What do you do when you go to WDW multiple times a year for multiple years?

[luckytso]

I love WDW and my DH thinks I should just go work for Disney. However, it amazes me how many times people on this board go to WDW.

Can you tell me what you do each time you go there? What draws you from going there so many times? what about other places?

Both my DH and I work full time, and I cannot seem to be able to sqeeze in that much time to vacation, let along many times just to go to Disney in one year. In addiiton, even with the DVC points, I still have to pay for the airfare for 4 people each time. They really add up.

How do you do it???

 

[Maistre Gracey]

My wife and I are real Disney addicts.
We don't even have to "do" anything to be happy. We just love being at Disney.
We take it very leisurely while at WDW. We don't run from one attraction to the next. We see our favorites, experiment a bit, relax over a cold brew, always have a nice diiner, then perhaps Pleasure Island.

P.S.- We always resort hop to check out all the different resorts (and my wife hits the gift shop). This is my favorite!

Have Fun!

 

[spruce]

Unwind, play and forget the responsibilities of being 42 because at WDW, I'm a kid again....spruce

 

[DVC1996]

I started vacationing at WDW in 1972 on an annual basis. Of course, it was with my mom/dad/sister/brother back then but dh and I have continued the tradition. Since becoming DVC members in 1996, however, we have been going twice a year. Our touring style has changed over the years. We are now in our late 40's and our children are in college, so we no longer spend as much time at the parks. We usually just ride our favorite attractions and try out the new rides/attractions. We buy the 5 day Park Hopper Plus and this does us for 2-3 trips. We also like to visit the various resorts and spend time at DownTown Disney. Btw.... I consider myself a Disney addict but I also like to vacation at other places. We love the national parks and the last four years we have visited many of the western national parks and stayed in the park lodges. This is why we haven't added on additional points. We've got 260 pts and this seems to satisfy our Disney addiction for the present time.

 

[zurgswife]

We just love everything there and can't get enough......and after owning DVC for 4 yrs and going about every 6months I still haven't seen or done it all...there is always something new...

We have 6 in our family and I'm always being a bargain hunter with regards to our air travel and rental car and food.

Mostly I've gotten pretty good rates nothing more than $150 from philly...like yesterday I found a 48hr special on delta for $133.50...can't beat that...not worth driving the car with wear and tear....Rental cars I've always gotten really good rates usually less than $200...and with the kitchens in the Villas we usually eat over half our meals in the room actually closer to 3/4.

I just can't stay away....also we don't vacation any where else don't want to yet, but if we do we will have the flexibilty to use one of the none disney timeshares when we do....

 

[WDWguruDH]

We live in Salt Lake City, driving isn't an option, yet we still go 2-4 times a year...the year before we bought DVC we went 5 times. Before DVC, we went comando style - from one attraction to the next - trying to get it all in because we did not know when we might be back. With DVC, it is much more relaxed because we know we will be back. We are finding all kinds of things at WDW outside the parks - boating, petting zoos, restuarants and one of the best, resort hopping. We are even finding time to do things in the parks that we did not before - Rafiki's planet watch, watching the tigers for an hour, etc. There truly is time to stop and smell the roses and it makes it that much more enjoyable.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We're going on trip #10 in two weeks. This is since Nov 1997. We went at Easter and have a trip for Christmas. We've already got our Christmas vacation planned at OKW and just made reservations for BCV for next June today.

We go during school breaks so our son doesn't miss so much school. He's got a birthday in two weeks and we are surprising him with a trip. Most of the time we drive (it's only 14 hours each way), but this time we are flying.

With DVC, we can stay at different resorts. We're staying at BCV this time and plan on spending time at SAB instead of the water parks. At Christmas, we're bringing our niece along (she'll be 15 and hasn't gone to WDW since she lived in Augusta about 12 years ago). We've also stayed at BWV, OKW (most of the time) and VB.

We take time out to smell the roses. My husband and I both work for the Federal Govt and don't get to take vacation much, so we save up our time for these vacations. It gets a bit stressful at work, so these trips are a good break from work.

We always try to do something different. We took my mom last time, this time we celebrate our son's 9th birthday, at Christmas we take our niece. We've also taken my husband's parents and our other two nieces.

We had a fishing trip on Bay Lake planned last time, but the weather didn't cooperate. We're going to Hoop-de-Doo this time since we haven't done it yet. We did Cirque last time. Once we did the cruise. We are going to try to get the Sunrise Safari next June. Last year we did Vero Beach. We've played minigolf at all three places.

