Anyone with kids just "wing" it?

[eeyoregon]

We are wing-it-nuts 98% of the time The only planning we do is deciding which park which day.

It's just so much more enjoyable for us to go with the flow and enjoy seizing the moment. As long as you understand the dynamics of transportation, the park hours and show/parade schedules there is no reason to go psychotic in the planning department.

We have never used ADR's but rather just checked-in with the restaurant that caught our eye when we get to the park and we make seating ressies right then and there. Because we are from the West Coast and are 3 hours behind, the "off" dining times work out great for our appetites (4:00 dinner ressie makes for great 1:00 lunch on our time clocks!).

No matter how much you plan the truly magical experiences are those that happen spontaneously and by surprise.

 

[aroyer]

We went the first week in August and completely winged it. It was great, no stress to follow a schedule, just went and did whatever, whenever! We did have ADR's that we stuck to, but other than that we decided the night before which park to go to. Our kids are 6 and 1-- it was nice to not be scheduled for the 1 yr olds sake. His schedule was completely off at WDW, so we just went with how he was feeling.

 

[crisi]

We basically winged it when the kids were toddlers and it was such a disaster I'll never do another "few ADR" trip. That was the trip where I decided that it was far more important when you travelled with kids to sit down for a meal once a day where a waitress would bring you a martini.

So our new plan, which has worked very well, is the "park hopper special" Mornings are fairly freeform, but we have a 5:00-6:00 reservation somewhere. We often head back to the resort mid afternoon for a swim, but even if we don't - by early or mid-afternoon we are ready to do something different. Its a fairly sketchy plan that involves locality - last year we knew we wanted Kona for dinner, and we knew we had MNSSHP tickets - so we did those the same night. We knew we wanted Jiko, and we were staying at the AKL for a "pick up night" - made sense to eat there then. We knew we wanted Flying Fish - we were staying at the Boardwalk and wanted to catch Fantasmic - the earliest seating at Flying Fish and a $5 cab to MGM had us fitting both in with room to spare (we didn't get the best seats in the house for Fantasmic). Generally, our reservations are over at Epcot - so Epcot becomes an afternoon and evening park for us - except for the Halloween Party, I don't think I've been in the MK past 2:00pm for years......

 

[lpandorf]

I took my DD (then 4) in fall 2004. First time with kids and first time back in about 10 years. I did not no about any of these boards or even about the character dining so just went with no plan. It was great. One morning we had planned on going to MK but no bus after 30 minutes at POR so we said ok whatever bus is next we get on and wound up at AK that day and had a blast. Then in 2005 I had more reservations for meals and events and found we were racing around too much. Going back this year and adding DS 3 to the trip and have 2 ADR for our 5 day trip and winging it after that. With a little one don't want to have to be places at a certain time.
Have fun,
Lisa

 

[Mallow]

I'm so glad to hear that others just wing it. We leave in 2 days for our first family trip and I have only one ADR @ CRT because my DD 3 just loooves Cinderella. The ADR is on our first full day so I know we will then just spend the day at MK. Other than that I have no plan for meals and/or which park we will visit.

I was feeling a little stressed after reading all the planning others have done, I was beginning to wonder if we were doomed to have a lousy time because we have not.
.

 

[monorailsilver]

Yep & even as an adult with no kids I used to wing it (now I have kids).

We are not commando type people (other then leaving Illuminations to get on the monorail back to the Poly).

I make only 2-3 ADR's & 1 is at Chef Mickeys on our first day or our trip.

We only do MGM one am & AK one am (I know sad but I love MK & Epcot) & then on the other days we decide where we want to go by what we (dh & I) want to eat that night.

I do try to plan my am park by which park is open early that day.

I go with the flow of my kids & then we come back for our mid-day break.

 

[TDS373X]

We wing it too I may make 1 ADR before leaving home especially if it is something we really want to do like last december CP package but dd who is almost 7 is happier at CS meals anyway and usually eats more at CS then TS. We usually decide the day before what park we want to go to the next day...Once I've paid for the vacation after that I'm pretty much done with the planning it's time to have fun!

 

[antree]

We have never planned on what park we would be in on any given day. MK will be the first park we do and the last park of our stay, but that is it. The night before we go to bed we will decide what park we will do the next day.
I will make ADR's for certain breakfast or Dinner's if they are Character Meals.
If we decide to eat somewhere we call while we are there and see what days they have available. I can't see planning every minute of eveyday.

 

[MNdisneymom]

We're sort of winging it , other than one ADR for the Playhouse Disney breakfast. I think we might try to hit the little ones EMH on Sunday too...I haven't even told him we're going yet and we leave next Friday....I don't know what I'm more excited for, the actual vacation, or seeing the look on his face when he realizes we really are going!

