Tentative vacation plans. How do you plan??

[rszdtrvl]

With just under 3 weeks to go - exactly 3 weeks until we go to Disneyland I am wondering how you all plan your days.

My itinerary so far is :

March 27 :
Leave town around noon. Head to Portland airport hotel. Stay overnight.

March 28 :
Fly to SNA. Shuttle to hotel. Rest a bit, catch a quick lunch, head to the park to pick up tickets. DCA - GRR, Soarin', Screamin', Toy Story. Possibly catch Pixar Parade. DIS - Main Street Parade (possibly), 90z (music group) at Tomorrowland (possibly), 9pm - Fantasmic (definitely), 9:25pm - Fireworks (possibly). Dinner sometime while we are at the parks (we are not planning all meals - we will eat when we get hungry). Back to hotel.

March 29 :
Magic Morning @ 7am. Billy Hill in Frontierland (try to catch a show at 11:15am). Lunch @ Carnation Cafe 12:30p. Main Street Parade at 3:30p or 6:30p - if we missed it on Saturday or want to see it again. DCA - I would love to catch Aladdin sometime - 1:50, 4:15, 5:50. Fireworks possibly at 9:25p. And we will definitely need a swim and possible nap at the hotel.

March 30 :
DCA - Pixar Play parade at 5:15p. DIS - Blue Bayou @ 4:30p. Billy Hill (if we have not seen yet) 11:15, 1p, 2:35, 4p, 5;15p. Fireworks (if we have not seen them yet @ 9:25p.

March 31 :
No plans. As per DH's request.

April 1 :
Fly Home.

I am trying not to over-plan, but not under-plan either. I do want to catch Billy Hill, Aladdin, Pixar Parade, Main Street Parade, Fireworks sometime during the vacation. But am pretty relaxed about when we see them (I know fireworks can be cancelled at the drop of a hat)

How do you go about organizing what you plan on doing? As well as rides, etc.?? We have a list of rides we want to go on.

I know that things will be fine, but I am trying to make sure we don't miss anything. How do you do it??

 

[Belle Ella]

I'm having a hard time planning what we'll be doing (looks like our trips will overlap - we'll be there March 27 to the 30) because the friend I'm travelling with is more of a "we'll see when we get there" which is frustrating me a little. There are certain things I think you do need to have planned in order to see them. So far we only have our dining planned (PS for BB on Saturday night and M&F breakfast on Monday morning).

 

[rszdtrvl]

I am tempted to get ridemax. Can anybody let me know if it is a "must have" for us, as we are going during the busy Spring Break time?? I am really tempted and just think I need a little nudge to spend the $14.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

I also am finding it very hard to plan my day. I am a half lets see when we get there and a half, certain things must be planned. So we do have some PS made, but I am going with the attitude that we can cancell/change if need be.

I just wanted to comment on your plans for the 30th, I think you will have a very difficult time making it from your 4:30 Blue Byou meal to the Pixar Parade at 5:15. Maybe you could switch your play parade and Main Street Parade nights.

I have no input on ridemax

 

[rszdtrvl]

I just wanted to comment on your plans for the 30th, I think you will have a very difficult time making it from your 4:30 Blue Byou meal to the Pixar Parade at 5:15. Maybe you could switch your play parade and Main Street Parade nights.

I have no input on ridemax

I am hoping we will see the Pixar parade on Sunday. Ack!! All of this juggling is tough!! But it will be so worth it!

 

[PinkBudgie]

I keep going back and forth about using Ridemax. I mostly just think it would be fun to play around with. It seems like it would be a help for a busy Spring Break day, but I've never used. Would love to know what you think if you give it a try.

 

[LuLusApple]

I have been looking at ridemax too. I usually always plan one meal a day and show/parade. Just so everyone is on the same page. I also plan our MM. But seeing we will be there at a busy time. ( week of Easter) I am leaning toward planning our rides atleast the biggies. I know I can scrap it if I need to. I have also read where people make "optional" plans with ridemax. Maybe it would just be fun and get all of us even more excited about our trip!

