has anyone else done this?

[DSTPDISNEY]

I leave in 25 days, I swear that I have planned this trip right down to the minute maybe even second. I am so excited I am crazy. I hope that I won't be disappointed or neither will my family. What should I expcect for crowds? Manageable? I don't care about walk on rides, but maybe like 10-15 minute waits at most? Help me out here I am going nuts with excitement.

 

[njchris]

Hey! are you following me there???



I think crowds will be fine, but I do get fast passes first for the rides I like the most... I play it by ear, but have an idea of what to do and when things happen..etc..etc..

Too much planning causes too much stress for me and I'd feel obligated to follow it, instead of just having fun.

I'd suggest not to stress if you can't do it all.

 

[ReneeLMT]

Just relax and have fun! You cant control how busy the parks will be...just go with the flow. I think the parks will be quieter than at a lot of other times of the year.

 

[dreamergirl78]

I feel your pain and excitement! We leave on the 30th. I was told a great piece of advice! BREATH!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy the fact that you are there. We have planned as much as possible so whatever happens will happen. Enjoy yourself and maybe we'll bump into each other. Have a MAGICAL time!

 

[LUVMICKEY]

Just relax and enjoy being there. We do all the planning too and try to, for the most part, stick to it, but if we can't, we don't stress over it. We always keep all our ADR's and work in everything else as much as we can. I know your excitment. We go in 88 days and we just can't wait to go. Have and enjoy the magic.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

Don't try to do it all, you will just make yourself crazy and miserable. Try to build in some breathing room for the unexpected because sometimes its the things you dont expect to do you have the best time doing.

 

[tiberius]

No, you are not the only one to have done that--far from the only one! Remember, that you will need to take the time to enjoy everything, so do not stress out when you find yourself going "off-plan" for awhile!

Enjoy!

 

[Corryn]

I'm a planner....I want to be able to account for all my time when I'm in Disney. However, the past couple of trips have changed my mind. Yes, I've planned dinner ressies, but I've planned 3 ressies for the same day, just different restaurants. If I don't plan on using a ressie, I always cancel.
But I found that when I plan like crazy and something doesn't work out, I wind up getting really pissed off.
When we're alone as a family, it's one thing to plan; but we're going with other members of our family and I don't want to be known as the pissed-off hag because things didn't go my way. I've made a bunch of dinner ressies (one in each park) so we can go with the flow, and no matter what park we'll be in, we'll have a dinner ressie waiting for us.
As far as planning on trekking around? My advice: Plan, but also plan for the unexpected; and when things aren't turning out the way you would like, have a plan B and a plan C

Have Fun!!!

 

[TeresaMc]

I just returned home last night from 5 nights at the WL and it was a totally different vacation than our past trips. In the past I, like you, had everything planned down to a "t" we got alot done had alot of fun and were dead tired. This time I kind of had a plan, got to the parks early but not necessarily at rope drop, took afternoon breaks, just kind of wandered and did whatever was along our way. We missed a few things but it too was an enjoyable vacation so I'd say there are pros to both methods.

 

[janet715]

The end of september is a great time to go. We never had more than a 10 minute wait. This year, we made a last minute surprise trip for our son and honeymooned in disney in august. BIG MISTAKE! Wait times were at 80 minutes. It's back to september for our next trip... and every trip after that!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I have planned this trip right down to the minute maybe even second.

Don't get me wrong here, because I LOVE planning...especially for a trip to WDW, but I find often times some of the BEST times were ones that weren't in the plan! Plans are great, but remember they are not written in stone and deviating is not only ok, but can lead to a magical moment!

Ok....THAT being said, end of September should be good crowd wise, you probably will find alot of 10-15 minutes waits, but you will probably see longer than that for the most popular rides so definitely Fast Pass those and you should be fine. But even if lines are longer than you expect........you'll be at DISNEY and will have a wonderful time! ENJOY!

 

[deany]

There are sure lots of us DISers going the same time. We check in at POR on Sept 30, just in time for free dining. I also have been planning and stressing out about ADR's. Now I am going to give it a rest until we go. I have planned our TS only and the parks for each day and I have a general plan for each day until about noon and then we will just go with the flow. Somehow my best laid plans often fall apart...LOL Nevertheless, it is going to be a very fun time!!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'd never plan a WDW trip to that level, but that is just me. We like to be flexible. If one park is crowded, or a ride is down for the day that we want to ride, we cal always hop to another park. We only make one ADR per day, and even that can be a challenge to get to the right place at the right time - esp if you take an afternoon break. I've even called to change the time of an ADR - sometimes sucessful, sometimes not. Getting everyone up for a breakfast ADR can be good, but also challenging too. You just can't plan for certain things so there isno point in stressing over it.

WE tend to stress over wasted time instead. Like, "Ooh, we just missed that bus to MK and it's mid-day. Maybe we should just hop on the next park bus we see." We've done that and it worked well.

 

[Lynne M]

IMO, "planning down to the minute" is a terrible mistake, and a sure way to stress yourself out. It's also impossible to stick to. On your very first morning, something is going to happen that's going to screw up your plan. A line for a ride will take longer than you think, the busses will be running slow....you get the idea. What if you come across one of the many performances that go on in the park and your family wants to stop and watch/listen?

The 'magic' that people talk about finding at WDW comes in the little things, often the little things that happen when your plans go awry. Most of my favorite WDW moments happened after the plan got messed up.

You need to have ADRs, and so you need to know which parks you'll be in around mealtimes. You also need to figure out how to use fastpass. Then make a list of the rides/shows your family wants to see. And then toss the rest of the 'down to the minute' plans. You and your family will have a much better time.

 

[janet715]

DH always plans our trips down to the minute. I hated it at forst, but it is nice to have a plan. However, on this past trip, the BEST thing we did was take one day and be completely spontaneous. We changed the parks we went to, the stuff we saw, even our meal reservations.. all at the last minute. AND it was all HIS idea.

 

[Tinkerbell_Tiffany]

same here!
I had our last trip planned too much, this time we are gonna take our time and do what we want, no rushing.
have fun and mabe we will run into each other!
lots of us going during that time...mabe we should do a dis meet!!!

 

[aztecgoods]

Just relax and enjoy being there. We do all the planning too and try to, for the most part, stick to it, but if we can't, we don't stress over it. We always keep all our ADR's and work in everything else as much as we can. I know your excitment. We go in 88 days and we just can't wait to go. Have and enjoy the magic.

My thoughts exactly, I do plan alot too, but don't let "sticking to a plan" get in the way of just having fun, don't stress if the plan gets thwarted somewhere, just use it as a basic guide line that is flexible (Kinda like the pirates code!!! he he)

 

[erinch]

more "just relax" advice. Tell yourself that there is no possible way that every moment you've planned will go off without a hitch. A storm might come up. Someone might lose their sunglasses. Someone might melt down and need to sleep in.

If the plan goes off target, adapt, enjoy what comes along instead, and pick it back up again. Don't let yourself fall into the trap of worrying about little things that go "wrong." Enjoy everything that goes right.

Above all, Disney magic strikes unpredictably. The moments you thought might be most magic might turn out to feel a little flat.

But suddenly, out of the blue, it will hit....genuine magic. Put those in your trip report, soak it in, and remember them forever.

You'll have a wonderful time.