Does over planning over shadow the Magic?

[Nikisha421]

i havent read any of the post here just voted in the poll however, i think that you will results that are very one sided since anyone that is on this board obviously has to be a planner and probably wants to know more. you have got to post this somewhere else in cyberspace like at cnn.com to get a more accurate response. JMHO

 

[jpolak]

There is no such thing as over planning. The planning and anticipation is half the fun. Plus I always seem to learn something new.

 

[Tbelle1976]

Do all the planning you can passible until you leave, it really keeps you so excited and looking forward to Disney. Especially if you have kids and let them help you plan.

I have been planning for month, making ADR's, checking, rechecking, making more, cancelling some, rechecking those (and at one point it was a good thing I did because they had a dinner ADR scheduled for A.M. breakfast instead ).

Just know that when you get there your plans will not all work out for everything and take your time in the parks each day. If you always in such a hurry you will miss the actual beauty of Disney and regret it when you arrive back home. As long as everyone is having fun, that's really all that matters!

 

[polineedyan]

I think that there is a difference between educating yourself and planning. If you wanna come on here and youtube and check out disney, thats not gonna spoil it. Theres just too much..It definitely helped me. However, commando types who have the whole days scheduled out could find themselves banging their heads. You have to be able to just skip things on your plan, or nix the whole plan. Spontanaeity is key. But if you wanna go on tripadvisor to check crowd levels, etc..be my guest. It only helps..

 

[twokids0204]

I said no. Last summer, a coworker told me she was going for with her sister and her neice's family to WDW and asked for some pointers. It was her and her sister's first trip, but her neice's family's second trip. I started giving her pointers, but then she said never mind that her neice was planning everything and said that since she had already been that her neice didn't want any pointers. Ok, fine. I did mention a few things in passing though, like the kids being able to wake up Tinkerbelle, using the back entrance through the RFC if the lines were long to get into AK in the morning, some really good TS restaurants, the DDP, getting a birthday button at guest services, how to use Fast Pass so that you could have more than one fast pass at a time, the importance of making ADRs, some quieter places where they could find characters, asking to ride in the front of the monorail and getting a monorail copilot license, etc. When they got back she was talking about the long lines for rides and character and how they had to eat CS all week. Sure enough her neice didn't know to make ADRs, that she could let her daughters wake up Tink, when EM hours were, they didn't find Pooh and friends at the back of the English toy store, or Belle and Cinderella in the back of the French pavillion, didn't get her great neice a birthday button, didn't know you could use the boats to get from MGM to Epcot, so took a bus to a resort then transferred to another bus the day they wanted to get back to Epcot, didn't know about the Kitchen Sink, didn't know the best places to watch the parades, planned for only one day in each park, etc. When I asked her why they didn't use any of my tips, she said her neice said I was wrong: that all the characters that give autographs are always out in plain open view, that only monorail resort guests could use the monorail, that ADRs weren't necessary, there was no such thing as a birthday button and Disney never gave anything for free, and Tinkerbelle was never able to be seen, so you could not wake her up. They had a fun time, but a little research or simply accepting a little advice from someone who's been there and does their research would have made it a way better trip.

Care to join on in March? We can use a take charge person leading our troops...

 

[teacup princess]

I say if it's a first trip, plan. If it's a second, third, fourth trip, plan a little but feel free to leave a little room for spontaneity. You'll never be able to do it all, so don't try. Plan for the things you really want to see this trip and hit the others if there's time or on leave them for the next trip.

 

[RMulieri]

I am a firm believer in SOME planning.But not extremes.On my honeymoon,DH's first trip to WDW, I so overplanned I drove him crazy and annoyed him so bad he flat out refused to go back to disney till this past year.So 8 yrs no Disney trips for him.Now I make my adrs,room ressie, and have an idea which parks which days and go with it from there.That worked a whole lot better for us than scheduling every single minute.I also think that forums are an excellent way to plan, but I do think they can build a sense of unrealistic expectations.

 

[Nancyg56]

I don't think you can overplan before you leave. Once you arrive I think you need to be able to let the plan go. We always plan which parks we want to be in on any given day, where we want to have our main meals, and which attractions we want to get to first and which are our priority. After we arrive we use the plan as a guide. It is easier to toss the plan when you want than to arrive and not know where you want to be, where you are going to eat and what special things are happening in each park.

 

[SydneyFalco]

It shouldn't be surprising to find an entire discussion board of Disney World fanatics telling you there is no such thing as too much planning.

I feel the same way. Planning is half the fun

Alright, not half, but a quarter or so.

Alright, that's silly. Planning is SOME FRACTION of the fun.

I would be one to add, however, the hour by hour planning is a little overboard, especially as it might lead to the one thing that is essential to having a good plan...

... being able to chuck part of it at a moment's notice.

 

[MissionMouse]

Yes, people do over plan. Over planning creates false expectations and can lead to frustrations and stress during an individual or family Disney vacation. People plan things they cannot even control or items that are subject to change. No different than people who over plan for weddings.

