trepidation

[dondiego]

In preparing for our upcoming trip in June I've been trying to garner as many "tips" as I can to make this an enjoyable and "successful" trip. The more I read the more wary I become. The great lengths that one must go to in order to secure a good view of the fireworks or fantasmic or to secure a timely place in line for a ride or attraction seem daunting. We live outside a very small town and even going into town and waiting in our local "traffic" for more than five minutes can cause distress for some members of the family. I am beginning to wonder if we will feel like poor Alice and only wish we could escape the madness and go home. I am so hoping that will not be the case.

 

[Judy from Boise]

In all of my trips to DL, I have yet to watch the fireworks from the perfect spot on Main st, or waited more than 15 minutes for Fantasmic. If you are willing to give up on "perfect" for "good enough", you will be fine. Watch the fireworks from IASW......catch the second showing of Fantasmic from the steps close to the "Pirates" bridge......even watch the parade from the "third row" instead of the curb.....just enjoy the experience without sweating the ideal.

 

[Dobie]

What Judy from Boise said. . .

Plus, just get there when it opens. That's it. . .You can ride attractions to your hearts content, with very little waiting, before noon.

 

[ktulu]

My wife and I never planned much of our trips to DL or WDW (esp DL), we just winged it and we always had a good time. Remember, you are on vacation and there for a good time. You will most likely miss something, but overall I doubt it will spoil your trip! Unless you get to the park and did not know that POTC was down, well, then I could understand.

darren
(yes, I speak from exp. on being @ DL and not being able to ride POTC, but it didn't ruin our trip )

 

[Torjohnson]

We never have a plan, and frankly don"t see everything when we are there...we"ve all seen fantasmic...We won"t sit for two hours to see it...always find an ok place to see the parades...sat for thirty minutes to see block party bash, and it was fun...but when you set it up to be the be all and end all of your trip I believe you are setting yourself up for a ridiculous downfall. You will have fun. That is the most important part

 

[spazzyjazzy]

Go in there without a plan. In my opinion going in with a plan would stress me out. Wing the whole day. There is no way to tell if it is going to be busy everyday is different. I try to stay away from Main St during the fireworks and sometimes the people that have been waiting can get kinda crazy on you if you get in there way. It is almost territorial. I watch the fireworks from wherever I find room. I see Tink fly down and that is mainly what I am interested in. Watch the rest of the fireworks in the sky and move on to whatever ride that is closest to where I am standing. For Fantasmic, if we cant find a spot the first try we go get on rides and wait for the second showing and stay clear away from Adventureland. It get's crazy in there! I don't like to sit just for the reason that my legs fall asleep and I hate it when they fall asleep. No plans for me. If a ride is too long of a wait I grab a fast pass and then move on. The ride isn't going anywhere. I can always try again. Hope any of this helps.

 

[TSRE]

We do plan our trips out in a pretty detailed way, but we know when to chuck the plan and go with the flow, and I think that is key to having a good time for us. Our theory is, if we have a plan we can always choose not to follow it, but we can also choose to follow it and get the benefits of it. Plus, our plan always includes LARGE amounts of free time (like most of the day after noon). The reason we plan so much is that we had one trip where we were at DL & CA for 5 days, and when we got home realized we hadn't seen half of our favorite stuff and had spent a lot of time wondering what we should do next. The next trip we planned a few days, and those days were honestly our most fun, and most relaxing. That may explain why some people like us plan so much, but you know what is right for your family & if you are sensitive to that, you will have a great time.

Anyway, I would say not to get overwhelmed by the info - file away what might be useful and let the rest go, and have fun!

 

[SunshineOR]

Hey, have fun in your own way! If your way is spontaneous, be spontaneous.
We love the research, planning, making itineraries, and our family loves to sit and chill for an hour to have our "perfect" seats on the waterfront for Fantasmic. However, there are also times we don't feel like holding a spot and we still enjoy parades from a back row. And there are times we're following our itinerary to the next attraction, but just have to let the schedule go because the wait is short for Matterhorn or Soarin!

I admit to overthinking it all before we go and freaking out about lines, waits and crowds. It's never as bad as I feared when we get there and we always have a wonderful time. And we're from a county with one stop light, so I hear you on not being used to waiting for traffic!