Just Back and kind of want a do-over...

[Ava]

We just got back last night from 10 days at the World, and while we DID have fun, it was a more difficult trip than last year. I definitely underestimated how much more time everything would take with a group of 6 vs a group of 4, even though the 2 additional people were adults. Plus, our 6-year-old was a total grump a lot of the time and our 2-year-old decided she hated the buses (which she rides at home and is fine with), would NOT sit through a meal (which she also does fine with at home), and screamed whenever she had to wait to see a character (we were happy she loved them but the waiting was ROUGH).

So, things I learned on this trip...

1. 10 days in WDW is too much for the grandmothers. I'm glad they both came and got to experience WDW with their granddaughters while they are still healthy/active but by around day 8 they'd had enough.

2. Park hopping is not for us. Planning ADRs and FP+ makes you lose a lot of the flexibility that hopping should provide, so it ended up just making us feel overly scheduled. (I was able to change some ADRs after the first day we hopped so we wouldn't have to do it any more. The only benefit we ended up getting out of the hopper passes was that DW and I got to go to late EMH at MK while our moms stayed at the hotel with the kids.)

3. Two TS meals in one day is too much for us. It was so hot that no one felt like eating very much, and we struggled to use up our QS & snack credits as well.

4. The discounts and crowd levels in late August are good, but the weather stinks. The heat we can deal with, but the torrential rains put a real damper on our plans some days. (See what I did there? )

5. Touring Plans is a great service, but it's too intense/detailed for me. We missed rope drop on our first MK day and I had a hard time reworking the rest of our MK plans to fit in the attractions we'd missed.

Basically, I tried to make all these wonderful plans but it was too much. Next time - which will not be for at least a couple years - I will make much simpler/more flexible plans. (And probably not invite the grandmothers. I love them dearly, but it was hard for all of us.)

Anyone else BTDT? How do you get over feeling like your trip wasn't as fun as it should've been? (And don't say plan another one, can't do that quite yet!)

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We got back from our trip a couple weeks ago. We usually go in October and this was our first trip in the heat of the summer. It didn't bother me too much (except in MK!) but it bothered DH and he used to work in front of a blast furnace in a steel mill! We were lucky with the rain - it always hit when we were back in the room for rest time.

I agree with you that two TS meals in a day is too much and PH is also not for us. While we didn't PH we did leave the park and go back. We had two Epcot days and each day we'd get there at RD....leave around 2pm....then go back for dinner. After being so tired from touring the park in the heat/humidity earlier in the day - and even taking a nap - we were so tired and found going back difficult. DH didn't go back to MK with me & DD after dinner on our MK day.

Oh, and traveling with grandma - BTDT! Not our best trip.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Oh yeah I've BTDT.

I think you learned some great lessons for the future both for any future WDW trips, and probably other trips as well.

I think now, barring a do-over trip in the near future, maybe try to focus on the positive things that happen...maybe make a list of all of the fun things you guys did each day so you can see there was a lot of fun, even if it was mixed in with annoyances.

Sorry your trip was disappointing. Hopefully the annoying things will fade out of your memory soon

 

[Aurora 79]

Sorry things didn't go as planned. For me, I have things written down to try and do, but lots of times it just doesn't work out perfectly. I have never park hopped. Most of the time I end up leaving by 5 or 6 in the evening because I am too tired. Last year my daughter and I discovered how nice it is to have a TS meal at the end of our day in the early evening at the parks. I also go in and edit my fast pass times to coincide with how we are walking around the parks. I do not like the running back and forth to use them. We also jot down what worked and what did not work for us at the end of our trip and sometimes during our trip. And yes, enjoy the happy memories you had while there.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I have never been for more than 6 days, 5 nights. Don't think I want too either. Give me one trip that length and then another long weekend trip instead of ten days.

 

[mymommom]

Imagine this...you're a group of 13, with one 3 month old and one expectant mom, and on the second night the 5 year old and her daddy start throwing up at 11pm . Yep, this mom-mom has BTDT. We were on a 10 day trip as well and it took us a long time to recover. When we first returned, we couldn't even talk about it. I did what ArwenMarie suggested and made a list of all my favorite things and it ended up being really looong! Our little grandson still walks by the photo album, sees the Castle and says "Hey let's go there!!!"The kids (all 7 of them) thought it was an absolutely Wonderful trip! So I'm sure in another couple years, you'll be planning again....just give yourself some time.

