Hitting the wall. . .

[KalamityJane]

To add to ^^ that. I worked backwards, so when my window opened, I started with our last park day and did FPs back towards the first day. This helped with getting FEA, but that being said, I think this only works for on site stays.

 

[LadyDiznee123]

I would agree with this. Once I have the resort, flights, ADR's, and park schedule planned out the thing that gives me a bit of anxiety is the looming FP+ date. This year with Pandora, ROL, A&E and other new things to do it's already weighing heavy on my mind. Plus not knowing if AK will be tiered doesn't help. I think I'm going to need to spreadsheet my FP action plan.


Here's a hilarious post by evilqueenmindy about WDW planning

ROFL.
Leave the planner be!

 

[cole4/25]

Wine always works for me.

DITTO!!!

 

[GenGen22]

I didn't get to update this weekend. (Our daughters bday party was Saturday. 18 kids! So I was kind of busy. . . .)

But, I made it through. We didn't get most of the fast passes we wanted, but the process did minimal damage to our itinerary. The one we weren't able to get was for Frozen Ever After, but I did secure one for Soarin, so we just need to do Epcot a bit differently and we'll be fine.

here is what I learned in case it helps some one else. . . .. (maybe I missed these tips elsewhere, if so here they are again!)

1) Don't make your fast passes in chronological order. Instead make them in order of how hard they are to get. I started with 7DMT (had heard it was the most difficult), but I probably should have started with FEA. (I did manage to get two 7DMT on different days at the right times)

2) You can't schedule two fast passes for the same slot. Normally this was fine and easy, But. . . .this made scheduling fast passes for some of the shows tough. For example, we got a fast pass to the Safari at 9:30 (wanted 9, but this is livable). We could not then get a fast pass for the Lion King showing at 10:00.

3) The window for fast passes for shows includes arrival time at theater. This caused us an issue with Frozen Sing Along. We have a 9:20 fast pass for TSMM. This prevented us from getting a fast pass for the 10:30 showing of Frozen sing along because the fast pass time is 10:00-10:15.

The hard work of planning paid off. When things didn't work out the way I had planned, I was easily able to figure out workable alternatives because I had done my research.

Of course, because I am a perfectionist who loves a challenge.. . . . i will continue trying for the fastpasses I wanted in the first place!

thanks for your support! Good luck with your efforts. .

58 days to go. . . . .

For FEA I was suggested to do rope drop and go directly to this attraction. You may want to try This. This is what we're doing. Best of luck and have a fabulous vacation!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

For me it's about perspective. I feel lucky to be able to take Disney trips with my family. And the time that goes into planning makes it a more enjoyable experience for everyone. We have also been several times so I don't feel I need to cram in every little "must do" thing with each trip. We do what we can and whatever we can't knock out we put on the "next trip" list. Some of the best experiences I've had there were when DD was napping and I told DH I just wanted to go walk around. I just walked up and down Main Street looking at things. As corny as that sounds it was one of my best memories. Point being, fast passes won't make or break your trip. Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself. In the immortal words of the Queen, let it go, LOL. Your trip is going to be great.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great post! I'm type A and a bit OCD so I enjoy the planning. I love having it all thought out about ahead of time. Then not much to decide once we are there. I loved reading how different everyone enjoys WDW.

 

[loves to dive]

Another non-planner and we do stay on site and we do make ADRs and rarely make a FP. Our ADRs are made at earliest, night before, usually morning of or in the afternoon while walking around. We have been going for over 30 years and, yes, I go twice a year, my son once a year. We were just there last week and it was our best vacation yet. We rode what we wanted, even rode Frozen (to be honest I did make a FP for that 3 days before we got there). We ate at Jikos with an ADR I made that morning. Our first two days we just went to the bus stop and got on the first bus to arrive, at which point I then got on MDE and made a few FPs, if we wanted to ride a ride, we stood in line. The advantage of having been going for so long for us is we started going long before FP so standing in line was the only way you rode a ride. We are not now, nor ever have been, ride centric. We like to ride rides but it doesn't ruin our vacation if we don't, we really just enjoy being there.

