How do you do WDW?

[Mickey91]

For my *700th* post, I am wondering how you guys do WDW? Do you wake up early and go hard all day and collapse in bed after midnight? Do you sleep in and then go at it all day? Do you get up early then take a mid afternoon break and go back out til the parks close? Or, do you go early and come back by dinner and relax at the resort, etc. for the rest of the evening?

I have 76 Days left until we leave for WDW! Thanks for keeping me company and helping me pass the time! You guys are great!:mickey:

[True Disney Fan]

:confused:Got to admit, we did not know how to limit, time or control ourselves for the first visit. We were the early risers,stay all day people and collapsing at night ones. It took a few times to start calming and getting into the mode of what to do.

The World of Disney is such an adventure, it can overwhelm anyone. We now go,enjoy, break, go back and enjoy more until usually closing. We take intermittant rest breaks while in the parks which helps alot.:thumbsup:

The whole thing is to have fun and not overdo to become too tired and (let's admit,grumpy).
Afterall, Disney Has the MAGIC to enjoy..:mickey:

[DDuck66]

It used to be up early go all day and collapse in the bedroom sometime after midnight. But as we have moved closer (hour away), we are spending more time just having fun. It is nice to be able to say, if we do not get it done we can come back next weekend.

[tink2006]

We are not a morning family:alarm: We take our time in the mornings and usually do not arrive at the parks until 10 or so. We also take an afternoon break to swim etc. We head back to the parks for ADR's and stay until closing. It seems the more we go to the World, the more relaxed we are about having to see/do everything. We know, if we miss it this time, we will just get it next trip. When we go back to the parks in the late afternoons, we can't help but notice the commando families that have been there all day...the one's with children that are in "melt down" mode :fit:and short tempers :angry:. I always think, it just is not worth it for us. Not much quality time if you are too tired and cranky to enjoy your family. :mickey:

[DizNee143]

i do that parks umm i gues syou can say my own way..
when e wake up and get dressed and ready to go..thats when we leave..and when we get tired or whatever..thats when we go back to the room...depends on the day and what not..it changes all the time!! :mickey:

[Disneyfamilyoffive]

We love Disney the whole adventure, we are big Fort Wilderness fans, we get up eat, go the the park if we feel like it if not then we go fishing, biking, riding around on the cart, swimming, and even Horse back riding. But like someone else said in an earlier post it is all about having fun and enjoying your family. And yes we do live close enough that we are there at least five times a year if not more for long weekends and one eight day trip at the beginning of summer.:mickey::woohoo:

[Lizzie]

We do it different every day. Some days commando some days we sleep in. Depends on what we have already done and how we are feeling. But for the first time our trip will be determinded by the mood of the kids next trip.

[SBETigg]

We mix it up. We're a family of four, two adults, two teens. Waking the teens up early every morning just won't work for us. We usually wake up in time to get to a park within a half hour of opening, take a midday break, then go late at a second park and stay up late. Some days we take a morning off from the parks and go late. Other days, we get up early and take an evening off from parks to explore other things. It's better for us to not be rigid and see where the mood takes us... except for keeping those ADRs. I make the ADRs and schedule around them to an extent, but not to structured craziness.

[sleepingbooty]

I guess we're in the majority. Midday break works best for us since our kids are little. They don't nap, but just getting out of the parks and spending downtime at the pool helps perk everybody up.

[dolphinmickey9170]

I voted for up early, go all day; but if we have our DGD, we take a mid-day slowdown just for her. But I like to go go go, whether we are in a park, resort hopping, or shopping, go go go!!



42 and 168 more days!!

[mrsgaribaldi]

We get up so late I'm :blush:.
For the meet in Oct we will have to get up early. We've been to Disney World about 15 or more times and have never been at a park for its opening:secret:

We get up late, go to a park, go back to the hotel for a nap, go out for the rest of the night.

