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

[fallon]

I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent at my comp. reading these boards and making notes.

DH and I are 1st time WDW travelers and will be doing the 4 day land and 3 day sea trip. When we first booked I thought it would be great but the more I read the more I see that there is real work involved in going to WDW. Making all the ADR's for dining, planning which parks to go to what days. What rides to do. What to bring. What shoes to wear. Ect... I am close to coming unglued worrying about if I will need a backpack or a bellypack. If we will make it to all our ressies for dinners and will we need more than I hae planned to take.

Has anyone else felt this way?
If you have, did it kind of ruin your trip?

Signed...burnt out woman hoping that this vacation will be a great one.

 

[Unregistered]

I feel the same way!!!

 

[Jrabbit910]

Every single time I went to Disney before 2005, I never knew about these boards. I just found it for my upcoming trip in April and I cant get off the boards either. My BF loves it because I am not bothering him as much!
Anyway, I never had a problem before and just went w/o planning and w/o knowing half the things I found out. I enjoyed each and every trip I went on. Now that I know about them, the only things that I have done a little differently is plan my ADR's. If you cant make them and ur enjoying another park, relax, cancel them and enjoy where your at.
Dont panic, dont stress out... its not the end of the world. Your having a great time no matter what. ENJOY IT!

 

[fallon]

I feel the same way!!!

LOL!! Thank you. I know this sounds dumb but it made me smile knowing I wasn't the only one feeling this way.

 

[fallon]

Thanks Jrebbit910

I really needed to hear from someone else other than myself that things would be fine.

 

[twoprincesses]

While ADRs and such are a must for some, others do not mind passing them up... I agree with the previous poster... just relax, afterall, it is a vacation. When I plan my commando style disney trips they never fall into place as planned. By the end of the week, I ditch the notes, books, and other guides and play it by ear... have fun and make memories, that's what matters.

 

[Jrabbit910]

ur welcome Have a great trip!!! Take lots of pictures and remember this probably wont be your last time there... HAVE FUN!

 

[fallon]

Thanks Twoprincesses. The more I read these replies, the better I am feeling.

BTW, your girl IS a real Princess. Great pics.

 

[Karenj2]

Don't let all the information overwhelm you - I've been on many trips to WDW without knowing about the many things to do and see, and I still had a blast! The good thing is, Disney World will still be around for the next few years, so if you miss something THIS time, you can get to it NEXT time!

And, as someone that has done the Land/Sea cruise, I can tell you, you will have fun!!!

 

[kkevcamsmom]

I look at the board and information as helpers, not what I have to do. It is overwhelming but my plan is to have as much fun as possible with out overloading everyone when we get there. We have already decided on what things we can live without this trip, makes a next time more likely!

I do like to read all the tips and what worked well for others, but it just gives me ideas of what and when to do things.

Take a deep breathe and inhale the magic..... there, now just have fun thinking of what ride you want to hit first....

Lori

 

[fallon]

Thanks to the both of you Karenj2 and kkevcamsmom for the good and sane advice.

I want this trip to be momorable and fun but I guess I just got carried away.

 

[eliza61]

Just adding my vote of confidence. You all will be fine. I felt the same way before my first trip. Believe me, you will be extremely glad of the preperations when you get there.

 

[ktink]

I also didn't find the boards until 05 so our first trip in Sept 04 even though I had bought the guide books and all we were in the dark. We just thought that you go get in line for the rides and that's the extent of it. Well low and behold we had a blast in 2005 because I had all of the DIS info on our side. But don't let it stress you out for me the planning is the biggest part of the fun. I almost feel let down once everything is planned.

 

[Kimmielee]

Before the DISboards I didn't know SO MANY things.... such as the Disney Pirate cruise for the kids from the GK, where the best spots to cop a squat for the fireworks in the various parks, why ADR's can be so important (especially for the character meals), what to expect from DME and why it was ok to give up the town car we always spent an extra $100 on... and I could go on and on...

I've done 3 trips in the past 3 years to WDW. The first trip was without the boards... the other two were much more relaxing (due to having plans in place) and feeling like once we landed at MCO the trip just unfolded for us.

We build in plenty of pool/relaxation time and KNOW that we'll be back within a year or so to experience anything that we missed.

Good luck with your planning!!!

 

[MagicMe]

Just wanted to add in my two cents!!! This board and others are a great way to find some tips. Some will work for you and others won't. I searched last year for loads of tips as I hadn't been to WDW with my own to older DS's in over 6 years (not to mention that my youngest DS was taking his GF and it was her first time) so I wanted the trip to really go smooth. We wanted lots of fun but also trying to keep the $$'s down. We were staying in a 2BR at OKW so I knew we'd be able to have food. I took plenty of snacks that everyone could take with them into the parks to eat between meals. Turns out, I carried all the snacks in my backpack and in the eight days that we were there - we only hit the snack bags once!!!!

So as you can see, not all tips will work for all families. That's what's great about the DIS board. You can find out so many things and then just use what works for you!!!

Plan - make those ADR's and maybe even try to get a "schedule" going. But then, remember - the best laid plans....

ADR's can be changed/canceled. There are plenty of alternatives!!!

The best tip I can give anyone is that once you're there, relax and enjoy!!

BTW - the land and sea is awesome!

