I forgot: How will knowing the park hours help me plan my trip?

[fairytinkerbell]

I have a momentary memory loss episode happening :

i know i need october hours - but i forgot why???

 

[QuickGold]

The benefit of knowing the park hours is knowing when parade and fireworks are so you can plan things like lunch, or park hopping, etc. among other things.

 

[SnackyStacky]

I just like to know how long I have to enjoy the parks!!

But in general, it seems like the majority of people need to know so they can make priority seatings at the restaurants in the theme parks.

 

[Michael623]

It is so you can plan your entire trip ahead of time and destroy any possible chance at spontaneity. I was going to start a thread on this one time but I was getting flamed for some other thread I started at the time so I was laying low. These fanatical planners drive me up a wall. People were looking for September hours in April. Are you serious? I walked into Cindy's with no reservation at 6pm last year in September. I like planning ahead as much as the next guy but you're on vacation for goodness sake. Relax!

 

[MomofKatie]

Since you will be going at a non-peak attendance time, as I will in November, the benefit of getting the hours early is to see how much touring time you have in each park.

I am looking forward to getting the hours so I can make PS's for character meals, as well as non-park time at DTD, PI, and our resort.

If you like to plan things out, having the hours ahead of time really helps! If you don't want to plan, don't look at the hours, but don't put down those who do. Simple as that!

 

[ValerieK]

Originally posted by Michael623
It is so you can plan your entire trip ahead of time and destroy any possible chance at spontaneity. I was going to start a thread on this one time but I was getting flamed for some other thread I started at the time so I was laying low. These fanatical planners drive me up a wall. People were looking for September hours in April. Are you serious? I walked into Cindy's with no reservation at 6pm last year in September. I like planning ahead as much as the next guy but you're on vacation for goodness sake. Relax!

LOL too funny. I am not much of a planner, but I do like to know the hours, so if there is something special we want to do, I can make plans for it. I do love to read about everyones planning though. It does give me new ideas.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by Michael623
It is so you can plan your entire trip ahead of time and destroy any possible chance at spontaneity. I was going to start a thread on this one time but I was getting flamed for some other thread I started at the time so I was laying low. These fanatical planners drive me up a wall. People were looking for September hours in April. Are you serious? I walked into Cindy's with no reservation at 6pm last year in September. I like planning ahead as much as the next guy but you're on vacation for goodness sake. Relax!

LOL! To each their own I figure. My sister is convinced that I plan so much more than the average person and she is probably right. I'm not one of those people who walks in the front gate and stands there picking my nose, looking at the map for 10 minutes trying to figure out where I'm going. And then has to do it all over again after the first ride.

However, I've been enough times to just make a general plan, easy enough to do when going during a slower time of the year. I plan which parks for the different days, with the last day open to repeat whatever park(s) we want to repeat. I have an idea where I want to eat (only eat about one "real" meal a day, with the rest snacking or eating in the room) and I might make a priority seating the morning of if I've nailed it down to a certain time. We made a Boma ressie last year because we knew we wanted to eat there and wanted a certain time.

Other than that, I don't plan every ride, etc. I know to head to Fantasyland in MK at opening since I have a preschooler. When I go with my DH (and no kids) I will know to avoid Fantasyland, for the most part.

As to the people that we could call "overplanners", whatever floats their boat! I wish that more people didn't plan, didn't know what fastpass was, etc, because those confused people would make it easier for me to see more since they will be that much slower queing up for lines.

T&B

 

[NewEnglandDisney]

Originally posted by Michael623
It is so you can plan your entire trip ahead of time and destroy any possible chance at spontaneity. I was going to start a thread on this one time but I was getting flamed for some other thread I started at the time so I was laying low. These fanatical planners drive me up a wall. People were looking for September hours in April. Are you serious?

Perhaps you shouldn't be so judgemental.

You see, planning our next WDW trip is a hobby for many of us.

You are also confusing two things : planning, and scheduling. I think your annoyance isn't over people who plan, but those who over schedule, i.e. "At 9:23 we will proceed from Space Mountain to Pooh, 9:28 ride Pooh, etc.".

Smart travellers know that the more planning you do ahead of time (especially non-commital non-time specific planning) is the way to have the ultimate combination of spontineity and well-oiled finnese.

Proper planning ahead of time allows for the ultimate in planned spontineity - it may sound like an oxymoron but it's true. Having a ton of "backup" plans and other ideas for alternate activities can make you the hero when things aren't going well for your party - "Hey, I know a really good, cheap Buffet at Fort Wilderness if you guys are sick of the MK."

Wanting to know hours a few months ahead of time let's people decide things like, "Well, since MK is closed at 8PM the nights we will be visiting, perhaps we should get the Premium features on our tickets so we can go to DisneyQuest at night".

Finally, as I said above, this is a hobby for many of us and how we relax we when aren't able to be at WDW. If it's not your style, that's just fine - but you don't need to be so rude about it.

N.E.D.

 

[Snoopymom]

LOL! I'm guilty, but how about because there won't be a parade or wishes at MK during NoJ in Sept...and what if you were spending lots of $ to fly your family down for those three days and you didn't know that your 75 yr old Grandmother who only cared about seeing the parade was going to miss it?

I enjoy creating the magic for my family and I appreciate all the help I can get!

 

[Gillian]

I find that the more I know about my destination, the more relaxing my trip is. It allows us to make decisions or change plans quickly because we are aware of our options. We like to stay flexible, but if you're clueless, you can feel locked into things.

Also, because we have little ones, it's helpful in planning nap or pool breaks. Sometimes it's better to stay longer when the parks close early and take a break before dinner, rather than after lunch like we normally would.

 

[karemore]

We were there the end of April and Magic Kingdom closed early two nights because of McDonald's and grad night.

If I hadn't planned ahead and known that.....we would have been extremely disappointed to have missed the parade and Wishes.

We were able to plan around the early closings and we didn't miss anything important to us.

Karen