What screwed up your touring plan?

[Max Rebo]

For all the discussion I see on this board about touring plan strategy, I haven't seen a lot of discussion about the things that have screwed up touring plans. I'm talking about pitfalls, both predictable and unforeseen, that have hampered the best laid plans of WDW visitors.

I thought such a discussion might be both educational and fun.

Here's my two:

Issue within my control:
— Failure to develop, and communicate, adequate souvenir policy. We occasionally spent too much time on quests to find the perfect souvenir for DS4. This was made worse by the fact that DD7 would easily find things she liked, and were priced well, leading to a dire need on the part of DS4 to have a new toy as well. On one occasion, at AK, we wandered aimlessly for about a half-hour from DinoLand, to Discovery Island, to Asia, and back to DinoLand in an effort to pacify the lad. We should have done a better job letting our kids know when they could buy souvenirs, and how much we would spend.

Issue outside of my control:
— FP machines out of commission. On our MK day, we planned to do the "Ride one, FP the other" maneuver at Splash Mtn/BTMR. This plan was thwarted however, when we discovered that BTMR's FP machine was down for refurbishment, while the FP machines at Splash were simply on the fritz. Ended up waiting in the standby line for both. Similar scenario happened at PotC/Jungle Cruise when we discovered JC's FP machine to be under refurbishment.

 

[ADP]

Here's one I encounter often:

Getting up early enough to start our day! - Before our trip I often think getting out of bed at WDW will be easy; however, I've found that when the wake-up call comes It's tough to roll out of bed to get started. It gets worse as our trip progresses. We have a seven year old and that's a consideration for early mornings as well.

When we get a late start in the morning it throws our whole days touring plan completely off. If we get to the park at 9:45 or 10:00AM We've already missed a huge opportunity for smaller ride and attraction wait times.

 

[ckay87]

Evening EMHs. First let me say that I love them! They are especially great with summer touring (enjoy the parks longer without the summer sun.) But with late June hours to begin with, evening EMHs can keep you in a park til 1am, in bed at 2 if you're lucky! Once you get into that sleep pattern, it's difficult to dig out. We did a bunch of late, late nights in the park. Had a blast, but there was not going to be any early mornings after that! Had trouble making our 10 am breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

For us, it worked out great. But we definitely did not stick to our original plans and it definitely wasn't the way to go for a first timer!

 

[ckay87]

Disney Quest / Downtown Disney - never the "quick trip" we expect it to be. From now on, we just call that a day!

 

[Jalva22]

Within my control: It's almost impossible for me to get my family to the park before opening. We'll get there about 9:20 or 9:30, but that's already a big difference-maker in lines at Soarin and EE.

Outside my control: Coming to the realization that WDW is much more than attractions. Translate that into, yes we could have gotten to Test Track or Buzz or whatever sooner than we did, but we ran into something else along the way that we didn't want to miss seeing. Those Disney magic things like Captain Jack's performance outside PofC.

I'm a true believer in the touring plans' ability to maximize my attraction opportunities in the summer. But they also were creating a hurried mindset in me and my group that was robbing us of the chance to slow down and see so many of the things that make the World magical.

 

[hollieplus2]

Within my control: Getting up early and to the parks when they open. We are not morning people, then we feel like we missed something and we do commando disney and get tired by lunch and have no energy for the rest of the day.

Out of my control: Brazil. The whole freaken country must have been there last July. We couldn't move, sit or walk anywhere without seeing a group of 50 color coordinated people moving in one big group. They went left, we went right and found a new group, different color. They would surround all the CS tables and charge them everytime someone got up. We couldn't eat, we couldn't walk and back at POP we couldn't swim or sleep. I really hope Brazil isn't there in October.

 

[missypie]

I know this is TMI, but at some point every day, DH camps out in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. Drives us crazy on vacation....even more so at Disney when we're trying to get places quickly. So yes, I travel with three kids and it is DADDY's bathroom schedule that messes us up!

