Taking the Stress Out of Disney

As I write this I’m waiting in the Virtual Queue to try to register for the Annual Passholder Preview of TRON Lightcycle / Run. I’m almost there. I’m watching the clock count down, nervous to touch my phone because I don’t want to accidentally hit “refresh” and end up back at the end of the line. The whole situation makes me wonder, how can we take some of the stress out of Disney?

I think the first way to remove some of the stress is to lower our expectations. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t expect magic, because we should. Too often, though, we expect everything to be perfect on a Disney vacation. It won’t be. There will be rides that we miss, places we wanted to eat that we never tried, and that great fireworks viewing spot will often be marred by someone putting a kid on their shoulders. With slightly lower expectations, there will also be less stress.

Plan ahead of time to not do it all. This is one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve seen when it comes to a Walt Disney World vacation. Since it’s so expensive, people want to do everything! Pick a few rides or shows that you don’t care if you miss them. You can then spend more time enjoying the things that you really want to do.

Another way to relieve some of that stress has to do with your own attitude once you’re on your Disney vacation. Don’t think about the things you’ve missed, instead, think about what you’ve enjoyed.

When you’re on your vacation, be kind. Some Cast Members are less than magical and there are plenty of rude guests these days. Be nice anyway. Don’t let the little things bother you, and do your best to share a smile or a kind word. You could turn someone else’s day around, just by being nice. I think that kindness is sometimes the opposite of stress.

My final word on the subject of stress; patience. If you’re patient, your stress level will go way down. I was patient with the Annual Passholder Preview, and I stopped writing for a couple of minutes and secured my spot. If I didn’t, though, it would have been okay. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world.