avalon451
Errrr... what?
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
- Messages
- 4,248
Hi, on another thread a poster was worried about how to go about writing her itinerary. She'd read all the tips threads but just wasn't sure how to put it together, with or without Ridemax, etc.
I'm not going to debate the "commando" vs. "go with the flow" thing here; it's kind of apples and oranges, depending on if you go often, like an AP'er, or if this is a once a year or once-in-a-lifetime thing. Also it's just what works for you individually. Some people just do better if they have an idea of what they'd like to do.
So, if you follow a touring plan, how do YOU create that plan?
I thought I would detail how I did it this time. I had only been once before, but I planned excessively, and this time I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted to do that we'd missed last time. I have read the Unofficial Guide and studied their pre-made plans. I've used Ridemax and worked out innumerable schedules with that, and found a few things I didn't like about it. I'd read Hydroguy's touring tips, which were probably the most practical and helpful of all. All three of these, combined with a set of park maps sitting open in front of me, so I could check and see where things were, helped me to come up with our own itinerary that worked.
First, I listed the shows and events that we missed last time, due to my DD13 being sick the whole time. This included the Parade of Dreams, the Pixar parade, Billy Hill, and the fireworks.
Then I looked at the park maps for each park, one "land" at a time, and put each ride into a category: "Do it once," "maybe repeats," "experience it every day," and "don't really want to do this." Examples: I wanted to try Roger Rabbit but knew it wouldn't be a priority, so it was "Do it once." Winnie was a "maybe repeat." Space, Pirates and HMH were definitely "every day" and Autopia was "Don't really wanna."
Then I labeled a sheet of paper with the 5 days we'd be there, Sun-Thurs, and started dividing up the events. I decided what days to see the shows, when they were available-- Fireworks would be Sunday and Monday, the only days they would be scheduled. Then I put the rides we'd want to do daily down. Then I divided up the rest, according to how close they were to each other. While we parkhopped almost every day, I dedicated one day to concentrating more on CA. So then I had a list of rides for every day, and i just had to arrange them in an order of convenience, proximity to each other, and how to get FPs most efficiently. We worked around our PS dining schedule, too, and planned to break back at the hotel for a couple of hours every day, in the afternoon.
For example: Tuesday was MM, and we had a character breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza at 10:30. So I planned Fantasyland and our favorites before breakfast, getting two FPs before we went to the Plaza, and then hopping over to DCA afterward.
Clear as mud?
So how do YOU do it? Help out some fellow DIS'ers with your tips on writing your itineraries!
I'm not going to debate the "commando" vs. "go with the flow" thing here; it's kind of apples and oranges, depending on if you go often, like an AP'er, or if this is a once a year or once-in-a-lifetime thing. Also it's just what works for you individually. Some people just do better if they have an idea of what they'd like to do.
So, if you follow a touring plan, how do YOU create that plan?
I thought I would detail how I did it this time. I had only been once before, but I planned excessively, and this time I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted to do that we'd missed last time. I have read the Unofficial Guide and studied their pre-made plans. I've used Ridemax and worked out innumerable schedules with that, and found a few things I didn't like about it. I'd read Hydroguy's touring tips, which were probably the most practical and helpful of all. All three of these, combined with a set of park maps sitting open in front of me, so I could check and see where things were, helped me to come up with our own itinerary that worked.
First, I listed the shows and events that we missed last time, due to my DD13 being sick the whole time. This included the Parade of Dreams, the Pixar parade, Billy Hill, and the fireworks.
Then I looked at the park maps for each park, one "land" at a time, and put each ride into a category: "Do it once," "maybe repeats," "experience it every day," and "don't really want to do this." Examples: I wanted to try Roger Rabbit but knew it wouldn't be a priority, so it was "Do it once." Winnie was a "maybe repeat." Space, Pirates and HMH were definitely "every day" and Autopia was "Don't really wanna."
Then I labeled a sheet of paper with the 5 days we'd be there, Sun-Thurs, and started dividing up the events. I decided what days to see the shows, when they were available-- Fireworks would be Sunday and Monday, the only days they would be scheduled. Then I put the rides we'd want to do daily down. Then I divided up the rest, according to how close they were to each other. While we parkhopped almost every day, I dedicated one day to concentrating more on CA. So then I had a list of rides for every day, and i just had to arrange them in an order of convenience, proximity to each other, and how to get FPs most efficiently. We worked around our PS dining schedule, too, and planned to break back at the hotel for a couple of hours every day, in the afternoon.
For example: Tuesday was MM, and we had a character breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza at 10:30. So I planned Fantasyland and our favorites before breakfast, getting two FPs before we went to the Plaza, and then hopping over to DCA afterward.
Clear as mud?
So how do YOU do it? Help out some fellow DIS'ers with your tips on writing your itineraries!
Can't wait to hear more ideas since I need more of a plan for our December trip.
, the little hideaways. Sometimes we commando it, ropedrop until they kick us out, and other times our trip is totally relaxed. About the only thing I do is figure out what restaurants I think we'd like to try (we usually do one sit down meal a day, and try to go back to old favorites as well as try new places). This December, on a day that we plan to spend mostly at DCA, we are going to have dinner with the princesses (Brrt will indulge me and do this). We love Goofy's for brunch, may go back to the BB although the prices are insane now, and might go back to Ralph Brennan's -- the banana's foster is fabulous. We will take advantage of our MM to hit Fantasyland and hopefully get in PP, Matterhorn, and Nemo before the lines are too long. We are meeting a DIS friend on Saturday, and a friend of mine from work and her mom on Sun or Mon...that's about the extent of our plan!
It can't be! There is so much left to see...so much uncharted territory. We can't...go....h-h-h-...home...
So after one too many times of this sort of needless scenario transpiring, I decided to just accept and embrace my identity - Sherry the Planner it shall be! I knew I needed to take the reins and guide all future trips to ensure that we had very few of those moments where we thought we had nothing to do.
