Am I Overplanning?

[mrsw94]

We are headed to The Happiest Place Oct. 13-19. We are staying at the Grand Californian!! We will be traveling with myself, hubby, 2 kids 10 and 4 &1/2, my inlaws and my SIL and her 22 year old daughter. We have 6-day Hoppers and Halloween Party tickets. My current plan is this:
Sat 10/13 Drive down arrive mid-afternoon. Check in, Head to DL, (or possibly Carsland if we can't wait to see it) dinner, see Fireworks at 9:30
Sun 10/14 Early entry to DL, tour then head back to hotel for lunch, swim and rest then head back to DL for F!
Mon 10/15 sleep in, pool, relax. Halloween Party. Enter park at 4pm?
Tue10-16-Thur 10-18, Do as much as possible at both parks, WOC at least once
Fri 10/19-Spend a few hours in the parks before we head home.

We made sure to be there on 2 weekend nights b/c we want to see both F!& Fireworks. What am I forgetting to plan for? Thanks!

 

[Princess on the Run]

No such thing as over-planning!!!!

(Says the girl with a color-coded spreadsheet)

 

[scoker]

I agree with PP there is no such thing as over planning a DLR vacation. I think it is part of the reason I love Disney vacations so much. There is an endless supply of information to ponder.

 

[CajunMomof3]

No such thing as over-planning!!!!

(Says the girl with a color-coded spreadsheet)

That seems significantly more organized than my multiple real and virtual post-it notes everywhere!!

OP, I think that planning is as much as fun as the vacation. Have you made dining ressies?

 

[Escape2Disney]

No such thing as over-planning!!!!

(Says the girl with a color-coded spreadsheet)

HEHE, I have the same thing! My mom is joining us for the first time and thinks it's downright nutty that I have things budgeted, planned and paid for months in advance - right down to how much I plan to tip housekeeping!

I agree with PP there is no such thing as over planning a DLR vacation. I think it is part of the reason I love Disney vacations so much. There is an endless supply of information to ponder.

In some ways the planning is the best part! It's a great distraction from the real world

 

[Princess on the Run]

In some ways the planning is the best part! It's a great distraction from the real world

Totally!! I got up at 5am last week to book my ADRs and it was magic!!!

 

[mrsw94]

That seems significantly more organized than my multiple real and virtual post-it notes everywhere!!

OP, I think that planning is as much as fun as the vacation. Have you made dining ressies?

I have not. The 4&1/2 year old is a 'energetic' boy to put it lightly. I think we might try Rainforest Cafe one night, but aren't sure yet. As funny as it sounds, even though we are at the Grand, we are on a budget! The deal was, my FIL said he'd pay for the room & tickets and we are paying for everything else. A great deal, but I'm trying to budget for every contingency!

 

[ten6mom]

We are headed to The Happiest Place Oct. 13-19. We are staying at the Grand Californian!! We will be traveling with myself, hubby, 2 kids 10 and 4 &1/2, my inlaws and my SIL and her 22 year old daughter. We have 6-day Hoppers and Halloween Party tickets. My current plan is this:
Sat 10/13 Drive down arrive mid-afternoon. Check in, Head to DL, (or possibly Carsland if we can't wait to see it) dinner, see Fireworks at 9:30
Sun 10/14 Early entry to DL, tour then head back to hotel for lunch, swim and rest then head back to DL for F!
Mon 10/15 sleep in, pool, relax. Halloween Party. Enter park at 4pm?
Tue10-16-Thur 10-18, Do as much as possible at both parks, WOC at least once
Fri 10/19-Spend a few hours in the parks before we head home.

We made sure to be there on 2 weekend nights b/c we want to see both F!& Fireworks. What am I forgetting to plan for? Thanks!

I am not positive but I think there is NO early entry of any sort on Sunday the 14th at Disneyland due to the CHOC Walk. I believe there is some early entry at DCA, though. I am sure there are people more "in the know" than I.. but I, too, will be in the parks around the same time and that is my understanding for that Sunday. Hope that helps.

 

[plb626]

There is no such thing as overplanning, just remember to roll with the crowd once you are there and plans change.

We just got back and were there for the earthquake that closed the park for a while, plus Radiator springs broke down just as our fast pass time came up. My DSs 9 & 7 went with the changes and our trip was fantastic.

One word of advice is go to Carsland 1st thing in the morning. The 1st day we were there before the park opened and got fast passes starting at 1 pm. The 2nd time we were there earlier and able to get them at 10:15. The stand by line was over 2 hours every day. The ride was fun, but worth a 2 hour wait

 

[kkmcan]

Your plan sounds exactly the way I would plan it if I had that many days/same configuration of days in the parks. Good job!

Not overplanned at all! We even plan which days we will close the park and which days we will sleep in and if we have any restaurants that need reservations we plan for those too.

 

[tinkermomma]

I don't think so at all. It sounds like a great trip!

 

[wbl2745]

What is this "over planning" you speak of?

 

[mrsw94]

What is this "over planning" you speak of?

Thank you all for accepting my insanity!

Now that they schedules are finally up I've moved on to compiling a sheet with all the hours and showtimes on it, color coded by park, of course!