 

[wilkeliza]

We decided a long time ago not to try and plan too much. We get our 3 fast passes and then beyond that understand we can't do everything. Also when we take a trip any longer than 4 days we make sure we have a break. For a 10 day trip we would have spent 3-4 days not in the parks. We may have gone to a water park one day but if you spent all 10 days in the parks that is a lot. Besides that I imagine a lot of the disappointment is from having a toddler who didn't behave as expected and from having adults who got a little hard at the end. The best way to get over the disappointment is to look for photos from the trip with your family smiling. If you got those then it was a good trip. Focus on the good things not the bad and your opinion of the trip may change.

 

[Ava]

Thank you all for your encouraging comments. I thought that bringing the grandmothers along would be super fun & fabulous (and helpful), and it was in some ways, but it also added elements of difficulty that I wasn't prepared for. (Like ordering food. You'd think the DDP was rocket science with the number of times I had to explain what they could get with their meals.) I am just not an extended-family vacation type of person, I guess.

I'm scrolling through our PhotoPass pictures and my DD2's joyful little face with every character she met makes it worth it though. (We also took our older DD when she was 2, and her love of the characters was so precious at that age too.) Our Splash Mountain picture is also pretty epic - my mom is holding on for dear life with her eyes shut & screaming, and my DD6 is next to her with her arms in the air & a big grin on her face.

ETA: Tigger's ally, I would love to go for a week and then a shorter trip just to catch something special like MNSSHP or SWW, but the airfare for 4 of us makes it too expensive to go down more than once in a year. For my next Disney trip I'd really love to head west - spend a few days at Disneyland/DCA, & the rest of the week see other SoCal attractions. Seems more relaxing than WDW, not to mention the nicer weather.

 

[Arden01]

We just got back last night from 10 days at the World, and while we DID have fun, it was a more difficult trip than last year. I definitely underestimated how much more time everything would take with a group of 6 vs a group of 4, even though the 2 additional people were adults. Plus, our 6-year-old was a total grump a lot of the time and our 2-year-old decided she hated the buses (which she rides at home and is fine with), would NOT sit through a meal (which she also does fine with at home), and screamed whenever she had to wait to see a character (we were happy she loved them but the waiting was ROUGH).

So, things I learned on this trip...

1. 10 days in WDW is too much for the grandmothers. I'm glad they both came and got to experience WDW with their granddaughters while they are still healthy/active but by around day 8 they'd had enough.

2. Park hopping is not for us. Planning ADRs and FP+ makes you lose a lot of the flexibility that hopping should provide, so it ended up just making us feel overly scheduled. (I was able to change some ADRs after the first day we hopped so we wouldn't have to do it any more. The only benefit we ended up getting out of the hopper passes was that DW and I got to go to late EMH at MK while our moms stayed at the hotel with the kids.)

3. Two TS meals in one day is too much for us. It was so hot that no one felt like eating very much, and we struggled to use up our QS & snack credits as well.

4. The discounts and crowd levels in late August are good, but the weather stinks. The heat we can deal with, but the torrential rains put a real damper on our plans some days. (See what I did there? )

5. Touring Plans is a great service, but it's too intense/detailed for me. We missed rope drop on our first MK day and I had a hard time reworking the rest of our MK plans to fit in the attractions we'd missed.

Basically, I tried to make all these wonderful plans but it was too much. Next time - which will not be for at least a couple years - I will make much simpler/more flexible plans. (And probably not invite the grandmothers. I love them dearly, but it was hard for all of us.)

Anyone else BTDT? How do you get over feeling like your trip wasn't as fun as it should've been? (And don't say plan another one, can't do that quite yet!)

