Is there such a thing as *TOO MUCH* planning?

[lpbm4]

I've been reading up on posts here and also have the Unofficial Guide book. Dh said to me last night, "You know you're going to be let down b/c you're reading too much on this." Did anyone ever feel this way? I just want to be prepared, although I will completely follow my kids' cues on what to do and where to go. We will be there for such a small amt of time, I want to make the most of it. So, is there such a thing as too much planning when going to WDW??

 

[momma leaps]

I've been reading up on posts here and also have the Unofficial Guide book. Dh said to me last night, "You know you're going to be let down b/c you're reading too much on this." Did anyone ever feel this way? I just want to be prepared, although I will completely follow my kids' cues on what to do and where to go. We will be there for such a small amt of time, I want to make the most of it. So, is there such a thing as too much planning when going to WDW??

I don't think so. You just have to realize that NOT everything will go according to plan. If you are okay with that and won't be disappointed then I don't think you can over plan when you go to WDW. I think the planning is part of the fun PLUS it also allows you to make the most of whatever time you do have there. You will not be let down. Believe me.

 

[bkaz]

My husband too teased me about being obsessed...I am an overplanner for sure. BUT when we got there and had the most amazing week thanks to everyone on the DIS and Tour Guide Mike...he agreed that the planning had been worth it. We went in early March and never waited more than five minutes for anything. I knew what we wanted to hit and what we could miss and what would probably freak out my sensitive 4 year old (didn't count on the water spray at Philharmagic though...after that he hid under the seat and wouldn't come out!). So, I'm sure there is such a thing as "too much" but I spent hours online and didn't feel I had wasted my time!

 

[rie'smom]

If you're expecting everything to be perfect,then sure you'll be disappointed. However, if you're planning and realize that a few things may be a little off,then you'll be ok.
Your hubby may not realize that planning is vital nowadays to avoid disappointment. A few years ago I brought my daughter and her friend to the MK about noon. I had no touring plan. By 4 oclock in the afternoon,we were only able to get on 3 attractions-and this wasn't on a super crowded day.

 

[lpbm4]

I'm not planning on things being perfect at all! It's more figuring out things to do and what to avoid since our time is short. Also, since my kids are younger, I need to be prepared as to what I know my kids will be interested in. Thanks for the input!!!

 

[disnut8]

I've been to Disney World over 50 times and I STILL plan things. You have to. I don't plan every single minute of every single day but I do keep up with what is going on. One trip, my stepmother said "I can't wait to go on It's a Small World, it's my favorite". I had to tell her it was down for a refurb. Most of the people that go with me like when I drop unexpected Disney trivia on them. And I can't tell you how many trips have been saved because I'm on the phone getting dinner reservations 180 days out.

Have a great time and enjoy all your Disney knowledge.

 

[erikthewise]

Oooooh, yes! But you're not there yet.
And too much is a lot better than too little.

 

[skier_pete]

No such thing as too much planning....the only thing you have to avoid is falling into the trap of "MUST FOLLOW THE PLAN!" I spend hours and hours planning each park, but on the day of, we end up following the plan for about 30 minutes. However, all the planning allows you to be aware of the different options available, and even off the plan you can still use all the things you learned while planning (FP availability..etc.) Our recent trip over 6 days we never waited in line more than 10 minutes for anything (except the buses, but that doesn't count) my whole family agreed that my planning made it a better trip. When you plan, you see people doing things and think "Thank God I know better than that." A good example of this is if you are at EPCOT at opening, about 20 % of the people immediately queue up for Spaceship Earth. Duh!

Remember what Schoolhouse Rock taught us...Knowledge is Power.

SkierPete

 

[cleo]

I'm in the opposite camp...I think you can definitely overplan. The threads talking about disappointment and family mutiny tend to be posted by people who later realized they overplanned.

That said, a certain amount of planning is necessary. But there's a difference between planning and over-planning. If you try to schedule every minute, or if you leave no room for 'letting the magic take you', I would call that over planning.

If you're reading upon what's there, what's new, what's not obvious to the casual visitor, how to book things, when to book things, busy days, etc, I'd call that planning.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I don't believe that you can plan too much. Planning is great. To me its part of the fun and brings up the excitement. I tend to plan a lot and I think it will be worth it when we're in the parks, and I know which way to go or what attractions will have long lines now and short lines later. Of course, I can't be for sure, but I know not to get in line for splash mountain at noon without a fastpass.

 

[01Sweetpea]

I am a huge planner, can't plan enough. I bought the UG, and subscribed to TGM. I made my HDDR ADRs when I thought about going, didn't even tell DH, then booked my room-only, and made the rest of my ADRs at 180+10. I have my itinerary down pat, and am ready to go.

With all of this, I know that I need to be flexable. I have scheduled an open day, and am hoping to go to TL, if not maybe DQ, if not, who knows. I don't plan on being in the parks a full day. It will be...go to rope drop, spend a few hours in the park, back to the resort to swim or relax, dinner, and then back to a park...could be the same one, could be a different one.

