He thinks I'm over-doing the planning - am I?

[preemiemama]

As someone else mentioned, you have a lot of breakfast ADRs. You're scheduling these breakfasts during prime touring time. I would move these to lunch or dinner reservations, and pare down the breakfasts to one or two at the most. Maximize these early hours, when the lines are shortest!

Actually, we find that a late breakfast is usually not very crowded, gives us more interaction with the characters, and allows us to maximize park time by rope dropping a few rides before we eat. (It also helps us stay full until dinner time!) Most breakfasts go until 10:30 or 11, and I believe 'Ohana is later than that.

The exception to this rule is the Bon Voyage breakfast. Their kitchen gets overwhelmed early (or did in July, and the waitress told us it was pretty much a daily occurrence) so our 10:15 breakfast did not get us out until noon! The characters came through early and were done with their shift by 10:45. It took us another 30 minutes to get our meals. All that to say- keep that reservation as an early one!

I also agree with PPs about the jumping around. The express transportation is great, but streamlining a little bit might help things not feel as rushed. If you want to know about Pandora (and ride waits for it/what to see and do there) there is a great thread on here about it.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[KittyKitty]

September 13th:
1900 Park Fare 8:00
Flight of Passage 10:00
Safari 11:05
Kali 1:10
Star Wars Fireworks at DHS

Sept 13. I would cancel Park Fare, grab a snack at All Stars, go to Pandora at rope drop. Stand by Nav'i River/or Flight of Passage if not too long, then use FP for FoP. Everything I've read, the ride is worth 2 times.

Sept 9 is EMH early at AK. You might reconsider having bkft and go to park instead. That 1 hour you are not competing with Fastpasses so standby goes faster.

 

[DJP1201]

DW has never been on a vacation like the one we're doing in December. She has no idea how much fun she is going to have. However, if I don't make ADRs or get FPs, we would be stuck getting on maybe two or three rides a day, and eating counter service meals all day every day. This type of vacation takes a whole lot of planning. I've been planning ours for over a year now. It's not easy to book the resort, airfare, make ADRs that include something for everyone in the family (I had to wake up at 2:30am to reserve BOG 180 days out), fast passes, and work everything around each other. We're going during the holidays, and we have have park hoppers, but two of the three days we'll be ther MK closes at 6:00pm, for MVMCP, so I bought tickets for that as well, otherwise my DDs wouldn't have seen the Castle lit up at night. I also figured it would allow us to get on more rides. It's a very difficult balancing act to build in breaks so you don't overdo it. I hope once everyone gets there and see how much more smoothly everything goes he appreciates all of the hard work you're putting in. Have a great vacation!

 

[MinniesYooHoo]

As most people on this forum would agree, you cannot really over plan a Disney vacation. There are so many factors to take into consideration. A plan is fabulous to have. The only that concerns me is that you're doing a significant amount of park hopping for evening shows or dining. While this is not an issue at all for veteran park goers, I'm a bit concerned that you may overwhelm your husband. If he's never been, all the running back and forth between parks may be too much for him to be able to relax and enjoy it. Although we always have a general plan, we always make sure that most of our evenings are low key. Whichever park we are in for the day, we enjoy a few cocktails, a nice dinner, and whichever nightly show/fireworks are at that park. It's a nice way to wind down a high paced day at the parks. Just a suggestion to think about while planning.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'd get a little twitchy looking at that schedule. It's a lot of hopping around with set times you have to be at specific places. Honestly, my desire not to do that is why we swapped to DLR. So while he *might* kiss your feet for doing all that planning once he gets there, he might also feel like he's at work with all those deadlines.

Can you free up an afternoon or a day when you can let him decide what he wants to do? Sure, he won't get to do FoP that day, but there are lots of other options he would be able to choose from at the time.

Also, that first day looks killer, from rope drop to Halloween party. I'd find a way to get a break in there somewhere. Some thrive on that. I do fine with it. But I would have mutiny if I scheduled that for my husband.

 

[Jays2013]

Add me to the list of those whose spouse thought her, perhaps, a little bit mad for all the planning. And then we actually got there.

He's a little baffled by the Fastpass+ thing this time around (our last trip was before they started) but he knows that letting me plan ensures a smoother trip, and happily lets me bounce schedules and idea off him. (And now our 9-year-old, who's a lot like me planning-wise, is getting into it too!)

The (slight) issue this trip is my dad. My parents haven't been to Disney in a long time and they're very excited to go with their grandsons. But he's already asked "But when can I go out and drive around Orlando for a few hours?" or "Oh, I want to go take the boys to mini golf one day!" and there is simply no time, not if they want to see all the parks (and they do). It's not like it was when I was a kid and we were staying off site. I've already worked in a number of his requests, including Typhoon Lagoon, which wasn't on the original plan. And Mom adores all the parades and night shows, so I'm trying my darndest to work all that in...

