Changing expectations when a plan doesn't work?

[Iloveeliot]

Hi. I hope this question doesn't sound silly especially since it is about myself. I have a mental health disability. It helps me to preplan big things, obviously Disney fits in this category. The problem is when my plans don't work the way I think they will, I get upset and I get disregulated. I am doing so much planning and want to see and do so much I am concerned about handling things when my plan doesn't work. My husband has already told me I'm planning too much. Between wanting to do rides, utilize photopass- I love photos, collecting pressed pennies, getting autographs/photos, attending Food and Wine (don't worry, I don't drink), and going to MNSSHP I think my husband might be right. This is my first trip and I've wanted to go to Disney since I was 5. (no pressure to do it all right? Lol). I am trying to make sure I have a few 10-30 minute breaks throughout the day and I'm planning to go back to our room between a park in the am and MNSSHP for at least a couple of hours. I know many of you have dealt with this before especially if you have children with disabilities. How to you deal with changing plans and accepting you can't do all the things you really want to do? Also if I do feel like I'm going to have a "meltdown" it comes and goes fast so I wouldn't have time to get back to my room to collect myself. A meltdown on the bus would be bad. Can you recommend a few quiet (less populated) places in each of the 4 main parks and Downtown Disney I can go to slow down, regroup and pull it together? I hate to sound so ill. Most of the time I am fine and you wouldn't know anything was wrong. However, stress and the fact I am off most of my meds to prepare for pregnancy are two triggers. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. (I am working on this in counseling too) Looking for practical advice from those of you who are experienced Disney goers. Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it!

 

[Piper]

How long are you going to be in WDW? Where are you staying? Those two things factor into any plans you are making.

I understand wanting to "do it all and see it all" but I've been to WDW between 10 & 20 times (lost count) and still haven't seen everything! For one thing, WDW is always changing....new characters, new attractions, updating shows, etc. That is part of the charm!

Over the years, I have gradually been able to do less and less. I have found that allowing more time than I think I will need for things is the way to go. That way if I have time left over before I "wear out," I can always add something into the mix. If I plan too much, then I am disappointed not to do it all.

I guess what I am trying to say is prioritize what is really important to do. Get that accomplished and then do the "extras" if you can.

 

[Iloveeliot]

I will be there six nights and seven days. The first day I arrive early and the last day I leave very late. The first day we are doing MK for just a few hours. I have to see the castle to know I'm there. There is a party that night we are NOT attending so we have reservations at Crystal Palace at 6:30pm and will call it a night since it is an extremely early morning and traveling is draining! Our last day we will spend some time at Animal Kingdom. My kindergarten teacher works there and it is the only time she will be there during our trip. I haven't seen her since I was 10 and we said we'd meet up some time that morning. Not sure if we will just say hi and go to a favorite park or spend the time we have left there. Our plans are a day and a half at MK,two days at Epcot, one day at HS, and a short day and a half at AK. at night we will park hop for Wishes, Illuminations etc. Our hotel is Pop as we were told this is the quietest value. We do have ADR's so we will be sitting and relaxing then. Thanks so much.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Your husband has an excellent point about how much you're trying to do. When thinking about the things you listed you want to do in your other thread, I was cringing thinking about how it sounds like you're planning every single second of your day. This really is a recipe for disaster. It is impossible for this to work.

You really need to prioritize. List everything you want to do and then rate each item as must do, like to do, doesn't matter, don't want but will try anyway and don't want at all. Really think about the categories. Resist the urge to put everything as must do. Honestly nothing is truely must do since life will go on and you can have a great time even if you can't do something in the must do list but these will be the things that you want to make the absolute most effort to accomplish. Really take your time with categorizing everything. Be really honest with yourself. Will your day really be ruined if you can't ride Jungle Cruise? You really are going to have to pick and choose what you'll do because it is impossible to do everything. Once you've categorized everything you can start on your touring plans.

Is this trip going to be the only trip you take your entire life? With how excited you are and the fact that you're trying to conceive, I'm seriously doubting it. Remember that anything you don't do this trip just means you have something to look forward to on a future trip. Look at my signature to see how many trips we've taken. I love the fact that every trip we have new things to do. It really is a hard change in basic mindset for a trip but once you do make that change, it really is wonderful not to mention freeing. I'm not talking about only rides/shows/attractions. I'm even including things like pressed penny collections, autograph books, pin trading and other things like this. We switch up which we're doing each trip. We don't always bring autograph books. We don't always bring pins and in fact this past trip was only the second one ever where we've done pin trading. We still haven't done pressed pennies though I'm thinking we'll probably do that one in one of our next few trips. This way each of these things is special when we DO do them rather than them being just one of the many things crammed into a mad trip where we rushed to do everything. They're not just fast moments that are easy to forget; they're special moments with time dedicated to them.

