Having trouble planning a laid back trip to WDW

[msmama]

While I do find that I am generally a laid back traveler the idea of having to pick what to do each day with two toddlers doesn't sit well with me. I feel like I'd be more comfortable planning and then cancelling rather than having to decide on the fly and then get the littles ready for the day.

If it were me I would plan on parks in the morning (especially if we'd be up anyway) and then have my afternoons to do whatever I want. I probably wouldn't do a ton of ADRs (maybe a character brunch or lunch or two) and that's it.

I am always willing (and often do) to change plans but I like having them there.

 

[lustergirl]

Our upcoming trip will be laid back as my hubby is going. We have Sunday- Friday with 6 days in the park. I have just two ressies, one for lunch at Tusker House and one for breakfast at Kona Cafe. I have made fast passes for five of the days, minus Friday. Friday is our departure day but we are leaving late to get to the airport so I still have to plan on what to do that day.

Laid back is sometimes the best, especially if you have been several times before.

 

[Oswin]

That's interesting, your family sounds like the opposite of mine. We are all rope drop commandos (some because we like it, others because they see it as a necessity), we plan the parks we are going to, and then try to ride as many rides as possible in the morning. Then in the afternoon we will split up, some stay in the parks, some go to the pool or nap. We'll meet up again for dinner, where we will discuss heading back to MK to close the park, but most of the time everyone is too tired.

I think me and my siblings being night owls definitely lends to what we do! We're getting to the point now when everyone is together, we do the pools all day and generally don't hit the parks until nighttime, unless it's for a Christmas trip and then we're generally out all day. The funny thing is, when me and my sister go by ourselves, we always plan ADRs on 180 days out to eat where we want to eat at the time we want to eat, and get FP+ every day to use. Our touring styles and things we like to do at the parks are identical, so it's easy for us to fully plan out a trip without any conflict.

 

[poppinspenguins]

Our upcoming trip will be laid back as my hubby is going. We have Sunday- Friday with 6 days in the park. I have just two ressies, one for lunch at Tusker House and one for breakfast at Kona Cafe. I have made fast passes for five of the days, minus Friday. Friday is our departure day but we are leaving late to get to the airport so I still have to plan on what to do that day.

Laid back is sometimes the best, especially if you have been several times before.

No judging...just a question

If 5 days of fast passes and 2 adrs is laid back...what is non laid back? (Truly, honestly, not starting anything ...just wondering what non laid back would look like)

For someone like me...that is a fairly planned trip as you know exactly where you will be to within the hour 17 times.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[joanchris]

We're trying to do this for our trip in May. We've scheduled our fastpasses for later in the day, so (we have hoppers) we can do whatever we like in the a.m. and then later go to the park for the fps, or we've decided that we're not tied to our schedule (aside from two ADRs and one special tour, for our 6 days) so will ditch it, cancel fps if we change our minds. It's just two of us, and I think it will be easier to do with just two, there are usually 4 of us that go.
So, while we have a tentative schedule, it's very loose and except for the day we're going to try to do all the thrill rides at all 4 parks (yes, crazy), hopefully it'll be a little laid back.

 

[DVCcurious]

choose rd or close. Do half day at pool and half at a park. That's what we've done for years and it gives you enough excitement but not so much it becomes upsetting (those who've been near the hub post-fireworks understand "upsetting")

 

[LuvMyEAR]

I think everyone here is circling around the same thing...MAKE some plans, but never be a slave to them. We have used this approach in our last 3 or 4 trips. My daughter and I love to plan, so we indulge as much as we want, even to the point of laying out our trip, day by day, on a dry erase calendar.

I can't stress enough that we love to do this. Trip planning is our "happy place" when life gets crazy. We are so organized, on paper - LOL! We scour menus, forums, newsletters, etc and delight in listing the new experiences we hope to have and old favourites we have to do every trip.

