Planning it all out?

[Crispymom]

February will mark 20 yrs since I've been to WDW. In that time a lot has changed. I feel like my head will burst when looking at all these posts about preplanning each day at the park. And since we cannot add our old Hopper passes to our Magicbands until our day of arrival, we also cannot do FPs until then as well. And we will have no official confirmation until that day as to whether the passes are valid with 4 days, or if we will simply have to buy 1 day (since that is our budget due to the soccer tournament).
Anyway, is all this planning truly necessary? Does anyone just "fly by the seat of their pants" anymore?

 

[zdad59]

You really need to plan Fast Passes, and that forces you to plan the rest of each day. Now plans change every day, so the Disney App is also a must do too. The major ride Fast Passes likely won't change, but others that may end up having a short standby time, may shuffle around.

I saw many seat of the pants folks this trip and they were shocked at the wait times for major rides.

 

[My3SweetSuns]

I feel like the planning is stressful, but that leads to a much LESS stressful trip once you get there.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

February will mark 20 yrs since I've been to WDW. In that time a lot has changed. I feel like my head will burst when looking at all these posts about preplanning each day at the park. And since we cannot add our old Hopper passes to our Magicbands until our day of arrival, we also cannot do FPs until then as well. And we will have no official confirmation until that day as to whether the passes are valid with 4 days, or if we will simply have to buy 1 day (since that is our budget due to the soccer tournament).
Anyway, is all this planning truly necessary? Does anyone just "fly by the seat of their pants" anymore?

Have you tried contacting WDW regarding your tickets to see how many days you have left? This might help in your planning so you aren't waiting until you get there: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/tickets/uses-remaining/

 

[tsme]

I recommend buying an unofficial guide book to help you plan. And Sadly, yes all the planning is necessary. Is there no way Disney can help you on the phone with your passes? That would make it easier.

 

[kniquy]

If you are unable to book FP until you get there, as long as you are not going at an insanely busy time you should still be able to get some day of or few days before (once you get your tickets squared away). But expect that 7DMT, FEA, FOP will likely not be available. Is your trip next month?

I would book some dining reservations now (or when your 180 day mark opens) - you can always cancel, usually by the day before, if your plans change.

As for flying by the seat of your pants -- if this is your plan then getting to the park at rope drop leaving by lunch and returning for the evening will be your best strategy to accomplishing a lot.

The MDE app will be essential for booking FP on the fly as well as getting dining reservations. Other than that it might be enjoyable to go with really low expectations. This way you will not be disappointed. Planning is necessary if you want to see and do a lot, dining reservations are essential for the hard to get restaurants, but if you are not picky then you can rely on quick service meals, or be flexible and grab reservations day of or the day before.

It really depends on your traveling party. I am going with my in laws, 3 kids and my DH - so for 7 of us we needed to plan and make FP and get all our reservations -- too stressful to make plans late in the game with a larger party. If you are just an adult couple i think it would be fun to go with no formal plan.

I think those that might go with no plan are those who have been often and have seen and done everything on previous trips. Having not gone in 20 years -- it will be a completely new experience so some loose planning is needed.

 

[Monykalyn]

When are you going and how large is your party? Party of two is much easier to wing it some than party of five. And even then you can manage to find both dining reservations and fast passes. I just got back from the busiest week of the year and managed to snag fast passes and dining last minute or switch up fastpasses last minute-but it was my husband and myself majority of time. I think it is also much easier to "wing it" when you are very familiar with all the tricks and tips of MDE and how to use it to get or change fastpasses, and dining reservations.

Either read some trip planning ideas on these boards or yeah-get a book. DO remember though that many on these boards tend to go waaaayyyy overboard to get the "perfect adr" or perfectly timed fast pass to have a "perfect vacation" or they'll be "devastated" or "terrified" the trip will be ruined..

 

[mshanson3121]

February will mark 20 yrs since I've been to WDW. In that time a lot has changed. I feel like my head will burst when looking at all these posts about preplanning each day at the park. And since we cannot add our old Hopper passes to our Magicbands until our day of arrival, we also cannot do FPs until then as well. And we will have no official confirmation until that day as to whether the passes are valid with 4 days, or if we will simply have to buy 1 day (since that is our budget due to the soccer tournament).
Anyway, is all this planning truly necessary? Does anyone just "fly by the seat of their pants" anymore?

Yes, people still fly by the seat of their pants, and yes, you can have a great time doing it. And NO, all the planning is NOT necessary, unless you are the kind of people who feel they MUST do it all, and are only happy with table service meals etc... If you're content with getting done what you can get done and are just happy to enjoy the experience, are happy with Counter Service meals (which we thought were great), then don't stress yourself out.

It would be nice if you could plan fast passes yes, for the popular rides. But you can still have fun without them. Just arrive at the parks early each morning (be there for when they open), and you'll be able to do the "big ticket" rides with likely a 30 minute or under wait (the exception being Pandora), and then of course any of the smaller rides, won't be a problem anyways. Also, use shows/parades to your advantage - go ride the popular rides while most of the crowds are swarming the parade/fireworks.

