Give up a park day for the pool... why?!

[kcp1377]

Yup! 4 days with a day or two in between. We stay at the campground so the first day is setup, get ready and then the days in between we hit the monorail, go out to eat for a meal, go to the pool, go for bike rides... It's amazing how busy you can stay just around the resorts! This year 2 of the kids are going with DH to HS for a day too, so they have 5 day tickets. We like to take our vacations really slow and not do much at all.

 

[HappyMomma]

I have to get away from humans sometimes. Especially the last time we went. SO much entitled, unkind, "me first, I'm more important because...." carp going on it'll make you hate everything Disney. We take a day off after our big MK day, where you see the worst behavior IMO. It keeps me sane and from getting kicked out of the parks. LOL Last trip a dude ran me over with his stroller with his kid in it, INTENTIONALLY! He was getting close to my daughter and I didn't want him to run her over so I hurried between them to protect her. We walked this way for a bit. I tried to speed up to get away from him, but he speed up too. Apparently, he took it as a personal challenge to take me out. Ran over the front of my foot and I hit the pavement as he kept going. Jacked my big toe up the whole trip. Then I saw a dude yelling at CMs at Frozen Ever After because he had waited in line and thought he deserved the first row, which is reserved for special needs guests and their families. It was awful to watch. Yeah, you need that resort day.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

It's amazing how busy you can stay just around the resorts!

Sadly, some people aren't that imaginative. They come to be entertained by the parks and that's it. It's not wrong or right, I just don't understand paying so much to be on property and then not enjoying it.

 

[Allie B]

WE always take a "rest" day in the middle of our trip. We spend it at the resort pool, Disney springs, or just doing whatever.
If you are going more then 4 days of parks a rest day is needed to fully enjoy your other days.

 

[leticiaj]

We call it a Resort Day - a day that we sleep in and enjoy what our resort has to offer, including the pool. The kids play and the adults relax and enjoy the day. It gives us time away from the parks to relax and rest. The kids love all things Disney but some of their favorite memories of our last trip was our Resort Day - being in the pool with a water slide. Plus CM's came out and had activities and contests that the kids enjoyed.

 

[FlyingBelle]

Because DD10 and DS6 have a lot more energy than DH and I... we need the break, but the kids still have energy to expend. A day at the pool is perfect! Plus the kiddos walk past the pool every day and long to jump in... of course once they get to the park that thought it long gone (until the next day!)

 

[DLgal]

We can swim year round where we live. Our neighborhood has 4 heated, resort style, junior Olympic sized, saltwater pools and it's generally in the 70's and sunny here. The pools have hot tubs and loungers and palm trees and tropical plants. They are gorgeous. We swim every day in the summer and almost every weekend the rest of the year.

But when we go to WDW, we spend some time at the pool EVERY day. Reason being, our kids have autism and get overstimulated at the parks after a few hours. The pool is their time to chill out and relax. Water is very calming to them. They spend a lot of time just in the water and using the slides. Our next trip will be 10 days and we are only buying 5 day hoppers and will spend every other day enjoying the resort/pool/recreational activities. They love the pools at WDW and our vacations would be miserable without adequate pool time. We went to San Francisco this summer and it was very stressful because there was no pool. We were going to take a Disney cruise next summer but the pool situation on those ships is not what our kids need (an overcrowded pool where you can't move is not what we are looking for).

I enjoy the resorts more than the parks for the most part. We also have Disneyland practically in our backyard, so park time at WDW isn't really our priority. We will spend 3-4 hours in the parks per day, usually at night, and that's all we need.

Plus, there is nothing like sitting poolside with a nice, cold, adult beverage.

 

[londontime]

Why would you pay all that money to stay in a heavily themed hotel and not enjoy it? Worth it works both ways.
We come for 14 days, so the idea of doing commando from RD to Fireworks is no vacation. The Parks are PART of the experience, not all of it.

 

[Arielfan98]

My family is not one to give up a park day for a pool day, but I understand why others do. Have you ever watched young children? It's very exhausting and some families just need to let off steam. You also mentioned pools in other places. Coming from the NYC area, finding a pool 10 months out of the year is difficult (not too many indoor pools and they have expensive membership), so yes it'd be convenient to enjoy a pool day if you booked a trip during winter-time in Florida. I'd also like to add there are people in this world who have plenty of money, so to salvage a park day for a pool day (only paying hotel) is doable (if that makes sense to you) OR they may try to save money by not going to the park. Another possibility is some people go to Disney regularly and they don't need to spend everyday in the parks. The possibilities are endless, but ultimately that is up to the individual and that's a great thing, right?

