Does anyone worry that so many...

[familyfirsttimer]

of us will follow the TGM and other guide info that it will actually backfire? I mean how many people gan get to Dumbo 1st thing and not cause a hugh backup. Just wondering what anyone has experienced. Are we over-planners, over0itinery-crazy people still in the minority?

 

[dawnball]

There is a back-up at Dumbo. It gets busy *fast*. However - not everyone wants to do Dumbo, they might pick another very popular ride for their first ride (or try to wake tinkerbell). Not everyone actually gets to the parks at or before opeing, no matter what their intentions were. And relatively few people actually use guidebooks and follow the touring plans so attentively.

 

[Stitch65]

I don't think so.... There really is a small percentage of us compared to those who don't plan.

 

[danny1649]

Is right

 

[MareSINY]

I'm not a planner. No matter how many times we've thought about using TGM we always end up just winging it. When I'm on vacation I'd rather just go with the flow than worry about what time I gotta make it to Dumbo. If the line is super long we just tell my nieces that we'll have to come back later. We actually try to avoid the whole Dumbo area until early evening when we know that a lot of people are heading out of the parks to have dinner.

 

[JulielovesDisney]

We have never planned our trips. We wake up each morning and ask what park we want to do that day, go to that park, and just wander through the lands, hitting the rides we want to (or the FPs if its busy). It's always worked for us. But for those who do plan thier day out, if it works and you enjoy experiencing Disney that way, keep doing it. To each his own.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I know it seems like there are a lot of us who like to plan, down to every detail. But in reality, it seems that most people go without a serious plan. I have tons of friends and neighbors who are going to WDW within the next few months, and they all seemed shocked that I've made my ADR's and have plans for October already. They've never heard of these websites, and didn't even seem all that interested in pursuing them ("I don't get into all that computer stuff"). So, out of the 8 families I know who are going between now and the fall, I'm the only one who has a "real" plan, and has made my plans 6-8 months ahead of time. I hope it stays that way!!!

 

[familyfirsttimer]

MickeyHereWeCome: thanks for making me feel better!!! I am not going crazy planning but I am going to try to follow the TGM advice so that we can hit a lot of things in a shrt time, (not running around like chickens without our heads) and then have a lot of relaxing time. On our 1st tril last year, I only had a general plan of which day which park and than our MustSee attractions and we had a ball but we did stand in some lines later inthe days that we could proabably have avoided.

 

[golden1]

I agree that a lot of people don't plan for WDW at all. I am the only person I know that plans WDW vacations. My MIL thought I was nuts when we went in 2000 but became a convert after we went on every ride with almost no lines. Most people I know think it is nuts to get up early on vacation and run to the parks.

 

[karenloo]

Based on our recent Easter trip, I'd have to agree that the planners are in the small minority. I was so worried about going at that time of year, especially after reading on here about the record crowds that were expected this year. Well, thanks to TGM, we had a blast! We followed his recommendations for which parks to attend which days, and his general touring advice for each park. Wow, perfect. We did every major ride and attraction, and just about every minor one too, two or three (or more) times, with virtually no waiting. Never felt the huge crush of the crowds since we were obviously a step ahead of everyone else. We saw tons of people arriving late and racing to the huge rides to find 90 minute waits and no FPs left. Yes, we had to sacrifice sleeping late, but it was so worth it. And since we got so much done early in the day, we always had very relaxing afternoons and evenings. Even our busy mornings didn't feel rushed since, again, we basically were avoiding crowds all over the place and felt we could stroll, not race, between attractions.

 

[rigs32]

DH and I went in late July 2003 and were really worried about the crowds. We'd previously gone with friends in Jan 2002 and crowds were nonexistent - we though a little (pretend) fit at having to wait 20 min for BTTMR. Every night Epcot was ours - we'd walk in the turnstiles around 7 and NO ONE else would be in that area.

That said, by getting up early and being smart about our plan, we had no problems with the crowds. We didn't get to ride some things multiple times, but we saw and did everything we wanted to.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I don't think so.... There really is a small percentage of us compared to those who don't plan.

I agree. I've don't use TGM, but we always head straight to Fantasyland to start our day and typically do every ride within 2 hours. I've never seen a backup early mornings. I've always figured that most people want to hit one of the mountains first, so the crowds are light in Fantasyland.

 

[cynderella]

Also, every family's interests/needs are different, so even "planners" won't all be in the same place at the same time. My family does Disneyland several times a year, so when we go to MK this summer, we're going to completely bypass most of the rides we can go on at DL. Though we will have a touring plan, it will be significantly different even from what TGM suggests (though we are using a lot of his tips).

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Actually the best advice is get there at opening. That's 3/4 of the battle right there. Most people can't or won't.

Those in the know without people wanting to go on Dumbo are heading to the Mountains. Thos of us with kids are probably going to head to fantasyland. So for the first hour or so, those of us in the know are fairly well dispersed. Those who herd herd in between 10 and 1. They don't have any idea what they want to hit first and half of em, stop to look at a map for the first time ever about the time they go under the train track on to main street.

 

[ANTSS2001]

one thing that I only plan is where we are going to eat for the day! other than that... we learned late mornings and late nights at WDW

 

[CleveRocks]

Let's do some VERY rounded-off math here. How many registered members of the DISboards? About 90,000? Not everyone's active, not everyone who's a member goes to WDW every year, but then again very few people go alone. So let's say there are 100,000 WDW planners out there (including non-board members who are TGM or Unofficial Guide people).

WDW gets about 30 million visitors each year. 100,000 planners is about 0.33%, one-third of one percent, of WDW visitors. I'm not too concerned about one-third of 1% of the crowd ruining my touring plan. How many guests at MK on a moderately busy day, maybe 50,000? One-third of 1% of 50,000 is about 166 people. All 166 people aren't making a mad dash at the rope drop for Dumbo. So let's imagine that the uber-planners are evenly split between Dumbo, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear. That's 41 planners per ride. Dumbo fits what, 32 people? You'll be on the second loading of the ride.

I think we'll all be just fine.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
I should have known I could count on my fellow DISers to calm my worries. I am really looking forward to my Aug trip being a little more relaxed.
I guess we are still in the minority...let's keep it that way