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Inside my control:
Leaving the plan for MGM in our room at AKL! Oops! Luckily, I had read it over and over enough to remember basically everything we really wanted to do. It helped that MGM is a smaller park, too.

Outside of my control:
-FP machines out of comission. Usually, though, CM's will be nearby handing out FPs.
-Splash Mountain halting for 40 minutes while we were on the ride because the three logs in front of us decided to switch logs mid-way through the ride. The riders (Brazilian teenagers) pretended they didn't understand the announcements to stay seated. When CM finally arrived to escort them off the ride, they suddenly became fluent in English. Getting them all off the logs and out of the ride took a good 30 minutes because of where we happened to be stopped.

But other than that, I've found that most unexpected stops don't cut into our plans too much. Like a previous poster said, Disney is more than just rides and we now pad our plans with time for unexpected things, like watching street performers or browsing in a shop.

 

[Mkrop]

In our control: getting out the door and trying to get to the park at rope drop, we were always 10 minutes late!

Out of our control: Buses! Our bus for AK took forever and we not only missed rope drop but most of EMH am. Also Fastpasses being gone by noon for KS in AK!

 

[rosiep]

I'm a true believer in the touring plans' ability to maximize my attraction opportunities in the summer. But they also were creating a hurried mindset in me and my group that was robbing us of the chance to slow down and see so many of the things that make the World magical.

I agree that a hurried mindset can ruin so much of what Disney has to offer. I like being prepared, but going with the flow makes all the difference in how much we enjoy the experience. so while I know everyone swears that getting to the parks early is a must....for us it's just the opposite: sleeping in on vacation is magical, watching everyone ( everything) while we're on a long line : Magical too!

 

[zippy doo dah]

Out of my control: Brazil. The whole freaken country must have been there last July. We couldn't move, sit or walk anywhere without seeing a group of 50 color coordinated people moving in one big group. They went left, we went right and found a new group, different color. They would surround all the CS tables and charge them everytime someone got up. We couldn't eat, we couldn't walk and back at POP we couldn't swim or sleep. I really hope Brazil isn't there in October.

OMG!!!!!! That is the exact same thing my DH and I and my friends who were there say. We were there in July last summer and I swear there was a national holiday and the whole country had off and took a vacation to WDW. They are the reason why I will never go back to ASMusic in July and why my kids couldn't go swimming in the pool at night after a couple of unsupervised group members were found being "intimate" with each other in the pool and hotel security did nothing except tell them to stop. They weren't ejected from the pool or anything, they just went to another spot in the pool.

We are returning in Nov. and I pray that there will be none of those darned tour groups will be there.

 

[helloirishkitty]

What always screws me up is a lack of people wanting to stick to the plan. Mind you, I've only gone with adults (well, not when I was a kid but in the past 2 years or so), and everyone wanders away from the original plan.

"I don't want to"
"I have to pee" (understandable.. heh)
"This plan made more sense before we got here"
"I'm thirsty"
"I'm hungry"
"But Mickey is over there..."

It's all understandable, and usually doesn't matter, but we all sat down and made time to make the plan. When we get home, it's always "We planned to see this and didn't get to." Well... It just makes me giggle

 

[Stargazer]

I couldn't get ANYONE in my family to wake up and get there by rope drop. That definitely required some tweaking to the "plan."

Also, until the 3rd day, DH couldn't understand the zig-zag pattern to the touring plan. He wanted to stay put in one spot and do everything, then move on to the next section. However, by the 4th day, he was running ahead to get FPs.

Beyond our control - same answer as OP. We too had the same problems with the FP machines at BTMR, Splash, and Jungle Cruise. Luckily, the stand-by lines for BTMR was only 20 min during the rain and the CM honored our FP from the day before for Splash because the ride had been shut down due to lightning.

 

[DisneyDotty]

I know this is TMI, but at some point every day, DH camps out in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. Drives us crazy on vacation....even more so at Disney when we're trying to get places quickly. So yes, I travel with three kids and it is DADDY's bathroom schedule that messes us up!

