Do you *need* a strategy?

[rie'smom]

We wouldn't go without a plan. Year before last it was really crowded. In 5 hours we rode 3 things. It just wasn't worth it. This last year I subscribed to Tour Guide Mike and the longest wait was 15 minutes. We did everything we wanted to do. When planning our trip this year, the first thing my husband asked me to do was resubscribe to Mike. He said it made the trip much more enjoyable.

 

[salmoneous]

A lot depends upon what you are looking for from your visit. If you are one of those people who believe the trip is all about how many rides you get on, have a plan. If you think there's a whole lot more than just the rides, an exhaustive, detailed plan becomes less necessary.

 

[Dodie]

You are going at flat-out one of the busiest times of the year. The crowds will be at their worst. If you do not have some sort of strategy, you will spend the majority of your time standing in line and trying to fight your way into restaurants.

You don't have to plan out every second of your day, and you should go into it knowing that there is no way that you're going to be able to "do it all" like you would be able to do - say - in September, but you should have some Fast Pass plan of attack and make sure you get to the parks as soon as possible.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

I think you definitely need a plan or you will waste a lot of precious time. I like to maximize my vacation time, so I outline the park or parks for each day, ADRs for meals and the key attractions I want to make sure I hit. Family members always criticize me for my obsessive planning, but my response is always that "WDW is 43 square miles, you have to have a plan or you will waste all of your time traveling on a bus and walking around in circles!" You need to have an idea of what you're going to do.

 

[Rienchen]

Wow, thanks for all the replies....have been busy reading.
Somebody asked, what exactly we want.

I've been to WDW once before, last April for 2 days, where I actually speeded through all 4 parks and did a LOT!
This year my mom(43yrs) is going to join me. We've been to Disneyland Paris twice before and she has a couple of favorites...I do have a few more.

We will have a 5 Day Hopper(Tuesday to Saturday) We will probably do MK on Tuesdays and Wednesday(plus a couple of hours on other days), AK on Thursday and Epcot and MGM on Friday and Saturday....but I like to have the Hopper, so we can go for example to the Magic Kingdom after Epcot closes.

Our must Dos:
Magic Kingdom(open from 8-midnight)
*Dumbo
*Tea Cups
*Splash Mountain
*Big Thunder Mountain(we love this one)
*Small World(at least twice)
*Peter Pan
*Winnie the Pooh
*Philarmagic
*Pirates of the Caribbean
*Cinderellabration
*Wishes

Animal Kingdom
*Safari
*Kali Rapid
*Lion King Show
*It's tough to be a bug

MGM
*Beauty and the Beast
*Fantasmic

EPCOT
*Soarin
*all Country Pavillions
maybe: Journey into imagination
and Spaceship Earth....
Could combine Epcot and MGM ( )

As you can see, most of our favorites are in Magic Kingdom, and I know, that Dumbo and the Tea Cups are somewhat 'slowmoving' in regards to the lines...so we should probably do them first thing in the morning while waiting for a fastpass time slot.
Even though our must do list is quite long, we would still like to enjoy just being in Disney...meet some characters, watch people, listen to the subtle backround music....

Any other tips? Where can I find out times for parades and shows prior to arriving at Disney?

Will book my ADR asap(Breakfastosaurus and Crystal Palace Character Breakfast..)

TIA

Marina

 

[Skroops]

Well you already sound like you know what you are doing! You already have a plan in place.
I always plan an outline of the trip, and go early as everyone has suggested. When you go at a busy time, you really have to just "let go" and enjoy the experience. If you let other people get to you, they will. If you just go with the flow, you will have fun.
I think that being at WDW during a very busy time is always better than not going at all!
Enjoy!