Lurking no more

Hi all! Just wanted to introduce myself. I have lurked here for 4 years now and learned so much from you guys. Thought I’d finally say hello! My husband and I and our son (15) and daughter (12) are planning our 3rd trip to WDW. We first went in 11/2014, then again in 11/2016, and are now planning for 11/2018…sticking with the every other year plan.

On our first two trips we toured like we might never go back again, going from daylight to dark every day, cramming in every attraction we could possibly fit, and scarfing down food on the run, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about those trips. They were absolutely magical! Now that we’ve been a couple of times though, we are hoping this year to slow down a bit…stopping to smell the roses, you might say. We will still definitely be up early and rope drop, but we plan to relax with some table service meals and stroll a bit more enjoying the place instead of constantly racing from one point to the next.

My husband and I are both absolutely addicted to planning. Our friends and relatives think we are nuts, but we love the planning almost as much as the trip itself! Only 259 days to go and so much to decide! :slightly_smiling_face:

Anyway, you’ll likely be seeing lots more of me around as we plan more for this upcoming trip, but thanks so much for all the things that you regulars have already taught me that made our first two trips so amazing!

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Welcome! Lurk no more. We typically go every other year as well (2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017) but I now have three trips to plan between May 2018 and May 2019. Love the planning almost as much as the trip itself.

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Welcome out of lurkdom!

It’s awesome how touring changes when you just know you’ll be back and you don’t feel like you have to do it all, all in one trip. It makes it easier to enjoy your resort, take in some really fantastic meals, and as you say stop and smell the roses and notice all the things that you miss when you tour like commandos!

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Hi!

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Howdy!

On our 3rd family trip last year we made an effort to build in more relaxing time. We didn’t do a perfect job of it, but it still helped a great deal and I think all 4 of us left feeling like it was our best trip.

We scheduled one resort day where we slept in (a little) and then headed over to AoA for breakfast and to explore. Then we spent the day at the CBR pool and had a blast with all the games the CMs started.
(Our rookie mistake that night was scheduling an ADR way at the back of EPCOT at Villa Napoli for pizza that night. The speed walk almost undid the rest of the relaxing.)

On our 2nd MK day (and last full day of the trip) we RD’d and had a “normal” touring plan for the morning and got a huge amount done. Then the rest of the day was more of an “OK, what’s next guys?” thing. We ended up shopping and playing SotMK (I tried to get the kids to stop for cards a few times before but they kept giving me the “meh” response. Once they started they were all in.)

Then we floated (literally, on a boat) over to WL for lunch at Geyser point and more exploring. Then more wandering at MK until we all agreed it was time to head out. Perfect day.

We love the planning too - we’ve decided to push our next trip to next year, so I’ll have to enjoy that part for even longer now. :wink:

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Hi! I am so glad you came out of lurkdom!

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That sounds almost exactly like the trip we have in mind! After we have been to all 4 parks we plan to have a morning to sleep late and then maybe do a breakfast at Ohana and look around the Poly before spending another afternoon in AK, and our last day is always set aside for MK because it’s our favorite. I’ve been curious about SotK for us also. Would you recommend it for ages 15 and 12?

I think there’s a good they’ll like the game, especially if they like games Like Pokémon or Magic The Gathering.

My DD was 10 and DS was 13 on that trip. We had fun finding the portals.

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Nice to see you post :slightly_smiling_face: