does anyone do the parks without a schedule

[Shir Kahn]

The only real thing we plan for our days is to arrive at rope drop, hit some major attractions first thing and we also have our ADRs set for the day. Other than that, we just go where the wind takes us.

 

[srwarden1928]

Can you go without a plan? sure. Can you have fun without a plan? sure

Would I go without a plan? no way.

I personally would be uptight without a plan, because there is so much to see and do in WDW that I would be continually worried that I would miss something that I did not want to miss. I make a detailed plan because I know that everything I want to do or see is on the plan. Then I can relax and enjoy my vacation. For example I walk past Splash Mountain with 70 minute wait on Saturday afternoon even though it is one of my favorite rides because I know I plan to ride it Monday morning when the wait will likely be much less. I choose not to fastpass it Saturday because by the time the fastpass is good I intend to be over in Tomorrowland and dont want to trek back. That is all in the plan.

I am flexible with my plan--it is NOT set in stone. I relax more because I dont have to worry about whats next or will I miss something I really wanted to do.

Others dont tour like I do. That is fine for them. Their touring styles would be stressful for me.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

The only thing we plan are the dates of our vacation, which flight we will be taking and the resort we will be staying at. After that it all about "flying by the seat of our pants"! This works for us as we usually go during slower times of the year. IMO I think the only time major planning is neccessary is during peak periods.

Last year I received a PIN code for free dining in Nov., what a nightmare that turned out to be (imagine, FREE dining a nightmare ). For me, planning adr's was NOT fun. I have no idea what park I will be in on what day nevermind the meal I think I will want 3 months before our trip! That said, I booked my adr's like a good girl and as soon as day one was over I went to Guest Services and cancelled ALL of them! We absolutely hated being tied down. Beginning the second day we would hit Guest Services in the Parks when we got hungry and they let us know what was available. Again, this is not a luxuray afforded during peak periods.

I do like to know things ahead of time such as where I can find photopass photographers, which parks have emh on what days, etc. but planning day by day what park to hit, that's not for me! We have done 3 trips this way and always have a great time.

 

[Aardvarks]

The first time we went was Easter 2000 during one of the US holidays. We were in Orlando for 13 nights off site down on the 192 at the old Holiday Inn Nicky Bird.

We had 5 days park hopper plus and a 10 day 5 park non- Disney park ticket.

We did no planning at all, got to each park about 15 mins after rope drop and even with an 9 and 6 year old in tow we did every ride in every park and all the shows and fire works that we wanted to see. The crowds were the heaviest we have ever encountered.

As soon as we entered a park, we stood to one side and spent just 10 minutes looking at the map and guide times and used a black marker pen to circle the things we were determined not to miss and then let all the other stuff fill in the gaps. I dont know how we did it all, and in those days, the boys were collecting autographs and standing in line for photographs.

Our boys stayed the whole distance and we left the parks after fireworks.

These days we have to plan to fit in with DDP, but to this day I dont think we have ever made a single EMH, morning or evening!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

I am not a planner and maybe for that reason I have missed a lot of things to do at the parks ,but I just see it as something new for my next trip. Another thing I will admit that I did not like was the whole ADR thing, I hated knowing exactly what time and where I was going to eat, I would much rather eat when I'm hungry and whatever I am in the mood for even if that means counter service food..

We used to plan back in the 70's and 80's, something for the children to get into but never printed anything out and hardly followed it. We've done WDW 42 times and maybe look at the park hours and EMH's and that's it. No dining plan for us, we also eat when we're hungry and if that means CS, so be it. Disney's TS have gotten ridiculous in price for mediocre food. We're on property enough nights to tour the parks at a very relaxed pace and enjoy the resort more than the parks, children are grown and on their own now for the past 10 years so there's no rush for anything in the World. We would like to see free dining and dining plans over with so walk ins like years ago were available, there was no problem back then in eating anywhere at any time.