[Dreamer7080]

We don't do early. :alarm: I go to Disney to relax s0 there is no way I would wake up as early, or earlier, than I do when I'm home for work and class. Plus, this way I'm not so tired once night comes around and I can enjoy the parks or DTD at night, my favorite time to be there. :mickey:

[c&d]

I voted other. We sleep in usually until around 10 or so. :alarm: Then we slowly get up and make it to the food court. Sometimes we'll head over to the parks other times we'll just hang at the pool. Our dinner reservations tend to coincide with extra magic hours so we'll head over to the parks before dinner and then hang out until they close. For our son there is nothing :waycool: than staying in the parks until 1 or 2 am. In all the times we've gone I don't think we've ever made a park opening.

[NJMan66]

I voted other. We sleep in usually until around 10 or so. :alarm: Then we slowly get up and make it to the food court. Sometimes we'll head over to the parks other times we'll just hang at the pool. Our dinner reservations tend to coincide with extra magic hours so we'll head over to the parks before dinner and then hang out until they close. For our son there is nothing :waycool: than staying in the parks until 1 or 2 am. In all the times we've gone I don't think we've ever made a park opening.

Thank god someone else is like me out there. :thumbsup: My family likes to hang out at the hotel till after lunch and head to the parks late and stay until close. Or just hang out at the pool all day and then catch some fireworks (meaning going to the parks at around 7PM). Then we just sleep in and get up when we (our kids) feel like it.

[dog-ears]

I voted other also.

We get up about the same time we get up at home - 7 ish so time to get breakfast and still make park openings. We take time for sit-down lunch and dinner. We pretty much go with our energy level - if we feel like we need to go back to the resort for a nap (DH does this since he works nights) then we do. If one person is taking a nap, the other is free to do whatever they want - we just agree on a time to meet up. We're don't stay out real late - rarely past 11.

The key to this approach is to plan enough days so that you get to see everything and still be able to have rest stops and full night's sleep.

OK, LOL, just call us dull and sensible!!

[milhouse]

It will probably change as the kids get bigger. With three little ones this May, we stuck to similar hours all week.

Up around 8:30. Eat a quick breakfast in the room. At the park around 10-11am. Lunch around 12 - 1:30 depending if we have early or late dinner reservations. Stay all day. Back to the room around 10pm. Quick dip in the pool at 10:30.

[BD]

Since we always go in January (small crowds) we get to the park at opening and take our time. MK is the only park that takes us a full day and we have dinner in the park at close to closing. That time of year closing is usually 7:00 anyway. If we're at other parks, which we can do in less than a day, we hop between them.

The key to all this is the relatively small January crowds. There's not many long lines.
BD

[mickey&missy]

With us, it depends on what we have planned that day.

We learned our first trip with the kids that ADR's for breakfast were hard on us. I can't stand having to rush out the door This past trip we only did one, next trip we probably won't do any.

I'm a morning person and tend to wakeup between 5:30 and 6. My kids and DH can sleep until 8 or later.We usually end up in a park around 9 or 9:30. I really enjoyed that early morning time this past trip. I can't tell you how peaceful and relaxing the grounds at WL are to take a walk in early in the morning. Sunrise over Bay Lake is beautiful!

My kids love to swim so taking an afternoon break is great, plus it gives them extra energy for a night of fireworks etc! But, we've never closed a park or done the comando thing. Its just to much for us. We prefer to go laid back and enjoy!

[LarryBoy]

Our son, age 6, is still an early riser. So we usually get going pretty early and make it to the parks close to opening. We are however, and will always be, big fans of the mid-day break. This is especially important if we go in the summer. Even though DS doesn't nap anymore you can't beat a dip in the pool and a hop in the shower. We were doing breaks even before child. We always head back for dinner, and usually close the park. Unless they are staying open really late.

[DawsonAR]

We get up early and go all day until around 5 or 6 pm then the kids to bed early. We found this works better for our kids. This keeps them more on the regular school time schedule at home.

[Narawen]

It really depends on where we're doing breakfast that day. If we have an ADR for a character meal, we get up early, take abreak around afternoon/evening, then head back and go to bed late.

Usually, we sleep in till about 10, eat a small breakfast in the hotel room (granola bar or small bowl of cereal), go to the park for the rest of the day. We try to go to the park that has evening EMH, and we usually end up "closing the park". Of course, I'm younger than most of the people here and that's my usualy schedule anyway...this'll probably change when I get older.

