To plan or not to plan?

[nibbo]

I don't know if I'm in the minority here but I notice how many people on here plan their itinerary for every day before they go away. We have a rough idea of what we want to do while we are over there but leave the day to day planning of what we actually do until we are there and just sort of go with the flow depending on what we feel like doing on the day and the weather etc.
What do other people do?

 

[wayneg]

Always print off an itinary but we usually have things like cruise, discovery cove, meeting friends etc to work around. There is also a couple of site that tell you best days to visit which we try work around.
Once there we do change it around a bit.

 

[wickesy]

I plan the park days to try and avoid the busy days for each park but for non-park days we just decide the day before, or on the day what we are going to do.

Same for eating - I plan a few onsite dining options which I make reservations for, and then have a list of offsite restaurants I want to go to and we fit them in as and when.

 

[comingtodisney]

i have never been to disney before, we are going on the free ddp, we also like to go with the flow, but after listening to many experienced disers, have decided if you want to get the most out of the plan, planning is a must, i think it depends of the time you are going, and if your staying on site or not.

 

[higgy66]

Our DD's will only be 6 & 5 so we'll just go with the flow and follow their pace.

Myself and DH have been a couple of times before we had kids so we're happy to do just what they want this time.

We've all been to DLRP and we took it easy there and had a great time.

As they get older and we add in the other parks we'll definietely plan as there is so much to fit in.

I'm trying to go with the attitude that if we don't see it this time we HAVE to go back to see what we missed.

 

[nibbo]

I'm trying to go with the attitude that if we don't see it this time we HAVE to go back to see what we missed.

What a great attitude.

 

[wayneg]

Same for eating - I plan a few onsite dining options which I make reservations for, and then have a list of offsite restaurants I want to go to and we fit them in as and when.

I think what David said is the main point for serious planners, if you eat onsite every evening and make reservations you need to work around them personally we never plan a meal, eat mainly offsite

I'm trying to go with the attitude that if we don't see it this time we HAVE to go back to see what we missed.

Don't worry too much we have been about 20 times totalling about 50 weeks, still not done everything and still learning.

 

[Ranger1873]

We like to do a bit of planning, so that we're aware of what's going on while we're there.

Last year we were on the DDP for 21 days and had made ADR's for most nights. Never again, it really spoiled the flow of our holiday having to turn up for dinner at specific times. We've only made four ADR's for this year.

 

[jns]

I'm trying to go with the attitude that if we don't see it this time we HAVE to go back to see what we missed.

Thats the attitude we go with everytime

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We plan the first 3 or 4 days and then just see how we feel each day.
Any full plans we make will only be changed anyway, Joshua doesn't always want to go out in the evening so we have to see how things go on most days.

 

[nibbo]

Good to see I'm not too much in the minority. Although we go there with things we know we want to do, we don't arrange them until we get there except for major things like Discovery Cove etc. The only thing we do plan and stick to is out first and last day when we always go to AK. We just find it the perfect park for the first day as it's more easy going.

 

[earthelves]

We Just Take Each Disney Day As "They" Come Along" Have Never Planned Any Of Our Days At Disney,Its Always Worked For Us..

 

[astrodrummergirl]

We never really plan out each day. I will plan out the baic jist of the holiday, eg, first day walmart, and then we figure out the plan when we get there, and rearrange things if neccessary.

 

[scojos]

ok, can i be the first to confess to being a compulsive planner?
with josh and his ASD he needs to know exactly what where when and why.
being on the free ddp we planned adrs 180+10, and have now pulled up options for cs meals.
2/3 hours in parks in morning, pool, TL or BB in afternoon, either park or chill in evenings (all our evenings even in parks are to catch shows and not queue for rides...)
i am 100% positive everything will change when we get there but KNOWLEDGE IS POWER and with the help of you lovely disers i have lots of knowledge and now can make informed decisions which work for my family.
and each fa,ily is different, i could see how older kids or adults could afford to "go with the flow" due to joshs medical condition thats not an option for us, and it works better for me, i know what to take to each park etc.
just mho,
tracy

 

[Lisash]

Sorry but I'm another compulsive planner We followed the advice to plan an itinerary for our first trip and the habit just stuck. I still really enjoy the planning bit. For me it is now part of the holiday. Having said that it is more 'guidelines' these days. We generally start to plan but then swap around days when we get there depending on how we feel, and there is always two or three days when we have nothing in particular pencilled in so we can pick up extra bits or move around things. The only real fixed days are the two or three when I do dinner reservations. I'd definately recommend an itinerary for first timers even if it's just a rough guide that way you get a good idea of your ticket needs and you know you have covered all the places you want to go

 

[paulh]

plan but be flexable and enjoy
Paulh

 

[lawlesslovewdw]

We like to do a bit of planning, so that we're aware of what's going on while we're there.

Last year we were on the DDP for 21 days and had made ADR's for most nights. Never again, it really spoiled the flow of our holiday having to turn up for dinner at specific times. We've only made four ADR's for this year.

We did the same. Normally i plan which park on what day etc.
This year we are just going to go with the flow. Have booked 2 nights at MVMCP which will have to be taken into account. Also made not to self to avoid shopping areas on the weekends as we are going 1 -22 Dec. Have made a provision list of things we would like to do like visit GF gingerbread house etc, but not going to do a rigid plan of attack like would normally do

 

[Goofyish]

We generally plan where we are going each day and where we plan to eat etc. But it's not cast in stone.

I find that planning is not just about deciding what you are going to do every minute of everyday; it also gives you the knowledge to be able to be flexible and get the most out of your trip
And, above all it's fun

 

[Daysleeper40]

We planned where we hoped to go each day - mainly to make sure we could fit everything in withour killing ourselves!

We ended up swapping a couple of days around due to weather and missed out on one park - Typhoon Lagoon - which we didn't think was too bad!

As for food - we had certain places we wanted to go and planned these into which park we were going to - i.e we went to Rainforest Cafe the day we went to AK. We made no ADR's though (did not stay on site - in fact we only spent 3 days out of 14 at Disney).

I found planning really good fun and it was exciting going to bed each night knowing where we would (hopefully) be going in the morning. We didn't plan down to the last second for each day but tried to have a sensible approach - for eaxmple we had 2 days at SW and decided which shows we would see on each day.

If you didn't plan AT ALL I think you would really run the risk of missing out on some things just by dithering!

 

[~Fisharefriends~]

i do plan but there is some flexibility in there, most days have an a or b option to allow a rest if needed. With two young boys, i need to work in going to earlier showings of fireworks parades etc. we make about 6 ADR's the rest of the time planning on eating offsite, c/s or at the resort.