To Plan or Not To Plan?

[JustAKid]

DH and I have been talking and we can't figure out whether or not we want to plan our DL trip. We're laid back people, who are more there for memories then rides, and don't think a vacation (our first ever together!) should be too planned. So my question is, how in depth does your planning go? Are there any DISers who have NOT planned and had a fantastic time? Any tips on keeping "order" while creating a "fly by the seat of our pants" feel??

 

[deejdigsdis]

OK...I'm with you. My husband and I were talking about this same thing today also. He's about as laid back as they come. This is our first *real* vacation too, and I don't want the idea of "sticking to the schedule" to get in the way of having fun and enjoying the moment in the present. He looked at me like "Are you Serious?!?" when I mentioned getting to the parks 30 min. before they open. That will still be part of "The Plan," but as far as planning our meals way in advance, and some of that other "stuff" -- I don't think it's for us. Just my 2 cents.

 

[kari12177]

We always head right to POTC just because our son will drive us nuts till he rides it. Then we head to Splash and see if the line is long and if we have to FP it or not. After that, we dont really have a plan, just walking to the rides to see how long the lines are. But we atleast have to ride POTC about 6 times in 2 days, just to get in our systems.

 

[JustAKid]

OK...I'm with you. My husband and I were talking about this same thing today also. He's about as laid back as they come. This is our first *real* vacation too, and I don't want the idea of "sticking to the schedule" to get in the way of having fun and enjoying the moment in the present. He looked at me like "Are you Serious?!?" when I mentioned getting to the parks 30 min. before they open. That will still be part of "The Plan," but as far as planning our meals way in advance, and some of that other "stuff" -- I don't think it's for us. Just my 2 cents.

Thank goodness! I thought I was on my own. See, we're opposite, we're doing the PS just in case, because we know we can break it. My DH also looked at me like I sprouted something when I said it'd be a 6:30am wake up call while on vacation. He thinks vacation's definition is "sleep in"

 

[darph nader]

That is the question.Tis better to suffer the slings and arrows of randomness or FP and RideMax.
To Commando or not to commando,(that's a personal choice).

 

[debdreamsofdis]

You do realize this is a board comprised of people who suffer from OCDP (obsessive compulsive Disney planning), don't you??

DH and I were just talking today about this too. He always thinks I overplan and overpack. I find that when we're prepared, things go smoother and we have a better time. I like to have a general idea of where we are going to be and what we want to be doing, but I don't plan things down to the exact minute. Since we have 4 children, their needs will come first and I accept that trying to keep them on a rigid schedule would be futile.

One thing that is important for me to have a plan for is our meals and snacks! I get very cranky when I'm hungry.

Now on our upcoming trip, we have 3 "planned" days in the park and one day that is park-free. We don't really have a plan for our park free day, we'll just relax, hang out and go with the flow. So, a little of both worlds.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

DH thinks I'm over planning too.

My plans include:
1) which land I want to spend my morning at (1st full day/MM at FL/TL, 2nd full day/MM day(but not for us) at the left side lands, and for the day I want to start at DCA)
2) when and where for my PSs (ESPN for DHs bday, Goofys Kitchen for MM brunch, AG for end of trip hoopla)
3) which shows I want to see and when would be the best "time" around naps
4) and lastly I poured over the menus on allears.net so I can find a restaurant when I need one and not eat junk the whole trip

As long as I can do my "must dos" (BTMRR, Splash, Carousel at night) then I want to enjoy my 6 days in the Land.....and ride everything!!

 

[PinkBudgie]

This reminds me of the people behind us in line at Aladdin. They argued the entire time about someone not sticking to "The Plan".

Fortunately, both DH and I are planners and researchers. For DLR and life in general, I found it is a good idea to have a plan or an outline of what you are going to do. Then when the time comes you can always change your mind. Call it a rough outline and you both might find it more agreeable. When you can't think what to do, just fall back on your outline.

At the very least, plan to get there before the gates open. You can always sleep in on weekends at home. Then have a few rides in mind that you would like to try first. This gives you somewhere to walk when you first arrive instead of standing in the middle of Main Street, checking your map, while everyone else passes you by to get in line somewhere. Also have in mind which ride you want to grab a FP for first.

The sooner you start collecting FPs the more you have to be able to go on rides with long lines later in the day. If you have a handfull of FPs by afternoon, you can go with whichever one you want without regard to the length of the line. This will actually help you to be able to pick a ride on the spur of the moment.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

We are going oct 10-15 the only plans we make are we we eat.
Have blue buyou for lunch sun, fantasmic seating for mon 9pm and the bbq dinner on tue for dinner.

