Trouble planning a longer trip. How do you spend your days?

[Farro]

The beauty of a longer trip...we have 9 full days to plan parks, rides and fast passes.

I've been lucky enough to go to Disney 6 times since the early 80's. The last 3 within the last 15 years. Going for our 7th later this year.
Loosely planning park days and this trip just feels different, as we travel differently now. At this point I don't have any rides I'm dying to go on. I want to see the new Soarin, the new Frozen ride and Pandora.

Other than that, I'm stumped a little on how to plan this trip. We don't really like to go on the same rides over and over anymore.

Magic Kingdom- We will go to Halloween party, so can get on rides during that time with shorter waits.
We are staying at Polynesian and will be at MK more than the others since we can just pop over non-party evenings.
Since we will be able to get on the more popular rides during party and we don't really ride the same ride over and over anymore, would you make fast passes for the less popular rides?

AK - completely up in the air not knowing the full scope of Pandora yet. 2 days/nights though... tentatively.

Epcot - we will get on everything at some point! 2.5 days and maybe pop ins at night, we will be there for food/wine.

HS - at this point I think we only need one day! But we will schedule two.

The way we do parks, we always end up back at resort in the afternoon. We have some sleep in days. I can plan a "resort" day, but I know we will end up at a park at some point though...

We do have a sit down dinner planned for most evenings at 7 or later.

I just don't want to get bored. Last time we were at Epcot so often I was actually sick of it.

How do you plan longer trips?

 

[BigredNole]

There is FAR more to Disney than rides. That is what many people make the mistake about. Watch stage shows, watch street performers, investigate Tom Sawyer's Island. You can interact with the Main Street characters. They are so much fun to engage. Watch the Dapper Dans.

In 9 days with an unlimited budget you could not do 25% of what Disney has to offer.

 

[Farro]

Well, we don't have an unlimited budget!

Yes, we always try to take in the "details, but we aren't show people. At all. I will make it a point this time to watch the afternoon parade at MK, looks fun. Also, at night I just want to take pictures and ride the people mover in the dark!
At Animal Kingdom we are definitely going to do the trails this time. I love this park for the atmosphere. Especially at night, maybe this will be the park we go back to more often...

I worry myself about going on rides at every park, even when we are visiting each park a few times. Maybe this trip I can let that worry go since I'm not concerned about going on every ride more than once.

 

[linzbear]

Grab the times guide and go to things that you've never seen before. We also tend to compartmentalize on longer trips. So we'd do spaceship earth, soarin, nemo, figment, then go back to the room and swim. Then another day hit test track, and start around the world showcase, etc.

 

[Farro]

Yes, we will be spreading out rides for each park visit, that's for sure!

 

[michellelovesthemous]

We tend to do long trips from where we come building in now down days to maybe sleep in.....until 7:30am,what a luxury! And now with the new Disney Springs just walk around and soak up the atmosphere! Resort Hop on the monorail. Bowl or catch a movie. Water parks and miniature golf! Catch a movie out by the pool at your hotel if on property. Arcade, swim read a book(or device) by the pool with a floppy hat and an adult beverage. But the best part you are at Disney with the ones you love and work is only a nightmare.....for at least 17 more days.....oooops sorry that was my inner Freddy/Jason not yours! Have a magical time no matter how you plan it!

 

[Parker Clan]

What about Disney Springs, Hoop dee doo, mini golf, going to Universal for a day? Our trip is always about 10 days, 3 at Universal and 7 at Disney, so we plan rest days. We are perfectly content sitting by the pool for hours though lol

 

[Accident]

We had a similar situation with how often we didn't go and a long break..

What worked really great and became our new way to do a disney trip was we got a lay of the land, it was a long time since we were there, we had hoppers because well we like fireworks and that's not available in every park (well wasn't at the time). So our first 2 days was doing half days at every park.. We got to see what changed, what didn't, tried some new places to eat and hit a few new and must not miss rides. This worked amazing, we had an idea where we needed to spend more time during the trip and where we didn't need to worry about. We had a light plan but we shifted it often. We ended the day not wanting our choice for the next day, we'd adjust the adrs and fastpasses (or try too).. We woke up with a different idea,we did that.

The biggest thing that worked really well for us was we recognized when everyone (it was only 2 of us) was going through the motions of being there instead of excited for what was going on. Basically if we got bored with the place or not in the mood for it,we spoke up.. compromised when there was something either of us still wanted to get done but we didn't hang around jsut because we were already there.. We'd swtich parks, call it a day and enjoy the non-park options. We even hit universal for a day trip the first time one day because we wanted the theme park but wasn't in the mood for any of the disney ones..

This was the trip we really got to enjoy the resort as a whole and not as a room with theme parks. We went to check out some places to eat at other resorts.

I think any trip with more than a couple days you go through some emotions. First you there and have time so you want to do it all. Then your looking at the rest of the trip going "how much longer are we here" and that's replaced by "omg we're almost out of time". So everyone hits that "bored" moment as you mention it, it's what you do when you realize it that changes. Dont' stay at the park, don't stay in the resort, finally get to universal or legoland or somethign you've considered in the area..

You'll have a great time, I think longer trips are easier to enjoy than shorter ones. You have time to just rest or say your bored or tired and come back when you are in the mood for it..

