The Un-planners!

[SandraC]

Hi all! I know several families who are planning WDW trips within the next couple or three years. Being the Disney FREAK that I am, they ask me about WDW. They are always surprised at the wonderful world of offerings Disney has ~ many of them don't know Disney has resorts or more than one them park YIKES!

Anyway, it got me thinking of a lady I met in April 2002 at MK. It was our last night at WDW. We were sitting and waiting for Spectro Magic to start. Since this was our second time in a week to see it, and the first time we had amazing seats, I just wanted to sit and relax looking at the castle, listening to the music and watching Spectro Magic from a quiet place. We got really lucky and took a couple benches off Main Street. This really nice lady was sitting next to me and we started chatting. This was also her last night at WDW, her family had been at WDW for a week and enjoyed all the parks. As we chatted and watched the castle change colours, she said to me, "I wonder if you can go inside the castle?" I smiled and said, "Yes, you can walk right thru to Fantasyland, there is a lovely store and even a restaurant with a character breakfast." She and her dh looked at each other with stone faces. She said, "You mean you can go right into the castle and there is a restaurant?" Yeppers I said. She continues, "What is a character meal?" I told her about the character meals, others things to do and parades. She said, "There are parades here?" I said, "Yeppers, one is starting in about 5 minutes." She and her dh just stared at each other with stone faces. She started telling him that she knew they should have planned the trip better. I watched the tears come down her face as she saw the beauty in Spectro Magic. Before the fireworks, I told her to look up at the top of the castle. She saw Tinkerbell! It was like watching a 6 year old little girl seeing it for the first time. The fireworks absolutely broke her down with it's majesty. During our conversation, another family asked about the castle and parade, they didn't know about it either.

I know several of my friends go and don't see much either. I tend to shut up about things they missed, but if they ask me before hand, I have a ton to tell them! What about you? S

 

[Disney Doll]

Most of the people I know tend to ask me now if they are planning a trip to WDW. I actually have a little thing written up with hints and tips. I also generally recommend the Unofficial Guide to WDW.

I have encountered people who are post-WDW vacations who didn't do the research and mssed a ton of stuff. They're usually the folks who say"Well, welike to be spontaneous". I always tell those who ask me beforehand to have a general plan in mind for the day, but not to be so rigid that they miss something really cool if it pops up while they're there.

The "spontaneous" people generally end up being frustrated because they don't know how the place works. We were at the AKL in January and talked to a family who had been there for a week, spent 4 of their 7 days in the park, and then decided to "just hang around the hotel for the last 3 days, because this place is just too complicated to figure out." Can you imagine???? I mean, the hotels are nice, and we are not into the "commando" style of touring...we do like to swim etc at our resort, but to waste 3 days, the whole day, just hanging around...it's unbelieveable. He sounded disappointed that they hadn't planned better, and it's tough to plan once you're actually there.

 

[Kermit]

I don't think you have to have every minute planned out (we go with a very rough itenerary), but it helps so much if you have a general idea of what's available and when the best time is to do everything. I always feel sorry for the people who come back and say they didn't really like it. 95% of the time when you ask them about what they saw, you find out they missed all the good stuff. (5% of the people are just weird and don't like it.) I can't imagine spending so much money and then having a Six Flags-caliber experience.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

I am an ANAL planner for myself. Not that I can't be spontaneous, but I like to have a plan (even if it's just so I can deviate from it).

I am also known as the company Disney-holic. If anyone in my company is planning a trip, I NEED to know about it. I don't make plans for them, but I generally do type out 2-3 pages of notes based on that person's likes/dislikes and family. I love doing it and for the most part the people I do it for appreciate it (I even got a Pin from the park for my efforts once).

I also try to help friends with planning as well. Again, just to let them know what they are in for to help make their trips simpler and more fun.

I really LOVE doing it!

 

[CamColt]

My first WDW trip as an adult was my honeymoon in 1995. I must have been too busy planning the wedding because I did no planning for the trip. We had booked the Luau and PS for Alfredos and that was it. I knew we wanted to go to Pleasure Island one night too. No plan of attack or anything. While we still had a great time, knowing what I know now, I feel I could have gotten so much more out of that trip had I planned.
Which brings me to now, Im a compuslive psycho planner. I dont know if I should admit this but I go so far as to make index cards for each park we are visiting each day with a list of what rides I want to get done during that visit. I will say, I dont "live" by the cards, or freak if someone wants to do something else at the time, but they are helpful.