If we were planning an Orlando vacation, it would be different than planning a Disney vacation, and he doesn't quite get that the planning is very different now. I'm pretty sure we'll be OK once we get there, but I worry.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Alright so, I am planning my first trip with the love of my life and his first trip altogether. I *used* to know the parks like the back of my hand, but honestly, that's probably changed with the additions and closures. My last time as a Cast Member was around a year so after the new Fantasyland expansion opened, so that's a decent time ago... And I know NOTHING about Pandora.

Paul, has never been much of a planner and he's obviously never been on a vacation this big, so I was hoping I could post our basic plan and you could tell me if I'm being too picky about planning? He's saying we should just get there and go with the flow/do whatever we want, and I'm saying that's not at all possible - but we won't be able to do everything we wish if we don't plan. Plus, I enjoy planning and I'm pretty sure he might be asking a very important question this trip so I want everything to be good!

But here's my plan so far, please keep in mind it is only the two of us - mid 20s, and we decided to do pretty much all character meals so that we can take advantage of them to meet characters and because we're on the dining plan so why not! Tell me your thoughts?

September 6th:
Check in to hotel All Star Sports- we're coming from 4 days at Universal Orlando that *he* is completely "planning" (he planned nothing I'm doing it all now).

September 7th:
Tusker House 8:15
Wild Africa Trek 11:45
Space Mountain 3:15
7 Dwarfs Mine Train 4:15
Big Thunder Mountain 5:20
Halloween party/activities - can't find a schedule of events

September 8th:
Toy Story Mania! 10:05
Star Tours 11:10a
Tower of Terror 12:30
Be Our Guest 7:45

September 9th:
'Ohana 7:30a
River Journey 10:10
Dinosaur 11:50
Everest 1:10
Rivers of Light

September 10th:
Bon Voyage Breakfast 7:45a
Seas with Nemo and friends 10:05
Frozen Ever After 11:20
Character spot 12:50
Fantasmic

September 11th:
Cinderella's Royal Table 8:30
Buzz Lightyear 10:35
Peter Pan's Flight 11:40
Haunted Mansion 12:50

September 12th:
Akershus 8:30
Test Track 10:45
Figment 11:55
Spaceship Earth 1:20
Illuminations

September 13th:
1900 Park Fare 8:00
Flight of Passage 10:00
Safari 11:05
Kali 1:10
Star Wars Fireworks at DHS

September 14th:
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster 10:20
Indiana Jones 11:30
Tower of Terror 1:00
Garden Grill 7:15

September 15th:
Crystal Palace 8:30
Under the Sea 10:30
Jungle Cruise 11:55
Be Our Guest QSR 1:00
Pirates of the Caribbean 2:30

September 16th:
Chef Mickey's 7:45
Soarin' 10:25
Mission: Space 11:30 (tacked on last minute when available)
Park hop the rest of the day and see anything we want, and plan to end the day with MK fireworks.

I know I haven't finished planning by any means - but I also don't think what I have done is totally ridiculous or over the top at all :|

Also, we are considering doing the express transportation to make park hopping quicker!

I wouldn't call it "overplanning" but the amount of hopping around you are planning on doing looks exhausting. On four of your days you have super early breakfasts at restaurants that aren't remotely close to the park you are going to (Park Fare to AK, Chef Mickey's to EP). And you are staying at a resort that isn't remotely close to the restaurants. If you decide to stick to this, I highly recommend taking uber to the restaurants, otherwise you will need to be at the bus stop 90 minutes prior to your breakfast ADR's to make it in time. Or, for example, if you can even change it at this point, reschedule Chef Mickey's for early evening since you are planning on ending at MK on 9/16. Why go all the way to CR, over to EP and back to MK. It's just a lot of traveling and that's park time lost, IMHO.

 

[kniquy]

and go with the flow/do whatever we want,

He obviously doesn't understand a disney vacation. Go with no plans and you will be miserable and will likely not want to return. I am 8 months out and am already scrutinizing our park plans. We are planning a 7 day WDW then 3 days universal -- he is getting the easy end of the deal here. I feel like i am doing something wrong because we are staying at an express pass hotel at UO so that takes out pretty much any planning aside from dining.

