Laid back planners.... where ya at?! *DESPERADOS UNITE!*

[gracielou]

Originally Posted by CleveRocks

We never plan. We find out every little thing we can find out. We find out the facts, the strategies, the contingencies, the bargains, the times, the hidden fun, the opinions, and so on. Well, I find it out, and the wife trusts me. :-)

That way, no matter where or when we find ourselves, we can make the best of it.

We NEVER plan what parks to go to on what days. I mean, I make a chart of park hours, parade/fireworks times, Extra Magic Hours times, and so on, but it's an INFORMATIONAL chart, not a list of what we must do. It informs us. If we want to see Fantasmic, for example, we know the two or three days during our week that we can choose from, and so on.

We make one or two ADRs, and no more. And we HATE those days. We HATE the idea of having to be somewhere at a certain time during vacation ... too much like every other day of the year to us.

The way we pretty much decide which parks on which days is to ask the kids either the night before or the morning of. We did this even when the kids were 5 and 2 (they were almost 9 and 6 on our most recent trip last year). THAT usually makes the uber-planners' heads explode.

Because we know all the information and all the strategies and smart moves and stuff like that, we always have a great time, we always do everything we want to do, and we never have any regrets, just fun!

This is us exactly! I'll read and make notes and lists for 11 months before we leave. I have color-coded index cards organized by park and attraction (even organized in order by land or street or pavilion) where all the hidden gems are and the stories behind everything. I have charts of park hours and show times that cross-references the UG best/worst parks with TGM's red/yellow/greens. I even sketch out a 2 to 3 park-a-day plan to make sure we get a good mix in over our 10 days. However, after checking into the CBR at 8am (the only day of the trip that I'll be out of bed before 10am!) and heading to our traditional first park--AK--all notes, charts, and lists are just for informational purposes only. We have MNSSHP tickets and birthday ADRs but everything else is just spur of the moment. And the few reservations we do have almost give me a panic attack at the thought we're locked in to being anywhere at a set time. I think going on the dining plan would make me rather stay home!

[pooch]

I will now proudly, abheit not very artistically, draw eye patches on my new LGHMs! The trip is 9/4 to 9/11 so look for me if any of you are there!!!


ARRRRRRR

[Howellsy]

Yeahh I'm sort of between the two We always have the DDP so we make ADRs but that's as far as it goes really, we normally decide the night before what we'll do the next day. I don't think I could plan where to go and what to do everyday, but I go for two weeks with UK tickets which have hoppers and water park options, so it may be slightly different for me

[scdak]

I have to say I have done it many ways, early to parks vs late to the parks, midday rest during extended hours but no rest period during shorter days, general idea of what park on what day but no specific plan of action once I am there as long as I don't miss special events like the parades, shows, fireworks etc.
My upcoming trip is a little more planned in that I am staying onsite for the first time and doing the dining plan for the first time. So,some ADR's are made based where I will be / when I will be there, park days are set based on the park hours, Fantasmic showing, etc. and of course MVMCP but plenty of leeway during the days to relax, eat the other meals when we choose to, swim, hit the attractions we enjoy the most, so its sort of a trip with the best of both worlds. Now, if Nov. 30th would just come!!!!

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm around! We plan what park on what day and plan our food around that park (TS meals) and that's it. Whatever else happens, happens. We break for characters, extra play time wherever the kids are entertained, etc.

I will probably pay a little closer attention to the clock this go around, but that's only if we are lacking in character experiences - I have a wish list I'd like to hit - we'll have to call the character line to see if characters are out and when so we don't walk in circles! We front-loaded our trip with Character Meals (Akershus and CM) and we're ending with CP. I know we'll see the Fab 5 and some of the girls and Pooh, but DS would be over the moon to see Beast and Mary Poppins so I've follow Berlioz's page to figure out where they are hiding. That's about it all we have planned. The rest is up to the Mouse.

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

No, you're definitely not alone! I'm as Type-A as they come in "real life", but when it comes to vacations, especially to WDW, I'm very laid back and relaxed. I cannot do commando touring, have no interest in rope drop (even though we're up and going at that time), would rather be on the balcony with a glass of wine than in the parks riding rides at 10PM, am happy to hit the parks for three or four hours and then go back to the resort to swim, etc.

