Have you thought about all of the decisions involved in booking one WDW vacation?

[Alice Sr.]

The time of year. (low attendance, low point value, events, holidays).
The resort and room size/view.
The dining options (plans vs. cash).
Touring plans (what parks what days, EMH or no)
Event options
Ticket choices (more to consider given the blackout dates on the basic/gold AP)
Restaurants (make sure you know when your booking window opens!)
FP selections (how are you going to spend those FP options!)

If you are like me you are juggling multiple home resorts with extended family schedules (my 2 DD's/families). It's a crazy matrix and a real time sucker but after all these years and the added complexity, I still love it. I can't imagine how complex and overwhelming it must be for someone who hasn't gone in a while, or ever!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Well, when we go, it is just us. Our next two trips consist of two people. After that, it depends on when my son has school. (College) But even then, it will be three people.

We never travel during the holidays. I just can't handle the crowds. So we don't worry about blackout days.

But, yes, touring plans, dining plans, event options, restaurant options and FP selections can be a full time job. And like you, I love it.

 

[loves to dive]

I don't own DVC despite the fact that I go twice a year I've run the numbers and it just doesn't come out for me, but I'll go for the rest.

Time of year doesn't matter to me although I tend to go during F&G and F&W just because I like the booths, my kid is grown and my honey doesn't do vacation so I travel solo most of the time.
Since I'm not DVC any resort but a value is o.k. with me, I tried the values and just can't go there. I never worry about view, even though I love to sit on my balcony in the morning with a cup of coffee or at night with a glass of wine I've really never had a bad view and I never ask for any thing special.
Dining options are not an issue for me, I pay cash. Dining plan isn't even on my radar.
Touring plans - don't make them. I've never even looked at the touring plans websites except for to see what everyone is talking about. I don't worry about EMH, I go to whatever park my little heart wants to and if there is a crowd, I hop on over to somewhere else.
I've never done any of the special events like the Halloween Party or Christmas Party but I do try to do one special tour or something every trip. It's kind of fun to find something new with those.
I have a regular AP so no black out dates and before I got that, I always just bought length of stay park hoppers.
Restaurants - If I book early it's usually about a week early, more often than not it's the night before or day of. We like trying new places and since it's either me solo or me and my grown son, time doesn't matter.
FP - another thing I don't book until about a week early and more often than not I'm either cancelling or changing on the fly. Just doesn't matter to me if I want to ride something, I'll stand in line.

I think unless you are someone who is on the boards a lot, you don't know that BOG is a must have (it's not for me by the way) or that if you don't ride SDMT your life will end so going might be a little easier for those people. Yes, they might stand in lines a little longer than some but if you are used to going to your local 6 flags that is normal any way. I would think most people kind of sort of do a little research on somewhere to stay no matter where they are going so rooms and views are easy enough to sort out. ADRs can be had for most of the restaurants and if you are a first time visitor and never visited the boards, you have the advantage of not missing something you've never had.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I've given up

Decisions I now make
1. Am I going to Orlando?
2. Which resort?
3. Do I want to go to another park or just relax at resort?

The other parks in Orlando have this unique idea that you can decide what you want to do when you get there and not plan every minute of every day 6 months in advance! Plus they have been putting their investment into their parks in Orlando instead of charging me extra to pay for a park in China!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I've given up

Decisions I now make
1. Am I going to Orlando?
2. Which resort?
3. Do I want to go to another park or just relax at resort?

The other parks in Orlando have this unique idea that you can decide what you want to do when you get there and not plan every minute of every day 6 months in advance! Plus they have been putting their investment into their parks in Orlando instead of charging me extra to pay for a park in China!

That doesn't work for me.

I don't like "thrill" rides. In fact, I don't even ride TT at HS. I haven't read, and have no desire to read, Harry Potter. I'm not a fan of Transformers or Kong.

I've been to Universal, twice. One on each coast. Eh. I guess I am just a little kid at heart.

