How detailed is your itinerary?

[01Sweetpea]

I know what parks we are going to on specific days, and the kids are working on their "must do" list for each park, but do I need to put a set plan in place? IE Splash Mountain first, then Jungle cruise, then pirates, etc for the full day (like the unofficial guide)? We will have 6 maybe 7 park days, and I'm concerned that if I have this "set schedule" it will take some of the magic out of this trip. I also can be a "bit" of a schedule person (you should see how many excel spreadsheets I have created for this vacation), and I don't want to take away from the WDW experience with all my scheduling/planning.

So, from your experience, is it best to have a set plan in place, or a list of what you want to do and take the day as it comes?

Thanks!

 

[hammertime]

I'm no expert but I don't want to plan to much either. Basiclly I'm going through my guides and the boards to decide which rides and attractions I want to see or do. I'm also taking note as to which rides I should get fastpasses.

I did take the suggestion of someone on the board that said to put each day on a card and you can mark things off as you go.

I of course would like to plan everything out but DH is very much a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy so I don't want to over plan.

The only thing I'm kind of worried about right now is that I haven't done any PS for dinner or Lunch on NYE. That's cause I'm still not sure which park I want to be at Epcot, Mk or MGM.

Of course it's just me and DH so we don't have any kids to worry about.

 

[Fearthisss]

Just my two cents worth here, and I am admittedly a WDW rookie, but we just got back from WDW a week or so ago. We had a pretty good idea of what parks we wanted to do on what days also. Other than doing Kilimanjaro Safari at AK first thing in the morning, each park we went to we had a list of must-do's. After that we played it by ear.

WE HAD A GREAT TIME!! No set schedule, other than a couple of PS's. Very, very nice. I know there are those here that plan things down to the ninth degree, but we didn't, had a great time, saw everything we wanted to see in a nice, relaxed fashion and really enjoyed ourselves.

Good luck and have a great time!

Mark

 

[DisneyMom5]

I like to say (and I am not trying to be too flippant here) that D-day wasn't as well planned as our upcoming trip.
My dh is a play it by ear kind of guy, and I am a plan the potty break down to the second kind of girl, so I am planning a rough schedule, over-estimating time per attraction (I hope) and leaving plenty of room for all the little things that can occur when you have 5 kids under 9.
I do know what parks we are in what day, and I have only made 3 PS, as we will probably cook in our cabin or eat counter service most of the other meals.
I am fighting the urge to be really annoying with this all, and I keep telling Dh and DD9 that they will thank me later!
(She is miss "you say you won't make us hurry, but when we get there you will be saying 'move it, move it, move it" and "why can't we just do what we want to do when we want to do it?"- can you tell she's never been to the world)

I have a general idea of what part of each park I want to be at, and what time, so that we can hit things we really want to see and skip those that are optional if necessary.
Anyway, we all have our way of doing things, and you will have a great time no matter what you do.
I think the basic knowledge of what rides are at what parks will be the most helpful. Anything after that is just gravy!

 

[jaysue]

01Sweetpea, the answer to your question lies in four key factors:

1) The "ability" of your group to handle a schedule - some people are and some people just are not schedule people

2) If you go on a schedule the ability to break that schedule as required if people get tired, kids see characters, you want to repeat an attraction etc.....

3) Time of year - if you go at a quiet time with short waits or no waits and you have sufficient time to tour then toss the schedule/plan idea

4) Are you going again anytime in the near future - if no then a schedule will help ensure you hit the attractions and highlights and get max value from your vacation, if yes then sit back and go with the flow

I do not find schedules per say stressful or constraining - they are used by us as a guide/pointer and we are willing to bypass/change/toss as required and then pick up again later where we left off

thanks
jaysue

 

[da disney fans]

We don't have a super detailed itinerary, other than knowing what parks we want to hit on what days, and two PSs.

I've done WDW once (actually, just MK for a day), but Disneyland about 234973987 times, and I've never had an itinerary. I love going with the flow and enjoying my time walking around the park.

 

[afsi3838]

I'm a planning Nut!! But i found on my last trip, that we just grabbed the park map and the listing of the shows and looked and made a general plan of what we wanted to do while on the bus or monorail.
This trip, i think we might do a little planning the night before the park day, i find it always makes it more exciting. Then again, we are just a party of two, so it's easier for us to handle a pre-made schedule.

 

[lentesta]

Hi 01Sweetpea,

First, thanks for reading the Unofficial Guide. Let me know if you have any questions on the touring plans.

Second, if a full-blown touring plan is too much planning, I'd suggest at least following the rotation of the lands in the same order shown. So, for example, if the touring plan you're following has Tomorrowland attractions listed first, the you should try to visit the Tomorrowland attractions you want to see first. If we have Frontierland attractions listed second, try to see Frontierland after Tomorrowland. You won't be following the touring plan step-by-step, but you'll still gain a lot of the benefits of the general advice.

I think both the Magic Kingdom and Epcot would benefit from a 1 1/2 or 2-day plan. Let me know if you'd like more information.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[erikthewise]

If you are interested in a commando-style touring plan, you really can't do better than the Unofficial Guide.

What works for me: read the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide carefully, then don't follow them! Let me explain...

If you know the general outline of a couple sound touring plans, and understand the reasons behind them, you can improvise on your own and be flexible, without making mistakes that could lead to a lot of unnecessary and wasted time standing in line. You can easily customize to what you want to do on a particular day, and so be a little spontaneous without losing the benefits of a commando approach. It's not a matter of "what do we have to do NOW?", but rather "if we want to ride Space Mountain, when can we do it without unnecessary waiting?" If you have a plan, it helps prevent the problem of someone suddenly wanting to ride Space Mountain at 2:00 when it has a 60 minute wait.

