When you’re planning your trip to Walt Disney World, take into consideration how big it is and the fact that no matter how hard you try, you will not have enough time to see and do everything during a single trip. In fact, you can even go a couple of dozen times and still not see everything — there is that much to see and do!
Also remember that it takes a great deal of stamina to visit Disney. Stamina that you may or may not have. Stamina that you may have to work on increasing in the weeks and months before our trip.
In addition to pure tiredness, there is also wear and tear on your body.
Depending upon what you are able to do in your day-to-day life at home, you may be able to maintain the grueling schedule which is often the norm during a trip to Disney. Even then, you should schedule some down time where you stay around your Resort and perhaps even spend the day in bed.
During our last trip, we were there fourteen days, plus the two days on either side it took us to get here and home. We spent three days in bed being “lazy” and another two days just having around the Resort. The day before we left and the day after we got home were also spent in bed giving our bodies time to rest and/or recuperate. To someone who doesn’t have a disability, I’m sure this sounds funny, but anyone who has a disability knows how much traveling can take out of them.
Three of the days we spend as “down time” while at Disney, we slept late and my husband did not get out of bed. Yes, the rest of the group was out and about doing things that we are not, but they came back and told us what they were doing and what they had seen. Our rooms were the center of activity even if we were still in our pajamas. Sometimes it’s wonderful to just sit still and think about the things that you did the day before. After all, the repercussions of trying to keep up with a two-year-old are simply not worth it to say of impossible for anyone but another two-year-old. The last thing we wanted was to go home and have to spend the next month or so in bed with seating problems we had gotten because had done too much. It simply is not worth it.
If you don’t want to spend the day in bed, you can have a short day and find numerous things to do in and around your Disney Resort. Wilderness Lodge has several topiaries, a children’s program, nightly movies on the beach, an arcade, and don’t forget the pools. In many of the Disney Resorts there is either a lift to transfer someone from their wheelchair to the pool or there is a zero-entry pool. Depending upon where you are staying, you may even be able to see the nightly fireworks at one of the Parks or the water parade on the Seven Seas Lagoon. Regardless of where you are staying on Disney property, they do such an amazing job of “themeing” the Resorts that just exploring a Resort can provide many hours of relaxation while providing some exercise.
While visiting Disney, remember that you have to get home. Whether you fly or drive, unless you live very close, it could take you more than a day, just as it does us. Not only do we have to do all the normal going home things like packing, checking out and loading the van, we also have to prepare my husband for the long van ride so that he doesn’t spend too much time in bed when we get home and that means monitoring seating and scheduling down time.
No one wants to go on vacation and not be able to do everything they want, but sometimes pulling back just a little means that you will have a better time and that you will be able to do it again in the future. If you keep building upon the lessons that you learn on each trip, you should do well.
Keep moving …
handimouse 