 

[com_op_2000]

DW and I go when we want to go.
Take along whomever we choose to at that time.
Have a go with the flow attitude concerning going to the parks or just staying at the resort.
When we go to parks we see/do what we want to see/do at that time and even if we get FPs, we do not always use them.
We do not worry about food planning, we still spend the same amount per day as when we first started going together back in the '80s.

 

[keishashadow]

I consider the mental challenge a good alternative to daily suduko

 

[edk35]

It is very complicated now but I think it's the FP system that stresses me out.

 

[holcomb-mania]

I have to agree. Add in the fact that you need to plan transportation to the parks. We go in the morning, break in the afternoon and return at night. Waiting and riding buses can eat up 2-3 hours of your day. At UO you just decide the pace you want to walk. I understand the scale differentials, but Universal Express is so much better than FP+.

We're 10yr DVC members and I have to admit that it's more relaxing and more fun at UO.

 

[Micca]

It does seem like a lot, but it's possible to book a room, get plane tickets and wing it. It depends on how picky you are about saving time & money. Of course most of us are concerned with both of those factors.

 

[Anal Annie]

The time of year. (low attendance, low point value, events, holidays).
The resort and room size/view.
The dining options (plans vs. cash).
Touring plans (what parks what days, EMH or no)
Event options
Ticket choices (more to consider given the blackout dates on the basic/gold AP)
Restaurants (make sure you know when your booking window opens!)
FP selections (how are you going to spend those FP options!)

If you are like me you are juggling multiple home resorts with extended family schedules (my 2 DD's/families). It's a crazy matrix and a real time sucker but after all these years and the added complexity, I still love it. I can't imagine how complex and overwhelming it must be for someone who hasn't gone in a while, or ever!

First, not like you as we only own at 1 resort and are "points challenged" at the one we do own at so we can't afford to bring extended family so we don't have those challenges. But thinking that it wasn't always this complicated. The new FP+ system is a royal pain on top of Disney constantly changing park hours at the last minute - they want us to plan out every minute of every day then they withhold or change critical information needed months in advance. How can you plan a late dinner at a park months in advance when they don't update the park hours in a timely manner? When to go & where to stay are the easy parts...we only use studios and we don't splurge on views so that's easy too. For tix we buy AP's so not a lot of decisions there either...as far as meals go the more expensive they raise the prices the fewer TS meals we plan so that becomes a game of trying to not repeat CS options too many times in a week. I do agree that there's a big learning curve for someone who's never been or for someone who hasn't been in forever. But I also think they have no clue about all the planning that some folks do - they stay off-site & they just go, blindly. They don't know what they're missing so no harm no foul.

 

[mort1331]

Heading this Sept, just youngest dd and I. This time we are winging it, have the room and dates, nothing else. We will book MHSSHP and DVC AK night, but that is it. Not even sure about booking our FP because we want to be flex this time. It is a slower season so not too worrried.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We use a much more simplified process.

Motivation: We are stressed. We need to go to Disney to unstress.

Decision 1: When can DW and I find time in our schedule? That's the date.
Decision 2: Which resort is open? Usually not many that have a 1BR at the short time frame, so not many 'choices' to make. Sometimes if we can book further out, we'll get one of our homes. that's an easy choice.

May make an FP+. May not. Who cares? If I do, I may keep it. May not. Who knows? Doesn't really register on the decision-meter because it doesn't matter.
May make an ADR. May not. Who cares? Those I will keep generally if I make them. Only one I ever really care about is Via Nappoli on arrival day. It's a tradition, you see. You don't mess with tradition.

Don't know what day we are going to what park except for any FP+ I may have made. And who even knows if I am going to keep those? I may. I may not. who cares?

It's all very easy when you don't care, you see.

 

[Vijoge]

A co-worker and I are both in the planning process (different dates, though) I love to plan-she hates it. She hired a TA. She wanted someone to just tell her where to be and when to be there. But she has the dining plan and only three ADR's. . .