One thing that jumped out to me is that you have an awful lot of breakfast reservations. If you guys are morning people then it will be perfect, if not then i would re-think them. I personally feel that when i am getting up and going in the morning i want to grab a little something at QS then start on the park then grab an earlier lunch when i need a little break vs sitting down for an hour breakfast first thing in the morning. Just my personal but think of how you guys are at home. When you have an 8am reservation then you best be at your bus stop by 7:15. You might have a better time if you are up late at night to know you can sleep in a little one or two mornings vs getting up every morning.

You are going during food and wine and there will be plenty of food carts to eat from so definitely plan some evening time of eating your way around the world showcase. The other unnecessary reservation might be both eating lunch and dinner at BOG. Might want to consider something else for lunch at MK - I found pecos bill was surprisingly good for a QS location.

 

[prink022]

Alright guys, so I read through all these posts since I last visited, and I appreciate the feedback... but here's the thing, and I am not trying to be rude or ungrateful for the feedback at all so please don't take it that way - I did NOT ask for feedback on WHEN to have my character meals/dining ADRs. We chose breakfasts for a reason since it's what I can eat with my allergies/ and before anyone says anything I know that they're very friendly with dealing with them, but I want to be able to eat more than two things, so while I appreciate it I have to do what's best for me, since it's literally all that won't make me sick. (and we got all the places we wanted to - half of those I would be unable to receive at this point! We also chose breakfast because the nighttime activities are more important - shows, and drinking around the world

Secondly, we have an hour to make it to the Space Mountain fastpass with express transportation so it should be a breeze (especially considering they pick up in Africa and drop of in Tomorrowland without the added stress of the - and if it isn't, oh well - not the end of the world. I cannot change it since it is a Halloween Party that night, which we are attending.

Also, we are driving our own car - so do not need to rely on buses or transportation from the parks - but will in some instances. We are also people who work strenuous jobs, every single day, 12-14 hours a day... so it takes a lot to wear us down. We went to the Bahamas last year and went the less busy route and were so bored every day it felt like a waste of our time.

Again, I really do appreciate the feedback, but what some are suggesting don't make sense for us.

 

[rwdavis2]

Ask him how much time he wants to waste standing in lines. Then show him some wait times on the MDE app. Keep the fastpasses and ADRs and leave it at that.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I have to include my experience too as I've been there! The first time I went with DH, he laughed at me as I kept planning until the day we left (paper FPs then!) and had a schedule of grabbing and riding, repeated. I got up early to make reservations and knew where all the characters were. He knew it made me happy but just rolled his eyes and said "you are a Disney nut!". I proudly agreed!

We got there (in early August) and we did not wait in a single line, we had magic moments at every turn and we hit only "hidden" characters or character meals. He was floored when we would enter a FP line or go past the crowd waiting to see if there was a reservation or walked behind a restaurant or into a garden to find Pooh or Snow Whire all by themselves with a massive crowd 10 yards away but no one knew they were there!

Now he says "is tomorrow our 180 day mark? Should I set an alarm?!" While I still do the planning, he gets up and we book them together (sometimes at the same time!). He admitted to me that he thought it would be minute to minute over planned and said afterward, it didn't feel that way at all! In fact it made it very relaxed that we didn't have to wait 2 hours to ride space mountain!

He doesn't doubt the need to plan at all anymore! Your schedule looks great (except the aforementioned tight squeeze between trek and getting to MK), but if you sign up for the express bus, it might work! Have fun, keep planning and he'll figure it out once he gets there!

Oh yes, my DH mocked me in 2012. Until we got there.

He was amazed by how much time I'd invested in planning and how much time we saved.

He hasn't mocked me since and now does the right "ooh" and "aah" noises when he's presented with the final version of my planning spreadsheet to keep on his iPhone

Doesn't strike me that you are over-planning, OP, but we are likely a biased group here on DIS, for the most part!

I had a similar experience to the posters above. DH didn't mock during that first trip planning, but he did wonder how much ALL that I did was necessary... until we got to WDW! He was a very easy convert to the benefits of having a solid sketch for the day, and then being willing/able to adjust on the fly as things change (weather, more/less crowded than expected, how people are feeling, etc.).

Then there are the extras... beyond a well-planned WDW day... like my paying attention to various sites via Twitter and the like, and coming across some awesome once-in-a-lifetime events like the one we attended last night. WDWNT held an after-hours event in the Great Movie Ride... we were able to walk through the entire attraction at our own pace, take photos (including of some characters), then dessert party and hearing from an Imagineer who worked on the ride. No chance we'd get these extras if I wasn't a planner.

In my experience, as long as you aren't micro-managing every minute and remain flexible, your planning will be appreciated.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Definitely do the Express bus! It's a game changer! It only started a few weeks before we went, but we worked it into our existing plans. I can't even imagine what we'll be able to do if we get to plan for it!

