Our Plan is to Not Plan

[RipperSB]

About us: DW and I are in our 50’s and DVC members since Feb 2013. Our first trip to WDW was over New Years 2012-13, incl MVMCP, when our DS and DDIL (who are DVC members) planned a family vacation. After becoming members ourselves, we have travelled to WDW in Dec 2013, Mar 2014 (for Flower & Garden) and just returned from an Oct 2014 (for MNSSHP) with all stays at BLT. We had planned our stays with ADRs at 180 days, FP+ at 60 days and some trips we used a Dining Plan some not. As our 30th anniversary is next year (Apr 2015), we wanted to do something extra special. We thought about a trip to Aulani but, in the end, we decided on a Disney cruise combined with resort stays before and after the cruise.

In order to maximize our remaining points and try some of the other resorts, we have booked a five night stay at BWV followed by a seven night eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Fantasy followed by another five night stay at OKW.

This will be our first cruise, ever, and planning is pretty much done. At our 75 day to go mark, we booked a dinner and a brunch at Palo and our shore excursions in St. Maarten, San Juan and Castaway Cay.

So, that brings us to our plan for the resort stays. Our plan is to not plan.

Since becoming DVC members (and a member of this forum), I have seen/read comments complaining about the amount of advance planning/booking involved. “How do I know what rides I am going to want to go on” or “How do I know where I am going to want to eat?” Really? A couple of times I have pointed out that you don’t HAVE to make ADRs or FP+ selections… You can eat at QS and go Standby. “But, I REALLY want to eat there” or “I’m not going to wait for an hour, that’s crazy!!” OK, so what I’m hearing is that you don’t want to make a decision until you get onsite and then, when you make that decision, you want everyone else to get out of your way!

This brings me to our trip. DW and I are going to try an experiment. We haven’t planned which park to visit; we have not advanced planned or reserved dining (with the exception of the Hoop-de-Doo Revue because we really want to do that); we are not going to book FP+ at 60 days. What we are going to do is play the bus stop lottery to choose our park for the day. When we reach the park we will check with MDE and see what is available, at that time, for dining and FPs. I will take notes and let you all know what was available and what we are able to do with minimum/no advanced bookings.

 

[minnie56]

Refreshing!
I hate planning and can't believe how structured some people like their Disney vacation to be. That's not one bit a holiday to me..
After maybe 100+ trips to WDW over the years I could count on one hand the times something we've wanted to do hasn't panned out and if that's the case, so what! we do something else!

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Wow! That sounds like so much fun I don't think I could do it, but I am excited for you and can't wait to hear how it works out for you.
We have done the 7 night Eastern cruise (Fantasy) and the 7 night Western cruise (Magic) - you are in for a treat! We loved Palo. It's lovely to have such a nice meal while looking out over the ocean. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Mysteria]

Looking forward to reading about how it goes!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Well, good luck....I hope it works out for you. April is a very busy month.

 

[RipperSB]

Well, good luck....I hope it works out for you. April is a very busy month.

Whoops, i guess I should have been a little clearer. Our anniversary is in April but our trip is in January.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Whoops, i guess I should have been a little clearer. Our anniversary is in April but our trip is in January.

That will be much easier to wing it in January.

 

[Leitadala]

You two are living life on the wild side! Not just a little, but all the way!

The past trip I had in August with my 18-month old goddaughter was slightly less planned, but we knew which park we were going to and we had an ADR for almost every day (the baby loved the character meals!) but we didn't to Fastpasses until a few days before, and then we rearranged them each day it seemed like (you never know when the baby would be passed out and in no position to go on It's a Small World, lol)

Excited for your trip, can't wait to plan another together someday!

 

[alohamom]

Please, please, please post back and let us know how that worked for you guys!
I just finished reading a Facebook post regarding how long the lines were with the implementation of the new FP+ and how much time people were spending on their phones and also how many of the headliner rides had no FP availability. It really kind of bummed me out so I would love to hear how this ends up and your perspective after the fact. Most of all, have a blast, I think with your attitude that you will for sure no matter what!

 

[csm101]

Thank God...We never plan. We have an idea of what we want to do but that's it. Like I've said in many of my posts, Its how you deal with the curve balls that make your holiday. People get stressed out when their itinerary that they posted in forums for feedback gets the thumbs up yet falls to pieces in reality. Enjoy your vacation...

 

[Csaks]

Disney is making it harder and harder to just wing it.
With FP on rides that never needed them, the standby for those have gotten longer. Our Halloween trip just past, POC was never under 20 minutes, Small World always had a standby in the 20 minute range. I understand the historically popular rides needing FP. but putting it on ones that have never needed them and then causing lines is stupid.
Why they put FP on some rides is beyond me.

 

[Nagle]

We have been going to WDW at least once per year since about 1997 and DVC members since 2007. We usually preferred to just have a general idea of what we would like to do during the trip and maybe plan park days the day before. Obviously that kind of planning has gone pretty much by the wayside over the years.

Our last few trips have been just the two of us as our son has been away at university and not able to come along. We find ourselves more interested in planning around what restaurants we would like to try rather than planning around fast pass plus and structuring our days around rides. While we still love most things Disney, we have no interest in planning our days to the nth degree. That obviously would not work for the majority, but it is how we currently plan our visits to WDW.

This past September for the first time ever, we spent 10 days at AKV Kidani and did not visit the parks once! Spent afternoons by the pool, lots of outlet shopping, Kennedy Space Centre visit, Winter Park, etc... We ate at Jiko (still my favourite), Raglan Road, and several off site restaurants. All in all a very different trip from the days we visited with our son. Oh, we also spent 2 nights at Cabana Bay and loved it. Very efficient bus service to City walk for food and drinks. Couple of beers or margaritas while at city walk with no worry about parking or driving afterwards.

We are going again in February. We have ADRs for Al Forno and Sanaa. Depending on the crowds, we may even venture into the parks. Will still have to decide that closer to our trip.

Cheers
John