Lessons Learned - What will you do differently when planning your next trip to WDW

[WIcruizer]

I agree planning is a big part of the excitement. Where should we stay? Where do you want to dine? But drilling down to " Hall of Presidents at 11:17 AM," we're done with that.

These days, beyond FP+ and ADRs, I do no planning. I've enjoyed WDW a lot more with less and less planning as the years have gone by! But like you said, no right or wrong here, just preferences.

 

[peg110]

I agree planning is a big part of the excitement. Where should we stay? Where do you want to dine? But drilling down to " Hall of Presidents at 11:17 AM," we're done with that.

These days, beyond FP+ and ADRs, I do no planning. I've enjoyed WDW a lot more with less and less planning as the years have gone by! But like you said, no right or wrong here, just preferences.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I (or DW) don't plan the day down to the minute. She does, however, have a spreadsheet. On each DAY she has info about what park (their hours), What we are doing for the meals that day (breakfast lunch and dinner) and if we are doing the DDP, she has it color coded for the QS and TS including any ADRs. She also lists the "Special" events (of interest to us) that are occurring at the park (i.e parade times, firework shows, etc...) Once in the park though? Other than going to the FP's, we just work are way around.

That said, however, we put great thought into scheduling our FP+. Since we have been to WDW before and know the lay of the land, We won't schedule a FP for Space mountain at 9AM and a FP for Splash Mountain at 930AM (or something similar to this). With rare exception, if we miss a FP, Oh Well.... We just move on.

Those that stress to much about the schedule (again with rare exception) once they get to the park will not have too much fun.

 

[Diandra]

Next time my husband and I go I think we'll definitely have a few days in between the parks. I loved the excitement of getting up every morning and heading out to the parks, but we needed at least a day or 2 in between to re-energise. It'll also give us a chance to explore and enjoy the resort some more as I felt we had limited time to sit by the bar or go in the pool or spa. It got pretty exhausting but still loved each minute of our trip!

 

[Jen4400]

Less ADR's for sure! As much as we loved the different restaurant experiences, the ADR's made us feel rushed and restricted our flexibility. Also, we will take a longer trip this time and spend some of those days swimming and hanging out at our resort.

 

[a742246]

Bring more money and less stuff!

 

[EmsBoys]

This coming trip in April, we will be trying the DDP...because listening to DH complain about prices was a definite downer on our last trip!

 

[gorkt]

Things I have learned over the years:

1) Go in cooler weather - I prefer November, December.
2) Do 3/4 days in the parks or take a long mid-day break.
3) As much as want to rest on the first night at the parks, I just get too excited and always end up going, so make the first full day an easy one since my travel day is exhausting,
4) Go on longer trips less often so that there is always something new to see.
5) Rent DVC points or do family suites/WL cabins. Having my own room away from the kids is worth the cost.
6) Do rope drops, but not every day. Have at least 2 sleep in days.

 

[lisajl]

We have two ADRs and that is it for our next trip. It will most likely be our last trip with our kids (18 and 21) so we want to slow down and enjoy.

 

[COAriel]

This coming trip in April, we will be trying the DDP...because listening to DH complain about prices was a definite downer on our last trip!

LOL.... You sound just like me! This will be our first family trip in April and I wanted to get the DP because I knew it was going to be so hard eating with someone panicking about how much $$ a meal is and we are a family of 4... This way he knows it's paid for! I just hope all ADRs and meals go as well as I am thinking they will in my head... Our last trip to WDW was in 2000... I never planned like this for that trip... So a little nervous...

 

[peg110]

This coming trip in April, we will be trying the DDP...because listening to DH complain about prices was a definite downer on our last trip!

Yeah, I am like your DH, the difference that the DDP makes is that I get to complain about it BEFORE we go instead of while we were there.

This will be our first family trip in April and I wanted to get the DP because I knew it was going to be so hard eating with someone panicking about how much $$ a meal is and we are a family of 4... This way he knows it's paid for!

The meal will be paid for but in most cases the TIP is NOT paid for if it's a Table Service, so please don't forget to figure that into the calculations. When you get the Bill (or slip because it's the DDP) It still shows the total cost (and that the DDP paid for it) but it has the "Tip Chart" suggestions based on what the price was. So the DH can still stress that they want (or rather suggest) $32 Tip for the $180.00 for dinner at the Crystal Palace. (2 adults at $60.00 and 2 children at $30.00)

 

[frecklamy]

This is a really interesting thread - and really making me rethink some of our plans/ADRs except for the places we really want to eat. After all there's only two of us. But it will be Memorial Day week. Hmm.

But good read all round!

 

[snowman]

I think I've been waiting for this thread since my vacation ended on the 8th!

Also, this was our first trip as a DVC Member and quite honestly, I missed mousekeeping! Didn't feel like a vacation for me, as I was constantly cleaning up. No flames please, yes I did read the contract and member handbook and scoured the DVC Boards to get an idea before we left but being in the throws of it is slightly different than reading about it.

Right there with ya on this. Never expected to miss Mousekeeping as much as we did.

