To Plan or Not to Plan??

[HappieMommie]

Hey guys!

We are off to WDW in Sept. I am a HUGE planner, and I like to have schedules. My dh isn't.

We are travelling with a 4.5 year old and a 1.5 year old. DH has been to DL, but not to WDW. I have never been to either.

I only have one ADR character ressie, and the La Nouba show planned. I want to allocate days to parks, events, etc. DH wants to just fly by the seat of his pants.

I have heard that if you plan correctly, you can really maximize your time and avoid lines/rushes, etc.

We are staying off site and planning to go back and forth to the parks as our little ones will need rests, etc.

HELP!! Do I schedule our trip, or just "chill".

Thanks in advance!
Heather

 

[JackJack08]

I have been many times, and we always fly by the seat of our pants!! That being said, I am planning our trip this October. I think, you should just take it all in and avoid the stress, of having to be somewhere all the time. Travelling with little ones, is always a challenge to begin with. Have fun..........

 

[minnie56]

We plan some and some we wing..planning it all is no fun. Have to have some flexibility to linger longer in some places and move on from some that aren't your favourite spots.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

I would do some planning just so that you see the things that you want to see. I would look around and decide on what are must-sees and go from there. Since you are staying off site you won't be able to take advantage of extra magic hours which won't necessary hinder you -- but avoid the park that has extra magic hours as they tend to be more crowded.

Have a great time!

 

[amw]

The only thing I do is check which parks have EMH or special events happening in order to avoid those ones (since you're staying offsite). That gives plenty of flexibility to wake up, check the weather, see how DH is feeling and say "let's do Epcot or AK today."

I also make sure we have down time, so if we don't feel like doing a park at all, we can just hang out by the pool and do a little shopping.

Also, when my DDs were that little, I knew which areas of the parks to go straight to, and which rides to avoid altogether for the fright factor -- that's where you can do some planning.

The best plan is to go to the parks for opening, do all the kid stuff you like, and leave as soon as they get cranky. My girls are 6 and 8 and we still rarely stay at a park past dinner time.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Well, you may all hate me, but I say PLAN!!!

I know way too many people who went without a plan and had a miserable time. Of course you need some flexibility, but a plan will definitely help. Know what rides you most want to go to, and plan a route that will get you to those first.

Plan how you will use fast passes.

In your case, in particular, because you are staying off-site and planning to leave the parks and return during the day, your time will be tight. (Do you realize how long it takes to leave the park, get to your car, drive to your off-site hotel and then do the whole thing in reverse when you get back?)

Also - I would do some planning around meals. The "free dining" deal is on in September, and that means all the sit-down restaurants will pretty much be full, and the counter-service ones will be busy. So you might want to pick out the counter-service places you want to eat at, and plan to get to them at "off-hours" (eg lunch at 11:00 rather than noon).

Teresa

 

[drag n' fly]

Well, you may all hate me, but I say PLAN!!!

I know way too many people who went without a plan and had a miserable time. Of course you need some flexibility, but a plan will definitely help. Know what rides you most want to go to, and plan a route that will get you to those first.

Plan how you will use fast passes.

In your case, in particular, because you are staying off-site and planning to leave the parks and return during the day, your time will be tight. (Do you realize how long it takes to leave the park, get to your car, drive to your off-site hotel and then do the whole thing in reverse when you get back?)

Also - I would do some planning around meals. The "free dining" deal is on in September, and that means all the sit-down restaurants will pretty much be full, and the counter-service ones will be busy. So you might want to pick out the counter-service places you want to eat at, and plan to get to them at "off-hours" (eg lunch at 11:00 rather than noon).

Teresa

Yup Ditto!

 

[caresy]

I plan tons, I know which park we will go to each day, make ADR's for each day etc etc etc... I like to know ahead of time what is going on so I don't miss anything we really want to do.

If you don't plan on doing much TS meals then I wouldn't worry about it so much. But if you want to eat at some of these restaurants I would suggest you plan a bit more... I've been turned away by restaurants during one trip especially where I made no ADR's and was disappointed a lot...

 

[caresy]

In your case, in particular, because you are staying off-site and planning to leave the parks and return during the day, your time will be tight. (Do you realize how long it takes to leave the park, get to your car, drive to your off-site hotel and then do the whole thing in reverse when you get back?)

And I would really consider this in your planning - this could take up a good chunk of your Disney time!!

 

[nflder]

I would do some planning just so that you see the things that you want to see. I would look around and decide on what are must-sees and go from there. Since you are staying off site you won't be able to take advantage of extra magic hours which won't necessary hinder you -- but avoid the park that has extra magic hours as they tend to be more crowded.

Have a great time!

I have to agree. Plan what you want to see and have a general idea of what you would like to do. But I wouldn't over plan and worry too mcuh. On our last trip, I had everything planned out, what park on which day, all of our meals etc. All of that went out the window when our flights were delayed and we ended up not getting to WDW until two days after we were suppose to get there. We were suppose to get there on Wednesday ended getting there on Friday.

Don't stress out over too much planning but like I said have a general idea and have a fantastic trip!!

