Have Your Trips Gone Well With Last Minute Changes??

[Tia1977]

Ok, so excited beyond belief. Leaving for a 2 week stay in 3 days; our 1st famlily WDW trip. But, freaking out now that everything's changing?!? I've been doing everything "right" . Stalking this board for over a year (yes, truly stalking EVERY day).Paid for touring plan. com and customized plans. Paid TA (who I ADORE) extra for more plans. I know almost every other WDW planning website by heart. Up at midnight on the 60 day FP window night. Was begging DH back in Dec ( 180 mark) to get involved; tell me about ADR's he wanted-etc. He thought I was nuts " who plans where to eat/what to do 6 months in advance". So, DD and I set out to plan what we wanted instead. After begging this long, he FINALLY started looking & deciding on things ONE week ago!?! Him" are we going to HS, you know I love Star Wars & they have this thing on the weekends". Me ( after wanting to explode) " that thing I told you about 6 months ago for us to book if you wanted; & no-HS isn't scheduled". Him " can we go on a weekend and do all the Star Wars stuff?". He works REALLY hard & deserves huge fun, I'm not a wizard though! So, as a domino effect of upgrading more days for HS on a Sat, it has absolutely changed over half my plan!?! AND, probably forget ANY of the "really cool" Star Wars things he saw online bc of course as normal; ADR & FP's gone by now ( to appease him, I call every day for availability) We'll be in the "general crowd". So, here's my question (now that my hysterical vent is out). Do any of your plans change last minute and your family still has fun? All your plans sound so put together when I read them, so like it will flow perfectly; & mine just got shot out the water & turned around . I even gave up highly coveted MK FP's the other day to suite new plans. AND my "new plans" for over half of our 8 park days are now not really "plans" anymore; but more like "guidelines ". And to add to the fun, really no Rope Drops (although will close down the parks) AND now I'm STILL changing my mind on FP times?!?! Are we doomed? I'm seriously scared of "ruining" DD's and DH's experience and feel like I " prepped" long enough not to. After over a year on this board, hearing how you have it "down", I feel like I'm about ready to walk in there as one of "those" (no good plan then horrible days) with the knowledge enough to know we somehow screwed up

 

[animalkingdom15]

I will find out tomorrow. Going for 8 nights and have changed everything in the last few days from room types, times were flying in, to restaurant reservations and the day SSW at HS is going to be done.

 

[MataHari22]

Breathe. Deep breath. Now let it out. I don't think I've been on a trip yet that I have not had to make adjustments on the fly. But that is ok, because you've done your homework and know how to adjust, and if you cannot figure it out and it's major, you can always jump on here and ask a question and someone will have the answer. The only way it'll be ruined, is if you let it. Don't forget to live in the moment while you're there and don't get so caught up in plans, that you miss the experience and the bigger picture. It'll be ok.

 

[Mouse of Mystery]

Plans always change and we always manage to have fun. Don't let it drive you nuts because you're still probably more informed than the average visitor and even your partial plans will get you farther than if you have none.

As a person that likes to plan things out, I feel your pain. I know it's a lot of hard work and it's a little unnerving to start unraveling everything. You may not get to do everything you planned (ouch, no RD, really??) but it's such a fun place to be that if you take your time and stay focused on the fun that it's unlikely anyone's vacation would be ruined.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Plans always change. I think you have to look at it as a guideline and be ok if it doesn't all go as planned. There are things to do and see that you simply can't plan for. Like all the baby ducks that were in the parks in April. We made an unplanned stop and sat outside of Casey's one morning in MK so my DS could watch a mommy duck and her chicks. No FP+ for that! I wouldn't fret and suggest you occasionally stop to smell the roses. Otherwise, you may end up driving yourself nuts.

As far as Star Wars weekend, is the premium or deluxe premium package available for your Star Wars day? We did the deluxe package and I highly recommend it. I also used DisneyDiningBuddy to find last minute reservations for the Star Wars meals and was able to get Rebel Hangar and Jedi Mickey dinner. You may want to give it a try!