[GrmGrninGost]

Hit it early, hard and stay late! :mickey: We go once a year, I need lots of good memories to carry me through until the next trip!

[dteed]

It varies for us depending on our mood. We have been open to close, we have slept in and went till closing. This next trip, 4 weeks from now, we will take it fairly easy. Planning on two water parks in 6 days of our visit. Some early mornings with the majority of our daylight hours spent at the BC pool. late dinners and late nights with plenty of downtime ot the resort.

[Becky'sMom]

We usually push pretty hard..we're early risers and Becky (now 4) was 2 and then 3 our last 2 trips, so we had her stroller along and she just napped in it when she needed to. We usually closed the park, but I was asleep as soon as I made contact with my pillow.
This time though, we have 2 weeks in Orlando and a 10 day water park fun and more ticket...so we're going to take advantage of being able to take it slow - maybe up early but then back to our timeshare right after dinner one day and then head out to the park later and stay till they throw us out the next - I have even scheduled 3 days where we don't leave the resort so we HAVE to rest up a bit!
lauren

[LoriMistress]

It depends on what time of year I'm going, what the park hours, and depending which park. I use to go comando: be at the parks before opening until closing. But this time, for most of the parks we'll be taking midday breaks so we can relax and don't feel that tired throughout our week on vacation.

[mickeysworld]

I voted for getting up early, staying till dinner...when it was just DH, DD7, and DD5 we would sometimes do the break in the middle thing and sometimes we would go all day and night, at least until fireworks, but since baby #3 came along we, or at least one of us, are back at the hotel for an early bedtime for baby.

[biodtl]

We're a GOGOGO type family. Our regular lives are pretty busy, so we're used to it and our idea of relaxing is doing, going, seeing, and we can't imagine a better place to be doing, going, seeing than WDW.

We don't usually take a break, but our kids are either more energetic than us or can easily sleep in the middle of the hustle and bustle and noise in a stroller. in fact - we'd get less rest at the hotel, because all the bus travel and walking and travel back to the resort would wake up and rev DD up instead.

When we finally crash, the kids sleep like rocks and wake up raring to go.

[jedi jen]

I enjoy early morning in the parks and evenings in the parks best. So, I voted for midday break. I take DKs in summer so that midday can be tough - crowded and hot. I think we all do best when we break then. I like to open and then close the parks. ;)

[glenpreece]

I chose the "other" option. Although I usually do the up early out late thing I vary it abit. I get up early do one park first, then hop to another park go back to the reosrt ot change go back to a park or do another one and then head to DTD. Last trip i was there almost every night. I feel like I get more out of my stay if I visit DTD after a day at the parks. I can easily do MK all day though but not Epcot, MGM or AK. I get too bored and have to go elsewhere.

[tinksmom02]

We like to get up early and hit the parks (although we are never there exactly at park opening!), and go all day. We'll leave around dinnertime, eat, and then hang out or hit DTD.

Next time we go, we may try the midday breaks, see how that works for us.

[kaerbear178]

Since we come from the west coast it is really hard to change over to a 3 hour time difference. We sleep in til 10ish, get to the parks around 12 and then go all day til about 12 - 9 our time. This trip I want to try waking up earlier and going to bed earlier a week before we get there to try and adjust to the time difference.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

We usually open the park, stay all day with no break and then leave around dinner. :sleepin:

It has worked well for our family but, I am thinking this year we might take a break a few days and see if it makes a difference at all. That way we can go back to the parks and see the fireworks, etc, without anyone getting too sleepy.

Just don't tell the kids that. :secret: They would be complaining already!

[BritCody]

I am an early riser. We are always in the front of the line when the park opens and we are always one of the last to leave. Generally we stay in the same park all day and we don't take any breaks. If we need a break we will look for a bench in the shade or go to see one of the shows and relax there.

[2disneyfans]

We were just there this last week and we got up early to do the Extra Magic Hours at whichever park had them until 11 or noon. We got more done in that first hour than we did in the other 2 or 3. Then we would head back to our resort for pool and hammock time and a little nap. Then it was off for our taqble service and to the park with evening EMH and almost close that park. Again we got alot done in those evening EMH:mickey:

[Amy_617]

It is just DH and I, so when we go to Disney it is GO GO GO!! :drive:

We are in our mid 20's with no children. We are both in retail management for two very large retail companies. We are pretty much used to the busy lifestyle.

