To plan or not to plan.

[ryanshana]

I have always planned not to every detail, ok maybe when we were doing DxDP and once when we did the Platinum Package (actually that planning was done for me). I am just curious how many of you out there just go to Disney and wing it. Do you find you have more fun not having any ADRs and not set time to be anywhere?

Also I have 2 DS 2 & 1 would it be easier to plan cause of them?

 

[NJ Goofy]

We try to plan out what days we are going to what parks, etc. We have a plan of how we are going to "attack" each park including the use of fast pass.

We also make ADR's for each day, usually just one though. We try and do a lunch or dinner not both. The other meals we eat at counter service.

With that being said, sometimes we don't follow the schedule or use the dinner reservations and just go with the flow.

So, I guess to answer your question, we plan but sometimes just do what we feel like.

 

[The 'Mickster']

We try to plan to be at the parks when they open to beat the lines and this allows us to plan for our TS (Dinner) reservations. Works for us.

 

[B9erSteve]

in 2006 when I was there I saw more than a few without ADR's turned away or told that the wait was going to be too long. I felt very bad for those since they purchased the same DDP that I did but I got a better experience because I had my ADR's. After that, I wouldn't dream of going WDW w/o ADR's. I don't plan my fastpassess or rides very well though. I just haven't been to WDW enough to know all the ins and outs of the system. Now in DL I can blow through every major ride before lunch on a busy day if I'm allowed to!

 

[tzolkin]

Our goal for our trip was to be flexible and relax, so we did not plan. We were there for 9 days with 3 kids (ages 2-9). We did not do the dining plan or ADRs so that we wouldn't have to worry about making our reservations if the kids wanted to go to a different park, got tired, or got sick.

We didn't completely "wing it". I started packing months in advance, printed color coded schedules for each park (hours, EMHs, parades/fireworks), and even made index cards with the menus for the CS restaurants. We made sure to make it to every am EMH at MK so we could do all the attractions in Fantasyland for the little ones. We looked at the park hours to decide what parks we wanted to do the next day. (We wouldn't stay out late the night before MK EMH for example.) But we also remained flexible. If one park was packed, we left and went somewhere else. Once my youngest got sick at the bus stop, so he went back to the room and took a nap with DH while I took the girls to Epcot. It was also nice to just ask the kids what they wanted to do and go do it.

This worked very well for us. We had a wonderful and relaxing vacation. We took lots of naps, enjoyed the parks at a pace that was comfortable for our kids, and managed to get through with no meltdowns or arguments (parents or kids!).

 

[dennisnlisab96]

We make our ADR's and plan to go to that park either in the am if we are having lunch or pm if dinner. Other than that we don't really plan what we are going to do at each park. We have been a bunch of times so if we get to something and the line is long we just skip it and go back another time if it something we REALLY want to do.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

We plan our vacations around our ADR's which are made at the 180 day mark. This way it gives us plenty of time for rest and relaxation. We are not the rope drop kind of people nor are we the last people in the park. We have gone so many times now that we plan different things every time we go. I would not dream of going to WDW without planning. But that's just for us. I know some people who go to WDW and don't plan a thing and have a great time as well. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you and your family have a wonderful time.

 

[Goofey Drool]

We have ADRS for evenings, usually 6pm or after. Thats about the only planning we do. We get up and decide where we are going to go during breakfast. I went on vacations in the past with planners and it drove me nuts. Everyone was too busy clock watching and making me hurry when I just wanted to check things out. Last year we went and while going through adventure land a few characters were doing a skit near the pirates of carribean ride. We stopped to watch as kids were picked out of the crowd to play a part. In downtown dis I was picked out of a crowd to do a skit with a street mime (still have the pictures). It was fun to watch and nobody was bumping me in the arm saying we have to go. I have observed others who like to have each hour planned and know exactly which part of the park they should be in at what hour of the day. To each there own its just not relaxing to me. We stay for seven days so if we slow poke and miss something ..well we'll see it tomorrow or the next day. On more than one occasion we were thinking of going to a park for an afternoon but the pool at Typhoon Lagoon was too darn relaxing.. so we stayed all day at the water park.

 

[CoachBagFanatic]

We have ADRS for evenings, usually 6pm or after. Thats about the only planning we do. We get up and decide where we are going to go during breakfast. I went on vacations in the past with planners and it drove me nuts. Everyone was too busy clock watching and making me hurry when I just wanted to check things out. Last year we went and while going through adventure land a few characters were doing a skit near the pirates of carribean ride. We stopped to watch as kids were picked out of the crowd to play a part. In downtown dis I was picked out of a crowd to do a skit with a street mime (still have the pictures). It was fun to watch and nobody was bumping me in the arm saying we have to go. I have observed others who like to have each hour planned and know exactly which part of the park they should be in at what hour of the day. To each there own its just not relaxing to me. We stay for seven days so if we slow poke and miss something ..well we'll see it tomorrow or the next day. On more than one occasion we were thinking of going to a park for an afternoon but the pool at Typhoon Lagoon was too darn relaxing.. so we stayed all day at the water park.

OMG Our DS13 was picked to do a skit in DHS. We were there for a good 45 mintues. We had so much fun but what made it funnier was his face was painted like Yoda. Now, our DS is very reserved and shy. Needless to say he wasn't shy or reserved during his performance. It was a blast. Would love to do it again.