 

[Tia1977]

Thank you guys so much! I literally have to keep telling myself to breath I don't know why, but I'm so intimidated by how last minute things are changing! I guess I thought everything would happen as if in my head, lol! The Star Wars Premium or Deluxe packages are what I keep calling for everyday lol . Not that I'm delusional to think it's still available; but to show DH that I'm trying. Lol, he acts like he doesn't remember 6 months ago when I BEGGED him to research & tell me what he wanted.

 

[Jennytoon]

OK, breathe. Here is the deal IMO. As long as you do not spend all your time waiting in lines, you will have fun. Even if you spend a good bit of time waiting in lines, you will have fun. Especially since it is your first trip.

In the MK, you do not have to ride Splash AND BTMRR AND Space AND JC AND HM AND 7DMT all, or else your trip will be a total waste. It's just not true. You can ride Splash and Space and BTMRR on FP, and you can wait in a medium line for JC and ride it standby. If you don't have a FP, you can figure out something about 7DMT, or you can just decide to pretend you've stepped into a time warp and the ride doesn't exist -- millions of people came to WDW and had a terrific time before 7DMT existed, so I can't imagine that it will ruin your entire trip if you don't get to ride it. And ... you might still get to experience every single thing you planned, even with the changes.

In DHS, you do not have to ride ToT AND RnR AND TSMM to have a successful day. You just don't. You'll certainly manage to get on at least one or two of those with FP+, and maybe even still all three. But if you miss one it will not be the end of the world unless you let it be.

You will be with your family, and it will be a great time. And you will discover things that may not have been in your plans, because they happen to have a short wait time -- some of them you will love, some them you'll be like ... OK, I did that. But you'll be doing them together, and it will be a good time.

Many people say things like "I'll never wait in a line longer than 20 minutes", especially on this board, but you know what? Splash is a 10 minute ride once you get on. You'll find the queues often move quickly, and some of them have activities in them. The theming in the queues, especially if you've never been before, is an experience in itself. So yes, for some rides I would get in a line longer than 20 minutes -- just not too many in one day.

Your guidelines will be fine. Your FP times will be fine, or if not you'll change them. Your knowledge will enable you to adapt. And truthfully -- even if it wasn't for DH's last minute input, you would have likely changed things on the fly anyway.

The only other advice I have to offer, as a SW buff who made it to SWW this year for the first time -- if you RD no other day, get to DHS in time for the Stormtrooper welcome. It really sets a great tone for the whole day. There are real, live stormtroopers, right there in front of you! It's awesome! Pomp! Circumstance! Thousands of other people, energized by the same event, waiting to be set loose on the park! Having seen it once I would class it as desirable but not a must-do if I were ever to get there again, but if you've not been before then don't miss it if you can help it.

 

[eyehartdisney]

With a two week trip, I find it hard to believe you can't hit all the parks as part of your original plan. And call the night before for reservations to the star wars meals, you could very well get lucky, people cancel last minute like that fairly often. Kids get sick, etc. Book early, or look late seems to be the best strategies in this instance. But otherwise, breathe. You won't do everything. You need to make that your mantra right now, because you just won't. But it is possible to do quite a lot of things, or even many things. Possibly, if you're lucky, you can do most things, but you won't do everything. And that's okay. It's a theme park, there won't be a test afterwards.

 

[tchrrx]

I am a huge planner. When we got to AK yesterday morning, we were only 20 minutes early instead of an hour early. Then, when we walked back to EE, it was down! But, we walked to Dinosaur and while walking, I changed my FP for that to a Nemo one so we wouldn't have to wait in the hot sun as long later.

Today I realized I didn't like our PotC FP time, so I changed it on a whim too.

It's all worked out fine. I'm learning to relax a little and everything is still working out. We've even had moments where I've asked DH and DD their opinions on what to do next. ;-)

 

[mckennarose]

So, here's my question (now that my hysterical vent is out). Do any of your plans change last minute and your family still has fun?

