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

[jaci-h]

I've noticed these boards are filled with type A personalities, and people who plan every step. and I say KUDOS to each and every one of you for your planning skill (that I've noticed from TRs result in FANTASTIC vacations). Disney vaca planning is really an art, as I've learned.

I, however much I'd love to, do not fit into that category. Anyone else? It makes me feel somewhat like a freak on these boards

Any other non-planning laid back planners out there?!

 

[Nadjalu]

You are not a freak. Not everyone here plans like crazy.

The only thing I plan are which parks on which day and my dinner adrs.

The rest is open.

Now if I start at MK I could end at Ak, just what we want. We go with the mood or flow of the vacation, but my adrs are solid. LOL....we love our food.

We do not plan which ride/attraction or what part of the park to start in, travel to at noon or end in.

We know what things we like better and always get them in, but we are very laid back about it.

This has worked for us and we have never missed something we wanted to do. As you say, kudos to those who plan everything, but while I am on vacation the last thing I need is to plan.

 

[jaci-h]

Here is my laid back planning story!

10 days ago, we realized we had enough money, time off, etc to plan a Disney honeymoon (belated) after 2 months of marriage.

I was done planning and booking everything as of 9 days ago.

Our plans include park hoppers, so we can change our minds and go somewhere else without regret. 2 ADRs, because I hate the feeling of being tied down to somewhere... we'll eat counter service or walk up and see if we can get in somewhere nice. Obviously I needed to plan traveling, so I did that one with a careful eye and we have our transport to and from Orlando all set up (flying in). We're staying at the swan.......... we'll be attempting to go to Fantasmic at DHS one night.

That's all I've planned and I feel like I'm done. 14 days to go and we're good to go. All we have to do is pack and I'll start that in about 7-10 days.

Life is good & laid back right now

 

[luckyprincess]

We're kind of split, lol! I'm a type A planner and my bf wants to very much just go with the flow. Since he has never said yes to Disney and finally did, I am going to have to do it his way if I ever want to go back with him

So I am planning which park on which day so we can see the shows we want. We also know what rides are important to us so we'll hit them first. We have a loose plan for what we're trying to hit and have park hoppers, so that will take care of itself. We aren't doing any sit down dinners/lunches because we dont' want to interrupt our days with reservations.

Besides that we're just going to enjoy each other and ourselves and hope for a magical vacay!

 

[fla4fun]

I'm about as no planning as you can get. The only thing I do is make a hotel reservation. I seldom make any ADR's because I want to eat when I'm hungry, not when the clock says it's time. I often go to the bus stop and just get on whatever bus comes first. I have an AP, so I can pretty much be totally spontaneous - and I live close enough that I don't have to pack everything into my four weeks of vacation. I can chill and enjoy the resorts without feeling like I'm missing anything if I take a day or two away from the parks. I've been known to book a trip as close as three days before check in - especially if things in the real world are a little stressful.

I get that the planners enjoy the planning. I get that they like feeling in control of their trip. I get that they want to make the most of their limited time. But I just like the feeling of knowing I've got a couple trips in the pipeline to look forward to, and I don't stress out while I'm waiting. I like coming back to work feeling like I've "recharged the batteries" instead of feeling like I need another vacation to recover. I like knowing that I can sleep in or go to bed early and not feel like I'll miss something because I can't do it another day.

But that's the great thing about Disney - there's something for everyone, both the planners and those who wing it.

 

[KellyNY]

I plan to bring my family, my money and plan to have lots of fun. I will check late EMH for MK and Epcot but that is all. If I want to eat at TS place, I will check this very day and if no reservation is available I will show up to see if anything available, I always have a back up plan. We do not do rope drops or midday breaks. We come to parks in afternoon as we sleep late and enjoy resort every day. I used to plan but no plan is much more relaxing for us.

 

[terbethk]

I think I'm both. On all of my previous trips, I've planned everything down to the minute - HOWEVER, I've never spent more than four days in the parks, and in order to see and do all we wanted, it had to be planned that way. Our next trip however, is 8 days...and I have no desire to even decide which parks to do on which days. The only thing we've decided is that we're going to MK on our first day, and making a whole day of doing all 4 parks (if we can fit it all in) doing ONLY attractions we've never done before...ya know...to keep things fresh.

 

[chrisw127]

We're totally laid back. The only thing we plan is our ADRs and then we go to the parks around that. I also am pretty careful about using the UG Crowd Calendar for times of year, but I don't choose a "best park" day.

 

[Diznotyzed]

We used to be commandos, now we tour more leisurely, keeping some basic crowd flow patterns in mind. We'll be there the 2nd week of September. We have our hotel reservation, flights and bought our hopper passes, so our planning's done. No ADRs, we also would rather eat counter service than be tied to something scheduled. Clearly this style doesn't work for everyone, but having been fortunate to take many trips there, this now suits us best.

 

[stichy]

Our first trip as a family I planned commando. I think we were only there for 3 or 4 days. After that it is a wonder that DH agreed to go back let alone buy DVC. Now the only thing we plan is adr since dining is important to us.

 

[freshlybarked]

I love planning things as a way to make the vacation seem longer. I'll start a couple months ahead and make lists, etc. It's just for me and my enjoyment. About all we go with is reservations and maybe a dinner reservation or two. We camp at FW so we can eat all our meals at the RV. We usually do breakfast at RV, lunch at a park (counter service) and dinner back at the RV. We have APs so we can come and go as we please. No a.m. EMH as DH hates to get up so we can do the p.m. ones. Also we have been there about 10 times in the past 2 1/2 years so getting to see everything is not as important to us as it was on our first trip and since we know we will be back soon.