 

[kimara]

I love planning my Disney trips. Sometimes, the anticipation is a big part of the fun. I love looking at the different sites and books and deciding what we want to do. But...I also plan on being flexible. It is much nicer to plan and then when things change to wing-it than it is to wish you had plans when you are already there.
enjoy!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

How about a little creative re-phrasing to get your hubby on board. Really the planning you are talking about it being prepared. I believe you need to get as much information as you can before you get there. There are so many different choices that it has overwhelmed many a family.

You do not need to plan out each hour of your day but perhaps you could "educate" and "prepare" yourself for your trip. Start out small. Choose which day you will be in each park. Avoid EMH days and work around your one ADR and Cirque. There now you have started.

That means reading about all the rides/attractions in a book like the unofficial guide. Figure out the fast pass system and which rides/attractions will appeal to your family and which ones don't. Plan to get to the parks early and hit your families most wanted attractions first. Plan to have some free time after that.

Take a look at the menus on allearsnet.com. Figure out which counterservice restaurants in each park might appeal to your family. Plan to eat at those restaurants in off peak times (11-11:30am and 4:30-5:00pm)

That's really all you need to plan or should I say "prepare". Perhaps presented this way it will seem less "strict" to your hubby.

 

[HappieMommie]

Wow - thanks guys!! All these tips are so helpful. I love this board!

 

[aksco33]

Well I have done the on-site and off-site route before and just recently an off-site stay at a timeshare in the Lake Beuna Vista area. We were pretty close to Downtown Disney so going back mid-day was not a problem for us so you might want to see how far from your hotel you actually are from the Parks. I would say our Condo was no further than us staying at the AKL or Allstars to the Parks. I would atleast check-out what days are EMH days for each park as you might want to avoid that Park since they get way crowded than Non-EMH parks. I would try and get to the parks at opening if you can and use fastpass as much as you can. In September, park hours maybe shorter so you may want to check-out what the park hours are as this may determine if it is worth going back and forth. I know we would have lunch in the parks and since we were off-site we would eat dinner off-site by the condo or even cook our dinner since the parks were not open as late and we did not qualify for EMH nights. If you have not been to WDW before I would suggest atleast reading the Birnbaum Guidebook and pick up one of the "unofficial" style guides to have atleast some idea on how big the WDW Resort is--I have seen too many people realize the place is not just the MK and be pretty miserable or burned out. Have fun.

 

[loretta lowerison]

I plan things like driving routes, park hours, etc. But as to which ride to go first, we will decide when we get there. We want our vacation to be relaxing and want to be able to enjoy all the little details. So we take it easy in the parks. But we always go for an afternoon nap and swim.

 

[wee-haggis]

Plan,plan,Plan !
I take it to the "N'th" degree"...
I actually make up Excel Spreadsheets with the scheduled events for the day !
Now, some might think thats taking it a bit too far,but in all the years I've been going using these spreadsheets has been mucho appreciated !
As a suggestion,about a month before you go ,check out this website http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=14 and you'll get to see the good and bad days to go to certain parks (based on historical statistics). As mentioned by a previous poster,also check out the days and nights when there is extra magic hours (you can choose whether you want to be there on these days or not). http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/emhour.htm
My in-laws went 2 years ago with no planning and the end result was that they only were able to cover about 50% of the attractions and missed all of the "good stuff". Heres another way to look at it. If you have a scheduled plan and you decide one day to stray from the plan,then you'll soon find out if it was the right choice
Seriously though, if you want to experience some of the good restaurants and character breakfasts etc,then ADR's are a must (unless you have horse-shoes you know where). Most ADR's can be 90 days advance booking with it changing to 180 days in late 2009.

 

[calgarygary]

Hey guys!

We are off to WDW in Sept. I am a HUGE planner, and I like to have schedules. My dh isn't.

We are travelling with a 4.5 year old and a 1.5 year old. DH has been to DL, but not to WDW. I have never been to either.

I only have one ADR character ressie, and the La Nouba show planned. I want to allocate days to parks, events, etc. DH wants to just fly by the seat of his pants.

I have heard that if you plan correctly, you can really maximize your time and avoid lines/rushes, etc.

We are staying off site and planning to go back and forth to the parks as our little ones will need rests, etc.

HELP!! Do I schedule our trip, or just "chill".

Thanks in advance!
Heather

The best way to make sure that you get the least out of your vacation is to not plan.

 

[LLWDW]

I have been to WDW many times in the last 20 odd years.
"In the old days" we didn't plan, now I plan alot. It all depends on how much time you have and what you want to accomplish in that time. If you want to wing it, you'll probably enjoy what you do, If you want to enjoy everything, you'll probably plan your time.

 

[mommylo]

Hi, we are leaving for our 2nd WDW trip in 9 days and I have to say I almost started planning right after the last one That was my only coping mechanism for wanting to go back right away!! I started with what restaurants I want to try, then what rides in each park I want to do. Since we are DVC owners, I then started to decide which resort I want to stay. Airline choice is next. About 4 months before the trip, I made a list of grocery items I need and ordered online. I then made my Owner's Locker reservation. 1 month ahead I started looking at TouringPlans, Passporter, TourGuideMike. As of today, I am almost completely packed and ready to go. Yep, I love to plan for WDW