Do I need a plan?

[cazzie]

I was wondering how many of you have daily plans etc for you holidays before you go. It will be our first ever time and although I know what we want to do I have no idea when we will be doing it I thought it would sort itself out when we are there. The only plan I have is to buy both 14 day passes for WDW and the 4 park theme ticket and then we could go as and when. Now I am beginning to wonder if maybe I should be putting more thought into this Although I want to see and do loads in the theme parks I also want to do some shopping and I must admit I don't particularly want to come home needing a holiday to get over it

 

[vernon]

While, IMHO it's not necessary to have an itinery that's cast in stone and that you have to follow religiously, I do think that the majority of people who take the time to draw up a plan of attack find it useful.

My own way of doing it was to have a rough guide to stick to and if circumstances came up to change the plan, then it was easy to juggle things around and swap other day's activities into that particular day. My plans would go something like this
day 1) arrive, check in, grab a pizza go to sleep
day 2) Animal Kingdom for the day, leave at 4.00 go to Epcot eat at Le Cellier watch fireworks
day 3) brekkie at Parkfare 1900 (GF hotel) day at MK
day 4) Typhoon lagoon evening meal at Boma's
day 5) shopping at florida mall, eat at Bucca Di beppi's (in florida mall)
day 6) IOA
day 7) 2 hours shopping at Belz, rest of day at SeaWorld
day 8) Blizzard beach
day 9) Seaworld up to 4.00 , then shopping at Belz for a couple of hours, go to Mall at the Millenium for a couple of hours, eat at cheesecake factory
Day 10) Disney Quest and shopping at DTD

Now if it's predicting it's going to be sending buckets down with rain on days 4+5 I'd switch day 10 (DQ) with the water park day and juggle the rest of the days so everything gets fitted in.

I've found the alternative, no plan, tends to mean that if you get tired (too many themepark days in a row) or the weather throws you a curve ball, it's easy to get to the end of the holiday, have 8 days worth of themepark tickets bought and paid for and only 3 days to use them in. An itinerary, even a rough one, before you go will help highlight the types and amount of themepark days you're going to need. IMHO the biggest single financial mistake people make is over estimating their themepark ticket needs and wasting money on park days they never use. I'd guess I wasted about $700 on my first visit because I deciced I wanted to "do everything" but didn't think about the logistics of actually getting to use all those themepark days. With a little planning I could have put that $700 to much better use.

 

[KayleeUK]

My plan is like Vernon's. Just shows where we are eating and what parks we will be going to

Again it is subject to change

 

[cazzie]

Thanks Vernon, I did wonder about the theme park tickets but there is only a few pounds between the 7 and 14 day ultimate ticket that we decided to go for the 14. To be honest I don't have a clue as never having been before I don't know how we are going to get on with the parks and how long it will take us to get round. I do know that we won't be able to see and do everything but at least with the tickets we can go perhaps late afternoon without worrying that it has taken one of the days up which we would if we only have 7 and then we would end up cramming too much into one day (hope that makes sense). This way we can take our own pace and also use some rest days in the water parks.

 

[cazzie]

My plan is like Vernon's. Just shows where we are eating and what parks we will be going to

Again it is subject to change

Touble is I can't plan where to eat cause I haven't got a clue all I do know is that I will be eating

 

[slinky101]

hi cazzie, i have to agree with vernon, you really need some kind of plan on what you are doing each day, if you want to see things like wishes or fantasmic, you have to know what time, or if they are on , on the day you are visiting each park, also, if you want to book character meals or other meals in particular restaurants, you need to know when you will be going to the nearest parks or resorts at the very least, hope that makes sense

 

[cazzie]

I want to see Fantasmic and wishes but I am going to put my hands up here and say I haven't a clue. Normally we book a villa in the Algarve, book our flights and car and thats the holiday sorted... fly out shop at the mercado and laze round the pool till evening until we go out for dinner. I must admit at the moment I can't help wishing I was doing that I am getting pretty scared about how we are going to work all this out. hysteria reigns

 

[tartangirl]

Hi Cazzie.

I think you need an element of preparation but you dont have to plan everything to the nth degree.

I would say that you need to know what days are best to visit each park as they can vary significantly day by day and you dont want to spend your day in a queue. The guide books usually cover the best days but they have changed recently so check out http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm.

You should also know the park hours and the times of the parades & fireworks as you dont want to head for a park as it's about to close. The Disney website will have all this info.

If you want to dine in certain restaurants or do character breakfasts you may need to book - I have never done this so I dont know.

Armed with this info you can pretty much decide on the plane which park to head for first. I would try and fit the different parks in early in your holiday and then choose where you want to go back to.

If you are keen to do all the rides then the best advice for any park is to arrive at park opening.

Always remember your on holiday and when it gets tiring/hot/etc it's time to do something relaxing (shopping in my case).

 

[Miffy2003]

I agree you should have at least a "rough" plan, but be prepared for it to change, due to various factors - weather and tiredness (don't underestimate this one, LOL) being some of them.