 

[Haley R]

My family is not one to give up a park day for a pool day, but I understand why others do. Have you ever watched young children? It's very exhausting and some families just need to let off steam. You also mentioned pools in other places. Coming from the NYC area, finding a pool 10 months out of the year is difficult (not too many indoor pools and they have expensive membership), so yes it'd be convenient to enjoy a pool day if you booked a trip during winter-time in Florida. I'd also like to add there are people in this world who have plenty of money, so to salvage a park day for a pool day (only paying hotel) is doable (if that makes sense to you) OR they may try to save money by not going to the park. Another possibility is some people go to Disney regularly and they don't need to spend everyday in the parks. The possibilities are endless, but ultimately that is up to the individual and that's a great thing, right?

We have been going in March and it is so much fun to go swimming outside when back home it could be snowing and 0 degrees. We also chose to take one full day to hang out this trip and relax instead of paying for another park day.

 

[Ciandella915]

We eventually got to that point. At first, we were go, go, go and had every day packed to the brim with park time. Then I got sick on a trip and it wiped me out for a day and a half, and we missed out. We vowed from that point on to build in an extra day in case something happens because we lost money, since we bought a ticket for a specific number of days. After more trips, we realized we could get substantially more done in the morning hours and then come relax at the resort and take a nap or go to the pool, and then go back out at night for dinner/more park time.

So that's what we do now - hit rope drop, eat lunch in the parks or come back and eat lunch, and then 2-3 hours of nap and pool time and then freshen up and go back out. Our enjoyment level has skyrocketed. Also, now that we have APs, we don't feel compelled to get the most bang for our buck because we have a certain number of park days. We know we'll be back, and we know we've gotten our money's worth, so now we can be leisurely and enjoy the full experience.

 

[KCMA]

Our non park generally is a Disney springs/pool day.. head to Disney Springs for when it opens... do some shopping.. grab lunch then back to the resort for an afternoon at the pool.. we generally go for 7/8 days two of those are travel days which we don't don't do parks (usually hit the boardwalk the first night) We do not care for AK so we have skipped that park altogether the last couple of trips 2 days MK..2 days Epcot..1 day HS and 1 day DS/pool

 

[kitkat4622]

Our upcoming trip we are staying 9 nights. I have 2 "down" days built into this trip. Its our 4th trip and we like to take a break every couple of days

 

[Haley R]

I’m really glad we decided on an off day. We have 1900 pf at 10:35 and then the whole rest of the day but now I’m thinking we’ll go to ds for the Star Wars vr.

 

[2forMe]

For us it would depend on how long we are there for. Typically it has been 10 days. We normally go to parks every day, but not full days, so we have time for swimming and go to waterpark as well etc. For a shorter trip I do not think we would take a full day away from parks.

 

[YawningDodo]

In 2015 we did a 7 night stay with no non-park days and we really, really wished we'd scheduled in a down day. Arrival day we didn't do much of anything since we got in late, but we did six full park days and a departure morning in DHS. By the midpoint of the trip my calves had swollen up so badly (probably from a combination of both the walking and the extra sodium) that I spent an evening unable to walk. That night was our Hoop Dee Doo reservation and I was able to enjoy the show, but if we'd taken the earlier part of the day off (or all of the day before) we could have gone to the Magic Kingdom for EMH until midnight after the show and enjoyed low crowds -- instead we did all our park time that day during the busiest times and were too tired and pained to go back after dinner. Similar theme in Disneyland this last fall -- it wasn't until the last two days of the trip that we wised up and started taking midday breaks since we had been wearing ourselves out during the hottest part of each day instead of enjoying mornings and evenings in relative cool.

If I were planning a WDW trip more than four days in length, I'd build in a full rest day. Even on a four day trip, I'd build in at least one day where I counted on sleeping in or retiring early. I used to be a park commando, but my body can't handle it anymore and I'd rather be realistic about how many park hours I can actually handle and work from there to make the most of them, than force myself to go-go-go until I physically cannot go anymore and end up missing out on better opportunities than those for which I sacrificed my energy in order to power through.

 

[katyjeka]

Our trips are a minimum of ten nights so we NEED the break. If spending two weeks or more we take a few days to enjoy our resort.

 

[tinkerjo]

We are doing our first resort day this trip. I had planned on a day at Daytona beach but didn't want to mess with it so we just scheduled an extra resort day to spend by the pool and relax. We have a two day drive down and it will be in February so the kids are looking forward to the pool and it will give us a chance to rest up before hitting the parks for 5 days ( even though we are not commandos)

 

[Ducky'sMom]

We might get the chance to stay at Beach Club for our first family trip, which has Stormalong Bay. There's no way we'd miss using that pool area! It'll also be the same day we do a MNSSHP, so we don't want to use too much energy beforehand.

 

[Shanti]

I think of WDW as a resort in the traditional sense. The entertainment is at the parks, and relaxation is at the deluxe hotel and pool. They are equal parts of the trip for us. I wouldn't stay at a Disney resort without visiting the parks, and I wouldn't want to hit the parks without being able to relax later at a nice resort.