Hi Ava! We were there the same time as you and just got back from a 10 day trip. We're also from the NYC area as well (former Brooklynites, now in NJ). I think we posted to each other a few times before our trips. Glad to read your observations. I agree about the DDP! We were on a free dining bounce back too and ... well no more DDP for us. It was just way too much food. We just can't eat that much and the big dinners and all the counter service lunches made us feel sick afterwards. Maybe the heat didn't help that either. Even one TS was too much for us on some days. We passed up the FD BB offer for next summer because I just don't think we could eat that much again - or deal with the heat. I'd rather wait for a room discount. When we go back, we may just plan 2 ADRs total and eat counter service or snacks the rest of the trip. However, it may be a few years before we can go back! We did not do the park hoppers this trip since we did them last summer and only used them twice. Didn't miss them at all. I liked the length of the 10 day trip, but my husband did not. Also, the heat was rough on him and one my daughters. Both of them were really grumpy, dehydrated and tired much of the time. It was a lot of work keeping them cool, happy and hydrated! I was stressed out about them constantly. They left the parks early a couple of days while my other daughter and I stayed. Next time, we need to go back when it's cooler. We only got caught in two storms: one last Thursday and the one on Friday at MK. We brought ponchos and it was okay. All in all, it was a good trip, but we'll skip the DDP and go in the fall or winter next time for shorter trip. Still, we did have a great time and made some wonderful special memories. We met Mickey in every park, rode Splash, Spaceship Earth, Soarin' multiple times. Hoop Dee Doo was great and the Pirates League was awesome.

 

[Ava]

Hi Ava! We were there the same time as you - Aug 20-29 - and are from the NYC area as well (former Brooklynites, now in NJ). I think we posted to each other a few times before our trips. Glad to hear your observations. I agree about the meals! We were on a free dining bounce back too and ... well no more DDP for us. It was just way too much food. We just can't eat that much and the big dinners and all the counter service lunches made us feel sick afterwards. Maybe the heat didn't help that either. Even one TS was too much for us on some days. We passed up the FD BB offer for next summer because I just don't think we could eat that much again - or deal with the heat. I'd rather wait for a room discount. When we go back, we may just plan 2 ADRs and eat counter service or snacks the rest of the trip. However, it may be a few years before we can go back! We did not do the park hoppers this trip since we did them last summer and only used them twice. I liked the length of the 10 day trip, but my husband did not. Also, the heat was rough on him and one my daughters. Both of them were really grumpy, dehydrated and tired much of the time. It was a lot of work keeping them cool and hydrated! They left the parks early a couple of days while my other daughter and I stayed. Next time, we need to go back when it's cooler. We only got caught in two storms: one last Thursday and the one on Friday at MK. We brought ponchos and it was okay. All in all, it was a good trip, but we'll skip the DDP and go in the fall or winter next time for shorter trip. Still, we did have a great time and made some wonderful special memories. We met Mickey in every park, rode Splash, Spaceship Earth, Soarin' multiple times. Hoop Dee Doo was great and the Pirates League was awesome.

Hi Arden! Yes, I remember posting to each other about plans before our trips. I think everyone there last week was either from NY/NJ area, or England. I've never heard so many British accents outside of London!

We also passed on the Free Dining bounce back for next summer. I wouldn't necessarily never do DDP again, but probably not in the heat of summer. Most days one TS meal and one other light meal or some snacks was enough for us. I ended up getting QS salads a few times just because I didn't want anything hot or too heavy. And I'm pretty sure my kids survived on fruit, desserts & Disney magic for the whole 10 days, because they barely ate anything else. (Although my DD6 did actually eat green beans at BOG, which she doesn't even really like, because when she tried to order her cupcake at the same time as her meal the server said we'd talk about dessert later after she ate all her vegetables. It was all DW & I could do not to laugh out loud at her sitting there chewing on green beans with this defeated look on her face. Thank you, Disney server, for getting our kid to eat something that was not sugar!)

We got caught in the storms on Thursday (at AK - the worst! We ended up leaving and never did get to ride Everest) and on Friday at MK too. We slogged through the rivers running down Main St to get to our BOG ressie, and ended up bailing on the parade & fireworks that night because we were all tired and had wet feet.

We're taking a few years off from Disney trips - want to wait until DD2 is tall enough for more rides since we have to pay for her starting next year - and I really want to go to DLR next time instead of WDW. I also think going two years in a row wasn't a great decision, since a lot of what we did we'd just done less than a year ago so it wasn't as exciting or special. Oh well, live & learn. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

 

[Arden01]

Hi Arden! Yes, I remember posting to each other about plans before our trips. I think everyone there last week was either from NY/NJ area, or England. I've never heard so many British accents outside of London!

