Tell me about your "relaxed" WDW vacay

[imktdqt810]

We have been to WDW twice as a family, once in 2012 & 2016. DS was 7 the first time and 11 the last time, he will be 16 for our upcoming trip. Both times we had ADR's, FP and every moment of every day planned out. We were at rope drops but ate dinner at 5pm in each park but then headed back to the resort to let DS swim while DH and I relax our feet, minds and bodies! 1st trip we stayed at CBR, then All Star Movies and this time will be at Boardwalk Villa, 1 Bedroom (DH thinks it's a normal room with two beds, he has no clue about the 1 bdrm). DH isn't a "Disney fan" per say, he says it's SO expensive to pay to stand in line all day! The last two times we went we were up and out early, dash to this line to wait for a ride and so on and so forth. Making ADR so far out got him annoyed since he "has no clue what he wants to eat months down the road" and I get it!
So this time I am on a secret mission to get him to at least ENJOY Disney and have a more "relaxed" vacation. We are doing all QS and no sit down meals (so we have flexibility for food and I didn't have to plan where we were eating when), I told him we won't do rope drop any day, we can eat breakfast with coffee on the balcony each morning and he really wants to go to Epcot nightly to "try different beers". We already have hopper passes (from our planned vacay last year that didn't happen) so I can make that happen, as long as there is availability to enter the park 3 out of our 4 days (one day IS our Epcot day). We are also going for 6 days total and not our normal 8. So our first day we won't arrive until 5 to check in and my goal is to walk over to Epcot that evening and then we leave early on our last day so we will only be doing 1 park per day (no including our arrival day). I think AK in the morning then DS in the afternoon for some shopping since we never made it over there in 2016. What are some things you all have purposely done to make your vacay more "relaxed". With being on a shorter vacay we won't be having a "resort day" like we have done in the past either. I'm interested in hearing what others have done, thanks!

 

[zdad59]

A few things mama and I do to make our WDW trips relaxed...

• We pick a relaxing/calming resort. For us, the best is Wilderness Lodge. When you take the boat from the MK to WL and crossover the water bridge, it's like you left Disney craziness. You're in a different world. Peaceful, relaxing, beautiful.
• We always put a few hours in the middle of the day for time back at the resort to relax at the pool, nap, hang out in a nice place to read. Pacing is key.
• When we do our planning, I actually make a laminated itinerary, to eliminate the "what do we do next?" element. Now its a guide, not a hard and fast plan, but it at least gives us a goal that allows us to not think real hard during the trip.
• On our itinerary we identify Must DO items and Nice to Do items. If we blow off a nice to do item, no big whoop.
• We always never do two early days/rope drops in a row. Sleeping's in a little or a relaxing breakfast helps keep the batteries charged.

 

[Raven01]

I’m working on this concept too, but I think you need table service restaurants.

We went in September and as a whole, QS was limited and crowded. TS gave us the chance to sit in air conditioning and relax. This might be due to covid, but regardless, lesson learned.

I am going again in March, and booked lunch TS to break up the day and relax. With parks closing so early, I don’t want to leave from 12-4 To break. So I’m planning on TS lunch and leaving around 5 to catch dinner somewhere.

 

[PetePanMan]

Not for everyone I know but we have enjoyed making fewer ADR’s, particularly outside of parks. We still do some (mainly in park) but we have found we were tied too much to our eating schedule. We may still go to a table service but we look to see what is available for when we want to eat and then pick what we most feel like.

 

[sethschroeder]

told him we won't do rope drop any day

I would make this deal instead.

Rope drop until 10am/11am and then spend the rest of the day relaxing.

We would get a bunch done fairly quickly in the morning and then call it just doing some Epcot stuff Hopping in the evening.

We also schedule ADRs just for the evening and you can always cancel a day out and switch to quick service.

If I had 6 days:
Epcot in evening only (check for whatever 1 or 2 rides/shows are short) and possibly one longer wait each night
AK you likely can do in a single morning
HS 2 days (1 MMRR + Star Wars + Midway Mania, 2 RR/TT + Slinky + Aliens)
MK 3 days (1 7DMT to Haunted Manison rides, 2 Space + Pooh to Buzz rides, 3 BTMM to Jungle rides)

We wouldn't be in a park really between 11am and 4pm any day.

 

[Lizgistix]

Relaxed WDW vacay has been my November trip and January trip.
Wake up to alarm clock. Mill around because I like to procrastinate. Get QS breakfast around park opening time. Mill around more. Finally decide to get to the bus station. Ride bus over. Mill around a bit after security and before scanning magicband. Make split second decision what ride to go on first. Go on ride. Think about what to do next. Walk around in circles because I can't decide which ride to go on next. Spontaneously decide to do a ride/show I've been meaning to do. Go ride other stuff afterwards while pretending to have some kind of agenda. Look at lunch options in current area. Realize current options are too busy and go find less busy options on other side of park. Ride more rides on this side of park while pretending that was your plan all along. Realize you forgot some rides across park. While in line, think about rides you should have done before travelling across the park to this ride. Wonder if you have ADD while not paying attention to line moving ahead of you. Realize the time and frantically try to do everything else in the last hour. Come back to resort and talk about your "busy day" and everything you did.

