How much tweaking is normal?

[dtkids]

I have changed, added, dropped and modified ADRs and FP+ more times than I can count. We still have over 45 days until trip, I'm guessing final December hours will throw more curve balls at my plan... in my first time naivety, I thought plans would be set by now. I know 4th FP+ will be anyone's guess, but when will the rest of this be set? When we are finishing a meal or walking off a ride? Am I doing it wrong?!?!?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I don't tweak unless its needed.
Only time its needed in my opinion is if I had to settle for an ADR or FP+ time that was not preferred.
In that case I will keep it and keep checking and if what I want pops up I'll change.
Otherwise everything is all set the first go around.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We book our ADRs and FP and don’t tweak anything after they’re booked. Usually only the number of people if another family member decides to come or something. If we don’t get an ADR we want, I continue to look for it. If it becomes available, hooray! We add it. TP reservation finder is my friend.

We don’t bother with PPO meals since my kids get up at the crack of dawn and are hungry for breakfast immediately because that’s what they are used to doing at home. So, no early park breakfasts that can get goofed by hours changes. The kids are 1yo and 2yo do so evening hour changes don’t really matter to us much. We are generally unaffected by hours adjustments.

Since I’m usually booking stuff for 10 people, it would be a nightmare to keep changing stuff on them and communicating why, getting opinions, etc. So, we plan it out ahead of time and don’t change a thing unless absolutely necessary.

 

[SG131]

Maybe it's a newbie thing. We just went this summer for the first time in years. Last time we went was fp+ or 180 adr booking. When planning this past trip I found myself changing things constantly.

Some because as I researched things more I changed my mind, some because I really second (and third and forth) guessed myself as far as fp timing and which rides to get fp for after the main ones. I also wasn't sure what the kids would and wouldn't like and didn't want to tell my 4 yr old too soon that we were going to have her watch ride videos.

My mother came along with me and I'm fairly certain I drove her nuts calling her every other day saying what if we switch this. So while it may not be the norm, you are certainly not alone. It's hard to plan things out in so much detail especially when you don't really know what to expect.

 

[Haley R]

We've been twice and are going again next March. I've moved ADR's around a ton! They came out with the Disney After Hours after we had already booked our trip and picked our park tickets. I went in and took off a day for DAH and had to move some ADR's around for it. They also posted that Cinderella's Royal Table will be refurbished the majority of our trip so I had to move things around again to accommodate that. I think this is the most I have had to move things around. I also had an ADR for breakfast at Ohana, but then they announced that Stitch has his own spot now at MK so I got rid of that one lol. Lots of changing for me this time! We might have just booked our trip earlier than before.

 

[LSUmiss]

I tweak a lot, OP & I’m not a newbie & go multiple times a yr. Sometimes I even change my whole set of dates. Think the reason I do is b/c I can b/c we have very flexible schedules. Sometimes I tweak b/c new events get offered or hours change or ppl decide to come who weren’t originally. But this happens almost every trip. And for FPs, what I schedule at 60 days is always just a rough draft! There are some like FEA or FOP that can’t change, but I change the rest while there all the time.

 

[Elle23]

Good grief...I have tweaked this trip to death, and I haven’t even entered the FP window.

Just for resorts, I think I have booked and canceled 5 times (ASMu preferred room, POFQ, POR SPD, Pop SPD, Pop standard room, then dropped 2 days and ended up adding them back again, and finally ended up back at POFQ. )

The last trip was NOT like this! I told my kids these last reservations were final and they just laughed at me for some reason.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I have tweaked a lot too, but I finally got the late night reservations I wanted for rol and cl.

 

[paradesintherain]

I'm in no way a newbie, and I tweak a lot. It's part of the fun to me, trying to make the ideal plan. In fact, I leave today and just changed the time of an ADR a couple days ago!

 

[Karin1984]

Normal is an illusion, what is normal to the spider, is a calamity for the fly.

I like tweaking, I find it entertaining to get close to the 'perfect trip', especially as my idea of 'perfect' constantly changed.

I think you can tweak all you want, as long as it stays fun and doesn't become obsessive and you can live with consequences. If you can live with that your plan doesn't work out at some point of your trip, it is okay. If you would seriously regret giving up a plan, stop tweaking.

 

[hllb]

I’ve tweaked a lot. Mostly as I find new things I want to do or see new restaurant recommendations. I think I’m done now until my FP window opens in a few weeks. Most vacations I plan excessively. It’s part of the fun

 

[Tomh]

I would say different answers for different folks is going to be the norm, and honestly, maybe even different answers from the same people after different trips. We have had trips where I made the ADR's and (in later trips) FP+ and was done with it. We have also had trips where tweaking things was necessary. This past year, we ended up swapping park days around, and much tweaking was needed to make it work.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I tweak ADRs and FPs a little - mostly to get better times or if we change our mind or find out about something we’d rather do. I don’t do it more in part because I’m afraid of screwing something up accidentally. What I tweak a lot are my touring plans. Can I do this before or after this other one? Can I squeeze another ride in before that ADR? Is it better to go around the park this way this day or that way? It’s not unusual for me to have 7 or 8 draft plans for a day. And then we only follow one for the morning anyway (darn mutinous family ).

 

[dtkids]

Thank you to everyone! It's reassuring to know I am not certifiable. My family will be pleased to hear

 

[3gr8boys]

I'm in no way a newbie, and I tweak a lot. It's part of the fun to me, trying to make the ideal plan. In fact, I leave today and just changed the time of an ADR a couple days ago!

It is part of the fun for me too. Even if I don't do any actual tweaking, I enjoy the anticipation by continuing to explore possible changes.

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

I tweaked our plans on almost a weekly basis for our last trip because Disney kept changing hours and then canceled one of our fast passes . I also was trying very hard to get a certain reservation so as soon as it became available I grabbed it.
It was constant updating, but it worked out very well. Everyone in the family got to do everything on the wish list and then some.

 

[Cynergy]

I am always tweaking and looking for ways to make a more efficient plan. I enjoy the planning and tweaking aspect of the trip as part of the countdown, its a sickness really.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I am certainly not new, and this trip has changed multiple times due to changes and delays from Disney. It's our last dining plan trip as kids will be Disney adults in the future, so the ADR thing was a struggle. We got what we wanted at 180 days but changes to menus and the extreme delay of rivers of light has left me eating lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Yikes. Nevertheless, OP, you'll reach a point of no return, and just go with it! It will be wonderful no matter what. You won't be able to do everything you planned, and that is okay. The magic can never be planned, anyway.

 

[dtkids]

The magic can never be planned, anyway.

Love this. Might need that on a tshirt!

 

[Babsy]

I tweak my plans constantly and sometimes just change the entire trip to different dates. So much has to be planned before Disney releases everything so you sometimes have to adjust your plans to make everything fit that you want to do. Also, my plans are arranged to some degree according to where we are staying and discount releases have often caused me to completely change park days and ADR's etc as I change our resorts.

So yes, we tweak every trip. It is normal and, IMO, necessary these days to get everything thawed you want it.

You just need to enjoy the challenge!

Have fun planning!