What's the best way to slow down and enjoy?

[LibrarianBecky]

I'm looking for advice and insight on how to slow down and enjoy the little moments at WDW. I am a pretty "type A" person, and I love Disney, but only get to go every few years. So, when I'm there, I feel like I have to cram it all in to every second. I spend a lot of time planning our trips...maybe not down to the minute, but definitely down to the hour.

The issue with this is that my husband is not this way. He enjoys Disney, and he knows how much I love it....but he just isn't as big of a fan as I am. He doesn't do many of the rides that my son and I enjoy. He 'jokes' that he just comes to Disney to carry out stuff from ride to ride. It truly isn't that bad--I try to intersperse things he likes in with things he doesn't...but he'd like to sleep in at least half of our trip, while I'm up at 6:00 so we can rope drop.

I realized after our last trip, which was ten days long, that I'm really going to need to compromise in order for us to have vacations that work for both of us. So, as I"m planning, I try to schedule in swim breaks and resort days. It's hard for me though....when we are sitting around the pool, I can't help but think that I can swim at home...I can only ride Small World here!

Any advice from Dis Boarders on how to stop and smell the dole whips....and have a vacation that both my husband and I can enjoy?

Thank you!

 

[redheadk]

Some of our best memories from our last trip were the things I couldn't have anticipated/planned. Who knew that DD would be so enamored with the drummers in DAK and want to dance for a while?

I think the best thing to do is to plan out your must-dos and like-to-dos. Try to structure your day so that you spend a certain amount of time in each area of the park. For example, give yourself 3 hours in FantasyLand. Make it a point to do your must-dos (and fast passes) then do what you can of your like-to-dos. If you don't finish your list because your DS wants to have his face painted or ride Dumbo a second time, then so be it. Maybe make a game of the downtime by searching for Hidden Mickeys and counting how many you can find each day.

If your DH doesn't like rope drop, maybe you and your DS can rope drop and he can join you later some days. We only have one kid, too, so we split up and do things with just one parent and her a bit on each vacation. It makes for nice memories and a little break for the other parent.

 

[danielocha30]

schedule the down time, do stay onsite it will give you the freedom to rope drop and your husband can stay behind a extra hour or two and then meet you. I agree with you about the swimming. What had work for us is to take a whole day with nothing scheduled, instead on daily off time, we do one day of improvisation, especially if you are staying for 10 days.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I think you're going in the right direction to have some down-time planned into it.

Maybe give yourself a couple of full-on commando days in the parks at the start of the trip. Book those FP+, charge your phone for refresh, and go from rope drop to close. Get yourself nice and exhausted. Maybe even let DH take your kid back to the resort to swim or something while you do your go, go, go through the parks. Then sleep in the next day. Spend some time at the pool. Go to Disney Springs for a nice lunch.

What if you "resort days" could be half-days? I don't know how long your trip is this time, but since the ticket price per day decreases significantly for longer trips, maybe you could buy tickets for the length of the stay, even if you're not there all the time. Plan SOME time in the parks (maybe with headliner attractions), and do some down-time with the other half. I know when I read trip reports, I'm always rather intrigued by those people who relax and nap at the resort before heading out to a party in the evening, for which they arrive as soon as their admission is valid and stay through until the very end. You could easily just do that with a plan to stay for evening EMH or something.

Also, since DH likes to sleep in, and you like to RD, why not both do what you like? He sleeps in and has a relaxing morning while you head out at dark-o-clock for RD madness, and then you meet up for lunch?

You might also look at some of the "activities" that let you immerse yourself in the parks without rides. Have you ever done Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom? It could be a fun way to be doing something that is very "Disney" that you can't do at home, but that can also be done at your own pace. It might appeal to both you and your DH. Maybe try Agent P's World Showcase adventure?

 

[vacationer1954]

Repetition helps. We've been visiting 2-3 times a year since the 1980s, and so now we go primarily for "the little moments" and nothing but. We find we've come to enjoy the parks even more when we keep ourselves focused on the journey (i.e., the atmosphere, offered by attractions such as the Oasis and the Maharajah Jungle, the entertainment around the World Showcase lagoon, etc.) rather than the destination (i.e., the rides, the fireworks, the parades, and the big shows). Every so often we go on a ride or show, generally when it is new, but after that we're spending most of our time just enjoying the park without any real intention beyond enjoying ourselves and being together.

