un-vacation like. I always think it's important to swim once a day - I like to make memories at the resort swimming (and did I mention how hot it is in August ). But I recently talked to a colleague of mine who had her kids (who are younger then mine) at rope drop every morning of their trip and I was wondering to myself - am I doing this all wrong!?!

I'm just wondering what my fellow DIS boarders think of my touring plan. I appreciate any feedback!
Love, Marina xoxox

 

[lorenni]

1. Who the heck cares how anyone else does it?
2. The right plan for you is the one that fits your family.
3. Schedules that don't feel vacationish shouldn't be followed on vacation.
4. See #1 again, because its super important.

 

[hakepb]

While it sounds like you can do more per hour at rope drop ... I don't think there's anything wrong with choosing to take advantage of later in-park times. as long as you still get in all the attractions your family wants to do. Remember, there's no "best for everyone" vacation. Just the vacation that's best for your family.

I've been 20x and never rope dropped. On the other hand, it sounds like there are a bunch of rope droppers that have never experienced the MK goodnight kiss.

 

[Farro]

You are only doing it wrong if you aren't having a good time.

 

[Alesia]

Literally every aspect of your plan sounds like pure misery to me, but if it works for your family, then that's what's important.

 

[scrapquitler]

Hi all,

Have you ever compared Disney trips with a friend or colleague and they had a completely different touring strategy and wondered if you were doing it all wrong?

So here's our deal, DH and I have been to WDW with our kids (who are now 8 and 11) about 8 times over the years. Our routine is usually the same;

-Travel time - Always mid August - Always stay on site - Usually do deluxe dining
- Character breakfast at 9:00 - 9:15
- After breakfast maybe an hour at the park - but usually gets so dang hot we hightail it back to
the resort pool (NOTE : DH and DS are very, very heat sensitive so I don't want to burn them out)
- Hang out at the pool till 3/3:30, go in and shower up for dinner (lunch poolside, i'll pick up a quick service meal and bring to the pool)
- Usually have a 5:15 dining ADR
- Go to the park for 2 hours or so after dinner
- Head back to hotel around 8ish, Go to the game room or community hall in the hotel
- If we have a theme park room watch fireworks from balcony (DH hates the mass exodous from a park after the fireworks are over)
- Kids love to hang out in the hotel room and stay up late - hence why we are not up for EMH


We usually only go August due to our schedules. I would love to do early morning at the park, we did a PPO Crystal palace breakfast once and I loved walking down main street without the crowds, but the kids always have fun playing in the hotel room and stay up late. I would have to wake them up early - which DH feels is very un-vacation like. I always think it's important to swim once a day - I like to make memories at the resort swimming (and did I mention how hot it is in August ). But I recently talked to a colleague of mine who had her kids (who are younger then mine) at rope drop every morning of their trip and I was wondering to myself - am I doing this all wrong!?!

I'm just wondering what my fellow DIS boarders think of my touring plan. I appreciate any feedback!
Love, Marina xoxox

It sounds like you are doing what works for your family. How could that be 'wrong'??

It's not the way we tour when we are at Disney, that just makes it different. We usually sleep in a bit, hit the parks around 10, stay for 4 or 5 hours, go back to the room and rest for a few hours, then go back to the park around 6 or 7 pm, and stay until close. We never eat table service. We never use a pool. It works for us and makes us happy. Right? Wrong? Who cares?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Well personally I do think you are "doing it all wrong" lol but really that's just my own opinion and you should do what works for you.

This is what I'd do differently...
-Skip the deluxe dining and just do regular dining plan.
-Go to the parks at RD and take advantage of the lower temps and lower crowds.
-Go back to the resort for lunch and swimming.
-Go to dinner and then back to the parks until close.
-Get the kids to bed at a fairly resonable time so they can do it again the next day.

I should mention that that is not even my family's style but rather just how you could change it up to get more park time. I'd feel like I wasted a ton of money on park tickets if we only went for like 4 hours a day.

This is what we do
-Eat a quick service breakfast.
-Get to the parks prior to RD
-Get on as many attractions as we can in the first two hours.
-Lunch at either QS or TS lunch sometime between 11am and noon
-More attractions
-Dinner around 5:30pm either QS or TS.
-Close the parks and go back to the hotel to bed.

We also tend to enjoy a couple of full days lounging at the resort when we go for enough days which gives us time to nap, swim, and relax.

My thought is if your family's style is very low key and laid back then maybe you'd find it a better use of money to go to an all inclusive resort that you can do things at your leisure like Aulani or go on a cruise.

 

[kmv]

I agree with the previous responses, if it works for your family then you can't be doing it wrong!

My family also does a very different style, but it works for my family and that's what matters I do agree with the pp, tho, I would feel like I wasted tons of money on park tickets if I was only going to be in a park 3 hours a day.

 

[VillainFavs]

If it works for your family, that's all that matters.

But I can't imagine spending Disney prices on park tickets to only be in the park about 3 hours a day! And there's no way we'd get to do everything we wanted with only 3 hours a day--unless, of course, we stayed for a month or so!

