Okay, now that you're back, I have to know...

[TinkKel]

I have read so many peoples iteneraries to get ideas that my head is spinning! I have to tell you, some of the schedules just look exhausting! So please tell me, now that you have "been there and done that", how many of you stuck to your schedules to a "T", and how many got wore out and threw in the towel before you were able to finish everything? I'm trying to set up a reasonable "do-able" itenerary that me and my two boys (10 & 13) can stick to. Thanks for your voice of experience! I've already planned while we are visiting the KingdomWDW resort parks to return to our resort for at least 3 hours in the afternoon....it's just not reasonable to do when we visit Universal Studios and IOA. Any good pick-me-up ideas while we are there?

 

[danny1649]

Remember be F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E, we always have a plan but because of crowds or meal runs longer than we thought we are willing to for go a couple of things.So if we get behind on our plan we just change it and don't let it ruin our day.

 

[CamColt]

I should have my trip report posted in the next few days so you might want to check that out. I can tell you I am a compulsive planner, right down to index cards for each visit to each park with what we want to do during that particular visit. We went with another family this time and I knew we may have to be flexible(THE HORROR!). My planning worked out very well. I did deviate a little, like one day instead of taking a midday break we stayed at Epcot until about 6:00 and called it a day then, and of course anything involving FPs has to be open to change because you never know when your return time will be until you are there, but for the most part, we followed the plan and it went well.

 

[chb]

We just got back from four days there earlier this week. I went with a plan in mind, but flexability is the key. The crowds were great, si we got more done in a shorter amount of time that I anticipated and the afternoon that I had "planned" to go to the water park was a total wash out. Plus we have a four year old and you neber really know what they will be up for or not. But, having a basic game plan was essential to making sure we didn't miss out on the things we really wanted to do.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I tend to not schedule naps because I like to be in the parks as much as possible, so they are a waste of time to me. This works great for the first few days, but once we've hit all 4 parks once, we tend to slow things down a bit. The second half of our week had way more time spent at the resort and pool than I had thought, but we still stuck to all our PS's. On flyout day, we had Chef Mickey's breakfast scheduled for 7:30 but we were absolutely exhausted and that didn't happen.

 

[michygoomy]

We moved a couple of things around but generally stuck to my plan. I actually planned long breaks in the afternoon, and while we usually stuck to them, we never stayed as long as I had planned. The kids (10 and 7), instead of resting, started bouncing off the walls in the hotel room and it was better to just get back up and go to a park!

The one thing we didn't do--I planned two afternoon trips to water parks, in addition to two morning trips. We did the morning trips, but never made it in the afternoons. Too many afternoon thunderstorms!

We had late nights planned every night, but after three days of closing the parks with fireworks, everyone asked that we have one night in early. But that was the only night! The last two nights we went to PI, and we had only planned one.

It's odd to quote a military leader about a vacation, but it's somewhat apt: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." (Dwight D. Eisehower)

Having a plan is a HUGE step in the right direction, but being flexible enough to change it is just as important!

 

[Selket]

I agree that the planning is useful but the plans may not be! LOL! My kids are younger so flexibility was the key but we did keep generally to the schedule of what we would do on what days. The biggest problem was the rain and going to the pool was one of the most important things to one of my kids so we sometimes had to change plans to make sure we got in a pool visit (it was raining in the afternoons too much and they'd close the pool because of storms). I found the tourguidemike (www.tourguidemike.com) site to be very helpful because he gives you lots of information about when to visit attractions that is easy to tailor to your schedule. If you get "off track" it isn't hard to figure out what might be best to see next. If you're not going in a busy time of year that will help too.

 

[cleo]

Which park on which day, a couple of PS's, and the sure knowledge that it all gets chucked the minute we feel like doing something different.

Having been there a number of times (22?) I feel much less urgency to see it all. Knowing you almost CAN'T see it all (unless you have more than 2 weeks!), you may as well enjoy it rather than have it all go by in a blur because you packed so much in and were on such a tight schedule.

Go, relax, and give the magic time to catch up to you!

