Why Don't People Research?

[kbkids]

We have friends that are going to Disney next Christmas - the week between Christmas and New Years for the first time ever. Tried to get her to understand how crowded it would be and they probably needed to do a little bit of planning. "That's okay - we'll just wing it!" She's never understood why we go so often, makes fun of us for being stuck in a rut (it's not the only place we go ), and I guarantee you she'll come back hating it and never want to take the kids again. I feel sorry for her girls. They hear my kids talking about it all of the time and always beg to go.

 

[princess-rn]

I didn't know to plan when we went on our Honeymoon in 2000. (it was my 1st trip to WDW) We missed SO much by not planning. Now I'm a super planner before we go and it makes life so much better!!

 

[jetstrip19]

Please enlighten on all things you planned, Im in charge this trip and have not got a clue

 

[WillCAD]

Please enlighten on all things you planned, Im in charge this trip and have not got a clue

Well, many people plan which park they will visit on which days, based on the usual crowd trends (visit the least crowded park).

Once they know which park they will visit, many also plan where they will eat dinner, and some also plan breakfast and lunch, and make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for those restaurants.

Some people also look up touring plans, which are itineraries with what order you will visit the attractions in a given park. That's a bit much for me, but in the peak crowd periods it can help you to see the most in the least amount of time.

 

[slk537]

DH and I winged it on our first trip - our Honeymoon back in 1997. We stayed off property and hit Universal, Sea World, Cocoa Beach, etc. It was a lovely vacation, but not a Disney Vacation.

Our next trip after that was a short anniversary trip and much the same. Counter service at the parks and TS offsite. Our DS's first trip was much the same.

Then I saw Unwrapped WDW and Chef Mickey's. Well...we HAD to take our then 2 year old DS to meet Mickey! It was marvelous. I was hooked. I began researching and somehow DH ended up booking us a week six months later at OKW. I made more ADR's and fell in love with onsite. We bought DVC and I have been getting progressively more and more detailed with my planning. I have my excel spreadsheets, and like many I plan all ADR's around loose daily itineraries. Then we do whatever feels right. I get the pleasure of obsessive planning and yet we still do our very non commando vacationing.

My Brother, SIL, Dnephew and Dniece are planning a trip this summer - they will be there the week of the 4th of July. I have let them know this is insane, but they are prepared (I think). I have to give them credit - they have asked me for help and are working with me to create the same spreadsheet for them so they can make their 180 ADR's. I have to think the sooner the better for that week...now if I can help them understand the crowds + heat...

I am such a planner that I am getting very edgy today - we just decided to move our upcoming trip back 2 months and I have to redo all the ADR's...60 days into the 180 ADR schedule. I realize I'll probably still have my choices, but until it's a done deal, I'll be twitchy.

So here's the to researchers!!

 

[loralie]

My BIL gave us a free trip to WDW in Feb. 2004 as a christmas gift. It was for me, DH, DS9, DS7, BIL and MIL. Since it was a gift and everyone's first trip to the world except BIL, we felt we had no say in how the trip was planned. I was clueless our first time at WDW. We did have a great time but I felt like it could have been planned MUCH better. I planned a trip for just DH, me, and the boys for May of 2005 and we had an AWESOME time. I planned out everything and my DH was so impressed with how well every single day went on our trip. I made the most of our week long trip and we were on the dining plan and used every single one of our meals.

I do have to say that since I had done so much planning and spent so much time thinking about the trip, once we came home I felt a little depressed, like I did not know what to do with my time anymore. Now I am back to normal and can't wait to plan the next trip.

Anybody experience the blues once the trip is over?

Loralie

 

[WillCAD]

Anybody experience the blues once the trip is over?

EVERYBODY.

 

[Nancyg56]

Well, I hate to plan, hate the thought of appointments, and stress over reservations, and must organize myself to get organized. With that said, I researched this trip! As soon as we decided to go, and as soon as I stomped on DH suggestion to go in February so that we could go to the Daytona 500 at the same time.....I went online and found the DIS! I checked out the hotels, and resorts, discussed the options with my DD, (did not discuss with DH....he might have had an opinion, and I didn't want him feeling too bad when we kiboshed it) and found a Disney TA.

Now, it has been a long time since my DH and I have vacationed in the World, and back then you made ressies when you arrived. Taking the kids between Christmas and New Years day was stressful, but we did not know better 18 years ago. My DD has gone many times, but without a 4 year old and a DH in tow. She didn't care if she hit CS or ate outside the park at Micky D's. SHe also did not need to worry if the little Princess was freaked out by the whole thing and refused to go anywhere but the pool. (Happened to a friend, they were furious about the money spent "for nothing" and they have never gone back. DH is no longer complaining about the cost of AKL) They are all laughing at me....but I will have the last laugh. I know we will have good food, at restaurants we have chosen, that DGD will meet all the characters that she wants, that we will have a nice resort to hang around at if DGD has a meltdown, and that we have a loose plan so that we are not all whining about not knowing where to go.

We leave Sunday morning. Yesterday, DH said that we should rent a care, and travel to Winter Haven to visit his cousin.....NO. DD mentioned that she would like to go to Sea World....Not this time. DH has friends in Fort Wilderness at the same time. Are we getting together? Only if they have the same free nights that we have. He can call them when we arrive. We do not have an itinerary like some of the DIS vets, (remember, I am not a planning guru) but I do have a loose enough plan to accommodate plenty of free time, but I know how much this trip has cost, and do not want to use valuable resort time gallivanting all over central FL. I never told them no, because they will learn what you all have already taught me....and they will thank me. ANd they will not starve.