 

[LEOnie211]

I don't have a plan when I'm going. We are going to decide in the morning which park to attend.

 

[parmtoo]

We used to plan back in the 70's and 80's, something for the children to get into but never printed anything out and hardly followed it. We've done WDW 42 times and maybe look at the park hours and EMH's and that's it. No dining plan for us, we also eat when we're hungry and if that means CS, so be it. Disney's TS have gotten ridiculous in price for mediocre food. We're on property enough nights to tour the parks at a very relaxed pace and enjoy the resort more than the parks, children are grown and on their own now for the past 10 years so there's no rush for anything in the World. We would like to see free dining and dining plans over with so walk ins like years ago were available, there was no problem back then in eating anywhere at any time.

I agree. While we did enjoy the dinning plan on our last trip, it was somewhat of a hassle to plan our meals that far in advance. My DS, 13, hated being on the DDP. He felt it took away from the trip. I myself miss the days when you could just walk in and get a table. Ahhh the good ole days......

 

[wdwfann]

I always plan. LOVE IT!! It is fun to me.
But....I don't like it to be too rigid especially at the parks.
We do hit rope drops...the morning show at MK makes me cry.
We pick our first few major attractions that we want to see then we slow down for the rest of the day.
Whatever you do....It's Disney....It can't be wrong.

 

[cmskok]

Sort Of. We plan our Disney Dining...eating healthy is important to us, and we cannot do that as well with the quick service restaurants. We like to sit and relax for 90 minutes at dinner.

With that said, that's the extent of our planning! We go to parks and we let our children decide...it's their vacation! We do try and get fast passes on their must do's so that everyone does what they would like to do.

We always take long-ish trips (7-10 days.) Therefore, we are able to sit down midway through the trip and ask everyone what they haven't done yet that they are dying to do and we head straight to that attraction. That's the beauty of the park hopper. We can go to Buzz Lightyear at MK and then hop the monorail to Epcot so we can ride Soarin'. It's very loosey-goosey for us, but that's how my husband likes it. If we were rigid about our times, he would make us go to the beach or on a golf course trip instead.

With all of that said, I think your family vacation should be tailored to your family. We are sort of planners but then once we get there, we chuck the plans and try to have fun... If you are normally very scheduled and that's what your kids are used to, then I would say make a plan. My kids on vacation stay up way later than normal, so we sleep in. The rope drop does not work for us, but if your time is limited in the parks, then the rope drop would be great for your family.

We stay on property every time as well. That way we take advantage of the extra magic hours in the evening (we don't do the early ones much). We also enjoy the bus transportation. It is nice to chat with other families on vacation!

I hope that this is not too much information, but we go a lot (at least that's what our families think) so I feel like I should offer you all of the scenarios.

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I have gone many times w/o a schedule, but only 1x after having kids. I love the freedom it affords you, but with needing ADR's for character meals it is impossible almost to not plan the day out.

Someday I will have the luxury of being able to just wing it again- it is a lot less stress.

 

[MellyBeans]

Back when I was in high school, I went to Disney with a friend and her family. They didn't plan at all. We went to whatever park we felt like, and did what we felt like, whenever we felt like it. It was an AWESOME trip, and it made me fall in love with Disney World.

Having said that, I am a semi-planner. I pretty much know what parks we are going to which days, and plan this around "best park for the day" strategies, and ADRs. I don't plan which rides in which orders or anything like that (other than hitting the Super Headliners at rope drop, anyway.)

I think you could have fun either way. But, if you don't plan at all, you need to set your expectations at a different level. The joy in that kind of trip is spontaneity, and just being there, not in seeing everything and doing everything. That kind of trip takes planning.

Half the fun of even going to Disney for me is all the planning and obsessing. I think ultimately, that is why I do it.

