so i just realized i posted this in universal studios, not wdw so re-posting here just in case…sorry for dupe!
Y’all have been so helpful in my planning. Thanks so much. So here a TP question. So I have my TPs all laid out. I set it too “relaxed” speed. The steps are pretty much back to back (minus meal + afternoon break).
So how do you allot/account for time spent looking at the photos after a ride, or perusing the post ride gift shop, or taking a picture along the way to the next ride. Do you just keep optimizing as you go along? Kind of play it by ear and see how much you are ahead/behind in plan?
Just seeing how others account for this “diversion” time along.
When I saw the subject of “TP allotment for bathrooms”, I initially thought … oh no, is Disney rationing toilet paper at the parks??? Followed by joking to myself about a new rule where you have to reserve washroom time and toilet paper on MDE 30 days before your visit.
As the substance of your question … I play it by ear and cut out less important attractions from out schedule if we get behind (which seems inevitable with little ones). In advance, I think about which attractions I’d be willing to cut.
ha! this is my most visited place now. DD stops at every bathroom she sees. The lines at the bathrooms are not usually long - the only lines I have ever encountered at WDW have been a Food & Wine in WS, a random DS once, and the MK bathroom nearest the hub around HEA.
Cutting out less important attractions is what we do as well. Hitting our FPPs are our priority and everything else in between is for filling time and exploring. Setting to SLOW is a great idea. I’ve added breaks, but since they are manual TP entries they will get hosed up if/when you optimize - so be mindful of that. I no longer intentionally add these breaks in my TP.
Does the Optimiser ignore the leeway on breaks then? So it just sticks them wherever it feels like it, even if you’ve said 11am? Since I don’t use Optimise I didn’t realise that.
Unless the algorithm changed, yes - it used to. I haven’t added breaks in several years because of this. I’ve found I didn’t really need to force the break into the TP anyway. You won’t tell a kid - “No, you can’t go to the bathroom now it’s not in the plan!” - and they’re sooo hard to predict.
My limited playing with it, the optimizer took into account the leeway. For example, I put in a break of 10 minutes with a leeway of 30 minutes, and no matter how many times I optimized, it kept it in that window.
I think the relaxed speed would work. We did that for our first trip as a family and I even added breaks. We were way ahead of schedule, even with bathroom breaks. I did find though that my DH and kids were very quick in the bathroom (I was the slow one), so if we had done just the relaxed speed, we would have been fine. We also held off on looking in shops until the afternoon. Lines for attractions are longer then and it’s nice to step into the air conditioning on a hot day.
Photos after a ride:
Unless you are gazing at everyone else’s photos for whatever reason, this should be a non-factor.
Gift Shops:
Look at the prices. Laugh at them for a few seconds and then leave. (Use your best judgement with these. If the kids are looking for their name on a WDW keychain, on your way to splash mountain, you have to be the adult and let them know you are trying to get them to something AWESOME instead of looking at a 25.00 trinket you can get for 79 cents anywhere else.)
Pictures:
Let the fam know beforehand, that pictures will be demanded of them. Let them know that you will be calling out the formation, and the picture can take 8 seconds, or 2 minutes, depending on how easy they make it. Rule 1: listen to the formation. Rule 2: once in formation, stop any and all movement unless instructed. Rule 3: A normal smile will be required. Rule 4: Once all previous rules are met, you may be required to make a funny face. Rule 5: Dole Whips, Mickey Bars, and other treats may be approved, improved or denied, dependant upon individual adherence to these rules.
(Seriously, if you have kids that are goofy about pictures, practice how to take a picture. Make it fun. Make sure they know it can be super fast, or a hassle. I’m the one telling the fam, “We could have beeen done already” every 5 seconds when trying to get them into formation.)
Schedule in potty breaks every 2 hours. Make sure the kids go BEFORE they HAVE TO go. Shouldn’t be a big deal.
I let them fam do what they find interesting, but when it’s time to get back on track for what I know will be MORE FUN for them, I let them know it’s time to go.
You know that, medically speaking, that’s actually bad for you?
You should only go when you need to. Otherwise, over time, your bladder stops working properly in that it stops detecting the sensation of being full.
So other than actual potty training, it’s a bad idea. Having said that, anyone who is a nurse, teacher etc cannot just go when they need to, so they have to go when they can.
Perhaps. But don’t forget that when you have 5 kids in a family, coordinating bladder fullness is a rather difficult task. So, the rule for us is if we are at a restroom, EVERYONE will try to go, whether you have to go or not!
We have made it a point to all try to go when we stop for the restrooms when we go out. Otherwise, and this has happened more than once, not but 5 minutes later, the person who did not go says they have to go.
While I might agree with @Nicky_S at forcing a potty a break on someone might not be good long term, It seems like a doing that a few days out of the year would have none-minimal impact on the body. No proof, just guessing at how generally resistant the human body can be - not saying there cant be outliers who will develop problems almost immediately. Also, when everyone does break for the bathroom, people try but not everyone goes.
We have never been before and I’ve been pretty much the sole planner in my family for this trip. I have been trying to warn everyone in advance of the WDW expectations of them: Smallest small boy isn’t allowed to whinge about being tired and we’re trying to get his steps up at the moment so he’s used to the walking involved, his cheap fitness tracker for Christmas is making that more enjoyable for him but the bad weather here isn’t helping! Medium sized small boy is being warned about mucking about at bedtime - he’s a night owl and we’re all sharing a room so don’t want him keeping his brothers awake and then being too tired to rope drop EMH the following morning. Biggest small boy has been informed that he needs to eat at the scheduled times in the places in my TP - I’ve done lots of research to find the places with menus which should have something for all of us, and as he’s not done the same and made any requests he can’t go off piste and suggest somewhere else which he likes the look of at the wrong time! Don’t want to waste more time than necessary in QS queues. 2nd week I’ll be more chilled. Theoretically
so don’t want him keeping his brothers awake and then being too tired to rope drop EMH the following morning. Biggest small boy has been informed that he needs to eat at the scheduled times in the places in my TP - I’ve done lots of research to find the places with menus which should have something for all of us, and as he’s not done the same and made any requests he can’t go off piste and suggest somewhere else which he likes the look of at the wrong time! Don’t want to waste more time than necessary in QS queues. 2nd week I’ll be more chilled. Theoretically