Unfortunately, given the ages of my kids (6 and 3) we can't be in the parks from RD to close. However, I still want to do as much as possible. So, I'm a planning nut - what parks, what days, where and when to eat, when are the shows, what order to do the rides in the am, etc. I'm starting to plan our November, 2011 trip now....
Had our best commando day in our June trip to
Disneyland, on a super busy day in the park. Our party of 10 (5 kids, 5 adults) was there for Magic Morning opening (their version of am EMHs) at 6:45, in park by 7:00, Fantasyland rides for 2 hours (more attractions that WDW MK Fantasyland), met Tink at Pixie Hallow, Tomorrowland (Astro Orbiters, Buzz, Star Wars, got FP for Autopia and Space), met Buzz, back down Main Street, picked out ears, met additional characters while I waited for the ears to be made, out of park for lunch and back for a nap at hotel. Back to park at 5:45 and got a great spot for the parade, then used Autopia FP and got a super FP for another ride since my sister's Autopia car broke down mid-track. Used the super FP for Nemo Subs (saving over an hour wait in line, since it doesn't have FP). Then used Space FP, then scoped out a great place for fireworks. After fireworks, we were also going to use our Indy FP (at 10:00), but it was off-line. Headed back to the hotel around 10:45 (just as my 3 year old was losing it). Took it easier the next day, heading to DCA at 9:20 (opened at 9:30).
While I love to plan, you do need to be flexible - like when the super FP fell in our laps - I was planning on doing Adventure land that evening (and doing Nemo at RD a different day), but this was a much better over all use of our time at that moment, so I had to reschedule our remaining days that night back at the hotel.
I also think that by planning, you learn so much that you are able to make planning changes on the fly, if need by.
And it is really important to plan for your group. In our last trip, I had to make sure that my niece saw Crush, that my nephew met Buzz, that my daughter met Ariel, that my mom saw the Alladin show, tried to do something special that each person would like.
And it is important that your group understands the rules, so to speak. My party knew that they would, in all cases, meet in the lobby at a given time each morning, that the mornings in the parks were planned, that I was in charge, that if they wanted to do something, they had to talk to me about so that we could find the best time to do it but it likely wouldn't be right that moment, and that shopping could wait until later.
I think that our next trip to WDW will be a little more relaxed than past trips have been, but I will still spend hours and hours planning.... I'm also hoping that nap breaks will not be required each day by that time.
I couldn't imagine going to Disney without a plan or not wanting to see as much as possible when you are there (even if you have already seen it 10 times).