 

[DizneyNutz]

I have always planned not to every detail, ok maybe when we were doing DxDP and once when we did the Platinum Package (actually that planning was done for me). I am just curious how many of you out there just go to Disney and wing it. Do you find you have more fun not having any ADRs and not set time to be anywhere?

Also I have 2 DS 2 & 1 would it be easier to plan cause of them?

We planned the first few trips wholeheartedly. Then we bought DVC. Now we wing it except for an occasional ADR or event we want to try new (ie: Segway tour at Epcot). We feel like we are more on vacation now just winging it, rather than having everything planned. We find it much more relaxed and we still get to see everything we want.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I always plan what day to each park. I typically avoid mornign EMH days and only go to MK's nighttime EMH. So I like to look at that schedule beforehand and at least go to WDW with that much in mind.

Some trips I have each ADR made for each day, and even have down what cs we will eat. Other trips, we eat mostly cs and just get a few last minute adr's once there. I have always been able to get something last minute and have found some off the beaten disboard path restaurants we love. That I only got because that was all I could get. So preplanning was a good thing in those cases!

Both ways are fun. With younger kids its nice to plan, but then again, when my kids were the age of yours, all plans seemed to get changed anyway!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We totally wing it when it is just DH and I with the exception of dining ressies...other than that we park hop, chill by the pool etc ...just as long as we make it to dinner!

 

[Cinderella]

We definitely have more fun if we plan. Don't get me wrong, we don't plan every ride we're going to do and every single ADR. But we plan so we get through potential bottlenecks earlier in the day. One year the family complained about the planning but after the first day, they were begging to go back to the plan.

 

[Disney Dreams]

We are not planners, but more "go with the flow" when vacationing. HOWEVER, we had not been to WDW in 12 years and people had us worried with ADRs.

So.... we planned what day to go to what park. We made ADRs for dining that we knew we would be disappointed if we didn't do, along with a few shows. Then we winged it from there.

Now, reality....

We canceled / rearranged some ADRs once we were there and going with the flow of what we felt like doing. We used the ADRs that we had as a guide and winged it from there. And had a perfect vacation!

- Dreams

P.S. We planned 6 weeks in advance, called the ADR # several times a day and got to eat at every place we wanted, including Cinderella's Royal Table.

 

[NMAmy]

My family would throttle me if I planned every minute.

I make one ADR per day--usually for lunch. I print out the park hours/fireworks schedule/EMH info so we can refer to it. That's it--the rest of the day besides the ADR is totally whatever we feel like doing. We go often enough that we don't feel the need to see everything. It's really a very relaxing way to do WDW. And I don't feel like I need a vacation from my vacation when I get back home.

 

[markmyboy]

I planned our last trip down to the minute, I knew which ride to be on at what time and which ride we were going on after and when to take a break for lunch/dinner. It was a lot of planning (which I love to do) and the trip went smoothly for everyone (me, husband, son (9) and daughter (5)), and we were able to ride all the rides we wanted to ride and see the few shows we wanted to see (not TOO big on the shows in this family) in the 5 days we had in the parks! We only had one ADR (to get Fantasmic dinner package) because we aren't big fans of table service. My family appreciated the planning because they really did want to see everything, and I knew we didn't have a lot of time. I didn't have to push anyone to get to the next ride because they were just wanting to run to the next ride anyway! All but DH are morning people, but I think I had the kids up too late and our one and only meltdown was during Wishes at Magic Kingdom! A funny story now, but at the time we were all at our wits end! Anyway...

This year we have 8 day non-park hopper tickets, so I think the most planning I will do is to figure out which park on which day, mainly working around MK EMH morning and AK EMH (my favorite park!). The kids know which rides are their favorites and which ones they can skip. We are also staying onsite this time and plan to enjoy time relaxing by the pool. I miss the "over" planning a bit, but I know we'll have a good time, I've just got to make sure we get to see MK fireworks this time!

 

[markmyboy]

I planned our last trip down to the minute, I knew which ride to be on at what time and which ride we were going on after and when to take a break for lunch/dinner. It was a lot of planning (which I love to do) and the trip went smoothly for everyone (me, husband, son (9) and daughter (5)), and we were able to ride all the rides we wanted to ride and see the few shows we wanted to see (not TOO big on the shows in this family) in the 5 days we had in the parks! We only had one ADR (to get Fantasmic dinner package) because we aren't big fans of table service. My family appreciated the planning because they really did want to see everything, and I knew we didn't have a lot of time. I didn't have to push anyone to get to the next ride because they were just wanting to run to the next ride anyway! All but DH are morning people, but I think I had the kids up too late and our one and only meltdown was during Wishes at Magic Kingdom! A funny story now, but at the time we were all at our wits end! Anyway...

This year we have 8 day non-park hopper tickets, so I think the most planning I will do is to figure out which park on which day, mainly working around MK EMH morning and AK EMH (my favorite park!). The kids know which rides are their favorites and which ones they can skip. We are also staying onsite this time and plan to enjoy time relaxing by the pool. I miss the "over" planning a bit, but I know we'll have a good time, I've just got to make sure we get to see MK fireworks this time!

 

[Chris333]

Keep these planning stories coming! I love them!

The last time we were at DW was in 2002 - no ADR, no DDP, nothing.

My husband thinks I am crazy for thinking about where I am I going to eat what meal 5 months from now. I am trying to get him to understand .