 

[TexDisneyMom]

Planning to me is one of the best parts of the trip! I love it when I get home and my DS asks me "what did you learn today", "any Disney news?" To get ready for our trip my family takes walks in the afternoon and we plan out all of our days. I think the planning is what makes the trip so special.

 

[Tinkerbell2B]

I too am a planner. Whether its going to WDW or just taking a trip to the beach. I have a basic plan of what we will be doing each day and where or what we will be having for dinner. It is always just a guideline and can be altered as needed. I just think that it is important to make the most of a vacation of any kind. Of course at the beach the majority of the days are filled with nothing but lying on the sand with an adult beverage in my hand, but some days consist of shopping too. There is so much to do and see at WDW, I feel that you have to have a game plan before hand. Just keep in mind that things change. It rains, attractions may be closed, lines may be longer than you had hoped. Have a game plan, but be ready it to change if needed! The most important thing is to have a great time! For some people that may be having no plan what so ever! If that is the way the roll, that is fine by me!

 

[december14disney]

I think a major part of the magic is seeing and feeling your plans come together! There is nothing like imaging that perfect end of your magic kingdom day complete with a Casey's hot dog and wishes and when you get there 4 months later and are sitting on the curb eating that hot dog...the whole day exactly what you dreamed....thats magic!

 

[eliza61]

We are going in March.

Since I found this Message Board (great borad by the way) - I have been reading up on everything.

Am I taking away from the spontaneity and adventure? Or should I be planning exactley what I will do / see down to the last detail.

What's been your experience???

A resounding YES.

Let me tell you of my first (with kids) trip from H#$LL. I planned to the nth degree, I followed the advice from the boards and TGM and had adr's, park maps, index cards, the entire 9 yards. I ended up making every one miserable.
First it was rope drop. Every one here keep going on and on about how "if you don't get to rope drop, you won't get any thing done" So of course I drag my family out of bed to do rope drop. Big mistake. It was nothing special and by 11:00 am every one (including myself was cranky) and you know what, we get just as much done when we arrive an hour later.
Next TGM. So I follow all his advice and now I have a recording of me the entire vacation with my head in a map or reading an excel sheet. Lovely.
Then I forced every one to stay on a schedule because God forbid I veer away from what mighty TGM says.

By the 3rd day my sons actually were crying NOT to go to the park. I still have such guilty feelings about ruining what was supposed to be a magical 1st time by my obsessive over planning. it's amazing they even agreed to give it another try.

Now we have laid back, smell the roses vacations. I will never ever make another spreed sheet again.

 

[peyjax]

YES!!!! Can I vote more?? Please do not OVERPLAN. Now planning is a good thing. On these boards there are a lot of OCD people and it can rub off. Let the magic just happen you cant force it by overplanning it only ruins it IMHO.

 

[peyjax]

double post

 

[mark_o_2005]

I don't plan as much as I research. I like to have a general idea of what there is to do, where the good food is, snacks we may like to try, shows we need to see, etc. That way there isn't a lot of time wasted trying to figure this all out on the fly.

This March will be my second visit to WDW. The first time was my Honeymoon last summer. We could only afford three nights there before we had to move on to cheaper fun on the beach, so I felt like we had to plan out everyday, every minute. We had two day hoppers, and we hit all four parks in those two days. We were able to cram in so much, but we paid dearly. I felt like we missed a lot of the magic that exists in the little details at the parks while we were rushing from one major attraction to the next. We were so exhausted that the rest of the honeymoon was slightly miserable.

This is our make-up trip. We were able to book a full week, thanks to the 4/3 deal. I've been ordered to not plan anything more than which park on which day. We're doing the QSDP solely so we don't have to revolve our days around ADRs. We're both really looking forward to the spontaneity that we'll be afforded this time and the ability to take it slow and enjoy the ambience.

Now granted, we have the advantage of not taking any kids into consideration. . .

 

[Faldred]

The importance of planning ("preparation" is probably a better word) is not so really to have a schedule that you frantically try to keep up with as you try to meet it. The real point behind all of it is to understand what's going to be going on around you so that when you do have to deviate from plan (and, there's a 99.999% chance you will have to) that you can do so in an informed and intelligent manner.

For those of us traveling with small children, preparation is even more critical in my opinion -- having a "game plan" for each of the parks allows you to let the little ones (and yourself!) enjoy the day within the confines of the childrens' schedules and habits.

As for YouTube and the like, I'd prefer not overdoing it for myself, but I find it works great for DS3 in terms of keeping his interest level up and getting a heads-up on rides he might find "scary", even if I don't think they would be.

 

[steve51761]

It's a lot of hard work, but it pays off in the end! We have never been disappointed at WDW!! We'll be going for the 5th time on February 7 to 14!! You gotta do your homework!!!

 

[jmkrat]

I voted no. I like to read the boards and getting as much information as I can. It helps the time go by a little faster and I have also gotten so many important tips from the planning.