Can I just wing it?

[kesmom]

We are going to be in DL from Jan 9-13 and will have either 4 or 5 day park hoppers. I went to DLR once about 17 years ago, so its pretty much like my first time again. LOL
Anyways we'll be taking myself, dh and our 5 kids ranging from 2-12. We really don't want to plan out our days, and just want to go, and do whatever we feel like in terms of rides, food, etc. The fastpass thing and reading about what order to get them and stuff is stressing me out! Will we get to see most things if we do this? Or do I really need to plan out my days so we don't miss things?

Oh and I do realize that for Fantasmic and WOC we'll have to plan ahead, and i'm cool with that

 

[Goofy_Mom]

With your dates and the number of days you're there, going with the flow would not hinder your experiance. I would say look at the lay out of the parks and get an idea of the attractions, disneyland.com has both of these. Have fun

 

[DisMike]

That time of year and for that long, yeah, wing it.

Have a blast!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I agree with the others, just wing it!

 

[nottellin']

Thats what we did our first time and we had a blast. Have fun!

 

[beautyqueen]

I agree, since you are there that many days you should be fine to just wing it. We were only there one day at DL and tried to wing it, didn't get to see two whole sections because of it.

 

[kesmom]

Thanks! I'm glad to hear the pros saying I can wing it That will make my hubby very happy!
There is just too much other stuff to plan like the 5200km road trip to get there and back, and a week in San Diego as well. EEK! We are leaving New Years Eve, and I'm *SO* excited!!

 

[LavenderPeach]

You should be fine winging it but here are some tips for doing very minimal planning if that interests you at all. Sort of a compromise between completely winging it and planning out every activity is to just plan the first thing you want to do. You can even do this on the way to the parks in the morning. I just like at least knowing what direction to head first thing so everyone doesn't stand around saying "what do you want to do?" "i don't know, what do you want to do?".

Also, don't be afraid of winging fastpasses (although they might not be necessary during that time of year). You don't have to plan out which ones to get but can just grab them if you see the FP machines as you're walking by.

You can easily just wing it for food too but if you're feeling up to doing a little bit of planning you can take a look at the menus on allears.net http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm#dl so you can at least see what is available. I only suggest this because I have found that before I was very familiar with the different food places, we would just eat at the place we happened to see at that time and some of those bigger, more obvious food places have more of your standard theme-park food (burgers, hot dogs, pizza) but some of the slightly smaller, less obvious places have some more interesting, and imo, better food like the carved turkey sandwiches at riverbelle terrace or BBQ chicken baked potato at troubador tavern.

But you will have a great time even with zero planning. Have a great trip!

 

[JH87]

I will be there on the 10-11!!
Since it is off season, the crowds will be low, so winging it will be ok!
Have fun!

 

[Ariel224]

I just want to add that with the number of and age ranges of your children it might be helpful to have some idea of what each is interested in doing and at least figure out what "land" you are going to go to FIRST. Whenever we have tried to wing it, even when things are slow, I have 3 kids wanting to go in 3 different directions and it quickly turns to bickering. I then have to take charge and we end up with "my plan" anyway. It gets even more challenging with littler ones that see it and want it NOW and can't quite understand the concept of "we'll get to it later." It's always the worst on the first morning in the parks when their senses are totally overwhelmed with Disney magic. My son inevitably, when we reach the far end of Main St, sees the Omnibus or the Fire Engine in the Hub and wants to ride back to the entrance of the park. My girls want none of that! One day my DH went with it and the 2 of them rode every Main St vehicle back and forth for the first hour in the park. Be prepared for the idea that there will be times when you all will do better splitting up rather than staying in one large group.

For that time of year, I wouldn't stress about Fastpasses. Lines should be pretty minimal. You will have fun!

 

[Jrsy Boy]

I'm not a planner or a scheduler regardless of what time of year we go, but I do think having an idea of what the attractions are and where they are would be beneficial. Whether it is perusing the maps on the Disneyland website or picking up something like a Birnbaum's Guide, you'll be saved from wondering why the heck you decided to do something that sounded good but turned out not to be what you expected.

I think of that more as "preparation" than "planning" but maybe that is just me.

 

[Maddie2]

I just like at least knowing what direction to head first thing so everyone doesn't stand around saying "what do you want to do?" "i don't know, what do you want to do?".

You can easily just wing it for food too but if you're feeling up to doing a little bit of planning you can take a look at the menus on allears.net http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm#dl so you can at least see what is available. I only suggest this because I have found that before I was very familiar with the different food places, we would just eat at the place we happened to see at that time and some of those bigger, more obvious food places have more of your standard theme-park food (burgers, hot dogs, pizza) but some of the slightly smaller, less obvious places have some more interesting, and imo, better food like the carved turkey sandwiches at riverbelle terrace or BBQ chicken baked potato at troubador tavern.

But you will have a great time even with zero planning. Have a great trip!

I second this completely. No matter if we are on a Disney vacation or non-Disney vacation, when I plan ahead a pick out 2-3 restaurants in an area that I know we will like, it helps provide for a more peaceful existence. If we wait until we are hungry (and sometimes crabby, but not me, of course ), things tend to not go as well and we grab whatever is nearby and not as interesting as something I would choose planning ahead. That, and we have a couple of food allergies that we work around.

We'll be at DLR later in January and I though I have always planned out our WDW trips much more, I am trying to go into this vacation with a more relaxed attitude (my kids won't know what hit me!). However, I will have the menus printed out for easy access and the morning before we leave the hotel, we will have an idea of the main things we want to hit that day.

Have FUN!!!

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I would personally do a bit of research about the parks, and make a rough plan of what things that you must do during your trip. Then when you are in the parks take the time and do them in no set order. During that time of year the crowds are fairly low, and it's alot easier to do alot of things in a day. I found that even if the crowds are heavy, that if you do rides in the morning when the crowds are at their lowest you can avoid most of the wait times. Us as a family usually wing it, as we are very laid back (or at least I am, DH and the kids are commando, hence the solo trip to DL last month LOL!) If you want to do a Character brekki or any other TS restaurants, then you would have to book them 30+ days in advance. Otherwise I do 99% of my planning in advance, then sit back and let DH do all the stressing out over the trip. Have a great day!

 

[kesmom]

Well I for sure know what rides I want to do, and I remember very clearly what I loved even 17 years ago at DL. I do like the idea of having a rough plan though!
And I am for sure going to check out the menus and make a note about where i'd like to eat, cause I don't want to be stuck eating hot dogs all week!

I just wanted to make sure we'd be fine without having to plan every single ride in exactly the right order.

 

[zeitzeuge]

For the most part, we wing it for the entire time we're there and are able to ride every single attraction in 3 days. Many more than once.

We never plan anything. Only plans we DO make would be which rides to ride first thing in the morning since lines get so long late afternoon, or sometimes picking up a FP for an attraction, then go ride another attraction with a shorter line, while our time comes up for the FP. That's as much planning as we do.