YES!!!

I'm definitely a planner and found that for me, I had to let go of thinking I HAD to keep to the plan! Sometimes you have to go with the flow. I do think its important to know your surroundings for those unexpected things that come up. Especially in MK!

For example; on one of our MK days two weeks ago my "plan" was to hit POTC, then Haunted Mansion before our Peter Pan FP+. We were not doing rope drop and trying to do a leisurely pace. We got to Pirates and it was down (big surprise), walked up to HM and it was down! So we went to Small World, which is not my family's favorite, and we had a great time on it. Everyone understood that things happen and we had to adapt. That same day we had SDMT FP+ and as we got closer to our time I saw the sky start to darken. I had my family get in line right as our time opened (I think we skipped the Little Mermaid, which was next in the "plan") and as soon as we got off, they closed the ride because of weather. SDMT was important for us because we missed it last trip. If I stuck to the "plan", we would have missed it again.

My DH is not a planner and likes to go with the flow. He decided to stop for ice cream at the Plaza and we ate it in one of the new grassy areas. There was hardly anyone there and we got the best pictures of the family with the castle in the background with no one behind or on the sides of us. Much better pics than on main street! That detour gave us great memories!

You'll have a fantastic time, even if you have to deviate from the "plan"! Try to be flexible and not worry if things change.

 

[loves to dive]

We don't really plan a lot, we are lucky enough to have been a number of times (I'm guessing around 23 or 25) through the years so we pretty much have it down. Two weeks ago my DS, DIL and myself were there for F&G at Epcot. Originally it was going to be a solo trip for me so I booked a few ADRs that I knew I wanted, booked rooms just for me and FP for different things my DS doesn't usually want to do. Thennnnnnnnn - DS and DIL were able to come, quick change rooms, try to add on to ADRs, switch out FPs. DS is disabled retired Navy so any rides that might hurt his neck or back were out. Then after talking to them, once again, changed rooms and ADRs. A few days into the trip, we decided since we were having to take it a little easier than normal we needed another night, quick get on the phone and find an additional night (it was already a split stay with 2 nights at AKV and 3 nights at BWV) so one more room switch. So great, now I'll get to see Herman's Hermits at Epcot, yippee, jumping for joy cause I really wanted to see them. Walking around Epcot on a whim decided to stop at one of the DVC booths, told them wanted to be back by 5:30 to see show. No problem, we'll get you back. Not buying DVC, no way, nope not doing it. DIL and DS buy DVC, don't get back to Epcot until around 7 since had to move to new room, DS had to rest. Starving hungry, no ADRs, can't get in anywhere so it's snacks at Mexico (o.k. guac, queso and margeritas) missed Herman's Hermits, oh well. There were days we would say we wanted a TS meal so I would get on MDE find something available and book it on the fly. We only used one FP per day, some days didn't need them, some days DS was too tired, some days just walking around and decided to do something different. It turned out to be a great trip, did almost nothing of the few plans I had made.

 

[seelyt2]

@MataHari22 is spot on!!! Plus, there's only so much you can control in this life, so control only what you can and let go of the rest. Whatever will be - - will be. Have the best time YOU can

 

[tink9702]

Yes definitely! I had planned to spend maybe 20 minutes at Tom Sawyer Island, but the kids LOVED it and the adults had a bunch of fun too on the barrel bridges and we spent over an hour. Some of the best memories are from there when grandpa almost fell off the bridge and of my son's face as he was having the best time exploring. Also our HS day didn't turn out as expected. The kids were tired so we ended up leaving earlier than expected and enjoyed the pool more than the tantrums that were going to happen if we stayed at HS.

It WILL work out, and if you can relax you will all have a great time!

