How much do you plan out?

[Imagineer1981]

Just curious how much you plan out for your trips. Do you plan what days are where, lunches, dinners, night shows like fantasmic? I know for my family, we plan a few ADRs like a week or so before we go, alot of times even the day of, but we like to keep it loose. If we ate at Harbor house twice i/o cosmic rays for lunch, or went to Epcot on day 2 i/o going to Typhoon Lagoon, no big deal.

[Jasper]

Actually you left off the answer that I needed - the one titled "depends.":D

In all seriousness we do generally plan on where we want to eat on which days which then in turn causes us to generally pick that park to visit so as not to waste much time park hopping. However, whether we even do this much planning or perhaps do even less depends on who all is going and how long we are staying. There are other conditions that dictate our level of planning but these are the two most common ones.

[Mousemates]

we always go with a plan of parks and ADRs...but once we get there we go with the flow and change things as cirucmstances or the mood of the group dictates.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Voted for somethings but its really in between 2 and 3. ADRs are a must now with the DDP having such an impact, so we make those and a plan for the parks that fits the ADRs. But, we stay flexible on the plan and wait to see what we find when we get there. If a park looks busier than we want then we do something else.

[danicafan]

I just had to laugh at this because I am a PLANNER, I figure you have to maximize your time and money spent! We have some friends who have never been and I've been talking to her about us all going in Oct '09 and I think I have scared her to death! She said would it be a problem if the kids slept in until 11 each day. I told her, "Well I guess we will just have to get their little rears in gear!!:D I said well if the MK is only open until 7 that day and we don't get there until about 1 you are really not getting your money's worth!! I then sent her an itinerary of our last years trip and I havent heard back from her!!:mickey:

[dmosher]

We tend to plan everything out specifically by the day (more or less), but we do not have a militant schedule. Reservations not withstanding, we try to keep the days flexible i.e. get up when we want to, no alarm clocks, eat when we are hungry, etc.

We are traveling to Fl from New Zealand, so it takes a bit more planning then the average holiday. This trip (next weekend) we are also meeting friends and family, so that adds an extra layer of planning.

In the end I think there is a certain amount of planning that is required to "take it all in", as long as you make the non-scheduled times to relax, enjoy your surroundings and just be part of the magic instead of running past it, you will have a great time.
:pipes:
D

[Lizzie]

We book our ADR according to what park we will be at after we look at extra magic hours. But what we do at each park and how long we are going to stay we don't care.

My husband hates waking up in the morning and going where are we going to go today? And than wasting time figuring out the hours at each park. With little kids its easier to plan it out. And if your in a group its good to have a plan so you all don't stand around waiting for someone to make a decision.

[Soul_Power]

We like to plan what parks we go to (especially for this upcoming trip 'cause we're not hopping) and making ADRs are a must, but we leave everything else up to however we're feeling.
When I make our itinerary, I list a few places that we could possibly eat at for lunch while in the parks and I list a few things we could do on our "down days/no park days," but it isn't a big deal if we don't stick to it.

[GrumpyFan]

We usually plan our ADRs first, then the parks based around the dining locations picked, when possible. But still, we tend to be pretty flexible once we're there.

[KAJUNKING]

other than adrs its all about what we feel like we want to do at that moment

[thumperbug]

We decide which restaurants we want to eat at, then check out the park schedules and EMH then book the ADR's based on that. We tend to do the park the ADR's are in (or near to) the same day to avoid hopping. Or sometimes we do a half day at one park and half at another and base an ADR for one of those.

[pianobabe]

When I first started taking DS on an annual basis to WDW in 2000, we had everything planned out. It was all new to me and I wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything. I would pour over my books, watch the videos, get on the internet and find out everything I could to make it "the best trip ever". Over the years we have learned what we like, those things that are not-to-be missed and the I rides that are "okay, it's been a while since we have done this let's do it". Now, we plan which parks we are going to on which day's and where we are going to eat. Special things are planned out like MNSSHP, tours or La Nouba, but it's more of a "Hakuna Matata" approach now.

[EmmMOM2]

We plan a few meals and eat at counter service or in our room the rest of the time.
We loosely plan which park we'll go to which day, though we dont always stick to it.
We go with the flow sometimes!!
With young children it's hard to plan everything even though i'd like to ;)

[Disneyfun]

I guess it really depends on who you ask in regards to my planning! :secret:

During our family trips, I plan out the ADR's, which parks which days and a general outline on when to which attractions.

However....I did once, a few years ago when I still lived down there, plan out a trip to do every ride (which I defined as an attraction that had forward movement) in one day -- it required planning down to 5 minute intervals and many planning sessions figureing out how long it took to get from point A to point B. It was nuts!!

