I’ve been back over two weeks now from my trip to WDW. I truly felt like I never went on vacation. Everything was rush rush. Rush to the bus, rush to the ride, rush to the reservation. I used TP for the first time to plan my days, and I was pretty conservative with the amount of attractions/shows/dining I had scheduled each day. On the way back to the airport, my daughter asked if I enjoyed the trip and I told her no (which caused her to cry) because it was so chaotic. It was over two years of waiting and planning and more planning and revised planning only to feel like it wasn’t worth it all. It didn’t feel magical to me, and I’m afraid the rest of my group may have felt the same. I really loved going to Disney as a kid and teen. Even my last trip back in 2010 was more memorable and magical than this one, and that was with no planning at all. I feel like I let my entire family down since I was the one in charge of planning it all. I’m totally bummed.
yea …lot’s of planning and wanting to get everything done can do that. I’ve done it in the past. It’s harder to not over plan when you have young children and also harder to let go of plans if you find it’s just too chaotic. Sorry it didn’t feel like vacation
I am really sorry to read this. I bet when you look back, you will remember some good times. Disney is definitely not a relaxing vacation for most. It has taken us many trips over many years to learn how to make it less about the march and more about the enjoyment. I have changed things (like letting us sleep in every few days) in order to make it more relaxing. I hope you get another chance to go, and this time can take what you learned on the trip and apply it to a less stressful experience. For some, that is no ADRs to rush to, for others it is lots of rest time at the hotel.
I totally understand this feeling. It’s a lot of prep work for an insanely busy trip. In our case, we only go every 3-4 years so I feel like we have to pack as much as possible into those days or we aren’t getting our money’s worth. And it is SO.MUCH.MONEY. Yes, I know we could scale back and not do as much, but I don’t want to pay as much as a Disney vacation costs to sit by the pool the whole time. I can do that at the beach for half the price.
Yeah. I blame FPP and FP (original). Before fast passes, it was possible just to take time and smell the roses.
That is so sad. Do you think that the whole thing was an anticlimax after the excitement of the planning or that it didn’t live up to your memories. I always add a few UOR days on to a WDW trip just to end on a more relaxing note. Maybe this is just post holiday blues. I hope that you feel better soon.
I’m sorry to hear this. I’m worried I’ll be sad when it’s over because I invested so mich time. This is another reminder not to overdo it and to try and take it all in.
This is a real thing for me. I start planning our next spring break trip as soon as I get back from the current one. All of the planning takes so much time, and afterwards…what is there to do? We leave in 9 days and I don’t actually want the day to get here in some ways. The anticipation is so much fun for me, making plans and changing them around many times. The trip is fun of course, but the planning for me provides great enjoyment.
I’m sorry you feel that way. We always come back feeling like we need another holiday to get over it, but we enjoy all the running about. I wouldn’t be surprised if the others who hadn’t spent so long planning actually had a fab time. I think it’s harder on the planner because you feel responsible and you’re trying to hustle people along because you’re focussed on the plan.
I’m so sorry you’re feeling blue about the trip. If you could do it all again, would you not go at all? Or would you do things differently? Do you think you’ll plan another and try a different approach?
100x this! We leave in 3 days and I oscillate between super excited and wishing it were a few more weeks away. This is my 3rd trip this year but we likely won’t return for a couple years so I anticipate planning withdrawal when we return.
I agree that Disney trips are certainly not a “vacation” as far as relaxing physically but they are definitely a vacation from regular life and the real world. Now that you know that you don’t love the go-go-go, hopefully you can plan a return trip where you cater to your family’s travel style. Definitely a good reminder to us to slow down and enjoy the vacation time even if you don’t check off everything on the list of attractions.
I would still go. I would just add another day or two to the trip to spread out the same amount of what I did this trip. It was the first time my family had been so I wanted to make sure they experienced the things I enjoyed at Disney growing up. As soon as I got home, I was already scheming in my head about the next trip which will probably be in about 4-5 years.
