No Itinerary: Is it just me?

[badblackpug]

Is it just me? Am I the only one who does not have an itinerary? Or a touring stategy? I don't even make ADR's until I get there! I sleep in if I'm tired. I never make it to EMH in the morning. I am never in line before the park opens. If the kids want to do it again, I get in line again (and again, and again) The only hard and fast rules are MK on the 1st day (to the kids this IS Disney)

...and by the way, a little off topic, but did anyone buy one of those talking Mickey things? Do they work? Are they worth the price?

 

[Robo]

...I don't even make ADR's until I get there! I sleep in if I'm tired. I never make it to EMH in the morning. I am never in line before the park opens... did anyone buy one of those talking Mickey things? Do they work? Are they worth the price?

From your obvious high level of interest, I'm sure you'd love a talking Mickey thing!

I'd call and see if somebody somewhere might bring one to you to look at.

 

[badblackpug]

My belief is that a vacation should be fun. Everyone should be able to relax and have a good time and going all commando and dragging children at lightening speed from attraction to attraction to pack it all in, regardless of whether they are enjoying it or not, is not fun. If I work that hard I want to get paid!!!!

..and the talking Mickey's are for the kids

 

[bazzanoid]

My belief is that a vacation should be fun. Everyone should be able to relax and have a good time and going all commando and dragging children at lightening speed from attraction to attraction to pack it all in, regardless of whether they are enjoying it or not, is not fun. If I work that hard I want to get paid!!!!

Same here! The extent of my planning runs to avoiding the EMH parks (we're staying off-site), and just coming to a park on a day when we've booked an ADR - specifically one character breakfast (Donald's Breakfastosaurus on Tuesday 3rd October - anyone else be there?) and one dinner (Hollywood & Vine Saturday 7th, for fantasmic). Other than that, we get up when we get up, go where we feel on the day! :

 

[tribus121]

We all so have no plans but we do have ADR's as we are going during free dining we dont plan on using the morning EMH but we do plan on using the evening ones as some adult time ( nanny will look after DD )

 

[WillCAD]

I have always winged it. The only time I have made plans in advance is when I booked a tour or arranged a meet with online friends.

 

[Mike.Wazowski]

we usually wing it - but last trip I didn't make any adr's and had a hard time getting any good ones when there since it was a vacation week!
so this trip I did make a few - but thats it for me

 

[Michael623]

I'm always amazed at how insanely some people plan. People who want park hours a year out, people who make ADRs day by day as the time window opens; what ever happened to spontaneity? I especially like the people that have a written schedule of when they expect to be at each ride each day and how long they allow for meals etc. Believe me I understand getting the most bang for your buck but it is vacation after all. We will be at WDW 2 weeks from today and I'm not sure what park we'll go to first. We'll probably discuss it on the plane ride down.

 

[bluejasmine]

I plan to a certain extent. I do make ADRS for our fave TS places. I do plan on what park we will do what day but leave a day or so open. We do plan on what rides to hit first and a bit of a strategy so we arent waisting time standing around looking at a map going what do you want to do? Ive winged it and Ive planned it and then we discussed it and found we got to do a whole lot more when we planned. We like to get up early and go we are so excited to be there that we dont mind. Then again none of us really sleep late at home either, I just feel like it wastes my day, although I dont mind taking a afternoon power nap from time to time. Again while I plan things are always open for change and alot of times do.

 

[twinklebug]

Is it just me? Am I the only one who does not have an itinerary? Or a touring stategy? I don't even make ADR's until I get there! I sleep in if I'm tired. I never make it to EMH in the morning. I am never in line before the park opens. If the kids want to do it again, I get in line again (and again, and again) The only hard and fast rules are MK on the 1st day (to the kids this IS Disney)

...and by the way, a little off topic, but did anyone buy one of those talking Mickey things? Do they work? Are they worth the price?

I don't like to make firm plans but I did learn ADRs are very important as there is a good chance you'll be turned away from many places (or face a huge waiting time which could have been used touring) if you don't have one.

This year I have a detailed plan as the trip is 1/2 business and every moment counts, especially the down times!!!

 

[debbiepump]

We NEVER have any plans, if we did, DH wouldn't go! He's finally started to enjoy WDW since becoming a DVC member and being able to relax and not spend from dusk til dawn in the parks. We will make one or two ADR's and wing it the rest of the time.
Saying that, it's just us, no kids and have gone to WDW a zillion times.

 

[Frankiesmom]

Badblackpug you sound exactly like us! LOL Although I do make all the ADR's before we arrive. We also don't do morning EMH-I'm on vacation-I like to sleep in;or at least not rush around in the am. I make the ADR's because I enjoy eating good meals while on vacation-I don't want to chance it eating all counter service. But I have to agree with you-everyone's vacation needs to suit them and their families style of touring!

