Why do people plan?

[Robertfam08]

Or another way to ask it might be, "Why do people like to get the most for their money?"

It's truly no skin off my back if there are less people competing for the same ADR's, fast passes, and experiences as me. I just don't want to hear the complaints later from friends who were forewarned and decided not to do a little planning anyway. You don't have to plan your days down to the minute to have a plan.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I plan because we have a large group and it gives us a blueprint to follow. This way we are at the major parks mostly together and some meals together. It does help us.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Today is a perfect example of why I plan. My party of 8 spent the day at Magic Kingdom. We waited in no line longer than 5-7 minutes. By using rope drop and FP+ to our advantage, we covered everything in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, with a little bit of Liberty Square and Main Street mixed in. We'll go back Thursday and cover the rest.

My family absolutely marveled as we moved from ride to ride. As the crowds reached crazy levels this afternoon, we headed out for a break at our resort. Then we went back to MK at 6:30 and used FP to ride Buzz twice back to back.

We wrapped up the day with an 8:30 dinner at Ohana, where we watched Wishes from a dead center window table. My family marveled at our "good luck" to be there when we could see the fireworks.

Creating "good luck" -- that's why I plan.

I've had the "good luck" of the dead center table too and there's only a handful of them for parties of 8. There are an awful lot of tables for larger parties in the back. So there really is luck to Ohana....

 

[brich330]

For a $5 carnival ride I won't plan at all. For a $50 dinner I still won't stress about planning. For a $500 water park I'm going to put some thought and planning into that. For a $5,000 trip I will plan that like a strategic military invasion on a foreign country. I'm not rich that's why I plan.

 

[mindeola]

I guess I don't 'have' to plan, but I don't know what the hell else I would do at work all day.

Yes. Just yes.

For a $5,000 trip I will plan that like a strategic military invasion on a foreign country. I'm not rich that's why I plan.

Indeed!

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Because I love Disney, and I'm paying a lot to be there.

 

[mikepizzo]

I am trying to say everyone is different. Not everyone needs to plan or wants to plan . I am sick of these posts that everyone that might be different to you, is somehow stupid or bad because they are not you. I plan but I am sick to death of people think everyone should plan. Or they have a moral obligation

To me it's not about someone being stupid for not planning.

It's almost heart breaking for me to hear someone walk up to the Be Our Guest host booth and say, "Hi, table for 5 please."

"Oh sorry, we are booked."

"Ok, no problem, how about tomorrow night."

"Sorry, unless you made a reservation 180 days ago you're not getting in."

Now this family is upset.

I get being upset that they can't get in, and I get being upset that they didn't know to make reservations, but I've seen that exact scenario happen and then the mom says, "That's stupid, how was I supposed to know that? What are we supposed to do now?"

Don't blame others that either your travel agent didn't advise you about this stuff, or (if you didn't use a travel agent) you didn't read the information Disney sent you.

And if on the chance you didn't get any documentation from Disney (trying to think of a way this could happen...staying off property and buying park tickets not directly from Disney), take this as a learning opportunity. You may not like that you have to book 180 days in advance for some places, but now at least you know for next time (if there is a next time).

And if it was a once in a lifetime event, I'd think people would at least want to read up on things to do...y'know...seeing as they won't ever go there again...you'd think they would want to make the most of their stay.

But I mean, hey, everyone vacations differently. Doesn't really effect how I enjoy my vacation.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I don't think there's anything wrong with people who don't plan in advance, my peeve is people who don't research at all, and think they can just get into CRT or something at the last minute.

 

[mistysue]

I was never a planner until I had a kid with enough food allergies that most locations have ZERO items he isn't allergic to. If we don't have an ADR or pack our food, he is going hungry. I plan a few meals at 180, then try to finalize our plans with fp+ to be sure we can get in. I don't have the patience for the fp+ availability interfering with meals.

 

[B4DlandOpened]

Maybe Disney should bring back the General Admission ticket to accommodate the unwashed-rabble-non-planners. They would be able to aimlessly wander around the parks, enjoy the atmosphere, amble through the shops, etc. Heck, even let them experience the joy of the queues and being immersed in the storyline, but be enjoined at some point from boarding unless they possess a sanctioned MagicBand.

Also, let them know well in advance that they will be relegated to Corn Dog, Popcorn and Dole Whip food options.

But at least, they wouldn't have to plan.

 

[karm12]

Many people get joy out of planning their vacation. There is nothing wrong with that.

We plan to some extent so we are not upset by not being able to do something. We will plan FP+ and some ADRs for things that we consider a "must do." We don't go to the parks every day or do a table service on site every day..so leave some time to be spontaneous or go with the flow.

 

[Srbright]

I am trying to say everyone is different. Not everyone needs to plan or wants to plan . I am sick of these posts that everyone that might be different to you, is somehow stupid or bad because they are not you. I plan but I am sick to death of people think everyone should plan. Or they have a moral obligation

Gives me something to do when I'm not at Disney World.

Stacy

 

[dreiwhit]

For us, its because my wife and I are both "planners." That's our personalities.

I learned it through working in the IT world. If you didn't plan, everything became a crisis and needed an immediate response. Over time, that causes high stress and wears people out. Planning allows you to make most events routine, so when crisis do occur, they are out of the norm and easily dealt with.

For Disney, even though we plan out our FPs, time to eat, when to arrive, what order to ride rides and when, we will still deviate from our plans if necessary. We look at our plans as a good framework, but we won't stick to them rigidly if it makes sense not to.

The way I look at it is that if want to plan, fine. If you don't want to plan, that's perfectly fine too.

 

[msk]

I plan because it is fun! It stretches out my vacation no matter where I'm going. I also love having an outline of what we might do. Just because I have a plan doesn't mean that we will follow it to the letter. Many times our plans have changed at the drop of a hat, that includes fast passes and ADR's (the night before).

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

For me, planning is part of the fun! I enjoy planning my trip almost as much as I enjoy actually being there, it's part of the excitement! I also like planning to make the best use of our time and to get the best value for our money.


What anybody else does is not my business!