which is a better idea?

[redfraggle]

book all my PS then use them as a guide to decide which parks to do what days. . or the other way around???

 

[dina7]

The other way around. Decide on what pks. you'll be doing on which days especially since MK is more crowded on Sat. I wouldn't eat a PS meal there on a Sat.I would just stay away from MK on Sat. That's the way we plan anyway. Decide what you will be doing on each day and go from there. Enjoy!

 

[pennyplanner]

I agree about planning parks first. I look more at which parks have Early Magic Hour or which are most crowded on particular days. THEN I plan out where I will be and which restaurants I want to dine at!

Planning is so much fun!!!

--penny

 

[redfraggle]

to be totally honest. . i'm not really having all that much fun planning. . i just posted on the theme park forum. . i'm really really NOT enjoying this at all. .i've tried everything. . guidebooks. . tour guide mike. . . sigh. . .

 

[WDWMomof3]

I'm sorry to hear you aren't enjoying the planning. I understand that it can be overwhelming at first. The people here at the DIS forums are very helpful and knowledgeable so feel free to ask questions and then make decisions based on what you think your family will like. Believe me, as long as you know the basics, if you read these forums you will be surprised how things will come together and all work out once you get there, even if you don't follow all the plans you made beforehand. In fact, most people usually do adjust their plans once there so don't feel "locked into" a plan if you change your mind once there. As far as Chef Mickeys, I agree with the previous poster. CM's is very busy and will still be busy by the time you arrive there so I would go for it. It's a fun way to start a trip. We love it!

 

[mommystieg]

Don't get discouraged--we are here to help. We typically plan our days around EMH but I think I saw where you posted on another thread that you would be taking advantage of this perk. Use the EMH schedule to pick your park. We usually schedule 1 sit down meal per day. We also only really eat breakfast or lunch and we usually schedule our lunches at the end of the lunch period. Don't forget about the resort restaurants, especially on your MK days. It is just a quick monorail ride there and it is a great opportunity to explore some of the other Disney resorts.
Avoid MK on Saturdays--Saturdays and Sundays are good days for Epcot. You can always visit the EMH park in the morning, maybe have a late breakfast/early lunch then hop over to another park for the evening. I have a little spreadsheet I use to plan my trips and I will be happy to send it to you--just let me know.

 

[WDWMomof3]

Silly me didn't remember to respond to your original question. As others have said I would plan which park you are going to be in (and I agree avoid Saturday at the MK) and then plan your dining schedule around that.

 

[Kaycee]

Originally posted by redfraggle
to be totally honest. . i'm not really having all that much fun planning. . i just posted on the theme park forum. . i'm really really NOT enjoying this at all. .i've tried everything. . guidebooks. . tour guide mike. . . sigh. . .

I'm sorry you aren't enjoying your planning. Please keep in mind that most of the people who post often on these boards find almost as much pleasure in the planning process as they do in the trips themselves. It's something we do to pass the time between trips and to make us feel like we're "experiencing" WDW even when we're not there. But that doesn't mean you have to be like that to have a magical WDW vacation!! There are lots and lots of people who go to WDW with minimal planning, and they have a fantastic time. We're all different - some of us want to scrutinize every detail beforehand and enjoy that, others find planning miserable and have a lot more fun just being spontaneous (my DH is one of those, but he absolutely has a blast at WDW!)

If you're hating the planning process, maybe you should just relax and go with the flow a bit more. You probably want at least a general idea of the highlights you want to see, and maybe a couple of PS's if dining at a nice sit-down restaurant appeals to you. But other than that, you can just show up, go where you feel like when you feel like it, grab a bite to eat at a counter service when you get hungry, then leave the parks when you're tired. You'll be at WDW, that's what really matters.

Now, if you're still interested in doing a little planning, I'll address your original question. We decide which park to go to which day, based on EMH and how busy the parks are those days (avoiding MK on Saturday and the water parks on weekends, for example) then make any PS's based on our schedule. We like character breakfasts, so I usually make a couple of PS's for those, and we like having lunch at Sci Fi on our MGM day (we love the theming there!) We're having a non-park day this trip, and I'm making a PS for that day for dinner at 'Ohana. Other than that we'll be doing mostly counter service and breakfast in our room (Pop Tarts and granola bars). That way, we've got a couple of special meals lined up but our schedule is still flexible enough that we can change things if we want to.

 

[AppleSister1]

She's absolutely right! You really don't have to plan that much...we just think it's fun! And I know my family is pretty flexible once we get there

All you REALLY need to plan is any hard-to-get meal. I make a PS for a character breakfast, and usually a couple of dinners we have our hearts set on. The rest is a go-with-the-flow deal.

But to answer your question, we also plan around EMH. Small children in the party, so we get up super early, do the EMH park, and we're outta there by the time it's getting crowded.

You'll have so much fun once you're there!

 

[DeDixie]

I set up a chart with each day down the side and the following cat. across the top: Breakfast, AM, Lunch, PM, Dinner, Evening,

then I write the park that has early entry in for each cooresponding AM -- then I change parks for the evening -- afternoons we do pools, nap, sometimes shopping. Then I go back a plan the meals.