So after I tell him (next Thursday after school) I figure we'll have a little chat about what stuff he reallllyyy wants to do. That way I'll have a general idea of which parks we should spend more time at.

 

[minkydog]

I say, good for you I don't get all the hassle of planning the ADRs and all the stuff you "have to do". Life is too short. We have two with disabilities in our household so we have to have ultimate flexibility. Daddy too tired to get to the parks until 11am ? No problem, we'll call room service and go to the pool. Christian's having a meltdown and needs a change of pants? No problem, we'll head for a baby care place and pick up ice cream while we find a quiet spot for him to flap around in. So what if we miss a parade So what if we don't get to ride Space mountain I'd rather have a more relaxed vacation than run from hither to yon trying to fit it all in.

We always go in the off-season so we can have this flexibility. Most of the time we stay at FW so we can make our meals if we like. I make 1 ADR a day for the park we're staying at. I make my ADRs the day before, so I know where we plan to be. HDDR is the one thing i'll reserve ahead. We plan one "down day" which we use to hang out, do laundry, visit DTD or other resorts. Keeps us from getting too over-tired and we enjoy our trip more.

 

[princesspiglet]

Yea, I'm so happy others have done this and survived! I already feel this huge weight lifted off of my shoulders since I turned the corner from "psychotic over-planner mom" to "whatever you want to do is fine with me, mom" My DH is much happier too since I told him we did not have to get up with the roosters to get to park opening! (we are not morning people).

Afterall, this trip is for our daughter..it is her birthday and she should get to do whatever her little heart desirers. Dh and I have been 7 times, so we have pretty much seen it all. In the past we have always been commando, so it has been hard to let go and relax, but I know that the most magical things are usually the things that are unplanned and not expected. I am even more excited now then I was before!!!

 

[minkydog]

Princess, I think you'll be surprised at how great your trip can be. On one of our trips, after 3 days in the parks, my DD-then8 woke and said, "Mom, can we please not go to the MK today? I need to go to the pool." I immediately reconsidered our plans, put on bathing suits and headed to the pool where she swam her little heart out. It's one of her favorite memories

 

[rt2dz]

We loosely plan. We pick the things that are must do's (Chef Mickey's arrival night) and plan those. The rest is just kind of what we're in the mood for. Of course, that is why park hopping is essential for us. With little kids 5, 2, & 15 months next trip--it is important to NOT plan.

We never wake up to get to the parks early. If the kids wake up early, yeah, we're off to the parks. But if they opt to sleep till 11 am that day, we don't start our day until 11 am. If all the kids aren't ready to leave for a nap/down time, then we don't--we're HUGE fans of the in-park break, but if we feel they're done with their day at 5 pm, so be it. We eat when the kids need to eat (and if every CS place is crowded, then it is a snack). We've really had very few problems with temper tantrums & falling down in the parks from exhaustion doing it this way. We also pretty much let the kiddos pick the parks. One trip we spent 1/2 of almost every day at AK, another we went to MK every other day. Hey, we're there because we love it (too much money if we hated it), but essentially this is their trip.

 

[all4fun]

The more planning I do, the more I think we should just wing it and go with the flow. Having a 4 year old who has 3 personalities makes it hard to plan. I am hating to have to decide what park we will be doing each day, where we want to eat, etc. My DH and I were discussing this last night and it is just stressing me out too much. I am thinking about cancelling all of our ADR's and just keeping the select few my DD really wants to do. Heck, we don't go to the world for the food, and I don't care if I have to eat CS everyday, my DD eats like a bird anyway. I just want to be able to get up and decide where we want to go and eat at spur of the moment times!! UUGGHH!

That's it, I have decided to quit planning and stressing and am just going to go with the flow and take it day by day.....anyone else want to join me or have you done the same and how did it go??

I haven't read all the responses, but here's what we do. We have made ADR's for every day of our upcoming trip. These are not "set in stone" and we may decide on any given day to change our plans and eat somewhere else. Just because you have an ADR somewhere doesn't mean you have to use it. I would keep the ADR's you have so you have the option to use it if you want to but keep an open mind about what you will do on any given day. If you decide not to use the ADR you can always cancel it the same day it was scheduled and there is no penalty (unless a cc was required of course, like at Cindy's/Hoop de doo, etc).

Also, if you have park hoppers, then you can spend half (or most of) a day at one place and end it somewhere else. Say, for example, that you have an ADR at Epcot but want to spend the day at AK. With park hoppers you're free to enjoy AK all day and then end it with Dinner and Illuminations at Epcot.

hth!