So, dh decides to be involved in planning..

[married2mm]

Just pat him on the head, say "yes dear" and keep going with your planning!!!

PS - We will be there at the same time!!! Unfortunatly, my husband has to stay home this trip

Mommy and daughters is lovely though.

If you spy a crazy British family-with conflicting plans-that'll be us

 

[FINFAN]

deflection is helpful here. he needs a legit task ~my DH is put on the "liquid refreshment" research. We have a budget, he finds the way to maximize it , lol. At check in, let him take the reins for room preference selection if available etc. If he scores a great room look how awesome that will be for the tone of the trip..he will have done all he needs and can happily follow your plans from there.

Also, by day 3 you will be looking for a break of sorts. He can plan that, from where to eat, or if swimming or seeing shows, whatever is a special way he likes to vacation.

All kidding aside, some of our best trips/memories (WDW and non) have happened when we were winging it. I'm sure you guys will have a great trip!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Spontaneity is a requirement for my wife, and we have had no trouble being spontaneous at WDW, though you have to give up a tiny bit for FP as you need to reserve the day before.

 

[dae3dae3]

I'm the husband and I do all the planning for vacations. Whenever I don't everything is all screwed up. This usually happens when my Mom is with us. Mostly because she evidently still thinks I'm five and never tells me anything so I don't know what is going on or what she wants to do. I try to involve my wife but I would have to incessantly nag her to make any decisions and I'm not going to do that so honestly I just give one try and if she doesn't reply or answer I don't ask again. I'm not going to chase somebody around trying to get them involved. Honestly, I seem to be better at picking what she would like to do better than she is. I don't know how the heck that happened but I seem to know her better than she knows herself. For all of you thinking I'm some sort of tyrant, my wife would be the first to admit this and has in fact told me this.

I will agree with the husband who complained that he was given a choice and then when he made the choice was told to pick again because he chose wrong. I wouldn't try to get involved either if that is the response I'd get. If you're not willing to give up the control a little then don't ask. When planning and involving other people I know that we're not always going to be doing what I want to do. Do you think it is my first choice to have breakfast at the Castle with Princesses? I'm doing it though and I'll have a blast because it will make my daughters very happy. I've also always been a little confused when people complain about the food when you're having dinner with Cinderella. The food in my opinion is a side thought of having dinner in the castle. You're paying for the experience and also by the way they give you some food.

I also don't like to go overboard with the planning. In my opinion if I don't have time to stop and check out something I noticed or to just look around then it isn't much fun for me and becomes stressful. I have enough stress in my job. I don't need it on vacation. I would assume that is where some of the request to just relax are coming from. Proper planning can help remove some of that stress but when taken to the extreme can cause stress. If you're freaking out because your day was ruined because your kids wanted to go on a ride they saw that wasn't on your touring plan you might be doing it wrong. At least be flexible enough to circle back around to it if you're on a mad dash to a fast pass or dinner reservation. Also, if you say you'll come back and do it then you need to actually come back and do it. If you have a tendency to not follow up on these promises then they will freak out if you say you'll come back later because they know you're not telling the truth. Little kids aren't stupid and remember this stuff. Especially as they get out of the toddler stage into school age.

To me planning isn't just about locking yourself into a rigid framework of a schedule. You have to have fallback positions and have the knowledge to know when and how to react to changing conditions. There are always going to be some points that have to be locked in but outside of that you should be able to flex and react or just decide to drop something off the plan if it is too much.

I could keep writing for pages on my philosophy of planning but I don't want to put you all through that. My family doesn't realize how much thought I put into these things that come off as relaxed and casual.
They just know that we didn't hit that traffic jam in Atlanta everyone is always complaining about.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I always schedule "Free time" into our plan to do M&Gs, grab snacks and souveneirs, play on playgrounds, or just hang around Main St. people watching. As for spontaneity....

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3298493

 

[rainwatter]

Be careful what you unleash. I was the uber-planner in our family, but have been completely usurped by DH. I asked for a little help planning our trip last June, and the next thing I knew he could list the optimal times to experience every attraction in fantasyland, had over 700 posts on the DIS, and had bought not one... but two DVC contracts without telling me.

 

[married2mm]

Be careful what you unleash. I was the uber-planner in our family, but have been completely usurped by DH. I asked for a little help planning our trip last June, and the next thing I knew he could list the optimal times to experience every attraction in fantasyland, had over 700 posts on the DIS, and had bought not one... but two DVC contracts without telling me.

Wowsa!!!

 

[DisneyHardin]

I love that my DH appreciates the planning. He likes just following along, not making any decisions. He even tells random people in the line sometimes about how much I planned out our trip.