So am I doing it all wrong?

[starjazz]

I agree with AngiTN. What the heck does money have to do with any of it? I'm certainly not "loaded", and I have never stayed Deluxe, but my trips have lots and lots of downtime.

Money has a lot to do with it, if you ask me. As I said, if I had a ton of it, and I knew I could come back annually or even more frequently, I'd do things differently. If I was at a deluxe resort in a villa that is a short boat ride away from the park, I'd do things differently. If I was on the deluxe dining plan, I'd do things differently. So the OP's colleague's plan may be different because they value things differently, and that is all I was trying to point out.

Many other posters have said things like, "I wouldn't spend all this money and then only go to the park for three hours." But, you might if you had a ton of money, and you went every year, or stayed for two weeks at a time, or you were in a resort that was close to the parks and had deluxe pools with slides and other amenities. Just seems like a possible cause for the differences.

 

[BigredNole]

Or just have different priorities in what they want to do on their trip. I think we all know what it means when you assume

No, not true at all. If you can drop $6,000 a year on Disney vacations, you are far more well off than 6.95B people on this planet. There is no assumption about that.

 

[AngiTN]

No, not true at all. If you can drop $6,000 a year on Disney vacations, you are far more well off than 6.95B people on this planet. There is no assumption about that.

You totally forgetting folks who are dumping it all on a credit card? Spending $6000 on a vacation (even yearly) does not make you rich. Not automatically. Not by far.
Not to mention folks who spend on vacation and then NEVER do anything else. Shop Goodwill, eat cheap at home, live in a small house, drive junker cars. It's very possible to spend a lot on vacation and not be rich. That's all I mean. And OP never mentioned their finances. Others have, and that's fine. But I'm not assuming OP is rich.

 

[mrzrich]

No, not true at all. If you can drop $6,000 a year on Disney vacations, you are far more well off than 6.95B people on this planet. There is no assumption about that.

You totally forgetting folks who are dumping it all on a credit card? Spending $6000 on a vacation (even yearly) does not make you rich. Not automatically. Not by far.
Not to mention folks who spend on vacation and then NEVER do anything else. Shop Goodwill, eat cheap at home, live in a small house, drive junker cars. It's very possible to spend a lot on vacation and not be rich. That's all I mean. And OP never mentioned their finances. Others have, and that's fine. But I'm not assuming OP is rich.

We are a one income family. We rarely eat out at home. I use coupons and shop grocery sales. We don't have cable, and we don't go to the movies. I rarely buy myself new clothes and I drive a 2005 car. I got my first smart phone last year, my husband still uses a flip phone. I guess hearing this part would make you think that I am poor



My entire family has annual passes. I will sleep on Disney property at least 26 nights this year, maybe more if the opportunity arises. I guess if you just heard that part you would think I was rich.

I am neither rich or poor. I just spend what I do have differently than other people.

 

[SaintsManiac]

OP it sounds like you should try a Disney cruise. It seems like a new thing to try that fits your style.

 

[quandrea]

We are a one income family. We rarely eat out at home. I use coupons and shop grocery sales. We don't have cable, and we don't go to the movies. I rarely buy myself new clothes and I drive a 2005 car. I got my first smart phone last year, my husband still uses a flip phone. I guess hearing this part would make you think that I am poor



My entire family has annual passes. I will sleep on Disney property at least 26 nights this year, maybe more if the opportunity arises. I guess if you just heard that part you would think I was rich.

I am neither rich or poor. I just spend what I do have differently than other people.

Sounds like us.

 

[johnsgrl]

- Head back to hotel around 8ish, Go to the game room or community hall in the hotel

Based on the mention of community hall and that the trips in OP's signature line are mostly villas, I would guess they are DVC owners/family members or rent a lot of DVC points, so the finance issue isn't accurate for those who are speculating.