I know you said you'll be using Ridemax, but in your case I think this is the wrong service. Ridemax gives you a list of attractions in order. It doesn't teach you what to do if things go wrong. That's where a service like easywdw and TourGuide Mike come in handy. They don't build touring plans for you like Ridemax does; they teach you how to build your own. The advantage to this is that they teach you how to make changes on the fly if something does go wrong. This is HUGE. It's the "give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime" philosophy. In the past I used to always recommend TGM but it's become so out of date that now I recommend easywdw. Both sites use the same touring philosophy but easywdw is so much more up to date and he gets updates done super fast when schedule changes are published.

 

[kirstenb1]

I'd list my top 5 must do rides/attractions in each park. Then create a backup for each one, if there's a long line, or whatever. This is what we do with our daughter. Also, pack snacks. Avoid long lines by eating earlier than usual, ie, be willing to eat lunch at 11:00.

Finally I see you're at Pop. Will you have a rental car? If dd and I ride the bus, I leave the park at the first sign she's getting overwhelmed. The bus rides are usually pretty crowded, and you're often standing for 30 minutes on the bus, then of course the walk back to the room.

I understand you're wanting to fit everything in, but I think given your condition, you want to end each day on a "high note", and not push too much.

 

[Bete]

to use fastpass; I didn't see it in your post. This will help speed the process on more popular rides. If you need this defined more, just ask here. No one is prepared the first time on how long the lines are for the more popular rides. Pay attention to your wait times; although, they are not completely accurate they will still give you a guideline. You may want to skip one ride for the sake of going on three lesser rides. These are decisions you will need to make once you are doing it. Most people walk 6 to 12 miles a day at the parks depending on how long they stay in the parks. This can be tiring for first timers and you run out of steam. Pace yourself!

Next, be an early riser. Be aware getting into the parks have lines to get in; it's a little slow to do it. Bag checking and your passes take time to do. Watch for the entrances that have less people for getting in. The old saying is to go left when you can; everyone tends to go right. Work your way to the back of the park quickly as more and more people come in. The back of the park will be empty for a short moment for you to enjoy before the masses come. Take advantage of the extra magic hours especially the morning ones. We generally accomplish three times as much utilizing that extra morning hour.

Try to avoid bactracking; this is a huge waste of time. Do a loop around the park; this is how the parks where designed. There will be some backtracking with fastpass times and ADRs, but keep this to a minimum. The worse one is Animal Kingdom. You have to make a choice between the Safari ride and Expedition Everest for which to go to when you enter the park. One is left and one is right. Do not go back and forth to get to both rides in a row. That's just too much travelling time in the parks. Choose the one you want to do first and settle for the choice.

The first time will be somewhat overwhelming and I doubt everything will go as planned; so, just realize this is how it is, now. I agree with the other poster. Pick your absolutes and be reasonable.

I would automatically plan breaks into your schedule; so, you have down times; don't wait for a trigger to flare up. Don't be a commando. Plan breaks with shows, exhibits, eating, parades and so forth. Alternate your activities.

Be it that it's your first time, I doubt everything will go as planned. Come to realize this right now.

If you're flying in and using Magical Express for the first time you need to realize this is a slow process. You have to check in at ME and this takes a while. Getting a bus is not fast to the resort. The driver waits for it to be pretty full before leaving the airport. Right there you can lose time; because, you thought the process would go faster. There's a lot of walking at the Orlando airport to get where you need to go. If your not flying just ignore this info.

For the quiet places there are some choices like the first aid stations in each park. If there are some bad situations in a day this may not be so quiet, but it's pretty good most of the time. This would be my number one choice on getting away from everything. You can even ask for a cot and lay down for a while. In all the parks go to lesser attractions and slow it down some when you are feeling a trigger. You can still get to enjoy an attraction, but it won't be so crowded. In MK, I like the Tiki Room in Adventureland. The Stitch ride and the Monster show are ok in Tomorrowland to calm it down a bit. Country Bear Jamboree is a good one in Frontierland. My favorite is the River boat; this is a very calming ride. A walk behind the castle I like, too and there are character greets there, now. For AK, do the trails. The Tree of Life trail is quite relaxing and often not crowded. Go see the gorillas in Africa and the Tigers and bats in Asia. Rafiki's Planet is usually not as crowded as the rest of the park, but this is a time committment if you do it. It takes a long time to go back and forth from it. In Epcot, go to Innoventions in Future World. Universe of Energy ride is a good way to decompress. Living with the Land boat ride in the The Land Pavillon is a good one, but the Pavillon is always loaded with people; it's a big place. For World Showcase, go see a movie about a country: France, Canada and China are good choices, here. Enjoy some live steet acts that appear in the countries, too. For Hollywood Studios, I like One Man's Dream the best to slow it down. Another good one is The Art of Disney Animation and that has character greets in it. For a ride, the Backlot Express is a good one to do there.

Keep in mind park hopping takes time and sometimes it's not worth it. I find it somewhat disruptive; unless, I go back to the resort for a while and then go to the next park. Spending more time on buses is not my thing. In the end I don't think it's such an advantage.