 

[avalon451]

Ridemax is a lot of fun to play with, but it has limitations. I found that Hydroguy's tips were more helpful. But I was glad I had Ridemax to fool around with.

I think you've got the right idea, to plan what shows etc. you want to see each day, and to plan your rides around that. You don't need minute to minute, but if you know where things are, and which things get busier as the day goes on, you can plan accordingly. I think it is OK to have a ride-by-ride plan, as long as you are aware that it won't stay perfect. You have to be able to go with the flow and let stuff drop if need be.

That said, this last time I figured out a way to plan ride order that really helped me: I took a map, looked at each land and the rides in it, and put each ride into a catagory: we want to do this ride every day; we want to try this once during our trip; we don't really want to do this ride; and I think I had a "Possible repeats" category as well. So if I knew I wanted to do Space every day (DD's fave ride) I could plan that every day, and divide up the other rides, spreading them out over the days.

Clear as mud, huh? It worked well, though. We had a great trip (and rode Space Mountain 11 times in 5 days!)

 

[rszdtrvl]

Right now my main goal is to see Aladdin, Billy Hill, Fireworks, Pixar Parade, Main Street Parade all at least once. We know that Splash Mountain will be done most every day, as will our other favorites. But I want to make sure we see the shows & stuff this time too. When it gets too busy, we will go to the hotel & rest, find penny press machines, trade pins, or go to DTD. We have some sort of agenda, no matter what the situation.

 

[carj]

For every trip that we take anywhere, everyone gets a "must do" for the trip. We are going to DLR this summer and here are my family's "must-do" activities.
DD5 Eat with Minnie Mouse
DS8 Go to Lego Land
DH Go see the Hollywood sign
Me Take kids to beach for the first time in their lives!

So... those things are going to drive our planning. For each day, we will also have a "must-do" for each family member. So on our Disney days, it will be
DD5 Dumbo
DS8 Space Mountain
DH Matterhorn
Me See Fantasmic since we missed it in WDW

Using Hydroguy's tips and what I learned from using TGM last summer in WDW, we will tour with a purpose and be informed about what rides are likely to have longer lines later in the day. We won't do commando touring because we will be exhausted and grumpy.

I have a plan for where we will be each day and then there will be a plan for the early morning. We will eat an early lunch, like 11:00. After that, we will stick to FP rides or things that are open-ended or limited waits. We will either head back to the hotel around 1 or 2 for a break, returning in the late evening after dinner. Or we will stay until 2 or 3 and then head to the hotel, not to return in the evening.

I like to have a plan. It makes me feel happy!

I also know that even the best plans are sometimes foiled by things beyond your control. We ended up watching the fireworks at WDW from behind the castle because we literally couldn't move! My kids didn't know that there was any difference and it was just as magical for them. I was the only one who cared so I just let it go and lived in the moment!

 

[rszdtrvl]

I don't think I will do the ridemax thing. I will save the money and buy Tigger Tails!!


I am re-vamping my days a bit. Just to make sure that we get to do everything we want to do.

I will post an update here when I am done.

----------------- SUNDAY -
7am entry - breakfast on the way to the park.

Fantasyland : Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad, Small World, Storybook Boats, Casey Jr, Matterhorn.

Tomorrowland : Autopia, Buzz Lightyear

Get FP - Splash Mt., Indiana Jones

New Orleans Square : POTC, Haunted Mansion

11:15 - Frontierland ; Billy Hill

12:30p - Carnation Café Lunch

Hotel to Rest

Back to DCA to 4:15 Aladdin Show

Soarin, Toy Story, GRR, Monsters Inc.

Fireworks @ Disneyland 9:25p

------------------- Monday - 9am Opening

New Orleans Square : POTC, Haunted Mansion

FP : Splash Mountain

Toontown @ 10am : Mickey’s House, Roger Rabbit CarToon Spin, Gadget’s Go Coaster

Adventureland : Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones

Critter Country : Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain
** Tigger Tails **

Hotel to Rest

4:30p : Blue Bayou

6:30p : Main Street Celebrate Parade

DCA : Monsters Inc, Tough to be a Bug (8pm close)