I’m sorry sot hear that. Disney World is not for everyone. I totally get that it can feel rush rush, which happens in some parts of our trip, but with younger kids, we’ve kind of needed to slow down as well. Our first trip, we learned a lot about our touring style and it worked out so much better the second trip. We had a blast both trips, but we had better attitudes the second time around because we were able to rest. I’m super excited to plan our May 2020 trip, especially with a first timer coming with us. I feel a little more laid back about it though, even with SWGE, since I really want to enjoy the time with my family. If you really enjoyed it before, try again now that you know you prefer to be a little more laid back.
I found a lot of time was wasted waiting on the buses or monorail. If I had rented a car or brought my own, I think there would have been more free time over all and the “rush” wouldn’t have been - well - rushed.
I’m so sorry the trip wasn’t what you had dreamed of and hoped for. It’s very easy to get caught up in the planning, and the more you read the more you find out about things which your party might enjoy. More and more things get added to the list, and when you’re finally there you spend so much time trying to get everyone to the fun things you have meticulously planned that it’s just not fun for you… I’m sure your family had a great time, and probably didn’t even realize how stressful this was for you.
I just wanted to add my post of sympathy to the others here. Hopefully, when the immediate letdown feeling wears off, you’ll feel better- maybe start working on your pictures etc. will bring some of the magic out that surely must have happened at some points.
I also want to thank you for posting. It’s a super reminder to all of us to SLOW DOWN. Like @gendaisy mentioned, it’s so darn expensive we all want to pack as much as possible into the trip but that can backfire. Anyway, thank you for that. You’re probably helping more people than you realize.
I’ve tried to schedule in more breaks & late starts, but you can be certain I’ll be taking another good, hard look at my plans. Already I know some spots where I’m going to cross out “bus” and write in" Lyft".
This is what I did for my upcoming trip and I’m hoping it keeps everyone a bit more chill. After 5 day tickets, it was only $50 total for me to go to a 7 day pass for 3 of us. I figure even if we only hit a park for a few hours or just to wander around its totally worth it at basically $8.33 a person. I’ve also never gone for more then 7 days and we are doing 10 nights this time. Here’s hoping.
I can totally understand your feelings. Next time try to be more chill with the planning. We can all get too caught on this and sometimes forget that it’s suppose to be FUN! Someone recently posted a very long daily TP log, and I was just worn out reading it. To each his own, but this is why I AVOID using an ACTUAL TP. I love this site for all the very good info but I still want to enjoy WDW the way I enjoy DLR without much of a plan. In early May, I am taking my DD (who will have just finished her 2nd year at university/finals stress) for a WDW week of girl fun! I have FPPs reserved for each park visit and some lunch and dining reservations, but that’s it. I don’t have ressies for most meals because I don’t want to be a slave to them. Furthermore, no RDs for us since we won’t be getting up before 9ish. I’ll still be on CA time. We purposely picked a less busy time where the CL will be 2-4. I know some can pick and chose when to come, but the last time my family of four visited WDW we came during 2011 Presidents Week with no TPs and had a blast over 10 days. We can’t wait to feel the Pixie Dust, but we have to remember to just enjoy the Disney experience.
Yes, I’m going to do this, too. Let the kids (they’re older) wander as they will, it’ll keep the stress levels down. I’ll have to upgrade my previously-purchased tickets once I get there but it will be completely worth it. I have already spend ungodly amounts of money, it would be dumb to be cheap over that!
I sympathize. My family took our first trip last year and I can definitely relate to this. There is so much anticipation and expectations then it’s over so fast. I remember having so many emotions on the way out.
Don’t be too hard on yourself! Even with the best planning there is no way to know what the experience will be for your family because we all experience WDW in a different way. For me, the best moments from our first family trip were the unplanned ones. Swimming on our resort day, sharing a dole whip after the fireworks, a morning spent with just my daughter in MK. The worst day was a day that I had planned the most and thought would be soooo fun…nope, disaster. I have to remind myself that the plan just gets us through the day. The memories will happen when we stop and pay attention.