Leaving Tomorrow without a plan. Am I nuts?

[techmonkey]

I've got the UG and have read it front to back a half dozen times, but in the end I've decided we'll just "wing it". None of the plans really seem to fit what we want to do at WDW. I will be avoiding EMH days and arriving at the parks early, but other than hitting a few the "MUST SEE" things early I can't seem to make my self "schedule" my vacation. I'm going on vacation to avoid schedules.

Have I completely lost it?

 

[nativetxn]

Welcome to the DIS!

I don't think you have lost it. You know what the parks will be like this time of year if you have the UG, so you know how to deal with everything.

Use Fastpass and just relax. You may not experience everything but you can still have fun.

Have a magical trip!

Katholyn

 

[Otimon]

Not at all! Enjoy your "free spirit" vacation. We'll be waiting for you.

Have a safe journey to Orlando.

 

[jswalker1981]

Use fastpass, and don't do rides/shows that have a quick load time till AFTER you get the fastpass. This way you are doing something while you wait for your fastpass. Get a fastpass with the quickest return time. I actually was going to wait for Space Mountain for 60 minutes after getting a fastpass for Buzz. Since Buzz had a 45 minute return time on the fastpass, so I was going to ride Space Mountain and then walk onto buzz, but we just went on buzz because we didn't want to wait in line for 60 minutes with my friend's 5yr old daughter. So, don't worry about having a plan, I never have a plan besides what I want to do first, after that I just have scenario ideas in mind for each land, but that is about all I do.

 

[luv2nascar]

You have an unplan plan. I think that's great. I'm too excited about my disney trips to not plan but hey if it works for you. I wish I could be more laid back.

 

[ncpsm]

Hi there,

The first few time I went to WDW, I didn't plan and we had a great time-sometimes it is better not too. Don't fret, just have fun. I leave Sat! Enjoy!

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I go into panic frenzy mode when I think of the plans!!! It took me forever and hundreds of hours on this thing to even decide on a resort!!!! I read the UG daily like a bible, now I am just confused...I don't remember it being so problematic when I was a kid. We just went and park comandoed it, stayed off site, and rode what we got to next my how times have changed at WDW

 

[maxiesmom]

You need to decide what you want from your vacation. If you can go, enjoy a slow pace, and not go home kicking yourself for missing a few attractions, then you will be fine! I tend to go commando, but I am working on slowing down and just enjoying being there.

Have you booked any sit-down dinners? If you are someone who needs some real food every so often you should try to get ressies in advance.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[WDWendy]

Our first trip was totally unplanned. We didn't even know which park we wanted to go to first until the night before (ended up at the Magic Kingdom), but we had a wonderful time. There were some things that we missed and I do wish I had known more about the dining options, but overall it was a terrific trip! Have a wonderful vacation!!!

 

[Vivianne]

We also left for our trip in May without a plan. However, the only thing you may be taking a chance with is dining. The crowds are heavier and you may not get a sit-down meal at your favorite restaurant. If you can live with that then I think you're fine.

 

[LvsTnk]

Welcome to the club! I am just not into planning this time around. We have been plenty of times and I know we are going back so this will be an exciting way of doing things.

The only thing I don't leave to chance are a few important meals.

Have Fun!

 

[Lora]

Personally, I'm lost without a plan. Do what works for you. Having read the UG, you probably have a pretty good idea what things you need to do during low-crowd times. That is really the best information to have. You just have to know that you can't show up in Fantasyland at noon and expect to do the rides in any reasonable amount of time.

Maybe you could just make a list of the things you want to do (not according to any order or time schedule) making note of the things you should do within the first couple hours of park opening. I think that would probably be a good compromise between going with a schedule and winging it.

My schedules tend to look like this:

Morning:
Park of choice
(list of about 4-6 attractions)
Afternoon:
break in the room
Park of choice
(list of 4-5 attractions)
Evening plan:
(usually includes getting supper and a place for spectro/wishes/illuminations or fantasmic)

We're pretty flexible with the plans and fill in where we have extra time and don't sweat it if we miss something.

 

[pdchris]

I'd say that's better than over-planning. When we went this year, we did all 4 parks but before we left, I asked my DS and DD what were their top "to do/see" things at each park and I combined them with what I wanted to do/see. You could say these were our goals for each park. That was pretty much all the planning we did. I didn't sit down and plan out a strategy on which item to do first followed by the next, etc.

 

[techmonkey]

The only PS we have is for the Breakfastosaurus. Dinner is the only thing I'm worried about, but we're staying offsite and with two young ones we'll probably do a mid day break and eat offsite the days that we do MK.