Do you still experience obsessive Disney planning?

[DVC Mike]

Do you still experience obsessive Disney planning?

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When I first started going to Disney, I used to devote a lot of time and effort into planning a trip to Walt Disney World. In fact, I was an uber-planner who wouldn't think of heading into a theme park without a plan. A Walt Disney World vacation was hardly an exercise in spontaneity.

I had to decide when to go, how long to stay, which resort to stay at, what I wanted to do, decide which type of park tickets to get, plan out each day, reserve dining reservations, decide on a “touring plan”, figure out what to pack, etc. – essentially, I probably spent as much time planning a trip than being on it. The planning became the centerpiece of my Disney vacations instead of the actual vacation.

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Maybe it’s because I’ve been to Disney so many times, or maybe it’s because I’m a DVC Member – more likely it’s both – but I find myself spending very little time planning my Disney vacations these days.

These days, I go to Disney the same times each year, and stay for the same timeframe, and I always stay at one of my DVC home resorts. We go less and less to the parks, so park tickets and “touring plans” aren’t important anymore. We don’t even book FastPass+ reservations in advance.

We don’t worry about what to pack since almost everything we used to have to pack is already at our resort in our Owner’s Lockers.

So, these days, I do very little planning. Yes, I do put reminders on my calendar to book the room, book the ADRs, and book the flight, but that’s pretty much it.

Some may think we’ve fallen into a routine and each trip is like the one before it. Perhaps. But it’s so comfortable and easy to go on a Disney vacation – it feels good. Without concrete plans, we can be spontaneous and decide what we want to do and where we want to go on the fly.

With MyMagic+, My Disney Experience, FastPass+ and the need for ADRs, some people have been complaining about the lack of spontaneity for Disney trips. In the old days (before FastPass was introduced in 1999 at WDW), you decided what ride you wanted to do, got in line, and waited.

Yes, these are great planning tools, but they can tie you down to your plan. They can be spontaneity killers.

I say it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t need to be an uber planner to enjoy Disney.

How about you?

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Purchasing DVC

• What was your purchase philosophy when choosing your home resort(s)?
• Headed up or down with your points?
• How much of the DVC legal documents have you actually read?

DVC Resorts

• Favorite thing you love, and what you most dislike, about your home resort?
• Which DVC resorts have your favorite cocktail lounge/bar?
• How much time do you spend at the resort versus the parks?
• Which DVC Resort is your favorite for watching the MK fireworks?
• Are the Polynesian Villas really that noisy?
• What does the future hold for DVC?

Renting Points

• Do you rent out your points yourself or use a “points broker”?

Using Your DVC Membership

• Do you still call Member Services?
• Out of points, but you still want to go to Disney?
• Which room sizes do you book the most?
• Do you still experience obsessive Disney planning?
• How much of your vacation time do you spend at Disney?
• How has DVC changed your vacation pattern?
• What meals or snacks do you prepare in your room?

Just for Fun

• How did you pick your DISboards User Name?
• Are you a "lurker" on DISboards? If not, what caused you to de-lurk?
• How long have you been a DVC member?
• How old were you when you first became a DVC member?
• What is your family status?
• Do you unpack or live out of your suitcase?

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[Goofy DVC]

I have gotten much better with the obsessive part for all the reasons you shared, but still do a fair amount of planning. I think it is because I almost enjoy it as much as the time at DW. For me, it kind of becomes an extension of the vacation. The worst part is when we return home. As a result, about 5 years ago, we started booking multiple vacations so that when we return home we always have another trip scheduled.

 

[Sparrow624]

We actually plan more now than we used to. Not because of anything new with Disney, but because we now have two young children (3 1/2 and 2) and we MUST plan around their schedules, etc. or it can be a nightmare. I think as they get older, we will plan much less, but probably not until they are almost 11 or so.

 

[Minniesgal]

We have nothing much left to plan. We know exactly where we want to eat or 3 or 4 favourite signatures then the rest will be on the hop. Parks been there done that, next trip I'm seriously thinking no tickets as we have so much other stuff planned we only have a couple of small windows where we could fit a park in.

Totally over planning into relaxing and going with the flow

 

[WolfpackFan]

No. Haven't done this in years. We have a trip coming up in late Sept. and haven't hardly thought about it other than I do have one ADR plus I have gone thru and got FP's. Other than that we'll begin thinking about it about a week ahead of time.

 

[SarahInMN]

No. Haven't done this in years. We have a trip coming up in late Sept. and haven't hardly thought about it other than I do have one ADR plus I have gone thru and got FP's. Other than that we'll begin thinking about it about a week ahead of time.

Agreed.

I married in to Disney and for our first few trips I tried to pack everything in. Once we bought DVC in 2009, everything changed for me: the pace became more relaxed and less hurried because "hey we'll be back next year." For our next trip, we have 1 ADR (BOG dinner) + F&W events. I'll get FP's arranged but mostly to be as efficient as possible with rides and to spend less time in line. It is not uncommon for us to pop over to MK, use our Fps, have a snack, do some shopping, and then head off to Poly for lapu lapus.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We still obsessively plan, but we have a 9 year old who has certain expectation, so we have to. Honestly, my wife and I like the planning part of the trip. We have 4 stays over the next 11 months, and are having a great time thinking about each one. There is a different goal and different nuances to each one of them, which keeps it fresh and fun!