The rest of the trip is do what we want and gather fastpasses as we go it has worked out on the last 7 trips we have made why change now.

 

[mamaofthree]

I'm a huge planner, dh is not. He thought I was out of my mind with all the time I spent on this board before our July trip. We have three small kids, and to me, the planning was just to help everything run smoother, not to take away from the spontaneity of vacation. I researched hotels and found a good deal, made ps reservations for ONE character breakfast, found out all the places we could refill our water bottles, learned which rides have FP available and how that whole system works, and made note of which non FP rides were popular and needed to be done in the mornings. As for our two days in the park, nothing was actually planned, besides the one breakfast. We just did whatever the kids wanted, and I would run by myself to go get FP's, which was just fine by dh. We did get there before opening, because my kids are early risers anyway. And we did start out in Fantasyland the first day, because the kids wanted to. The second morning we had our character breakfast at 7, then walked out of the plaza inn at 8 and headed around the corner to Tomorrowland and Nemo, because I knew that if that didn't get done first thing then it wasn't gonna happen. We had tons of fun, didn't do shows because we only had 2 days and the rides were more important to the kids. We ate wherever, whenever, but I WAS a bit familiar with what was available just from browsing the boards. Have a fun trip!

 

[GrandBob]

To me, planning consists of:

- A decision to get there close to opening time (or not, if that's your thing). I'm not one who has to be there 45 minutes early for rope drop.

- A general idea of which big rides to head to first (Indy, Space, Peter Pan)

- A general idea of what rides I want to get a FP for

- An idea that yes, if afternoon gets crowded and hot, we'll head back to the hotel for a dip. If we're having fun anyway, maybe not.

- What evening performances we want to go to (fireworks, F!)

Not a whole lot of planning, according to the OCDPs here (love that term! ) But it's enough to allow you to get the most out of your visit, while still having it feel unplanned and "go with the flow."

 

[amym2]

I think there's a difference between having a plan and having a schedule. As long as you do your research, are familiar with the layout of the park and which rides and shows you do not want to miss, and follow some basic guidelines like using Fastpass (I just don't understand people who don't do this) and hitting the most popular rides first, you'll be fine.

That being said, we haven't been to Disneyland yet, only Disney World. It's my impression that is is less imperative to "plan" for DL. Anyone who goes to DW without a plan is insane in my book. As far as dining, again, it sounds like DL you can more easily just go with the flow. At DW you do have to have ADRs for the more popular restaurants. We learned this the hard way on our honeymoon when DH didn't want to make reservations and we couldn't get into ANY sit-down restaurants until after 9pm. If there are any restaurants you really want to visit at DL, I'd say make and ADR and you can always cancel it.

 

[deejdigsdis]

This thread has been very helpful to me. I now see the difference between a PLAN and a SCHEDULE. I'm all for having a basic outline as part of my plan and not wandering around aimlessly. It was the idea of "No Son! You can't go to the bathroom right now! It's 3:57 and the schedule says we need to be in line for Splash Mountain!" {OK, maybe that's a little extreme. } Thank goodness I found DISboards before our trip... I really am learning a lot of tips and tricks that will most likely help us have a better time. Guess I need to look into this restaurant PS thing a bit more...

 

[disneymama83]

I'm a huge planner, dh is not. He thought I was out of my mind with all the time I spent on this board before our July trip. We have three small kids, and to me, the planning was just to help everything run smoother, not to take away from the spontaneity of vacation. I researched hotels and found a good deal, made ps reservations for ONE character breakfast, found out all the places we could refill our water bottles, learned which rides have FP available and how that whole system works, and made note of which non FP rides were popular and needed to be done in the mornings. As for our two days in the park, nothing was actually planned, besides the one breakfast. We just did whatever the kids wanted, and I would run by myself to go get FP's, which was just fine by dh. We did get there before opening, because my kids are early risers anyway. And we did start out in Fantasyland the first day, because the kids wanted to. The second morning we had our character breakfast at 7, then walked out of the plaza inn at 8 and headed around the corner to Tomorrowland and Nemo, because I knew that if that didn't get done first thing then it wasn't gonna happen. We had tons of fun, didn't do shows because we only had 2 days and the rides were more important to the kids. We ate wherever, whenever, but I WAS a bit familiar with what was available just from browsing the boards. Have a fun trip!