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

Think of your trip plan like the outline or rough draft for a paper. We were able to stick pretty close to our plan and it DEFINITELY allowed us to do a lot more than if we hadn't made a plan! But, I know we had to change at least a few things on "the plan" every day.

 

[grinningghost]

We didn't follow any itineraries except for keeping 2 priority seatings and making sure we were in the MK for Spectro the one night it was running. Other than that, we winged the whole thing - and it worked better than when we've planned like crazy.

We also didn't do EE except on the morning of our Cindy's breakfast. I think that made the whole trip less stressful. I'm not a fan of waking up early, although we always have before. This time I slept in a bit, and felt alot better for it. We had no problems with missing the EE's. With Fastpass, we didn't have many huge waits at all.

 

[Cindy B]

We didn't have an intenerary or PS for the entire trip. I know I wanted to see Spectro the one time it was running, but the crowds (3-4 people deep ) when we got there, it was too much for us.. so we decided to go on "elevated" rides where we could see the pararde... (ie, TTA, and Splash Mountain!), we saw most of the parade that way, and it was clear of others heads!


I knew also I wanted to catch the Lion King show before it closed for rehab.. I did that Sunday as well.

So other than a DIS meets Saturday/Sunday at MK that was about it.

We did do DQ a few times, and that was good as well. We just sort of winged it, and it was a freeing feeling. Somedays we tried to get back to nap, but it ddin't happen. One or two times we did, and that worked out nice.

 

[Cindy'sCastle]

As far as which parks on which days, we definitely stuck to that plan. But some days we didn't see or do all in the parks that I originally wanted to. But like someone else on this board said, stay flexible. So I didn't get disappointed with not being able to do everything I had intended on doing. And I look at it this way, what I didn't do that time, I will just have to plan another trip and do it then!!!

Cindy

 

[TimeWarp]

I'll have to say that we have never returned to our resort in the middle of the day. We have two boys also. This trip they will be 10&11. When we need a break, we find a nice spot to sit down, people watch, have some ice cream, look at our schedule, discuss some of our days highlights. We are too excited to take the time for a 2 or 3 hour break. There are plenty of places to take a time out. We do accept the fact that WE WILL NOT SEE EVERYTHING and to try and do so would keep us from enjoying the small things. I do make a schedule for what day/what park and on the schedule we will include several must sees, including dining, and the rest is flexible.

 

[KSgirl]

I'm a planner also, and a firm believer that you can have a lot more fun and do a lot more things if you plan ahead. That said, I find it imperitive to also be flexible as others have stated. Things PROBABLY will not go exactly as you have planned, but that at least gives you a direction...

I like to use an "outline". I figure in definite times, such as PS's at restaurants and certain parades and shows, then decide which parks we're going to spend on which parts of the days. (I do this with index cards). After I get a feel for what park we'll be at on what days, then I will loosely fill in what we'd REALLY like to do, what we'd KIND OF like to do if we have the time. I also like to plan some "extra" time on days to revisit favorites, or hit attractions we may not have done earlier (because of time contraints, or children meltdowns, or whatever!). I write it all out on a little Excel Spreadsheet, where I can see my whole week at a glance and know what we've got going on. I even write in PS confirmation numbers so I have everything together.

Everytime I've followed this method, we've had a wonderful vacation and almost everything has worked out smoothly. It definitely pays to do a little research and come prepared!

 

[TinkKel]

Thanks for all your replies......I guess the biggest key to success is FLEXIBILITY. I think I'm only going to plan for two meals, PS for O'Hanu the day we arrive, and Hard Rock Cafe the day we go to Universal Studios. I just can't decide on any others. I'm afraid I'll stress too much, thinking we have to be at such-n-such place at such-n-such time. Probably a lot of counter eating! We will be staying at Shades of Green, and they have dinner/breakfast buffets, so they will do in a pinch. I'm afraid after walking all day, we won't feel like hopping around to different resorts/restaurants to eat.

I'll get this all figured out! lol (sooner or later!)

Thanks again for the tips!