How Much Do You Plan?

[demonskrye]

Do you work out every detail well beforehand or just wait and see how it goes? I'm just curious to see how different people approach it.

 

[Stargazer]

I tried to be the uberplanner on our first trip because I didn't want to miss a single thing. However, for our family, this didn't work - arguments over petty things, I missed the small details (which are sometimes the most fun) and we were worn out.


On our 2nd trip though, I did plan, but I left some room for those things we didn't think of. Yes, I planned which fastpasses to get first thing, made my ADRs way in advance, determined which parks I thought would have the lowest crowds, and had a general plan of attack for the big rides.

The big difference was that we were relaxed, went at a good pace, rode what we wanted, stopped for snacks and those impromptu shows and had the best time!

 

[JPN4265]

Do you work out every detail well beforehand or just wait and see how it goes? I'm just curious to see how different people approach it.

We start planning immediately. That's half of the fun.

 

[Kimberly815]

I like to have a basic plan and make ADR's. I am sure to hit our must-sees. Then I like to read/absorb as much information as possible, so that if we want to toss the plan- we aren't completely in the dark!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

We plan which parks we'll be at on which day and have a basic plan for which things are must do and let everything else happen. Personally I think that if you plan too much you miss more...you become a slave to the PLAN!

 

[Meriweather]

Plan which park for the mornings. Hit the popular must sees early.
Make ADRs.
Meander after lunch.

 

[ilm2g]

I tried to be an uberplanner with an extended family trip, and it was very stressful...now I try to just get a plan for the day and leave room for "smelling the roses..."

 

[MickeyNicki]

The only thing I plan are the dining reservations.....everything else is up in the air

 

[RCharnay]

I love the planning and I do plan everything-HOWEVER-I am so informed that I feel free to dump the plan if something changes. I bet we follow my plans for 80% of the trip but sometimes you wander by a particular show and there is no line and it is starting in less than one minute...it just makes sense to go on in rather than coming back later in the day. So we make the change, adjust the schedule and end up with a few extra minutes to enjoy sitting around and people watching or taking a leasurely walk after dinner. I just don't understand those people who talk about standing in line for hours. We have gone during the busiest times of the year and never stood in line more than 20 minutes. A few hundred hours of being on the Disboards throughout the year and reading all the guides (both very enjoyable!)have saved me hours of line standing during my vacations.

 

[ancestry]

My nature I am an uberplanner but I don't usually micromanage things when we are on vacation. We generally like to take things in stride and see what we are in the mood for each day. Our day to day lives are so stressfull and full of places to be and deadlines to meet that we try to avoid this when on vacation.

HOWEVER with the dining plan and the fact that ADR's are basically required if you want to eat in most of the sit down restaurants, I am finding that I am having to plan everything out -- much to the dismay of both my husband and myself. I'm really beginning to feel that "food" is controlling our entire vacation. I'm not worried about "getting my money's worth" on the DxDD but I also don't want to lose hundreds of dollars either.

Ultimately I will plan out the trip and the ADR's but if we feel strongly about changing our plans when that day arrives then we will do so.

 

[ancestry]

The only thing I plan are the dining reservations.....everything else is up in the air

Just a quick question, doesn't the dining reservations then have to determine where you are? If you have dinner reservations somewhere in Epcot but decided to go to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon don't you spend a lot of time commuting from one place to the other?

I only ask because I truly wish I could make all of our ADR's and not have to committ to anything else but I am feeling like choosing an ADR in a specific location is basically forcing us to be in that area for the day.

 

[nhl66pens]

I had everyday planned for dinner ADR's, which park we were going to visit, and in general how we were going to proceed through the park, but I didn't always stick to the route. If my DD wanted to ride something twice, or something I didn't consider, we'd just do what she wanted. Also, if the lines were excessive, we'd either skip it or come back later. I think you need a plan, but just a general one. Its important to know what you want to do or you will waste a lot of time backtracking across the park, after that, its just more fun to not worry (to me).