If what's most important is pool time and letting the kids stay up late, there are a ton of places you can do that for a whole lot less than a Disney trip!

 

[HopperFan]

See the first line in my signature!

 

[eeyoresmom]

If you are content with your experience that is all that matters. We are not commando but I have to say, with the price of park tickets, if we spent just 3 hours in the parks and didn't stay for the nighttime shows I wouldn't feel it was worth it. We do rope drop, have an early lunch in the park and leave between noon and 1:30. Back to the resort for swim or nap, early dinners, usually between 5 and 6 and stay through the night time shows. There may be a few days at the end of the week that we get a slightly later start or leave just before the fireworks if we've seen them earlier in the week. Some trips we may have a day that we don't go to a park at all. It's a very personal thing though. It doesn't sound like your kids or DH wants to change how you do Disney so I would just leave well enough alone.

 

[pitpat]

I used to think there was no wrong way to do Disney.

 

[momto2js]

There are a whole lot of places I could travel for less if all I wanted was a nice resort pool and a couple restaurants. I too could not justify park tickets for just a couple of hours. I'm glad you have found what works for your.

 

[randumb0]

I wouldn't spend so much time at the hotel, but what works for me may be different than what works for you

 

[Mom2Stitch]

1. Who the heck cares how anyone else does it?
2. The right plan for you is the one that fits your family.
3. Schedules that don't feel vacationish shouldn't be followed on vacation.
4. See #1 again, because its super important.

What @lorenni said

Don't make yourself crazy by comparing your trip to anyone else's. Having a great time and making memories is what it's all about!

 

[Klayfish]

1. Who the heck cares how anyone else does it?
2. The right plan for you is the one that fits your family.
3. Schedules that don't feel vacationish shouldn't be followed on vacation.
4. See #1 again, because its super important.

Yes, this exactly. Here are some of the things we do or don't do that are different than a lot of people here, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

- We stay off site. Always.
- Due to above, we can't do EMH, and don't really care.
- We don't eat in the restaurants, we bring our own food in (we will by some snacks for the kids, or get QS once or twice, but that's it)
- We don't rope drop the 4 parks. Ever.
- We don't look at crowd calendars
- Similar to above, we don't avoid park X on Saturday or park Y on Friday, we go to whatever park we feel like
- We do book our FP+ 30 days out, so that requires us to plan what park we'll be in, but beyond using those 3 FP+, the vast majority of the rest of things we do are completely unplanned, decided on the spot.
- Relating to above...for a 17 day trip, I would guestimate that the total time spent planning is less than one hour, maybe 90 minutes tops.
- We almost always use our car when park hopping
- We don't try to plan to go at "less busy" times...we go whenever it fits our schedule
- We love the water parks...and never wear any water shoes

 

[Tattylou]

Agree with everyone that if it works for you then it's a good plan.
We don't do the deluxe dining plan and don't do August. We always go in April. We always stay on site. We try to get to the parks early, but not necessarily rope drop. We usually do 1 or 2 character breakfasts and always do a dinner ADR. The part I whole heartedly agree with is the pool midday break. We always do that. My kids love it...I love it and we do it every day while we are there. Then we go back to a park or disney springs for a 5 or 6pm ADR and stay til we are done, tired, whatever - sometimes we stay for fireworks, sometimes we leave by 8. I don't feel the need to see and do every single thing on every trip. We know what our "must dos" are and we do them. We aren't commando by any means.
The only time we made sure we hit rope drop was the year we went over Easter week. It was so crowded that week that rope drop was definitely a necessity.

 

[klbrow11]

Its your vacation so enjoy what your family likes!

Used to be a commando type and woukd be at park from open to close. Now that me and my husband have a toddler we value resort and pool time. To us the resort is just as important as the parks so I totally get that! We did a recent short trip and felt that since tickets were so expensive we needed to spend all our time at the park to "get our money's worth". Honestly it was fun but we agreed that it did not work for us. We love resort time. Find more value in relaxing around the parks. We are rope drop people but we get up early at home so its just natural to wake up early. If we don't take an afternoon break we usually go back to resort about 3 or 4 and just do not go back out.

Do what is best for your family!

 

[Dug720]

I wouldn't spend so much time at the hotel, but what works for me may be different than what works for you

This. It sounds like it works for you and your family but it would be pure h-e-double-hockey-sticks for me.

I've never been a huge pool person, and I'm certainly not paying the prices I do for Disney to be at the hotel and the pool all day. Yes, I'm in the parks for almost all day - but I don't do the commando schedule every minute down to bathroom breaks. I do take advantage of the indoor things with a/c and space those sporadically throughout the day. I also take my time and do what I want when I want (outside the FP+ I book) at my pace. And I've always (well, not on marathon weekends) gotten everything I wanted to do done and never felt like I was missing out.

But that's me and the style that works for me.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Lots of people do 3-4 hours in the parks and call it a day. I think fan boards like this select for, er, diehards

Sounds relaxing to me