The Unofficial Guide does in fact give the general reasons behind the plans, explaining the different types of attractions, crowd flow patterns, use of fastpasses, etc.

 

[LvsTnk]

During this time of year I find it most important to plan PS and we like to do the shows so those can be a little tricky. As far as rides go if you have alot of e-ticket rides as must do's then the earlier you get to the park of the day the better.

Don't stress! Most times the best memories are from those surprise moments you weren't expecting to happen

 

[01Sweetpea]

DH thinks I am completely obsessed with this trip!! He just doesn't get the whole planning thing. I sat down last night and decided to do an "easy park" first ... AK!! We will be there on Sat 2/27 (no EE) until about 4pm then we have PSs at Crystal Palace at 5:45. ( 1 3/4 hrs should get us from AK to MK on a Sat. right??) Picked our top 5 things we want to do, followed the UnOfficial guide to pick Safari first, mapped out the remaining 4, and from there we'll see. I really want to take our time, enjoy everything, and not rush, but then again, not sure when we'll be back.

 

[Harambe]

Great advice from everyone! We plan which park for which day just so we can plan PS's. We don't plan on what we will do in that park on the given day!

One very important thing to remember is how you will get back to your resort each day if you are using Disney Transportation. We have been shocked a few times when we leave a restaurant at one resort and find out we have to take 2 or 3 busses to get "home" to our resort.

 

[punkin]

I have my day planned in 5 minute increments until lunch. We wing it from there. I love the unofficial guide and have yet to stand in line more than 45 minutes and we have gone at some VERY busy times (e.g. Friday after Thanksgiving at MK)

 

[chirsty'smom]

I've tossed and turned over planning our next trip (7 days) and have spent equal or more time planning this than my wedding!

I loved reading the Unoffical Guide to WDW, the other unofficial wedsites and these boards. I may not have a minute by minute play book written but I will be touring with loads and loads of knowledge. We have decided what things are a must see, what PSs we want and what time we'll break in the afternoon. From there we'll do and see what we can.

I realized that between trying to aviod waiting in lines, timing the shows just right and tyring to caught the misc. live entertainment I could make planning this trip a full time job!

Could you imagine what our paychecks would be if we were paid to plan these visits to WDW for our families? I would be racking in the dough! Actually I'd be planning another visit to WDW w/ the $$$.

 

[jvas]

Is it me....or is planning the trip half the fun?
I love planning....I don't go overboard...but I make our PS's
then plan which parks to visit depending on where we eat that day.........We usually do a dinner show (this time it will be the Aloha at the Poly), a Character breakfast (even tho we are all adults) and 1 or 2 themed restaurants..(Prime Time 50's this time
around) the rest of the time, we eat breakfast at the resort and then do a counter service lunch/dinner.
As far as the rides/attractions..we kinda play it by ear....but we usually try to take a break in the middle of the day for a nap/swim
back at the resort.
I love these dis boards too! You guys...whom i have never met
have become friends in my heart!...thanks for your companionship!

 

[Harambe]

How sweet, jvas - right back at cha, buddy!

 

[pewing]

hammertime~
I too, think planning is half the fun (well...maybe not HALF ) I do love gathering information and being prepared.
As far as actual having a planned itenerary...I do. I've actually ordered the touring plans...twice. Our first trip we planned some, but where overwhelmed by the magnitude of things to do and see. Of course...no one aspires to do or see it all, but IMHO if you want to make the most of your time and try to avoid missing something really important to you (or one of your 'crew' )...then you need to have a 'plan'.
For me, the plan is an index card for each day with the basic plan (well it's not really basic, but it's edited at will)). From that...we change what we want...plug in showtimes...skip things...add things. We are not commandos storming the world, but we do have an attack plan and direction.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I spend my free time planning this silly vacation. My planner (borrowed in part from KathyFP, TY) includes almost all of the attractions for each park, each on a separate page. There is also a schedule page that details only the park/event for each day/time of day and meals. The parks pages I have layed out similar to the park map to help us navigate. At this point I haven't done a timed schedule, but I think I had somewhat of one for our trip 4 years ago (our first family trip to WDW). Since we know our way around after that trip, getting around will be easier. We know what's "must see" and what we can skip.

TIP:
No matter how stringent you are in planning and making your itinerary - keep an open mind and be flexible. You will not see/do everything in one visit....all the more reason for a return trip.

 

[ChairborneRangr]

I'll throw in my 2 cents...

I enjoy the planning as well.

I encourage the use of the unofficial guide. Read it before you go, choose restaurants, study the touring plan that is most like what you will use. Stick to the plan for the first 2 hours to get you off to a good start. Stay on it if you are enjoying it, or be more "free flowing". Your first 2 hours are critical if you want to hit the E rides. I always watch the faces of the people I am traveling with. If I see they aren't enjoying things, I adjust. The great thing is if you are already familiar with the layout, the shows, and the general pattern for optimal touring, you can be more freeflow and still not wait in line too much.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Very simply for me, I do this:

I find out what the EE days are for MK and MGM...and I then set up my days in the parks around that. I never use EE at EPCOT as DH and I always visit that park on our anniversary day and it's never fallen on an EE day. I would do EE at AK also as I want to be on the Safari first thing! They say it's great to see the animals early in the AM.
I plan my PS(s) by where I'll be and then DH and I just "wing it" from there. Do we stick to it...no way!! Something will come up and we just drop a thing or two. It's usually something as simple as we're just tired and want to go to bed early, or let's go to the AKL and visit with Bushman#1 for a bit to see how he's doing.
I give all my plans to my Dreams Unlimited agent, and she handles it from there.