The extent of your day/hour/minute planning...

[rtbreneman]

Curious how many other uber-planners are out there that try to strategize out every day/hour etc. I enjoy the planning for our group's trips and trying to maximize every day. My tinkering with our schedule has become an obsession, and we are still 7 months out from our next trip!

The attached is just an example:

 

[chelseabun76]

That's what mine looked like. Then we got there. And my plans were shot to heck within 20 minutes because my daughter wanted to keep riding BTMR as many times as we could first thing on our first day. LOL!!!! The trip was all about her, so I just went with the flow. We did obviously keep to our adr's and fp+ times and we still completed everything on my spreadsheets throughout the week, but not all the same as I had it laid out. lol

 

[BellsFam]

Mine is pretty similar...and I started planning in January for an April trip...

Other than our HS day and some of our AK day (both of which are dictated by show times) I also consider that DD will not care what the freak the plans are and we will do whatever she wants anyways!

But I'm a goober and I have an ENTIRE WORKBOOK of excel spreadsheets for this vacation!

 

[EmilyS90]

I've been obsessed with the personalized plans from touringplans. I've actually created multiple plans for each day just to see how they compare. My fiance thinks I'm crazy, and he's a bit reluctant to use any "plan" but I think showing him how it helps with spending less time in lines and not crisscrossing all over the park has brought him around some. At any rate, I think he's happy to leave most of the planning up to me.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Plan everything. . . so that you have all the information you need to change it on the fly.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I do something similar but only down to the half hour...hmm, I like your 15 min increments, might have to add those!

 

[rtbreneman]

Glad to know I'm not the only one! My DW laughs at me but she is always appreciative of how much we get done each day and how little we stand in line!

 

[Elleshoodat]

Curious how many other uber-planners are out there that try to strategize out every day/hour etc. I enjoy the planning for our group's trips and trying to maximize every day. My tinkering with our schedule has become an obsession, and we are still 7 months out from our next trip!

The attached is just an example:




View attachment 82893

I enjoy planning, but not down to 15-minute increments. Mine is more about where we plan to be in the morning, afternoon and evening, and I fill in ADRs and FastPass+ reservations.

I have two young kids, and we pretty much go at their pace. Lots of stopping to explore and play, and some of our favorite moments come from those times.

 

[taythecray]

That's what mine looks like! I'm trying to plan without being obvious about it because my parents hate being on a schedule. This way I can "plan" the rides/times with the area of the park we will be in anyway. Mine is by half hour.

 

[clambert1273]

so glad it isn't just me.... hubby thought I was nuts BUT they sure had good time on the last trip I do leave space for "winging it" ... because my 7yo will see something and its off to the races lol

 

[rtbreneman]

I try to leave time for winging it as well, but that's normally after everyone has followed the plan for the first half of the day or park. I approach it like, "We absolutely need to get in 7DMT & A&E when I scheduled it, and if you want to dilly-dally and miss Carousel of Progress, so be it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I plan to be at the bus stop 45 to an hour before park opening.

I plan a few ADR's.

I know our AM and PM park. We always do midday breaks.

I don't do a touring plan but I know which rides to hit the first two hours in the park. I know it's best to do shows and AC attractions once we get closer to the afternoon.

For our MK days I mentally prepare to split the lands up....Tomorrowland on X day, Fantasyland on X day, etc. Same with Epcot. My family lets me lead so there's not much resistence. They just go with it.

I'll plan our FP+ for our evening park.

That's the extent of my planning.

 

[Trinity88]

Yep I'm a crazy planner. I even had the estimated wait times listed and the length of the rides listed. But I'm also very good with changing things on the fly if needed. There's no way the plan will execute perfectly.

 

[poohfriend77]

I don't plan it like that, because I would get stressed when we got off schedule. Do you skip the 4th item, to get back on schedule with the 5th item, or do you push everything back 15-30 minutes? We've had enough instances of kids wanting to do something unexpected, seeing a character we want to meet, getting stuck on Pirates for an hour, deciding we really just need a snack break RIGHT NOW! Etc., etc. It would make me a wreck, and it wouldn't go over well with my family.

