9th Trip- Should I Plan or Go Hakuna Matata?

[forgetyourtroubles!]

For whatever reason, all of the rest of our trips have been pretty much planned out. This is our first time that we are not taking a 1st timer family with us. We are going by ourselves with our 3 children in 3 weeks and I have planned almost NOTHING. Resort reservations, rental car, and 1 character meal and that is it. Am I going to wish I had invested more time in a plan? Is it ever fun to just wing it when you know your way around and you've done almost everything at least once?

 

[mjmcca]

Hakuna Matata is my favorite way to go.I have drivent down toflorida without even a hotel room. We even did this during teh Daytonna 500 ( i wouldnt recommend this as we had to stya with freinds that first night since everything was soldout.)


I love it. I dont even plan character meals. I make the arrangements as the days go and the kids have a blast. If they are tired we go to the hotel. If my freinds call we go to their home for dinner. It is very freeing to me.

 

[westjones]

I usually plan to visit any new attractions, and pick a restuarant I haven't tried, then after that we just do as we please. That is one of the nice parts of going so often (and knowing you will be back).

We aren't worried about missing Soarin this summer if the lines are long because we have already been on it at Disneyland. So the main thing I want to see if the Cinderella show at MK.

DJ

 

[nataliesdaddy]

For whatever reason, all of the rest of our trips have been pretty much planned out. This is our first time that we are not taking a 1st timer family with us. We are going by ourselves with our 3 children in 3 weeks and I have planned almost NOTHING. Resort reservations, rental car, and 1 character meal and that is it. Am I going to wish I had invested more time in a plan? Is it ever fun to just wing it when you know your way around and you've done almost everything at least once?

I plan like a screamin demon - but that is just me and we have not really gone enough. Once when I was 10, once when I was 20... a long hiatus... and then once for xmas with no plan (what a nightmare)... so the subsequent trip was planned, and this years trip will be planned.

That being said, if you have the rhythm of Disney down, and you know the events, how things work, and how to avoid lines then I would say...wing it... though I might have more then one ps.

 

[forgetyourtroubles!]

We definitely know how things work and we usually get up quite early enjoy the early mornings as well as the evening festivities. I think we often try to cram in as much as possible and so I'm trying avoid that "hurry up" feeling. Hopefully I won't be under-cramming. I'm still just a little bit nervous about it. Maybe I can make a very loose schedule- problem is, I think I don't know how to do "loose" and "schedule" at the same time. I think we are very educated about lines and crowds, so I'm going to try going with my gut and the "best times to visit attractions" strategy from the UG.

 

[Leota]

For our Spring Break Family trip - I scheduled our PS's & that's about it. If we keep them, we keep them. If we don't, we don't. Sometimes we call & change times or places depending on how we feel. I was worried about the crowds being bigger than we are used to due to school breaks & dining is a big part of our trips. Other than that, we wing it.

When DS & I go just the 2 of us, we rarely even make a PS. The only plans I have for August are lots of swimming, water parks & plenty of time at the Comedy Warehouse & Adventurer's Club.

I'm sure you have the rythym of WDW (love that analogy!) down just like we do. I know the basics of what to do when, what to avoid when, what we like & don't care so much about. I know if we miss something, we'll be back again, so there's no pressure to "do it all". In fact, each trip becomes more about relaxing & taking it all in than how many attractions we conquer.

Hakuna Matata!

 

[bridgettesmom]

I just plan a few things, because, I love going Hakuna Matata . I plan which park to go on what day ,make some PS's or should I say AR's and have a specific plan as to what ride to do first at each park. That is it !! If, we want to jump into the pool before we hit the parks,we go to the pool.If, we want to sleep late, we just get up whenever and head to a park. If, we are in a park and we decide to stay all day,we stay, but, if we get tired we go back to the room to nap. I don't get stressed about what we don't do, because, we go often. BUT, it is this Hakuna Matata mentality that has kept me from watching Fantasmic, which, I am dying to see!! So, I booked a Fantasmic dinner package for our trip and since they have a 48 hrs cancellation policy I will definately watch Fantasmic this time !!!!

 

[GoN2WDW]

Similar to you, this will be our 10th trip. Unless we are taking someone with us who is a newbie, we tend to go 80% of the time unscheduled. This way we can change our plans based on crowds and get the most bang for our buck. Although that also hinges on if we are visiting around a holiday. For example, this year we will be there over July 4 weekend, so I have PS for Sat. evening, Sun. AM & PM and Mon PM. The rest of the time we will just go with the flow!

Less than 60 days to go!

 

[DVC Jen]

My motto is it is better to have a plan and for-get-it than to not have a plan and not-get-it at all.