Do you ever go without a plan?

[diz_girl]

We actually completely winged it one trip (Sept '05), including hotel and dining. We left on a Friday and DH rode his motorcycle (from New Jersey) while I followed behind in my car. We didn't make our hotel reservation until about 5 p.m. on Sunday and showed up around 10 p.m. that night. We didn't have the dining plan and didn't have any ADR. We still ate dinner at CP, Tokyo Dining, Alfredo's and Tony's, and breakfast at CP. This was just before the proliferation of free dining and getting a table as a walk-up was much easier.

That being said, I'd recommend that you decide which park to visit each day, so you avoid the crowds due to EMH, etc. Then everyone decide on what they must do that visit and just make sure that you get to those things and wing the rest. You're not going during a free dining week (it's just the last two days of your visit), so you just have to deal with the normally DDP crowding of restaurants.

Once you know where you will be each day, just make a list of the restaurants where you could eat that day, so you can decide once you're hungry. Then wing it from there and you eat at what's available. There are plenty of good restaurants that normally have availability since they aren't the must-do restaurants like 'Ohana or Le Cellier. Resort restaurants are usually good in this respect. If you want to eat at a TS restaurant on MK day, take a break, hop on the monorail, and eat at the GF Cafe. The Captain's Grille at YC is another underrated restaurant. While everyone else is clamoring to get into Le Cellier, try Marrakesh in Morocco, which is good.

But most of all, have fun!

[angua85]

I've "winged it" while using the free dining, and had enormous fun. Before leaving for the park each morning, we would stop by the concierge desk and ask what was open for dinner. We've gotten some amazing dinners this way. We got O'hanas during the Hallowe'en fireworks, the Morroccan restaurant which has a fun floor show, and the German Biergarten with a great band.

[joonyer]

We Love being in the parks after dark, so our basic plan is to find out which parks are open late (EMH) and have fireworks shows, and we plan to visit those parks on those nights. Beyond that, we pretty much wing it. Usually only a couple of ADR's per trip.

[xo0ally]

Like joonyer we usually never plan our trips. We choose what we want to day by day, and we use the EMH to help us choose which park at night. The only planning we do is dining reservatios. Other than that we go with the flow.

[marlyn]

I go for 2 weeks, so that gives me the luxury of not overplanning too much BUT I always book my ADRs and have a general idea which parks on which days. I never worry about what attractions I see, with the exception of planning days for Fatasmic and MSEP (or Spectro). As far as what we see when at the parks, we just go with how we feel. That is the bonus of a long trip.

[debandbub]

When we set the date and make our reservations, usually about 8 - 10 months out, I PLAN to PLAN. But now at 54 days out, we only have vague ideas of the things we want to do/meals we want to eat, etc. I know I will book a Keys to the Kingdom tour, but that's it (not booked yet!).
Always a compulsive planner, a few years ago we decided that we wouldn't plan which park to hit first- we just decided to get on the first bus that came that first day. It kind of set the tone for a more relaxed vacation than in the past, and we are planning on replicating that this trip.

[debandbub]

LOL- I just realized that I said I am planning not to plan! I think I've finally lost it!

[tundramom]

WHAT???+ No planning, that's blasphemyI couldn't possibly To illustrate: At 4:30 today I was watching the tennis in Cincinnati (4 hours from us) and saw a lot of empty seats. By 5:30 I had tickets prices, a map of area restaurants, verified a Carraba's near the tennis center (we have a $50 g.c) and had outfits ready to go....before I convinced my DH of the spur of the moment plan to go down tomorrow to catch the men's semis! Even spur of the moment can use a little planning!

[mrmcgiv]

first two trips I planned eveyrthjign our,. but we had DDP and had ADRS and had to be certain places at certain times. Last week we went and had very few ADRs. I had teh park, fireowrks and show schedules and had a plan of what day to do what park but that changed daily according to what we felt like doing. One day we just took a whole resort day.

i think if you have done disney before and know your way around you can go w/o a plan, just know what days to do so you can see shows etc

We did spend some times saying "what do you want to do? But we figured it out.

[tinksmom02]

I think I plan significantly less on each trip we take. I mean, our December trip has been planned out pretty much since we decided to book it* but that means a ONE PAGE document with our ADRs and park hours for each day, with suggestions on which park to go to.

On previous trips I've attempted the regimented touring plan, with X attraction first, followed by Y attraction, etc., but it doesn't seem to work for my family. And my husband despises it.

I think it helps to realize that we don't have to do everything each trip, we'll always go back (no matter what DH says at the time, he always caves!), so we can take our time.

*I do have to book the candlelight processional package, and get our MVMCP tickets, but everything else is done.

[mermaidmarian]

Always wing. Never Plan. Always Fun. Never Bummed.

[goofygirl67]

I wing it just about everytime.
Last December was the first time in a few years that I was going with someone. I planned every part of the trip and have sworn not to do it again.
Everything was left to me, I was trying to show my Mom what was so great about WDW. I booked shows, ADRs, what day and time to be in the parks I even tried to get the best room at the resort. All of it was too much for me and I swore I wouldn't plan all that again.
For my Sept trip I booked a room and MNSSHP. When I go in Dec I will book the CP and MVMCP and a room. I have an AP so tickets are no big deal.
Big planning is not for me.

[DisneyFr33k]

I plan what day we go to each park and make our table service ADR's right at the 180 mark (to be sure we get what we want). We LOVE the dining plan (espeically since it is free for us this year as it was last year). However, once we arrive at each park, I don't plan what order we do what rides. We kind of wing and do what we want. Our only time constriction is our ADR - other than that, the day is ours to do with what we want!

So would you call me a planner? I guess that depends on who you ask and compared to who!

[kemps@wdw]

As fun as spontaneous can be, it may not be the best plan for WDW. At the very least, we book 2 or 3 dining options. Any tours or dining shows should also be booked as well. We booked back in April and are still trying to get ADRs to LeCellier. We don't plan what park on what day. But, if we have an ADR, we plan that park for that day.

[Brettracie]

I always make a plan that include dining reservations.

[Jeri Lynn]

Besides the normal air travel/hotel planning the only thing we really plan is our dining reservations. Since we like to have one table service meal per day and use the dining plan we do make ADR's ahead of time. If we change our mind when we are on vacation and decide to eat somewhere else we cancel our ADR and make another, although that has only happened once.

We do not plan ahead of time which park we will be going to, we usually decide that each morning.

[JenniferS.]

We are usually on the dining plan and we have to plan for meal times/park days to coincide with each other. I hate that part. We never really know if we will be hungry at the times we have booked, so I try to make some early times and some late times and try to schedule the parks we will visit around that. We do a lot of park hopping and typically spend wherever we eat breakfast in that park and then take a mid day break then head to the park where dinner is. I know what you mean about being spontaneous, but it's very hard to.