To obsess or not to obsess - that is the question

[rutgers1]

Ever wonder if obsessing about a trip months and months in advance is good - or bad - for the eventual trip?

Do you find that your trips are more enjoyable when you plan for months and months (visiting sites like this, lol) or when you keep them in the back of your mind and just let them unfold?

For our last trip in April, we obsessed a bit leading up to it. Actually, we planned out the first half of the trip very carefully. Our strategy for the second half was to take it easy and let each day unfold - and bring us some surprises. As it turned out, the first half of the trip was magical, and the second half never lived up to our expectations. If I were to do it again, I think I would microplan the entire trip and then leave some room for deviating.

 

[CraftyMouse]

While I used to plan a lot, sometimes excessively, I came to find that our best trips were those that we allowed to occur a bit more spontaneously. Some of my best memories are of events that were not, and could not have been, planned.

Now I make plans for a few TS meals during out stay but, other than that, we just go with the flow. We've pretty much seen and done it all at WDW and being more spontaneous is such a nice change. It is so much more relaxing and enjoyable.

 

[wulfekamp]

We plan eating and eating somemore. Everything revolves around our dinning for the day. We are now super layed back at the parks no more running from place to place. Its scary I think we have evolved. It use to be run run run. Now its walk around and laugh at the run run runners. Ride a few rides then a afternoon nap to prepare for DINNER.

 

[DeeCee735]

obsess, by all means obsess

I plan the heck out of every trip, knowing of course that things may not work out that way once we are actually there. But....I find the planning (besides being so much fun) allows for a good idea of the things we really want to do, such as a show (like Beauty & the Beast in DHS) or a special dinner, or a tour, or a non park day, etc. If I have it pre-planned we definitely get the things on top of our list, where as if we "wing it" we come home wondering why we didn't think to do this or that.

I'm compulsive though. I've tried, I've really tried NOT to plan and I just can't seem to keep myself away from it!

So I'm all for the obsession - I have a trip planned for 3 weeks - a short one, and already I can't wait for the trips planned in January and April!
While I'm planning stuff for this one, I'm also taking mental notes for the next two

Have fun planning and enjoy your trip

 

[photobob]

We all obsess about our trips or we wouldn't be on the Dis!!

 

[oakmanner]

We still plan somewhat however since joining DVC we take it alot slower and stop and smell the roses!

Dennis-

 

[Disney_Villain]

If I were to do it again, I think I would microplan the entire trip and then leave some room for deviating.

I like this way you put it. PLAN everything, but leave room for last-moment changes. This works for us. We do violate our "master plans" regularly, but only if we are willing to toss aside our planned schedules (we aren't giving up the only character dinner we have in a 10-day trip, unless we can get another).

One things for certain: "Winging it" never works. I warn people not to "wing it" (particularly so with dining reservations) and when they return from vacation they whine how they never got on rides, couldn't find a table to sit down and eat at, etc. I have yet to hear a good report on "winging it".

 

[adminjedi]

We have the countdown on our laptops and almost everyday tell each other how many days until our next trip! Then, the week before we leave I give a gift bag to everyone with treats for the plane, the room, and a special article of clothing (and yes they appreciate it, even though they are teenagers/early twenties!)
I plan plan plan to maximize our efficiency and to make sure we get to do the things we want to do. I have an excel spreadsheet that shows all of our reservations, all of the show times, all of the magic hours. I spread the meal reservations out so we have days with nothing we "have" to do. We are then flexible to the weather, how everyone is feeling etc. We usually go over the options for the next day and everyone decides what they want to do. One other thing, since we are a large family, one thing that de-stresses the schedule is to not expect nor make everyone do everything together!

 

[dvcdisney]

Planning is part of the excitement of Disney.

Because I want the ADRs booked ahead of time, I plan where we will be each day. The rest of the time, we just do what we feel like at the time. However, I will admit, we are very predictable. We will mostly take breaks in the afternoon with a swim and relaxation, then we go back to the park in time for some rides before dinner. However, the only time we are tied down to the plan is the dinner and the park it's in. Otherwise, we sometimes choose to go to one park in the morning then another at night.

I would definitely consider myself obsessed with planning because I love it. I plan years in advance and spend the whole time before each vacation, discussing it with my family and going over our favourite things. I don't think a day goes by without us discussing it. I will admit however that I bring up the subject of Disney much more than my children. I think they're fine with thinking about it a few weeks before we go. That's when I go crazy with packing.