 

[Hnymoon@Dixie]

A lot of my friends don't understand why we go soo much. I tell them all of the things to do & they just look @ me like I have two heads! We plan a little but then just let the fun take us where it may!

 

[cotye]

The last time I was there, I had to do all the planning for me and my firends. They just left everything to me and I just led them around like little puppies. just funny seeing their reaction to certain attractions and the surprises that occurred in some rides.

 

[disykat]

I planned very carefully for our last trip with the whole family. I also went there on my honeymoon and once before that as sort of a side trip on a vacation while I was single. Those trips I didn't do ANY pre-planning. I've never understood how people don't get it while they're there. A few minutes reading the park maps and you know about parades, fast pass, and pretty much everything you need to navagate within the parks. Even when I had everything all planned out I still sat down and reviewed the park maps!

I loved having some of the extras you get from planning ahead, but I know you can do just fine if you READ THE BROCHURES! (Don't you just want to shake some people!)

 

[yepod]

I know it is very frustrating for a lot of us Disney fanatics to understand or accept others attitudes about WDW.

I am like Annie&Hallie'sMom in that I NEED to have a plan.
It is my type C personality LOL
I also agree with disycat, read the maps/brochures and LEARN.
Guess I don't fit the stereotype in that I DO ask for directions/information & I USE IT!

IMHO, I think most of the people that come home (or worse, never go) & say they weren't impressed are the ones that don't do a fraction of all the wonderful things available to them (like Disney Doll said)

 

[EROS]

I'd urge all of the meticulous planners out there to take at least ONE WDW vacation around which you do NO planning. Hey,life's short...........smell the coffee . Our lives in Boston are so HYPER regimented that we just play it by ear in Orlando. We only structure our airfare and hotel. Everything else is "planned" on each day that we're there .............

 

[nativetxn]

I used to plan my trips very carefully but now, I'm not so regimented and just take my time.

I would never have made my first (few) trips without careful planning though

 

[tc]

I'm with Nativetxn, my first few trips, I planned like crazy, but not any more. We went in the summer, and there were four of us. If we didn't plan, a lot of time was spent deciding where to go. Our very first trip was fun, but I didn't plan near enough, and we wasted a lot of time and money. Now, I have a very basic plan. No PS (we usually eat fast food, not sit-down restaurant people). If we do decided to sit down, we've never had a problem finding a table for two in September. I have a cruise scheduled, tickets to Night of Joy, and maybe tickets to House of Blues, but that's it. I know MK is the last Saturday we are there, at least at night, since that's the only time Spectro is running. I think previous knowledge makes it unnecessary for me to have a planned, daily itinerary. However, I frequent the theme parks board to see what's changed, and what will be open and closed. I know what to expect, but no itinerary any more.

 

[tc]

I'm with Nativetxn, my first few trips, I planned like crazy, but not any more. We went in the summer, and there were four of us. If we didn't plan, a lot of time was spent deciding where to go. Our very first trip was fun, but I didn't plan near enough, and we wasted a lot of time and money. Now, I have a very basic plan. No PS (we usually eat fast food, not sit-down restaurant people). If we do decided to sit down, we've never had a problem finding a table for two in September. I have a cruise scheduled, tickets to Night of Joy, and maybe tickets to House of Blues, but that's it. I know MK is the last Saturday we are there, at least at night, since that's the only time Spectro is running. I think previous knowledge makes it unnecessary for me to have a planned, daily itinerary. However, I frequent the theme parks board to see what's changed, and what will be open and closed. I know what to expect, but no itinerary any more.

 

[WDWHound]

Our planning consists of picking a park for each day (this matters less now that EE has been discontinued), making PS's for the restaurants that matter to us (Flying Fish being to of the list) and picking a night to go to Pleasure Island. We also reread our guidebooks and scour the DIS form anything new we may not have heard about.