Hi there! May I ask where are the places you could refill your water bottles? Thanks!

 

[lattemomof3]

I toss back & forth on this, too. I to plan, DH does not. We've decided to go middle of the road, only planning the most important facets of our vacation. We'll get to the park early, ride the popular rides 1st, collect a few fastpasses, then knock off around lunch for a break @ hotel, and when we come back there will be no plan, we'll take the kids' lead. I don't want to miss the wonder of DLR, the little touches, and if dd3 wants to spend 20 min. looking down Snow White's well in the afternoon, I will let her. I'm going to get ps's for the few meals we know we don't want to miss - Goofy's, Ariel's Grotto, Rainforest Cafe & BB, the rest, we'll play by ear.
DH knows I'm a happy camper if we have a trip on the horizon (even if it's a year or more away), it's something to dream about, read about, semi-plan, & it makes the everyday grind bearable! What did I do before the DIS!

 

[Brady's Mom]

We do things differently when we go by ourselves - just DH and me - or take our kids.

DH and I - we know which rides we want to ride (we are very selective) and what shows we want to see and where we want to eat, since we don't have to worry about whether there is something at the restaurant our kids will eat.

With the Family - we have a more structured plan. We know that on day A we will start in Fantasyland and collect FP's, we know which day we want to do JTA (we have boys!) and plan to do it again if someone doesn't get picked. We plan *sort of* what we want to eat/where and make sure to feed the kidlets before they get cranky.

With the boys it is more about what they want to do and what their favorite rides are, with DH and I it is about what we don't HAVE to do (Mulholland Madness) and when we want to ride our favorites.

For us, it's all about balance. Food - so no one is cranky, water - so we are hydrated, favorite rides - of course, favorite shows - planning when they play and fitting them in.

 

[Missi_me]

The last time DH and I went together was on our honeymoon 14 years ago and didn't plan a thing. The trip was a surprise from my grandparents and we had a blast. They only had Disneyland, not California Adventure at the time. Four years ago, I took our 2 oldest daughters for the 50th anniversary. I just picked a date (which happened to be the week the celebration started) and we just "went with the flow". I am not normally a "stick to the schedule" type person, although I am punctual. Our next family trip (all 6 of us) things will have to be a little planned, since there are more of us, and the twins will need naps. On the whole though, vacation is vacation and if we don't make it to the parks before 10 am, that's fine. I want it to be a trip to relax and enjoy, not one where I'm totally stressed out because we aren't on schedule. But that's me.

 

[LuLusApple]

I completely organize the schedule
DGD1 completely destroys the schedule
so we end up with a plan....
we get there early early. We get FPs for everything.
We make PSs for important meals that we know cannot be had easily without a long wait. Like BB, carnation cafe and the like.
If we want to see fireworks we will do it when we get F! PSs otherwise it's not going to happen.
Everything else is at the mercy of DGD1 whether we see Aladdin, animation academy or any other "shows" parades. It's at the seat of our pants, which means we don't get a ton done some days but I guess that's ok
so ya the plan is loose.
now budgeting, nobody messes with that or else!

 

[JustAKid]

Like another DISer said, I now understand the difference between a PLAN and a SCHEDULE. I don't see how a plan can HURT, especially if DH doesn't know about it, I just steer us in that direction. I'll seem ever wise and knowing (furthering my status as Queen of Everything ), and he'll think he's going with the flow. Ahhhh, once again, DISers, you have saved the day.

 

[wvnative]

I am an anal over planner by nature and a morning person. My travel companion, my teenage daughter, prefers to fly by the seat of her pants and is a night owl so we compromise. haha

I plan all the important stuff. When we go, how we get there, where we stay, how we get home and how much we can spend. We make one or two PS if there is a place where we really want to dine. We always decide beforehand which day we will do EE/MM and we always bring some food and water from home.

From that point on it's mostly spontaneous. We take turns deciding the day's first ride and just kind of go from there. We eat/snack when we feel the need and park hop as we see fit. We aren't really Fantasmic!, parade or fireworks people so we generally skip those. If we opt to watch a show, we simply check the calendar I grab each morning and go from there. We do make a valiant attempt to watch the ELP when we're there and it's running though. I love the ELP! We also utilize FP to our advantage. There are several rides she loves that I can't or won't do so I usually go get the next set of FP's while she's doing one of those.

We discuss what time we'll get up the next morning before bed each night. That's as close to a schedule as we get. lol