To Plan or Not To Plan?

[Janemall]

We'll be sepending 5 days in Disneyland (DH, DD4). This will be my daughter's first trip, but my husband and I are vets.

Extended family will be joining us off and on for the days in the park. Most likely they will have 3 and 4 day passes.

Usually I over plan right down to the rides, and where we will eat. Since we have 5 days should I just go with the flow?

Is there any planning that's absolutely necessary?

I'm hoping to do breakfast with Minnie and also BBB.

I'm not sure how long my DD will last in the park and if naps/breaks will be required. I'm also still hoping she'll reach 40" before we leave!

 

[Indiana Scott]

Except for reservations to the more popular restaurants, we don't plan any thing at all during our 5 day trips. For us, having to be places at certain times would just take away from the fun of leisurely roaming and taking the park in.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I would suggest having a general plan to be sure you hit the high points and then go with the flow for the rest. For instance, have a list of the top 5-10 rides or attractions your family wants to do during your stay so that you make sure to remember your priorities, but don't plan too far out when to do what. Maybe start each morning out with an idea of which attraction you want to hit first. Since you know Minnie's breakfast and BBB are important to you, make reservations for those. If your daughter does reach 40" before you leave, I would try to hit the 40" rides in the morning times since they are strict about height enforcement and we tend to "shrink" throughout the day.

 

[calilou]

I would plan blocks of times on most days to coordinate with certain reservations you know want to make and particular rides/experiences you want to do, but leaving some blocks of time open for spur of the moment desires. When my daughters were younger and we weren't passholders so didn't go as often, this was how I would plan ... even for our 3-4 day trips. I would "theme" our days (actually half days because I tended to break them up into two to accommodate naps) to help organize them as far as which park we'd be in and what activities we knew we wanted to do, but then go with the flow and where the magic would take us from there. This also helped with packing because we've always coordinated our outfits with each other and the activities we're doing.

 

[Eosphotog]

I would plan the first couple of days to make sure you hit all of the must-do activities and also plan around crowds, taking advantage of EMH, etc. Then the rest of the days have set anchor points (meals, etc.) and go with the flow. There are too many variables to have a precise plan - so use it as a guideline and "go with the flow".

 

[sherilaine]

I would never want to show up without any planning other than a few places we want to eat. Now maybe that depends on how often you visit . We are good if we get there once a year - so for us the time is very valuable and it's very expensive since it's fly to another country type trip.

Before we leave we pretty much have planned what days we will go to the park, which park we will start at, what our priority rides/shows will be before we show up, which rides we want to run and get FPs at, where we are going to eat if it will require reservations, otherwise we'd wing it.

This trip we will have 5 full days in the parks and 2 full days off. Our last two trips we had APs, which allowed for us to take a much more relaxed approach as we were in the parks 8 or 9 days if we wanted, however that was almost a mixed blessing because we really didn't concentrate our park time to take full advantage, some days we'd go for a few hours and that would be it. It was great and relaxed but it wasn't efficient. For this trip, only having 5 day PHs I want to be efficient and really use that time well. For someone else 5 days might seem like an eternity but I think you'd be surprised how fast that time can go by and get eaten up especially with increased crowds.

 

[Disney_Alli]

I am physically incapable of doing anything without a plan. We usually start each day with a touring plan and an ADR or two and work from there. Maybe we follow the plan all day, maybe we follow it for an hour.

If your families are newbies too I would DEFINITELY have a plan for those days otherwise SO much time is spent figuring out what you're doing next what everyone wants to ride ect. I took DH's family to WDW this summer for our wedding and despite numerous requests not one of them had so much as told me one thing they wanted to do. Having my Touring Plan on my phone meant that when we stepped off each ride and I heard a chorus of "what next"s I always had an answer. It's the only thing that saved my sanity as the only pro in the group of 7 (and that was just adults!)

 

[agamble]

I would have a morning plan. We usually know which park we're starting at and what area of the park we're heading to first. I don't plan the whole day, but I also like to know which shows I plan to hit on which day.

With a 5 y/o I definitely suggest starting in Fantasyland. Get to the parks at least 30 minutes before opening and be one of the first in Fantasyland. This allows you time to get on all of the rides in Fantasyland before the crowds hit.

