What’s your schedule?

[Kleese]

I just got back from Disney and I am already thinking of our 2025 plan. Days were rushed and we are so tired even though we had 11 days including two throw away days for arrival and departure. There was very little relaxing. And although I found it easier to get through lines with the new system momma was always on the phone. We did do some must do snacks got some souvenirs that I really wanted but we missed a lot that we used to be able to do. Can you please tell me your daily plans and if you ever feel relaxed on a Disney World trip lol. We have in the past but not this trip. Even my husband thought we had missed going to some of the parks we missed so many attractions.

 

[mom25kiddos]

Probably goes against so much on the boards, but I lower my expectations-of everyone and everything. We don't rope drop, we don't hyper plan and we do our best to go with the flow (we use Genie+ and LLs). We are fortunate that we have been many times and so we really just don't try to cram it all in. Its not a holiday if we are crying and fighting, lol. So I try and prioritize one or two things at each park and everything else is just gravy. I appreciate lots of people can't do this, they want to get their money's worth and want to experience it all, but we have five kids and have learned that taking some time to enjoy the time together works way better than trying to hyper-schedule. It is still busy, we do a LOT, and walk a lot, but what we miss we say, next time! Also, we leave the park when we are tired.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I just got back from Disney and I am already thinking of our 2025 plan. Days were rushed and we are so tired even though we had 11 days including two throw away days for arrival and departure. There was very little relaxing. And although I found it easier to get through lines with the new system momma was always on the phone. We did do some must do snacks got some souvenirs that I really wanted but we missed a lot that we used to be able to do. Can you please tell me your daily plans and if you ever feel relaxed on a Disney World trip lol. We have in the past but not this trip. Even my husband thought we had missed going to some of the parks we missed so many attractions.

I know everyone is different but you will never get it all done, no matter how long your trip is. I think when you accept that fact, that will help you feel a lot less overwhelmed and stressed.

Also, I'm guessing by your trip length, you don't go often so it's easy to feel pressure to get it all done since you "have to" squeeze it in since you won't be back until 2025. I can understand that feeling. I think if you don't go often, not being as familiar with G+ can put you in a position of being on your phone a lot. And even those that use it often, still end up being on there a lot to modify plans.

The big things that help us feel more relaxed is not rope dropping a lot and having pretty low expectations around crowds, waits, attractions etc. We go for a lot shorter trips, sometimes 1-2 nights or longest trip ever was 5 nights. There are things we like to do too and can't do them every visit, it's just not possible. Disney is huge and there are just too many things to do, see and eat...and of course, limited budgets.

And never have I ever left WDW saying "wow, that was relaxing" but I don't really ever feel stressed either and I know for sure, we aren't getting it all done.

We, if at all, will only RD one time per trip. Our next trip is 4 nights, 3 parks and I doubt we'll RD at all. I'll book what I can for G+, iLL$ at 7am and whatever we get in subsequent G+ LLs, it is what it is. I keep a simple list in my notes of what we want to do and if I can get them, great, if not, I move on. I will check MDE periodically outside of booking windows but I try not to. And of course, we'll mobile order as needed so in reality, you can't really avoid being on your phone anyway. I also only buy G+ at MK and DHS, I don't mess with it at AK and Ep since I never feel there's any real value there since there are so few attractions. Even at the busiest of times over spring break and holidays, it's just not of value for me. I will however, buy iLL$ for these parks.

11 days is a long trip, did you have resort/rest days built it? That can help chill things out too. On our 5 night stays, we usually throw in an off park day to relax. We also don't schedule a ton of ADRs. I think that in itself causes more stress just trying to make them on time and planning your G+ LL's around meals. We have 2 ADRs booked for the 4nt trip and I will probably cancel them both and just try for walk ups and eat QS otherwise. It's a mind set and I think back when we had FP+, I was more of the go-go-go mindset especially when my kids didn't mind waking up early to do things, but now that it's the Genie and my kids are teenagers and don't want to wake up early, I've re-paced our family and it's actually much more enjoyable.

 

[PalmettoPath]

We visit WDW for vacations for three one-week periods each year and have been doing so since it opened. So we go a lot, which affects our schedule. But here's what we do. Visit a park each day first thing. Leave the park by 1:00 p.m. (when the crowds get thick). Head back to the hotel for pool time or whatever anyone wants to do to relax (have a cocktail, go horseback riding, play footgolf, pool time, shopping etc). Then we have dinner (either in a park or elsewhere) and head to a park, or Disney Springs, or resort hopping or whatever else we feel like doing. So it's all pretty laid back with lots of free time and opportunity to alter plans on a whim.

 

[robinb]

We visit WDW for vacations for three one-week periods each year and have been doing so since it opened. So we go a lot, which affects our schedule. But here's what we do. Visit a park each day first thing. Leave the park by 1:00 p.m. (when the crowds get thick). Head back to the hotel for pool time or whatever anyone wants to do to relax (have a cocktail, go horseback riding, play footgolf, pool time, shopping etc). Then we have dinner (either in a park or elsewhere) and head to a park, or Disney Springs, or resort hopping or whatever else we feel like doing. So it's all pretty laid back with lots of free time and opportunity to alter plans on a whim.