OP, if you had asked a few years ago if you were doing it wrong I undoubtedly would have said yes, but after many trips and now DVC we are planning our trips very differently. Before I would have had massive lists of attractions we wanted to do, planned my FP+ early to maximize the chance of getting more same day, and woken my grumpy DH up at the crack of dawn so we could be in line for rope drop.
My 60 day for FP+ for our next trip was Tuesday and the few I booked were for mid to late afternoon or early evening. We plan so spend the majority of our time at the resort and will go to a park, or not based on how we feel at any given moment. One of the best, most relaxing days we had on our last trip we planned nothing, decided at some point to go to MK, and just walked around and if we saw something we felt like doing,we did it.

 

[pmaurer74]

Like the others have said what is important is what works for your family. Everyone does Disney differently. I love breakfasts, my friends don't. I love rope drop, my friends don't. To me everything is 1/3 resort, 1/3 food, 1/3 park. Each one is equal. That being said I always do rope drop and if I do a breakfast it is as late as possible and it is more like our lunch.

 

[oceanmarina]

The only way to find out if you're "doing it wrong" is to try something else. Don't go by what we or your friend thinks what's best. You have to try once or twice for yourself how a different style of touring works for your family. Maybe you love it, maybe you hate it. Only then you can say if your current style can be improved or that it is already perfect.

You totally forgetting folks who are dumping it all on a credit card? Spending $6000 on a vacation (even yearly) does not make you rich. Not automatically. Not by far.
Not to mention folks who spend on vacation and then NEVER do anything else. Shop Goodwill, eat cheap at home, live in a small house, drive junker cars. It's very possible to spend a lot on vacation and not be rich. That's all I mean. And OP never mentioned their finances. Others have, and that's fine. But I'm not assuming OP is rich.

We are a one income family. We rarely eat out at home. I use coupons and shop grocery sales. We don't have cable, and we don't go to the movies. I rarely buy myself new clothes and I drive a 2005 car. I got my first smart phone last year, my husband still uses a flip phone. I guess hearing this part would make you think that I am poor

My entire family has annual passes. I will sleep on Disney property at least 26 nights this year, maybe more if the opportunity arises. I guess if you just heard that part you would think I was rich.

I am neither rich or poor. I just spend what I do have differently than other people.

OP it sounds like you should try a Disney cruise. It seems like a new thing to try that fits your style.

Yep to all of the above Saints Magic we did two Disney cruises and enjoyed them but after 5 cruises DH wasn't really into it anymore - wasn't the fan of the tiny pools and rushing around on the excursions. But I think someday we would cruise again when the kids are older. Besides Disney, i'm a huge fan of Caribbean islands, the Carribbean and Disney are tied for my two favorite travel destinations.

Hi all,

I thought it was great to read about all the different ways people tour, I agree with Karin1984 a good way to see if your system really works for you is to try something else out and compare. I did this post because our last trip was a little "off" maybe not as magical as previous trips and I wanted to get some touring ideas. I definitely feel that our next trip I would like to maybe do cereal in the room and do rope drop and see how that goes. Maybe not do the deluxe dining plan so we don't have that many ADR ressies to keep up with, maybe try out of pocket dining and see how that goes. There were times on our last trip where I felt tied down by all the ADR's and would have liked more time to be more spontaneous.

But as for finances we are definitely not rich, i'm with the "live like a pauper so you can travel in style" philosophy - not for everyone but works for me. Yes we do stay at deluxe resorts once a year but both Dh and I cut back in a lot of other areas (we both have 12 years old cars haven't had a car payment in 8 years, we live in a small home and both work full time so i'm able to save up for my trips. I only got a smart phone last year, i'm not a big clothes horse, we only go out to dinner once or twice a year, etc. Yep I've charged a trip and worked hard to pay it off. I buy my airfare the day it comes out and get it cheaper - we also only go in August as it's cheaper and we couldn't afford to go during the school break times. But to me travel is my "happy place" and I like to stay deluxe as we spend a lot of time in the room / resort.) I feel like if you are only in the room to sleep and change clothes, it doesn't pay to stay deluxe but for me it seems worth it as we spend more time there. We are not DVC members, I usually try and book a bounceback for the following year. We have never went on a Disney trip without a deal of some sort (free dining or 20% off etc.).