 

[delaneyc52]

Planning does indeed have it's place. Particularly for those who do not frequent WDW year after year....so I value and appreciate the efforts and the ingenious plans of the folks on these boards. It's a skill to be totally envious of. I use to be a planner...but no longer. The first time we bought our children to WDW I had a "PLAN"...and it backfired big time. Ergo, I no longer plan!

I do not do ADR's nor do I look for the early or late magic hours. But again, I am fortunate enough with our DVC to go twice per year and just lay back and enjoy. p.s. Even after all these years, I still love to read other people's plans....I'll usually get something from them that I didn't know and wander off to see what it's all about...but it's still "wander" vs. "commando" LOL!

 

[Mom2tmha]

The most planning I do is look at EMH and plan what park on what day. We haven't done hoppers in a few years, that's the only reason I look at that. Have fun!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I prefer to look at a Disney vacation as a vacation, not a mission.

I know what park/s I will be in each day/night based on whatever is/are the low crowd ones for that day/night. I might have 1 to maybe 3 (at the most) dining reservations made. Most of my trips are solo (can't yet get wife back to Disney ) but do meet up most days with folks from the boards. So I need to know who I am meeting and where and when. I always have an AP so am completely flexible.

That's about it.

 

[hipporina]

On my first trip as an adult, I laminated the touring plans from the back of the Unofficial Guide and followed them exactly. By the last day I thought my feet would fall off before I made it back around the World Showcase!

I relaxed more and more with each trip. This year, we are going with free QSDP, so it will be the first time since 2003 that we haven't had to plan everything out and be tied down to ADR's. I am so excited! I have gone enough to know how to avoid crowds and maximize my time, so I plan very little in advance. Of course, traveling in slower times really helps too.

 

[luckyprincess]

I plan to bring my family, my money and plan to have lots of fun. I will check late EMH for MK and Epcot but that is all. If I want to eat at TS place, I will check this very day and if no reservation is available I will show up to see if anything available, I always have a back up plan. We do not do rope drops or midday breaks. We come to parks in afternoon as we sleep late and enjoy resort every day. I used to plan but no plan is much more relaxing for us.

Yes!!! That is us exactly!!

 

[Pineapple Whip]

I plan to bring my family, my money and plan to have lots of fun. I will check late EMH for MK and Epcot but that is all. If I want to eat at TS place, I will check this very day and if no reservation is available I will show up to see if anything available, I always have a back up plan. We do not do rope drops or midday breaks. We come to parks in afternoon as we sleep late and enjoy resort every day. I used to plan but no plan is much more relaxing for us.

I fully agree with the above definition. I want to say I am a commando, but not in the sense that they define it on this board. I am type A/B all the time but B when I'm on vacation or in a park. When I'm in the park, there is a good chance I do not like many of the commando families, and usually it is one member that is commando and forcing the others to have a borderline un-enjoyable time at disney.

They are the rushers, the pushers, the move up to the front of the parade line, ram my stroller in front of you, "My Disney vacation is more important than yours" people.

I PROPOSE THE RISE OF THE "DESPERADOS". They have a name, we should have a cooler name because we are laid back and having a better, unscripted, relaxed time where we can laugh and not worry that the country bear jamboree starts in 5 minutes.

If you enjoy taking the park as it comes along.

If you enjoy saying, hey look the line is short there, let's do that now instead.

If you like showing up with your AP just to ride [insert favorite ride here] get an ice cream cone and leave.

If you're willing to skip the parade and/or fireworks and catch it next time.

If you feel that there will be an awful war for leadership between various commando factions.

If you're willing to defend a CM's honor when they are being berated by a commando.

If you feel psycho dad needs a frozen coke over his head to cool off.

I submit that you are a DESPERADO.

I also propose an Alien Green Home Depot Mickey with an eyepatch for our flag.


All in favor say ARRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[centurythree]

ARRRRRR


I schedule ADRs. However, I schedule them for maximum flexibility . . . so usually breakfast and a late-ish dinner.

I know which park or park to avoid for the day.

I might have a general idea of which parks I might want to go to if the weather holds.

That's it.

Sorry, I just don't see the need to know what ride I'm going to be on at 9:37 am or when any show except Fantasmic or a night parade will be months ahead of my trip.

When my family goes we don't even do that much. We just have the hotel reservation and figure out which park we want to visit each morning when we get up.

 

[jaci-h]

I fully agree with the above definition. I want to say I am a commando, but not in the sense that they define it on this board. I am type A/B all the time but B when I'm on vacation or in a park. When I'm in the park, there is a good chance I do not like many of the commando families, and usually it is one member that is commando and forcing the others to have a borderline un-enjoyable time at disney.

They are the rushers, the pushers, the move up to the front of the parade line, ram my stroller in front of you, "My Disney vacation is more important than yours" people.

I PROPOSE THE RISE OF THE "DESPERADOS". They have a name, we should have a cooler name because we are laid back and having a better, unscripted, relaxed time where we can laugh and not worry that the country bear jamboree starts in 5 minutes.

If you enjoy taking the park as it comes along.

If you enjoy saying, hey look the line is short there, let's do that now instead.

If you like showing up with your AP just to ride [insert favorite ride here] get an ice cream cone and leave.

If you're willing to skip the parade and/or fireworks and catch it next time.

If you feel that there will be an awful war for leadership between various commando factions.

If you're willing to defend a CM's honor when they are being berated by a commando.

If you feel psycho dad needs a frozen coke over his head to cool off.

I submit that you are a DESPERADO.

I also propose an Alien Green Home Depot Mickey with an eyepatch for our flag.


All in favor say ARRRRRRRRRRRR

*changes title under name*

I think I might have just peed my pants.

 

[luckyprincess]

Lol!!
Arrrrrrrrr! Count me in, matey!