Words of advice for a stressed out planner?

[Bev1016]

Hello,
I am currently anticipating my 3rd trip to WDW, coming up in September. This time is a little different, because I'm planning the trip for my parents, sister, and nieces, as well as DH and myself.

We initially planned on going the first week of October (we went last year and it was fabulous), but got sucked into September by the free DDP. The more I read, the more stressed I become. I'm so freaked out that it's going to be too hot, or too rainy, or too crowded, and that my family (who have never been to WDW) are going to hate it, and it will be all my fault.

Do any of you trip planners out there have any advice for ways that I can just calm down and enjoy this trip instead of giving myself an ulcer before we even leave? Your thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[Secondgradememories]

First of all welcome! Secondly, you may just want to take a deep breath and realize that every member of your family is responsible for his or her own piece of the magic. You could plan like crazy and still have grouchy companions, or just wing it and have a happy group. You know them, so think about what you can do so they can make good choices for themselves. Maybe have a pre-trip planning party where you go over some options and let people voice their preferences for sleeping in, eating 3 meals a day, taking afternoon breaks, etc. Have them visit the Disney site and make maps of the attractions they want to see. But most of all, be sure you are not taking ownership for anyone else's good or bad time. If it was my family, I'd plan a few things to do together but also give lots of free time so people can do their own thing - the options are what make Disney vacations so fun and easy. Good luck and no worries - be sure to plan your own good time, and then the rest will fall into place.

 

[mjalvarez]

I am planning a trip for Sept 07 also. My DH and sis-in-law who love Disney and go with me every year are going, but it is the first time for my bro-in-law, sis-in-law and 5 year old nephew. Now they will be the easy ones. A newly empty nester couple have decided to go and I am too stressed because they are not as sold as we are. I have been 8 times and know how to plan, but am stressing over making it magical for everyone. I think the key is to plan an itenarary, take some time off during the trip if possible and wing it a little. With that being said, I'm still stressed.

 

[nooneshome]

Oh my. Good luck planning your trip. I thought I had it bad planning for my family of four. Get your reservations for table service as soon as possible. Don't forget to use your cell phones when you break into small groups to do their own thing. Relax and have fun!!

 

[Friendly Frog]

I love the pre trip planning party suggestion . Great Idea!

It will give you a chance to discuss possible negatives and to discuss how to plan for them. For instance, " it will be hot so during the heat of the day, would you prefer to just brave the heat, do shows, go back to the room, etc. "

This year for the first time we are bringing friends with us. We have already talked and decided that we may spend a lot of time apart, but we will meet up at dinner and finish the parts together each evening.

 

[Bev1016]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions! I think you've all hit the nail on the head--everyone has to take responsibility for his/her own good time. I can't feel bad if others choose to have a bad experience. Plus, if I assume that things are going to go wrong, I'll have a bad experience! So, it's time to relax, let go of the worries, and count down for our fabulous trip!

On a side note, does anyone have any suggestions for threads, sites, books, etc. on the best activities for a multi-generational group? Any tips would be welcome!

 

[fey_spirit]

If I could add just one more peice of advice to the already excellent advice that's been given here?

First have fun with your planning... and as others have said get your travel party involved... whether they want to be or not

But more importantly remember that you can plan every moment down to the detail in such a way that you think everything is perfect... and then get there and either realize that it's not working - or a little pixie dust has come your way, and following it will require going off plan.

This happened to me a lot last trip (my first) and after a vacation filled with whining and moaning and feeling sorry for myself when things went wrong I finally learned my lesson. By all means plan - follow your plan, and if things should take a turn off plan? Well go with it.

I learned that the most important question once you actually get there isn't "Where am I supposed to be" or "Where do we go next" or even "I didn't plan for that ride to be down, I'm an hour late for my ADR and the park crowds are killing me, now what?" - no, the first and most important question to ask yourself at all times is "Am I having fun?" If the answer is yes - to heck with the plan... you can always get back on it later. If the answer is no - figure out what you need to do to get back to having fun and worry about the plan later.

 

[iluveeyore]

Welcome and Relax! You're going to Disney!
That said, we're going in July for two weeks and staying in a 2 bedroom at OKW with another family that have never been. We've already agreed that we'll take each day at a time - if they are up and ready to go with their young boys, off they go without us; if we're ready too, we'll go with them. We also agreed, since it will be hot, we'll all meet back at lunch time, fix something to eat and hit the pool for a while and see if the young ones need naps. Then dinner, get ready and off to whatever park has EMH either together or separately.
I bought my girlfriend and I Disney journals (notebook from Disney store), and have put all the trip information I could think of in it, with fun stickers, hi-lited sections, etc., with details of our reservations, costs, what to pack, tips on what to see at each park, park and EMH hours each day, etc. Makes planning fun, and I add to it everytime I read something new on the DIS!
Just enjoy counting the days, and while you're there just roll with it!

 

[american_gramma]

Sorry, I don't have any advice for you. We're sort of planning our next trip alone, but yet with help from a dear friend who is also a travel agent. We're going nuts ourselves trying to decide what to do when. We have a few character meals planned (ressies made) & written down along with what park the meal is in. We also wrote down what attractions in that park we wanted to see.

She planned our first WDW trip in 2005. I'm sure I drove her absolutely batty because there were so many decisions to make & for the life of me, I couldn't make a one!! She's a WDW veteran & knows the ins & outs of all of it. I couldn't understand why she was asking so darn many questions about what we wanted to do.

After we'd been there a day or two I understood. All's well that ends well though; we had a super time! On the way home we were figuring out if we could go again sometime. There's just too much to do & see that even a week isn't much time. This next trip is a couple days longer but since it's the week of July 4 I'm sure it's gonna be very busy & HOT!