My husband and I enjoy people, but need our down time to recharge too. We’re perfectly happy to spend a quiet evening at home, and will often choose that over going out. If we get together with others, we prefer small gatherings to big parties. So why on earth do we keep going back to Walt Disney World, often the busiest place on earth, and how do we enjoy ourselves once we’re there? Somehow a trip to Walt Disney World helps us reduce stress, instead of causing more. These 5 tips will give you some insight as to how we make that happen.
- I love to plan a vacation, and nothing beats planning one to a Disney destination. I book our resorts about a year ahead and reserve our meals at the six-month mark. I love to play with each day’s itinerary, looking at park hours, restaurant menus, and listen to podcasts for inspiration. I can do all of this from the quiet of my own home, sitting on my couch with the dog by my side. We don’t have every single minute of our trip planned, but I do have a basic outline planned out. Investing the time in planning can help lessen the stress once we get to Disney, and make it more enjoyable.
- Planning our vacation pays off when we get there, by alleviating the stress of making decisions when we’re tired. On our first family trip to the World, we were sitting at dinner, and my husband commented how nice and relaxing it was to know where we’d be eating each night. When we can, we like to do a sit-down restaurant for dinner, to have some time to unwind and recharge. I always have lunch narrowed down to a few places we’d enjoy, to help make the wide number of choices smaller and easier to manage. Usually we see where the day takes us as far as rides and attractions go, but we always know where we’ll be sitting down for a meal.
- Disney has begun to increase the number of hard-ticket events that they offer guests. Personally, we found that we like to take advantage of Extra Morning Magic and have recently tried both the Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. It made for a couple of early mornings, but we got to ride some “E ticket” rides multiple times, and we were fed a great breakfast. We have friends who have done the Disney After Hours events more than once and swear by them. If you can afford to do a hard-ticket event such as these, you will often find that the crowds are lower, and for us that’s worth the money. Below are photos of what Toy Story Land looked like for us, walking in with Early Morning Magic, and what it looked like when the regular crowd was making their way in. Note that they were being led by Cast Members, to help control the crowd.
- When we need a break, we find a quiet place to escape for a little bit. This can be a quiet space is an indoor quick service restaurant for lunch or a snack. It can be a calming ride like the PeopleMover, or a quiet spot to sit and just watch people go by, without having to try to maneuver through them. Sometimes it’s recognizing that we need to get away from the crowds and going back to the resort to relax and unwind. Everyone can benefit from a break. Many people think that breaks are for small kids, but trying to power through the day will only lead to exhaustion, no matter what your age. (Ok, maybe that doesn’t apply to the 20-somethings out there). We also make sure we get enough sleep each night to recharge for the next day. It’s easy to throw all routines out the window on vacation, but a good night’s sleep can be a huge factor in enjoying the next day.
- Disney time is family time, and nothing is better than that. We’ve met up with extended family as well as friends for trips in the past, but generally don’t travel with them for the entirety of our trip. We’ve found that we like to have time for “just us.” We can call the shots as we go, and not disappoint anyone if we want to call it a day and go back to the resort for some rest. If you consider yourself an introvert, and are traveling to Disney with family, I would suggest planning some down time in smaller groups. I even know someone who makes a point to wander off by herself while at Disney! This way everyone can have some time to do their thing, whether that’s riding Dumbo 10 times in a row, or relaxing in the shade with a cold drink. Everyone will benefit from some quiet time, and there will still be plenty of family or friend together time as well.
What tips do you have for traveling to Walt Disney World as introverts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter!
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