We really don't know what to do when it slows down....we always feel like we need to GO GO GO so more.

We don't really have the problem of getting tired or grumpy though....I guess we are just so used to it, it just makes since.

Only 62 more days to go!!! :mickey:

[LandFan]

It is just DH and I, so when we go to Disney it is GO GO GO!! :drive:

We are in our mid 20's with no children.

We really don't know what to do when it slows down....we always feel like we need to GO GO GO so more.

We don't really have the problem of getting tired or grumpy though....I guess we are just so used to it, it just makes since. :mickey:

Us too. We are in our mid 30's but we are pretty commando!:D

[KAJUNKING]

we sleep in till about 9:30 or 10 and the head to the parks and stay till park closing

[January-2007]

Our typical plan is up early to open a park, midday break, back in the parks until close. So that's what I voted for.

...However... Our touring plans seem to evolve a bit more with each trip. We've opened all the parks. The only opening we really like to make sure to experience every trip is the Magic Kingdom. Even this is hard to convince my DH to get up early for because even when we get there we still have to stand in the sun for a good 40 minutes before going into the parks. We do tend to leave by noon though if we open. Last trip we had some later starts. One day we got to Epcot in the early afternoon and stayed on through the day until almost close. So we're not as locked in any more as to how we tour. Just not run till you drop types, you know?

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

This year since we'll have FRSP we're going to take things easy for the first time. I've always been an early riser - wanting to be at the park the minute it opens & go-go-go til the last bus takes us back to the hotel. This year we're going to pace ourselves, taking a break mid-day and going back to the hotel to relax:mickey:. Just can't wait for September to get here.......Mickey - here we come!!
__________________

[Belle_0717]

Our days are based on EMH and ADRs. We plan everything around these two things. Sometimes we'll sleep in to hang by the pool till midday, catch a late lunch/early dinner and close a park. Or up early for an ADR, hang at the parks until dinner then relax at SSR or meander in DTD. The options are endless - no plan is better than the other. Keeping options open and being able to adjust to weather and other issues, makes the WDW vacation more enjoyable.

[#1disneyfan]

Since we have been lucky enough to have visited many times, we have slowed it down a little. We usually are out the door by 10am and do the parks for the day, head off to our ADR's, head out to a EMH park or back to the resort for a swim. Sounds like alot, but we don't do it commando style. We usually focus on a few things that are on our must do list, and anything extra is a bonus for the day. However, last October we went for 1 day and MNSSHP, and we hit 3 parks (hitting only our fav rides of course)! But we were beat! We started at about 9 and finished around 12midnight. But it was a great experience.

[Disney Maniac]

We get up around 7:00am and be at the bus stop by 8:00am. Then we tour the parks until about 1:00 to 2:00 pm, at the time we go back to the hotel and relax. Then we go back around 4:00 to 5:00pm for our ADR and tour the park until the park closes. But sometimes if we get lazy and sleep in we skip a break during the day. But since we are in WDW that rarely happens.

[snifflesmcg]

I am NOT a morning person AT ALL. However, I hate missing daylight so I try and get up and head to the parks early especially EMH days. On days when the EMH are PM hours, I do tend to sleep in. We spend all day in the parks until they close then head to either the boardwalk or PI until they close too. I am taking it easy this year though.

[Mickey91]

Wow! Looks like we all either go all day or take a midday break! Thanks for all the responses! It is fun to see how everyone enjoys WDW!!!:mickey: Whichever you choose, have a great time on your next trip!!!!By the way, WE LEAVE IN 73 DAYS!!!!!!:woohoo:

[pogo]

We are a little older than some of you puppies and we tend to be more relaxed at the parks. :yes:

We get up when we get up and go to a park when we are ready. We take our time and see what we can see and do what we can do, without getting all excited about seeing everything or missing somethings.

After all...... there's always another trip around the corner. :D

[Dedivah]

We are in the majority.