 

[ronandannette]

No kidding Fallon - I totally feel your pain. Planning our WDW trip has become like a full time job. Disneyland was ever so much more straight forward...

Unlike this thread, most people on these boards assure you that you will come to ruin if your pre-trip plans aren't completely charted and graphed, colour coded for date, time and activity type and cross-referenced against how much water you should drink given the probably temprature ...

My favorite piece of advice so far has been something along the lines of "be prepared to call for your ADR's at 6:57 a.m. on day 180 or you'll likely end up being unable to use your table service credits" WHAT?

I wonder what happens to all those poor hapless folks who just book a package, get on a plane and show up in Orlando. Wouldn't it be unfair if they end up having just as good a time as us...

Annette

 

[Redwitch]

I know the thought of and the actual planning can be overwhelming. But it can also be fun! We plan days in what parks and meals, but are also ready to go to with flow.
We did next to no planning on our first trip, didn't know this or other sites were available. Did we have fun??? Of course!!!
However, our last two trips had some degree of planning and we were able to see more and wait less. I'm at a point were I enjoy the planning. I have my park days planned, ADR, and Cirque tickets for our fall trip down. We do refuse to follow a commando schedule of "we need to ride this, then this, then this."
And remember, a plan is just that, a plan. Things happen, then you change your plan.

 

[videogal1]

I can't even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent at my comp. reading these boards and making notes.

DH and I are 1st time WDW travelers and will be doing the 4 day land and 3 day sea trip. When we first booked I thought it would be great but the more I read the more I see that there is real work involved in going to WDW. Making all the ADR's for dining, planning which parks to go to what days. What rides to do. What to bring. What shoes to wear. Ect... I am close to coming unglued worrying about if I will need a backpack or a bellypack. If we will make it to all our ressies for dinners and will we need more than I hae planned to take.

Has anyone else felt this way?
If you have, did it kind of ruin your trip?

Signed...burnt out woman hoping that this vacation will be a great one.

My child, you are now in the DIS zone... Think of the plans you make as merely GUIDELINES so that you can be spontaneous in between the "must do" activities that you have planned to do. Remember that you cannot control the weather, the park, the resort health, or your own and if , one day, you simply feel like vegging out at a resort (not on your plans) the memories of your vacation will include those resort activities (all unexpected), as well... If rain, heat, or breakdown rearrange your plans, just refer to your guidelines and go on to the next activity...or one that suddenly appeared that you did not plan for...an impromptu tour of Goofey's living quarters, for instance...I once had to trash a whole day's plans when one of the Country Bears decided to chase my Service Dog just to get a few laughs...freaked my poor Cash out completely and I immediately went to Guest Services to report the incident and find out how they were going to provide retraining to him to soothe his fears...I spent the rest of the day in a private room populated by a series of characters in all manner of costume undress (not ever permitted to the public) who tried to show Cash that these were just people with funny clothes. You just never know what's going to happen so hang loose, join the streetmousephere players at the MGM park hamming it up on the main drag...Take a '20's costume and join the fun... Miss something?...Go back another day, or year, to do more...

 

[Evil Queen]

I almost started feeling that way.

We grabbed onto the Free Dining Plan promo. At first, I kep telling myself, nope will never work. The more I study it, I thought it might. We don't have to worry about food cost, they will already be covered (well, for the most part-we know there will be items we will have to cover ourselves).

I talked the rest of my group into it as well. Besides myself, there's 3 others, DS23, his best friend 22 and DS10.

I found it so much fun making the ADR's because I did get everything we were asking for. Was worried that DS10 would turn his nose up, so all the CS's will be chosen by him. So, if he only nibbles at TS meals, at least he's getting a full CS meal, plus snacks.

But when I went to start making our "rough drafts" for the parks, it started getting the best of me. I don't plan WHAT we will do, just what area we will visit, and then work the timing around that. I still have 2 out of 7 days to work on.

For the most part it will work well for us, I THINK. We actually like leaving the parks around 5, and not come back or go to another park after resting. So making TS ADR's, was real easy. I think it may actually be more to our benfit than I orginally thought.

I use all my hours of planning as a guideline. We don't hold true to it.

 

[Evil Queen]

I almost started feeling that way.

We grabbed onto the Free Dining Plan promo. At first, I kep telling myself, nope will never work. The more I study it, I thought it might. We don't have to worry about food cost, they will already be covered (well, for the most part-we know there will be items we will have to cover ourselves).

I talked the rest of my group into it as well. Besides myself, there's 3 others, DS23, his best friend 22 and DS10.

I found it so much fun making the ADR's because I did get everything we were asking for. Was worried that DS10 would turn his nose up, so all the CS's will be chosen by him. So, if he only nibbles at TS meals, at least he's getting a full CS meal, plus snacks.

But when I went to start making our "rough drafts" for the parks, it started getting the best of me. I don't plan WHAT we will do, just what area we will visit, and then work the timing around that. I still have 2 out of 7 days to work on.

For the most part it will work well for us, I THINK. We actually like leaving the parks around 5, and not come back or go to another park after resting. So making TS ADR's, was real easy. I think it may actually be more to our benfit than I orginally thought.

I use all my hours of planning as a guideline. We don't hold true to it.

Geesh, and now I just went and added another ADR. I guess I'll never really be done until we get there. Then I will just go with the flow.