Overwhelmed with all the planning. Will it ruin our trip?

[WI_DisneyFan]

I'll just second what everyone else is telling you. Your plans should be considered more of a guideline than a schedule. My DW convinced me to make high level plans, and it really worked out well. We usually had an idea of what park(s) we'd be visiting the next day or two, and a couple attractions that we would like to see. We'll have 2 or 3 things that we really want to do, and everything else is a "if we have time, we can do this". I tend to plan my meals around what park I'll be visiting, or vice versa. And then we just wing it from there. Just relax, and enjoy yourself. I'm sure both of you will have a great time. As others have said, ADR's can be changed or cancelled. No need to stress out over what should (and probably will be) one of the best vacations you've ever had.

 

[WI_DisneyFan]

And one more thing. As far as what to pack and what to wear, etc - I pack the same as I would any other trip where I plan on walking a lot. Comfortable shoes, light clothes that breath well, rain gear, sun screen. Just because it is WDW doesn't mean you have to pack differently than you would for any other vacation.

 

[Appster]

I had become obsessed with planning before our one-week trip a couple of weeks ago, but when we got there, we ended up ignoring my itineraries, and after a few days I finally gave in and stopped bringing them to the parks!

I had looked up the extra magic hours schedules online (since we were staying offsite, the thinking was that we would avoid the park with EMH that day). I then cross-referenced that with information about attendance leves from two different websites and a book, and used it all to make a calendar of which days were good for which parks.

On top of that, I printed itineraries from the TouringPlans website. But each time, either show times, or park layout, or things that caught our or our kids' interest made those itineraries useless within the first hour!

So, like everyone above has said: relax, you'll be fine!

 

[tkitty]

I too, have tried hard, not to over-plan (even though I want to ). I picked which mornings to hit which parks, by EMH. Made our
TS ADRs by which area we may be closest to, or we can get there from the resort. Left the middle of the day open, resort, swim, nap. No lunch ADRs, we'll eat wherever. (Just have general ideas for lunch)
There will be 6 of us, and I'm the planner. Want to be flexable enough that everyone has fun.

 

[kimberh]

We just came back and I plan our ADR's and that is the park that we do that day. We decide what is a must do in each park and get it out of the way first then the rest falls into place. We really try not to walk back and forth all over the park. We did that the first few times we went and our feet were dead by the end of the night.
Work the Fast Pass. I told 3 people how it worked, some though they could get one per day and another thought it was one per ride, another thought they couldn't get one until they had used the first one,(Say your fast pass had a time 4 hrs. away on it, you do not have to wait that long) Check the time on the bottom of the pass and it will tell you when you can go get another pass. Example: Space Mountain 1:55 to 2:55 you will be able to enter at 1:55, our Fast pass said the next pass could be available at 2:00. That means that you could ride Space Mountain at 1:55 and get another one at 2:00 which is what we did. If Space Mountain is not your next ride of choice then pick another ride in the same area. That's how we get more done in each park. then work your way to your ADR reservation. We have been 25 plus times and this is a few of our tips inside the park.

Relax and take a deep breath and take in the Magic! We love to enter into another world. You will not get it all done. It is impossible, just plan on another trip or two or three.

 

[Katy Belle]

Oh I hear you sister! This is our 2nd trip to WDW, planned both with the DIS. I'm about 16 days from my date to make my ADRs and I'm stuck! I'm fretting over such little things! Finally today I thought....just do it, just make the decisions. It really doesn't make that much difference. Either way we will eat and we will have fun. I'm tired of the stress!

You will have a great time. You are informed. You will do what is best for YOUR vacation. We are all different and have to do it OUR way.

Katy

 

[jrasmom]

I'm feeling the same way!!

We're first timers, actually this may be the ONLY time we are ever able to afford & make it to Disney. With 3 kids I want it to be perfectly, magical for them THIS time.

But...all this information on here (and I'm reading the Unofficial guide book AND Disney with kids book) I feel like my brain is going to fry.

I do have ADR's made BUT after hubby told me to just pick some and do it he didn't care, he is now backtracking and wanting me to change some of them to out of park restaurants (in case we don't want to be back in MK that day) and we're not park hopping so we can't just come & go to different parks in one day.

I'm hoping once we get there we'll know where we have to be for our TS adr's and other then that we'll just go with the flow.

 

[mikymouse]

I spent more timing planning/reading/considering the options for our first family WDW vacation than I did on most of my other major events... ok I will marry you... ok this is a good house to buy... etc... but gee what is going to be the perfect ADR for my family on Tuesday and what if it rains and how do we get there...the planning for Disney was CRAZY fun.

I researched forever in advance but once we arrived in Orlando, I was offically "on vacation" and went with the flow. I did have my heart set on getting to the Magic Kingdom for park opening (this was my one thing) and we did it on our first day and it was great! My DH is VERY laid back so we had a very loose schedule (which park on which day AM or PM) and made sure we were close by to our ADR location as DH is not a happy camper with endless counter service meals. I was really glad that we had days with no ADRS or specific plans and every day include large gaps in time so we had the flexibility to spend extra time at the pool or park before heading to dinner or lunch, etc..

I would suggest making a list of the 1 or 2 very important things for each person and make those the centerpiece of your plan and the rest simply use as a guideline for options. What is great about Disney is if you run into a roadblock there are countless other options plus a lot of really nice CM and guest that are more than glad to help you once your there. Once I realized that I was the only one in our family with all these countless details of options(they didn't realize or stress about missing story time with Belle, blah, blah) then I had more fun and just enjoyed being in the moment. Inthe end, I wrote down our ADR's by day and time on a piece of paper in my pocket and amazing the rest of the details were burned into my memory!