I am a early riser, DH is not. BUT he is always very excited when we are at WDW so he is up early too. We get breakfast at the food court, make it to the park around 9-10 then we go back to the room a little after lunch for a nap then head out for ADRs then close the parks down.

[Jared]

I am a member of the plurality in this poll. Staying on site allows for a necessary midday break. Since we are morning people, it is easy to wake up and arrive at the parks early. After swimming and napping, we head to a second park for dinner and nighttime fun.

[moe513]

I like to take a afternoon break. Let the kids swim then showere before we have dinner and then a night time show or something.

[Brooklynos]

We have a pretty relaxed sense to us at Disney. If we don't wake up early on our own we'll get up around 8:30 - 9ish, hit the parks around 10am. hang out all day, hit our adrs for dinner then head to the resort. Like someone else mentioned, there's always another trip planned so we take it easy. Always see our favorites, but if we are tired we'll catchh the other stuff another day.... Makes for much happier campers!!! :cool:

[Wrigley]

We like to get up and get going to be in the parks by the time they open, come back to the resort to swim and relax after lunch, and then go back around supper time until the parks close. That mid-day break is very refreshing and gives you that second wind!:mickey:

[jrpersinger]

We are die hard. We open the parks with early hours and close them with late hours. Sunday (24th) night we stayed out till 2am at MK and were up by 6am on Monday to get ready for our breakfast at CRT. We didn't come back in till midnight that night. I don't think I have ever been to WDW and relaxed. However, DH and I said when the girls hit the teen years, we plan to do just that. We only have, oh... 8 or so years! LOL

[CandleontheWater]

I can only go commando style. I'm going 11 times this year, but I still start to freak out if I'm not there for rope drop and I won't leave until that last shop on Main Street kicks me out. I went with my mother and brother for Memorial day, and I was honestly chomping at the bit every morning as they leisurely ate their breakfasts, and was ready to tear my hair out while they lingered over lunch. I think its an addiction, I need to be IN the parks and going or I feel like I'm wasting precious magic time! My ever suffering husband is so patient with me and will let me drag him around from EMH morning to EHM evenings. He's always joking that we shouldn't even get a hotel room, we're in it so little. He says that rolling out a cot on Main Street would be much more efficient, and I have to say I agree! :mickey:

[RAIDER]

I'm normally there till start to finish ..I make the most of being there :thumbsup:

[WDWFREAK101]

Early, get some breakfast (Donuts at the Gift shop) lol. Go to the park. Come back at around 3 or 4 go back to the park at around 5 or 6.

Ride a few rides, eat and then stay for the rest of the day.





55 DAYS TO GO!!!!

[indytraveler]

This is tough because we like to get there early and stay and enjoy the magic all we can. We don't stay on property so we stay well into the night close it down and will take a day off to recuperate then heavy the next. Our stays are usually only 3 days so we plan accordingly.

[Gotta Love Eeyore]

I don't wake my kids up early, but the excitement gets them going earlier than at home. Once we hit the parks, we don't head back to the resort/pool until closing. Of course, we usually go in September, so the parks close a little earlier than in the summer.

[Dicecatt262]

I voted "Other", but the third choice is nearest to what we do. We usually don't quite close the parks though but exit before the masses. For example, here is my schedule in September:

Day 1: check in, relax at resort, dinner at Ohana
Day 2: Water park in the morning, break, few hours at Epcot (for Divequest for DH) and Le Cellier
Day 3: sleep in a bit, Princess Storybook lunch, break, Magical Fireworks voyage
Day 4: MK, lunch CRT, break, Chef Mickey's dinner, MK till before fireworks, watch fireworks from resort
Day 5: LOEMH for the first 2 hours, then break the rest of the day
Day 6: Down day, Prime Time and MGM at night.
Day 7: LOEMH, break, LTT and MNSSHP
Day 8: Down day, then departure

Now, we've gone a lot, so if it was a first time, or a time when I knew I wouldn't be back for a while, I wouldn't have so much time off, or specialty things, and I'd replace it with park time. We aren't doing AK because we just did quite a bit in May at AK. But my thoughts are get there early, do a lot of rides before a lot of people stumble out of bed...nice, long relaxing break, then back to the same park for evening touring. It works great with small children, especially. They aren't so cranky!