What now???

[schany]

We are leaving for Disney in a week and I do not know what to do next. I seem to be wandering around my house, mumbling and not getting anything done. I have confirmed my ADRs and made a list to pack from, but other than that--
I have not made an itinerary for the parks. I have a subscription to travelplans, but I am kind of overwhelmed.

We have been to WDW before, but this time, our kids are older.

Any suggestions as to what to do next????

 

[NemoMOm]

I think you are doing fine, in fact you may want to relax. Sounds like you are on the riht track.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Definitely sounds like you have all your i's dotted and t's crossed! I'm always paranoid I am forgetting something, no matter how much I overplan. We leave our individual day plans up in the air-the only thing we do know is what park we will NOT be doing and we base that on which park has the EMH. I found if I planned everything out, nobody relaxed and it made for a crazy vacation. If it makes you feel any better, I am pretty useless the week before Disney too. That is why I normally set out the suitcases weeks ahead of time-something about Disney being imminent that makes my brain turn to mush!

 

[trennr]

I made a nice little spread sheet that shows what hour each park is open for each day of our trip.

Then added which parks had Extra Magic Hours (since I'm an offsiter I want to avoid those parks.)

Then I color coded those Extra Magic Hours for AM or PM.

Then I noted from one of those sites that does a crowd level calendar which days would be best/worst for each park.

Also made notes about Attraction closings:
(MK) Haunted Mansion Closed from June 6-30
(EP) Spaceship Earth Closed June 22-23 (so we just won't go to Epcot those days)

This is a time consuming effort and should fill up a several hours, but should help you plan out what is the best day to do which park...and when to do nothing at all.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I like to make a list of every single thing that has to be done before we leave and then check it off as I do it. EVERYTHING goes on the list. Shopping, bank trips, filling the cooler packing, boarding the dog or whatever. I do have a rough spread sheet that list where we need to be each day for ADR's and any or Extra Magic hours. I include ADR #'s with those. List all the paperwork you need as well. I am so excited those last few days that I NEED that list to get me through.

MsSandra

 

[daisyduck123]

Just pack. I never make a park itinerary. If fact, we never decide until the evening before about which park we will hit the next morning. We just go with the flow.

Have a great trip!!

 

[schany]

I am curious . . . how many people out there just "go with the flow" and do not make itineraries?

How many people plan everything out? We have ADRs for three nights, but I thought we could just travel to those parks when we need to get there . . .

What do you all think about that?

 

[jenrein]

I am curious . . . how many people out there just "go with the flow" and do not make itineraries?

How many people plan everything out? We have ADRs for three nights, but I thought we could just travel to those parks when we need to get there . . .

What do you all think about that?

Personally I am a little OCD. I planned what park what day based on parades and ADRs. I made a laminated card with the park hours, parade times, character greeting times and places and the dinner reservations # on them. We had one for each park each day. We also marked on the maps what rides we wanted to do in order of importance knowing we would probably not get to all of them.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We make ADR for TS dinner each night. I'd like to go with the flow on that one, but anymore it seems you get shut out of all the good places to eat unless you are into CS. As far as the parks, we really don't get crazy, we just know that we won't go to the parks that have EMH that day.

 

[schany]

I have read conflicting reports--I would like to ask another question. If you are staying at a Disney owned resort and have access to EMH, would you take advantage of that, or stay away?

 

[southcarolina4]

take full advantage of it...

EMH are great..you basically walk right on every ride or the 2 times i have been thats what we did...very little wait for anything.WHY??? would you not use it?An early morning one that is only an hour may not be worth it but an PM EMH at MK or AK ??/that is great!!!! You basically walk onto any ride you want.We rode Everest like 5 times in 45 min...maybe we have been lucky..but we schedule our days to make sure we catch the EMH especially the night ones


we make an basic itinerary becuse if you are eating breakfast at POLYNESIAN..you might wanna plan to go to MK or Epcot since the monorail is right there...we "go with the flow" the last day we are there before we leave and half of one other day...(one morning usually)instead of going to the parks we might go to Downtown Disney to eat lunch or maybe just relax at the resort.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We stay away from the park that has EMH during the REGULAR park hours. Once EMH starts, we wouldn't hesitate to go to that park, cause then the off-property guests have cleared out.

 

[daisyduck123]

I am curious . . . how many people out there just "go with the flow" and do not make itineraries?

How many people plan everything out? We have ADRs for three nights, but I thought we could just travel to those parks when we need to get there . . .

What do you all think about that?

I make a table service ADR every night, but that's it for my planning.

We decide each evening as to what park we will hit the next day.

 

[TheDizMom]

Laundry . That way you don't come home to more then your trip clothes. Clean your house. I hate to come home to a messy one.

My best advice! Put on some Disney music and dance around the room , and watch some good Disney movies . It totally gets me psyched for our trip and rarin' to go .

 

[trennr]

I am curious . . . how many people out there just "go with the flow" and do not make itineraries?

How many people plan everything out? We have ADRs for three nights, but I thought we could just travel to those parks when we need to get there . . .

What do you all think about that?

My previous post may seem like I plan every detail on my spreadsheet...but that's not the case...my spreadsheet is a tool I use to help us determine (when we are down there) which park would be the best to go to on a given day.

Since we don't have Hoppers we are pretty much commited to the park we chose...so it's nice to have all the info in one convenient location to make that choice.

The only thing I have scheduled is we are seeing LaNouba the day after we travel...so I figure we would do DTD eat at Rain Forest Cafe...then go see the show. And we've pretty much decided to take it easy and do Animal Kingdom on day 2. (start out with a slow paced park)

 

[TheDizMom]

We are planners to a point. We have the week planned in terms of which park we are going to and plan our ADR's and CS meals according to that. We stick to it pretty religiously, but we don't plan what we do once we get there. I just find that when you are traveling with kids it is easier to have a plan for minimal stress levels. I also have kids who like to know what is going to happen every day so this makes it easier for them. A lot of the time my kids have our planned itinerary memorized by the time we get there, and it adds to the excitement for them. They also know that we will always hit MK first. It is what works for us. We aren't real fly by the seat of your pants kind of people.

 

[schany]

My previous post may seem like I plan every detail on my spreadsheet...but that's not the case...my spreadsheet is a tool I use to help us determine (when we are down there) which park would be the best to go to on a given day.

Since we don't have Hoppers we are pretty much commited to the park we chose...so it's nice to have all the info in one convenient location to make that choice.

The only thing I have scheduled is we are seeing LaNouba the day after we travel...so I figure we would do DTD eat at Rain Forest Cafe...then go see the show. And we've pretty much decided to take it easy and do Animal Kingdom on day 2. (start out with a slow paced park)

I don't think it hurts to know where you are headed (and where you want to avoid!).
I think my stress comes from the idea that I want this to be a great vacation...nothing like putting a little pressure on myself. We have been to WDW before, twice actually, but when we were there EMH was called E Ride Nights. The parks were not crowded AT ALL--in fact, I believe I rode Buzz Lightyear close to 100 times (ok, i know I am exaggerating) that trip as my DS was a huge BL fan

I just want to make sure I am doing this so that all the DC and the DH can enjoy this trip--we all are looking forward to it.