It has begun...my vacation style is evolving.

CookieandOatmeal

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 12, 2014
I never thought this would occur since I've always been one of those rope drop to park close people but since we've bought into DVC and I've gotten older (early 30s), I don't tour as I use to anymore. I am definitely entering the phase where I enjoy hanging out at the resort and do parks/rides for a few hours every day. It is just interesting to reflect on this because my motto has always been "time is money in Disney and there is no time to rest"! I wonder if there will come a time when I won't go into the parks at all during a stay?
 
DH and I got there a couple years ago. We still enjoy the parks, but are enjoying the resorts more and more. I don't think we will ever have a full trip without going to the parks, but I can certainly see us skipping a couple days on a trip.
 
We now focus on eating and drinking and do our 3 FP+ per day and that's about it. But we do still go in the parks daily, pretty much...unless DH wants to go off property (like he went to Tampa ice hockey game). We are 45 and our 3 kids are in college. They too prefer a low key Disney vacation and they actually may skip parks more than DH and I but they love the eating aspect.
 


We now focus on eating and drinking and do our 3 FP+ per day and that's about it. But we do still go in the parks daily, pretty much...unless DH wants to go off property (like he went to Tampa ice hockey game). We are 45 and our 3 kids are in college. They too prefer a low key Disney vacation and they actually may skip parks more than DH and I but they love the eating aspect.

This sounds just like my vacation this past week. We literally just did 3 or 4 rides with FPs each day and focused mainly on eating our way around Disney, enjoying the pool, and watching the fireworks from my balcony at BLT. I just don't feel that urgency of doing every ride at every park anymore which is surprising. My hubs even remarked how ok I was about going back and relaxing...then remarked I must be getting old! o_O:P
 


DVC makes it easy to relax, enjoy what you want at the parks, knowing what you didn’t get to see this time, will still be there next time. We are able to beat the heat between 12-3:30 by returning to the villa for a swim or a nap. We can do a little shopping at the outlet mall, eat at good offsite restaurants all near the comforts of the DVC resorts and their amenities.
 
While we are not DVC owners (well my son was before his divorce) we have had this style for about 5 years now. I go to WDW at least twice a year and my son has been going twice a year for the past few years. He is in his late 30s. We do go to the parks but rarely do we book FPs in advance, if there are rides we want to ride we will just stand in line for them or try to grab FPs while in line for something else. We just enjoy the parks for the parks themselves. We once sat on a bench outside of Italy for a hour with a refreshing adult beverage and just looking at the detail on the buildings. We got curious about why some of the statues and so then googled it and sat there talking about it. He is an archaeologist and has always loved history so even when he was a toddler we spent more time at Epcot talking to cast members and learning about their countries then riding rides. We also go back to the resort and spend a hour or two at the pool just about every day, mostly in the hot tub and with a refreshing adult beverage. Refreshing adult beverages play a large role in our visits, my honey says we always have to detox when we get back home because he's convinced that's all we do while we are there since we are always sending him pictures of our drinks.
 
I turn 40 next year, and with a kid, we spend way more time in the resort than we used to. I’d be happy spending every minute in the parks, but have enjoyed hanging out in the resort and utilizing more of their offerings more than I expected or would’ve when we bought in.
 
he's convinced that's all we do while we are there since we are always sending him pictures of our drinks.
it took me a long time to be comfortable taking pictures of what we eat and drink, but now it’s a part of everywhere we go!

We’re going in August, it’s so stinking hot, having a cocktail, sitting and Disney people watching is a sport in itself! Watching the misery on the faces of people there, who are supposed to be having fun, having forgotten the main objective, “FUN” Thank goodness the park commando days are long gone!
 
The next change is people watching. Going to rope drop just to watch the people run around, then you go to breakfast and back to the room to take a nap! :thumbsup2

:earsboy: Bill

Haha I already started doing this last week. It really is fascinating to see all the characters that go to Disney and how families interact with each other.
 
Perfect thread for what was on my mind! Just completed our 15th annual trip and this year I strongly came to the conclusion that I need to cut back on my park time and increase my RNR time. I just can't take the crowds anymore. Especially at MK. Normally we do 8 park days. I'll probably cut that down to 3-4 next year (HS, AK, EPCOT). My focus will be on dining, chilling at the pool or waterpark, read a book, utilize the resort health club, etc. My girls will still want to do parks every day but that's ok... I do very well on my own.
 
Well while I admit I was never a park open to close kind of girl.....I’m definitely slowing down.
Book my fastpasses..... do those and maybe a few others with minimal line.
A nice meal, show, pool, cocktails.... relax.... repeat.

Oh and just back from BLT(DD sweet 16 trip) and I just did my 1st park opening in a DECADE!!!

AK now worth the park opening to sprint to FOP. Best ride of my life!!!

Disney EXECUTIVES listen.
Give US CHEAP AP’s!!!!!

Us DVC’ers don’t clog the parks.... we are off spending money and relaxing, which in turn produces the happy smiling faces that all the newbies see; as they are waiting on a long hot line.
They think next time I will figure it out.... like they did!

And with my cheap AP, I will in turn come back as many times as I can, spend more money and might have an add on thought....
Just sayin;-)
Kerri
 
I think we have evolved because we have become DVC members. It's been 18 years now and with membership we are "forced" to go on a vacation more often than we most likely would if we didn't have DVC. But we have expanded and only go to the parks every other trip- which works out to be every 2-3 years. We cruise in between. We are going to WDW in August and this time our kids are teens- totally different world. We made our 3 FPs and told the kids they want to do more / wait in line then we will wait for them someplace with a cool beverage and shade. As long as they stick together and report back roughly on time I'll continue to give them that privledge. We booked 10 days and have only 3 park days planned and 1 water park day. We DO plan on hitting Universal as the kids have never been so I imagine those will be our least relaxing days, but by this age the kids have seen it all, focus on new stuff, and know that we'll be back again soon.
 
Disney EXECUTIVES listen.
Give US CHEAP AP’s!!!!!

Us DVC’ers don’t clog the parks.... we are off spending money and relaxing, which in turn produces the happy smiling faces that all the newbies see; as they are waiting on a long hot line.
They think next time I will figure it out.... like they did!

And with my cheap AP, I will in turn come back as many times as I can, spend more money and might have an add on thought....
Just sayin;-)
Kerri

We are just back from BLT too! Anyways, I totally agree with the cheap APs. This was our first trip with one and it was nice just to pop into a park when we want to and eat/drink/ride whatever and then go back to resort to rest until we were ready to repeat it again in the evening.
 
I guess I was always like this. Our very first WDW trip was with friends with a small child (we have no children), and we all felt like we had to go from rope drop to close every day. It was exhausting and I hated it. It really made me feel like my first WDW trip would be enough for me for a lifetime. We went back and did a split POR/AKL stay and did much more resting at the resort, just venturing to the parks when we wanted, and now we own DVC. So it's kinda perfect for what we want to do.
 
I agree! We are new dvc owners.. just came back from a trip where I took my cousin and her son and they are rope drop park commandos becuase they don't get to go as often etc. But, she looked miserable.. she won't admit it though... I do understand.. trying to do as much as possible, get your money's worth... I kept up pretty well.... but I am looking forward to a leisure trip at some point. I felt like we were running a race!! Get to this fast pass, squeeze this in real quick, oh that line is short, let's traverse the park to make it real quick! We still had a blast but exhausted is what I am!! We had no rest days in between but we did take a rest from 4 on our epcot day and hung at the pool... that helped.

We are going again with them in 2020, I have to figure out how to seperate myself more.. but I want to be with them... oh well, I just may have to opt out of some things!!
 

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