Are You A Planner?

[mjaclyn]

Are you one of those people who likes to plan your trip to WDW way in advance, or are you a 'spur of the moment' trip taker?

I personally LOVE to plan my WDW trips in advance. Sometimes the trip is over a year away but I'll get out all my Disney travel books (even though I've been there a gazillion times), as well as a new Passporter and mark down everything I want to do each day we're there. We'll decide where to stay, where to eat and what parks to go to. It's also fun trying to decide what our one 'special' thing is going to be - we try to do one new thing each trip, like one of the park tours, a new restaurant or even just taking a different route to one of the parks. I love Disney and planning is one of the best parts of going IMO. :mickey:

[Hayden's Dad]

I am definately a planner, while my wife is more spontneous. So over the years I have learned planned spontenaity. I plan a trip, but don't tell her til the last minute. :D

[joonyer]

I would venture a guess that polling intercot members is not going to result in the most accurate poll for all WDW guests in general regarding planning. Most every intercotee is a planner or they wouldn't be here! :) :thumbsup:

[Diz-Knee]

I am both! I plan lots of details for our week-long trip to the world, however we have annual passes for the first time this year and have made two very spontaneous weekend trips.

[DizNee143]

not a planner..the only thing i guess you can say i plan is when im going..after that..its called a vacation for a reason..i take it as it comes!!! :mickey:

[dolphinmickey9170]

I "borrowed" the Master Planning Spread Sheet from a podcaster friend and it is all I use. My trips revolve around it. I have the next three trips planned, dates, meals, etc. I even have a trip planned for 2011....which will take place after I finish nursing school.

My DH just goes along, when I ask him if he wants to suggest anything, he just responds with....if you like it, I'll like it. Can't go wrong there.

I have tried to be more spontaneous - right Kathy? but it just doesn't seem to work for me. My OCD makes me plan plan plan.

Days til my vacations?
68 days - May/June
116 days - July
272 days - December

Who's with me?

[mouseketeer mom]

I am definately a planner, while my wife is more spontneous. So over the years I have learned planned spontenaity. I plan a trip, but don't tell her til the last minute. :D

Thats funny.:)

[betteratmk]

:D I would venture to guess that most members are the planners and most spouses let them!!:blush: My DH just nods his head alot!!

[mjaclyn]

I was just thinking about this and I believe that it's become more and more difficult to visit WDW spontaneously unless you live within a reasonable driving distance. DH and I used to be alot more 'loose' with our planning - we'd go down for AP Openings for a weekend or plan a trip for just three weeks away. I think with the introduction of the dining plan as well as increasing prices and crowds, it's too difficult for us (as New Yorkers) to visit at the last minute. Now, I plan because I have to make dining reservations 6 months in advance, rent points from a DVC member to stay in my beloved Deluxe resorts because the rack rates are just too expensive for us and it's virtually impossible to find decently priced flights at the last minute. Those reasons are why I started having to plan the past few years, but as I stated before I really do enjoy the planning and if I can save money doing it, that makes it even better!

[PrettyMinnie]

I would guess most people on Intercot are planners. Though I know some just want that taste of Disney. I am definitely a planner though. I started my countdown last summer and I have charts and schedules and dinner times. I actually use Google Docs, I don't know how many people are familiar with them but I can take my planning wherever I go. Borderline obsessive....:secret: :minnie:

[Aggie97]

I do like to plan, but perhaps not as far in advance as some planners. I don't think we've ever booked a trip more than three or four months out or made ADRs more than two to three months before a trip. :mickey:

[brownie]

If I lived close by, I would be a spur of the moment kind of person. Living in Michigan means we really need to plan (and budget) our trips to Walt Disney World.

[Mickey91]

I am a planner. For our major trip, I want to make sure we get to eat where we want, see the shows we want to see and if there is a party event, I want to be able to go the night it suits us best. Plus, when we know a year in advance that we are going a particular week, for me, it passes the time and is almost as much a part of the fun of it as going. I love planning my trip. It gets me excited and is one more aspect of geting there.

On the flip side, we have taken small spur of the moment trips with no planning, flying by the seat of our pants and they are extremely fun also!:mickey: As a matter of fact, if we could afford it, we would have many more spur of the moment trips!!

[yjgirl32]

I am a planner. I plan just about all our trips- even the ones that are Disney related.:blush: It's part of my fun.

[jrkcr]

I am a planner for all of our vacations, disney or other. I write everything down, park hours, shows, eating plan and ADR's, special things to see/do/buy, etc.

But if someone just showed up and said "get in the car, we're going to disney", I could be ready in 20 minutes!! And half of that time would be spent doing the "disney dance". :yay:

[Soul_Power]

I am a proud planner!

