Does everyone plan everything?

[miste76]

I have read a lot of threads about disney lovers planning out their entire trip... our family doesn't plan anything when we go, except for a few things that we do every year (a dinner in Japan and drink around the world showcase.) I was just wondering if anyone else out there visits WDW w/o planning the trip? Am I missing out by not planning more?

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

I think that the more times you have been to WDW the less planning you really need. We do take the time to figure out what parks on what days. We also decide how to split the parks since we normally do not stay at the same park all day. This makes it easier to make PS. Other than that we pretty much go with the flow once we get there.
Two summers ago we just happened upon the parades at the MK and at the Studios. We had not planned to see them but just happened to be there. I guess it's sometimes great to just let the Disney magic take over and lead the way!

 

[Toesmom1]

It's so hard to plan if you have kids. Leaving in 1 1/2 weeks for our longest trip yet 7 full days. Have DD2, DD4, DS8 so hard to plan. This year kinda winging it let kids decide. All have planned is dinner for first night at Chef Mickey, CP for first full day & Wed. the Pirate Cruise & HDDR. Wed. a surprise for the kids. I wonder the same if I should plan each day with PSings? Going to wing it let kids decide. Probably be our last big trip to Disney for awhile.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

I live 90 minutes from Disney and go there all the time and I still plan everything. Where were going, what rides we'll hit, dinner reservations, every last detail! I think it just gives me something fun to focus on and look forward to. I guess the anticipation of planning just gets me more excited! I'm crazy, I know...!

 

[floridagirrl2]

Nope! We don't really plan. I love to read up on everything on the DISboards and in the Unofficial Guide, but once we get to the World, we wing it. Oh, we might have an idea of certain restaurants we want to try, but we never even make PS.

We live close enough and go often enough that we're not worried about missing anything--there's always the next trip!

 

[enchantedpixiedust]

I've tried to not plan, but it just doesn't work for me. With PS & everything the least I feel I have to do is plan what parks on what days so it doesn't take a ton of time going back & forth.

Of course, each time I say I'm not going to make a ton of PS and go wherever we end up, but that doesn't happen either.

 

[Gupsmom]

I think that the more times you have been to WDW the less planning you really need.

I agree. The first couple of times we took the kids to WDW, I had everything planned. I knew what rides we were doing and what order to do them in. It worked great for us. We didn't wait in any long lines and we saw everything we wanted to see.

I would never recommend winging it to anyone unless they know what they're doing. So many times I've been crushed to hear that a family didn't enjoy their first trip to WDW. They waited in long lines and I'd ask did you use fastpass (what's that or I wasn't paying for that) see Fantasmic? (no) Spectro (no). It really hurts to hear those stories.

Now, I know HOW to "do" the parks, and since we have seen most of the attractions before and we know we'll be back...we're not that worried about missing something. I don't need to plan nearly as much. I just figure out which parks we will be doing each particular morning and evening (we always break to swim in the afternoon). Then I make my PS's around that. As for what we are going to do in the park...I have a general idea of what I'd like to accomplish but I don't bother planning it.

I also agree that the planning is half the fun. I like to pour through my guide book and scribble out ideas for each trip. It gives me an outlet for my building excitement and it helps pass the time leading up to the trip.

Jess

 

[Chicago526]

I normally only plan what day for which park, only so I know what PS's to make, as I tend to like restaurants that are crowded most of the time. Once in the park, other than the dash to the most popular ride 1st thing in the morning (Splash Mtn in MK, Mision Space in Epcot etc.), I have no plan, and we ride and see what we feel like at the time.

This trip I've made more detailed plans, only because BF has never been, and I want to include as much park time as possible without running both of us into the ground. I needed to make sure we had a good balance of resort/pool time and park time. I also had to figure in some non-park activities, like horseback riding at Ft. Wilderness, the Hoop De Doo Review, and the driving experiance at the speedway, all of which need to be booked in advance. I also had to decide which night for MVMCP since tickets, again, need to be purchased in advance. So this took a bit more in the way of fore-thought. In order to fit everything in, I had to sit down and really work out an itinerary. But it's been so much fun, and since when I started my count-down clock hand 200 plus days on it, this has served to pass the time away!

 

[Kimberle]

Nope! No planning either, with the execption of a few PS's. We know the parks well enought to know what "works" and "when" to do what.....

 

[xyymom]

Am I missing out by not planning more?

I know I missed out on a lot when I went with my parents and they did ZERO research ahead of time. In fact, I was there when I was 19 and now I'm 32. Looking at the stuff on Epcot especially & reading everything that is there, I swear I was in a different place. I don't remember anything other than the "giant golf ball" and thinking it was boring There is SO much to see, but we just walked around. I don't remember going IN any 'country' or anything. I feel like I was robbed, lol.

I think you can get away without planning everything, but don't go uninformed or you'll miss out on some of the gems

 

[Missy1961]

I think it depends on what time of year you're going. If you're going when there aren't crowds, well, other than what park on what day and a PS or 2, I wouldn't plan too hard.

