Commando or No

[W.E.D.]

Thought I'd get people's opinion on this topic. What got me thinking was this:

My SIL and her family (DH, DS8, DS4) went down a couple weeks ago. I had strived and strived to get them to sit down with me, visit the Dis...you know, do at least some of the planning that we all do around here. But they weren't interested. So, off they went. I spent the week worried sick that they wouldn't have a good time. They came back...and guess what? They had an awesome week at WDW. No ADRs, no schedules, and they still had a blast.

So, what do you think? Do we spend too much time tweaking all the little details, and have less fun because of it? To each their own? Is there a happy medium between going Commando-style and going free-style?

 

[brinalyn530]

We've been twice before and I uber-planned as much as I could both times. Everyone was tired by the end of the trip and needed a vacation from the vacation, but we got to do a lot of things we wouldn't have if I hadn't planned it out.

This time, it'll just be me and DS9, I have a short list of must do's, a handful of ADR's, and the rest is just do what we feel like doing. We've seen the parades, the fireworks, and Fantasmic (twice) so those aren't must do's this time around. If we get to see Illuminations again, great, if not, I'm sure we'll be doing something else fun.

I have to tell you, I feel much more relaxed about this upcoming trip than I did about the previous two, so I'm already leaning towards the not commando option to answer your question!

ETA : Of course, the answer is always going to be "to each their own"! But I'm comfortable with our plan this time around and if it doesn't work out, I'll go back to obsessive planning!

 

[mrodm]

So, what do you think? Do we spend too much time tweaking all the little details, and have less fun because of it? To each their own? Is there a happy medium between going Commando-style and going free-style?

There is absolutely a happy medium for those of us who can't live by either side of this coin!

My family and I spent a great week at WDW last week. Yes, we did plan our ADRs in advance and which parks we'd be in each day, but we also rolled with it a lot. The parks were more crowded than we anticipated, so we only focused on our absolute "must-dos", enjoyed some breaks once in a while, and one day didn't even hit a single park. We decided to go Cirque one evening at the last minute, so we scrapped our afternoon park plans and rescheduled the next day. It worked wonderfully.

I completely respect those who have a plan and stick to it and have a group/family that can enjoy the World that way. And, I certainly don't begrudge those who are okay with winging it every day - hey, more power to ya! We're definitely happy-medium people at our house!

 

[mom2aidanNpiper]

I think maybe had they gone in the middle of summer they wouldn't have had as much luck?

We do both touring styles- commando in the AM (rope drop to lunch) and then go back to the hotel then come back without any plans (unless needing to use FP from earlier).

My plans for our week in June are heavy mornings and either stay at the hotel in the afternoon/evening, or go back with nothing planned. For me it's the only way my kids won't crash and burn after a few days (they are younger).

 

[monkeybug]

I think there is a happy medium!
I am an avid researcher. It makes me more comfortable to know as much as I can about where I am going. I think Disney World is a place that benefits from a bit of research. We also go with a basic plan, but I'm totally OK with ditching it if we feel like doing something else. In fact I think that all the research makes ditching a plan, and still having a great experience that much easier.
It's awesome that your family had such a great time, even with no plans!
Unfortunately for every family that goes and has a great time, there seems to be one who returns upset that they spent so much money and got to do/see so little. I have a neighbor who stayed at the GF for a week and only went to one park, because they "couldn't stand it" (they went during Christmas week thinking it would be a slow time, and arrived at the MK at around noon. Her husband hates crowds and refused to go back to any park.). I'm pretty sure if they had done a little research, and minimal planning, they wouldn't have been so dissapointed.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I think there is a happy meduim and like to beleive we found it several years ago. Yeah we plan our trips and make some type of schedule but we don't go sun up to sun down and do a checklist type of touring. We just do what we want when we come across it, but dont zig zag across the parks all day to accomidate one whim or another either. I love all the research before the trips and still learn new stuff all the time, to me that's part of the fun.

