Has anyone gone without any plans?????

[Cee]

I plan my accommodations and flights and that's it. Once we're there, we fly by the seat of our pants. Having said that, we've been visiting WDW since the 70's! We don't have to plan anymore. If this is your one and only trip....plan
away! Have a blast!

 

[moxie99]

We aren't planning right down to the minute - it's been about 20 years since hubby has been to the kingdom, and our beautiful 15 year old daughter has only been to MK and DHS - for short days at each park. We are arriving in August on the 4/3 deal and are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge - daughter and I absolutely love animals and truth be know, I think we are both more excited about the Lodge than anything.

I have made ADR's and booked the Hoop De Doo (hubby requested the latter), we also have a character breakfast booked one morning and I'm now researching KTK tour.

As long as we have family time together, I know we will all be happy.

 

[kkproulx]

My friend is having her husband come back this weekend from Iraq. They are going to Disney the end of July together with three kids. She has not planned a thing! I am freaking out for her! I have sent her email after email and phone call after phone with military discounts on rooms and park tickets and she will not plan anything. She wants to wing the whole thing. I pray that they have a great time, but I am still panicing for her! I am going in December and I'm already starting to plan! Good grief!

 

[sapdaddy]

We have only gone in either November (before kids) or in May (after kids)
so both times of the year is slow by Disney standards. We usually stay for 11 days.

We travel down in our camper (takes 2 long days) and stay in Fort Wilderness. The only plans we have when we get in is on the first full day go and pick up food and play the rest of the day at the pool and enjoy the fort.

After that at breakfast each morning the question of the day I ask the kids is. "What are we doing?" When we get to the parks its just wing it. After all we are on vacation and the last thing we want to do run around like crazy people. One day it took us almost 3 hours to get off Main Street heading out to go back to our site. Gotta love the cookies

 

[RabFlmom]

The mere thought of just winging it at WDW makes me feel anxious.

Now, I don't plan things down to the minute or anything... and there's always room for change... but I do plan what parks each day, what meals we will eat (even counter service) and a loose touring plan (especially a morning strategy). For US, it makes the trip far more enjoyable and stress-free. If we don't plan these things ahead, we waste a tremendous amount of time trying to figure things out on the fly, everyone ends up starving by the time we finally eat, we miss key attractions and most of all there is just this feeling of chaos and confusion. Plus, for US, planning is a big part of the fun.

I think the only way I'd wing WDW is if I was going for at least 12 full days with no children, just DH and I. Even still, I think I'd plan out a general itinerary because I'm a bit OCD like that.

Planning where to eat before we get hungry just really isn't our way. LOL It would make me cringe to think I had to make sure to be at a certain restaurant at a certain time 90 days in advance-----it would make me cringe to think I had to be at a certain restaurant tomorrow unless it was for a wedding or celebration. LOL Just not my method of vacationing. I don't know what type of food I will be hungry for. I don't know how long I want to spend in any exhibit etc. and I don't want to have to miss something to do something like eating. LOL I have actually gone on 7 day vacations where we only had 1 real meal. Even when I have company coming to stay at my house I don't plan big meals for them. We tend to be too busy and just grab sandwiches.

Sometimes when at Disney though, we will stop in at guest relations and see what restaurant we could get a reservation for lunch at. Had good luck doing it this way and usually get in somewhere within an hour.

 

[srwarden1928]

I have planned which park on which day, have ADRs for the TS meals we want, have chosen which CS meals we want (only lunches and dinners are planned, we are not big breakfast people), know when we are getting to each park (rope drop except on arrival day and possibly on departure day because of checking out, etc), which attractions we are going to see which day in which order.

With that planning done I can (and will) relax and enjoy my vacation. Plans are subject to revision on the fly always. DW and I are teachers--our life is overplanning and revising on the fly.

The thought of "winging it" would make me crazy. I would be worried about getting in everything we want to. It would just in general be uncomfortable to not have the plan in place. We actually do what we want to because we change the plan when we want to. Having the plan as a blueprint tells us that we will accomplish what we want to on our vacation.

I have known of people who went on vacation with no reservations or plans as to what they were going to see--just a general idea of what direction they were going. That sounds stressful to me. I enjoy being flexible when I want to, but going without a plan just doesnt sound fun to me.

 

[disjointed]

It's so interesting reading everyone's strategies! I definitely don't feel like there's a "wrong" way to do Disney. We all have our different personalities and expectations for a trip.

Exactly. Our family is pretty laid back, and we all have the same "must-do's" so, our vacations always work out well. But, as you said, everyone and every family have different personalities and ways of doing things.

 

[Csaks]

Our last few trips we have only booked ADR's for the restaurants that we would really like to try. The only other thing I keep track of is which parks are historicaly busy on what day and try to avoid them on their busy days. We get parkhoppers so if a certain park seems busy we can just go somewhere else. Our first trip in 2001 was planned to the hilt and we didn't seem to enjoy being on a timetable. The vacation seemed like work.

 

[fla4fun]

It's really a personal decision. Some people get comfort and relaxation out of having a set schedule, so they don't have to think about what to do and where to go. Some people relax better when there's nothing on the agenda, and they just go with the flow. Some people like to land somewhere in the middle - they may know which park on which day, but not have a ride-by-ride itinerary when they get to the park. There's not really any wrong way to do Disney.

However, I would always encourage first timers and infrequent visitors to do some research before they go, so they know what they are up against and can make an informed decision on whether to plan their trip in detail or just go with the flow. With all the travel books, and the Internet, there's no excuse for being uninformed. For example, the people who book the free dining promotion, and then don't bother to find out whether it's a good idea to make dining reservations before they go - a little research would really open their eyes!

I'm more of a go with the flow person. Whenever I'm going someplace new, I read up on everything in advance, and I usually have a few things in mind that I really want to do or see. But other than hotel reservations, and if needed, airline tickets, I usually don't plan more than that. Since I'm a frequent visitor to WDW, I rarely plan anything other than the resort reservation. I have my favorite rides I usually go on, but if a line is too long, I save it for the next trip. I will ask about walkups at TS restaurants, and quite often, I get in (even during free dining), but I have a backup plan I'm OK with if I can't. Things like MVMCP I typically wait until a week or so before I'm going to get a ticket. I'm just not a planner. For me, being tied to a schedule, even a schedule as loose as having to be a particular place on a particular day, takes all the joy and adventure out of traveling. But I have some friends who are the total opposite, so I see both sides.

 

[eliza61]

Is it wrong to go without having any major plans? I've only been once back in 2002 where I was there for 9 days. I'll be going soon for only 5 days and I'm thinking about winging it and take the trip day by day. I do have a few meals ADR and I'll taylor my park visits to which ones I can stay late at at night but other than that I'm planning to enjoy each day as it comes.

Am I nuts

It depends on your personality.

My family and I are "wingers". During our real life we are scheduled to the max, both Dh & I fly for business and the kids have busy social lives. No way, no how are we going to do that on vacation. Most people here love having plans, some make elaborate spreedsheets and thats cool.
I just hate the assumption made here all the time that if you don't have a plan or following one of the tour guides, you somehow won't have a good time or won't "get every thing done". Which after 5 years of hearing it, have never gotten a good explanation to what that means.

We go without plans every trip.