Dessert party suggestion sounds like a great idea!

I would probably agree, but just REALLY IMPORTANT to be aware that it does NOT run in bad weather - storms/lightning. And the latter are a daily occurrence at some times of year. All it took for us was a 5min rain shower and it was shut down. Really decreased the usefulness to us.

 

[KimBean]

Alright so, I am planning my first trip with the love of my life and his first trip altogether. I *used* to know the parks like the back of my hand, but honestly, that's probably changed with the additions and closures. My last time as a Cast Member was around a year so after the new Fantasyland expansion opened, so that's a decent time ago... And I know NOTHING about Pandora.

Paul, has never been much of a planner and he's obviously never been on a vacation this big, so I was hoping I could post our basic plan and you could tell me if I'm being too picky about planning? He's saying we should just get there and go with the flow/do whatever we want, and I'm saying that's not at all possible - but we won't be able to do everything we wish if we don't plan. Plus, I enjoy planning and I'm pretty sure he might be asking a very important question this trip so I want everything to be good!

But here's my plan so far, please keep in mind it is only the two of us - mid 20s, and we decided to do pretty much all character meals so that we can take advantage of them to meet characters and because we're on the dining plan so why not! Tell me your thoughts?

September 6th:
Check in to hotel All Star Sports- we're coming from 4 days at Universal Orlando that *he* is completely "planning" (he planned nothing I'm doing it all now).

September 7th:
Tusker House 8:15
Wild Africa Trek 11:45
Space Mountain 3:15
7 Dwarfs Mine Train 4:15
Big Thunder Mountain 5:20
Halloween party/activities - can't find a schedule of events

September 8th:
Toy Story Mania! 10:05
Star Tours 11:10a
Tower of Terror 12:30
Be Our Guest 7:45

September 9th:
'Ohana 7:30a
River Journey 10:10
Dinosaur 11:50
Everest 1:10
Rivers of Light

September 10th:
Bon Voyage Breakfast 7:45a
Seas with Nemo and friends 10:05
Frozen Ever After 11:20
Character spot 12:50
Fantasmic

September 11th:
Cinderella's Royal Table 8:30
Buzz Lightyear 10:35
Peter Pan's Flight 11:40
Haunted Mansion 12:50

September 12th:
Akershus 8:30
Test Track 10:45
Figment 11:55
Spaceship Earth 1:20
Illuminations

September 13th:
1900 Park Fare 8:00
Flight of Passage 10:00
Safari 11:05
Kali 1:10
Star Wars Fireworks at DHS

September 14th:
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster 10:20
Indiana Jones 11:30
Tower of Terror 1:00
Garden Grill 7:15

September 15th:
Crystal Palace 8:30
Under the Sea 10:30
Jungle Cruise 11:55
Be Our Guest QSR 1:00
Pirates of the Caribbean 2:30

September 16th:
Chef Mickey's 7:45
Soarin' 10:25
Mission: Space 11:30 (tacked on last minute when available)
Park hop the rest of the day and see anything we want, and plan to end the day with MK fireworks.

I know I haven't finished planning by any means - but I also don't think what I have done is totally ridiculous or over the top at all :|

Also, we are considering doing the express transportation to make park hopping quicker!

Looks like you have a very basic plan. Certainly not going overboard that is for sure. You are probably dealing more with a difference in personality types here and there just isn't a right or wrong about that. You enjoy planning, structure, and knowing you won't miss stuff. He seems to enjoy spontaneity, living in the moment and probably wouldn't care what he misses. Compromise might be key for you both to enjoy the trip.

I'll give you an example from my life to illustrate. Dh and I are identical in this regard (opposites in most everything else) he likes me to do the planning but he likes it all planned out with military precision. We rope drop to close and never take breaks. We just go slower in the park. My husband likes efficiency and he enjoys knowing we are doing it better then other people. Disney is sort of a competitive sport in our family. His brother is not like him. His brother was with us on one trip and my husband loves to brag on my planning. He was explaining to his brother how we saved 10 minutes by going here instead of there (blah, blah) this was old FP days and my Dh was the runner. Anyway, my BIL responds - dude, this is a vacation, can't we just have fun? Wait a minute hold the phone... but this is fun isn't it? It is to DH and I but it isn't to everyone. To some people it is too much like work.

Anyway- make sure before you leave that the vacation is something you will both enjoy and then in the end you will enjoy it more. One of the things that we learned with type B brother is to plan and do but just not talk about it. He loved the vacation but only if we didn't talk about the planning or schedule.

 

[KimBean]

On your first day:
The wild Africa trek is 3 hours long. You have a fast pass at space mountain 30 minutes after your trek ends. That is nowhere near enough time to leave animal kingdom and get to magic kingdom. I think you will need to push all of those FP back by quite a bit.