 

[W.E.D.]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Personally, we have done both as well and I can see the merits of each. Now that we've been a few times, we usually rough out a schedule and get our must-have ADRs, but otherwise we just let WDW happen.

 

[masterslacker]

I like the planning as it's competition between me and park/crowds. I want to see if I can win. It's a personality thing though for most of us and we just can't do anything without planning. Although for every planner, you need followers or it won't work.

I will see who wins starting Saturday which from other posts it looks like even with a plan the crowds may prevail.

 

[arielmomma]

I have travelled both ways - absolutely no planning at all and full all out commando. I can say that I had a great time both ways, but I now like to travel at a happy medium between the two.

If we plan on spending most of our time at WDW or staying on Disney property, I do like to have ADR's. Since we usually have myw base tickets, ADR's can effect where we spend the day. Also, I like to plan around the EMH (if we have the kids, we avoid them, we are going w/o the kids, we utilize them). I also like to go during slow times of the year. When we are with the kids, which is always in recent years, we only plan on hitting one evening event, such as Fantasmic, Wishes or Illuminations. I usually plan for that, but am flexible. Other than that, we like to just have a good time and go where the wind carries us. We always have great vacations, and usually aren't extremely tired when we get home.

 

[BamaTigger]

Me and DH used to be big commandos...especially when we first started going. Now we go with a couple of ADR's and thats it. We dont have a plan....we dont decide which park we are going to until we get up in the morning, and we just go. If we have a ADR planned, we just hop on over to that park and eat, then decide to do "whatever". ITs relaxing, easy, and just fun. We look at different things, like landscaping, architecture, hidden mickeys, etc. We ride our favorites, see our favorites, and thats that!

I guess it really depends on how much you get to go. If you dont get to go alot, then Commando is the way to go. You want to do and see as much as you can because you may not ever get to go back, or dont know when you can go back.
But we love to watch the "commando" guests in the park tho.....they are super fast and pushing those strollers with all their gusto at 8am, then by 2 or 3, we will see them SLOW AS SNAILS walking out of the parks just give out with exhaustion! So cute!!

 

[jenniferhouston2]

Is there a happy medium between going Commando-style and going free-style?

Well, I think you will reduce chaffing and irritation if undergarments are worn while at Disney World. If you do decide to go Commando, I would recommend lots of powder.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Also, I think there's a little "ignorance is bliss" kinda thing for non-planning newcomers. Yes, you can have a great time if you know nothing and come with no plan, but you're missing out on a heck of a lot of wonderful things.

My general philosophy is that it's better to be over-educated than over scheduled.

 

[W.E.D.]

Well, I think you will reduce chaffing and irritation if undergarments are worn while at Disney World. If you do decide to go Commando, I would recommend lots of powder.

Nice! LOL!

 

[scjo68]

You can certainly have a great time without planning. Many do. I could. But I am so into WDW that just being there, soaking up the details, etc., would make me happy even if I never rode a single ride.

We always do plan somewhat, though. THere are certain things we know we absolutely want to do, and I know that without a plan in place, they either will not happen at all, or will require a great deal of wait time and stress. For instance, I don't care if we ride Dumbo or not. It's up to the kids- they've done it several times. If they want to Dumbo, fine, then we are heading right for it at rope drop and riding it first thing. Everything else has fastpass. We do not decide "Hey, let's wander over to Dumbo" at 1:00.
Plan on eating at CP before the MK opens? You will most likely need an ADR, which will need to be planned out in advance. THis requires you to know which day you want to spend in MK, and it would not make any sense to do this on an AM EMH day, so you need to figure out that schedule before you can make your ADRs. So you can see how planning can tend to snowball.

We always have a general idea what we want to hit the first hour of opening, whichever park we are in. It is completely without logic to stand there in the middle of the street just after rope drop, while everyone is running past you, while you ponder the map, saying "hmmm, I wonder what's here?"

After the first hour or two, however, we often go with the flow, have no general plan, and we have loads of fun and discover new things each time. We still try to have a set of fastpasses going all the time, to take advantage of that, but we just work that in to whatever else we are doing.

