How extensive is your planning?

[canadian_ehngel]

When planning a trip to Disneyland, how extensive is your planning? Do you plan every single activity? Just the major activities? Or nothing?
Do you have an order you plan your activities in? (Character dining a certain day, BBB, etc.)

 

[twilightsparkle]

Since I grew up in Orange County, I have never ever planned for Disneyland. When I lived the we just went, no plan. Now that we live out of state when we are visiting family we usually just decide to go sometime on our trip. However we are usually there during the slow times so it has never been an issue. This year is the first time we are going during peak with a new land opening so we are planning. I am using ride max and touring plans. We usually only eat the smoked turkey legs and counter meals or we leave the park and come back. I have boys no BBB, I would plan that in if I was going to do it.

 

[kayleigh83]

Hello fellow BC resident!

My planning is more like obsessing, with a dash of actual planning. Meaning I mostly just stare at photos and absorb tips like a sponge, but I don't plan down to the minute or anything.

I've been laying out a general plan and basically it has certain set times for things like meal reservations or shows I want to see (I've set these so I can make sure I get to see all the light/water shows, fireworks and parades I want to see) and then kind of basing where I'll be around those events. So for example, I made sure I was seeing the Aladdin musical and World of Color on the same day, since it makes sense that these are both in DCA, so I should see them both on the same day rather than hop from one park to another and back again to see the shows. I'm kind of deciding what portions of each day I want to spend in each park, roughly. I'd rather just hop once if possible, or stay in the same park all day. I don't want to feel like a ping pong ball between parks, rushing from one show to the next across such a distance!

Beyond that I mainly plan to take advantage of FastPass wherever possible (I will be keeping a list of FP attractions in my bag because I have a terrible memory for that kind of thing) and just trying to enjoy myself!

 

[mooshka1]

I am obsessed with planning but I am not obsessed with keeping to a set itinerary. I research and try to retain info and tips on things we'd like to see and do. For the *must see or do's* I will research and prepare extensively so I can be sure we will get to do them during the trip. Other things, I don't stress too much about. I make a list of priorities and make necessary reservations, etc. I find out about showtimes and try to see as much a possible. Key is to have fun, and for us, that's meant making the necessary preparations, but not trying so hard to adhere to a schedule planned down to the very last minute. I guess it also depends on how much time you have and crowds. If I were going during a busier time or going for less days, I'd probably be stricter with the planning and schedules.

 

[CamoMama]

When we plan for WDW we plan every meal, which order to see the parks, which land to go though when and what shows we'll see. Everything is planned, because you have to.

We're going to be there in two weeks. I know we'll arrive on the 30th and will likely have dinner somewhere in DTD and either do some shopping or see a movie or both. On Sunday we'll go to one of the parks. On Monday we're going to have lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and watch the Laughing Stock Company, then to Billy Hill and the Hillbillies after that. At some point during the 5 days we're there we'll see Fantasmic. For everything else we'll wing it, because we can.

 

[disneydreamer74]

I plan the days and times of the meals that will be table service/character meals and BBB. I also plan which nights we will view nighttime shows such as F! and WOC. Other than that we just park hop! I learned after my first trip that I should not over plan because once in the parks things can change drastically. Now that my DD5 is old enough to have her own favorites we can not plan which parks we will be in on particular days.

 

[nannyz]

We will be in DLR in a few weeks. We have made reservations at BBB, Ariel's Grotto, and Cafe Orleans.
We will send a runner in the morning to get FP for RSR and Soarin'.
Other than that we have no plan. We will have two young children with us so they will run the show. I'm not going to tell them we can't stop and do something they want to do because it's not part of my plan. We have 6-day hoppers so I know we will get to see everything we want to eventually.
Not concerned about WOC or F! because none of our group were really impressed by either one of them.

 

[cgh]

I loosely plan with main objectives. We had some bad meals last year, so I'm planning more extensively on that (but that's more knowing more about restaurants, menus and locations) We also go in August, and leave for naps, and aren't in the park at nap time.

