So how many DVC'ers "wing it" as far as planning/activites go for their trips?

[edk35]

I love planning but I have to say...for our Nov. trip to SSR and OKW.....it is looking more and more like a WING IT TRIP. We arrive Thursday night Nov. 20th and depart Thanksgiving night. We only have 3 TS meals planned this week.....and we are only going to MK/EC I think. I am really not concerned either. We were at WDW for 2 weeks in July and I really don't want to be tied down to TS ressies during this crowded time. I also don't plan on fighting my way through crowds. I want this trip to be slower paced. SO I am curious.....since becoming DVC members do you feel you plan more or wing it more??? I am actually READY FOR LESS IS MORE.

 

[janni518]

We usually wing it unless we are meeting up with family. This is why I seldom meet up with family We do tend follow TGM's recommendations for park hopping but seldom do ADRs or anything of that sort. We're pretty laid back vacationers, I don't see that changing with DVC.

 

[edk35]

We usually wing it unless we are meeting up with family. This is why I seldom meet up with family We do tend follow TGM's recommendations for park hopping but seldom do ADRs or anything of that sort. We're pretty laid back vacationers, I don't see that changing with DVC.

Oh I should have added that we ALWAYS USE TGM for our trips. That part I do make sure I do. I like to know which parks to go to on the days we hit the parks.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Some of my most pleasant experiences recently have involved meeting a Disboard person or two. We've shared firework cruises 3 times, met people for a FP concert, and for this next trip, we're meeting a Disboarder in Ghiradelli's and taking a boat past the treehouse villa site. So, these things are planned, but not typical. We don't have ADR's for each night, so we do have relaxing trips just enjoying each other's company.

It's different with the DGC...then we just do our best to keep up with them!!!

Bobbi

 

[kato0627]

We are going to the world in Nov. We did make ADR's for dinner each night but that is really our only plans for the week. A good meal is important to us each day. We could never do CS twice a day for one week. We literally just wing each day. Somedays we play bus stop roulette. Which ever bus comes first, we jump on.!!! I do believe that DVC allows us this freedom. We can walk past rides with 90 mins wait, and say "next time". That is why I love my DVC

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We are going to the world in Nov. We did make ADR's for dinner each night but that is really our only plans for the week. A good meal is important to us each day. We could never do CS twice a day for one week. We literally just wing each day. Somedays we play bus stop roulette. Which ever bus comes first, we jump on.!!! I do believe that DVC allows us this freedom. We can walk past rides with 90 mins wait, and say "next time". That is why I love my DVC

We make ADRs for 1 meal a day too.

I've learned about OVER planning. We plan our ADRs w/corresponding parks carefully several months in advance, and put it away. We don't even think about our trip until we start packing, and then just pull out the ADR sheet.

I know we are not the only ones that over fantasized about the trip to escape the work reality. We dreamed our '05 trip would be pure heaven. It was good, but not great. [transportation] Even Disney can't live up to some expectations. We now expect an average trip and are always pleasantly surprised.

 

[Entropy]

We go to WDW with a solid plan. We plan each morning, afternoon and evening. We also make reservations for all of our table-service meals. We rerally don't want to miss anything that we had looked forward to and a schedule is the best way to accomplish that.
That said, Field Marshall von Moltke said "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" so we start our vacation with the understanding that the plan is flexible and almost completely disposable if necessary (tee times are hard to change). If opportunities or changes come up, the pencil comes out.

 

[jarestel]

Since we became DVC members, we've visited WDW enough times that there is no longer any park/ride/restaurant that's considered a "must do". If we fit it in, great, if we don't that's fine as well. Consequently, we don't do much planning any more and that works pretty well for us at this point in time.

 

[newbie72]

Hi all...I am new and not up on all of the abbreviations, could someone tell me what TGM stands for?
Thanks.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

We tend to just wing it and play bus stop roulette, as well! I am not sure what TGM is, either. We do plan meals and sometimes if we don't feel like going, we call and cancel the ressie. We then grab something from CS or make a sandwich in the room. DVC gives us the opportunity to be informal with our trips and not feel like we have to "do" everything because we know we are coming back.

 

[DMKEDM]

TGM is Tour Guide Mickey...