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

After four trips with the kids the best advice I can give is- have a plan- do the prep work to make the vacation everything you want it to be- and then when your plan is all set and you're ready to go- PLAN to go with the flow. Its gonna be great and magical and the trip I love the most was our most recent one- where I changed FP on the fly, and moved dining reservations around, and even cancelled a MK day with Anna and Elsa FP, Seven Dwarfs FP, 8am breakfast at BOG because my kids just wanted a day at the resort. Disney is what you make it- and running around trying to fit in all the ADRS and all the FP+'s and all the other things on your touring plans gets hectic and leads to stress.


What are your plans so far? Maybe we can all help you! Do you have park hoppers? which parks are you planning on going to and when? where are you staying?

Oh Man, Im excited for you!

 

[TVmom]

I am in the same position as you Tia1977, first trip in 10 days! Thanks for this thread because it has put me at ease a little too. I was freaking out a couple weeks back when they changed the MK opening to 8am and I have a 8:20 CRT ADR. People kept recommending to drop it because I was going to have longer lines, but I know my DD will LOVE this experience and isn't that what Disney is supposed to be about?

I feel much better reading all these replies!

 

[foohpah]

I am a planner. I plan and plan and re-plan. My family shows up. Once we get down there I am lucky to make it to noon of the first day before things start shifting once they start having opinions. I have done the research so changes in plans don't bother me too much - I can still feel like I have some good knowledge of crowd patterns, etc. if my family changes parks on me. Honestly it is best to just give in to it and go with the flow. We don't do everything every trip but we always have a great time and some of my very favorite memories came about because we changed the plan on the fly.

 

[RookieLady]

Thank you guys so much! I literally have to keep telling myself to breath I don't know why, but I'm so intimidated by how last minute things are changing! I guess I thought everything would happen as if in my head, lol! The Star Wars Premium or Deluxe packages are what I keep calling for everyday lol . Not that I'm delusional to think it's still available; but to show DH that I'm trying. Lol, he acts like he doesn't remember 6 months ago when I BEGGED him to research & tell me what he wanted.

Get on the SWW thread immediately. People are trading these packages and dinner reservations.

 

[itchin2go]

I plan like crazy, and normally halfway through the trip, my family (who couldn't be bothered to plan ahead of time ... or even answer my questions!) says, "Oh, can we eat there?" or "Why don't we do this?". I don't even roll my eyes anymore. I try to make what they want happen. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. I'm actually kind of relieved when they "engage" because it's not all on my back anymore.

Now, rope drop to me is non-negotiable, but if they want a different park or a different restaurant or don't want to ride Peter Pan - ok with me. I'll do my best.

 

[Tia1977]

Thank you guys so very much for all your input! I was having a meltdown last night (lol). And truth be told now that I feel calm again; adding DH's input really didn't change all the days I thought it did. The biggest culprit of a lot of these changes is myself (lol). Changing what DH wanted was the tip of the iceberg bc when it got my head back into our plans (after not touching them for wks bc they were finally "set"); I started second guessing SO much. And the "responsibility" of being the "planner" if things "tank" weighed heavy....Clarity has thankfully set in, and know what? I've literally scrapped all "plans" in my mini park bible. And started "over" with what best suites "us". Other than FP/ADR/etc, what park on what day, and loose arrival times; (cept we'll now RD on 3 days just to experience the "fun" of it rather than as a "strategy") "plans" are now just my fun compiled notes on everything. And I feel absolutely liberated and more excited than EVER! You guys are the best!

 

[MataHari22]

I started second guessing SO much. And the "responsibility" of being the "planner" if things "tank" weighed heavy....

I can understand your point. I sort of second guess myself and worry more about the plans because it isn't just me that I'm planning for. I travel with a friend and she doesn't really give me any input. I feel like I'm responsible for her having a good time and I worry. The first time we went, I really catered the vacation and made it all about her, because it was pretty much her first trip. She had been only to MK when it first opened. Last year, I made it a little more of a compromise between what we both wanted. It would be way less stressful if I only had to worry about planning for only me. She doesn't realize how much work goes into this. I wish I could just go along for the ride with everything planned for me! Lol.