Over time I have refined our touring plan. We don't go to parks on either travel day. It just works better for us. I plan a lot more downtime...though 14 day trips as opposed to 4 day trips helps with that.
We also accept using ECVs as a fact of life, age and weight for us. It makes the bigger parks like AK and Epcot so much more enjoyable.

My biggest change? Leaving the "Must. Do. It. All." attitude behind.

 

[COAriel]

Yeah, I am like your DH, the difference that the DDP makes is that I get to complain about it BEFORE we go instead of while we were there.


The meal will be paid for but in most cases the TIP is NOT paid for if it's a Table Service, so please don't forget to figure that into the calculations. When you get the Bill (or slip because it's the DDP) It still shows the total cost (and that the DDP paid for it) but it has the "Tip Chart" suggestions based on what the price was. So the DH can still stress that they want (or rather suggest) $32 Tip for the $180.00 for dinner at the Crystal Palace. (2 adults at $60.00 and 2 children at $30.00)

Yeah...I have already warned the DH on the tips for all our TS meals.... It is much better on his heart to hand over $30+ Tip than $200+ for everything... Which we have never done in our lives and probably might not do again after this trip...I know we are essentially paying for the meal anyway you look at it, but it will be nice that with that money out of site and out of mind, we don't have to price check and budget while we are there, we already did that at home and paid for it. And, I know pretty much how much tips should be, so that is budgeted in our spending money we bring... All bases are covered

 

[blestmom]

I will not lug a big DSLR around.

I will not plan late nights and then early mornings, at least for the trips with my teenager. We prefer late nights...so we'll just sleep in.

That's about it.

 

[peg110]

I will not lug a big DSLR around.

This is starting to be my attitude too. Cell phones now-a-days have an AWESOME camera in them and take really good pictures for everyday type things. There are, however, some things that they won't do. First of all if you need a flash for anything more than about 15 feet away, the phone camera just doesn't cut it.

Also if you need to ZOOM some thing in, because it's further away and not just to "Crop" out others, then the DSLR is better.

I have a Nikon D400. 2 lenses (55mm and 80-120mm zoom) and an older (Minolta) bag. While it sucks to carry it around, it does provide a place for "Other" stuff too. (Small snacks, a little storage for maybe a folded rain coat, etc...) consider it about the size, and convenience of a purse.

 

[LuckyBelle81]

I know I'm echoing many previous posts, but we will plan fewer ADRs and at least try to plan our FPs more wisely. Our last trip was in Nov '15 and it seemed like we were just trying to fill time between ADRs and scheduled FPs. We originally went for 5 days in the parks and ended up adding a day because we felt like we had missed so much.

I think the key to planning fewer ADRs (for us anyway) is either eliminating the DP or going down a tier. For the last 2 trips we have done the Deluxe Plan so we were eating almost every meal at a TS restaurant. We love trying new restaurants and this provided us the opportunity to go places we probably wouldn't have otherwise gone and try dishes we wouldn't otherwise try (we do not normally eat an appetizer, entree, and dessert at EVERY meal). But it took too long to eat and everything else had to be planned around the ADRs. Add the nightmare of getting the ADRs you want WHEN you want them and it just turned into a stressful mess. I like the convenience of the DPs and I think maybe we'll look at the reg DDP because not having to nickel and dime everything at every meal makes it more enjoyable and that in itself is worth doing to DP for me. My DH is one of those "we WILL get what we paid for" types (and it only makes sense to be that way when you're forking out the $$$ to go to WDW) but there were plenty of times I would have been happy to grab a burger at a CS restaurant but he was insistent that we were going to go through the trouble of having a 2 hr lunch or dinner since we had gotten the bigger DP. Our youngest is 2 and will prob be 3 the next time we go and honestly I'd be ok w not trying to do a TS restaurant with her at all right now.

I love the planning part of the vacation but next time I think I'll focus on WISER planning instead of MORE planning.

 

[karasue10]

I'd definitely gve a water park a try if I were you! After three trips without a water park day, we finally went to Typhoon Lagoon and loved it! We always schedue a water park day now. I think if you go during the summer, it could be realy crowded with long lines, but we go during "medium crowd" times. We go at opening and ride the water slides for the first couple of hours, then when lines start to get long, we move to the lazy river and wave pool. Love Typhoon Lagoon!

I completely love the water parks!

 

[smd8z]

Awesome thread and great advice here!

No park on arrival day! Just a resort afternoon so we can be ready for the next day.

No DPs. Doesn't work out cost wise for our family.

No huge camera. What a pain. Especially if you have a small one that is good.

No ADRs (well, maybe one, but that's it)

No character dining. Waste of money and rushed character interaction. Although if you've never done it before, I do recommend trying it once, especially with the younger kids.

No water parks during a short stay. Huge lines, and our kids love the resort pools.

No park hopping. I know some people that enjoy it but our family does not.

Use rider swap ! Learned that the hard way during our first visit . With two little kids and two big kids it's a must .

Slow down sounds silly but instead of rushing down Main street to get to a FP, make sure you actually look at everything and listen to everything. The Magic is awesome!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I would spend less time shopping at Disney Springs. It's gotten so big and spread out that I don't enjoy it is as much as when there were fewer stores.

 

[shandysugar]

Thanks for all of these tips!