 

[Popouri DVC]

I used to hate to plan anything. I just wanted to wake when I felt like it, go in the park when I felt like it, eat when I felt like it, etc.

But Disney is too crowded. Without ADR, in my experience, I end up getting counter service and using a trash bin as a dining table. Without FP, I waited in line for 90 minutes for Soarin'.

I'm getting too old for that. I want to have my meals in table service restaurants and be able to find a seat to sit in while watching a show: those mean advance reservations so I learned how to use MDE.

Then we bought DVC and my home resort is the one I want to stay at most often: VGF. In order to get the stays I want I have to book at 11 months.

So yeah, I plan waaaaay more than I ever used to.

 

[SpaceMountain77]

My effort varies from trip to trip. It really depends on what we need to secure. For our December 2015 trip, I booked our desired room at the 11-month mark and was able to secure all of our preferred dining locations and times 180 days out. Right now, this reservation is set.

Our September 2015 reservation is still in development because of dining. We were unable to secure our preferred locations and times, so I have been checking availability daily to secure what we want. I have also been stalking the member services website because a studio with a foldaway sleeper would certainly make sleeping arrangements better.

 

[mickeymom629]

I plan as much as I always did and I LOVE IT!! It keeps me happy until the trip. I have to say that, what I don't love is the need to get on line to schedule FP+s. I may appreciate the scheduling of FPs once I get there (next trip is first one with FP+), but I don't like that it's now in my planning.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Ummm.....yeah. I'm here aren't I?

But in all honesty, I'd call me an obsessive vacation planner. WDW just happens to be a location we go to a lot.

 

[Granny]

New Do you still experience obsessive Disney planning?

No. I agree with your sentiments completely. Since joining DVC, and especially the last several years, we go often enough that we don't worry about missing anything.

Other than TSM Fast Passes, we don't really plan much at all.

 

[BLLB]

I still do a lot of planning, but I love it!

 

[Minniesgal]

I used to hate to plan anything. I just wanted to wake when I felt like it, go in the park when I felt like it, eat when I felt like it, etc.

But Disney is too crowded. Without ADR, in my experience, I end up getting counter service and using a trash bin as a dining table. Without FP, I waited in line for 90 minutes for Soarin'.

I'm getting too old for that. I want to have my meals in table service restaurants and be able to find a seat to sit in while watching a show: those mean advance reservations so I learned how to use MDE.

Then we bought DVC and my home resort is the one I want to stay at most often: VGF. In order to get the stays I want I have to book at 11 months.

So yeah, I plan waaaaay more than I ever used to.

I actually disagree with this. Have a look at what ADRs are available for today. Most restaurants are wide open. No need to ever eat CS unless you choose to. We now book all ADRs the day before and we don't do CS as I like to sit, get a menu.

 

[tb1972]

I enjoy planning for dining. We make a few adrs and DD13 takes care of the FP choices. If I'm tired I don't feel obligated to stay each night for fireworks anymore.

 

[DougEMG]

Other than making sure I book the room right at 11/7 month and then booking the flights once they come out, I don't do a lot of planning. We tend to go for long trips so there is never a panic about not getting to do something.

 

[rkwier]

I am just a little planning freak about any vacation. For me, it is as much fun as the vacation itself. That being said, it is my outlook to WDW in general that has changed. For many families, WDW is literally a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We have been fortunate to go many times, and we know that we will go back, so we never feel like we are missing anything. We are actually sort of "parked-out," so our August stay around the Member Cruise is just chillin.

 

[LCoulter]

No, my planning has decreased. I only make 2-3 dining reservations for a week’s vacation because we don’t like to be tied down to a plan. I have a general idea of which parks on which days before we go on vacation, and unfortunately, the fastpasses tie us down to that choice more than I like. We are familiar enough with the flow of the parks now where we are pretty good at avoiding the crowds and long lines and don’t plan ahead of time which rides we are going to go on, other than the Fastpasses.

I do visit disboards daily to keep up to date on changes in the parks and will use them to research if I decide on a different time of year to go or different resort.

 

[Golden Rose]

I always planned a fair amount - I've booked those ADRs right at the 180 day mark whenever I could. I loved knowing we'd get to eat at our favorite restaurants. The kids now have so many preferences that I am as zealous about booking our FPs. But our last trip felt way, way too scheduled. Our first trip using FP+ was great. Our second (our most recent) felt too much like rushing from one planned event to another the whole time.

I don't get to be "parked out" - I have young kids. They still had a great time. But some trips we all seem to have a great time, and last trip was so heavily scheduled that it felt like the kids had a great trip at our expense.

 

[mrsmith9]

I am an obsessive planner now only because of MDE. I used to be able to book rooms (good rooms) on short notice, had relative good luck with dining reservations, and knew how to utilize runners to take full advantage of the paper fast pass system.

Now I’m booking rooms 7+ months in advance, booking dining reservations 180 days in advance and making FP+ reservations 60 days in advance based on the park where I have the dining reservation. Planning this far in advance is stressful, but if you don’t you won’t get into the room, restaurant, or attraction you want.

We went to Disneyland a few years ago where they did NOT have an ADR system in place. It was so enjoyable not having to decide in advance what park you were going to visit, where you were going to be at meal time or where you were going to eat. And still be able to get into a great restaurant (i.e. Blue Bayou) for lunch/dinner.