 

[ShayBells]

I’d let him go take a break at the pool and meet back up with us later.

We are super runners. Go. Go. Go. Was our model. But then my sons nana came with us one year and she’s a little older so that year I only picked my favorites and slowed our pace and found that I actually enjoyed my self more. So that’s what we do now when I make my schedule I make it loose and only put down our very much must dos and if we fit in other things great. But it’s actually been working out well and I’m die hard Disney fan probably more than my DS.

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Age has forced the change of pace for us, and I have to say that I enjoy the visits just as much at the slower pace. While I wish I could keep up to my super-athletic grandsons, I have been on every attraction at least once and i can appreciate the fact they no longer need an adult accompanying them everywhere. DH and I take in more outside shows, look more closely at merchandise and small details, while the boys are the "advance team". We report if there are must-sees or must-taste things that they can double back to enjoy, they let us know what's coming and wait for us to catch up. Cell phones are our best friends in keeping the family together even when not physically together.

We love the water parks but a couple hours is now our limit, while the younger family members go full tilt from open to close. Those are times we go our separate ways, and relax more at our resort until dinner. Often my husband will do only half days in a park, even if I go on with the others. He enjoys smaller doses.

 

[disneyworldsk]

would love to slow down but i get so anxious when i c the crowds, and i arrive, and i feel like adrenaline kicks in and have to conquer the 'world'.

 

[loves to dive]

Don't over plan, just plan your 3 FPs and then go with the flow. Gasp, I know a sin but trust me,it's easy and doable. We don't even plan the 3 FPs a day, we book one on the way to the park and then book the next one while in line. Yes, we wait in line but riding rides isn't what it's all about. Don't book ADRs any further in advance than that day. Again, gasp I know but again easy and doable. We never book ours any further in advance than that afternoon and have never had any problems finding somewhere to eat. It helps that we don't like character meals or buffets and do like to try different places. We once sat on a bench outside of Italy enjoying a refreshing adult beverage and discussing the statues on the outside. That led to looking them up on our phones which led to other questions. We do that sort of thing all the time, just sit down on a bench and look around, the details are amazing.

 

[soarin2018]

I had a bit of the same problem with some people in my family and the best thing we did was incorporate rides that we considered "down time" this way we can still enjoy the magic of attractions while technically taking a break. For example, we went on the people mover to refresh which is great because there's never a line or small world. We also found that taking a break to get a snack was a good way to just enjoy our drink or food and just look around for a minute. You don't have to leave the park entirely to find moments to breath! Leaving the park stressed to go relax stressed me out too, especially since I only go once a year! I always try now to find areas or rides that would serve as down-time in each park while still giving me the feeling of "ah, I'm really in Disney!"

 

[mco65]

a 10 day WDW vacation with at least 1 resort day doesn't sound like too much to ask. What i wouldn't give to hear my wife say 'lets just hang out at the resort today!'....

 

[NH-to-FL]

DW and I made many on site trips over 25+ years. We are now Disney snowbirds. I am the Disney fanatic and DW enjoys it. Our style has evolved quite a bit over the years. We started with rope dropping whatever park had morning extra magic hours though we did take mid day breaks. We now take casual winter walks enhanced by Disney. I can usually find a couple of last minute FPs for the park we want to visit. No earlier than mid morning.

When we were staying on site we would alway have at least one relax day. Sleep in, late breakfast, then decide what to do. We did a couple of 10 day on site trips and had two relax days during those trips.

Perhaps you could let your DH plan a day for you. I certainly understand the desire to maximize park time and attraction count for every day. I used to do that. But I came to realize that it was a vacation for both of us. I slowed down a bit and the vacations got better.

The mind shift that helped me slow down was the realization, the internalization, that we would be back. I know you said that it might be a few years for you but you will be back. There will be a next time. Hold that thought, relax a bit and take some time to just enjoy being at WDW.
Wishing you a visit!

