To what extent do you plan your trips?

[tazdev3225]

I am between 5 and 6 but chose 6. I haven't even gone on this year's trip and I'm already planning the big family trip in 3 years.

 

[Snow Shoe]

We're sorta some where between #3 & 4. When we come back from our annual Disney vacation we'll already know when we want to go back. So at the 11 month window, I'll call DVC and make our res's. By the time the 180 day window for ADR's rolls around, we know where and what times we want to eat at. I'll make the call and get what we want. Since it's now just the two of us, we don't make any more rope drops or EMH mornings and tour/ride at "our pace" not like when we had the kids with us. Now EMH nights we usually make most of them during our stay. Plans are now very flexible.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

I'd have to say level 6-

Here is an example of our home made schedule we set up for last years trip. We get them printed and laminated right before we leave.

those are the same date the wife and i went last year. even the MNSSHP dates LOL did you see someone on the 16th dressed up as this?

 

[cajunfan]

Wow! I really am a Disney Freak! I am most definitely a 6...my excel spreadsheets are not twelve tabs...only 3 tabs here!

I must admit, we plan like we are a "6", but if we are by ourselves or with people who have ben before, we are more like a 3 or 4. We are early risers, so even when we are 3 or 4, we are usually at rope drop, and then we are afternonn nappers!

I enjoy planning so much, that I usually do it for others!


Lynn

 

[Clotho]

We are solid 4's, almost to a T. BUT then when we get to the parks, we are willing to change plans on a whim. So if we are having fun where we are, we call and cancel our dinner ressies as soon as we know we may not want to leave what we're doing/where we are. We may decide to switch parks or park hop differently from the scheduled plan.

I print out a little spreadsheet...basically looks like a calendar with large boxes for each date, with just our dates of travel on it. I list the park hours on each date, and which is EMH with a *. Underneath I list any ressie locations, times, and the confirmation numbers. And I make a list of any "must do" or "hope to do" outside of the usual. For instance, I wouldn't bother listing "Kali River Rapids" as a must-do because we know we won't miss it and don't need a reminder. But we might list "Yak n Yeti" on there as something we really want to try to do because we have never been there before.

At the bottom of the sheet I list any relevant phone numbers (usually just dining line and tours line), for any questions or changes we may want to make while we're out and about.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

those are the same date the wife and i went last year. even the MNSSHP dates LOL did you see someone on the 16th dressed up as this?

Oddly enough I believe we did lol.

There were some great costumes at those parties...

 

[kaybird]

We fall into moderate, consider ADR's a great time saver, and have our reservations booked based on EMH and where we think we might be. Like one of the previous posters, we take a spread sheet that lists park hours, ADRs, and any other time we think might be important (Flower and garden, concerts, etc.) We don't get real shook if something new comes up, we go with the flow!

 

[eliza61]

I'd have to say level 6-

Here is an example of our home made schedule we set up for last years trip. We get them printed and laminated right before we leave.

I think I just blacked out. This would seriously break me out in hives. I don't think Patton used this much detail in planning the D-Day invasion.

So as you can tell, I'm a level 2 and love it. I just returned from a 5 night stay at the BCV's without any ADR's and it was a fabulous trip. The only information we took was park hours. We woke up every morning and called Disney dining to see what was available (yes we ate very well every day. sit down Breakfast and dinner) and then we said. Where should we go today? The only rule we really have is no park, 2 days in a row.
My kids are teenagers so it's a lot easier.
The first time I tried a schedule it was a disaster. My kids said they felt like they were in school because I was always bugging every one to be some where by a certain time. My youngest actually ask to go home and it was so funny because all the video footage of me, has me looking at piece of paper or a map. You never actually see my full face That was 7 years ago, we've never done another schedule.

 

[tazdev3225]

MNWDWMANIAC what days will you be there? Our countdown has the same amount of time on it.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

I think I just blacked out. This would seriously break me out in hives. I don't think Patton used this much detail in planning the D-Day invasion.

So as you can tell, I'm a level 2 and love it. I just returned from a 5 night stay at the BCV's without any ADR's and it was a fabulous trip. The only information we took was park hours. We woke up every morning and called Disney dining to see what was available (yes we ate very well every day. sit down Breakfast and dinner) and then we said. Where should we go today? The only rule we really have is no park, 2 days in a row.
My kids are teenagers so it's a lot easier.
The first time I tried a schedule it was a disaster. My kids said they felt like they were in school because I was always bugging every one to be some where by a certain time. My youngest actually ask to go home and it was so funny because all the video footage of me, has me looking at piece of paper or a map. You never actually see my full face That was 7 years ago, we've never done another schedule.

I should problem explain that we don't Stick to the schedule like some might think by the way the schedule looks. We just make sure we know when, where and how things are going down. That makes our trip that much more fun. It allows us to break dates and change plans if we decide we want too. Sometimes you might just want to do something different and knowing the hours with a simple glance works out nicely

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

MNWDWMANIAC what days will you be there? Our countdown has the same amount of time on it.

We will be arriving Friday the 10th of Oct... departing the following Saturday. We're driving so the countdown starts the 9th

 

[DisneyLaura]

I'd have to say level 6-

Here is an example of our home made schedule we set up for last years trip. We get them printed and laminated right before we leave.

I voted for myself as a 3 but this is awesome. LOVE IT. What do you do it on? Spreadsheet probably.

 

[tazdev3225]

We will be arriving Friday the 10th of Oct... departing the following Saturday. We're driving so the countdown starts the 9th

We're going to be there from the 9th to the 14th. Too long a drive and taking DGS out of school for the trip.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

I voted for myself as a 3 but this is awesome. LOVE IT. What do you do it on? Spreadsheet probably.

Just a simple spreadsheet seemed to work for us. It was just easier to check the hours and be able to update last minute changes as Disney posted them on the sheet. I printed and laminated a few copies with in an hour of leaving for the world, so they were as close as possible and all on one form.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

We're going to be there from the 9th to the 14th. Too long a drive and taking DGS out of school for the trip.

There are a few days the kids have off school during that time of year so there are lots of families that take vacations at that time of year from Minnesota. It works out and the schools encourage/support family vacations.

 

[wdwnewfnut]

I voted 6 but this is probably going to be our only trip without kids, the clock is ticking, and I want to get the most out of the trip. That being said, it could all change once we get there, nothing is set in stone, I just want to try and be prepared for everything and anything. It is sooo much fun planning!!

 

[kimluvswdw]

The only thing I plan is the resort, other than that we wing it.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I voted number 4, moderate scheduling. We don't take into consideration park crowd data, but we do plan around park hours and EMH. We also schedule our ADR 180 days in advance.

 

[JennyJ]

Thats true for us too. We talk about our Disney trips at least once a day all year long. Planing, talking, sharing.... We also have a great trunk that we store memories in from past trips. Sometimes we pull that box out and just talk about things as we pass things around the room. Planning IS half of the fun.

I hope you don't mind but I saved a copy of your itinerary that you posted to change it up to work for us! Immitation is the greatest form of flattery!

We also talk about it everyday...Makes the magic start months before the trip!

 

[disneynuts777]

Totally a level 6. My excel spreadsheet is so detailed oriented I just could not post it. I even save the old spreadsheets so that I can tweak them for our next trip. We are heading back in August and before I even made the ressie I had printed off the spreadsheet.