People who plan vs people who don't plan

[snowman]

I am a compulsive planner. How bad am I? My nephew's favorite Disney story is actually about my planning. "Tia! I can't believe you planned time to be spontaneous." But they don't understand.....if you don't plan time for spontaneity it doesn't happen.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Planning is necessary even moreso now with FP+ unless you don't care what you get done for whatever reason.

 

[mom2rtk]

The other posts that crack me up are the ones who say they don't plan a single thing- they get on whatever bus comes first in the morning and wing it from there. Invariably said in a smug manner, like anyone with a plan is an uptight who-knows-what because "everything will still be there next time." Turns out they go to Disney 3-4 times a year, so yeah- who needs a plan if you're going to turn around every couple months and come back? They can't imagine that many families are trying to have a once in a lifetime experience and of course they want to experience ad much as possible.

 

[starsweeper]

I'm a planner no matter the destination. I spent 9 months planning a roadtrip to Yellowstone and back via different routes last summer. I'm currently planning a 15-year anniversary trip to Paris, as well as, 2-3 family/extended family vacations for the next couple years. Could I enjoy WDW without plans? Yes, I could because I've been there 10 times, but it's not in my nature.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Planner here.
Tried not to require much from the family about it, but we talk about Disney a LOT prior to trips. A few months after our last Disney trip, the kids kept commenting on how much they enjoyed a short week/long weekend we took to Chicago because we "just went and did whatever we wanted!".
That revealed to me that
a) the family really likes the feel of being relaxed and unscheduled and that seems to be more important than exactly where we go or what we do; and
b) my family has no clue how much planning I do for EVERYTHING we do! It spanned a much shorter period of time in total, but I researched hotels, transportation, venues we could visit, operating hours, restaurants, . . . . and I didn't have one or two central places to do it like DIS. . . They just THOUGHT we were winging it.

Planner here too.

My family realizes how much I plan. And they love the feel of a relaxed vacation that they get when I plan. They give me time to plan and are willing to answer any questions that I have about what they want to do.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I'm on the nonplanner side. I do make ADRs but thsts pretty much it. We only go to the parks one day out of 10 so we decide when we get there what day to go because we like to hit animal kingdom first thing on an early entry day and then the rest of the parks later that same day. The rest of our time is spent at the pool. As for other vacation planning, I usually read a guide book on the plane. Except for making hotel or car reservations, Preplanning makes me anxious because then I worry that my plans won't work. Not having a plan means way fewer expectations.

 

[DC to Disney]

We're in between. We do a lot of planning, but we also like to be flexible. We often park hop and go to two parks in the same day. We can only reserve FP+ for one park, so the other half of the day is sometimes left up in the air. We usually book one ADR every day, but we don't necessarily have a specific plan for our other meal(s). Our 5-year old is opinionated, but he can change his mind on a daily basis, so we try to leave some options open for him.

I grew up in FL and went to WDW a lot, and I still have family there, so we usually go for at least 3-4 days every year. We've seen and done almost everything that we want to do, so at this point, we don't feel like we have to fit everything into one trip. I can understand it's different for someone who's making a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I forecast budgets for my amusement/relaxation, so I think that tells you what kind of traveler I am.

While I do create spreadsheets galore for WDW planning, I was amazed at how flexible we could be from one day to the next. Our trip two years ago bore only a vague resemblance to the original itinerary. I will be interested to see what makes the cut this time.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

So contrary to the majority here, I am a non planner by nature. Most of the trips we took prior to Disney last year were planned to the point of having airfare, having a place to stay, and knowing a few activities or attractions we'd like to see. That's it. Wake up each day, decide what you feel like doing. And in all our trips like that I can only think of one instance when I felt like we missed something we wanted to do because of that (we started down the Road to Hanna on Mauii at 10 am which was much too late). And that included our 1998 trip to Disney (we decided each park day based on weather). But I'm definitely a go with the flow type (big P for those familiar with Myers Briggs). It's much less stressful for me.

