Winging it - no plan at all?

[Skjhjb]

DH knows I've been haunting the DIS, and checking out all things Disney online. I mentioned I had found a touring plan site, that can give you a schedule/order of sorts to hit the parks.

His idea? NO plan - he's excited to just be there, be in the park, to hell with it if we wait in lines, grab a fastpass when we see them and can, but to just go with the flow through the parks.

Like a few other recent posters, I fear I will become that screeching commando Mom, and suck the fun out of it for everybody, if I have a tour plan in my hand.

Those of you who just go with the flow and wing it - does this work well for you?

 

[Phatoomch]

When we went last year (our first family trip & first on-site) we totally winged it. The only thing I did was decide which day for which park and I did not use any crowd calendars/plans for that, I wanted to do the parks in order of when they were built/opened and booked an evening meal there.

When I got back and started reading here thinking we must have missed tons of stuff/done it wrong (I wanted to do it "properly" on our next trip) and realised that we hadn't missed anything at all.

It was a fantastic trip. We just went with the flow

 

[constancefamily]

The only plan we usually go with when we are not tied down with ADRs is to know which park for which day. We do usually have certain things we want to be sure to do in each park and try to do those first. That way everything else is a bonus. This works pretty well for us. I also use wait time apps inside the park to keep from criss-crossing very much. This helps as well. We used to be commando type tourists but when small children came along, we had to throw that out the window. Happy Planning!

 

[kerplop]

I think it depends on when you go, but for the most part you can get by fine without an actual plan. I'd still do rope drop or get there pretty early, but otherwise the only plan I'd worry about is what day to what park. That's about it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Welcome to every trip we've ever taken (and there have been a LOT). I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Skjhjb]

Thanks!

We know which day, which park - we check in SUNDAY!!! for four days - so one day for each park. We have a 5 day pass, so plan to hit MK on our way back through Orlando after time at my Mom's condo near Miami.

We are SO excited about going, and know it will be over in a flash, so we want to savour it as best we can!

 

[Sweettears]

I think that it depends on the time of year and the anticipated crowd levels. No plan during crowded times can lead to frustration. If you don't care how much you see and do in a day it shouldn't matter. Also if you don't care where or what you eat it shouldn't matter.

 

[Chellymouse]

We don't do nearly the amount of planning that we used to. We know what we want to do and what we'd like to do if there is time. We manage to see and do everything we want without running commando through the parks anymore. just go and have fun. We just returned from an 11 day trip (DH and I took his family) and we had a loose plan, but nothing more than ADRs and a few activities planned and everyone was able to do everything they wanted! Have a great trip!

 

[Skjhjb]

We're on the dining plan, but only two ADRs - one is the Luau so that took two TS credits, and then one for Cape May. Other than that, we'll QS our way around the park!

 

[Bonniec]

I'm with your husband, wing it. I'm not a fan of touring plans at all. It's impossible to see everything in one visit, so why try? When you're rushing to get from here to there, you miss all the details.

Other than keeping an eye on your ADRs, just go with the flow. Vacations are about relaxing.

 

[millerette]

We wing all of our trips too. :0) We have the free QS dining plan this time around so we don't have to worry about reservations. We have chosen what parks to visit on what days. So excited! 14 days!

 

[staceyatdisney]

Our trips are always awesome and we never use a touring plans. We never do a rope drop either. About all we plan is which park we want to visit on which day. ADR's also factor in but we'll cancel those if they get in the way of the fun. We wing everything else.

Nothing against commando - if everyone in your family is down with commando, that's absolutely the way you should approach it

 

[mom2rtk]

Being addicted to planning does not mean you have to be a commando in the parks.

I scour the threads here to have all the up-to-date information I will need when I get there...... so we can make informed decisions on the fly.

Here's how our park plans go:

Day 1 - MK. Try to hit the headliners. Catch Castle Lighting Ceremony. Maybe lunch at Pecos Bills

Day 2 - AK. 8 AM lunch at Tusker House. Do Safari then EE. Walk some trails. Leave by 12. MVMCP that night.

Day 3 - Epcot. Late-ish start after party. Get Soarin FP as soon as we get there. Eat lunch at Coral Reef.

Day 4 - DHS. TSMM first. Then BATB and RnR. Stay through for Osborne lights.

Day 5 - MK. Merida meet & greet first.

