Here is how to fix it

(Wrongly)

I know you. I have been on vacation with you. I use to BE you! You only have a few days to get as much into your vacation as possible. You probably strapped on your smart watch months ago to start upping that daily step count. (Actually that one is a good idea) You have watched every video of every ride. You know EXACTLY what time the rope drops. You are hyped!!!

Hold up a second. What I am about to tell you in this article will make your vacation 1000x better. How do I know? I found out the hard way. For three years in a row, we went through this song and dance. I was always excited to go, but it was never quite as amazing as I had hoped. Dragging your family around through that perfectly planned vacation can quickly turn to disaster if you make these huge mistakes. 

Mistake Number One: 

You didn’t stay at a resort. I know, I know. I wrote about this one here. Check it out. Staying AT the resort hotels will do a few things for you. One, you do not have to load into the car in the morning and head to the parking lot. Having someone else manage your transportation is a great start to your day. Two, you stay in the atmosphere of the theme parks. So, even when you are not at the park you are still enjoying what you came to experience. Three, good food and lots of convenience. (Especially at Universal where you can buy things within the park and have them sent directly to your room, no more carrying souvenirs around all day.)

Mistake Number Two:

You are not taking enough down-time. Yes, you want to do it ALL and I completely understand. However. You would be amazed at how much more enjoyable the trip is when you do things like A.) Sleep in, have a nice breakfast, head to the parks or B.) Hit the parks first-thing, have a big lunch, then head back to enjoy the resort hotel and relax. The only way to accomplish this is to either take a much longer vacation and fit it all in over many more days, or accept that you are there to have fun & relax and narrow down the list of things to do. 

The Fix

Stop treating a Disney or Universal Vacation as the ultimate sprint-to-madness. Make your time and money work for you instead of against you. A little planning goes a long way. Stay at a resort and take advantage of things like early park entry and transportation. This means you can knock out some fun, take a bus/boat/rail/skyline/whatever back to your hotel, and maybe hit it all up again in the evening after you have rested.

Book those restaurants! Yes. You can rely on quick service and mobile orders, and you really should for at least two of your meals. But. Having a sit-down meal each day takes a load off your feet and is a great time to just be a family. You can discuss what you have done already or what you plan to do next, all while enjoying some amazing food.

Once, our family sat down at Tiffins (Animal Kingdom) and intended to just order an appetizer to hang out for a while. It was so good that we tried another, then another. We felt bad for this piecemeal ordering and left an extra tip. It was a lot of fun though. Man, what am I doing sitting here writing…I need to get back to Orlando for more fun!

TLDR

Slow down. Take your time. Less is more. Stay at the resort. Make reservations. Have fun!

I am writing about improving myself, traveling, making money, paying off debts, figuring out how to help others, and all the thoughts and questions I have along the way. Consider following me to see what happens next!