you all have me wondering

[tammyandtommy]

You all have me wondering, am I over planing? I am wating for parade hrs to come out and ehm to come out for july 31- Aug 19, I want to plan one sit down a day, kinda coresponding to EMH and parades or fireworks, am I planing too much? So far aside of restaurants I only want to plan a pirate cruise for my kids, is it possible to only plan meals and still make a good vacation over 10 days ? I want to relax at the hotel and look at other resorts and stuff too, or am I going to become an over planner and be disappointed

 

[shatzjsl]

I don't think you can ever do too much planning but you can plan too much. The key thing is to be flexible. Go to WDW knowing that you may not be able to do everything you have planned and try not be disappointed.

WDW is a big place. You can't do everything in one visit. Go and have fun. After a few days you may decide you need a 1/2 day break instead of an early morning EMH. IT IS OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR PLANS WHEN YOU GET THERE!!! It is your vacation. You are supposed to relax. Have a great time!

 

[Tinkim]

I think you should do as much planning as you feel comfortable with. As you will see on these boards some are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants people while others are obsessive planners. I am somewhere in between. My theory is make a list of things you feel you "must" see and go from there. My best friend went on my last trip and she was disappointed when we got home that we didn't see certain things. This was not neccessarily due to a lack of planning but more due to changing our schedule when we got there. She had never been and so every gift shop and other things we had already seen drew her attention. You can't see it all and go at a slow pace at the same time. We spent a lot of that trip frustrated because her kids would wander off and our time was eaten up looking for them. My kids were frustrated because they kept going into every gift shop. On our last trip with just my kids and me, we felt satisfied that we saw all of our personal must-sees and that was with just a general plan and 2 PS's. I like to know park hours, EMH times, parade times, firework/shows and that is about all I need to know to plan and have a good time. Do what works for you. If you feel like you are overly stressed or planning too much maybe you are and you should try to relax. Remember this is your vacation and you will be fine doing what works best for you.

 

[DoomBuggyBabe]

The key to planning, for SkipperBubba and me, is to try and stay somewhere in the middle ground. We plan using the EMHs and PSs as our skeleton. We decide where we want to eat, and attempt to get the most bang for our buck with the extra time in the parks. That's just wise management of your time and money.
Beyond that, I can't really say that planning activities hour-to-hour is something we find appealing. That always seemed to cost a little more stress than it was worth. Once we decide where we're going to be in general, we go with the flow. It's enough for us to say: "OK, it's a Magic Kingdom Day. Early entry, lunch at Cindy's. And we have to be at Artist Point for our reservation at 8:30." We find that gives us ample time to wind our way through the park du jour and do whatever we want to do. And remember, sometimes the happiest memories involve spontanaeity.
Good luck,
Q

 

[henrylovespooh]

I did exactly what you did. I don't consider it over planning, especially when you'll be there at a busy time. Better safe than sorry. I also think that you enjoy yourself more when you have a plan, especially since I have small children. I can't tell you how many people I saw last week sitting on the MK train in the late morning, looking at the map and trying to figure out what to do. They would wait in lines that we never did.

I always plan a sit down dinner for most nights and a sit down lunch once or twice. I like having the PS so I'm not in search of a table when I get there.

But, I also know that I will deviate from the plan, either because of weather, my kids, or just a decision to change plans. And if we go off plan I'm fine with it. If we decide to go off plan, I call Disney dining and check on other PS possibilities and then cancel the one I made.

Do what makes you happy - plan away!!!