Might be okay though if she is planning on going late in first window so she can right to next FP. I would still make it about 30 minutes later. Good observation though!

 

[KimBean]

Alright guys, so I read through all these posts since I last visited, and I appreciate the feedback... but here's the thing, and I am not trying to be rude or ungrateful for the feedback at all so please don't take it that way - I did NOT ask for feedback on WHEN to have my character meals/dining ADRs. We chose breakfasts for a reason since it's what I can eat with my allergies/ and before anyone says anything I know that they're very friendly with dealing with them, but I want to be able to eat more than two things, so while I appreciate it I have to do what's best for me, since it's literally all that won't make me sick. (and we got all the places we wanted to - half of those I would be unable to receive at this point! We also chose breakfast because the nighttime activities are more important - shows, and drinking around the world

Secondly, we have an hour to make it to the Space Mountain fastpass with express transportation so it should be a breeze (especially considering they pick up in Africa and drop of in Tomorrowland without the added stress of the - and if it isn't, oh well - not the end of the world. I cannot change it since it is a Halloween Party that night, which we are attending.

Also, we are driving our own car - so do not need to rely on buses or transportation from the parks - but will in some instances. We are also people who work strenuous jobs, every single day, 12-14 hours a day... so it takes a lot to wear us down. We went to the Bahamas last year and went the less busy route and were so bored every day it felt like a waste of our time.

Again, I really do appreciate the feedback, but what some are suggesting don't make sense for us.

Here is another thing you didn't ask about but I'm going to say it anyway because it's America and all that. Character meals are fun and I've done most of them more than once. But they are never the best food. They don't have to be because that isn't the draw. I'm on DDP this time and so excited that kids are a little older and will enjoy a few more foodie type meals. And I'm not going to feel like a horrible mom for not doing all the princess meals since we've done hat a bunch. If your boyfriend isn't a food person then he might not care. But if you are only exposing him to that level of food he might come away from WDW a little disappointed. I would at least go halvsies.

 

[Micca]

Looks good, have a blast!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Alright guys, so I read through all these posts since I last visited, and I appreciate the feedback... but here's the thing, and I am not trying to be rude or ungrateful for the feedback at all so please don't take it that way - I did NOT ask for feedback on WHEN to have my character meals/dining ADRs. We chose breakfasts for a reason since it's what I can eat with my allergies/ and before anyone says anything I know that they're very friendly with dealing with them, but I want to be able to eat more than two things, so while I appreciate it I have to do what's best for me, since it's literally all that won't make me sick. (and we got all the places we wanted to - half of those I would be unable to receive at this point! We also chose breakfast because the nighttime activities are more important - shows, and drinking around the world

Secondly, we have an hour to make it to the Space Mountain fastpass with express transportation so it should be a breeze (especially considering they pick up in Africa and drop of in Tomorrowland without the added stress of the - and if it isn't, oh well - not the end of the world. I cannot change it since it is a Halloween Party that night, which we are attending.

Also, we are driving our own car - so do not need to rely on buses or transportation from the parks - but will in some instances. We are also people who work strenuous jobs, every single day, 12-14 hours a day... so it takes a lot to wear us down. We went to the Bahamas last year and went the less busy route and were so bored every day it felt like a waste of our time.

Again, I really do appreciate the feedback, but what some are suggesting don't make sense for us.

So, if you are used to 12-14 hour days and were bored in the Bahamas, I'm not really sure what you're asking. What you have planned sounds like it isn't "overplanning" for you based on your lifestyle and vacation style, so, go for it. "Overplanning" is sort of a subjective concept. For us, especially your day 1, it's exceedingly overplanned. What you would like to accomplish on that day alone would probably be two days minimum for us (there is no way we could start at AK at 8 am, do a tour, head to MK and stay up for the party). To each his own. If you feel like this will work for you, go for it! Is it overplanning in the sense that you got your ducks in a row, made your reservations and are hitting all the things you want to do? Absolutely not. And if you can keep up that pace, great! In WDW, if there are things you absolutely want to see and do, it's best to make reservations for them. You've got your bases covered and, if it becomes tiring you can always adjust while you are there! So I will go with (based on your lifestyle) no, you're not overplanning.

 

[cmarsh31]

I would probably agree, but just REALLY IMPORTANT to be aware that it does NOT run in bad weather - storms/lightning. And the latter are a daily occurrence at some times of year. All it took for us was a 5min rain shower and it was shut down. Really decreased the usefulness to us.

That's a big change from February - definitely ran in multiple rain storms.