And it's forums like this that many of us like because we can discuss Disney with fellow fanatics. So go ahead, obsess!

 

[RLRDA]

This upcoming trip (less than 2 weeks!) is a little bit of planning and a little bit of spontaneity. We've made a few ADR's but aren't getting the DDP this time so we figured we'd 'go with the flow' some days. We aren't going to parks every day (actually we only plan on 1 park day - to EPCOT to graze around WS at F & W) but we are using some waterpark passes for TL and another pass for DQ. We have tix to MNSSHP one night of our trip so we'll get our park fix without going every single day. It'll be nice to actually sit by the pool and not worry about getting to a park for once

 

[dianeschlicht]

We used to plan everything, but not anymore. It's much more relaxing and more "vacation like" to go with the flow. Sure, if we are going during a high occupancy time, we plan our dinner ADRs and anmy behind the scenes things we want to do, but that's about it. Even when we have guests, we have learned to "go with the flow", and the guests seem to like it better too. Before I was so obsessed about making sure EVERYONE got to do EVERYTHING, that I didn't have time to enjoy any of it. Now we just go and enjoy whatever comes up. Sure, we know to do the newer and popular things early in the day and utlize fast passes, but that's the extent of our planning anymore.

 

[hellerjw]

I think it depends on your personality and what you are comfortable with.

I tend to obsess over details and like to plan everything out in advance. Heck, even an 11 month booking window doesn't seem long enough to me in some cases.

That doesn't mean we keep to a militantly rigid schedule when we are there. I just like to know what's on the agenda so I have more flexibility in moving things around ahead of time if needed. We rarely keep to everything we plan out but I like being able to have it all laid out so I can see how dropping or adding one thing affects the others.

I like having something to look forward to and watching the weeks melt away as I get closer to travel time, but that's just me.

Others may hate the wait and prefer to take their chances at a month out, to each his own.

 

[rutgers1]

I tend to like letting our ADR's dictate our day to some degree. If fact, even if it turns out that the DDP is going to cost me more money than the DDE (which I am toying with), part of me wants to go DDP for my next trip only because the DDP is very relaxing to me on some level (because I feel like I am actually not paying for the food when the bill comes...as though it were free!). On top of that, we almost treat our dinners like they are rides/attractions. If we choose well enough, they are always fun, and the ADR's almost seem like fastpass tickets, lol.

If planned well enough, I think it is possible to float from one "planned" event/location to another while still feeling relaxed and not over scheduled. In fact, often not having a plan is more stressful than having one.

 

[MOMO2DK]

Hi,
Because I just love going to WDW- I sometimes obsess, or maybe I would call it getting very prematurely excited. I love talking Disney with a friend of mine. As we go to WDW more and more we love to talk about the little things we are now able to enjoy about Disney. Obsess away! You are amongst friends!

 

[Let'sGoAgain!]

We have a very rough plan, with a few "must dos" on it. After that, it's whatever we feel like doing, whenever we feel like doing it!

We tend to not make too many ADRs because we end up canceling them as often as we keep them because we're in a different park or feel like doing something different than we did when we made the plans (months prior!). We know there are a few places we can almost always get in without an ADR; if that doesn't work, we use our wonderful DVC kitchen or go offsite.

It's usually just me and DH, though; this loose of a plan would not have worked when we had young kids.

 

[CarolA]

Based on my reading. I vote that obsessing is bad.

I can't tell you how many people come back terribly upset because after MONTHS of planning every little detail, coming on here and getting the 'perfect' room number to request etc something goes wrong!!!! And often it's something little, like CM one doesn't say "Welcome Home" Their next post. "My vacation was ruined" And often it's because they built it up to "perfection" So when they didn't get the 'perfect room', the kids wanted to go back to the pool instead of following the "perfectly designed touring plan", it rained out some show etc... they can't recover.

So if you can obsess without letting it become "this has to be the PERFECT vaction" then sure it's good. If you are working on "perfection" its probably going to be an issue. (There was one poster on the Theme Parks board a few years ago VERY upset because her kids fought at Disney. Turns out her kids fight everywhere.... she thought that the "perfect" trip would make them nice to each other. Nope, same kids went to Disney as she had every other day of the year! Her trip was "ruined" and she's never going again.)