Wait--that's YOUR husband? Or does MY husband have another family he's not telling me about?!

This is a true story that totally interfered with the plan:
Spring Break many years ago we went to WDW with my BIL. Good guy, but goodness--serious bathroom issues. Anyway, we make plans to meet at Hoop De Doo for dinner--I have the tickets. We all arrive but BIL--we're waiting, waiting, waiting. No BIL. Finally I send everyone in and wait outside with BIL's ticket. Shows up well over an hour late. Concerned and peeved, I inquire as to where the heck he's been. Well, uh, erm, it was hot, and the bathroom was so cool, and when he sat down on the toilet, HE FELL ASLEEP!
Traveling with BIL--serious touring plan interrupter!

 

[Kcross3625]

As many posters have said: getting to the parks early enough. Since we drive over from our home 1.5 hours away, it seems we are never there before 9:30am. However, I noticed that we still have small wait times even then. But don't wait until 11am to roll into the park. Serious wait times!

The other tour-stopper happened Friday when I rode Kali River Rapids with the tour in my back pocket. It was so wet I couldn't read it. Had to wing it the rest of the day. Note to self, give DH the "plan" before riding KRR. (He does not ride)

Kim

 

[dawnball]

A 3 year old.

We did a lot of "Let's ride <ride>" Everyone agrees to ride the ride, we get there, 3 year old says "I don't like *that*" when she sees it. or "I won't ride *that*". There are about 6 rides in MK that she would actually ride on. We have to leave shows early. We leave queues when we're halfway to the ride, etc.

We had to do a lot of building up to rides. Ride something nearby, ride something with a view of the ride (or sit and watch the ride), get close to the ride, get in line for the ride, get in line again, etc.

I really should have planned better for that.

 

[ldo]

we are not early risers--so we struggle to get there even by 9 or 9:30. so, we can't even go to MK on EMH AM day (even though we are onsite and could use it)--which really limits things! And kids are too small to use EMH evenings for most places, we do well to make it until 9 PM.

 

[SnwflkCts]

All those DARN OTHER TOURISTS spoil my plans

I should be the only one allowed in the parks ... after all I paid <insert astronomical $$ amount> and it is MY VACATION!!!

Just teasing ... the bathroom issues were rather funny. I only set out to make it to my dinner ADR on time so anything beyond that (like riding Peter Pan ... or HM) is a BONUS!!! but I can see how some of these issues really can throw a wrench in the whole plan!!

Of course if I had DisneyDottie's BIL, I wouldn't even make my dinner ADR!!!

 

[DumboDash2006]

1) Flight issues. We had planned four full days at WDW plus two half days (day of arrival, day of departure). For arrival day our flight was supposed to land in Orlando at 9:30 am. Well flight was cancelled due to engine problems and the soonest they could get us to Orlando was around 10:30. PM! And due to a thunder storm in Atlanta where we had to connect (also not planned), we didn't get there until 11:30. So not only did we miss out on that half day, we missed out on most of the next morning as we didn't get checked in and asleep until about 1am and we had two little ones.

2) Other people in our group (aka my mom and sister) are not morning people. Despite promises of being up and out early for park opening each day, they only made it one day. The other days I was stupid and dd and I waited for them (though we finally gave up one day). Looking back, that was a big mistake on my part.

Next time dd and I will go alone (or with dh if he can be convinced). If we do go with others, we will NOT be waiting around for their lazy behinds!

 

[Marilou]

This was something that I totally dropped the ball on.
Every day in the parks I practically drowned my kiddos all day long. Every few minutes I was pouring water in and on them (sport water bottles) but the day we went to Typhoon Lagoon.....well, there was so much water all around us that I guess it just completely slipped my mind. BIG MISTAKE! My son was sooo sick that night and was almost toast the next day too. We took it easy and thankfully it was our last touring day of the vacation and we were returning back to a park we had already done most of. This is a mistake I will NEVER make again.