Has your style of touring changed over the years?

[PersonalizedMouse]

PersonalizedMousePersonalizedMouse
Let me preface this with I love my husband lol. During our Disney vacations he can become a bit much. His tornado style of touring can only be likened to the Tazmanian Devil. The kids shoot me exhausted and desperate looks that say 'will we ever see the resort pool'? Once during emh for soaring, our then eight year olds knees began to buckle. ' hon, I think we should leave'. 'we agreed' he said with a crazed look in his eye'. Hahaha. And so it has been for the last several years.....Until now!!
This year we did a quick four day trip to the Beach Club. Once the kids saw Stormalong Bay I knew an uprising was imminent. There was no way they were missing this pool so he could watch Wishes for the umpteenth time. We banded together and put our collective foot down. The look of shock on his face said it all. Hahaha. Then a miracle happened. He began to enjoy this slower pace of touring a much as we did. We even left mk at 6pm for pool time!!!!! It was different for us but just as enjoyable. The kids are older and we just don't need to cram it all in like before. We have been here before and we hopefully will return. The park dictator is no more and we don't miss him. Has your style of touring changed over the years ?

 

[Dr Gevil]

PM - Are you sure you're not talking about me???

You husband and were exactly the same - uber commandos through and through. Then we bought into BCV, and with the access to SAB, this former commando has seen the light. We, much to my family's delight, take a much more laid back approach to the parks now.

We know what we want to do and the best times to do it. We don't have to try and get it all on a particular visit, because we know we'll be back soon. SAB is fantastic and we spend as much time there now as the parks. The kids love the pool and the afternoon poolside activities, and Mom and Dad love the drink service from Hurricane Hannah's!

 

[Julylady]

Each trip we seem to spend less time in the parks and more time enjoying the resort. I thing we averaged about 5-6 hours a day in the theme parks for our last trip.

 

[loves to dive]

Mine has changed as my DS grew older, we started going when he was 3, he is now 34. We spend less time at MK for one and more time at Epcot. We never were commandos and never rushed, standing in line was never a problem for us and still isn't. Thankfully, we are able to go often and know we will be back within a year or two (lately I've been going twice a year but he doesn't get to go that often, poor baby) so if we miss something it's not big deal. I have found we spend less time at the pool and more time just relaxing in the parks or at a lounge in the resort.

 

[skier_pete]

I have definitely mellowed in touring style. I think if you go frequently it is inevitable. Once you've done all the big stuff a couple times, it starts to become less of a priority to see everything every trip. We usually have a down-day every trip, but our plans this next trip is to have down time EVERY day. I never would've done that on our first or second or third trip, but by our 10th? So what if we don't get to something.

 

[Micca]

Another recovering commando tourist here. Some of it is related to our purchase of DVC, the other is that we started going to WDW when I was 23 and now I'm 60. Still love the parks, we usually go to a park every day during our trips, but we don't do RD, and we don't close the parks down. We usually spend no more than 3 or 4 hours in any park, then do something else for a while. There is little activity after dinner, we might make a short stop at a shop, but then it's on to the resort where beer & wine & air conditioning are waiting. I understand why people like commando touring, so I wouldn't criticize.

 

[epcotty]

definitely depends on who I'm with at the time and fp+ thrown into the mix, etc, but I'd say it has. The one thing that hasn't changed is I always try to get in as many attractions as possible

 

[craigkerstiens]

Our style has very much mellowed over the years though we're a bit younger. Though the style sounds very similar to the DW's father. He actually didn't slow down until a trip where we were there and DW was expecting. Her mom very much told him we'd be taking a slower pace, and since then the slower pace has happened pretty naturally.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Before DH and I were married and up to our honeymoon, we had a very commando style touring.

Our first trip after our honeymoon was with our 2 girls, and again we went commando because that's what we were used to. (They were 3 and 5).

We came back from that trip absolutely exhausted and our annual trips after that started shifting more to the resort experience side. We became annual passholders and started going twice on year period for 11 days at a time. We didn't feel like we had to cram everything in anymore which was nice. That lasted for several years.

In January, we welcomed a baby boy to our family. Our first trip after that was in April, so he was three months old. We took it VERY slow because of him and we were all ok with that (girls were 10 and 8).