 

[bres@westernMA]

I personally believe that DVC forces vacations. We have been members since Feb. 97 and have visited WDW about a dozen times since that time. We no longer do commando vacations and commonly only hit a single park for a single day during a week in Orlando. We are beginning to visit many of Orlando’s other (non WDW) attractions. While at WDW, we resort hop for restaurants and stuff, do Downtown and hang out at OKW or wherever we are staying. We have visited WDW over a couple of Christmas weeks, during the PGA National Car Rental Tournament and during the “garden” and food and wine festivals at Epcot. We have truly enjoyed these experiences and plan to do them again.
Finally, living in New England has allowed us to use Concierge Collection points for weekends at three or four local resorts. These have always been top shelf venues that merit revisits.

 

[Peter Johnson]

Originally posted by DVC1996
We love the national parks and the last four years we have visited many of the western national parks and stayed in the park lodges.

Wow -- we thought we were the only ones who do Disney and National Parks We have also stayed at many of the western NP lodges: Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Crater Lake, Mt Rainier, Grand Canyon (north and south rims) to name a few. And VWL of course

There's a PBS series starting tonight about the National Park lodges. Around here it starts at 8pm tonight, and I believe there will be four episodes.

 

[littlestar]

We are taking four Disney trips over a 13 month period. The cheapest airfare we found was $81.50 round trip on Southwest last September. The most expensive $189.50 on Delta (but this is for October fall break dates for schools in Indianapolis, so still not a bad airfare).

We don't always go to the parks. Some trips we just stay at the resort and swim. We always try a new restaurant while at Disney. Our last trip it was Ohana's at the Poly. Loved it!

This upcoming trip in a few weeks we are going to get a family picture done at downtown disney at "Studio M." We haven't been able to get it done at home, so it's part of our vacation schedule this trip.

My husband travels about four times a year on his job. We've seen Mt. Ranier, New Orleans, Las Vegas, etc. But, we like Disney property the best. That's our place to go to RELAX. We enjoy "G" rated atmospheres and Disney just feels wholesome and good when we're there. I guess it's that elusive "magic" feeling. We do want to visit the national parks and Washington DC in the future, but for relaxing trips, it's Disneyworld.

 

[kamgen]

We love going to WDW and use DVC as our excuse to get there as often as possible.
We almost always drive. It usually takes us about 18 hours straight through and we save a ton of money that way.
We went 5 times last year and could not get enough. We usually use up all our vacation days early on, so dh works overtime to get comp time and I take unpaid days.

We never get bored. There is always something new and you can not see it all in a week.
We went on our honeymoon for 10 days and still did not see it all. Now we can enjoy time by the pool or at the water parks, seeing the shows, and dining.

DVC is a great thing! It has allowed us to go on many vacations and we are currently counting down to our Labor Day weekend getaway (we are actually flying this time LOL!)

We love WDW so much that last year we drove down on Nov 31 and home on Dec 8 and then drove back on Dec 26! The family thinks were nuts! I just think we are happy!

Kamy

 

[WDWalways]

I'm not a DVC member yet -- I'm all ready with Visa in hand but I'm awaiting the approval for NY like many others -- and I go to WDW every chance I get because I love it so much. I've done many other types of vacations including other Disney vacations but nothing ever seems to compare to me -- I converted my husband who went once in his life before we met -- WDW is it!!

 

[Terry S]

We have been with our 4 & 6 year old 4 times now for 2 weeks at a time and still haven't done it all. Each time we keep saying, we our going to Putt-Putt golf and we never seem to get around to it. We have been putting off water parks and Disney Quest until the get a little older so that will be a whole new experience. The next time we go we are planning on renting water mice, we haven't done that yet. Oh and theres Cirque de So Le (or however you spell that). There is soooo much to do and see that the 2 times a year we plan on going is just not going to be enough. It doesn't hurt that my whole family are major Disney addicts.

 

[DVC1996]

Originally posted by Peter Johnson
There's a PBS series starting tonight about the National Park lodges. Around here it starts at 8pm tonight, and I believe there will be four episodes.

Peter....Thanks so much for posting this information! I have the companion book to this series which is called Great Lodges of the National Parks by Christine Barnes. It is a great book! The parks we have visited out west thus far are Glacier ( my favorite ), Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Badlands, Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon SR, Grand Canyon NR, Bryce, and Zion. We've also been to Banff, Jasper, and Waterton in Canada. I also love Custer State Park just south of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota! The year we went to the Canadian Rockies we made a DVC exchange in Fairmont Springs at Riverside, B.C. The condos were very nice but we did alot of driving back and forth. IN fact, the day we did the Icefield Parkway we even stayed in a cabin in Jasper. I'm so excited about getting to see the series on PBS. I've got to get off-line and call my father who is also part Disney addict and part NP addict. We've even got those park passports that you get stamped. Btw.....I live very close to another very beautiful NP - The Great Smokies. Thanks again...