I'm a commando researcher, but not really a commando at park plans. I subscribe to touringplans but only for the crowd calendar and Lines app. If you can put yourself in the right park on the right day, you won't NEED to be a commando.

There's a happy medium for everyone. Your challenge is to figure out a plan that works for you AND your husband. You can have a plan in your head without being fully committed to it and drive everyone crazy with it.

What I woudn't do is just walk in the park without having done my homework in advance.

 

[marymac123]

Other than our ADRs, we wing it. Every trip to the World since our Disneymoon in 03. I have a sub to a touring plan web but never seem to actually do anything with it other than crowd levels. We have never gotten home & thought, "I wish we could have done that..." Although, we have never really gone during a busy time

 

[kiki7o5]

The only things that are planned are what park on what day and our ADRs. Everything thing else is done totally on the fly. We've always had a blast!

 

[North of Mouse]

DH knows I've been haunting the DIS, and checking out all things Disney online. I mentioned I had found a touring plan site, that can give you a schedule/order of sorts to hit the parks.

His idea? NO plan - he's excited to just be there, be in the park, to hell with it if we wait in lines, grab a fastpass when we see them and can, but to just go with the flow through the parks.

Like a few other recent posters, I fear I will become that screeching commando Mom, and suck the fun out of it for everybody, if I have a tour plan in my hand.

Those of you who just go with the flow and wing it - does this work well for you?

We have never made advance plans or used touring plans and always have awesome trips and see everything we want to. We love the relaxation of "going with the flow", have park hoppers and go wherever we decide to and when.

We do make 5 ADR's for the 10 days we are usually there, but they are our only "must dos".

We never listen to the number for "crowds" at any given park and have never had any issues, and we have gone in every season - the summer naturally being the busiest at all parks.

The only times we will not go is any of the major holidays - heard too many horror stories on crowds.

Otherwise we go to relax, and be off our schedules, not take them with us.

 

[cmesq61]

We always wing it and love doing it that way. We do make ADRs for supper because we do the DxDP and like to get a bit dressed up for dinner. Other than that, it's all about what we feel like the night before for the next day or which way we feel like walking when we enter a park. That being said, we certainlu use the FP system for my few faves--like Soarin--but otherwise, it's go with the flow and see where the mood takes us. Caveat--it's just me and DBF--kids are grown.

 

[Skjhjb]

Thanks everybody!

I was getting somewhat overwhelmed with reading all the posts by those who plan, follow a plan, grab this FP here, go there, grab FP over there, go back to that one... and feeling like we were going to be doing it wrong!

We totally ignored the "which park which day" on the crowd calendars - we don't have park hopper, so we just picked the park with extended hours as the park to hit each day.

So other than that, totally no plans. I'd be happy just wandering the streets in Disney and people watching!

 

[maxaroni]

We totally wing it ourselves. I am the dis board researcher and am an over planner by nature. DH tends to to be the same EXCEPT at WDW. Usually he plans what we are doing which day on vacations but for some reason he sees no point in having set plans for WDW. . However, we have always had fabulous trips....seeing and doing all that we want. This year we are even doing th QSDP as we don't want to be tied down to ADRs.

 

[eliza61]

DH knows I've been haunting the DIS, and checking out all things Disney online. I mentioned I had found a touring plan site, that can give you a schedule/order of sorts to hit the parks.

His idea? NO plan - he's excited to just be there, be in the park, to hell with it if we wait in lines, grab a fastpass when we see them and can, but to just go with the flow through the parks.

Like a few other recent posters, I fear I will become that screeching commando Mom, and suck the fun out of it for everybody, if I have a tour plan in my hand.

Those of you who just go with the flow and wing it - does this work well for you?

So if you google my user name you'll find my sorid tale of being a commando mom on my families first trip. LOL. So we are professional wingers.

That being said here are a few tips.

1) summer time is ridiculously packed in the parks. If you are going when the parks are going to be 10, I would say rope drop is a must.

2) Walk ups inside the parks are kinda hit or miss. If you are staying on site when you wake up in themorning, phone disney dining and see what's available in the park or a resort near the park you are going to be in. Now yo have a place to eat if you want to without the stress over trying to pick a restaurant 180 days out.

Other than that. ENJOY!! I did get a birnbaums guide book, my family and I read it and we picked the rides we really wanted to do.

We always stroll, we sit on benches, we meander through out the stores. we love it. we sleep in, we spend hours at the pool. love