What did you do differently?

[belfastbabe]

I agree with Mark - think the best thing is try not to stress too much. This time we've splashed out on tickets- have bought both 14 day Disney and universal,as haven't done universal in years. Always try to do something a bit different each visit- but realise that you can't always get everything fitted in and hopefully won't be too rigid with plans. They're only there as a guide to help you get the most fun you can! Happy planning

[scoobydooby]

Me and DH first did WDW in 1998 and started taking the children in 2008. We always stay on site at Disney and sometimes also Universal but we tend to only go there every other trip. Things we do differently now. We don’t hire a car since we discovered Uber. We don’t get up early every single day. We sleep in every third day. We don’t do many character meals (always have our first lunch at Crystal Palace but that’s entirely sentimental). We eat at some signature restaurants. We don’t fly Premium Economy any more. As I’ve got wealthier I’ve got tighter somehow 😂 We don’t use dad as a fast last runner since they introduced FPP. I very much miss the entertainment value of that hot sweaty mess 😉 We don’t care if we miss things. It is established we won’t have a last trip until we die whatever we say every year! We do shop at the Malls and Outlets. For years we didn’t visit them at all. We don’t buy any Disney souvenirs. We don’t buy bottled water, we use our Chilly’s water bottles. We never forget to take a USB powered hand held fan. We do always have a plan and whilst we will deviate happily we do tend to stick to it for the most part. That’s me. I have OCD issues 😂😂😂

[nats1211]

Second trip coming up. We’ve only got Disney tickets so we can enjoy it rather than rushing it all because we were trying to do it all. We’re also staying on site with the QSDP where as previously we were in a villa.
We’re hoping being onsite will mean we can be a lot more flexible as it’ll be easier to have a break during the day.

[stardoman]

I always try to make each trip slightly different, whether its eating in differnt places or doing an activity we've not done before. For example, one year we did indoor skydiving and another year we had a long weekeat at The Keys. This time we are having 5 nights onsite in a Disney hotel with the rest of the time at a villa.

Would like to go to Clearwater this time. I've not taken the boys there though I visited Clearwater with my parents when I was 17. I'd also like to go to Wiki Wachee which is something else I did with my parents.

[THE WIZARD]

We do every trip differently, we know the restaurants we want to do ADR's for & the FP's & are now spending more & more time just chilling round the pool. Everyone evolves each time that's the beauty of it, you decide what's most important each time & plan accordingly.

[Sandra & co]

Pool time, water parks, beach time and shopping and a few new restaurants with a few old favourites thrown in x

[DisneyYoda]

Very interesting one!

Actually overall, our second visit was similar to our first. We just ate at different restaurants (plus some faves) and stayed a bit longer at Universal. Here’s the list of things which waited for trip 2:

We didn’t bother with plastic ponchos after visit 1
Blue man group
MK fireworks desserts
Resort pool at universal
Mopped up rides/shows like Carousel of progress and Beauty and the Beast, lion king, tree of life
All the world showcase pavilions..even the china and canada movies!
More DDP snacks rather than drinks
Fantasia Golf
Busch Gardens
In general ‘looked’ more at the detail e.g. Diagon Alley.

It was the 3rd visit when we really mixed it up by staying in a villa and not getting Disney tickets.

Saw more of Orlando
more shopping
Villa pool
Supermarket shopping
Disney Outlets
Celebration
Deluxe resort monorail trip...
Cali Grill with MK fireworks
The Void
Top Golf
MNSSHP
Fun Spot America
Pirate Golf
Extended Universal stay..

In the end every trip has been different as the kids get older. Revisiting old rides with new eyes and in jokes is just fab!

Thanks for that...it was fun and has me looking forward to 2020 even more.

[Nimbus]

Our second trip was pretty much the same as our first trip - we even stayed in the same hotel! - but subsequent trips after that we did change a few things. Here's some examples:

1. We chose suite hotels for more room. Admittedly, this was after our DD was born and we wanted more space. Having a separate bedroom to the living area was great. It does tend to cost a bit more though.

2. We had split stays. Rather than staying in the same hotel for 2 weeks, we'd have a week at Disney and then a week offsite to do the other stuff. You get the benefit of staying onsite for a while but less cost and less travelling when going to other places.

3. We stayed onsite with free dining. Yes, it's more expensive but the free dining is a nice perk and brings with it a sense of freedom - you can eat what you want (well, sort of). Getting to the parks was much easier too, especially if like us you don't drive over there. It's far more convenient.

4. We planned and researched more. This might sound the opposite to what some people do but back when we first visited I don't think the DIBB existed - and we certainly didn't book or research anything online (I think we just had dial-up back then). We didn't plan anything other than choose the hotel and flights we wanted. Now we're online all the time looking at what's going on, buying tickets months in advance, booking things, and planning our days. Or, at least, getting an idea of what we might want to do on which days and coming up with back-up options in case plans change. It means the holiday is more organised.

5. We realised this wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Once we realised that we'd probably be coming back again in a few years there was less pressure to ensure that we'd do it all in one holiday. If we missed a few of the popular rides or shows then we'll probably be able to do them next time we visited. It gave us a bit more freedom and reduced the stress - we're not trying to cram things into every waking hour of the day.

[grinner82]

I think the first time as an adult it was very little in the way of planning and we only had the QSDP.
Second time had QSDP again but did have a few character means and the schedule become more structured.
Third time we had the DDP, this meant 20 table service bookings and a lot more planning work, including times of everything.

Each time I would come home I would make a list of what worked well and what did not work. So one change was having at least 6 hours between meals. Not having an ADR before 10am because other wise it was a rush and lead to more stress.

The key is to have structure and a plan that does not feel like a plan. So this year I started with the loose structure of park day / free day / park day / free day.
Now free day could be a water park or could be the pool or anything but the key being there are no early ADRs or Fps booked in. There are some evening meals but still gives flexibility in the system.
Fast passes are also mostly in the morning this is because after they have been used you can obviously then choose the fourth. I found that there was lots of other fast passes readily available and therefore by using the first three earlyFast passes are also mostly in the morning this is because after they have been used you can obviously then choose the fourth. I found that there was lots of other fast passes readily available and therefore by using the first three early it meant that I could use a lot more. it meant that I could use a lot more.

Lastly I am dropping universal this year. I am going to just do universal next year around oct time so I can see the HHN there as well.

[BebeYorkshire]

Originally Posted by grinner82

The key is to have structure and a plan that does not feel like a plan. So this year I started with the loose structure of park day / free day / park day / free day.
Now free day could be a water park or could be the pool or anything but the key being there are no early ADRs or Fps booked in.

See more...

This!

Our first visit was none stop as we thought we were only going once and had to fit as much in as we could. We enjoyed it but were shattered afterwards and I felt we had missed so much.

Our second trip was structured in that I had a list of recommended parks for each day, and we worked on the basis of 1 park day then a rest day, on repeat. We decided the night before on what the next mornings plan was and I booked fastpasses then if needed. We spent more time at waterparks as a quiet day, and had fewer full days in parks, going morning to mid afternoon or evening to close instead of open to close. It worked fantastically for us and we mostly plan to do the same this year. The only difference will be that we have 2 nights pinned down for HHN (one night on site at Universal, one not) and we want to experience Galaxys edge, so have one night on Disney property with a stupidly early alarm call.