I know that if I had not found the DIS, I would not have known about some of the problems that no planning can bring on. With the cost that goes into a vacation, it was worth a little research to make sure that we don't come back unhappy and hungry.

 

[teacher31]

One of my sweetest Disney moments was when my husband leaned over and gave me a kiss thanking me for planning so much ahead of time because it made our first trip so enjoyable. He was being slightly unnerving before hand because my Disney With Kids book looked more used than our Bible (close, but not quite ). But he realized had we not gone in with a plan on which days to go where, where to eat and at what times, we would have wandered around clueless like so many others. It's the planning that made it so relaxed because I knew as much ahead of time as possible. We still had so many unexpected surprises (Riding Goofy's Barnstormer with Goofy & Max!!!) it wasn't ruined by over planning. Now we're planning for the 4th trip in 4 years and we got a new Disney With Kids book because the old one has fallen apart. I love to plan.

 

[pcgmom]

As many of you can understand, I love to research and plan my trips. I like to say that I don't want to be more than 3 feet away from a AAA guidebook or map. You just never know when you might need to look up something (the librarian in me always comes out). Disney is such a magical place that you can go and make no plans and still have a very good time. I still tell people to do a little research before, and you can open up your options tremendously. Some friends of mine went and weren't even aware of meeting Ariel in the grotto or hearing Belle tell stories. They still had a great time, but the options are completely open when you give yourself a head start, and besides, that's part of the fun anyway.

 

[Syrreal]

since i've been to disney I don't even know how many times I don'y usually plan what we will do-- with a few exceptions- if we know we want to eat at a partucular place we will make ADRs for that place especially if it is for lunch or if we want an early dinner. We usually try to get the last seating of the day so most of the time we can just call that morning. Plus by now we have an idea as to what will and won't be packed. We don't do CRT (but if we did I would be calling on the 1st available day that I could)

But if it's the 1st time I'm going somewhere I like to have everything planned. Things can change, we may do one thing instead of something else, but atleast I have an idea of what I want to do.

 

[Lizzybee]

Our first trip was Nov 2003, just before Thanksgiving. We did no real research and had no TS ADRs. We had a great time and loved it. We didn't have much of a choice as far as resorts, with 5 people and not the budget for a deluxe, but we really really loved POR. My parents had said they didn't want to tie themselves down to be in a certain place at a certain time. We had a couple of lovely TS meals at Boatwrights in POR and at Bongos. I think the one thing we could have really planned better for would have been all the walking. I guess when you get right down to it, we didn't know what we were missing but it was still a great trip.
Our second trip was Spring Break/Easter 2005 again at POR. With some DIS experience, I had "enhanced" our trip with an ADR at Donald's Breakfastasaurus and a ressie for the Wishes Cruise. I had also mapped out the attraction we wanted to see, coordinated with EMH, and planned some days to rest. This trip was great too. The previous experience and DIS knowledge really enhanced the trip. Planning was crucial with the crowds, we managed to not have to struggle with crowds.
Our third trip was August 2005, just me and the kids with free dining. I scored fabulous ADRs for CRT lunch, 1900 Park Fare dinner, 50 PTC, and Donald's again (kids loved it). I knew which ASMo bldg to request when I got there, and got exactly what I wanted. It was a quick but very cool trip and we planned to get to do those things we really wanted to do and just played it by "ear" the rest of the time.

 

[turnlisa]

Had this same experience on Tuesday. One of the ladies in the office was asking me if the book she had read was serious about getting up early to call for CRT. Do people honestly do that? I told her that not only do people honestly do that, I do that! She couldn't believe that people would plan 6 months prior to going on what they were going to do on a specific day. She just kept saying, "What kind of people do that?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was insulting ME!

The first time we took my oldest DS he was 2 1/2. On the way to the parks from the resort (AS Movies -- all we could afford), he looked at me and thanked me for planning everything -- and the trip had just started! Now every trip he thanks me for all the time that I put in planning the ADR's, booking the kids' activities, finding out what parks have EMH. He is always surprised by the "luck" we have in getting on rides and having great reservations to eat. He knows I plan my brains out, but considers it part of his personal "Disney Magic".

 

[LisaInNc]

For me the planing is part of the process. I mean that I can feel Disney every day that I am planing. I have a spur or the moment trip coming in less than 2 weeks and I kind of miss the months of anticipation but I am NOT complaining.

All of the Disney planing had made me a better traveler no matter where I go. My family is so much more comfortable because of all of the information I leanred about a Disney trip and some of it carries over to everything else we do.

Funny thing happened on the last Disney trip. We got to the hotel and we hungry but planned to drop off the luggage and head to Downtown Disney to break out the meal credits! This was the first trip in years I didn't bring food, we had the dining plan and I knew we were not going to need a lot of anything. I kind of enjoyed not having to haul a cooler and all the food stuff I typically bring with me. My daughter asked for a snack and I said I didn't have them. She said ok let me have a juice box, I said I didn't bring anything. She turned around and looked at me like I was crazy. A trip without food and drinks to her is live leaving home with out your underwear!