Because of our little guy, we anticipate things going slower for the next few years and possibly exploring allowing the girls to go off on their own (they know the parks like the back of their hands). It is an interesting time for us now...and our next trip is in April and we are trying a Disney cruise for the first time...just seeking that relaxation...

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I will agree with some of the previous posters, that once we bought into the DVC at BWV the vacations have seem more relaxed. As I've gotten older, I'm now 30, I began to enjoy Epcot much more. Also, I will admit I don't feel the need to ride rides 6-8 times in a row anymore since I know I'll be back within a year. Also, it's impossible to do that nowadays. We also go during the holidays, which I think helps relax the vacation because it's crowded so it's better to tour slowly. I have also found the joy of just relaxing at the osborne lights and the storytellers for holidays around the world. It is a nice relaxing time having a drink in my hand and walking around the world showcase enjoying the holidays. I think that has helped with not trying to get everything done in one trip.

 

[TeamSy]

It's funny because our plan has changed to the opposite of yours. We used to be very chill about it but over the past 2-3 years we find ourselves having to go into that "tornado mode" more. We NEVER had to make our dining reservations this far in advance (yes, we used to walk up and get a table within 30 minutes +/-. No big deal. Nowadays, I feel like that could never happen, or it would rarely happen. And then with FP+, we're booking our FP in ADVANCE, so we feel we have to pre-plan all our days there, in advance, and then once there, go crazy in order to get it all in. It's exhausting.

 

[DougEMG]

Prior to owning DVC we'd go for around 10 days per trip and run around trying to do everything since we wouldn't know when or if we would be back, but now owning DVC we go for longer trips (3-4 weeks), know we'll be back and so go at a much more relaxed pace. Even staying that long there are things we just don't get around to doing and it isn't a big deal.

 

[ShayBells]

I think mine is the opposite. When DS was a baby we spent less time in the park and now he's getting older we are staying later and enjoying wishes and night time in the park. Though I will say I went from following a detailed schedule and panicking when something went off course to more laid back. I still make a detailed plan but last time we didn't follow it at all and this time I made one but I have no intention of following it perfectly just as a general direction and if DS wants SPlash and I have down buzz. So be it. I've grown to be much calmer lol.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Much slower. There have been trips where I did not go on any rides the entire trip, but thoroughly enjoyed them.

 

[SA-TX]

F5 at MK, about an F2 everywhere else. Believe me, my family is grateful that I've mellowed over the years.

 

[JanieMc]

We've lengthened our vacays by a couple of days, to enjoy the resort more. We've dropped going to all four parks--this year, for instance, we're doing five nights at Wilderness Lodge, doing AK one day, MK one day, daytime only (yah, we might change our minds about MK and stay later but it'll be our last night and I know the kiddles will want to take a last dip in the pool). We plan to go to Typhoon Lagoon one of the two free days--TL is included in our "magical" package. One thing I haven't changed my mind about--and last visit we tried without and it was disaster--is carefully constructed touring plans. But now I take the leisurely tack, minimizing walking, not tearing around to get FP's which don't exist anymore anyway! I find a nice plan leaves us feeling MORE calm and confident we'll get to do everything we want, but in a practical order. I realized that making decisions in advance about what we want to do and how we'll accomplish it equals the same amount of time and decision-making as we'd do if we're standing in the middle of a park trying to decide what to do next, comparing wait times and nearing meltdown. Ha! I took advice from DIS'ers this year and used EasyWDW to make a general plan, plugged it into Touring Plans and consulted the Disney site interactive map to choose meal locations and make sure everything was in close proximity, with a few exceptions. I like TP because it plots the times--which makes it easier to plan meals. Now, if something comes up to put a crimp in it, fine, but it's great to have a plan at least in mind! Last year, we'd not seen New Fantasyland, and we got excited and started racing around... but it ended up not working because of bottlenecks like Peter Pan (my favorite ride of all time). All ride queues and loading times are so unequal, I don't see a way to avoid lines unless you have a reasonable plan of attack.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I can feel it changing right now. Yesterday was the first day we bailed on magic kingdom after dinner and before Wishes. We had been going since right before 9 and I realized while we had never enjoyed the grand Floridian pool and resort before we have seen Wishes about fifteen times. It's lke I have to force myself to change what I've always done but it was the right thing.

 

[BeerMe]

Used to go commando - 30 years later not so much. 60 trips changes your perspective. We're taking some young grandchildren in December - two of them it's their first trip. Those tend to be awesome visits.