Instead, I make a general list of a few priorities that we want to get done at rope drop, plus now we have to add in FP times, and any "can't-miss" shows for later in the day. So we still have a general outline for our day, but there is a lot of room for changes (like the day my kids discovered they loved Primeval Whirl and that part of the park was empty. They rode about 8 times in a row and had a great time! It's a great memory, and I *almost* rushed them off to the next thing on my list, but I'm so glad we set aside the plans to just enjoy the moment.)

*Not judging though! If it works for your family, go for it!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

I write important things down by day hrs of operation, ADR, FP and things I really want to get done. The rest I do leave for what I know my little ones will want to do. the spontaneity, but I don't want us wondering around wasting time so I have to make a schedule.

 

[rtbreneman]

I don't plan it like that, because I would get stressed when we got off schedule. Do you skip the 4th item, to get back on schedule with the 5th item, or do you push everything back 15-30 minutes? We've had enough instances of kids wanting to do something unexpected, seeing a character we want to meet, getting stuck on Pirates for an hour, deciding we really just need a snack break RIGHT NOW! Etc., etc. It would make me a wreck, and it wouldn't go over well with my family.

Instead, I make a general list of a few priorities that we want to get done at rope drop, plus now we have to add in FP times, and any "can't-miss" shows for later in the day. So we still have a general outline for our day, but there is a lot of room for changes (like the day my kids discovered they loved Primeval Whirl and that part of the park was empty. They rode about 8 times in a row and had a great time! It's a great memory, and I *almost* rushed them off to the next thing on my list, but I'm so glad we set aside the plans to just enjoy the moment.)

*Not judging though! If it works for your family, go for it!

I guess I want all the info beforehand, so I can adjust on the fly if needed. One trip for instance, the rope drop plan at Epcot was Soarin, then Test Track, but we ended up being selected as Family of the Day for the Seas. So we adjusted. But I could quickly look at the plan, when I was "supposed" to do the Seas later on in the day, and wing it a bit. (This was in the days of the paper FP so we were given a few of these to make up for the missed Soarin', so it was all good). My family sticks to the plan fairly well, and we still find times to cram new stuff in, or stray from the plan.

 

[minnie mum]

I have used a touring plan for years. But certainly not regimented into 15 min. intervals. What happens if someone wants a potty break, a drink, or a 5 min. rest? Throws off your whole carefully planned day, and then someone's either complaining that you aren't "keeping up" or someone's complaining about being on a forced march.

I still use a plan, but omit the time reqirements except for FPs and ADRs. Makes things feel more relaxed and easier to switch things up or just drop something (or add something). In the words of Capt. Barbosssa " Its more of a guideline, you might say"

 

[angierae]

I plan like that, and then it all goes out the window the minute I get there. But it's fun to plan anyway.

 

[irene_dsc]

Mine isn't quite that detailed, but since we have FP+, I figured I should make a plan to minimize walking while ending up getting to attractions we want. So, it has the FP+ and ADR times, and in between, ideas of what we might want to do that make sense with how the parks are organized. Also, I listed a couple CS places that might work out for us. I figure it will also remind us about the rides we want to do when we aren't sure what to do next, because there's nothing worse than standing around wondering what to do next! Fortunately, we don't have a lot of must-do's.

 

[sunshine girl]

I plan! My plan starts from the morning of my flight. Detailed when it needs to be. I schedule more time than necessary for most things, so I have a nice "relaxation buffer." Plans are not always super detailed, but I do include little things I don't want to forget about (like the Jammitors in Epcot, or specific treats at the Flower and Garden festival I want to try). I use personalized plans from Touring Plans as part of my plans too.

I don't freak out at all if the plan doesn't happen. I just enjoy myself much more when I have a well-thought-out plan to start with. I scrap the plan if it's just not what we feel like doing when the time comes!

Also... detailed planning helps me to know whether what I think is feasible, is realistically feasible! Some people think they're going to get 48 hours of activity into a 24 hour day, because they don't think through realistic timing for each step. Then they end up frantic or disappointed or missing reservations or totally fried. I make a plan and thus avoid those issues.

Planning is part of the fun for me! Planning nerd alert.