[Briansmom]

This last trip was the first time that I had control over the planning of our trip in the last few times we've been, so I was very excited about 'planning' especially since it was the first time for our special DS. But as far as the planning for what to do, I approached it by checking out the park hours and EMH first, then planning ADR's around those. I did make a few mistakes (like going to the PPP one nite and then had an 9 am reservation in AK the next morning)....but I've learned my lesson now. I am sure most people have learned those same lessons the hard way too! I also get a general idea of the counter services in the parks as well so we can know what our options are.
Actually, I wish I were planning our next trip now...but alas, no such luck! (although I might do it on the sly from hubby...heheheh:thedolls:)

[rt207]

I plan what park on what day first because I avoid EMH days and then do my ADRs. Other than that, we wing it.

[RAIDER]

We dont really plan as such we have a few ideas which parks were going to visit but we tend to go with the flow on how we feel and depending on the weather :thumbsup:

[disneymom2000]

I love planning. I am a lists person. I start planning about 7 months out and collect a lot of information. Checking eating habits of travelers, their loves and fears (even little things like which attractions have snakes, spiders, too dark etc). Check intercot for scheduling of EMH's and special attractions going on. And then I make my ADR's. Then since it is a vacation, I let everything else go to chance.

[bruin1344]

plan adrs and plan on what nights have emh evening or days to avoid parks with emh mornings since it tends to bring crowds

[disneygeek84]

We don't like being in the park that had AM EMH, so we're aware of which parks have it on what days while we're there, and plan to be at another park. But if the park we're planning on seems busier than we would like, we'll switch to a different one. And then we LOVE PM EMH so we'll head over to whichever park has that in the afternoon. If we're on the DDP then we'll make ADR for whatever park we're going to be at for that day. We're doing a couple of lunches this trip, so we'll be eating at the park that we'll be in for that morning, and then switching to a different park.

It seems like a lot of planning, but it's really not. And it is flexible; we're not tied down to anything but the ADR's. Where we eat for our CS meals aren't decided ahead of time because we never know where we'll be at any given moment. I mean, you have to plan out some things, regardless of whether or not you're on the DDP because there's no way to get the most out of your trip if you don't. Not that going with really no plans isn't fun or anything, it just takes that time out of your vacation trying to figure everything while you're there.

[Simba'sBud]

Well, I'm glad to see that I'm in the majority here. The only time I see it is necessary to plan every little detail in the park is if you have a group of more than 3 and you don't want to split up. This way, everyone gets to do something they picked out.

Otherwise, DW and I have learned that just setting certain days for parks w/EMH or just according to what day of the week it is, and then having a cheat sheet for our ADR's, everything else should be fairly spontaneous.

We were amazed at how much more fun we had just going with the flow as opposed to having a minute-by-minute schedule.

:mickey:

[AdventurerKim]

We talk about upcoming trips a lot and discuss things we want to do, places to go that maybe we don't go every trip, etc. That's part of the fun of psyching ourselves up for an upcoming WDW trip. Once we get there, other than ADR's and PI (before)/DQ trips, we're flexible on everything else. We've been talking about the next trip for the weekend to go to AC and CW one last time in 3 little weeks since July when we decided to do it. :mickey:

[kakn7294]

I do make some ADR's and I usually pick a park where we will start the day, but nearly everything is flexible. We don't ever plan CS meals - those are done on the fly, if we eat a regular meal at all. After all, we are on vacation and ice cream qualifies for a meal on vacation - at least in my book!

[MinnieMommie]

I do a lot of tight planning around the parks opening and closing schedule (including morning and evening EMH) and also make ADRs for the places I definately want to eat at. The rest of our dining and other plans are flexible. :mickey:

[GrmGrninGost]

We plan ADRs, so we have to plan the parks. Outside of that, it's pretty much up in the air! We have certain traditions we usually go by, but even they are not absolutes. If you get too caught up in schedules, you can ruin your whole trip!

[yjgirl32]

Well I don't have specific times on when we will go on what ride or go shopping, but I do have it planned out what shops, rides, etc. we will hit what days. We have a semi-large group going and in order to keep the peace- I have each person pick three rides, shops, shows they don't want to miss and three they would really like to see. Then I map out the days when I get everyones choices. It worked very well the last time and hoping it works just as good this next time because we are adding more people to our trip. :mickey:

[4ubie1]

My family and I tend to try to be as flexible as possible. We do make ADRs and investigate what is new in WDW so we have an idea of what to check out. But other than that, we just go with the flow. I have found that if I try to remain on a schedule, I start to stress out when things don't work out accordingly. So instead of stressing...just go with the flow. And if you don't see everything this time, leaves more for next time ;)

[maxrebo77]

I should not be allowed to read the menus anymore. They change all the time anyway at many ot the TS and some CS. But no, here I am planning what to order 3 weeks from now. This vacation stuff is a lot of work.
21 days:party:

[KAT1811]

We typically have an Excel spreadsheet with all of our important travel information on it (ie., flight times and numbers, resort conformation numbers, ADR times and conf. numbers, etc.) I usually plug in where we are planning to be on a given day (spreading out each park and allowing a few days for the pool) then we choose which restaurants we want to eat based on where we plan to be on that given day. For instance we wouldn't plan on eating at San Angel Inn if we were spending the day in DHS. We are fairly flexible, if we do not feel up to a certain park we can skip it or skip our ADR (I always call and cancel) but, with that being said we rarely deviate from our schedule. We find that the more organized we are the more we see.

