How do you plan your week?

[Octoberbaby]

I've been to Disney many times and always have some kind of plan. I'm just curious what others plans look like for a typical week. Do you rope drop every day? Sleep in every day? Take a break to swim in the afternoon? Just looking for other ideas on how to plan our next vacation, possibly changing things up a bit from what we typically do.

 

[saraheliz]

We tend to mix it up. Over the course of a week, we do a couple of days RD to late afternoon/early dinnertime, a couple of days RD, afternoon break, back for the evening to the parks, and a couple of day sleeping in, lazier morning, off to parks by lunchtime and through the evening. We don't usually do any full break days because we find we need the week, but definitely do a couple of shorter days (maybe 2 shorter Epcot days). Up until recently (our last trip was almost 2 years ago) HS did have a ton that we loved, so that was an easy RD until 1/2pm, then back to resort to swim and evening at Disney Springs day. I basically try to balance the schedule so that we don't have super early mornings after late evenings. We also do MK fireworks on our last night.

 

[PaladinButters]

Previous plans - Loose first day - always leaving room just in case the flight doesn't go as planned - with late FPs and only counter service meals. Plan any must do (HEA or Fantasmic type things) on first/second day so they can be attempted again if something does go wrong. Rope drop every day. Always have hoppers. Our 'breaks' are either sit down meals or sitting on transport while hopping or seeing a show like FotLK. We find that we don't need to leave the parks to get a break, just to get inside and sit down for a bit. Never swim at the resort (this trip costs thousands and we can swim free at home - get your butts to the parks says I). Plan to end the trip at a lounge or sig dining to slow us back down to reality (also gives us something to bump if things go wrong).

New plans look a lot like that but have open mornings for bumping instead of nights to give us maximum chances of getting a boarding group for Rise.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We always get in early, hit MK by 11 am or so and stay until closing. That's always arrival day. HEA is a must do and I love it on arrival day.

Our last two trips have been 10 days so we do a mix of RD, midday break by the pool and PM park along with sleep in days and starting around noon and days we sleep in, do breakfast (usually room service), have pool time and hit the park in the evening.

When we did shorter trips (7 days) we did about 4 RD, midday break by the pool and PM park days with one day sleeping in and hitting a park around noon and one additional day of sleeping in and hitting the park in the evening.

With FP+ those sleep in and start later days are so easy.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Since we have been there multiple times, we really don't plan too much. We kind of play it by ear and plan for the next day based on what the consensus wants to do. (Sleep in, get up early, swim, etc) Much more relaxed type of trip.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I plan everything out and then my family says nah the day of and we just throw the plans out of the window. Why do I even plan? Basically so I have a general idea of park hours and crowds. I also don’t plan FP+ first thing in the morning either because I know my family and I know the likelihood of us making it to the parks earlier isn’t realistic.

of course when my youngest daughter and I go alone we plan every minute and stick to it.

 

[ILovePixieDust]

Since we have been there multiple times, we really don't plan too much. We kind of play it by ear and plan for the next day based on what the consensus wants to do. (Sleep in, get up early, swim, etc) Much more relaxed type of trip.

Do you not book fastpasses in advance then?

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Do you not book fastpasses in advance then?

Sometimes we just do the day before and sometimes same day. We don't worry about 60 days as that becomes stressful for everyone and at that point nobody knows what they want to do on a certain day.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We rope drop every day, with a couple of morning EMH and pre-park opening breakfasts thrown in for good measure. By late afternoon we are ready to slow down, find a drink or return to the resort for my daughter to swim while the adults have a drink. We generally have dinner plans back at a park or at a resort. We are not late night park people, however. After dinner we recharge for the next morning.

 

[evlaina]

We always rope drop and plan to close, but the weather was so hot on our last trip we broke a few days up to swim. Our next trip I promised my husband he can sleep in at least 2 days...and it's causing me major anxiety already! I told him he can sleep in and I'll go to MK alone lol. I keep making the mistake of rope dropping on party days, and I have agreed to not do that this year.

 

[SaintsManiac]

HS and AK near the end to get Slinky and FoP FPs. MK first and last. Epcot usually 2nd day, since FPs are easy there. It's a pattern that kept repeating, so I roll with it.

We usually don't use the EMH.

 

[scard192]

we always rope drop. usually schedule our first FP+ around 10:30-11. We are all early risers except for the teen aged DGD who understands that sleeping until almost noon will not be an option while at WDW. Probably going to need to be up VERY early to head over to DHS and try to get into a boarding group for Rise.

 

[scard192]

HS and AK near the end to get Slinky and FoP FPs. MK first and last.It's a pattern that kept repeating, so I roll with it.

exactly the same for us. may need to start 3 days at HS and EPCOT will be the 2nd park one of those days.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

My kids are early risers, so we always rope drop.

We always plan our 3 FP for 10/11/12, or 1:00 latest. We then decide if we want to hop to another park, take a break or stay at the same park. Sometimes we’re at the park in the evening, sometimes not.

We don’t book many advance ADRs (maybe 2 or 3.) We have 2 planned in advance for our Feb. trip. Sometimes we book a last minute dinner ADR, of which we can always find plenty even with our group of 8-12.

I like keeping from 1:00pm on pretty flexible with the kids - we make a lot of decisions on the fly based on weather and how everyone is feeling. Because my kids are morning people, we can always count on rope drop (and without rushing). That may change as they grow up. This is what works for us best in this phase of life.

 

[Frozen2014]

Struggling with planning now myself....but I'm very organized and like to go in with a ride to ride plan. DH jokes "have you scheduled when I can pee?"

Seriously though...this is only our second trip...but it's a short trip with 3 park full days only (plus a few hours on arrival days). Not going until August but if things stay as they are now, we will rope drop HS (have to with this boarding pass thing). On Epcot day, we might do ADR first so if so, we will book early and then head over to Epcot. For MK, we won't rope drop but will get there close to opening.

Will plan and book FP at 60 day mark...and then have a logical plan of what rides to hit in order. This is waht I am struggling with now...but I also find it part of the fun and excitement of planning.

We don't take breaks from the park and plan to stay there all day...esp if we can catch fireworks, etc. and to make the most of our day (esp with only 3 days). With the weather, we'll have to work around it and break inside whatever park we are at.

Logistically though..I'm trying to figure out when we are showing if we are out the door early and back at our hotel (on site) late...lol. Will have to give on one side each day.

 

[PurpleJesus]

Rope drop, FastPasses starting at about 10am, done by 1:00. Back to resort....kids (mom and dad too) rest/nap.....dinner somewhere...park until close. Rinse and repeat

Usually the 3rd day of the trip we take "off". Go to the resort's pool, play on the Monorail, etc...

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We rope drop, eat lunch around 11 (usually quick service) then use our FPS and tour the park til dinner (or MK closing time on party days). After we eat dinner We will usually then hop to another park for the evening. We really only take one full rest day during our 2 week trip, though we do start late on our second Epcot and AK days, so we can sleep in a little. But we’re not “run around the park to hit our next FP” type people, we tend to tour more leisurely and soak up the atmosphere. So we’re not totally dead by days end. We wouldn’t hop at all though if we weren’t always there during mvmcp season.