Do you ever feel like you are over planning?

[sweetpea2008]

We leave in just under two weeks, and I'm getting so excited! It's been so hard to keep the plans from my girls, but not much longer to wait.

I've been reading the boards like crazy and making notes, but sometimes I feel a little stressed and like I'm trying to over plan things. We do have a MM but the only time we can use it is either Sat or Sun, when the parks open at 8 am. I'm travelling with my 7 year old daughters and my Mom, and frankly I don't know how we will manage to get to the park at 7 am for MM when we have to take the ART. I realize the value of it, but I also don't want to be the drill sergeant and shove everyone out of bed before 6 am!

I'm beginning to think it is more valuable to make a list of the must-do's and the want-to-do's and then allowing for the spur of the moment stuff. I know there will be lineups galore but since we'll be avoiding the big roller coaster type rides I have to believe we'll be able to see and do everything we want.

And our last day is a Monday, so hopefully it will be the day to do the things we missed or want to do again. I don't want to be a fanatic while I'm there but I want to make sure we have the best vacation we can.

Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Grumpy'sWife4Ever]

I think you are on to something with the "Have to do" and "Want to do" lists - that is kind of what I am planning on doing for our trip (which of course is still a LONG way away) I have learned so many valuable tips on this board, and I am certain we will take advantage of some of them - We didn't use our MM last time we went but this time we will, since we are at Hojo and can get there easily. But I don't want to plan our days so specifically that there is no room for being spontaneous. LAST trip, we really just kind of free-floated and although we didn't get to do a lot, we were able to take full advantage of stuff that just popped up, like the comedy western show in Frontierland (which my kids LOVED) and sitting along Main Street eating cotton candy in the shade.....memories we wouldn't have if we "had" to be on a schedule. I think I'll do a rough kind of outline of our days (the lands we'll be in, the very specific things we HAVE to see) and just let Walt's spirit guide us the rest of the way....Did that sound WAY too California?

 

[hlbtimes2]

Its all about finding the balance between having the knowledge and plan but not over planning every minute.

While MM is great, its only great if it works for your group. We will probably not use our MM on our trip in a couple weeks. Like you, its only available on the weekend, at 7am for us. And, that is pretty early after a late night of F! and fireworks. So, we are planning on getting to the park early (pre-opening) on Friday and Monday to hit the fantasyland rides and maybe Nemo. I think we'll play Nemo by ear and watch for short times during parades, fireworks or late at night. We might even make it to the park part way into the MM. Getting there at 7:30 is better then nothing!

We also dont plan a bunch of meals. I dont know how some people manage to get any rides done when they have every meal planned out and a PS made for all of them. We plan one meal for 4 days. One total, not one for each day. :lol The other meals we'll eat where ever we are when we get hungry.

I have, in the past, gotten caught up in over planning. And it stressed me out when we got there and things didnt go as planned. About 6 hours into it I threw out the plan and went with the flow. We were much happier.

 

[HydroGuy]

Its all about finding the balance between having the knowledge and plan but not over planning every minute.

I have, in the past, gotten caught up in over planning. And it stressed me out when we got there and things didnt go as planned. About 6 hours into it I threw out t he plan and went with the flow. We were much happier.

Yes and yes. I call it "informed spontaneity".

There are two ways to go with the flow. One way is to walk in with no plan and no idea of what you want to do. This person may or may not have fun, but because it is Disney they will probably still have fun no matter what.

The second way is to gather info about rides, Fastpass strategy, park arrival times, which parks are better on which days, shows, etc., etc,., and then go with the flow. I suspect Linda does the second. I tend to fall in this camp too. I think this approach lets you mix spontaneity with a word of caution to your group when someone wants to do Peter Pan on a busy afternoon (that is the informed part - don't ride PP in the afternoon unless you have lots of spare time ).

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... We do have a MM but the only time we can use it is either Sat or Sun, when the parks open at 8 am. I'm travelling with my 7 year old daughters and my Mom, and frankly I don't know how we will manage to get to the park at 7 am for MM when we have to take the ART. I realize the value of it, but I also don't want to be the drill sergeant and shove everyone out of bed before 6 am!

I used to think that way, too. I didn't want to wake up my DS5 and DD4 too early just for a MM. Because of that, we didn't use our MM on our first family trip (3 days in the parks). But after we did a MM on our second family trip, I became a MM convert.

Now I will move "heaven and earth" to take advantage of a MM. IMO MMs are that good.

With your DD7s, I think it's great to start your trip in Fantasyland; riding PP, Dumbo, Alice, Matterhorn, Mr. Toad, etc. You can do all of those during MM, but those would take much, much longer during the regular hours.

If you're traveling on Thursday, and then taking it easy on Friday, IMO you should be able to take advantage of the MM on Saturday.

If it were me, on Saturday morning I would take a taxi! Seriously. You're spending a great deal of time, money, and energy for your trip. In for a penny, in for a dollar!