So 'main objectives' would be having a chedule and putting 'parade' in the afternoon. I also do ridemax plans but may follow that loosely as well. I thought going in August made all of that helpful and made sure we saw what we wanted to see.(particularly with shows that have set times-we had to plan around them).

 

[starshine514]

Our first trip (last May), I had touring plans for 3 of the 4 days. In our trip since, we wing it - but, I now have a good sense of what to hit first, which FPs to get, etc. I always need to have a tentative plan each morning so we don't waste that magical first hour standing around trying to decide what to ride. I also have an idea of possible afternoon activities, which only becomes critical on that last day when I realize we haven't met Rapunzel yet (and her line closes in 20 minutes).

 

[profa]

I am obsessed with planning but I am not obsessed with keeping to a set itinerary. I research and try to retain info and tips on things we'd like to see and do. For the *must see or do's* I will research and prepare extensively so I can be sure we will get to do them during the trip. Other things, I don't stress too much about. I make a list of priorities and make necessary reservations, etc. I find out about showtimes and try to see as much a possible. Key is to have fun, and for us, that's meant making the necessary preparations, but not trying so hard to adhere to a schedule planned down to the very last minute. I guess it also depends on how much time you have and crowds. If I were going during a busier time or going for less days, I'd probably be stricter with the planning and schedules.

The same. I LOVE planning our vacations. W/ CL unexpectedly opening during our planned trip, I feel it is necessary to have a pretty good plan in place. It's our first visit as a family w/ 3 kids 8 and under. I want to try to fit most thing in during our 3 days. I reserached hotels, restaurants, character meals, etc. But again I love the joy of planning and can't wait to leave in 4 days!

 

[c4riley]

I am fairly new to this disboard, but I am a planner. With 2 children to think about it is important to have the general knowledge of the park down. I will not plan every waking moment.
So far our October trip plan looks like this.... (my boys' first trip ages 4 & 5)
Arrive in Disneyland park around 1-2pm on a thurs, head to small world ( an easy ride for the kids to try)
Ride the casey jr train or boats...
Move to toontown, ride some of those rides.
Do the jungle cruise....
That will probably be the end of our first day.
Our first day is most important as I want to start the kids off on the easier rides first hoping to build up to some of the bigger rides.
The schedule for the rest of the trip is to spend the next day in carsland.. And then just to enjoy!!!
Its for the kids! Don't over schedule there will always be places and things to see that are unexpected.
Enjoy, you'll have a great time!!!

 

[nbliss]

We went last year in October, midweek, which was so awesome, very low crowds. I like to be informed about things going on there, so reading these boards is one thing I do in the months before going. The only planning I did was to make a character meal reservation and buy Halloween party tickets. Since it was a low crowd time it was easy to not plan. I didn't even have a plan as to which land to start in when we went, just decided at the end of main street (kids first trip). It depends on your personality. I do believe, however, not being flexible can ruin your trip, especially if you have young kids who see things they want to do along the way that aren't on the itinerary.

 

[TheZue]

Yay another person from Nanaimo

I research a lot, I wouldn't say I plan out ever second of our trip. I will make reservations for character meals & table service restaraunts. Also this time we will be somewhat planned which park to start out in due to the MM & EMH. The only other thing I plan ahead is the Halloween Party; but that's season specific. So basically we end up with a very rough schedule. Like one day I'll say have lunch booked at Carnation Cafe, so we would have to be in Disneyland around noon...that's the extent of it...The next night we would go to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner, so that would probably be the night to do Build a Bear & downtown disney. We just make sure we have plenty of days in the park to take our time & relax.

Other than that I do budget heavily. I look at the menus and figure out the high end of what we will spend on food. We realized last time we went that I had VASTLY underestimated how much it would cost. The food costs can really sneak up on you. This time I actually went through and made mock days and what it was very likely we'd eat on any given day, that I'm hoping will give me a much more realistic budget.