 

[Burgundy Rose]

I don't know how realistic this is for you since you've got a son but my boyfriend and I have different styles when it comes to holidaying and what works beautifully for us is to split. Let me explain.
In WDW, we planned our first five days (one park a day + Harry Potter day) in a way that had both of us do exactly the same things at the same time (almost, I don't do thrill rides and would wait for him in a shop), but then the other days we'd both do whatever we wanted until dinner and then we'd meet for dinner most often at a resort. This allowed for two things:

1/ Both of us did exactly what we wanted. I'm a foodie so I got to indulge in long leisurely breakfasts, long leisurely lunches at table service locations, I also love hotels so I got to visit them all, I also got to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom a lot, Pirate's Adventure and redo a lot of my favourite things ten times like Enchanted Tiki Room, Kilimanjaro Safari Trek, Carousel of Progress, Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, Princess meets and greets or Tomorrowland Peoplemover and more. My boyfriend really wanted to visit both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach for a day each, he wanted to spend time in Universal (one day in Wizarding World of Harry Potter was enough for me) and in Volcano Bay and he got to do that.

2/ We had a ton of things to talk about in the evenings! We'd keep each other updated throughout the day with a simple 'I've arrived/I'm at ......' and never send pictures so we'd get to see them at night.

Granted, this is what we've always done - we do a lot of things together but we also like to do things on our own and regroup to talk about it. We did the same during our cruise and we do the same during the weekends at home. It works for us.

 

[HakunaMoscato]

We LOVE long, leisurely Disney vacations! I feel like I come home truly rested from trips like these.

Staying at a moderate onsite hotel, I feel, is essential. You'll be spending more time there than you would on a shorter vacation, so staying somewhere a little more upscale/quiet will feel more relaxing. You want to enjoy the time you spend there. Park hoppers, for us on these kinds of trips, are also essential. We often go into the parks late, around 10/11am, then stay until about 7pm. We leave and have a late dinner somewhere, then if we feel like it, we go back into the parks wherever they're having Extra Magic Hours. Sometimes we'll skip the back-into-the-park thing and hang at the pool bar instead. The next morning, we get to sleep in!

It's also advantageous if you're going during an event like MNSSHP/MVMCP or Food & Wine. With MNSSHP/MVMCP, we love spending the day at the hotel (or going resort hopping, or spending time at Disney Springs or the Boardwalk,) then going into MK after dinner and staying until closing. With F&W, I can see spending the late morning/afternoon in a park and then going to Epcot to do some of F&W each day.

Possibly the best part about a long trip is that you don't feel like you have to do everything all in one day. If one person in your group is tired, hot, and cranky, no one has a good time. A long trip means you can call it quits at 2pm if you're totally pooped and come back and do more on another day. Good luck, and have a fun, relaxing time!

 

[Ohanaof3]

Another idea... Have your husband pick a day in a park of his choice and let him plan the day. After his day is done, you can decide if you need to split up to accomplish other goals. I’m letting my DS 18 & DS 13 do that the next time we are in Epcot. Can’t wait to see what they decide!

 

[mustinjourney]

If your DH doesn't like rope drop, maybe you and your DS can rope drop and he can join you later some days. We only have one kid, too, so we split up and do things with just one parent and her a bit on each vacation. It makes for nice memories and a little break for the other parent.

I totally agree with this. With phones it's super easy to find each other later in the day.

My wife and I do this every trip. She takes one of daughter for a few hours early in the morning to magic kingdom and does all the circus stuff with them and whatever else they want to do, while I hang out in the room with the other daughter. We'll sleep in or maybe get something to eat.

 

[lylone]

Take down days away from the parks. Plan a pool day or a day to "boat around". Disney transportation is free... so take the boats around resorts by the Magic Kingdom, Epcot resorts or from Port Orleans to Disney Springs. A lot of times during the middle of the day the boats are quite empty. It's nice to enjoy a nice cruise on the lakes.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I plan our days by choosing our 3 FP's and then just go with the flow. If we take advantage of evening EMH then the following day, we sleep in, maybe do a character breakfast and we hit the parks later in the day. I also build in resort/swim time every day and that also helps. And if our trip is a longer one, we have one day that we do not hit any park. We find if we don't slow down and "smell the roses", that leads to crankiness and if one is miserable.....