[Dznygrl79]

I love to plan out my vacations! First I wait for the park calander to be released and look at EMH, then I call and plan my ADR's. But the closer my vacation gets the more excited I get so the more I plan. I am 10 days away from my first solo trip and have already booked myself and tour and NIght of Joy tixs. I am also making a list of things to ride that I have never ridden before ( that is if I'm brave enough). :mickey:

[biodtl]

I am somewhere between 2 and 3 - I tend to plan parks, only because we always go to MK first, and Epcot 2nd. Plus any special plans like MNSSHP. And I usually make only a couple ADRs (for don't miss places, like CRT, etc). otherwise, I play it by ear. But this year, I made more ADRs - I don't know why, I just got more into planning - but now I am stressing about the "schedule" a little. I like to wing it.

I guess I better get used to it, though - we usually go in fall, when winging it it easier, but starting next rip, it will be summer for us and we will HAVE to be a little more planned.

[Mickey91]

We plan the parks and ADRs. Even the parks are pretty flexible except around the time of the ADR.

[MickeysEars]

in order to get ADRs you have to know what parks you are going to on what days...other than that we go with the flow

[BWayGrl]

First I make a list of everything I need to pack (including specific articles of clothing---I know, I'm obsessive!) This past trip, I used the Intercot site a lot to get the schedule of EMH and regular park hours and outlined a few sample itineraries, including what restaurants to eat at. About a week before we left I narrowed it down to one itinerary, but we ended up somewhat playing it by ear since tropical storm Fay kind of interfered.

[Tink#64]

We like to plan what parks we go to (especially for this upcoming trip 'cause we're not hopping) and making ADRs are a must, but we leave everything else up to however we're feeling.
When I make our itinerary, I list a few places that we could possibly eat at for lunch while in the parks and I list a few things we could do on our "down days/no park days," but it isn't a big deal if we don't stick to it.

:exactly: This is pretty much us to a T! We didn't hop on on trip this year either. That was our 1st time not having the hopping option, we did fine, but we did miss that flexibilty! We always plan an itenerary of park days & build our ADR's around that! We have also canceled the adr's & went back to the resort because DS's are tired & just want to swim! I'm a big planner :blush:, but having some time that's not all strictly accounted for makes for a much more enjoyable & relaxing vacation for us! :thumbsup:

[Bethis26fan]

We do ADR's and Parks the rest is go with the flow.

[tink2006]

I will look at the EMH schedule and plan a few ADRs. I try to make ADRs for one new restaurant and a couple of "must eat there" each trip other than that the meals are open. We love to park hop, take afternoon breaks and evening EMH so I plan on a morning park, hotel break, afternoon/evening park. When we go back to the hotel to relax depends on crowds, moods, etc. I have a couple of open days (no parks scheduled). One in the middle of the trip to do anything we want or nothing. I also leave the last day open and DS picks where we go that day.

I am more "type A" while my DH is more laid back. This gives us a good compromise - It allows me to plan enough that I can relax/enjoy. It is not military style so it allows DH to relax/enjoy. It works for us :mickey::thumbsup:

[wdwfansince75]

I do develop a plan for ADR's for specific meals, even if we aren't on the DDP. Days for special ADR's, such as character meals with the whole group, or birthdays, are planned. I plan parks based on EMH's and ADR's....then we ditch the plan...usually cancel about half the ADR's, and usually do an impulse meal...."we never ate here...lets try it!"
Our group has always consisted of all or some of our 4 kids, their spouses, and all or some of our 7 grandkids....usually, each of the families will do some things on their own, but we keep bumping into each other, and wind up doing "spontaneous" family things....
I "imagine" tours of the different parks, with members of my branch of the family tree, or with assorted members of the entire tree.
Things change, and my plans allow me to instantly propose "a plan for that". The rest of the family thinks that they never do what I planned....little do they know that I am not as spontaneous as they think I am....and I can relax in the room at the end of the day, and when DW says "That was a wonderful day", I can say "Yes, dear", while smuggly thinking "Just as I planned!"

[NJGIRL]

We plan our parks then make our ADR's to match them. We don't get park hoppers because I think it's too much wasted time in traveling and waiting for buses so we eat where ever we are for the day. We don't make a schedule of attractions or shopping that's too strick for us.

[Tbelle1976]

After all, we are on vacation and ice cream qualifies for a meal on vacation - at least in my book!


This is absoutely true, especially at Ghiradelli!!!:blush: