How do you plan your stay?

[Irishmommyof4]

I'm fighting the urge to plan every last minute of our vacation- with 4 kiddos, that would be a nightmare trying to stay on a schedule. Yet, I'm at the thought of going with no plan at all.
We do have our ADR's scheduled, obviously.
Should I just say, okay the day we have dinner at AK is AK day, etc.
Or plan to spend the morning in one park, (we'll be going back to the room for a rest and swim midafteroon) and the afternoon in wherever we'll be having dinner?

And, are there any parks where it's best to get there in either morning or afternoon because of the shows (ie MGM with Playhouse Disney and Little Mermaid- btw- do I need extra tickets for those?)?

 

[jimmiej]

I plan my ADRs, what park (I look at the Unofficial Guide recommendations), what EMHs I might want to do.

The best advice I've gotten is arrive early if you want to knock out a bunch of big attractions.

If you're a newbie or you have a group, do a little more planning. DW & I are veterans & we go w/o children (ours are grown), so I only do minimal planning.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

It depends if I'm going with my whole family, how crowded the parks will be, etc. The last several trips I have not gone with my whole family and I've planned which rides to start off with at each park based on which rides get busy later in the day. Once we go on those rides we wing it based on which shows we want to go to, etc. I plan some meals in advance and others on that day. We've been quite a few times and don't feel the need to see everything, but I'm a planner and need to plan some things.

For our first couple trips to WDW I planned everything. It was ok since we'd never been before, but it was also exhausting.

 

[stschaefer]

Have an idea of the favorite things you want to do and go right for it. We were at the opening for the park at MK, Epcot, and MGM and were able to go on rides with no wait. Get a map and check off the things as you go. If it is getting close to lunch and a ride you want to go on has a line longer than 20 minutes - get a Fast Pass and go back to it after you eat!!!

Shows - MGM it is good to get there early - especially EMH morning. Once you get there find out the time for Disney Playhouse and Little Mermaid to the first show. We were able to ride Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, and ToT again during EMH morning and then walked over to Playhouse disney for first show - then walk to Little Mermaid's first show. No - they do not require any tickets like all shows inside the parks.