 

[automaticsoap]

Honestly, I don't find it any more complicated than planning any other vacation. I actually find it easier to plan for WDW since I go so often. For example, I have two upcoming trips scheduled to Glacier National Park and London -- and they both require a lot of research and planning as well.

 

[Anthony1971]

Do not pull kids out of school so when I go is the summer now... use to go all different times...
Now that there is fast pass plus we plan what days we go to the parks and that causes stress--hate it...
years ago it could be whatever bus came first...
no plan=no stress
I will say we have been going for a long time which makes things a lot easier... do not never have never will buy into I need reservations to eat (never had an issue) and all other planning.. yes you need to use fast pass plus for some rides but truthfully one in each park is enough...lets just see every park section has lows at certain times of the day....with the exception of new rides.

 

[Castillo Mom]

i enjoy planning our trips and do so well in advance. In fact, that's why I'm on the DIS right now! That being said, we haven't set foot in a park since 2012, so with all the changes, I almost feel like a newb. In all honesty, FP+ is what's throwing me for a loop. Gone are the days when we could stack fast passes and allowed to use them beyond the return time, so this time around I'm going to have to adjust to the new (for us anyway) system.

Time of year is a no brainer for us now that my sons are all grown and out of school. Length of stay isn't an issue either, in fact next trip will be 16 days so that we can relax and enjoy the resort.

Planning for dining this time will also be a bit of a challenge, but in a good way with so many new venues that we haven't tried yet.

Bottom line is that while there's a bit of anxiety with planning, it's half the fun for me!

 

[Minniesgal]

I don't particularly find the decisions all that onerous.

When to go is usually dictated by work and schools
Which size of room is dictated by home many kids are coming with us. 1 and we do a 1 bedroom any more we do a 2 bedroom
Resorts we pretty much always start with home resorts of which we have 2
Parks we start with EPCOT, the HS, then AK and always finish at MK.
We always do 16-18 nights.
We have 3 or 4 favourite signatures then cook.

 

[hardis5]

We use a much more simplified process.

Motivation: We are stressed. We need to go to Disney to unstress.

Decision 1: When can DW and I find time in our schedule? That's the date.
Decision 2: Which resort is open? Usually not many that have a 1BR at the short time frame, so not many 'choices' to make. Sometimes if we can book further out, we'll get one of our homes. that's an easy choice.

May make an FP+. May not. Who cares? If I do, I may keep it. May not. Who knows? Doesn't really register on the decision-meter because it doesn't matter.
May make an ADR. May not. Who cares? Those I will keep generally if I make them. Only one I ever really care about is Via Nappoli on arrival day. It's a tradition, you see. You don't mess with tradition.

Don't know what day we are going to what park except for any FP+ I may have made. And who even knows if I am going to keep those? I may. I may not. who cares?

It's all very easy when you don't care, you see.

I use an even simpler version of your approach that involves a possible doom loop.

Decision 1: When can DW and I find time in our schedule?

That's the date....BUT first I need to check my bank balance to see if it has recovered from our last stay. It if it has not recovered (more often than not) I find when in our schedule it will likely have recovered and if within the booking window (more often than not) I will book for that time. If not the plans are abandoned and I come back to reality to deal with life until your same motivator grows a little more to start the decision process all over again...and again...and again.

 

[AinW]

Aug will be my 20th trip to WDW but 1st since FP+ started. I'm a planner -usually enjoy travel planning but definitely much more stress now due to FP+. I routinely travel to Asia & Europe with multiple connections & challenges & take it in stride.

I totally agree that it's even tougher with last minute park hour changes. My family depends on me to be the expert & get it right & I don't feel I can maintain my usual standards. Maybe it will feel better when we're there & doing it but this is definitely the most pre-trip stress I've experienced. Already I'm cursing myself for choosing Soarin over FEA for our Epcot day because there are more ways to do Soarin!