 

[EEYOREMAMA]

Is it just me? Am I the only one who does not have an itinerary? Or a touring stategy? I don't even make ADR's until I get there! I sleep in if I'm tired. I never make it to EMH in the morning. I am never in line before the park opens. If the kids want to do it again, I get in line again (and again, and again) The only hard and fast rules are MK on the 1st day (to the kids this IS Disney)

You are definitely not alone. There should be no rules to a Disney acation or you lose half the fun. I can't see trying to make yourself crazy on "vacation" when we do all the craziness in the "real world."

MK is a definite must every vacation. Don't care if it's the first or the last day. Do make ADR's but have been known to switch or cancel at the last moment if something more appealing strikes my fancy.

Will not wait in line, I've grown old waiting in lines. Will jump onto a ride I don't want to do, because there is no line.

Will dance, pose and hobnob with all the characters, because I can't think of what else I'd rather do. I won't worry about how much I'm spending until I get home and figure it out.

I think you've got it down right. And my philosophy: If I can't vacation without pressure and rules, why bother?

 

[bookgirl2632]

Since we go to Disney so infrequently, we like to maximize our time. We make ADRs. We are there at park opening and park closing. But we don't really adhere to a touring plan. Like I said, we don't do Disney very often, so I am most definitely going to waste my time by sleeping in. I'm paying too much money to do that.

 

[mrsltg]

Well, I'm a planner and I enjoy it. I know, for the most part, which park I'm going to be at each day. I make ADRs. I've never planned out how long a meal will take or which ride we'll be at each minute. I do have a general idea of where we'll go first in each park - Mk? Dumbo. AK? EE. MGM? Maybe Playhouse Disney... Epcot I really don't care.

To each his own, but I do have fun planning out my vacations ahead of time. So sue me!

 

[TwoMonkeys]

Is it just me? Am I the only one who does not have an itinerary? Or a touring stategy? I don't even make ADR's until I get there! I sleep in if I'm tired. I never make it to EMH in the morning. I am never in line before the park opens. If the kids want to do it again, I get in line again (and again, and again) The only hard and fast rules are MK on the 1st day (to the kids this IS Disney)

Nope, we're right there with you! We don't make ADR's until we get there either. We can never get all of us out of the hotel in time to make EMH mornings. We usually end up doing MK on the first full day too. We like to just "play it by ear" and just enjoy being there. It's especially hard to stick to some kind of schedule when you're with kids anyway.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I plan very loosely. I do make ADRs and check out which days are least crowded for each park and plan to go on those days. I know what attractions I want to see. But I don't say "I'm going to get there at this time, and see this first, then I'm going over here, then here..." If I'm going from one must-see to another, but see a different attraction with a short line, I'll probably head for it and do that first.

 

[mill4023]

My belief is that a vacation should be fun. Everyone should be able to relax and have a good time and going all commando and dragging children at lightening speed from attraction to attraction to pack it all in, regardless of whether they are enjoying it or not, is not fun. If I work that hard I want to get paid!!!!

..and the talking Mickey's are for the kids

I think even those of us who do a ton of planning, make ADR's months in advance, and have a touring plan for each day, would agree with your statement. Just because I make a detailed plan doesn't mean I do the parks commando style or just try to speed from attraction to attraction.

The whole reason I plan ahead is to make our vacation more relaxing and less stressful. By planning ahead and arriving before park opening, we get to do all the attractions we want to do WITHOUT waiting in long lines or rushing through the park. To me, that makes the day much more relaxing and fun.

I agree that there are some people who do what you described. But just because someone makes a detailed plan doesn't mean that they will do that.

 

[Michele]

I too follow a loose plan. I only make ADR's for a couple of TS places we love. We sleep in, do EMH nights instead. I look at park hours and EMH days to decide which parks to go to which days, but I willingly change those if my kids feel like going somewhere different. I have found that we can usually get ADR's from the concierge desk in the morning for restaurants we what to go to for dinner. Even last trip, week before Christmas, we got in where we wanted that morning. Of course, sleeping late and doing EMH evenings means we are usually eating dinner pretty late, but that is normal for us.

 

[amy4bruce]

DW is the real planner. To her (and, I'll admit, both DD6 and I have joined her in this opinion), it's like a second vacation, to view the DVD, make decisions, get the ADRs, etc.

However, and this is a big however, we try to stay flexible. We leave the plan in the room, and then check it that night to see if we did every thing we wanted to. Usually, we did. Maybe not in the right order (in fact, definitely not in the right order), but we saw what we wanted to see.

DW is a former CM, who has seen too many people standing there, overloaded and dumbfounded, not to plan. Me? I trust her instincts (along with everything else she brings to the relationship).