 

[robandkelly13]

Since I became a Disney nut and DVC owner, I'm in a constant state of planning. I love it. However, when DH and I take a solo trip in a couple of months, we're going with basically no plans. We have ADR's for breakfast in our resort and one other park ADR and that's it. So, our days can be played by ear. Not having a plan for this trip is refreshing, but also a little unnerving. However, for our next family trip, July 28 - Aug. 7, I have each day planned out and many ADRs - I think DD is doing everything offered. Come to think of it, that might be my way of making up for not being able to plan too much for the solo trip.

Bottom line: After the first time, I think most people become obsessed with planning. THe first trip can be a bit intimidating, but after that it's all fun and games!

 

[wdwislife]

this coming trip will be my first time planning in advance.
We'll cover more ground and do the attractions we haven't gotten to in the past.
The itinerary probably won't be TOO excessive, just a basic overview of where to be when.

 

[CathieArms]

I don't plan to have a hard-and-fast itinerary/schedule, but I do want to be sure that we don't miss certain things due to not knowing about them. For instance, I now know that I want to do Soarin' and Test Track, which I didn't know about before. I also know that I want to see Miyuki (sp?) at Epcot, and that I want to be at the park 20-30 minutes early for rope drop. Beyond that, I have identified places on the map that I want to be sure to go, but not an exact "plan of attack" per se.

I think that too much planning can cause too much stress; while too little planning can leave you missing out on a lot.

 

[Kelblum]

We only plan which parks we are going on which days. We don't plan the order of how we go on the rides. We usually plan our park days around the PM EMHs, we are not morning people so the am ones don't do anything for us.

Once we know which parks on which days then we plan our meals and make our ADRs. We have gone in the past without ADRs and winged it and that was fine too, but it was off season, so we weren't too concerned.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

We sort of plan, but nothing like we've seen on these boards. We make note of park hours and EMH days for each park, but that's about it. We normally eat mostly counter service, so we don't even really make ADRs.

I LOVE the planning part and I actually do make little spreadsheets and read tips on here, etc... but once we get there, it all goes out the window I just enjoy biding my time before our trip by fake planning! We just aren't people who can say 3 months in advance where and what we're going to feel like doing or eating on an arbitrary date in the future

Me too. I enjoy planning and reading in anticipation. Take my ADR's, and know my park hours, (public info), but all subject to change according to mood, but mostly weather.
We always go in summer. It always pours rain every day. I get so tired of wet shoes, even though I take extras, they never dry out. We stay on site, no car, so subject to bus transportation. I love WDW. Others hate the Heat. Everyone gets exhausted by the crowds and lines. It is the daily downpour that drains me.
So while I have reservations for a lovely dinner, I give up, wet and worn out, cold from the AC while wet, go back to my room, and wish someone would just bring me some soup.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I think for your first trip it is okay to plan fairly well. My family is far from the planning type, so when we first started going we did the park commando style (yes, it is possible for young kids to do this. Two year old and six year old me handled it quite well). However, if that is not for your family then it is a good idea to get the ins and outs of fast passes, when the parades/shows are, park hours, etc. Once you do more trips to the park, you can ease up on the planning since you've seen things before. We've been plenty of times and don't bother doing attractions we don't have time for because we know we'll be back soon. Though, my mom and I are going in October and doing Free Dining so we have to do ADRs and it's stressing me out to have to plan ahead. Enjoy your trip

 

[Tanzanite]

We usually decide night before which park we will go to unless we book breakfast then start there.Iwill make notes to not forget things dont want to forget to do.

 

[ShuisFan584]

We do very minimal planning. It's more fun that way for us since there's no schedule to stick to.

Our next trip is in a week and a half and we'll be going for 9 days. We only made 3 ADR's for the places we know we really want to go to. We also have an idea of which parks we want to go to on certain days. But usually we don't decide where exactly we're going until the day of. And we definitely don't plan out exactly which attractions we'll get to.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

the only thing we plan is which park on which day. our first day is always MK. we do try to get to the busier ridesthough. and after we just go where ever we want. we have never had a problem.