The "Death March" style vacationing.

[Baltazar]

My brother-in-law is such a comedian. Him and his wife (my wife's sister) have been to WDW twice with us.

We leave our resort at 9am and don't return till the park closes. If we're at a water park, we hit the resort for a quick shower and change of clothes then off again.

My wife walks about 5 miles a day for exercise so she can hoof it at a rather brisk pace. I spend most of the trip three paces back while my wife and kids were double timing it to the next ride.

My wife, two sons and I got back from Disney the other day and my brother-in-law asked me "How was your death march?"

He hit the nail on the head with that one.

Funny thing is we've been doing it like that since the first trip back in 2003, seems to work for us. Vacations at Disney are not about rest and relaxation. I can rest when I get home.

 

[Robo]

I can rest when I get home.

That's why we always do AM EMH, too.

 

[cjb71870]

Wow, props to you guys. Being a regular guest or also with friends and family a "personal tour guide". Have always planned the afternoon break. And, even with that, some obviously don't walk that much in a day. To not take a "break" in the afternoon. Made me laugh about how they are paces ahead of you. We have an inside joke with my Dad. When he starts getting ahead of us walking, we always say he's doing his Disney walk.

 

[Tink_Kel]

Don't forget the Zombies you see on the monorail and busses on the way back to your resort. You know, the ones that sit there with a blank look on their faces with "dead" eyes. Guess they've been doing the Death March all day!

 

[Stacerita]

Don't forget the Zombies you see on the monorail and busses on the way back to your resort. You know, the ones that sit there with a blank look on their faces with "dead" eyes. Guess they've been doing the Death March all day!

I have seen the look a few times. Heck, I may even had had that look myself.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

We do the parks in this way. We are all in decent shape and dint find it to difficult. The lack of sleep (going to bed at midnight, then up at 6) gets tiring by the end of the week, but we like to try and fit it all in while we are there. I am glad I am not the only one.

 

[TinLizzy90]

LOL...I'm about to put my BF through his first TinLizzy90-style Mickey Bootcamp. It's the intro-level program, so we are only going for three days.

Can't relax! Can't sleep! Too busy making magical memories and maximizing photopass use!

 

[tofubeast]

We normally do the Death March, but if you look at the trip ticker in my siggie, I vow to NOT march that way this coming trip!!

This time I WILL be stopping to smell the roses and will also enjoy the resort. But old habits can be hard to break...

 

[cepmom]

that is totally me too!! I am the one making everyone get up so we can get to rope drop. We can rest when we get home!! DH and I are heading to Disney next week and I have planned all our days to the max. I asked him a question about park hopping and he says "what, no afternoon nap?". I said "no way dude, we're going full steam without the kids to slow us down this time!" He was so discouraged I told him he can nap when we get back

My SIL and BIL just went to Disney for the first time last month. They asked for advice, I sent them all kinds of info, with the most important (IMHO) to get to the parks early, especially if they wanted any chance to ride TSMM which I know my Dnephew would love. When they returned, I asked them if they enjoyed TSMM, and they told me they never rode it due to the wait time being so long. I asked them if they arrived at opening and they said no, we slept in every day until 8:30ish I swear I had heart palpitations when I heard that

 

[kmk1180]

"How was your death march?"

I can rest when I get home.

I'm the same...My theory is. I can make time to sleep in at home.
But I can't ride Space Mountain at home.
I can't ride ToT, or TSM or Everest..ect.

Same reason why I prefer to stay on property.
I can rent a hotel room at home.
I can't stay at one like AKL or BW or even CSR.

 

[GSDRescuer]

Vacations at Disney are not about rest and relaxation. I can rest when I get home.

That's exactly how I feel!!!!
One year my family went on strike for about 3 hours.........they went back to the room, went swimming and rested.........!!!! How dare they!!!!

 

[Baltazar]

The first couple years the kids would fall asleep on the bus on the way back to the resort. Then they'd be up for a quick swim when we got there. A quick dip in the pool is the norm for us. I just sit on the stairs up to my neck in the water, lean back and relax.

More than a few times I felt like a well used dish rag on the bus back to the resort. The bus stop is full of people at the end of their rope.

We let the kids sleep in, the kids get cranky enough without them being sleep deprived. We're usually at the park between 9 and 10.

In August I had a Keys to the Kingdom tour scheduled for 8:35 am so I was at the park by 8am and the park closed at 1am, now that was a long day. By midnight I found a nice bench to lay on and told my wife to pick me up on her way out.

 

[CarolA]

I gave up death march years ago. I also gave up lines. But more power to you!

As long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters!

 

[Stitchfans]

I have seen the look a few times. Heck, I may even had had that look myself.

I have no doubt I had that look myself many times.

 

[princesswendy720]

This will be me next week!! I think it's half "I need to do everything while I'm here since I don't know when I'll be back again"' and half "I'm so excited to be here that I'm running to everything out of the sheer joy of being back."

My poor Dbf though he'd be getting to relax on his vacation, I dispelled that belief right away. This isn't a cruise after all...it's Disney! We'll have time to sleep when we die

Seriously though, if he gets sick of my touring style I've told him he can go back to the hotel and relax but that I'm going to stay in the park. The adrenaline of just being back at Disney can keep me going all day.

 

[storybookmum]

...but once we're moving, we only stop for one sit-down meal a day. Other than that, it's go till we drop.

 

[Poohbear123]

I gave up death march years ago. I also gave up lines. But more power to you!

As long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters!

Me too, and what is so strange is, I will go back to the hotel and rest....and lo and behold, I am itching to get back to a park in 30 min! So, I rest another 30, and take a shower, and get back on the bus!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I wanna be a member of the Disney Death March!

We usually only make ropedrop once or twice, but we usually get there within 15 minutes of opening. We also don't go back to the hotel during the day. What a waste of time! Once we're out, that's it. No rest for the weary. Just keep moving. I try to book a table service meal each day, so we can regroup during that, but I'm NOT traveling all the way to Disney to hang out at the pool all day or nap! This past summer we went at the end of August and I do have to admit there was ONE day that we waited 1-1/2 hours for the bus to AK. We spent about 1 hour in AK and decided to hightail it back to the resort. It was just too unbearably hot. Other than that, nope, I'm a tour-til-I-die kinda person! And I'm quite proud of that glazed look in my eyes at the end of each day. I earn it!

 

[sparkyboy]

I gave up death march years ago. I also gave up lines. But more power to you!

As long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters!

I totally agree-no more marches for us-I just keep the pace that our twin 4 year old grand kids set for us. When they want to rest, I'm the first one on the bench.

 

[Triton'sDaughter]

Count us in commando is the only way to go for us! We really have tried to take a slow pace but just can't seem to manage it. At night we relax but during the day we gooooooo!