Does over planning over shadow the Magic?

[twokids0204]

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???

 

[tinksgilrs251520]

I am a disney overplanner ..... And I am very proud of it .... I dont plan so much my days out i just look for the major things that I want to do when we are there. We live in MI so we are not close to where we can go all the time or a few times of the year.. My DD and I were just talking about this today and I told her that i get ideas and info from the boards so wehn we are there we have an idea of what offerd and if we have the time or we want to replace an activity while we are ther we can or if the whether does not play in our favor we have backup ideas .. So overplanning for me does not take away from the magic and i try not to get the kids to invloved in the planning so they have no clue to what all Disney has to offer its just my unknown surprises for them... SO have fun and plan away but dont reveal to much

 

[TinkSassy]

The best thing you can do to enjoy your visit is plan. Remember the plan doesn't always hold together - and you may have to deviate at times so prepare to improvise on the fly.

But I can't tell you the number of times I've sat next to an exhausted family at a parade or on the ferry and they've told me what a miserable day they had. That they stood in line all day for 2 or 3 rides - and it was all because they weren't prepared. Knowing where things are, what rides are priority and how to plan the day to avoid the height of crowds will make your day much smoother.

One tip to keep in mind - The only thing that hurts worse then getting to the park before it opens - NOT getting there before it opens.

 

[la79al]

I voted no. But don't go on Youtube. Just get info from here and make sure you don't get upset if you hear about something here and then end up not being able to do it on your vacation. We recently went on a vacation to somewhere else and I didn't do any real fact finding ahead of time. We got there and had no clue what was going on and ended up just wandering around doing nothing and pretty much wasted the day.

 

[karensi]

For me planning is part of the fun.
Also it gives you a BIG advantage of those who go unprepared and don't know what is offered and the best way to tour, where to eat and just how to make the trip and the touring as smooth as possible.

The Dis boards have also been a GREAT help when DD, son in law , 3 little DGS and I went to WDW last year. I was able to get lots of tips re plane travel with the kids, what was the best kind of stroller to bring to the park, snack suggestions,etc.


I LOVE THE DIS BOARDS

Karen

 

[mcvixen]

I found that the whole process of getting the ADR's set up (for our first visit), was pretty stressful and time-consuming. Wound up doing quite a bit of internet research, calls to WDW-DINE, etc. etc. It *almost* ruined the magic for me.

I don't think the ADR issue will be a problem for subsequent visits. Much of my nervousness and fear was due to the fact that (a) I've never been to WDW and so I'm trying to make plans "blind", and (b) our visit was a bit last-minute, so we completely missed both the 180-day window and the 90-day window. (We booked 50 days out and started making ADR's about 45 days out).

And with the ressies out of the way, it's been pure fun ever since. I don't have much else "planned" - there are just a few rides that DD absolutely wants to do, but I have been cruising the DIS boards, getting good ideas and just enjoying the anticipation of it all.

 

[Goofey Drool]

Discovering the unknown is too fun. I like to get some ideas and find out some things to make the trip easier but I dont want to be to emersed. I think most people enjoyed the first trip the most because there is the unknown factor. After you have been a few times and start overplanning it is less exciting....just my opinion.

 

[joy13]

Planning for me is as fun as the trip itself!

 

[tiggertabi]

I tend to try to overplan and then we dont' follow my plans very well. LOL But my problem is that I'm definitely stressed out about making plans and trying ot follow the plans and start to feel sad when I miss something I planned to do. Next trip, I'm going ot make ADRs and then leave the rest of our trip up to spontaneous feelings!!

 

[connie1042]

I think it just adds to the fun and the magic. We have been many times, and we try to find new things to do. This next trip is just my husband and I. We will be celebrating 37 &1/2 years of marriage. I have a few things up my sleeve to make it fun. We are celebrating, but I did not tell disney, because it is really 1/2 year after our real anniversary. I am not looking for nothing free, but I am putting things together so the magic will be there.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

It is only thanks to DISboards and TGM that we were able to experience MORE magic in the World over Christmas/NY!
I would have never known how imparitive it was to be at rope drop or that ride order can make a difference in wait times.

 

[vs1023]

The best thing you can do to enjoy your visit is plan. Remember the plan doesn't always hold together - and you may have to deviate at times so prepare to improvise on the fly.

But I can't tell you the number of times I've sat next to an exhausted family at a parade or on the ferry and they've told me what a miserable day they had. That they stood in line all day for 2 or 3 rides - and it was all because they weren't prepared. Knowing where things are, what rides are priority and how to plan the day to avoid the height of crowds will make your day much smoother.

One tip to keep in mind - The only thing that hurts worse then getting to the park before it opens - NOT getting there before it opens.