 

[dianeschlicht]

We can't get enough either. We have been DVC members since 1997. We were traveling to WDW everyother year before that. For the first few years after joining DVC, we went multiple times a year. Now we like to bring friends along and stay for an extended trip each January. I'll be cutting next January's trip shorter by a few days so I could use the points we donated to the young woman who is dying.

I could never get TOO much WDW!! We don't feel like we have to see it all each trip, but when we have guests who have not been there much, we usually see most of it. It is fun to see it through fresh eyes sometimes!! It brings back that wonder of the first time.

 

[ncligs]

We joined DVC in 99, and we have gone to WDW at least 2 times a yr. We only do the parks about every 2nd or 3rd time down.We like to try a new restraunt every time down. We go to Pleasure Island at least 1 time every trip. We have seen Cirque Du Solei. You can never be bored at Disney. Especially if you are a DVC member and have 1BR or larger. We just got back from 4 days at VB and 3 days at OKW. We always rent a car, so it makes it a lot easier to go from resort to resort, or to off-site restraunts.
We also do what "Zurgswife" said, find good prices for flights and car rentals. Our car rental for last week was only $180 for 7 days.
We also like to go other places as well. We are leaving for San Antonio tomorrow(got flights for $160 each) to visit cousins. They live near downtown, so the rains haven't affected them . Then the 1st week in August my whole family(21 total), has rented a house on the Outer Banks (NC) that has 8 bedrooms.
We also plan on taking the Disney Cruise down the road........

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by dianeschlicht
...I could never get TOO much WDW!! We don't feel like we have to see it all each trip, but when we have guests who have not been there much, we usually see most of it. It is fun to see it through fresh eyes sometimes!! It brings back that wonder of the first time.

Agreed 100%

 

[d-r]

Melissa and I made a rule that we could only eat at a given restaurant at wdw once a year - we did it so that we wouldn't stick to our favorites and so would have to try places we haven't been or might not have gone back to if we could choose something else. It makes vacation planning sort of fun too.

DR

 

[yesdisneyfool]

Just replace the words "grow up" with "give up" in the song from Peter Pan "I won't grow up" to "I won't give up" my Disney Vacations.

We live near New Orleans and are able to take the 9 hr drive so we are able to go more ofter since DVC. We go with family and just ourselves. The magic is always there. We enjoy the slower pace (like others we no longer do the commando trips), getting up later, eating in and just walking around ours and other resorts.

We always book a nice breakfast, lunch or dinner during our stays. Mini Golf is a great trip starter (arriving mid afternoon and not wanting to go to the parks) OR breaking up the week and taking a relaxing NON-park day.

We now enjoy doing our favorite attractions even more and look forward to the new ones to come. A great overlooked Disney attraction is PEOPLE WATCHING - and we are doing this more each trip.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Prior to joining DVC in 1997, we had vacationed at WDW a total of 3 times...1985, 1990 and 1997..when we took the DVC tour and took the plunge! Since joining, we've find ourselves being pulled back to WDW more and more...Over the past 12 months we spent 33 days at DVC resorts at WDW. We have another trip planned for early December. We believe we will continue to visit WDW at least once a year...probably more!

WDW is stress-free, and the DVC "life style" provides such an excellent vacation experience. We don't spend a great deal of time in the parks. Haven't been commandos since our 1997 trip prior to joining DVC. Last December we spent 12 days at OKW..never once made it over to AK and really only went into the parks to enjoy the Christmas events. We find ourselves returning for more of the WDW events, like Food and Wine and the Flower and Garden shows. These events are great and have nothing to do with "attractions". We also enjoy spending time at the pool relaxing and visiting other WDW resorts. They have some of the best dining options! Have also slowed down enough to meet our "neighbors" and have had some really relaxing morning and afternoons meeting fellow DVC members at the pool areas!

I will admit, when we go into the parks we find ourselves not even going into most of the attractions...some I could probably recite by now! But, there are those cherished few, that we must visit every trip. And, there is nothing better to help relieve stress and melt away tension than a slow stroll down Mainstreet at the MK! Even better when it's all decked out for the holidays!

We can usually get $150-185 RT rates on Delta express from Boston.

We also vacation elsewhere....currently planning an alaskan cruise next year.

I'm sure, without DVC, we would only be returning to WDW every 5 years or so...but, DVC just makes it so easy to return, and you can't been the villas for comfort!