 

[Praying Colonel]

We know what parks on what days, we have TS ADRs for each day and we have a touring plan for the parks that we stick to for the first couple of hours after rope drop. After those first couple of hours, we do vary from the plan based on what people are wanting to do at that moment.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Planning is half the fun! Since we started doing the Free dining in September (this will be our fourth trip), we plan more than we ever used to. We used to wing it completely. Now with ADR's we plan, and with crowds bigger too I look at what days have EMH and which parks have shows going on (Spectro, etc).

I've found planning makes it all that much more fun! We still wing it a lot too, but I have a detailed spreadsheet of when EMH's and shows are so we always know what to expect.

 

[plasfam04]

I generally plan out what park/parks we will be at each day and base it around our ADRs but as far as what we will do in each park we just kind of wing it and get to our favorites first and either ride them right away or get fast passes. So I'm half planner/half wing it

 

[dvcdisney]

I usually plan which park on which day. And book the TS reservations accordingly. Otherwise, we go get fastpasses as soon as we get in and work our day around what rides we wanted to do for sure.

We try to relax while we are at the park. It does not always turn out that way. But we make sure we take a mid afternoon break and go back to the resort to the pool.

(But a few years ago, before we became DVC members, I was an Uberplanner. )

 

[labattblue]

I plan which parks to visit each day and know ahead of time what attractions we want to see and the best times to catch them with the lowest wait times(based on popularity). Other than that, we wing it.

 

[NMAmy]

Just a quick question, doesn't the dining reservations then have to determine where you are? If you have dinner reservations somewhere in Epcot but decided to go to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon don't you spend a lot of time commuting from one place to the other?

I only ask because I truly wish I could make all of our ADR's and not have to committ to anything else but I am feeling like choosing an ADR in a specific location is basically forcing us to be in that area for the day.

I'm not the poster you quoted but I'll tell you how we do it. I make one ADR per day, usually for lunch. We stay at an Epcot area resort and the majority of our reservations are at either Epcot or DHS. We also use park hoppers and we do not use the dining plan--too much pressure for us with the dining plan. Going to either of those parks from our hotel doesn't take very long so we don't feel like we're tied down to any major plan. If we decide to skip an ADR, I call and cancel it.

Here's an example:
For our upcoming trip, Saturday is our arrival day. I've made no reservations and we'll probably eat counter service at the hotel or at Epcot.

Sunday, we have a lunch reservation at Le Cellier. DD, 18, and her friend will probably sleep in. DH and I will either go to Epcot or to DHS for the morning and then meet them for lunch at Le Cellier. Then we might rest at the hotel or head off to the MK for pm EMH or go to AK for the rest of the day and have an early evening. Just depends on what the girls feel like doing.

I don't plan much at all. We go every year so if we miss something, we catch it the next year. I've found this makes for a much more relaxing vacation for my family--they'd revolt if I tried to march them to certain parks at certain times. I can't even imagine what they'd do if I had a list of rides to go on in a certain order.

 

[Danauk]

I'd say I was an uberplanner in that I research everything and have a definate plan of action. However there is room for change within the plan, that because of my uberplanning we can make the most educated changes as we go along if needed to. E.g. if transport is down and we can't make an ADR then I would know straight away what a plan B could be, or if a ride was down, I would make an educated decision as to what to do instead. I know a strict plan for our 2 weeks visits would never stick, so there has to be some flexibility in it.

 

[MHSweb79]

If you go entirely without a plan, then you're probably not a DIS-er!
I plan a morning park and an afternoon park, with ADR's. That said, we have ditched on ADR's when we decided to do something else instead. I've never used a formal touring plan, because we all like to get up for morning EMH's then go back to the hotel for a rest around lunchtime. This works so well we don't need a "proceed from this attraction to this attraction, then do X" kind of plan.