Anyway I appreciate all the feedback and friendly advice from my DIS board peeps! ~ Marina

PS - Personally I think someday I would like to do a solo trip one day and tour my own way - I get up at 5AM for work during the week so rope drop would be no problem for me as I keep old lady hours - early to bed and rise for me! My DH and my two munckins like to stay up late and sleep in so majority rules - you all know how that goes!

 

[mrzrich]

PS - Personally I think someday I would like to do a solo trip one day and tour my own way - I get up at 5AM for work during the week so rope drop would be no problem for me as I keep old lady hours - early to bed and rise for me! My DH and my two munckins like to stay up late and sleep in so majority rules - you all know how that goes!

Solo trips are heavenly.

 

[Disneylover99]

Personally I think someday I would like to do a solo trip one day and tour my own way - I get up at 5AM for work during the week so rope drop would be no problem for me as I keep old lady hours - early to bed and rise for me! My DH and my two munckins like to stay up late and sleep in so majority rules - you all know how that goes!

I get up early too and my family likes to sleep in. You should try going to the MK early one morning on your own. It's fun!

 

[Dug720]

Solo trips are heavenly.

Agreed!!! I go solo pretty much whenever I go - the last time I was there I was hanging out with a friend (it was Marathon Weekend 2015) and it was fun, but also weird to be touring on "someone else's schedule". I love the freedom to do the things I want to do as many times as I want to do them and at the pace I want to go - no pressure to go on anything I don't want to, nothing outside of FP and one ADR/day scheduled. If I feel like doing rope drop, I can - but if I feel like sleeping in (though "in" for me is much earlier than most as I was absent the day they handed out the "sleep in" genes) and hitting the park later, I can. I can also just skip the FP thing and play "bus roulette" if I decide I want to do that.

 

[mindeola]

Comparison is the thief of Joy. You do what is best for your family. Are y'all enjoying your vacations? No need to change anything! The way you do it gives me anxiety just reading it. It would never work for me or my family. We are all different and that is okay.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

You are doing what works best for your family. If they're happy you are doing it right. If you want to try something different go for it one day.

My kids would be tortured by that. It's like dangling a lollipop in front a toddler and then taking it away. I can't imagine getting my kids to the park and then bam it's breakfast...all while they gaze at the line filling up for their favorite rides.

We go in August and do RD, midday breaks by the pool and then PM park time at another park. We do dinner ADR's usually. Sometimes lunch. We also do 1-2 rest days.

 

[Kristine316]

Well, they did ask. So are folks not supposed to answer their question?
And did anyone truly tell them they did it wrong or did folks tell them that's different than the way we do it?

I agree. I read through the thread and almost everyone told OP "if it works for you, it's not wrong". Of course many wrote they would do it differently but, it wasn't in a rude way at all. The OP did start a thread and asked for in put so I'm not seeing the issue here.

 

[klmall]

We actually do our trips two different ways at the same time.

I and sometimes DS get up early and do rope drop almost every day of the trip. DH usually gets up much later; showers etc. and meets us for late breakfast or an early lunch.

We tour together often parkhopping for the rest of the day with a TS meal. Sometimes we stay together until late in the parks but usually DH goes back early. He isn't a Disney fan and he doesn't ride any rides.

We never swim in a pool (no interest and we go anytime other than summer and early fall). We've never done a dining plan (always works out cheaper for us to pay out-of-pocket and saves time).

And we have toured this way ever since our trips in the 90's. Sometimes we stay onsite; sometimes not. Our trips are now so infrequent (average 3 years between) that I don't want to miss a moment of park time. If we want to relax we do it at Universal where with Express Passes we can tour most of a park in 1/2 a day and then go back and enjoy our resort room and shop at City Walk..

I'm glad that other people sleep in late; spend hours eating in restaurants they chose months earlier and that they follow predictable patterns that make it easier for me to do what I want in the parks.

And yes, we are retired now and I still do Disney full-speed ahead.

But as everyone posting earlier notes, just do it your own way. You might learn something from another poster about being at Disney and they might learn from your methods too.