 

[Farro]

Thanks all! Great suggestions, we definitely have some dinners planned at Disney Springs.

I think my worry is that we were just there in 2014 and our third since 2011, so I'm a bit worried this is too soon (for us). But we are switching things up and moving from Beach Club to the Polynesian this time! There are some new rides, a new land and Disney Springs!

We aren't going to do Universal this trip, but great idea. Another time. And we do have to speak up and if we want to leave a park, just leave!

Thanks everybody for all the suggestions! This trip will end up being different, but great! (knock wood )

 

[Disneylover99]

If you're staying at the Poly, I would just hang there. I have a hard time leaving that place to go to the parks.

 

[Accident]

a new land

Are you talking about pandora? Right now all signs point to it will open the day after you leave. The official when it will open is "summer 2017" Disney summers are memorial day to labor day and disney is known for seasonal opening announcements being the end of the season.

 

[Farro]

We don't arrive until 10/25.

 

[Accident]

We don't arrive until 10/25.

Sorry, I mixed up your thread with another. There's a good chance it'll be opened!

 

[Planogirl]

After several trips, I have this problem too. We have branched out a lot and discovered that there is a lot to do in the area.

 

[CinderellaElla]

Since becoming AP Florida resident members, we have had the luxury of going much more often than we used to. Since we go more often, many of the staples that used to be "must do's" when we lived in NY have now become "we can do this anytime, let's find something new" lol. So my recommendation, if you haven't done so already, is to look at the disney website and see what other attractions/shows/events you have not done yet, and do them Here are some things that we haven't done yet but are still looking forward to and/or we have done as extras:
African Safari Tour
Wilderness Explorers in AK (yes, my husband and I are both 30 and we did this together and had the best time! We even stopped and got a Yeti stout half way through, near expedition everest)
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Dessert Party at MK (I have done it, husband has not yet)
Meeting characters we haven't seen yet/or seen in quite a while
Using the monorail to resort hop (look at shops, grab some food/drinks)
Find Betty Shambles in Hollywood Studios and talk to her! She is hilarious and one of my favorite CM characters!
Walk around the boardwalk, maybe take a surrey bike for a few spins (possibly with a dinner reservation at Flying Fish - I highly recommend, especially ask for Joey!!!)

The last thing I recommend at any park is to take a few hours to have no plans at all and just see what happens! Sometimes that's when you discover and make your own disney magic out of the smallest details

 

[cedricandsophie]

We go for two weeks every march and often don't even go to the parks. We love the resorts. We hang out at pool, go to baseball games in the area during spring training, go to Disney springs for movies and bowling, play mini golf, play tennis, etc. if I had to go to parks every day I might kill myself.

 

[Klayfish]

I think it all depends on how you like to vacation and what you like to do. You've mentioned you don't like to do the same rides over and over and also don't like shows. I think if that's the case, you may find it a bit difficult to fill all the time with activities. But that may not be a bad thing if you like to chill and relax. We love being at WDW and have no problem doing the same rides multiple times, and seeing shows. Not implying that it's wrong that you don't, everyone has their own way. We did a 17 day trip in summer 2015 and an 18 day trip in summer 2016, with four trips of 3-5 days in between those two long ones. We never got bored and would have liked more time. On the long trips, we rotated parks. One day, it was MK, then AK, then a water park, etc... We did a lot of "freestyle" touring...for example we'd have long ago planned to hit AK in the morning. But in the afternoon, we'd just do whatever we felt like doing. Maybe it was another park, maybe it was going to Disney Springs, maybe it was going to our townhouse (we stay off site) for a swim, going out for dessert, etc... We never felt rushed, it was great. Yes, there were some rides we did 6 or 8 times in our trip, but we loved the ride, so we were happy to do it. We have another 17 day trip planned for this June and I can't wait!!!

My best advice is to take everything at a slow pace, "stop and smell the roses" so to speak.

 

[loves to dive]

While we don't usually take longer than 7 day trips, my son goes every year and I go twice a year (3 times this year) usually for 7 days so we are there often. We aren't planners, and find that is how we enjoy going so often. We have annual passes so park hopping is our friend, we have always had park hoppers. Sometime we are only in a park for 2 hours then move on to another park or a resort or our resort. We just don't plan, we decide what we want to do when we want to do it. We've learned to take our time and actually look at the details and enjoy the place instead of running from ride to ride trying to get everything done.

 

[Klayfish]

We go for two weeks every march and often don't even go to the parks. We love the resorts. We hang out at pool, go to baseball games in the area during spring training, go to Disney springs for movies and bowling, play mini golf, play tennis, etc. if I had to go to parks every day I might kill myself.

That's very interesting, and a good example of why I think how to handle a long trip is so utterly dependent on your personal style. I don't think what you do is wrong in any way, shape or fashion. It's just very different from what we do. We certainly go to the rental house pool, go to a movie (usually just one) and spend time in DS, but we absolutely hit the parks every day. We wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, last summer we considered trading a park day for a day in Daytona Beach, but everyone (kids included) said no, they'd rather be in the parks.

 

[Allie B]

I savor days at my resort just enjoying it then out to dinner. Also add Disney springs to your plans. Plenty to do there. The past two years we have taken a cab over to Universal one day to break up all the Disney.