Now that we go in the summer months, rest time or down time is a must! It's hard at first to slow down, but as soon as you do it once, your golden. Good luck!

 

[sabodriver17]

I've found that the best way to really enjoy your vacation is to embrace three keys:

1. Plan well. This goes without saying for the most part because regardless of who you are the Disney parks are a quite the beast to conquer so to speak
2. Accept that your plan is going to change for several reasons. Lines are too long, rides are down, weather is bad, not in the mood for something, etc., etc. Embrace it because some of the best Disney moments are found where you least expect them (or perhaps least plan them)
3. Don't feel like you have to do everything. It's tough to do, especially for me, but on my last trip I realized how important it was.

My family has been going to Disney World since I was 2, and I just made my tenth trip when I was 17 just over a month ago. My family and I always embraced the attitude that swimming, sleeping, and relaxing were things to do at home for free, and that at this magical place we just spend thousands of dollars to go to we need to get our money's worth by going beyond full speed nonstop. We still had a lot of fun, but it left us exhausted, running on fumes for a decent amount of trip and unable to enjoy some of the smaller parts of the parks because we were more irritable than usual. For example, it's hard to get excited about waiting 20 minutes for your sibling's favorite character after being out for 17 hours the previous day and running on 6 hours of sleep, but when we took our time and soaked it all in at a slower pace, everyone got excited about everything.

I always felt like if I didn't ride every ride multiple times, I would regret it when I got home. However, this past trip, I remember deliberately passing on favorites like Rock n Roller Coaster, Dinosaur, Mission Space, and even Haunted Mansion (my all time favorite) to enjoy things we'd never seen before and could be enjoyed while taking a break, like:

• the Citizens of Hollywood
• the Main Street Philharmonic
• the jumping water outside of Imagination (yes I'm 17 and still get a lot of amusement out of catching the water and throwing it at my siblings)
• sitting outside Katsura Grill long after we'd finished eating just to enjoy the music and people watch
• enjoy the fireworks (my family never watched fireworks shows from the prime viewing locations since we didn't want to camp out early, but it was well worth it. I'll never want to see Happily Ever After from anywhere but in front of the castle and see Illuminations while you can. Missed Rivers of Light this time though)
• take a nap in the hammocks at the resort
• take the monorail loop and enjoy the hotels, especially the Polynesian (my favorite hotel ever even though I haven't stayed there)
• breathe

If you ever feel like your trip is going by too fast and you haven't done anything and there is so much left to do but time is running out, stop, take a breath, and listen to the area music. Look around at the things you had missed because you were running to the next ride. Look at the kids around you laughing and the parents laughing with them. Look at the toddler that just learned how to walk go meet Mickey Mouse for the first time, and see how he investigates his nose. Smell the smells that are coming out of the restaurants or rides or shops. Go somewhere that doesn't fit your plan. Take a route in the park you've never taken before. Look around in a store for an hour because you want everything. Do the little things.

The magic of Disney isn't the rides. It isn't the characters. It isn't the restaurants, or the shops, or the bands, or the performers, or the fireworks, or the cast members, or the laughing families. It's the combination of all of those. You're not paying thousands of dollars to make yourself so exhausted you can't get out of bed. You're not paying thousands of dollars to ride every ride five times. You're paying thousands of dollars to be in the most magical place on Earth, where you can bond with those around you in a way like no other. That's what going to Disney is about: the people you're there with.

Sorry about the mini-essay. Perhaps it's just me venting about how I evolved to enjoy Disney in a different way. To each their own.

 

[adamak]

Off day between parks. You won't miss much and you can still feel like you're not 'wasting' money. Pool time, DS, walking around. Sitting in the lobby and just relax.
Leave the park in the afternoon and visit resorts. You can do this easily for MK and Epcot. Just go to lobby order a drink or 2 or not. And just people watch or relax on the sand beaches.
Schedule a dole whip (or similar) "ride". It's their break and it's hard coded on your schedule. You have control over the scheduling but it's relaxing for others.