We also passed on the Free Dining bounce back for next summer. I wouldn't necessarily never do DDP again, but probably not in the heat of summer. Most days one TS meal and one other light meal or some snacks was enough for us. I ended up getting QS salads a few times just because I didn't want anything hot or too heavy. And I'm pretty sure my kids survived on fruit, desserts & Disney magic for the whole 10 days, because they barely ate anything else. (Although my DD6 did actually eat green beans at BOG, which she doesn't even really like, because when she tried to order her cupcake at the same time as her meal the server said we'd talk about dessert later after she ate all her vegetables. It was all DW & I could do not to laugh out loud at her sitting there chewing on green beans with this defeated look on her face. Thank you, Disney server, for getting our kid to eat something that was not sugar!)

We got caught in the storms on Thursday (at AK - the worst! We ended up leaving and never did get to ride Everest) and on Friday at MK too. We slogged through the rivers running down Main St to get to our BOG ressie, and ended up bailing on the parade & fireworks that night because we were all tired and had wet feet.

We're taking a few years off from Disney trips - want to wait until DD2 is tall enough for more rides since we have to pay for her starting next year - and I really want to go to DLR next time instead of WDW. I also think going two years in a row wasn't a great decision, since a lot of what we did we'd just done less than a year ago so it wasn't as exciting or special. Oh well, live & learn. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

We made friends with quite a few British families at our resort!

I agree about DDP and the heat of the summer. That might have been a huge factor. My kids said they'd rather try and go back sooner, i.e, next December, and would happily skip DDP and all of the ADRs to do so. We'll see. It was a stretch going 2 years in a row, so it's a big maybe. Mostly likely we'll go back in 2017.

I think we both had BOG ADR's last Friday around 6pm if I remember. We slogged through the pouring rain to make it too! It was my daughters' favorite dining experience, although I wasn't crazy about the food. They loved meeting the Beast. My daughters also survived on fruit, cupcakes, Disney magic and (for them) chicken nuggets. Back to healthy eating this week! We did stay for fireworks that night, but now my daughter says she wishes we did it our first MK night instead. Oh boy, 10 year olds...

Great idea to wait a few years for height restrictions. DLR sounds like a great idea! Best of luck!

PS-That's hysterical about the green beans. My daughters refused to eat them even though I begged.

 

[cheryllarsen]

I'm glad you had a great time. I always feel the same way after a trip!

 

[cheryllarsen]

Great read. Thanks for posting!

 

[mcjaco]

Our last two trips have been with extended family. One trip was with both sets of Grandparents, my sister's In-Laws, and a set of great uncles and aunts. We will never do that again. Too stressful, and too many people.

Last fall we went with just my parents. Again, too stressful. It was like dealing with four kids instead of two. We're going next year, and we're going by ourselves. We've had enough.

 

[Ava]

Our last two trips have been with extended family. One trip was with both sets of Grandparents, my sister's In-Laws, and a set of great uncles and aunts. We will never do that again. Too stressful, and too many people.

Last fall we went with just my parents. Again, too stressful. It was like dealing with four kids instead of two. We're going next year, and we're going by ourselves. We've had enough.

We went in 2011 with my parents and my wife's mother and it was not as stressful, but this was before FP+ and we did not use a dining plan so we only had a couple TS reservations during our week-long stay. We also had separate rooms (3 rooms at POP) and split up a fair amount of the time. And we only had one child, a 2-year-old, so we mostly toured at her pace and did things she could do.

Then we went last year with just our family; our girls were 5 and 16-months. I remember waiting to tell the grandparents until after it was all booked, because we knew at least my MIL would be somewhat offended that we didn't invite her. Then I lost my dad in June of last year, so when we booked for this year we invited my mom & MIL both to come with us. This probably won't be the last time we vacation with both grandmothers, since they are both widowed & my kids are their only grandchildren (so far), but it will not be to DisneyWorld again.

 

[alliecat523]

We went with my mom about 6 years ago. Never again. The first few days were fine, but then everyone got hot and tired and had way too many expectations. It's much easier to go with just your immediate family.