What is important TO ME is that I know what parks I am going to on which days and where we are eating. There will be no arguing with the kids about where we are going, where we are eating, etc. They all know the plan.

 

[amy4bruce]

DW considers Disney two vacations - the planning and the actual trip.

I do think you can overplan, simply by having a minute-by-minute schedule and attempting to stick to it. We have a daily schedule of what parks we want to be in, and what attractions we want to see. We leave the schedule in the hotel room in the morning, and then look at it at night, just to see if we've missed anything. Usually we haven't, and usually we've done more than we planned.

Of course, with all the planning, we've got a pretty good idea of the best ways to do things.

 

[Taratink]

You can definately overplan. Our first family trip I planned nothing and it was great. Our second trip I overplanned and I was dissapointed. Our last trip I gave my DH and kids 2 choices of what we could do each day. We decided the night before and my DH love it. I still had structure and flexibility. It does become difficult if you are planning around a lot of meals. I only planned a couple of dinners last trip and one lunch. I think that we missed one dinner and I called and cancelled our ressie.
Tara

 

[cybrkitn]

Nah. Not unless you are trying to plan every litle detail. I've read and posted on these boards so much prior to our trip last month. My DH was giving me the look every time I talked about it as well as the "Disney again?" statement. Believe it or not after we were there he thanked me for all the planning I had done and after we got backed he actually asked me when can we start planning the next trip

 

[nikkistevej]

I am a obsessive planner concerning WDW, but we went last year for the first time, and we were very prepared, but also changed things around for the unexpected events that always happen. I just went with the flow, if that happened. Another family "tagged" along with us, and the only time they did any rides or saw characters, it was when they were with us. Now they want to go on a Diney cruise together, her exact words were "so you can do all of the planning for us". I planned it at a time when they could not go. This time when we go to WDW and DCL in September 2007, I have alot of research to do. But I love it!!!!!

 

[MickeyMaz]

Thank You, Thank You. I was on my way to the board to ask this very question. We go in 25 days and I think I have it planned out. We have the basic day planned out as in go where and do what. I have also checked out crowd level touring plans. The thing we want to plan out now is the first one or two things to do at that park that day. We will try to stick to that, but after that, plans don't usually hold together. So as long as we know what is available to do and the best times to do it, we can decide then.

I will watch the boards, keep track of info and modify plans if necessary. It is hard to stop looking at the plan though and making changes for no reason.

My philosophy, which seems to be shared above, is that I will over-plan in order to have options when something that we had planned to do has to be changed.

Bottom line...we'll be back someday, so enjoy and relax. Now if I can only make myself believe it.

Maz

 

[widallas]

Thank you so much for posting this question!!! I'm in a similar situation to yours; it's our first trip to Disney with two boys, 7 and 4, for four days.

I have been skimming the boards and looking over the guides and subscribing to get the itineraries...and shifting days and times to optimize crows...and making reservations for this dinner and that lunch and this other activity, too...and trying to decide if we should purchase lanyards and do we need pins to trade...and coming up with graphics for a t-shirt to give my kids and to bind an autograph book and to put together a journal....ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

Last night I sat down and wrote out the things I REALLY want to do, gave myself a time limit to do them, filled them in my datebook, and I am going to STOP. Rather than wasting time on the computer to do things FOR my kids [readbsessing over the perfect vacation], I am going to do some things WITH my kids. I agree with the people who say that you need to have a good plan in place, but I'm finding it's o.k. to pace yourself and do a few things that will make the trip special, rather than trying to squeeze every single good idea you've ever seen into one trip. I think we're going to have a really awesome vacation, and that anything that we 'miss' this time, we'll make up for the next....it's all good.

 

[_chill_]

No... End of story. Bye bye. See ya later...

In fact, the planning is part of the fun!

 

[mamamary]

I also felt like my every free minute was reading up on Disney. But when we got there I felt like I was in charge and could direct us to where to go and where to eat because if that isn't done ahead of time you could be wasting alot of time down there.

Things may not go according to plan (we had to leave Epcot early one day) but for the most part it helped me alot. I typed everything out that we needed to do and where we were eating and at what time. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Go ahead and overplan

 

[Karnak]

So, is there such a thing as too much planning when going to WDW??

I don't think there is such a thing as too much planning for The World. Especially planning which park to visit on which day, and making meal reservations in advance to fit those park days.

I also go to the extent of planning attractions in the best order to avoid backtracking all over the park. Backtracking wastes time and sure ain't good for the feet! However, when making a plan for a day at a park I ALWAYS allow plenty of time between attractions, including walking time to the next attraction, and extra time scattered throughout my daily itinerary for people watching, etc.

Plan, but make the plan workable and easy to follow.

Enjoy.