51 days out and feeling very overwhelmed....

[Mandi Bartz]

Our upcoming trip is our first to DW. We are DL vets!! I'm feeling so overwhelmed with all the tips I'm reading. Worried I'm gonna forget to go here for this and there for that. Being DL vets, we know the tricks and what to do when and how, I don't know that for DW and I don't want to mess it up. We are in the parks for 9 days. 4 MK, 3 Epcot, 1 AK, and 1 HS. We are planning for the 24 hour event (which we have done the past 2 years at DL) so one of those Epcot days doesn't start till 5 in case we need to sleep.
I'm good with our ADRs and FP's.
Any sage advice to pass on.....Just don't wanna screw this up, lol! I know the first tip will be to breathe!

 

[dachsie]

Relax and have fun is the best advice. Everything will fall into place. Don't try to overthink it.

 

[imthemamahere]

You have your FastPasses and your dining reservations.

You have 9 awesomely magical days in the parks to look forward to.

You have the 24 hour event, too!

I think, at this point, you can take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and step away from the Disboards. The info people share here is supposed to help others with planning - NOT be a source of stress! You already know that DisneyWorld is HUGE - big enough that no matter how much you do in your 9 days, there will still be more to do. (Which is reason to perhaps consider another trip, not reason to stress.)

If there's something specific you need/want to know before you go, ask - someone will have an answer. In fact, many people will have many answers. But otherwise, step back a bit and just look forward to your vacation. At least until it's time to pack.

 

[ellie05]

I always discourage people that are new or planning their first vacation coming to these boards. The informations is out of order and it is easy to get overwhelm. The best way to handle the ropes in a first trip is a travel guide.

 

[TabithaStephens]

For my first WDW trip, I found the Passporter Guide VERY helpful. It breaks everything down into manageable amounts of information without being overwhelming. Also, I would just make lots of checklists so that I wouldn't forget anything that I thought was very important.

 

[TabithaStephens]

And remember to relax and have fun, because time seems to go very quickly once you're actually there!

 

[snayak]

Just remember - people spend a lifetime trying to do it all! Don't worry about missing anything, put it on the itinerary for the next trip.

Have fun!

 

[Luvamouse]

Enjoy the moment. You have made your plans; be proud that you are prepared. Make a countdown, if only for yourself, of Mickey colored paper chains or something fun, to remind yourself this is going to be fun. For everything you do there getting to WDW and being there, enjoy that moment. And by all means get the Memory Maker and do stop for every photographer you can without interfering with your plans. When it's all over, you will have hundreds of photos taken by others to sit back and savor. For our first family trip- a Grand Gathering of 17, that is the best thing I did the whole trip. Every memory pops back up in those photos.

But yes, as others have said, don't stress. Your days will be full, so breath and stop for a while each day just to people watch and appreciate all your planning. And never forget, it is OK to NOT do something.

 

[disney world dreamer]

my advice.... STOP TRYING TO CRAM SO MUCH ADVICE INTO YOUR HEAD!!!

sounds like you are completely overthinking everything now.

 

[BoltzNBrew]

I get a map of each park and go through the schedule on my spreadsheet to see if there is anything that doesn't flow and that there is enough time to stop and enjoy the parks. 4 days at MK would not worry me at all, the 1 day at AK and DHS would because you only get shot. You already have FP+ and ADR so fill in the gaps with the things your really want to do and go from there.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

I'd suggest playing around with the Disney app getting a good feel for it. I used it alot to check wait times, character times and change fastpasses on occasion. That was nice in case we wanted to go standby and switch our fastpass to something else when we got to the attraction. Enjoy!

 

[rastahomie]

Relax, smoke a bowl if that's your thing, and try to make it through the next 51 days without bursting out of your skin with excitement!

As others have said, you will do fine. Some things will fall into place, some won't, don't let a small setback derail your trip, and just enjoy the anticipation and the trip!

 

[kiford]

We always have a plan and a schedule. Half the time, it falls by the wayside and we just go with it. Last time we missed almost all of our FP+ because we ended up meeting with friends who couldn't coordinate theirs with ours, got to the parks later than we'd planned because we lingered over breakfast chatting, didn't stay at MK for EMH as originally scheduled because it was so hot that day that we just went back to the hotel and spent the afternoon in the pool and were too tired to go back out. One of our best trips. If you try to plan out everything and feel like you have to do everything you've read about or wanted to do, you'll probably end up disappointed and exhausted. Make a basic plan, be prepared to throw it away or substitute if things don't go your way, do something you hadn't planned to just because it feels right at the time an go with the flow. You'll be much happier.

 

[LtRazor]

Best advice, don't over plan you days. Make sure you have downtime each day to wing it or relax. We did overplaying when we first started going and now we do long leisurely trips.

 

[pa. dad]

I went to Disney World in FL several times before I visited Ca.
There were so many attractions out there and I know how you feel.

To make it easier for me, I tried to concentrate on just 2 things:
1. Attractions that were unique to the Ca, parks that I could NOT do in Fl.
2. The favorites

And we had such a good time that we went back again.
Try not to let it overwhelm you. You can't try all the various AK restaurants in one day at the AK so pick just one and enjoy that.

Maybe try a Disney waterpark? I think you can get a pretty good flavor of the MK and EP in 2 days and the others in one day each. I'm sure you'll have fun whatever you do.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I'd say bag the plans and wing it. You'll sleep better. Wait wait wait you cannot miss Yehaa Bob at POR though. I love that guy. best entertainment for kids after 7pm. Trust me here.

 

[CarrieR]

Be aware that your first day at MK might be... weird. We are WDW vets and went to DL a couple of years ago - not my first visit, but my first visit knowing MK like the back of my hand. Walking up Main St was weird - "Wait, that's on the wrong side of the street!" And "Who shrunk the castle!"

The best analogy I can give is that it's like when you rearrange your living room right before bed, and then get up in the morning, walk out and are like, "Wha?" It's all your stuff and it's all there, it's just... in the wrong spot.

Weird, but fun!

 

[CarrieR]

Also, my understanding is that they are not hosting a 24hr event this year... Stinks! We'll be there around the same time and were really looking forward to it!

 

[dkrauss]

First off................you can't do everything, so stop trying to meet that criteria. Your over thinking this....................WDW is much larger than DL so there so much more to do...............take your time............stop reading Just go with it! BTW spend more than 1 day in AK...........with the RoL showing starting up and the night safari...........there's so much here. Don't forget Flametree BBQ either

Your vacation will be magical!

Doug

 

[SplashMo]

I would read easywdw to see about touring plans and CS and TS reviews.