Also, you have two weeks before your trip. I would do a little "time shifting" -- going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, etc. IMO, on a Saturday you can do soooo much between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., and not as much in the whole afternoon.

BOT, I agree with the other posters that it's good to balance "having a plan" with "being flexible." And that's why I would want to "have a plan" for the early hours. When you get so much done early, then that leaves the rest of the day to "go with the flow."

Just my 2 cents. HTH!

 

[disneychrista]

I enjoy planning our vacations. I am in the midst of planning now for our December trip. I do not plan out our days so that they are structured. But I will have an idea of what days we will see parades, fireworks, fantasmic etc. As well as places we would like to eat. But I also like to leave things a bit open to allow for spontanaity.

I also make sure we get to the parks before they open, take advantage of EE/MM, etc. When we go I also try to plan on breaks etc. Not sure how well that will work since we are going for Christmas/New Years. Maybe we will have to plan for more in Park breaks. Ride the train around a few time, Monorail, Tiki Room etc.

 

[mshrm]

and then I come to the dis boards and realize I havent even begun!

 

[ShawnaF]

Oh man, I laughed like crazy at your title here. My husband gets soooooo annoyed with me and my lists and planning and booking dining reservations 60 days in advance and going nuts until I'm able to do so and changing them in my lists a million times.

But then we go and he agrees, well planned is much more fun! We're very spontaneous there, but I have lists galore and the 3 year old dictates what we'll do.

 

[kylieh]

Oh man, I laughed like crazy at your title here. My husband gets soooooo annoyed with me and my lists and planning and booking dining reservations 60 days in advance and going nuts until I'm able to do so and changing them in my lists a million times.

But then we go and he agrees, well planned is much more fun! We're very spontaneous there, but I have lists galore and the 3 year old dictates what we'll do.

Sounds like me with everything we do. But generally DH and DD respond better if I've done some planning.

For example, we're going to out to dinner tonight. I've said "We'll go to Outback Steakhouse or Chinese" and my response was Outback. If I said "Where do you want to go tonight..." believe me we would still be sitting here at midnight making plans!!

All three of us get overwhelmed when we have too many choices, so to get decisions made I preplan, find out where we want to be etc. In DL, I know that we'll have two MMs, so that is when we'll do fantasy land. And we'll be up early enough for that. I think in our family it works best.

 

[hlbtimes2]

The second way is to gather info about rides, Fastpass strategy, park arrival times, which parks are better on which days, shows, etc., etc,., and then go with the flow. I suspect Linda does the second. I tend to fall in this camp too. I think this approach lets you mix spontaeity with a word of caution to your group when someone wants to do Peter Pan on a busy afternoon (that is the informed part - don't ride PP in the afternoon unless you have lots of spare time ).

You know me well Hydro. Yes, we go prepared. I know this next trip we'll try for fireworks night one, F! night two and ELP night 3. Dh just asked if we can have breakfast at CC one day. The logical day for that is Saturday, so we'll plan for that.

 

[sweetpea2008]

Interesting replies. Thanks!

What I've done is draft out a basic schedule of what we'll do on what day. First day we'll do the character breakfast / shopping at DTD / Pool time. First park day we'll aim for the fireworks, and will try to get most of Adventureland/NOS done, as well as Toon Town if we can. Second day we're hitting DL first thing, then CA for lunch, rides and Aladdin. Then back to DL and Fantasia. Monday we're going to do all the Fantasyland rides, Buzz, Star tours, and hopefully Nemo, and then hit anything we missed and/or want to do again. We'll end the trip with the parade on Monday night. So, I have a basic plan but I will still make a list of the must-sees and must-dos and then we'll see where the day takes us after that.

 

[ironpig70]

I enjoy planning our vacations. I am in the midst of planning now for our December trip. I do not plan out our days so that they are structured. But I will have an idea of what days we will see parades, fireworks, fantasmic etc. As well as places we would like to eat. But I also like to leave things a bit open to allow for spontanaity.

I also make sure we get to the parks before they open, take advantage of EE/MM, etc. When we go I also try to plan on breaks etc. Not sure how well that will work since we are going for Christmas/New Years. Maybe we will have to plan for more in Park breaks. Ride the train around a few time, Monorail, Tiki Room etc.

my same format but i use the "want to" would like to" and could care less" mantra on stuff. also it's nice to be able to know the system so that you actually are doing stuff rather than standing in line. and i don't know about everybody else but we do very few family vacations and disney is now about every 2 years and it takes that long to save up for it. so i want to get the most out of it.

 

[lindsnlogansmom]

We loved Magic Mornings. I think it really gives you a head start above the rest of the crowds. Our last trip my DH and DS were able to get to Nemo with only a 10 minute wait. It was 2 plus hours the rest of the time. That in itself was worth it to us. I strolled through Main Street that morning picking up a Mocha. It was heaven.

 

[Cinderlala]

If you ask my DH, he would tell you that I do very little other than over-plan!!

But when you love Disneyland so much, it is hard not to plan, plan, plan!