Now, I do really enjoy the ADR planning process, but mainly because it gives us something to look forward to in the months leading up to the next trip. We don't stress about whether we get every one we want, or the right times, and we move them frequently in the time leading up to the actual trip.

Growing up, vacationing with my father was much like a forced prison march to never waste a second, and while I love him dearly, I'll never choose to vacation that way now that I'm the adult.

[Pineapple Whip]

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Here's a clickable badge that points back to this thread with the LGPMH (Lime Green Pirate Mickey Head). Saves everyone the time of going through the photobucket routine. It looks like the one in my sig below.

Just replace the 2 } squiggly brackets at the end with ] straight brackets.

If you know the actual names of these brackets, and feel the urge to post them, you are a left leaning Desperado.

[whatcateydid]

I'm in! I'm going in 8 days (!!!), and although I feel like I've been planning for ages we still have a lot of time where we're going to see how we feel on the day. We're staying offsite, so I've spent a lot of time figuring out the best ways to get to and from the parks and looking into restaurants around our hotel, etc. We're also going to a Star Wars convention while we're there, which thankfully my boyfriend is going to plan because I don't know where to start with it! I like to know my options and then plan as we go. I don't know which park we're going to on each day, but I've got a note of the opening hours and touringplans rating for every day so we'll make informed decisions while we're there. I've booked one ADR, and have a loose plan for our first day because we have a couple of places we need to be at specific times that day. Other than that, we'll see how it goes and have fun! I'll let you know how it goes!

[DisneyFirefly]

I plan what park on what day, and my reservations for those days. That's about it, aside from MNSSHP for this trip.

[JoShan1719]

We plan what parks to do which days and maybe two or three ADRs at special places. Other than that we pretty much wing it. I do look at and print off menus from different places ahead of time so we have an idea of where we'd like to eat, but that's about it. I planned like crazy for our Disneymoon and when we got there we ended up changing most of the plans.

[Mamu]

Here, reading about all the things I'm not going to plan.

[Donut23]

6 years ago - our first trip together - I asked my now DB to try a non-commando day. Just a day. If he hated it, we would be commandos. He discovered he enjoyed the trip far more at a more calm pace.

We make, at most, 1 ADR p/day for about half of our trip. We make other decisions based on how we feel that day.

It's less stressful and we have plenty more smiles at the end.

Our early December trip requires a little more planning with the additions of Candelight Processional and the Christmas Party...but otherwise, we try to go with the flow of the day.

Perhaps it's because we are now in our 50's and have been going to WDW and DL for a long-long time as singles before we met. We no longer worry much if we miss something....we'll catch it the next time.

[Doc CW]

We make a few ADR's, but thats about as much planning as we do, I mean we talk about rides we would like to do and such, but we dont ever actually plan to hit rides in a certain fashion like we will FP rides that have that option and stand-by if its less than a 30 min wait. We are pretty laid back, considering we used to be commando and made the great switch to chill out

[TxRabbit]

I have given the super duper ooper smooper planning way a try...we went with the deluxe dining plan on our last trip. I've never had a touring plan other than picking parks and feeling like we needed to get there early. I could always go with the flow once we got to the parks. Still...it wasn't a very relaxing vacation...

For our up-n-coming trip, we have QSDP. DS wanted one character breakfast (he LOVES Donald) so I made an ADR for that. I made one other ADR that I think DS will love for the one day where I know which park we will be in. But it's okay if we don't keep it. Other than that, I'm so clueless as to what we are going to do on our WDW vacation!

I've researched WDW til my eyes cross. I appreciate what are POSSIBILITIES and there have been times when things have happened that DH looks at me and is like, what do we do now? and all that research has saved the day. I feel totally prepared to take it as it comes ENTIRELY now. I'm so looking forward to not feeling like my vacation has already been played in my head! For the first time, our Disney trip will be completely a day by day, what do you feel like doing today kind of trip! I can't wait!

[CocosMeme]

We pretty much just pick which park we will go to and make ADR for that park. When we get there we just do whatever appeals to us. If a line is too long we skip it and come back later. Fast passes are a must for us. I went last Feb on a spur of the moment trip and had no ADR's and it was not fun. We wound up eating fast food all week due to no walk ups available. Never again! ADR's are a must!!