But if you're going in the summer, with the crowds and the heat, it is very helpful to plan almost everything! Know what you want to ride, making all your PS plans before you leave home.....it makes the trip more successful. I don't do the parks commando style, but that's because other than Splash Mountain, I don't do the very popular rides. I do go with the flow, if the kids want to stop and play somewhere, then we skip some ride/attraction with long lines. Fastpass is very helpful, and that becomes part of the planning as well.

So I guess I'm a 50/50 planner!

 

[The Sweetness]

CAn we go to Mideavil (sp?) Times?

Do I get to go to the place where the race car ride (TT) is?

Do I get to go on thr TOT and the RNRC?

Does the hotel serve breakfast, and transport to the parks?

Are you FINALLY going to get on Space Mountain?

Other than that, he just follows my lead

 

[fizz13]

Here's how it goes:
1) I book a trip, always the same time of year due to timeshare.
2) I go loopy on these boards for days at a time absorbing the feel of disney; the rides, restaurants, FP, PS etc...
3)Read the guide books
4)I maks a plan of which park/activity on what day
5) I pencil in PS for the days. I start with a list of restaurants I really want, mainly based on the DIS restaurant board and try and fit as many in as poss, in pencil.
6) Then wait for my PS booking time to come around.
7)I go for the most popular ride for FP when I get in the park. The rest is just land by land. A lot of it needs to wait till I get the show schedule in the park as I can never seem to find these before I go. and then plan the day around these. eg. Tarzan Rocks, Storytime with Belle.


So there you go, a planning schedule that I still feel relaxed with and nobody is told what to ride when.

Hope this helps,
Claire.

By the way, not planning is ok too. Sometimes not racing around a park gives you a chance to absorb it. Whatever way you do it, it will be right for you

 

[Nickunited]

I am not a planner. I only plan PS's that need to be. Other than that I decide what park to go to the night before. Depends on what I feel. I have a first night ritual - and PS - thats it!

 

[carone0318]

Like most of the other "planners" on here, I plan which park we will be at and our PSs for our trip. I have 2 kids, dd (7) and ds (3), I need to know when we are eating time wise. I usually don't worry about what we are going to do once we are in the park, we've been there enough to know how to "work it."

I will say though that this year I will be planning how we will tackle the rides at MK. My ds (3) is a scaredy cat and I want to ease him into the dark rides. We will definitely be starting with Buzz and Pooh and finally work our way up to PoC and we are hoping he is tall enough for SplMtn. I doubt that he will do HM, if so it will be the last ride of our trip - just in case he freaks and won't do any more dark rides. (He wasn't too thrilled with dark rides last year, so we are kind of informed already, but hoping for a change.)

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I don't plan much...if anything. Especially since this year is going to be my dd's first trip there. I just know I'd get upset if I fell behind schedule. So I'm just not going to make a schedule. As someone else said, the more times you've been there, the less you need to plan. I'm reading tons of guidebooks though!

 

[miste76]

WOW- it's great to see that I'm not the only non-planner. I was starting to feel like something was wrong with me
We also decide on the parks the night before... and if we need a PS, we call that day! There are several new things that I learned on this board in the last few months, and I'm very thankful for that!
To be honest, I don't think I'm organized enough to plan out my whole trip... besides, I change my mind too often - it would never work! I would need 5 plans for each day and even then, I probably wouldn't be able to stick to it!
Thanks for all your input on this subject!

 

[disneymom2one]

I make a chart (just on paper) with each day as a column and then three rows - a.m., p.m. and night. At the top of each day goes park hours as well as which park is early entry and any parades. Then I make a basic plan for each part of the grid - morning/afternoon/evening. That makes it easy to plan p.s.'s which I then call for and write the confirmation numbers right there. About half my blocks are always "relax at resort" because we like to relax on vacation. We generally stick to the plan around 80% of the time. With an Asperger's kid, it's important for us to not spend a lot of time on "what will we do now?" and waiting. This allows that while still giving us a ton of flexibility.

 

[ryley26]

my wife plans everytime cards are laminated. We will change plans if a problem happens but there is no confusion on what ride to do next or ps

 

[carone0318]

Originally posted by disneymom2one
I make a chart (just on paper) with each day as a column and then three rows - a.m., p.m. and night. At the top of each day goes park hours as well as which park is early entry and any parades. Then I make a basic plan for each part of the grid - morning/afternoon/evening. That makes it easy to plan p.s.'s which I then call for and write the confirmation numbers right there. About half my blocks are always "relax at resort" because we like to relax on vacation. We generally stick to the plan around 80% of the time. With an Asperger's kid, it's important for us to not spend a lot of time on "what will we do now?" and waiting. This allows that while still giving us a ton of flexibility.

I do the same thing, except instead of morning/afternoon/evening, I use breakfast/lunch/dinner. At the top of my spreadsheet I put the hours for each park on the different days. Great minds think alike .