However, that was BC. If DH and I wanted to sit at the bar and wait for a table for dinner for an hour we could do that. The kids cannot. And the kids want to see things and do things and would feel they missed out if they didn't. So, I plan massively for Disney. I think I totally swing the other direction for Disney. I feel like its necessary to be able to do all that you want if you have high expectations. So I go against type for Disney trips.

 

[Dreamport]

Even before the fastpass days, my father had an MK plan. Rope drop, straight to Pirates, then Splash, Big Thunder, walk aaaaall the way over to Space, back to Haunted Mansion, and lunch at Pinocchio's. The rest of the day was up to us kids to decide what to do. Do I wonder if other people have planned? Only if I see them having a meltdown in the middle of the park, and even then I wonder if it's a lack of planning or over-planning and having the day go awry.

 

[Csaks]

If I want to plan a vacation to the nines, we go to WDW. I'm waiting for them to come up with bathroom passes that you need to plan for six months out......

If we want to relax and wing it, Universal is the ticket. I can get up, head to Citywalk and try and figure out which way to go that day left or right. Restaurants is another one, walk along and decide what tickles your fancy that night. Sadly, WDW was like that for us once.

 

[AshleeH]

I thrive on planning - I have our vacations planned through 2019. I spend hours researching, writing down itineraries, adding to them, finding new fun things to do, plotting out FP selections, and narrowing down dining. I absolutely love every aspect of preparing for a Disney trip. That being said - once we get there and aside from making sure we get to our dining reservations, once we get there, I know what our schedule will be everyday, but I'm not hyper-structured about it. If I have MK written down for the morning/midday break/Epcot at night, we stick to that schedule, but whether our midday break falls at 11:00 or 2:00 just depends on if we're all ready to leave, if it's too hot, getting too crowded, if we have an ADR in the park, etc. My husband loves that he can just relax and go to the parks/restaurants I tell him, but that we're carefree and go with the flow within the parks. Makes it feel like a real vacation for him.

 

[Mikie]

This seems like an excellent opportunity to re-post my favorite response of all time on the DIS. @evilqueenmindy wrote this hilarious takeoff on the Jack Nicholson courtroom speech in A Few Good Men. It was in response to a thread I started a couple years ago about when your family doesn't appreciate what effort goes into the planning:

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we vacation in a world that has FP+ and ADR's and those things have to be planned by people with type-A personality. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Aunt Sylvia? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for "going with the flow" and you curse the 17-page spreadsheet. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Being up at 6am on 180+ 10, while tragic, probably saved a reservation. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves time! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that computer. You need me on MDE! We use words like "pin code", "FP+", "touring plans". We use these words as the backbone of a life spent making something magical. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a person who rides, and eats TS, and sleeps on property under the blanket of the very plan that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a laptop and log on to Dis. Either way, I don't give a magical disney day what you think you are entitled to!"

 

[babyruth]

This seems like an excellent opportunity to re-post my favorite response of all time on the DIS. @evilqueenmindy wrote this hilarious takeoff on the Jack Nicholson courtroom speech in A Few Good Men. It was in response to a thread I started a couple years ago about when your family doesn't appreciate what effort goes into the planning:

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we vacation in a world that has FP+ and ADR's and those things have to be planned by people with type-A personality. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Aunt Sylvia? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for "going with the flow" and you curse the 17-page spreadsheet. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Being up at 6am on 180+ 10, while tragic, probably saved a reservation. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves time! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that computer. You need me on MDE! We use words like "pin code", "FP+", "touring plans". We use these words as the backbone of a life spent making something magical. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a person who rides, and eats TS, and sleeps on property under the blanket of the very plan that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a laptop and log on to Dis. Either way, I don't give a magical disney day what you think you are entitled to!"

OMG I LOVE THIS

 

[AFwifelife]

I would say I'm a middle-of-the-road planner. I have a good idea of what park we are going to on a certain day, food/ADRs, and FP+ but not so planned that I need a touring plan. We lived in Florida before the Air Force though so we've already experienced WDW many times.