We do a bit of both (planning and winging it)...our "family joke" is that we plan out minute-by-minute schedules (several) because it's so much fun to anticipate our time at Disney...but rarely (never?) do we follow any schedule, except possibly our day of arrival we sometimes actually do go to the park we had planned ahead of time to start at...

We also make an ADR for each day...but again, rarely do we keep to the planned schedule...almost every trip we wind up stopping (multiple times) at a concierge desk or calling Disney Dining to change restaurants/times...as often as not we wind up able to get what we had changed our minds to want! And if we don't, we have an ADR we like...(we always cancel when we change our minds; we're never just "no-shows")...

Of course, there are exceptions--ADRs at places that require notice to cancel usually don't change (Cindy's Castle, California Grill, for example)...

We think this gives us the best of both worlds!

We too are frequent Disney visitors and have reached the point where little is "must do" for any given trip (unless we're bringing guests)...

Our next trip is in three weeks...I so can't wait!

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Plan?

Seriously, I live my real life by a plan every single day. I wing my vacation completely. AP's are the answer. Park-hopping baby. We just have at it. Always have. Wouldn't do it any other way.

We did make 3 ADR's (first time we've ever done this) for our Dec trip coming up simply because you just can't get a table anymore unless you have one. Hate it. I wish they'd do away with everything except walk-ins everywhere. I don't know what I want to eat next Thursday 6 months in advance any more than I know what I want to ride in what order at Epcot 2 weeks ahead of time.

 

[Disnydad]

Other than a few dinner reservations, we wing our trips to WDW now.

 

[edk35]

Plan?

Seriously, I live my real life by a plan every single day. I wing my vacation completely. AP's are the answer. Park-hopping baby. We just have at it. Always have. Wouldn't do it any other way.

We did make 3 ADR's (first time we've ever done this) for our Dec trip coming up simply because you just can't get a table anymore unless you have one. Hate it. I wish they'd do away with everything except walk-ins everywhere. I don't know what I want to eat next Thursday 6 months in advance any more than I know what I want to ride in what order at Epcot 2 weeks ahead of time.

I like this!!!!!!!!

 

[eliza61]

Our last trip we had a really fun experience. We decided which ever park bus came first that was the one we would get on. the only rule was we would not hit the same park back to back. It was absolutely fabulous!! While I do enjoy planning some times it just seems like work so this was really a different experience not stressing about which park, when.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We wing everything EXCEPT the restaurants! Dining out is a # 1 priority each trip. Everything else is up for grabs.

 

[edk35]

Our last trip we had a really fun experience. We decided which ever park bus came first that was the one we would get on. the only rule was we would not hit the same park back to back. It was absolutely fabulous!! While I do enjoy planning some times it just seems like work so this was really a different experience not stressing about which park, when.

My daughter and I did this once time ...the night we all arrived this past summer. My dh and the boys went to Typhoon Lagoon and we didn't want to go. We went to the bus stop and did just that. We hopped an EC bus.....did like three things....then took the monorail to MK and had a blast for about 3 hours. It was great.

 

[alldiz]

I usually plan one TS a day. Next time I will try it without DDP so If I cancel and "do more winging" it won't matter.

I usually have a rough outline of what parks.....last trip we only went to the parks 3 days out of 8. WLV makes me just want to chill
Kerri

 

[Starr W.]

We tend to check the park schedules, then make a few ADR's. For our Thanksgiving trip I have told DH that only CG and Jiko are the only places I really want to try. If we cancel any of the rest, I'll catch them on the next trip(MLK weekend).

We were thinking of just hopping on the first bus, but my 12 yr old was agast at that suggestion. He thought we would end up at Epcot every day(because that was usually the first and or second bus that would come by at SSR last Thanksgiving).

 

[edk35]

We tend to check the park schedules, then make a few ADR's. For our Thanksgiving trip I have told DH that only CG and Jiko are the only places I really want to try. If we cancel any of the rest, I'll catch them on the next trip(MLK weekend).

We were thinking of just hopping on the first bus, but my 12 yr old was agast at that suggestion. He thought we would end up at Epcot every day(because that was usually the first and or second bus that would come by at SSR last Thanksgiving).

OH I have to have my Tour Guide Mike plan for each day. I could never just grab a bus to wherever. LOL Especially during crowded times. I do follow that pretty close as far as where to go each day of our trip...if we choose that day to be a park day that is.