I will admit, though, to secretly dreaming about going to WDW completely solo for a trip, and planning nothing- just going where I feel like when I feel like it. But don't tell my family.

 

[dmccarty]

Well, I think you will reduce chaffing and irritation if undergarments are worn while at Disney World. If you do decide to go Commando, I would recommend lots of powder.

AND wear shorts/trousers that are made of a thick cloth and stay off the rides where you might get wet.

Otherwise you might show more than you intended.

My wife helped a lady in the bathroom near the KRR. The lady had gotten soaked and was wearing very thin capris while going commando. Once the capris got wet she might as well have taken off the pants.

The DW "shielded" the lady while she tried to try her pants in the hand dryer.

Back to the other definition of Commando....

We plan our ADRs. We plan which park to go to based on morning EMH. We might have a few other things but that is it. No real planning on what we will do in the park other than make sure we get on certain key rides. After that we just do what we want to do.

Up until our 21st Century WDW trips we never planned or made ADRs until we got to WDW.

Later,
Dan

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Thought I'd get people's opinion on this topic. What got me thinking was this:

My SIL and her family (DH, DS8, DS4) went down a couple weeks ago. I had strived and strived to get them to sit down with me, visit the Dis...you know, do at least some of the planning that we all do around here. But they weren't interested. So, off they went. I spent the week worried sick that they wouldn't have a good time. They came back...and guess what? They had an awesome week at WDW. No ADRs, no schedules, and they still had a blast.

So, what do you think? Do we spend too much time tweaking all the little details, and have less fun because of it? To each their own? Is there a happy medium between going Commando-style and going free-style?

My family never planned there Disney vacation and we always had a blast.

 

[scjo68]

Up until our 21st Century WDW trips we never planned or made ADRs until we got to WDW.

Later,
Dan

I wonder if anyone needed to plan as much as they do now until the internet got involved?

Personally, I don't know, because my first real trip was in 2003. But I keep hearing about how you used to be able to walk in to restaurants without ADR's, etc. I think now people know soooo much more about WDW due to the net, so it makes it harder (more competitive) to do everything.

 

[W.E.D.]

My family never planned there Disney vacation and we always had a blast.

That's awesome! I certainly want to hear from both sides.

Our first few trips, back in the day, were not planned. But as WDW gets bigger I think at least a rudimentary plan is needed.

 

[DaniB]

Well, I think you will reduce chaffing and irritation if undergarments are worn while at Disney World. If you do decide to go Commando, I would recommend lots of powder.

 

[DaniB]

My general philosophy is that it's better to be over-educated than over scheduled.

Ohh, I agree with this!!!

From a NEWBIE'S point of view (having never been to WDW before), I am SO glad I found this board and started researching. I've learned so many things that I'm sure will make our trip that much richer than if we went in total ignorance. In fact, I'm sure going in total ignorance would have had us disappointed...

I'm aiming for a happy medium! We don't want to go all-out commando! We researched & arrange our ADRs and selected our park days. Realizing we may have to switch due to bad weather (doing 2 waterpark days).

As for the parks - again, major research but this way we know to be at RD every morning. And we learned about FastPasses. In fact, I had decided to donate our GAD vouchers until I found out about GAD FPs. Sorry, but that won over considering it's our first time...

First we crossed out each ride at each park that we just do will not do - for various reasons.

Now we'll spend the morning hitting our MUST DO attractions & rides, spend the afternoon for the ones we would like to do at a more relaxed pace, and IF there's still time the ones that are a "if there's time".

Researching ahead of time meant we discovered the "extras" that can be done at WDW. So we had a chance to pick a "must do" and rule out others. With researching, we would have found out about these later and be disappointed we could not do them then.

The only thing undecided still - is which resort to stay in! We have POP booked but may upgrade to CSR. I'm torn between the two. Waiting to hear about free dining.

Ohh, and when I saw "we researched" - I mean "I researched" LOL