 

[3smithboys]

This seems like an excellent opportunity to re-post my favorite response of all time on the DIS. @evilqueenmindy wrote this hilarious takeoff on the Jack Nicholson courtroom speech in A Few Good Men. It was in response to a thread I started a couple years ago about when your family doesn't appreciate what effort goes into the planning:

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we vacation in a world that has FP+ and ADR's and those things have to be planned by people with type-A personality. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Aunt Sylvia? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for "going with the flow" and you curse the 17-page spreadsheet. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Being up at 6am on 180+ 10, while tragic, probably saved a reservation. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves time! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that computer. You need me on MDE! We use words like "pin code", "FP+", "touring plans". We use these words as the backbone of a life spent making something magical. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a person who rides, and eats TS, and sleeps on property under the blanket of the very plan that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a laptop and log on to Dis. Either way, I don't give a magical disney day what you think you are entitled to!"

That, my friend, is the best thing I have read on here all week... and made me spit my iced tea onto my laptop...

 

[Mikie]

OMG I LOVE THIS

That, my friend, is the best thing I have read on here all week... and made me spit my iced tea onto my laptop...

I lierally cried laughing! I copied the text of it into a email and sent it to my family at the time. They chuckled and said it was pretty funny, but they didn't totally get it and didn't know the acronyms. The irony of that made me laugh even harder!
At one point I forgot who originally wrote it, but luckily someone else helmed me find the original post, so I am very happy to give Evilqueenmindy credit.

 

[megs1313]

This seems like an excellent opportunity to re-post my favorite response of all time on the DIS. @evilqueenmindy wrote this hilarious takeoff on the Jack Nicholson courtroom speech in A Few Good Men. It was in response to a thread I started a couple years ago about when your family doesn't appreciate what effort goes into the planning:

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we vacation in a world that has FP+ and ADR's and those things have to be planned by people with type-A personality. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Aunt Sylvia? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for "going with the flow" and you curse the 17-page spreadsheet. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Being up at 6am on 180+ 10, while tragic, probably saved a reservation. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves time! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that computer. You need me on MDE! We use words like "pin code", "FP+", "touring plans". We use these words as the backbone of a life spent making something magical. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a person who rides, and eats TS, and sleeps on property under the blanket of the very plan that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a laptop and log on to Dis. Either way, I don't give a magical disney day what you think you are entitled to!"

EPIC! I'm stealing it and putting it on my FB!

 

[Bullseye]

This seems like an excellent opportunity to re-post my favorite response of all time on the DIS. @evilqueenmindy wrote this hilarious takeoff on the Jack Nicholson courtroom speech in A Few Good Men. It was in response to a thread I started a couple years ago about when your family doesn't appreciate what effort goes into the planning:

"You can't handle the truth! Son, we vacation in a world that has FP+ and ADR's and those things have to be planned by people with type-A personality. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Aunt Sylvia? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for "going with the flow" and you curse the 17-page spreadsheet. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Being up at 6am on 180+ 10, while tragic, probably saved a reservation. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves time! You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that computer. You need me on MDE! We use words like "pin code", "FP+", "touring plans". We use these words as the backbone of a life spent making something magical. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a person who rides, and eats TS, and sleeps on property under the blanket of the very plan that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a laptop and log on to Dis. Either way, I don't give a magical disney day what you think you are entitled to!"

OMG that is hilarious! props to @evilqueenmindy!

 

[Merx]

That revealed to me that
b) my family has no clue how much planning I do for EVERYTHING we do! It spanned a much shorter period of time in total, but I researched hotels, transportation, venues we could visit, operating hours, restaurants, . . . . and I didn't have one or two central places to do it like DIS. . . They just THOUGHT we were winging it.

Though, my wife doesn't realize the amount of planning I do - as if we happily stumbled upon a hotel which has a free jazz concert Sunday nights (oh we happened to check in Sunday night...how lucky!). Nope, plan plan plan. Then act like you don't!

These are the holy grail of planning, great stuff. This is what I strive to do, plan to be flexible, and let your family relax.

I love planning - for me it is part of the trip and I look forward to it.

Agree with this 100%. I too love planning and it's so fun planning for the trip. This Disney vacation is going to be the most expensive vacation for me ever, but if I count the number of days I get to enjoy the planning process, it's actually the cheapest vacation ever for me! To me it's like visiting the parks even before actually getting to the parks.