 

[nco91590]

Ok. So I'm here now. I'm in my hotel room decompressing. It's a mad house here. Nuts. No fast passes available at after 12p. I'm a planner too....but when it's busy like this (which it usually is nowadays) you can just kiss all that goodbye lol.

Get your FPs for your "must dos", be ready to stand in a line or two, or six. Unless you want to wait in line for that "must have snack", spare yourself and get an "always enjoy" snack. Sometimes it's about self preservation and sanity for all involved. Any cult favorite drink/snack has a 15m wait. Which doesn't sound terrible unless you've been waiting in lines all day. A Mickey ice cream bar will do the trick

Now, I'm lucky enough to go every couple of years. My kids are 4 and 6, so it's not like they have anything they MUST do either. This isn't our first or last trip by any stretch. But patience and flexibility is the only thing that's getting me through the madness....and wine. Lots of wine.

 

[epcotty]

Although we plan a lot for every day we go, it's a means to an end and we just plow through it as fast as possible. We try to do what we can as early as possible, but still end up doing lots of stuff the day before. But at least it's worth it to have all that done when we go

 

[Klayfish]

Great post! I'm type A and a bit OCD so I enjoy the planning. I love having it all thought out about ahead of time. Then not much to decide once we are there. I loved reading how different everyone enjoys WDW.

Funny thing for me is that I am very much a type A personality, hard core. However, at WDW, I let it all go. No interest in planning, no worries about schedule, don't care about crowd calendars, etc... I'm just happy to be there and enjoy every moment. That doesn't mean that we don't try to maximize our time, because we do. But we do it in our own way and spur of the moment.

 

[Senk]

I'm a first timer and I've hit a wall.
This is by far the most stressful trip I have ever planning. Making dining reservations 180 days out is nuts to me. I have no idea where we want to eat. Where in the parks we will be etc.
Now planning fast passes for rides my kids maybe won't even like. It's too much. Our FP+ window opens on April 5 and I'm going to do my best but I won't have any idea if they are good until we get there.
My DH thinks I'm crazy. My biggest fear is that I do all this and spend all this money and we have a terrible time haha

 

[Klayfish]

I'm a first timer and I've hit a wall.
This is by far the most stressful trip I have ever planning. Making dining reservations 180 days out is nuts to me. I have no idea where we want to eat. Where in the parks we will be etc.
Now planning fast passes for rides my kids maybe won't even like. It's too much. Our FP+ window opens on April 5 and I'm going to do my best but I won't have any idea if they are good until we get there.
My DH thinks I'm crazy. My biggest fear is that I do all this and spend all this money and we have a terrible time haha

Take a few minutes and step back. Your a first timer, so everything is going to be new to you. I would think that both planners and non-planners would agree that if you stress yourself to the point of not even being able to enjoy it or look forward to the trip, that's not a good thing. I can't help much on dining reservations, because we don't do them, but there are so many quick service places that you can eat where you want, when you want (if the dining plan allows that, I don't know). As for FP+, you're right, you may not know what the kids will or won't like...you won't know what you will or won't like. Frankly, I'd just use the park maps and try to book them relatively strategically so that you aren't criss crossing the parks all day long. Beyond that, just let it fly. Explore. Wander. Take it all in. Most of all, enjoy!!

 

[Hockey Nut]

I feel your pain. I've been to WDW 9 times in the past 15 years. Our last trip was 3 weeks ago and it was by far the most stressful. I wanted to plan the "perfect" trip with Fast Pass selections, ADR's, park hopping, etc. to maximize our time there. It became almost anticlimactic when we got there since we were so hung up our schedule and plans. We didn't have time to just relax and enjoy ourselves. I definitely learned something from this experience. Our next trip will have far less planning. I will only book a few ADR's (at the most), and have a lot more down time at the resort.