 

[meagarunt22]

I plan and like to go hard like you. One trip, it was just my daughter and myself. She was 7. I had rope drop planned and fast passes but aside from that, I let her pick what we did. It was hard to fight off frustration when she wanted to play checkers on the barrel inside the store in Frontier land instead of getting my money's worth on rides...but it was the best trip I've ever had. We enjoyed rocking chairs and treats while watching people and the amazing scenery. We did rides I hate (teacups) and she suprisingly loved Carousel of Progress. We were so relaxed and there was no pressure. I'm going with all 3 kids in a week and am SO excited to not have fast passes and ADRs. The kids will pick what we eat and it will be amazing. You should piggyback on your husband having a beer in different countries and choose snacks in those countries you wouldn't normally try. I got some squid flavored chips in Japan once. Disgusting, but such a good memory. Good luck!

 

[patclairesmom]

Maybe plan some non park activities like mini golf or fishing

 

[cjlong88]

We did some things we normally would skip because we are definitely the “go go go” party running around trying to Max everything out.

We watched Awesome Planet in the Land Pavilion and Reflections of China in WS and enjoyed both quite a bit. We did the Remy scavenger hunt during F&W. We played Sorcerers at MK (although it’s sad to be closing).

It made the parks feel fresh to us.

In two weeks we plan to do the animation experience and It’s Tough to Be a Bug (I’ve never seen it in the 6 times I’ve been) in AK. We would like to hit MMRR in HS. We want to enjoy Festival of the Arts at Epcot since it’s the only festival we haven’t done yet.

While I miss FP, I enjoy not needing it pretty much most of the day. We ended up moving slower, so our feet were less tired at the end of the day, and that was quite a nice change of pace.

I may be in the minority when I think that you don’t need ADRs for your trip. If you know to mobile order early you will be fine. Better yet, Disney Springs have some incredible walk up eats. The Basket (Wine Bar George’s walk up counter service) and Moriomoto Asia Street Food were both fantastic. No ADR required. If you plan on spending a good amount of time in DS, get yourself on the waiting list for Gideon’s Bakehouse. Absolutely phenomenal. We put ourselves on the list and they told us it would be a 3-hour wait. We grabbed breakfast and walked through World of Disney and got a return text only 90 minutes later.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[AnnaS]

For us a relaxing trip is not to plan too much.

No running for busses/boats/transportation. Just not "rushing" to be somewhere all day, every day is relaxing.

No rush waking up to have to be somewhere every morning early.

Spend morning or afternoons at the resort - pool, community center, mini golf, shoot some hoops, tennis, use whatever amenities are at your resort.

Take a break from the parks every third day. - You can do a non park one day of your 6 day trip - but since you don't go as often as we do - just take a nice break during the day

Even if we have FP, ADR - we don't necessarily follow it to a T

Under "normal" times, we also like to resort hop to another resort for lunch or dinner.

Your son will be older this time around - and for your husband - perhaps you/your son/might want to separate for a n hour or two. One stays behind at the park and one leaves if they choose to hang out on the balcony, pool for a drink, read a book, have some coffee.

Enjoy and whatever you do, don't worry about following any plan. It's okay to let plans go (but do cancel if you have any ADRs or tours booked).

 

[cruising spud]

When our family went to Disney with the kids (both when they were younger and older), we always had a plan. Up early, to the parks before opening, hit this ride, this ride, and then this ride. Stop for lunch at a sit down restaurant, back to the hotel to swim, nap, relax, and then back to a park for dinner and a more relaxing few hours of hopping on available rides and shopping and park gazing.
And, then, two years ago my husband and I went to Disney alone. For two weeks. Just us. And, we threw all of the planning out the window (now, please, let me clarify-we have been to Disney tons, and other than trying to snag a ride on Flights of Passages, there was nothing we felt we HAD to do). Other than making a reservation for a campsite, we did no preplanning. We got to Disney, checked in, bought our parks tickets, and then I spent about an hour using my phone and reserving a few rides. We slept in, went to the parks for about five hours a day, ate at Quick Service restaurants, and had a blast. We never did get a Flights of Passage reservation (waited in line three and a half hours for the ride).
Now, let me say, this worked for the two of us. If we went again with someone else who had some "must do's," then I would do some preplanning. For us, at that moment, our trip worked out fantasically.