ITA with this. I've been to Disney before, but many years ago and when we decided to take our 3 year old daughter I knew I needed to plan a bit. Dragging a 3 year old around to wait on long lines will not be fun for any of us. I definitely feel that my research and planning made our trip more enjoyable and I got to see Disney through her eyes, which made it more fun.

Now I didn't plan minute to minute..that's just too OCD even for me however, once I had the ADR's in place, we could choose the parks we'd do that day. We deviated slightly. For instance one day DHS was way more crowded than we anticipated so we did what we could and planned to come back another day at rope drop and we got to do Toy Story Mania twice.

At MK we attempted to see the fairies at night the first night, but the wait was 90 min so I knew we had to come back early in the morning to see them.

We honestly got to do 99% of what we wanted to do and I attribute that to the planning for sure. Knowing the ins and outs, what and when to fastpass, etc.

 

[Rudegrle]

Hi! My name is Rudegrle and I over plan ALL vacations.

I like to head home feeling complete, I don't like missing out on ANYTHING.

It started with WDW over planning, then it was Las Vegas over planning, and now all my vacations (even the weekend getaways) must be planned out. It's a sick, sick world I live in .

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I think at least some planning is a must. I'm an AP for Disneyland and went there for the 4th time in 2008 in early December. Because it was a family trip (and I'm single), I let my family call the shots. On a day when the park was nearly empty, it seemed like we spent 20 minutes after an attraction deciding on what to do next. It was so ridiculous that my dad thought the park was crowded because of how little we actually did.

On Saturday, he said that he took back what he thought about Disneyland being crowded on Thursday, precisely because it was insanely crowded on Saturday. When visiting Disney World, deciding not to plan is a recipe for not getting much done and possibly missing out on an entire park even though you have 7 days tickets. I've seen it happen.

This doesn't mean you have to plan every second of the day, but at a minimum, you must know beforehand what you want to do and the best time to see it. For our first family visit back in 1994, all we had to go by was the Unofficial Guide. (DING) And we planned out what park we were going to visit on which day, got the touring plan, chose a waterpark, and everything. My mother overruled my protests that taking naps every day would stop us from experiencing all the parks. And she was right. With good touring plans, we did everything we wanted to and even got to do some things twice, and this was in a day before FastPass and internet planning.

On our 2006 family visit, two members of the family got to experience just about everything they wanted to. Me and my brother. I had the plan and he just hung out with me. At one point on the first day, everybody was arguing about how to get to dinner and I said follow me. My brother immediately followed since he had spent the day with me, and my mother quickly told the others to follow me since I knew where I was going. They were wondering why I knew where we were going even though I wasn't looking at the map. Because of planning, I already knew where we needed to be.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

NOPE

 

[ranthony]

Isn't this what they call 'shooting fish in a barrel'? Or perhaps I should say 'preaching to the choir'?

Anyone else care to add a clever saying?

 

[seadd67]

I plan and Plan and Plan some more I love over planing ,but when were down there and I have my plans all worked out all the parks line up with our adr,we genrealy use at as a guide and then wing It! ,but thats ok because part of the fun Is to plan it out,no matter If you go by It or not. Its being able to think about Disney and what you will do when you get there. Have fun with it and then when your down there If it works for you and your Family great,If not you had a blast setting It all up at the end.

 

[goofyernmost]

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???

Somewhere in the middle would be perfect. Do the things that you absolutely need to do. If you need to make ressies, do so. You can plan what days you want to be in specific parks if you plan on taking advantage of EM's or ADR's those days. Most importantly, remain flexible and open to something different. Sometimes you accidentally stumble upon stuff and sticking to a rigid plan will prevent you from completely enjoying them.

Plan to flex!

 

[aubriee]

I said no. Last summer, a coworker told me she was going 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 characters 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.

I had another coworker who went for their first trip the last week of July-first week of August last year. She asked for my help in planning, made all sorts of notes, and had a great time. When she came back she told me, she was so grateful for the planning I helped her with and said she didn't know what they would have done without it.

 

[Metsoskil]

Hi! My name is Rudegrle and I over plan ALL vacations.

I like to head home feeling complete, I don't like missing out on ANYTHING.

It started with WDW over planning, then it was Las Vegas over planning, and now all my vacations (even the weekend getaways) must be planned out. It's a sick, sick world I live in .

Can I join your support group?

DW insists that we go to the beach for a week in Rehoboth at the beginning of every summer because there is nothing for me to plan or research, and she can actually relax (a little). Even there, though, I get all stressed if we aren't out of the house by 7:30 so that we can walk to the French Pastry place that opens at 8. The lines start getting long if you don't get there when it opens, and I hate waiting in lines if it can be avoided. I guess we even have a "touring plan" for Rehoboth mornings, since we know to hit the coffee place after the pastry place because that order produces the shortest lines and least wait. I guess I have some kind of sickness. I'm lucky that DW puts up w/ me.