Even if we wanted to just pick up and go, we really couldn't! There is too much saving ($$) that has to go into a trip to WDW, so I have no choice but to be a planner! Planning a trip to WDW is half of the fun, though, so I can't complain. :mickey:

[Hull-onian]

We plan to the inth degree. When we go to the parks we don't plan rides etc. However, we do plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We write down everything right from the time the Limo picks us up at the house to take us to Logan Airport to the minute we must return to MCO. That is the sad part, leaving. But we always know there is one more trip in our future.:plane:

[Dsnygirl]

I am most definitely a planner... it's my favorite part of the whole thing, honestly!! I feel like it extends the trip and I love pouring over time schedules to figure out where we want to be and when, planning to make our ADR's, finding new stuff to do...

All that being said, I don't actually plan out our days, though... I pretty much get it to what park we want to go to, where we want to eat and whether or not there's something special going on. From there, we pretty much take it as we feel like doing it... and I try to leave enough flexibility to be able to change plans around for weather, tired kids, etc.

I think I would love a spontaneous trip -- but you bet I would still try to fit as much planning as I could between the decision and the flight!! :D

[texasteacher]

I live in Texas, so I need to plan. Plus good planning can lesson the time we wait in lines!

[PETE FROM NYC]

It seems that I do the most of the planning.Why noy?I am on Intercot,or Allears a few days each week,finding out stuff and keeping current.I did the booking thru MJ last month for our trip in September.
Now if I could just get DW to sit down with me and read the menu pages we could figure out where we want to make ADRs.

[GrmGrninGost]

Planning is half the fun of going! :mickey:

[MickeyMousse]

We have no choice but to plan, with work and school schedules. Then lining up a house/dog sitter....it takes awhile!

Plus I think the planning part is alot of fun! Builds up the excitement and anticipation!! :pixie:

[Love of Disney]

A planner....all the way!! DH just tags along :cool:

[kms1066heb]

I am definitely a planner! I usually plan the vacations about a 9-12 months out. I created a simple spreadsheet so that I can track all the ADRs, parades, EMH by park, and other special events we will want to check out. I don't actually plan each day but, by having all the pertinent information on a spreadsheet, it helps us to decide what we want to do and where we want to go each day. And, even though it was just my mom and me, I always made sure we could get back to the hotel each afternoon to relax :marg: before the evening activities.

[TikiGoddess]

Definite planner here.

For our August trip, I have an excel spreadsheet that has 6-7 pages. I have budgeting, historic EMH hours, dining ideas, a calendar of days (split into morning/aft/eve), and an attraction list.

Right now my planning is stalled as I am waiting for my travel agent to confirm our travel dates. She's extending the 5 nt trip that I won to include the buy 4/get 3 promotion, and had to check with some people to make sure the dates would work. Working with a travel agent is hard for me, as I like to do all the planning myself... this trip I have to let go a little, as they are planning some surprises and such... plus my DH is the spontaneous one and doesn't like it when I plan everything. So I'm only planning meals. Everything else will be decided when we get up that morning. :)

Kathy

[Tink#64]

My name is Shari & I am a planner! :blush:

I love the planning! I am by nature, a planner of everything! But planning our WDW trips is pure pleasure! I love it, and feel like it extends the Disney enjoyment. I let DH & DS's share in the decisions & help plan our trips! For me, planning the trip is the next best thing to bening there! I love helping family & friends plan their trips too! Gosh, just tell me you're going to WDW and I get the warm fuzzies thinking about planning a magical trip!

I, like many of you have said, plan around park hours, parades, etc, but not to the inth degree that we must be riding POTC at 10:00AM. Lots of trips, our plans change, we sometimes cancel adr's & go back to the pool to hang out! I plan so we can be sure to do everything that we want to while we're there, but if that changes during the trip, we're pretty good about just going with the flow! :cool:

[kemps@wdw]

As any WDW vet knows, The World is simply not a "wing-it" kind of place. IMHO, the planning is half the fun! Now don't get me wrong. We are not the "plan every detail" family, and we don't get ressies for EVERY day's dining. But we do plan ahead for certain things. Our resort, of course, our character meals, and dinner shows. I believe a certain amount of planning is necessary to have a truly magical journey!

[Insanity Clause]

I am an over planner. We started planning this trip that we will be taking in April (27 Days!) last June, so I have planned and planned and planned and made an ADR list and redid it and figured out where we will go and when...I think my family is ready to just go already!

[GrumpyFan]

I'm not, but my wife definitely is. She enjoys planning our Disney trips. Me, I just enjoy going! :D