Credit: DisneyGoing to one of the Disney Parks on vacation can be an exhausting and stressful experience, especially if you’ve never visited before or have a larger group of people to entertain.
However, it can also be said that going to the Parks can be tiring even for those that go often, like an Annual Passholder, leading to burnout or even apathy towards a place they once called their “home away from home.” In a recent Reddit post, u/Harold__Chasen directed a question to other APs, asking “what do you do to prevent ‘burning out’ on the parks?”
“WDW might be one of my favorite places on the planet, but there can always be too much of a good thing and the last thing I would ever want is for a trip to feel like a chore or just an exercise in checking off boxes,” they went on to say. Most of the responses were actually really creative, offering different ideas and suggestions to make going to the Parks fun and worthwhile without being stressful or exhausting, especially for an annual passholder looking to keep their visits interesting.
u/Fameless pointed out that, “the ‘we’re here to maximize and make the most of our time’ mentality really takes over. But half the fun is making sure you’re just having a good time even in the ‘off-time’…take my time and really slow down at the parks, as opposed to rushing in trying to get everything in. you always know you can come back and do the rest next time. There’s enough to do where you can get enough ‘firsts’ in that you haven’t seen or done before.”
u/SportsDoctor13 suggested creating missions to solve around a Disney Park. “You can always go and do the same rides over and over, or you can setup missions. You can be as laid back or hardcore with these missions.” They followed up with a couple of suggestions, including riding as many dark rides as possible in one day around the Walt Disney World Resort, rope drop or close a Park, or even trying one snack and one drink at each monorail resort on a Magic Kingdom Disney Resort monorail bar crawl. u/Traviscat suggested something similar, “I have a list of items I want from Food and Wine and broke it up into 5 different future trips.”
“When we want to do something different, we try doing things like visits to the high-end resorts, a transportation ‘tour,’ or tracking down specific characters or experiences,” offered u/mwisconsin. “When I was on my CP, I realized a month in that I’d kind of “done” all the rides right away and wanted a goal to help guide my time in the parks. I ended up taking a tote bag with my department’s logo on it and getting it signed by as many different characters as I could,” u/YawningDodo recounted.
Clearly, the OP isn’t alone in feeling like there’s only so much Annual Passholders can do without feeling burnt out or over the whole Disney experience. The consensus seems to be getting creative with trips or using them to try and do things not typically done on a regular vacation. Others suggested not to put too much emphasis on the feeling of “needing” to go, but just going whenever, in order to avoid it feeling like a chore.
With the price of any Walt Disney World or Disneyland annual pass being so expensive these days, even for a California or Florida resident, it can often feel like a waste of money if it isn’t used “often enough” or even disappointing when you realize there’s less magic around going than there used to be. Being creative can be a great way to keep the Parks fun and entertaining, but it may also be helpful to remember that the Disney Parks aren’t going away any time soon. If taking a few months or a year off from visiting the Parks can help rekindle that excitement and enjoyment, that’s also perfectly okay. Remember, Disney will always be there to welcome you home.
What are your best tips for avoiding Park burnout? Let us know in the comments below!