You will have a great time and the only thing that I wish I would have done differently before hand was realize that my family had such a great time we will be going again and that was definately not our "Once in a Lifetime" trip. I just have to find a way to get back there, the kids ask almost daily when we can visit Mickey again.

 

[fallon]

I want to thank each and every one of you for all your wonderful replies.

You have all made me feel much better and I am taking all your advice to heart. I have made our diner TS ADR's and we will wing our lunch times. I have purchased good walking shoes and bought moleskin to go along. I have ordered a great fanny pack, neck coolers and misting fans to keep us comfortable. I am now just going to sit back and wait for the 115 days to go bye and enjoy the time leading up to our wonderful vacation.

Thank you all. Everyone on this board really are a terrific community of hearts.

 

[mrstomrice]

okay, so here is my 2 cents. since it is just your first time, you have a lot to take in. Don't overbook or over schedule. Educate yourself on a few things that are must dos for you. Just know that you will most likely not get through everything, and that is okay. It just gives you a reason to go back, and if you try to do too much you won't be able to enjoy it and take in the magic of disney. I have been there about 23 times since I was yound and I still haven't seen or done it all...i've got many more trips to come and I look forward to each and every one!

 

[tkitty]

My first (and only, so far) trip to WDW, was the 4/3 Land/Sea pkg. I booked thru a TA, and didn't have internet access. I knew nothing! Never heard of an ADR! We only ate at counter service (except for once, and we just waited for a table) We had a great time . Now, I hope I don't over-plan for this trip! Oh, but I love the planning.

 

[byoung]

We do a lot of planning and when we get there a lot of the time we just wing it.

 

[jackiedy]

I know how you feel. Almost 2am right now and I just can't stop and I still have 2 months before going. The other night online for hours checking menus for all places on dining plan, making lists, rewriting. I just don't want to be overwhelmed when I get there but staying up way too late. I think once I get the major questions and decisions out of the way it won't be so bad. Oh and I love reading reviews. There's another site and I will read hundreds at a sitting. Good luck. I'm really getting excited about my first trip.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I still have almost 6 months to go and we have got character meals at least once a day, scheduled for the park we will be at. I didn't know about half the stuff I know now and will probably find out before I go. I upgraded by resort because of things on the boards (i felt so encouraged to just go for it), I have the My Little Princess Girl Tea Party for DD's birthday. I just can't wait to go, DH keeps saying don't overplan, lets just go and have fun. What he doesn't understand is this is my fun.

 

[Pocohantasfan]

Well here's my two cents for what it is worth. Our first trip in 2004 as a family (DH, myself and DD turned 6 on our trip) was a very hectic one. I thought I'd planned every single minute of every single day. It was all so planned that I could hardly wait to see it all pan out that way. We went to the POR food court and they burned our pizza to a crisp. We were starving and it was way past lunch time. Luckily they quickly made another one and all were happy again. Then we went to Epcot since it was closest to POR and DD(5 at the time) and DH complained b/c they really wanted to go to MK. I tried not to let it show, but I really wanted to scream "I went through all of this planning for this!!??" The next day we get to MK and it's going great, but I forgot to get a map on the way in and was a little lost. After all, this was their first trip and I hadn't been there since 1979. I was a little rusty. So back to get a map. DH said, "I thought you'd planned better than this" during lunch. I wanted to hit him. After lunch, I decided to do whatever, whatever. I had some ADRs so we kept them but the rest of the time was just done at a leisurely pace. I am still planning like a madwoman, but only b/c it's so doggone fun. I know that once we get there someone will want to do something else first or we're not going to get hungry at 12:05, etc. Have fun!! Like someone said before, it's vacation and you will be in the happiest place on earth!

 

[kimberh]

When our children were small only Magic Kingdom was open, and we still call it Disneyworld. Once Epcot opened, I found that we had to do Magic Kingdom first and sometimes go back after Epcot. That was Disneyworld to them. Of course now the parks are much larger but we still start with Magic Kingdom and we're not little anymore!! I plan as much or more as most but the magic is in letting each person doing what matters to them the Most!!! Plan your ADR's and work your day around those, the rest will fall into place. We take our whole family now, I start with, who wants do really do what? We have grandchildren and we still do Fantasyland and we love doing it. Just have fun!!!

 

[sullymoscow]

I also just found out about these boards. I decided to start searching after returning from my 4th trip and realizing all I had missed. There is so much info but at least we will know what is out there and we can plan a little better. I know I never made ADRs, we just ate when we got hungry. The only problem is without ADRs the only thing you can get is counter service meals, which grow old quickly. Just take all the info you can get, then decide what you really want to do and what you pass on . Enjoy!!! LORI

 

[uhtimex]

I will be making my 2nd trip this New Years, the first was planned by my ex and we had a great time. I book guide no Disboards no LGMH"S just alot of fun. I have found out about many things that I missed last time but still won't get around to this time. We have aour days "sketched" out but between me and DGF we have 5 girls. Sometimes I wonder why I plan at all. Go and have a GREAT time, after all it is the happiest place on earth.

 

[Samantha/NC]

WE have not been as a family-we are taking my mom, my hubbies mom and dad, our 3 kids (11,8 and 6) and my sis, her hubby and their 3 kids (10,7,5) so we have been planning. We have a notebook, a mapped out plan (just general) like what land what days in MK, What park is open late-that kind of thing--half the fun is the PLANNING!!!! That is what I am going to miss most when my trip is over!!!