We went in summer leading up to 4th of July, crowd levels 8/9, and we winged it. We had FP+ booked, but never used all of them. We just basically walked around, saw what we saw, saw what interested the kids, and did that. Used a couple FP+ each day. I planned extremely specific touring plans for every day (7) days. Threw them out after the first day and we just enjoyed ourselves instead. Didn't get to stuff that was on the "plan", and had lots of other great experiences that weren't on the plan. It was a great trip. We were a group of 6, with 2 children.

 

[Crispymom]

Have you tried contacting WDW regarding your tickets to see how many days you have left? This might help in your planning so you aren't waiting until you get there: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/tickets/uses-remaining/

I did. Sadly they can't verify until I bring them on site. Either way, I know we will have 1 day at MK.

 

[Crispymom]

I recommend buying an unofficial guide book to help you plan. And Sadly, yes all the planning is necessary. Is there no way Disney can help you on the phone with your passes? That would make it easier.

No. I have talked with them via email and over the phone.

 

[mco65]

February will mark 20 yrs since I've been to WDW. In that time a lot has changed. I feel like my head will burst when looking at all these posts about preplanning each day at the park. And since we cannot add our old Hopper passes to our Magicbands until our day of arrival, we also cannot do FPs until then as well. And we will have no official confirmation until that day as to whether the passes are valid with 4 days, or if we will simply have to buy 1 day (since that is our budget due to the soccer tournament).
Anyway, is all this planning truly necessary? Does anyone just "fly by the seat of their pants" anymore?

Planning certainly helps but we always have a free for all day... whether planned or not, it just happens! Planning comes naturally to my wife.... its in her blood.. she over does it if you ask me.. Our last trip was a last second plan.. thought about it at dinner on a Friday night.. was on a plane that following Sunday morning.. had a great time plus had several TS dinners without a single ADR...

 

[Crispymom]

Thanks everyone. It is just my daughter and I. She is attending the Presidents Day Soccer tournament in Feb. So we planned a week long vacation that will give us 2 solid days of no soccer. My plan is to use our arrival day to verify and redeem the old passes (or purchase a new ticket). And then securing what we can for FPs. If the old passes do not work, then we will simply do MK for 1 day. I reached out to a friend who is going to do a loose MK itinerary for Friday, and we will see how it goes. We are not interested in the dining reservations, just simply enjoying the parks.
I guess I just got overwhelmed reading all the Park FAQs. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[fizzymint]

Honestly, though we make plans, we always stay open-minded. Plans change. We missed a couple of fast pass times. Our dinner reservations ran late. I like having an agenda, but not getting upset if it doesn't work out. You can make impromptu visits work!

 

[disneyseniors]

February will mark 20 yrs since I've been to WDW. In that time a lot has changed. I feel like my head will burst when looking at all these posts about preplanning each day at the park. And since we cannot add our old Hopper passes to our Magicbands until our day of arrival, we also cannot do FPs until then as well. And we will have no official confirmation until that day as to whether the passes are valid with 4 days, or if we will simply have to buy 1 day (since that is our budget due to the soccer tournament).
Anyway, is all this planning truly necessary? Does anyone just "fly by the seat of their pants" anymore?

I haven't read all the responses, so if this is a repeat sorry!
I would find a certified Disney travel agent. We have one in our small town and she is excellent. The Disney TA is knowledgable about all things Disney, and can help you with all arrangements.
If you haven't been back for 20 years, you might need the help of a Disney TA. Out first trip, we booked with the Disney TA and it made all the difference.

As far as planning, I do some adr's (but only a favorite few), and the rest is QS. I set up fp's, but in all honesty, we don't use them all. They are just there for an insurance plan in case we want to use them. Don't get me wrong, we do have set fp's that we always do, but are flexible.

#1 tip: Arrive before park opening, stay til noon, and if you are not an all day person, go rest or swim at the resort. Then go back for the pm. We get park hoppers so we go to a different park each evening.

Hope this helps. I can understand you being overwhelmed! Again, a good Disney TA will help.

 

[Klayfish]

A lot of people on this board like to plan a lot, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But to say that extensive planning is "needed" is absolutely nonsense. The only exception to that may be the week between Xmas and New Year, and even that can be done without a plan. The only thing I'd strongly suggest is learning and understanding the FP+ system, and use it, even if it's only 2 days ahead.

We stay offsite, and due to our tickets, we often can't make FP+ more than 7 days in advance. We have no problems getting on tons of rides and attractions, including the e-ticket ones. We don't eat in the restaurants, we bring our own food in, so can't tell you much about ADRs. We also don't show up before the park opens, do EMH, stay super late, etc... Our typical day looks like this:

Show up around 9:30 or 10:00am. Use the 3 FP+ we had made previously, whenever that was. Then, literally, we say "What do you want to do next?" Whatever we and/or the kids decide, we go and do it. It's completely spur of the moment. We'll do that until we're ready to leave. It could be 2pm, it could be 6pm.

So yes, you can absolutely and completely wing it and have a wonderful time. Not only that, you can get on just as many attractions as someone who has a carefully made spreadsheet.