How to start planning?

[r3ngels]

Okay all you crazy planners out there how do you start to plan?!? We will be there for 7 days, so we have a lot of time, I just don't know how to plan which park for which day and how much time to allow for parks, character meals (chef mickey & cinderella are booked we are thinking about Donald, Princess, and Fantasmic), relaxing etc...
We have 3 small kids (DD's 7,4,2). We have been to WDW twice but this is the first time just us (we usually travel with a big family group) So I have always had a guideline of what I wanted to see but was flexible on which day.
I have read some of the planning sheets from this board and I am a little overwhelmed on how to plan... I know I need to because I want to get the most out of our trip but not feel stressed and unorganized... (I usually am organized).
Any and all help is appreciated from all anal planners!!!

 

[uberPlanner]

Break it down into smaller chunks of planning. Start with an initial plan and keep making iterations until you come to something that will make you happy.

We first determined that the kids enjoyment was going to be our primary focus.

We then split up our planning into the following chunks

Lodging
Touring
Meals
Entertainment
Transportation
Other Activities

That's it. Start with just a few chunks. We did all of our budgeting of time and money at this level. We took it one chunk at a time. Again, think about what you're trying to get out of your vacation when making decisions about each chunk.

We used the advice from here, other websites, Passporter and The Unnoffical Guide to WDW to help identify opportunities and alternatives.

Touring - We prioritized how much time to spend at the various venues based on our kids' enjoyment. We decided our biggest chunk of time would be spent at MK & the resort (pool). We also wanted some time at the other parks (AK, MGM, BB, TL & EPCOT).

Lodging - We knew we could only go about 5 or 6 hours tops before needing a break at the resort. So, we chose to stay onsite and close to MK. This would give us the least amount of travel time between locations.

Meals - A few character meals and one show for the kids. The rest, we decided on based on the other activities we had planned. A few meals in the room, in the resort restaurants and at the parks.

Transportation - We planned out according to the time we wanted to arrive and depart. We also planned out ground transportation to the resort.

Other Activities - We also planned out recreational activities for the whole family.

Then we determined how much we could spend. After that, we priced everything based off our initial plan and started making decisions on what is in or out.

We then started making an itinerary of our vacation and of pre-trip activities.

Bookings
Packing/Shopping
Prepare house and office for time away

The tools we used were guides, websites, and our planning sheets. http://www.geocities.com/bczook/index.html

I tried to use the other planning sheet, but I couldn't open it because of my older version of Excel. So, I made my own. That was a blast. I suggest you do the same.

Remember: Don't try to tackle everything all at once. Start early and do a little bit each time you're in the mood.

 

[immalemon]

What if you have never been to WDW? We are doing 3 nights there, 4 night cruise, so we have limited time. I have never been there, and have learned a lot on this site, but I know I still dont know all the "secrets"

 

[MomE@Home]

Great advice !!!

To immalemon,
There is a lot of info. here at the DIS and I have found a lot of useful info. from books. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and PassPorter Walt Disney World are two I use.

 

[ABCMom]

I think you have made a great start just by coming to the DIS

Just take it a little at a time - if you over stress yourself about it the planning nor the trip will be any fun for you (spoken from experience )

 

[AreWeThereYet]

We've been to WDW many times over the years from the time our DD's were about 16 months of age. (now 14 and 12). We always start planning by getting our lodging in place (as was suggested by UberPlanner).

Once that's taken care of I buy the latest edition of the "Unofficial Guide to WDW" and get out my post-it flags and hiliter and start going through all the restaurants to see where we will eat when we are visiting. This used to be an ominous taks, but we are not DVC members so meals are much less stressful. We eat breakfast in the room and take lunch and dinner out if we're in the parks that day, or we eat at home if we're just lazing by the pool and shopping that day.

We usually only visit the parks two or three days out of a seven or eight day visit. Last year we added a water park to the mix, as well as Disney Quest (probably too "old" for your girls at this time). This allows us the flexibility to sleep in, stay up late, not get dressed until the afternoon or what have you - the girls really liked the flexibility and DW and I were able to run in the morning around the Boardwalk and have breakfast by the pool...very relaxing.

The days we went to the parks we gor up early and were at the parks the minute they opened. At MK we got to Tomorrowland first, rode all the rides we were interested in there and then moved through the park to Splash MOuntain and Thunder Mountain. The girls weren't too interested in Fantasyland so we left after about four hours (and did Space Mountain, Buzz 3 times, the race cars, teacups, splash mountain 3 times, thunder mointain, pirates, jungle cruise, alladin before we left), went swimming for a few hours, and then headed to epcot for the eveing.

Same type of schedule for Ak and MGM.

We (translation = I) tried to get as much into the days we visited the parks as the family wanted. We (DW and I) knew that we had to be very flexible and we had a much more enjoyable time this past year.

One more thing I did was I had each daughter plan their day at the parks - older DD took MK and Epcot, younger one took AK and MGM. This allowed us to let them play an actrive role in our trip and got them a little more excited about going.

And yesterday (big tear shed) my older DD finally told me she was getting excited about our next trip...I have only been talking about it since last June (when we got home).

We will be planning differently this year because we have to plan around an infant, but we will still try to make sure we have "On" days and "Off" days to allow all of us to get some rest during the week.

Hope this helps a little...

 

[neosnightmare]

Originally posted by MomE@Home
Great advice !!!

To immalemon,
There is a lot of info. here at the DIS and I have found a lot of useful info. from books. The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and PassPorter Walt Disney World are two I use.

i just got passporter for the first time. it is unbelievable how cool this 1 book is. i love it.

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

The Unofficial Guide to WDW was highlighted throughout, I jotted down the meals I was interested in for PS's.
I discovered these great forums next and rather than just browsing through them, I keep paper and pen nearby and jot things down, stuff to buy, helpful tips, etc.
I just bought the Passporter book last weekend. It's really cute, good park maps and descriptions of the attractions, pockets for each day to put small items in as well as areas to jot down itineraries, favorite places and memories, even spots for autographs!
I was pretty overwhelmed about a month ago when my DH kept saying, "When are you gonna start planning out what we're going to do at Disney?" Now thanks to the above resources, he's regrettin' them words!!
Have fun with your planning...it gets you more psyched for your vacation. Just leave room for the unexpected and don't stress out about it too much.