 

[Brett Wyman]

We've were on WDW property for 14 days(4 were at Vero) in 2020 and never went to the parks. That was pretty relaxing. We swam, swam, swam and swam some more. We also did pony rides, bike rides, and visited a few other resorts.

 

[Charade67]

This thread caught my attention because for the first time my family is going to attempt a less intense vacation. We are not going to rush from ride to ride every day. We are planning a non park day in the middle of our week. We are limiting our ADRs to one per park. We will wing it on the other days. If there is an ADR open that day we might take it or we will just do quick serve. This has been a little difficult for me because I am a planner, but I really want to have a more relaxed experience this time.

 

[imktdqt810]

Thank you EVERYONE for all your thoughts, experiences, stories and suggestions. We are really only there 4 full days (we land by 4 and I'm guessing will be on property by 5pm and the last day we will be leaving by 8am for the airport). But I really do appreciate all the info. I've jotted down notes while reading! So feel free to keep them coming!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We will be trying a relaxed trip in June. It will be just dh and I this time. Typically we have the boys with us and I plan out every part of every day. My OCD self loves it, and this will be quite the departure.

We still plan to do rope drop each day. I have identified just a few rides in each park that are “must do’s” and anything else will be a bonus. I will make a lunch time adr in the park or near by, leaving us the flexibility to hop to another park, hang out in lounge, get qs or go to ds for dinner.

Have you thought about leaving dh at the hotel while you do rope drop? He can meet you later on. My dh did that once or twice on the last trip. I took the boys into MK for a few hours (his least favorite park) and he met us when we hopped into Epcot.

 

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

Quick Service before Covid was often a zoo. Can just imagine how it is now. Recall waiting for 45 min at Casey’s for hot dogs last March. Sit downs to me help relieve agita.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Plan for a totally different trip. My solo splurge was not focused on rides. I took time to take in the atmosphere like the Trolley Show and Dapper Dans in MK. Every park has a show/character schedule. I did a tour every day: MK was Marcline, AK was Wild Africa Trek, EP was Future and DestiNations tours. Try a photo safari and do whichever Epcot scavenger hunt is available. Spend some time on a bench and just people watch. That was in 2016. With all the covid changes those things are probably not available at the moment. You might want to just do a resort hop. Pick a few resorts to visit by different modes of transportation. Ask for a resort schedule (AKL has a ton of things to do) and see what activities are offered during the day at the pool. Also try out the different food courts instead of ADRs in the parks. Visit the Poly and watch the Electric Water Parade from the beach. Go the Disney Springs and take a ride in an anphibacar.

 

[Wild4Walt]

One thing we started doing was adding a extra day or two to our plans. We use them as 'pool days' ( but we don't always go to the pool ). I realize that's not something everyone can do so here are some other do's and don'ts.

• DON'T overplan. Sounds like you are already on this path. We pick 3 or 4 Must Do's and consider everything else a bonus.
• DON'T plan for Park Hopping everyday. That's not to say not to do it, but just don't plan it into every day. It'll be less exhausting if it just happens because you're more likely to determine your fatigue level when making the decision to hop or not that day.
• DO plan for a TS breakfast at least 1 day. As an example, plan for breakfast at the Wave or Grand Floridian Cafe. You can still take a bus to MK and then walk to the restaurant of your choice. ( or you could Uber/Cab too ) Have a leisurely meal and then a nice walk back to the park.
• DO use your MDE for bus arrival times. You won't have to run to a bus stop only to find out you just missed the bus. I know it's not always 100% but we found it to be pretty close to the posted times.
• DO plan for a 'down day'. That can mean not waking up early, or planning a resort day, going for a walk/jog, etc.
• DO start a tradition - when my mom and I travel together we like to close the day out by stopping at the resort lounge and having an after park cocktail. It gives us time to talk about the highlights of the day and decompress some before we head back to the room. My husband and I have also started this tradition.

And just remember to stop and smell the roses some at the parks while you are there.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

As far as dining, I would also suggest checking day of for TS restaurants. People's plans change all the time day of and we've had good luck getting into places when we didn't have ADRs. Sometimes it's kinda fun to decide on the fly based on what is available....we've tried some places we normally wouldn't because they had a reservation at the park/time we here hungry. This approach is risk free as if nothing is available or appealing you can always fall back to QS, which you are planning anyways.

 

[JFDIS]

- The lack of fast passes is automatically going to make your trip more relaxing.
- Pick a resort with multiple transportation options like the monorail, boat or Skyliner.
- Leave the parks for lunch and eat QS at a resort. Take the Monorail to Gasparilla island grill, the boat to geyser point or walk/Skyliner to beaches and cream. A break from the parks is rejuvenating.
- MK and HS are worth rope drop but no need for AK or Epcot ( of course depending on your expectations for each park)
- Pick three rides in each park that are a must do and just play the rest by ear.