Most importantly of all, don't be so planned you forget to relax and miss all the details there are - some of my best memories are of people watching and just soaking up the atmosphere at the parks.

 

[lagunn]

this is our fifth time to orlando. we have never had a plan vefore we used to do that once we got there and that worked for us....
but this time i have planned till i cant plan anymore but i came to a conclusion yesterday that we probably will change it all when we get there..
but i have had fun doing it..so we will just go with the flow. planning has turned me into a maniac.

 

[cazzie]

When I go into town tomorrow I am going to try and get a guide book and hopefully I will at least have some idea. The other thing is we are staying on international drive and so therefore it will depend on how far away everthing is.

 

[UKDEB]

I always prepare an itinerary just because I enjoy doing it, but we rarely stick to it. I do think you need a list of what you want to do, plus a list of the days to avoid at each park. For me, that's the Universal parks at the weekend and the EMH days at Disney. You'll find that other things, particularly shopping, you'll just fit in as and when you feel like it.

 

[slinky101]

Hi cazzie, if you are going to by a guide book you should get The brits guide to orlando by simon veness, its all you need to know, it got me to these boards in the first place!, easy to read, essential for planning. Don,t be so stressed that you won,t enjoy your holiday, i am a self confessed control freak and plan everything, not everyone is like me, (although they should be ) some people just turn up and go with the flow and enjoy it that way, once you have had a lok a t the brits guide you will develop an idea of a few MUST SEES which will be different for everyone.

 

[Danauk]

I think depending on the time of year you visit depends on how much planning you wil need to do. Last time we went we went the last 2 weeks of August and WDW was fairly quiet. We decided what parks we wanted to go to on which days and planned in some free days. Then we made a few PS arrangements but mostly we were able to book a PS on the day we wanted it.
However our next trip is over Christmas and New Year. This trip is already well planned. We have decided where to go on each day and hopefully we will be able to stick to it. We have also decided on all our PS arrangements for each day and a few back stage tours which we plan to stick to. We will book each of these on the 90 day mark. We figure we will have to do this as we will be there at the busiest time. We have not decided though on a plan once we get into each park. We have a brief list of things to do but we will play that by ear. After all I want to be relaxed when I am there and not get stressed if we can not stick to a detailed plan.

I agree that buying a planning guide is a great idea. I recieved my passporter a few days ago and I love it.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I have to say that the best guide book I got for planning etc was the Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger and I think I have read them all!

It really is my Disney bible and the touring plans have been great and saved me loads of time over the years.

The 14 day ticket is great though because you don't have to cram everything into say 5 days. If you miss something you can always go back to it.

Don't forget to use Fastpass, it really makes a difference

 

[Susie]

Hi Cazzie. We went last October and we planned our days according to which parks were the quietest on each given day as we didn't want to spent lots of our precious time queueing. We did allow a few rest and shopping days and one day it was pouring with rain but that didn't put a damper (pun intended ) on our plans as we just hit the Malls and used one of our free days to reschedule. We didn't go as far as planning where to eat as sometimes we fancied an early meal and sometimes we kept on going and ate later. We were staying on International Drive and prefered to eat there as opposed to Disney so had no PS arrangements.

I'm going to disagree with my fellow Scot Scottish Helen - sorry! - but I found The Brits Guide To Orlando to be the best guide book as it covers all aspects of Orlando not just Disney. I'm currently reading The Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger and it's just a bit heavy going for the average holiday maker.

 

[cazzie]

Thanks Susie, I ordered the Brits Guide to Orlando today from play.com as it was cheaper than the shops

 

[ely3857]

Hello,

Have to agree with the majority here.

DO plan where you are going each day but then enjoy the parks at a more relaxed pace when you are there. There are fastass and universal express available to help with the queues.

Brit's guide is far far superior to the unofficial guide. It is good honest information written by a Brit in Orlando for Brit's going to Orlando, What more does a guide book need??

Have fun.

Ely3857

PS - I know what you mean about thinking perhaps 2 weeks in Portugal with nothing more to worry about than where your next beer is coming from been a better deal!

I am definatley having one of them holidays in 2007 (getting married in New York in 2006)

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We tend to have a basic plan for the first 2 or 3 days only and then just plan ahead day by day as we go along.

It is much easier when you have been several times - this August will be our 12th visit - as you do not feel under as much pressure to rush around trying to see eveything.
I have always felt that rest days are important irrespective of how many times you have been before, whether it be shopping or just relaxing by the pool.
You will always get great advice on these boards but at the end of the day it's your holiday and you will need to do what suits you best.

The reason why planning is such a well discussed subject is that we all like to look forward to our holidays in Florida and planning ahead is all part of the fun.

 

[cazzie]

I am at the moment trying to work out all the things that are a must see so that I do them and then I can hopefully work other stuff around them. When I have my book and checked I shall tell you all my plan and you can perphaps advise.

Been and got some more dollars today so the excitement is mounting