Also, just want to say we love breakfast with Minnie.

 

[chickapin parterre]

what month and days are you visiting and the age of your child and what is the make-up of extended familyu and when does extended family arrive to join you?

I am for sure a morning planner in the turn left, turn right, gather FP methodology.

 

[chickapin parterre]

I have a hard time reading in the parenthesizes. Daughter first visit....will be a shocking adventure within in it self....not much planning you can do iwth FP and the best spontaneity you will ever experience in the park will be with a young child....litke TOOn town is the best, dumbo goes round and round round and just how great of shape is you lumbar on pushing that Autopia pedal. With you daugher go with the flow, with the family have a plan

 

[SuperRob]

Is there any planning that's absolutely necessary?

Plan anything you would regret missing. There's very little you MUST plan for at Disneyland, but I just don't take chances. I'll make reservations for the dinners I want, or any specific experiences. But Disneyland isn't hard to just "go with the flow" with. Just like the others are saying, get there early, use Fastpass judiciously, and you should be fine.

 

[luulu1999]

The only thing I plan is what park to start in and where we are eating so I can make reservations. I do have a list of things I would like to do but not ever what days and all that

 

[Winnowill]

I plan my mornings. Usually the plan extends into afternoon and evening, but I've usually abandoned it by then, except for knowing whether we were doing parade/fireworks, F!, or WOC and knowing where we had to be and when for those.

 

[Janemall]

I am physically incapable of doing anything without a plan

This is soooo me! Which is why I'm torn!


If your families are newbies too I would DEFINITELY have a plan for those days otherwise SO much time is spent figuring out what you're doing next what everyone wants to ride ect. I took DH's family to WDW this summer for our wedding and despite numerous requests not one of them had so much as told me one thing they wanted to do. Having my Touring Plan on my phone meant that when we stepped off each ride and I heard a chorus of "what next"s I always had an answer. It's the only thing that saved my sanity as the only pro in the group of 7 (and that was just adults!)

With all of us together, it will be a group of 14. We attempted a trip together 4 years ago when I was pregnant with my parents and my inlaws. There was a lot of "what do we do next". No one wanted to plan except me, and no one could decide what they wanted to do. That's why this trip I think we'll be branching off from each other a lot more and just doing our own thing. I also added an extra 5th day at the end for just my DH, DD, and myself when everyone is gone (so I can make sure we didn't miss anything)

 

[Janemall]

what month and days are you visiting and the age of your child and what is the make-up of extended familyu and when does extended family arrive to join you?

I am for sure a morning planner in the turn left, turn right, gather FP methodology.

We will be in the area December 3-11th. We haven't decided which days will be in the park yet. We also plan on shopping our first day, visiting Universal, and touring hollywood sites/Queen Mary

 

[sharona]

Have a plan. Be flexible. Don't let others bog you down with lengthy debates on what's next. Say "We are going to IASW if you want to join us. If not, text me later and we'll meet up."

 

[ADLFAN]

My plans usually go right out the window! So what I plan is where to start in the morning and one place to eat for either lunch or dinner. While we're in line for a ride, I'll look at what's near and use the app to see which line is shortest and go from there. If something we want to do has a long line, we either suck it up and wait or try to hit it later, earlier in the day! I'm also the FP runner, so sometimes I'll send my group on something and meet them by the exit. Have fun planning! But don't be afraid to go with the flow if your plans are derailed!

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

I have NEVER actually planned out a day, normally we don't make reservations until getting there, unless its for something special like a birthday dinner. This year we only have 1 dinner reservation and everything else that happens just happens. I have never felt like it would be necessary to plan ahead we just do what we want when we want and if a line for a ride we want to go on is too long, we just pick a different ride. I feel like if I were to plan out my day nothing would happen the way I want it to anyways lol I do however know what rides I want to ride while I am there and if we just so happen to be near it and the line is short we go for it. But to be honest there aren't any rides I don't want to ride or rides that I purposefully skip, I like em all.

 

[Marssiful]

We generally plan what park we are starting in and that's about it. But we've been to the park many times and have an idea of what order we like to do things.