We do something similar. We rope drop most days, leave by 1-2pm, go back to our resort to relax and then head back out to dinner at a nice place and/or back to a park. The only thing we do differently is that we also take advantage of the Deluxe Resort's Extended Theme Park Hours. We find that we can get on a LOT of attractions with little to no wait. We sleep in the next morning instead of rope dropping because we often don't get back to our resort until after midnight.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We do yearly 2 week trips, and still don’t see snd do everything we want to. We do 1 full park day followed by a day off or a late start easy going park day pattern. Take frequent breaks, just to sit eat a snack and people watch, maybe charge phones. We use ADRS as a mini break too, with one sit down meal a day. We walk slow, take in the atmosphere. And listen to your bodies, if you’re tired go back to your resort. We do all this and we’re still exhausted at the end of the trip, Disney is just not that relaxing but it’s worth it

 

[PalmettoPath]

We do something similar. We rope drop most days, leave by 1-2pm, go back to our resort to relax and then head back out to dinner at a nice place and/or back to a park. The only thing we do differently is that we also take advantage of the Deluxe Resort's Extended Theme Park Hours. We find that we can get on a LOT of attractions with little to no wait. We sleep in the next morning instead of rope dropping because we often don't get back to our resort until after midnight.

We do that as well, but those late night hours are only offered occasionally/not every day. Still, that's part of the many things that are part of the flexible second half of the day

 

[saraheliz]

We did 11 nights/10 days last year. 8 full park days and extended evening hours (plus a rest day and a Universal Day). We did a LOT of rides multiple times but there was still so much we didn't do. The best laid plans can become a whirlwind when you're there!
For us, part of not feeling crazy is balancing those morning rope drops with late nights and then sleeping in the next morning. Always rushing out the door does have a big impact on the feel of the day, I think. Having a few lazier mornings meant we had more energy and didn't feel quite so crazy. But honestly, we missed plenty. There's just a LOT to do. We're going back this summer and have our priority list of both things we love and things we feel we missed last time. Top of the list is more snacks!

 

[Kleese]

Thank you all for responding. I have been thinking a lot of what i feel went wrong and how I can rectify it in future. One major stress was trying to find a place to charge our phones. Don’t get me wrong we have charged phones in the parks before but this time it was just harder to find a plug and we were having to recharge more then once because of the new systems you are constantly using them. At the end we did have to get a fuel rod but for some reason it was only charging half way and then we would have to find some where to switch it out to charge 1 phone fully. So number one on my list is to get 2 phone charger banks from Amazon.

The second thing I can change is not to bring so much stuff! I made the beginners error. We have been lots of times so I should have known better . We also normally do a spilt stay. Which normally is fun. We do a mod. /deluxe stay. I think with all the stresses we had it made things worse this time. We are going to rent dvc points this next time and stay in one place. Also we spent way too much money on food. We normally take full advantage of the deluxe dining plan and it works for the dining we do. We don’t feel the pain of paying at the table and we can do lots of character dining and some signatures. We left so much food behind when we left a restaurant. This next time we will have a microwave so we can save some money by eating leftovers in our room.

I also had some other guest that were rude and that stays with you even though you try to shake it off. I literally had a lady scream at me and my little girl because she thought we were getting into her triceratops. Her family had to come get her and tell her she was getting into the wrong ride vehicle . Think maybe more little breaks to get snacks might help getting over things like that.

I looked at the list of attractions of each park yesterday and we did most of them I just think stresses from all directions were throwing us off.

We did do MK extended hours with staying at Wilderness. That’s fantastic! I really hope they keep that. Stress levels were so low. It so worth staying at a deluxe to get that perk.

 

[slo]

I’m not a good person to ask….in 5 days (2 weeks ago) my DD19 and I walked 108,634 steps 47.86 miles - it was a record for us - LOL!

We are go go go, but we enjoy that and oddly find it relaxing - my only worry is what ride we’ll do next and where the next snack will be.

You mentioned phone charging - definitely get those phone chargers - I take 2 and the cords for my phone, watch and MB - everything gets a charge while eating. My one charger is small and light so I can keep it in my pocket while it’s charging my phone.

Do you rent a car? To help with the food costs you mentioned, we go to a grocery store our first day and get Nutrigrain Bars and bananas for our breakfasts and Uncrustables and Cheetohs for lunch that I take into the parks. We also get lots of bottled water that I also bring with me. It not only helps with the cost, but it also makes us feel not so yucky from eating a lot of heavy food all the time.

Not every strategy is best for everyone. People think my DD19 and I are crazy - we were at the MK 14 1/2 hours a few weeks ago. And we don’t like the idea of how others leave the park, go for a swim and then go back - that’s not for us. You’ll find your WDW groove soon, they key is to have fun while you’re doing it