Once the plan is in place, we totally relax with the knowledge of what we could be doing each and every day. And a firm agreement that the plan is in reality our FALL BACK plan. We confer each evening to see if we need to cancel or change an ADR. Over breakfast, we do a quick round table to see how everyone is doing. Anyone need a lazy day or propose any alternative activity? If not, well guess what? We don't have to sit around trying to figure out what to do... We check the plan, which tells us the recommended park, has FP+ arranged, and off we go. Again, we keep in mind that we are vacationing, not striving to complete a checklist, and we can change directions on a whim. Like one hot day when it made us happy to leave AK before our 11 am Kali River FP and head to Blizzard Beach.

So, yes, make your ADRs and book some FPs. Cancel as necessary... and you can be as <ahem> spontaneous and laid back as you want to be.

 

[sunshine1]

You cant have the words 'laid back' and 'WDW' in the same sentence.

One or the another. But not both.

 

[Lucius Best]

I think me and my siblings being night owls definitely lends to what we do! We're getting to the point now when everyone is together, we do the pools all day and generally don't hit the parks until nighttime, unless it's for a Christmas trip and then we're generally out all day. The funny thing is, when me and my sister go by ourselves, we always plan ADRs on 180 days out to eat where we want to eat at the time we want to eat, and get FP+ every day to use. Our touring styles and things we like to do at the parks are identical, so it's easy for us to fully plan out a trip without any conflict.

That all makes sense. Like someone else said here, you need to either do rope drop or stay until park close if you want to maximize your time. It certainly makes it easier to plan, whether it's 6 months out or that morning, if everyone is on the same page and likes doing the same things. When I hear people say they decide what park they are going to that morning, I always envision a long discussion/argument, such as "well if we go to MK again today, when are we going to do AK?". It also probably makes a big difference if you go regularly, it's not the end of the world if you miss something this trip.

I think it is more important for first timers and infrequent visitors to put in some amount of planning, to make fullest use of FP+ and to ensure that they are able to see/eat/experience everything they want.

 

[Oswin]

I think it is more important for first timers and infrequent visitors to put in some amount of planning, to make fullest use of FP+ and to ensure that they are able to see/eat/experience everything they want.

Oh, definitely! When we were little, my mom would definitely do a lot of planning and I think when you travel with small kids you need to have some kind of structure and plan in place to help things go smoothly. Even if it's not planning ADRs or FP+, but knowing which park you will want to visit and what order you want to do the park in, so you can let the kids know expectations for the day. I'm not sure my family would still be going to wdw if our early trips as a big family with us as little kids weren't planned to some extent. I think it's easier to do spur of the moment trips if you're a family that's been before and the kids know what to expect or if you're a group of teens/adults with maybe a baby or toddler thrown in the mix.

 

[ehlander]

This has been a great post to read! We are also going this August, and are first timers with our young kids. Since I know we want to take long afternoon breaks at the pool during the worst heat and humidity of the day, I figure we will be most relaxed touring at rope drop and not trying to fit in all four parks. I am making ADRs and FP reservations because to not make them would be stressful to me. I do not want to eat counter service all week for every meal! plus I do plan to have a free morning mid-stay. Hoping that will make for a fun and yet relaxing trip!

 

[mrzrich]

First of all, you will have a great time at Bonnet Creek. The pools there are wonderful. They have lots of activities too.

Relax. People here on these boards act like if you aren't up at the crack of dawn on days 180, 60 and 30 you won't have any fun. They are wrong.

I have planned trips with a year's notice and with one days notice. I had fun on every trip.

There are same day FP available. There are same day dining reservations available.

I do recommend looking at Josh's Crowd Calendar, look at which parks he recommends each day.

You might not get to ride 7DMT this trip...you'll still have fun....the ride didn't exist until 2014. Hordes of people had amazing vacations before 2014.

By August the new Frozen ride will be open in Norway. If your kids want to do that one, that is probably the only day that you will NEED to get up early on day 30 to snag. If not...Let it Go. (see what I did there)
Perhaps you can tell DH that you want to have a nice Epcot dinner. Make a condition that you get to plan that day.

As for crowds 3rd week in August, lots of kids will be back in school by then. It might not be as bad as you think.

It might behoove you to plan for Morning park touring because of torrential 3-6 PM showers almost every day that time of year.