Help! We're Grumpy on Vacation!
In this post, I want to get real for a little bit. You see, Walt Disney World, while a magical place and perfect vacation spot, can also be exhausting. You've got the extra walking you'll be doing which is probably far more than you're used to at home, you've got the crowds, you potentially have the Florida heat to contend with, and you potentially have really long hours of getting up for park opening and rolling in after park closing. On top of this, you've likely dropped a good amount of money on this vacation, thinking it will be the vacation of a lifetime.
It can be really disappointing when the money you've spent in hopes of a picture perfect vacation meet the realities of exhaustion. I've seen countless meltdowns (children AND their parents both have tantrums) that could be avoided with a little bit of prioritizing, listening, and mindfulness.
While my advice in this post will not guarantee your vacation will be free of disappointment, it will help you consider some questions about what you want out of the vacation and make a plan to prioritize those things.
Step One: Prioritize
You have a vision of what going to Walt Disney World will mean. You might envision riding a ride together with your family, or seeing the fireworks, or hugging your children, or meeting princesses. Before you go to Walt Disney World is the time to think about what makes you happy about those visions.
Your might find that you are most excited about riding ALL the attractions. Or you might be most excited about meeting a specific character. You might be excited about trying the legendary Disney snacks. Or you might be excited to see your child having a great time.
Maybe you can have all of these things, but here's a reality check: You can't ALWAYS have it all.
You can't go on ALL the rides AND see your child having a great time if it's your child's nap time and they are about to throw a big fit while you just entered the 2-hour line for a ride that will scare the wits out of your child. You may not meet a specific character if you haven't researched where they might show up and planned your day around it rather than planning your day around what snacks you want to try.
My advice to you is take a moment and really think about what is important to you. You may face choices during your vacation and knowing what is important to you will help you make the best choices for you and your companions.
For example, when I visited Walt Disney World as a teenager with my young mother, our priority was to ride all the rides. We wanted to do as much as we could from park opening to park closing. We were young and had the energy to do it. We would set our alarms for 6:30 AM and we would roll in after midnight. We got tired and we got hot and we even got a little grumpy, but we knew our priority and that made it easier to wake up the next day at 6:30 AM.
Later in life, when I visited Walt Disney World with my young child, husband, and my parents, my priority was no longer to ride all the rides. My priority was to see my child experience the magic of Disney. We didn't make a huge effort to get to park at opening and only twice did we stay until closing to see fireworks, and only if my child seemed awake enough for it. Every afternoon, we took time outside of the park for a nap. We spent a lot of time sitting on benches eating Mickey bars. We rode her favorite rides several times, even if they were boring for us. One thing she wanted to do was take a tour of all the fountains at Disney Hollywood Studios. OK! That's what she wanted to do and that's what we did and we had a great time walking around the uncrowded sections, taking goofy photos at each fountain while others in the party enjoyed a beer or rode a more intense ride.
These Disney vacations were different, and each was special in its own way. Each met the needs we had at that time for that vacation. Prioritize.
Step Two: Listen
Listen to your traveling companions while in the park. With children especially, listen not just to what they are saying, but what the meaning is behind their actions. Children don't have the words yet to communicate their feelings of fear, hunger, fatigue, or just being hot.
"I like Buzz Lightyear but I'm really hungry and hot right now and don't want to stand in the sun for 5 minutes to meet him," said no kid ever. But they might be telling you this with their actions. They might be red in the face, whiny, or pulling at you to sit down right on the pavement.
Similarly, "I really want to see the fireworks, but I'm tired because I missed my nap" is not a thing your kid will say, but you may know it's true if you've been going all day and your kid is rubbing their eyes.
Does your adult companion want to sit down at every opportunity? It's likely they are getting tired. Before you push it too far, it might be time to find a quiet place to rest, either in the park, or back at your resort. It's not good idea to push the limits when someone starts getting tired.
Pay attention to these things. Disney is exciting and it's easy to forget to be attentive to your loved ones. This is where your priorities come into play. If your priority is to ride all the rides, then there may be tears. If your priority is to keep your family happy, then you might miss some attractions. The absolute worst thing I've heard parents say to children (and I've heard this many times) is "Stop your whining! Do you have any idea how much I paid for this vacation?"
I'm telling you now: You can have one of these things, but not both. The whining can stop because you stop and meet the child's needs, which might mean slowing down. Or the whining will continue as you continue to push through exhaustion to see all the things and realize value (measured in this case in quantity of attractions) from the money you spent.
Step three: Be Mindful
Of course, your traveling companions or children aren't the only ones with needs. You will have needs too, and sometimes what you had planned isn't the right thing for you anymore on the day of.
Be mindful of your own needs and heed them before they reach a critical level. Are your feet sore? Maybe it's time to sit down for a moment. Are you hangry? My goodness - don't let that continue! Get a Dole Whip ASAP!
Basic care at Disney includes resting when necessary, wearing good shoes and socks, applying sunscreen frequently, and hydrating. Be mindful of when a lack of these things is beginning to become a problem and fix it before it gets bad. And if plans change because you just aren't feeling up to what you had planned, it's OK to honor your mood.
For example, on my last Disney vacation, the morning of our fourth day was supposed to be a day we arrived at park opening at Disney Hollywood Studios. We were going to rush to Toy Story Mania, then we had Fastpasses for Rock N Rollercoaster, the Little Mermaid, and Toy Story Mania a second time. We love Rock N Rollercoaster. But the previous few days, we'd found my mom wasn't loving the wild rides she used to as much anymore. The night before, we had stayed up late, in the rain, to watch Happily Ever After, and then battled crowds back to our resort.
We woke up the morning of day four and were slow to get moving. So we decided that perhaps instead of theme-parking that morning we might have a nice slow breakfast at our beautiful resort and then travel over to a few of our favorite other resorts, walk around enjoying the scenery, and take a boat down the Sassagoula river to end at Disney Springs.
We were pleased with our decision. The transportation and resorts were blessedly uncrowded mid-morning. The weather was glorious for a walk. We had my favorite snack at Disney Port Orleans French Quarter (beignets!) and they were amazing.
We never got a chance to ride Rock N Rollercoaster again that vacation. But was our decision worth it? Absolutely. We honored our feelings and our energy level and had a great morning. Do I feel bad that I bought a park hopper and didn't park hop that day? Not at all. Some would say it's money wasted, but if I'm not having a good time, I feel that is money wasted.
Those were my priorities and that was the decision my mindfulness led me to. You may make different decisions. But know why you are making them. Disney isn't like death and taxes. You don't HAVE to do anything and if you find yourself thinking that, then you should stop for a second and think about why you are really making the decisions you are.
Disney can be overwhelming. There is so much to do that you can't do it all and please everyone at the same time. If you are dropping good money on your vacation, you owe it to yourself to carefully consider what you want out of it, and continue to re-evaluate that throughout your vacation by prioritizing, listening to your party members, and being mindful of your own needs and wants. Don't ever let someone tell you that if you change plans, you're "wasting" something. It's never a waste to honor your needs.
Have you changed plans at the last minute to honor your needs? Have you pushed too hard and experienced meltdown or seen others having tantrums? Do you have other advice on this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page, and if you like this post, share it with friends via Facebook!