 

[mouseymommy]

I worry about money a lot so I had worked out a system that works for us. I pay cash at check in at the hotel. I look at all the menus and estimate the cost of each meal and buy gift cards so our food is paid for. I get each child a gift card for a souvenir. I also make ressies for our character meals or wherever we need them. As soon as the calendar comes out I look at the show times and we decide if there is anything we really want to see. On the drive to DL we decide the first ride we are going to go on and where we should eat the first day. Each morning and after our naps we have a list of which rides we want to go on. We try to have a loose plan, but not a schedule we need to stick to.

 

[bzkds]

Usually, no plan. But we live in California and can go several times a year for weekend trips. I usually ask whomever I'm with (I often take just one of my children alone) if there is a specific ride they would be heartbroken to miss. Then we go on that ride first before doing anything else. But I guess that's more of a tradition than a plan lol.

When my girls were doing dance and cheer competitions, there was a plan just because of being part of a group and needing to follow the team schedule, and team character meals etc.

And our last trip, I did follow Touring Plan's day plan since we were there with our toddler and wanted to be a little more organized.

Beth

 

[DharmaLou]

This is the first trip I'm actually "Planning", because in the past it has been day trips when I lived in CA. This time I'll have my husband and DD with me, and since it will be both of their first trips, I really want them to be magical.

As for planning - I will really only plan one, possibly two things into each day at the park (we have 4 day hoppers) meaning character meals or BBB. The day we do BBB will probably be the only day that we have two set things for a day (BBB and Ariel's to meet the princesses looking like one). Otherwise, we are just going to roll with it & try to do as much as we can on the 4yo's terms.

 

[MrsPinup]

It depends on our trip. Sometimes we really plan if it is during the holidays and there are specific things we want to see; other times we just go with the flow. Our trip next week is longer than our past trips and we want to cross everything off our Disneyland haven't-done-list so I created a schedule. Our meals and attractions are scheduled and we have certain priorities for early in the day (like stocking up on FP's to use later when it is more crowded.)

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i plan and plan again. Each day changes as we go.
I like to have the show times and dinning reservations first and then work our way though the park to our Must do's with a few oh look this lines short lets hit its.

Next time I know we are doing one day in DL one day in ca (more likely hop back over to dl for few hours here and there) and then two days for hitting shows and favs over and over again.

When planing make sure to write at the top Can change any time. Dont expect everything to go perfect as planed.

Most of the time we have plans main rides we will not leave the park with out doing at least once (some times once a day like POC and HM) lol
we do alot of walking around taking in the sights. we just enjoy being there together This next OCT trip we are planing we have a few extra must see like carsland and ca's main street shops and just walking in them. So we may plan a bit more then we planed to. More then likely we will just work our selves down the stret on side of it on the way down and on the way back one time just the other side so we can see all the shops.

We also cant wait to use the trolly like we did the carriage in dl for the first time this last trip. and learned how much it can help.

 

[wvnative]

According to my family, I am an obsessive planner. It's really not that bad. lol . I do a lot of research and have a binder.

I compare the schedules and determine when we will go, the hotel, the route and make just a few ADR's. We wing the rest. We decide on the ADR's as a family and draw names for who gets to pick the first ride each day when the kid(s) tags along.

 

[krispin41]

Planning is super fun for me, however, I am not super obsessive about it to the minute. For our upcoming trip, the only things I have planned are the sit down dinners, as I had to make reservations for them. For example, we arrive on a Wednesday, we're doing the Fantasmic! dessert that night, then Plaza Inn for breakfast on Thursday. Friday a super late lunch at Ariel's Grotto. Saturday, we're spending it at Universal, then lunch at the Blue Bayou on Sunday.

I also have a list of things I'd like to see/do, like silhouettes, parades, etc, however, we usually see where the moment takes us.